Amidst the ongoing opioid crisis, government agencies are warning about the rise of another deadly illegal drug methamphetamine. As the New York Times noted earlier this year, methamphetamine has “never been purer, cheaper or more lethal.” Here are five facts you should know about this forgotten killer. 1. Methamphetamine is a stimulant drug usually used …
Continue...When I entered into seminary I had plans for my ministry career. I was going to preach lots of exciting sermons and pastor a growing church. Admittedly my plans weren’t very detailed and were simplistic and naive, but nowhere in my mind was the idea of working mostly with addicted individuals. Over the last 10 …
Continue...At the age of 24, Lindsay Holloway, a Baxter, Tenn., native, was arrested for the possessing and selling of stolen weapons; addicted to IV drugs, she faced 10 years in federal prison and $1 million in fines. Holloway is one of the rare few who have escaped a destructive life and yet returned to her …
Continue...I firmly believe that the church should be on the front lines of addiction ministry, but such ministry is not easy. Working with addictions and those enslaved to them is complicated, time-consuming, and painful. It can be tempting for churches and Christians to romanticize this type of ministry, to talk about it with lots of …
Continue...We are in the midst of a crisis. Fifty-eight thousand Americans died during the Vietnam War. And 64,000 Americans died last year from opioid overdose. At least 4,149 of those who died last year were my neighbors and friends in Ohio. Recently, a 12-year-old boy died because of a fentanyl overdose. He was at a …
Continue...The opioid crisis is the pro-life issue evangelicals aren’t talking about. A recent New Yorker article chronicled the opioid epidemic in West Virginia, including this alarming story that is now far too common across America: Michael Barrett and Jenna Mulligan, emergency paramedics in Berkeley County, West Virginia, recently got a call that sent them to …
Continue...They were everywhere: Slouched on park benches. Lollygagging in doorways. Strumming guitars. Asking passersby for money. Pretending to stop passersby for other reasons and then asking for money. This is the face of legalized pot. At least it’s the face I encountered during a recent stay in the hip downtown area of a state where …
Continue...William Bennett and Robert White have written a very helpful, practical refutation of the marijuana legalization effort, and it could hardly be timelier. In less than 200 pages of very accessible text, Going to Pot: Why the Rush to Legalize Marijuana is Harming America (Hachette Book Group), released in February, effectively dismantles every serious argument being put …
Continue...Substance abuse takes many forms. Whether a person is struggling with prescription drugs, illicit drugs, alcohol or tobacco, the toll on the user and those around him or her is clear and often devastating. Millions of people tell of the total loss of control of their lives they experienced through substance abuse. Around 20 percent of …
Continue...This weekend many churches in America will observe Substance Abuse Prevention Sunday. In preparation for the observance, here are five facts you should know about the most commonly abused substances in America. 1. Alcohol is the most commonly abused – and most deadly — drug in America — In 2012, 71 percent of Americans reported they …
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