The Addiction Connection Podcast theaddictionconnection

Free Preview & full 66-lesson package, NEXT STEPS: Be TRANSFORMED: https://theaddictionconnection.thinkific.com/courses/next-steps-betransformed

Dr. Mark E. Shaw demonstrates how to use this NEXT STEPS: Be TRANSFORMED curriculum for your ministry and for your church. -play starting fall 2021! He explains the acronym that organizes the topics he teaches in the curriculum - Next Steps: Be T.R.A.N.S.F.O.R.M.E.D., sharing tips on how to organize your care group study, whether you use it plug-and-play, or focus key elements.

With over a decade in the making, this 100% digital-access curriculum has everything you need to start ministering to addicts in a small-group setting right where you are, right now. Give the same hope & help you've received to those within your reach!

What's Included in Next Steps: Be TRANSFORMED:


Leader's Guide - Video & Manual (.pdf download)
2 curriculum guide choices
66 pre-recorded video lessons online (over 15 months of teaching for long-term relationship building)
Downloadable student handouts for every single lesson
Bonus: Testimonies to share with your group as openers or closers!

Romans 12:1-2 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." ESV [1]

[1] Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one-half of any book of the ESV Bible.

Free booklet with any Mark Shaw book purchase available at FocusPublishing.com here  Understanding Temptation: The War Within Your Heart
Dr. Mark E. Shaw teaches on Temptation from James 1. Addiction counseling is about a sinful heart desire, not a disease that overtakes a person. "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." (James 1:12)

"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." (James 1:13-14)

Each person's desires are different according to their preferences. Is alcohol the problem? No, the Word tells us it's our own heart desire.

"Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." (James 1:15-18)

AW Tozer Quote: "The widest thing in the universe is not space; it is the potential capacity of the human heart...." (AW Tozer's The Root of Righteousness, p.63)

11:05 About the sad last day of John Belushi's life.

There is hope in Christ Jesus and nothing else. Death is closer than when we think. Find more training through The Addiction Connection's wide selection of video and audio courses here: https://www.theaddictionconnection.org/addiction-counselor-training/

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb. 4:16-17)

Dr. Mark E. Shaw is the Founder of The Addiction Connection and serves his local church as the Director of Counseling at Grace Fellowship Church in Florence Kentucky. Join us there for The Addiction Connection's 2021 Leadership Summit.

[1] Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one-half of any book of the ESV Bible.

Final pre-conference conversation for the Grace Fellowship Church Counseling and Discipleship Training 2021.

Find out about this year's conference at graceky.org/CDT September 16-18, 2021. Click here for the video about why we love biblical counseling in the local church from Grace Fellowship Church https://www.graceky.org/cdt/

Human frailty and our present and future hope! A sneak preview of "A Biblical Approach to Mental Illness" 

2:22 Dependence on Christ because I am weak and I need a Savior. Jesus went through the frailty of being human but not the depravity. Looking for an answer to their sorrow (Berger)

5:30 Living in the power of Christ right now if we are regenerate- a new creation in Christ - it's not my power (Ham)

7:45 Delusion is the secular word; madness is the biblical word. What is the difference? What is the living scientific evidence that the power of God changes people? (Berger)

10:20 Isaiah 44 and the foolishness of idolatry and the god of self (Shaw)

12:20 Understanding our fragile nature (physically) and the lusts of the flesh and our desperate need for a Savior (Berger)

16:48 Understanding our sure death is coming, billions of dollars being spent trying to deliver man – using science alone – from death, biological reductionism, but they know that death is something they cannot overcome (Shaw, Berger)

19:10 Our sin must be dealt with in order to deal with our weakness- using Christ as a false strength that is not promised by God (Ham)

20:05 Opposing the victimhood error as well (Berger, Shaw)

22:08 Giving God glory as opposed to overcoming addiction in the flesh as secularists are able to do. Giving God "weight" as Jay Younts teaches (Berger) 

Find Jay Younts' teaching on YouTube, "Every Day Thoughts" and everydaytalk247.com. 

25:14 Emphasizing the brokenness of this world (Shaw) 

26:07 What else should we emphasize as Biblical counselors?

27:35 A Biblical look at sorrow, hopelessness, and guilt (Berger)

29:30 God can use these evil horrific circumstances in a redemptive way -- not that it is a good thing, but that the head of Satan is crushed (Shaw and Ham)

31:09 Maturity and understanding suffering (Shaw)

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (ESV) [1]

Dr. Mark E. Shaw, Director of Counseling at Grace Fellowship Church, with Dr. Daniel Berger and Pastor Steve Ham. This series begins laying the groundwork for the advanced track of the conference. Dr. Mark E. Shaw, Director of Counseling, Grace Fellowship Church, Florence, KY; Founder of The Addiction Connection.  Dr. Daniel Berger, Pastor of Faith Fellowship Church, Clarence, NY; Founder and director of Alethia International Ministries (AIM); and serves as Director of Faith Biblical Counseling Center. Pastor Steve Ham is the Pastor of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

[1] Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

Grace Fellowship Church Counseling and Discipleship Training 2021 pre-conference conversations. Find more here: www.graceky.org/CDT

"A Biblical Approach to Mental Illness" – This series lays the groundwork for the advanced track of the conference.

Dr. Mark E. Shaw, Director of Counseling, Grace Fellowship Church, Florence, KY; Founder of The Addiction Connection. Dr. Daniel Berger, Pastor of Faith Fellowship Church, Clarence, NY; Founder and Director of Alethia International Ministries (AIM); and serves as Director of Faith Biblical Counseling Center. Pastor Steve Ham is the Pastor of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

This conversation focuses on laying the groundwork for the topic of the advanced track of the Counseling and Discipleship Training at Grace Fellowship Church in Florence, KY. This bonus material is available in video format when you register for the CDT conference. You can find out more at graceky.org/CDT and register to attend in person (or even register for the online option.)

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) ESV [1]

2:50 Has the idea of biblical human weakness been neglected somewhat in biblical counseling? (Berger)

4:19 Do "good people" become insane with the first use of a substance? And how did the second step attempt to further this construct? (Shaw)

6:13 What is the proper biblical lens for asking the question "what is normal?" (Berger)

7:20 What is the meaning of the word 'weakness' in the Greek New Testament? (Berger)

8:00 Ecclesiastes 9:3 "This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead." (ESV) [1]

8:19 A description of everything that is in a Genesis 3 world, and the fragility of humanity. (Ham)

10:00 "We underestimate the absolute devastation that it is morally, spiritually, in our lives under the sun without Christ." (Ham)

10:28 Ecclesiastes 9:4 "But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion." (ESV) [1]

11:30 What is our normal and what is our restored ultimate reality? (Berger)

12:10 "None of us like to stop throughout the day and say, I'm headed to death... Humanism teaches us to think we are strong. They are teaching little girls to have that mentality, "I'm a strong woman, I'm a strong girl." And then when life exposes that's not true they start thinking they're disordered." (Berger)

14:10 What are the Biblical counseling applications for the reality of fragility? (Shaw+ Berger)

16:45 Restore me to sanity or ...? (Is this insanity or is it depravity...) (Berger and Shaw)

17:10 The mind of Christ and taking thoughts captive as it applies to this truth for all sin and for all those who struggle with addiction

18:30 The spiritual reality of the only strength we can have... (Ham)

20:31 In repentance and rest there is strength... (Berger)

[1] Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one-half of any book of the ESV Bible.

Grace Fellowship Church Counseling and Discipleship Training Sept 16-18, 2021 pre-conference conversations. Find out more: graceky.org/CDT

Dr. Mark E. Shaw, Director of Counseling at Grace Fellowship Church, discusses "A Biblical Approach to Mental Illness" with Dr. Daniel Berger and Pastor Steve Ham. This series begins laying the groundwork for the advanced track of the conference. Dr. Mark E. Shaw, Director of Counseling, Grace Fellowship Church, Florence, KY; Founder of The Addiction Connection. Dr. Daniel Berger, Pastor of Faith Fellowship Church, Clarence, NY; Founder and director of Alethia International Ministries (AIM); and serves as Director of Faith Biblical Counseling Center. Pastor Steve Ham is the Pastor of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

2:25 Double-mindedness in the Christians who find what the church offers to be lacking and so they search elsewhere for answers (Berger)

5:15 The essential aspect of Data gathering and Reorientation of worldview in biblical counseling (Ham)

7:00 Connection between worldview and racism, and Darwinian teaching (Ham)

10:30 Racist, racism, and the belief in races instead of the human race implies a hierarchy (Berger)

12:10 Psychiatry is founded upon finding differences; creating healthy and unhealthy within their own worldview (Berger)

13:20 Benjamin Rush and the eugenic theory of darker skin color being a result of leprosy

14:45 Eugenics vs. genetics (Berger and Ham)

18:00 What is Pastor Ham's encouragement to pastors and biblical counselors regarding interacting with those with a lot of education who hold different world views?

20:10 What is Dr. Daniel Berger's encouragement to all Christians?

20:45 Why the Gospel must be front and center in all discussions of worldview (Ham)

Part 1 of the series of pre-conference conversations for the 2021 Grace Fellowship Church Counseling and Discipleship Training. These conversations lay the groundwork for the Advanced Track of the conference. Dr. Shaw discusses "A Biblical Approach to Mental Illness" with Dr. Daniel Berger and Pastor Steve Ham.

Dr. Mark E. Shaw, Director of Counseling, Grace Fellowship Church, Florence, KY; Founder of The Addiction Connection. Dr. Daniel Berger, Pastor of Faith Fellowship Church, Clarence, NY; Founder and Director of Alethia International Ministries (AIM); and serves as Director of Faith Biblical Counseling Center. Steve Ham is pastor of Hyde Park Baptist Church, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

3:05 Why is biblical creation vital to believe and why should biblical counselors be skilled in communicating it to counselees?

6:32 How does the devil attack and try to undermine anthropology, ontology, epistemology all in Genesis 3?

10:25 Psalm 73 and what biblical counselors must stand upon

12:29 A preview of the importance of worldview and phenomenology in layman's terms (Dr. Berger)

15:55 Sufficiency of Scripture in counseling (Pastor Ham)

23:15 What does science say? (Pastor Ham)

23:45 Biological causes and behavioral choices - how can we tell the difference? (Dr. Berger)

27:10 Defining terms - science, evidence, reality, repeatable, observable and provable (Pastor Ham)

30:40 Moving counselees from a different worldview and belief system toward a biblical worldview (Pastor Ham)

33:40 The hopelessness of the message sent to hurting people that they are only a product of your own chemicals