John was trying to live life his way, even in his recovery. However when he started to apply the details of the Gospel to his everyday life, he started to experience true life change. As he says, he began to worship his way out of addiction.

“God pursued me throughout all of my rebellion, and so I began to pursue him and I began to apply the Gospel to the details of my life.”

“For instance, in the evening when I’m putting my son to bed, I’m tired and my wife wants me to stay up and have some adult conversation with her because she’s been with the kids all day. I’m tired and I just want to go to sleep, there’s an opportunity right there for me to worship.”

“Right there’s an opportunity for me to do the self-sacrificing thing and take action; I honor my wife and honor my God. When I do that, it builds on itself, and I draw closer to Him, and that is part of the fight of addiction. It may not seem like it, but this is what gives us joy.”

“Repentance is the engine for joy in our lives. Turning away from self and toward God, that produces joy, and when we worship God in the details of our lives, we experience joy. So it becomes less about a fight for holiness than it is about an experience of joy. That’s what we call worshipping our way out of addiction.

That mindset is what fuels John’s work today at Redemption House.

“Let’s start a program where we teach people how to worship their way out of addiction, that is heart focused and Christ-centered, where we can get at what’s going on in people’s hearts you know get out those operating mechanisms in the heart, and teach people how to worship their way out of addiction.”

Living the Gospel in everyday life