August 6, 2024 Show with Michael Ray Dixon on “Hope for the Addicted Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ”

The Radio Show Opens and the Guest’s Testimony of Deliverance

Live from historic downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, home of founding father James Wilson, 19th century hymn writer George Duffield, 19th century gospel minister George Norcross, and sports legend Jim Thorpe.

It's Iron Sharpens Iron. This is a radio platform in which pastors, Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today. Proverbs, chapter 27, verse 17, tells us iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Matthew Henry said that in this passage, we are cautioned to take heed with whom we converse and directed to have in view in conversation to make one another wiser and better. It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next two hours, and we hope to hear from you, the listener, with your own questions.

And now, here's your host, Chris Arnzen.

Good afternoon, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity living on the planet Earth. We're listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com. This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Tuesday on this sixth day of August 2024.

Before I introduce to you my guests for the day and our topic, I have some important reminders for you. All men in ministry leadership are invited to the next free, biannual Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Pastors Luncheon to be held on Thursday, October 10th, 11 a .m. to 2 p .m. at Church of the Living Christ in Loisville, Pennsylvania.

We are featuring for the very first time our keynote speaker, Dr. Joe Boot. He is an author and the founder and president of the Ezra Institute, and I am very excited that he has accepted my invitation to be the speaker this October.

And not only is your admission free and your time of hearing what will no doubt be a powerful and edifying and encouraging message from Dr. Boot free, and your time of rest, relaxation, refreshment, fun, feasting, and fellowship all free, everyone who attends will receive a free heavy sack of brand new books personally selected by me and donated by Christian publishers all over the United States and United Kingdom.

So if you would like to attend this free, biannual Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Pastors Luncheon, if you are a man in ministry leadership, send me an email to chrisarnsen at gmail .com, C-H-R-I-S-A-R-N-Z-E-N at gmail .com, and put Pastors Luncheon in the subject line and you will be registered automatically absolutely free.

But I am excited to have a returning guest on the program, and it's very important to me to have him on because of the subject matter. As most, if not all, of my Iron Sharpens Iron Radio listeners know, especially those that listen regularly, I am someone who was rescued by the mercy and kindness and grace of our sovereign Lord, God, Savior, and King, Jesus Christ, out of enslavement, out from enslavement to the addiction of alcohol.

And one of the instruments that our sovereign Lord used in his hands to bring me to that point of repentance was a ministry called Hebron Colony in Boone, North Carolina. And I can never stop singing the praises of Hebron Colony.

In fact, if you know of anybody who needs to be admitted into a Christian addiction recovery ministry, the website for Hebron Colony is hebroncolony .org, hebroncolony .org, and tell them that you heard about them from Chris Orensen of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, a former resident there.

But the director of that wonderful ministry, Don Holder, a number of years ago said, you should interview my friend Michael Dixon, and he is involved with trying to bring addicts into a state of recovery and repentance and sobriety.

And he has written a book, and I am thrilled that for the second time we have Pastor Michael Dixon returning to the program, and he's here to discuss a new development in his mission to serve as an ambassador for Jesus Christ to those addicts seeking recovery, restoration and sobriety.

Michael Dixon is the founder and executive director of Life Ministries, and we're going to be addressing hope for the addicted through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back after many years to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Michael Dixon.

Thank you, Chris. It's so good to be back on your show today, and what a perfect afternoon. It's raining here in eastern North Carolina, so I'm sitting in my office, and what a wonderful topic to talk about the power of the gospel to set the captive free.

Thank you, my brother.

Amen. Well, thank you. And first of all, tell us about this Life Ministry and what that acronym stands for, L-I-F-E, because I understand it's more than just the word, which is a wonderful word, life, but the letters actually stand for something.

That's right. Life stands for living in freedom every day. It's based on something Jesus said, recorded in the gospel of John, chapter 10 and verse 10. Jesus said, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I've come to give life and to give it more abundantly.

And so, L-I-F-E, it stands for that abundant life that Christ offers. And what we do in the Life Program is we want to help men and women understand how they can enter into that abundant life and how they can thrive there.

You know, God offers us a new chance. He's the only one really that can bring us lasting hope in this world around us. There is no hope outside of Christ. I have been walking with the Lord now for almost 37 years.

Last 32 years, I've been a full-time pastor in the state of North Carolina. If I could rewind things all the way back to 38 years ago, Chris, my story is probably much like yours. I found myself addicted to alcohol and to drugs at 27 years old when I surrendered and stopped running from Christ and just took my life off my brokenness.

The Holy Spirit began to transform me and called me into ministry. And it's just amazing what the power of God can do in a life that just simply surrenders to him. And, you know, so many things the world says there's no hope for, like addiction.

Well, God says something totally different than that. God offers that hope. And, you know, I'm hoping on this program today that I know there's somebody listening who's struggling. There could be somebody listening who has given up hope a long time ago, and maybe they have believed the lies of the world that wants an addict, always an addict, or wants an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.

You and I, brother, are living testimonies of the fact that God says otherwise and God's able to do otherwise. He's able to break the chains that bind us. And so I started Life Ministries back in 2017 as I was pastoring a church in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

And the ministry really was birthed out of the need that we had in our community for a good, solid, Christ-centered addiction recovery program. And so as we began that program in Rocky Mount, which is Edgecombe County in North Carolina, the Lord just continued to grow it.

And now we're a 501c3 nonprofit. We've got various chapters that meet in different counties on a weekly basis, on a regular basis. We do referrals into detox programs, residential programs. Hebron Colony is one of the ones on top of my list as far as referring men into residential programs.

Don Holder is a good friend of mine doing an amazing work there at Hebron Colony. A Bethel Colony in Lenore, North Carolina as well. Paul Pruitt, he's a good friend of mine. There's Freedom Farm Ministries in Boone.

Jim Quigley is the director there, another good friend of mine. But we help connect the dots for people that are struggling under addiction. And addiction doesn't have to be drugs or alcohol. There's all types of addictions that people get bound up in as far as strongholds are concerned.

But we want to help them find the hope that's in the gospel of Christ. Again, how they can enter into that abundant life, that full life, and how they can live there. So for everyone listening today, and maybe after this broadcast, you're listening online, there's hope for you.

If you put your faith in one who created you, he's able to break the bonds that are binding you. Whether it's drugs, alcohol, pornography, gambling, food addictions, whatever that addiction may be, God has the power and the hope that we need.

Salvation Testimony and the Power of the Gospel to Break Addiction

Well, if you could, we usually only ask this of first-time guests. Since it's been so long since you've been on the program, if you could give us a summary of your salvation testimony and more of the details on how, in the state of your enslavement to booze, you were presented with the hope of Jesus Christ and under what providential circumstances you came to embrace that one and only hope and were saved and delivered.

Yes, I grew up in eastern North Carolina, wonderful family. My mother was a strong believer. God has used my mama in my life, in areas of faith, and to bring me where I am more so than any other person.

So even growing up, my mother made sure I knew who Jesus was, and she made sure me and my two brothers went to church. So those seeds were planted in my heart at a very early age, way back, even as far back as I can remember growing up.

I'm very thankful for that. But as I grew as a boy, the world has a way of sinning against us. We're in a broken world, and we don't have to look far to see evidence of that. But we're always sinned against.

Sin brings pain and trauma. When I was just a little boy, seven, eight, nine, ten years old, I was sexually molested by an extended family member for a period of years. I never told anybody growing up.

The one that was the offender convinced me, and I told myself that it's just the way life is. I just need to shove it down deep and deal with it and move on. And so all that pain, I didn't know as a little boy how that was going to affect me as I began to grow older.

But there was so much emotional pain, so many scars down deep inside. I had a terrible speech impairment when I was in first grade. My speech was so bad, my own grandmother couldn't understand anything.

I'd go to her and try to tell her my mom and dad put me in speech therapy. So all those things kind of played a part. Where I got into 12, 13, 14 years old, I just had so much pain inside emotionally, and I didn't know what to do with the pain.

And so as the case is with many people that get tied up in substance abuse addictions, I just began to try to self-medicate. Anything that I could do or put into my body in jest that offered me some period of comfort, and just to kind of check out and not feel the pain anymore, I was willing to do that.

So as the story is with a lot of people that get addicted to substances, I started smoking pot probably 14, 15 years old. That quickly progressed into stealing prescription drugs. Back in the 70s, Valium was a hot prescription drug.

And I had buddies whose mothers and grandmothers had plenty of Valium, and so there was an endless supply through medicine cabinets of friends. But I remember one night at a party, I was 15 years old, and I remember stealing 15, 10 milligram Valium, putting them in my pocket.

And the last thing I remember is drinking one beer at a party at 15 years old. And about 30 hours later, I woke up at home. I couldn't remember how I got home or what had transpired in between that time.

My buddies would tell me later, they looked over at me and I was eating those Valium like they were M &Ms, just popping them in my mouth, chewing them up. And so I took all 15, 10 milligram Valium that night.

And I guess one beer was enough to just really magnify the effects. Woke up again 30 hours later. Yeah, that's just one example of a lot of things that transpired in my life through my teenage years, right into my 20s.

When I was 21 years old, I was at odds with my mother and father. I mean, my dad did everything he could to try to yank me back in line. And my dad was the type that I felt like it was a strong arm that would correct my rebellion.

And his strong arm just made my rebellion even worse. So by the time I got 21 years old and made it out of high school, I was looking for a way out of my mom and dad's authority. I married a young girl from high school.

She was 15 years older. Daddy had to sign for her to get married. I was still in active addiction. I moved out of my parents' house, moved into her parents' house. And three, four years later, that marriage ended in a divorce.

Brother, that was the lowest time in my life emotionally. Because when I first started doing drugs, self-medicating, I promised myself I'll never be so stupid that I'll take a needle and begin to shoot up drugs.

And I just want everybody to hear this clear. The enemy will take you further than you want to go. You'll stay longer than you want to stay, and it'll cost you more than you want to pay. And at that point in my life, when my wife finally left me for the last time, I began to use a needle to shoot up dope.

And for me, it didn't matter what dope it was. If I had something at my disposal that I thought would get me high, I was willing to do it. The same offender who sexually molested me as a small child and extended family members, the same one that introduced me to drugs and alcohol, his drug of choice was an industrial chemical called tolerine, and he would huff it.

And so he got me huffing this chemical. I remember nights going to bed with a wet rag in my hand and just huffing myself to sleep. And only by the grace of God, I was able to wake up the next day, and I'm convinced it was the hand of God upon my life and one miracle after another miracle.

But when my first wife left me and I got to that place where I started using a needle to shoot up drugs, I noticed the Holy Spirit that brought me to an awareness where I began to understand what's next.

How are you going to graduate from where you are now in your drug use? And I knew what was next. If I continued on that road, I was headed to an early grave. I'd already had friends that had overdosed or gotten killed in car accidents because they were high or drunk.

So I knew what was next. And so the Holy Spirit, all through all this, was working in my heart and in my life. I knew who Jesus was. I knew where the answer was. I knew at 13 years old, God had called me into the ministry.

That's not what I wanted to do. So at 27 years old, I remarried after my first wife left me. I met a godsend in my life, Melissa. Melissa and I are still married today. But we got married and two and a half years in our marriage, I was still in active addiction.

I was a broken man. Our marriage was in trouble. And because my mother made sure I knew what the answer was, and she was still involved in my life and my wife's life, that I told my wife, I said, I'm going to church.

She had already made some steps of faith. Mom had already been working on her. The Holy Spirit had already been drawing her. And so after a lot of persistence, I wasn't going to go. Finally, in my brokenness, I told my wife, I need to go to church with you.

And we went to a midweek prayer meeting at a church. My wife and I will celebrate 39 years of marriage this coming September. And about two and a half, three years in our marriage, we went to church. I couldn't wait for the invitation to be sung.

We sat near the back of the sanctuary and man, the field was already plowed. My heart was ready. The Holy Spirit had me ready. I was just waiting. Lord, help the preacher to give an altar call. And as soon as he gave the altar call, my wife and I both got up and made our way to the front, to the altar.

No sooner, brother, had my knees hit the carpet. It felt like a thousand hands behind me on my shoulders, on my back. I turned around and looked and saw the whole congregation had just swarmed around us, me and my precious wife there at that altar.

They were laying hands on us. I would find out later that they'd been praying for us for years and in brokenness. It's like the floodgates opened. I mean, I just wept and cried and all that pain deep within that I'd shoved down for so long.

The Holy Spirit just began to draw it out. I know there had to be a big puddle of tears on that carpet when I got up off my knees that night. But when I got up off my knees, I had a power I didn't have before.

I had the power of the Holy Spirit to help me overcome. Chris, there have been a lot of times in my life, in active addiction, that I wanted to quit and I tried to quit. I tried to quit doing drugs. I tried to quit drinking.

Many times I'd wake up and my wife Melissa would be distraught. I couldn't remember where I'd been the last 24 hours or so. I promised my dear wife, I loved her then. I said, I promise you, I'm going to try harder.

I'm going to live a different kind of life. Nothing I did seemed to last any more than three or four days. But at 27 years old, when I got up off my knees at that altar, from that point on, there's been no turning back.

I know for a lot of people that struggle with addiction, relapse is part of their story. But for me, I didn't have any relapses. It's not because I didn't want to. And it's not because I wasn't tempted to, because I was.

But I had to take it just one day at a time, one step at a time. We immediately got plugged into a Bible-believing church, surrounded ourselves, people, places, things that were going to encourage us to bring honor and glory to God.

And in my story, brother, the Lord brought me through about one calendar year from my addiction, from the point that I surrendered, about 12 months. And I began to realize, you know what? I don't want to go back anymore.

I don't want to go back and use. I don't want to go back to the crack houses. I don't want to go back to the bars. I don't want to go back and do drugs. The Holy Spirit had begun within me to give me a new wanter.

I like to say it like that, because I didn't want the things I used to want. And that's still true today. So God saved me. He delivered me. And He began to transform me at 27 when I simply surrendered to Him.

And He's still transforming me today, but I'm not the man I used to be. So, you know, occasionally I'll run into people and they'll try to tell me, well, you know, if you were a drug addict, you're still a drug addict, or you're still an alcoholic.

And I'm like, how can you say that when I've been walking with the Lord 37 years, no relapses. And I'm telling you in my heart, I have no desire to want to go back to that kind of life. The power of the gospel is the power to set the captive free.

I love, I love 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. God's word tells us anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.

Hallelujah.

The old life is gone. A new life has begun. That's what Christ offers. That's what God, our creator offers us. A new life, a new beginning. We can be born again. And so I know there's people listening right now.

You need to hear that message and you don't just need to hear it, but you need to receive it. And you need to reckon it to be so, because it is so. It's the truth of the word of God. And that's what God wants to do in our lives.

He wants to lead us into that place of abundance where we can thrive and not just survive.

Amen.

It's all because of God's grace and God's glory that I'm where I am.

Amen. Well, that is a precious story. I always love hearing stories like it, especially having gone through a similar journey. Although I think it is very, what's the word I'm looking for? It is not recommended to say to someone, I know exactly how you feel.

Because none of us do know exactly how somebody else feels. Even though we may have similar experiences in our lives, which is a good platform from which to comfort others with the same comfort with which we have been comforted, as the scriptures say.

And we can relate to people and have empathy. But at the same time, we should never tell somebody we know exactly how they feel. Because even though, for instance, Mike Dixon's experience is very similar to mine, there obviously would be significant differences.

But I always rejoice hearing the story of someone being redeemed from enslavement, from addiction. And we are going to our first commercial break right now. If anybody has a question of your own, send it to chrisarnzen at gmail .com.

C-H-R-I-S-A-R-N-Z-E-N at gmail .com. As always, give us your first name at least, your city and state, and your country of residence. And obviously, if you are asking a personal and private question that would compel you to remain anonymous, we will be more than happy to keep you anonymous when you ask that question.

And obviously, a topic like this may very likely evoke questions from listeners that are personal and private and would require or at least compel you to remain anonymous. But if it's a general question, please give us your first name at least, city and state, and country of residence.

We'll be right back with Michael Dixon right after these messages. Please don't go away.

The Ministry Model of Life Ministries and Its Christ-Centered Curriculum

I'm Pastor Keith Allen of Linbrook Baptist Church, a Christ-centered, gospel-driven church looking to spread the gospel in the southwest portion of Long Island, New York, and play our role in fulfilling the Great Commission, supporting and sending for the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth.

We're delighted to be a part of Chris Arnzen's Iron Sharpens Iron radio advertising family. At Linbrook Baptist Church, we believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original writings, complete as the revelation of God's will for salvation and the supreme and final authority in all matters to which they speak.

We believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This salvation is based upon the sovereign grace of God, was purchased by Christ on the cross, and is received through faith alone, apart from any human merit, works, or ritual.

Salvation in Christ also results in righteous living, good works, and appropriate respect and concern for all who bear God's image. If you live near Linbrook, Long Island, or if you're just passing through on the Lord's Day, we'd love to have you come and join us in worship.

For details, visit linbrookbaptist .org. That's l-y-n-brookbaptist .org. This is Pastor Keith Allen of Linbrook Baptist Church, reminding you that by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not a result of words, so that no one may boast of the Lord's blessing and the knowledge of himself.

I'm Pastor Bill Shishko of The Haven, an Orthodox Presbyterian church in Comac, Long Island. I hold the Iron Sharpens Iron radio program, hosted by my longtime friend and brother, Chris Arnzen, in the highest esteem, and I'm thrilled that you're listening today.

I'm also delighted that Iron Sharpens Iron is partnering with one of my favorite resources for Reformed Christian literature for decades now, Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service. Well, with the economic nightmare that we're all currently enduring, cvbbs .com, I want to enable you to build a wonderful personal library of the best literature that the Reformers, the Puritans, and the great Christian minds of today have to offer, and at affordable prices.

Not only does cvbbs .com offer up to 50 off retail prices, but you'll get an added 5 off orders of $50 or more by using promo code IRON, I-R-O-N, an added 5 off all of your orders of $50 or more from Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service.

That's cvbbs .com, making the joy of reading the finest in Christian literature more affordable. Oh, and make sure that you tell them you heard about them on Iron Sharpens Iron radio.

Greetings, this is Brian McLaughlin, president of the SecureComm Group, and supporter of Chris Arnzen's Iron Sharpens Iron radio program. SecureComm provides the highest level of security systems for residential buildings, municipalities, churches, commercial properties, and much more.

We can be reached at securecommgroup .com. That's securecommgroup .com. But today, I want to introduce you to my senior pastor, Doug McMasters of New High Park Baptist Church on Long Island.

Doug McMasters here, former director of pastoral correspondence at Grace to You, the radio ministry of John MacArthur. In the film Chariots of Fire, the Olympic gold medalist runner Eric Liddell remarked that he felt God's pleasure when he ran.

He knew his efforts sprang from the gifts and calling of God. I sense that same God-given pleasure when ministering the word and helping others gain a deeper knowledge and love for God. That love starts with the wonderful news that the Lord Jesus Christ is a savior who died for sinners, and that God forgives all who come to him in repentance, trusting solely in Christ to deliver them.

I would be delighted to have the honor and privilege of ministering to you if you live in the Long Island area, or Queens, or Brooklyn, or the Bronx, in New York City. For details on New High Park Baptist Church, visit nhpbc .com.

That's nhpbc .com. You can also call us at 516 -352 -9672. That's 516 -352 -9672. That's New High Park Baptist Church, a congregation in love with each other, passionate for Christ, committed to learning and being shaped by God's word, and delighting in the gospel of God's sovereign grace.

God bless you.

Or any one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry created exactly according to your imagination and specifications, Royal Diadem Jewelers has you covered. No matter where you live in the world, Royal Diadem will walk you step-by-step through every stage of the process, and even hold a high-tech internet virtual visit using state-of-the-art jewelry design technology to serve you.

They start by listening carefully to determine your needs. They're interested in making what you want, not what they want to sell you. From rough design to digital model, to photorealistic image, to wax prototype model, to the finished product, they're continually listening to your input, likes and dislikes, making any changes necessary along the way.

This will ensure that your custom jewelry will turn out exactly as you dreamed, and well beyond your expectations. Visit royaldiadem .com. That's royaldiadem .com today. Sterling Vandewerker, owner of Royal Diadem Jewelers, his wife, Bronnie, his business partner and manager, Brian Wilson, and the entire family, thank you all for listening to, praying for, and supporting the work of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

And don't forget, folks, in addition to the monthly financial support that royaldiadem .com already provides for Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, they are giving us a mind-blowing bonus. They are giving Iron Sharpens Iron Radio 100 of the profits from any sale of jewelry to an Iron Sharpens Iron Radio listener, simply by that listener saying, I heard about royaldiadem .com on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

So if you have any interest in purchasing jewelry for yourself or someone you love, whether it's jewelry that they already have in stock at royaldiadem .com, or if it's a one-of-a-kind customized piece of jewelry that you want created, like an engagement ring, or like taking your church logo, your parachurch ministry logo, your denomination logo, your seminary logo, your business logo, and turning it into a pendant for a necklace or a ring, or anything else your imagination or creativity can conjure up in your brain, they will take what's in your brain and turn it into a mind-blowing physical piece of jewelry.

And I've seen firsthand the mastery that they have over customizing jewelry. So whether it is something that they have in stock or a one-of-a-kind customized piece of jewelry, we will get 100 of the profits from that sale if you mention Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

I'm urging you, please, if you have any interest in purchasing jewelry, go to royaldiadem .com today. Even if you're not ready to make your final purchase today, please go to royaldiadem .com today to at least get the ball rolling on your purchase and mention Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, because we have no idea when they're going to pull the plug on us and where we will no longer be getting 100 of the profits from any sale of jewelry to our listeners.

So please go to royaldiadem .com today and mention Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. Well, we're now back with Michael Dixon, and we are talking about offering hope to those enslaved to addiction with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And Michael is also the founder and director of Life Ministries, L-I-F-E, whose website is lifeaddictionrecovery .com, lifeaddictionrecovery .com. If you have a question, submit it to chrisarensen at gmail .com, c-h-r-i-s-a-r-n-z-e-n at gmail .com.

As always, give us your first name at least, city and state and country of residence. Only remain anonymous if your question is personal and private. Before I go to any listener questions, I would like to ask you, what exactly is it that Life Ministry does?

How specifically your ministry conducts meetings and so on? And where exactly are they available? And we could go on with every detail. The time will allow us to inform our listeners up. So please tell us.

Yes, Life Ministries, again, began back in 2017 out of Rocky Mount. Part of the vision for Life Ministries is to see these chapters reproduced in communities of faith, in churches, and to have these chapters that meet on a weekly basis, not just to offer support to those that are struggling, but the most important thing we do in these chapters is we renew our minds with what God says.

You know, over and over again in scripture, we're commanded to renew our minds. Romans 12, verse two, don't be conformed to the world, be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Jesus promised in John 8, 32, would know the truth and the truth would set us free.

And so we do that by working through a 40 biblical lesson curriculum. And every week as these chapters meet in these different locations, different counties on different nights during the week, they're working through these 40 lessons.

It takes about a year for a local chapter to actually complete the 40 lessons in the curriculum in renewing our minds. And it's all about what God has to say in the word of God. So those chapters meet on a weekly basis.

We offer free meal. It's open free of charge to men and women that'll come in to our program. We have a time of worship and prayer. And then again, we work through the curriculum together in group study.

And the curriculum is designed for the student to take their workbook. We published the curriculum a few years ago. It's available on amazon .com as well as off our website at lifeaddictionrecovery .com.

But they're to work through their weekly assignment. And then when they come to the group meeting, that's the topic of discussion in that group meeting. And so all the students that come in should have already done the lesson.

So they've got input to put in as far as the group discussion is concerned. And so we have those weekly chapters. We have Narcan distributions. We keep Narcan on hand for families who have a family member that's struggling and they need to make sure that they've got Narcan on hand in case there's an opioid overdose so they can bring that person back.

We've also got an incredible ministry to those that are incarcerated. And it's amazing how God has taken this part of our ministry and really just done so much in a short period of time. We have just recently finished a 42 video curriculum of our 40 lessons that's in the regular curriculum that the chapters use took 42 videos to do it.

And they have been professionally produced. And so we have the video curriculum now that we just finished like in the last two or three weeks. And we produce this video curriculum with the intent for groups to take it, church groups or recovery groups, even individuals.

And they can take the printed workbook and the video will be a companion to it where I'm teaching through the lesson. And they can facilitate the group where I can actually teach the lesson. But God has gotten ahold of it and done something unexpected at first and amazing.

God has allowed us to join with a couple of companies to have our video curriculum downloaded on the tablets of those that are incarcerated across our nation and our local detention centers, as well as prisons across our nation.

And at first we had an agreement with the company and they said, well, we can get our curriculum on 650 ,000 tablets by the end of the year. And I was amazed at that and excited about it. So I began to pray about it and I felt like God would have me to set a goal.

So I thought I was setting a God-sized goal when I said, okay, a million, we're gonna aim to have our curriculum on a million tablets. And Chris, God stepped in and said, a million is not the goal and it's not 2 million.

By the middle of next year, we're scheduled to be on over 3 million tablets across our nation of those that are incarcerated. And those that are incarcerated get to check out these tablets free of charge.

It doesn't cost them anything. And so our curriculum, we download it on those tablets and they can actually work through it. Each one of the lessons, there's the video and then there's the text. And then there's a quiz that I've designed and inputted into the system for each lesson.

And so when they go through all 42 and they successively complete the work, the time and the quizzes, they get a certificate saying that they have successively completed the curriculum for life ministry.

So when they come up for parole, see all these things help them because they've got all this evidence. I've not wasted my time. I've tried to better myself while I've been in here, going through the life curriculum or the other ministries and resources that are also available on their tablets.

So I'm really excited about that. And that was something that God just kind of stepped in and blew up like an atomic bomb, really, because I mean, we didn't see it coming. That was a short period of time.