Don Steve with producer, Bob Denney
Internet TV Programs
Weekly programs are being produced at the new IAM tv studio in Pigeon Forge, TN. The episodes are broadcast live on this internet (and Roku) TV station. There are now two GFI programs: Don Steve’s “Uncommon Recovery” (usually Thursday mornings at 9:45 and 10:30) and John Woodward’s “Glimpses of Grace” (usually Friday mornings at 9:45 and 10:30). See www.facebook.com/iamtv.us/ for these live and recorded videos.
We’re thankful for a good “Navigating the Recovery Journey” seminar at Annandale, Virginia on June 8th. Some of the leaders came from Iowa and Missouri who had benefited from Dr. Solomon’s training decades ago. And we also had some in their 20’s who were relatively new to the Galatians 2:20 Counseling approach. Thanks to Ray and team for their hosting and hospitality!
New Life Community Church – Elgin hosted a GFI Grace 220 seminar/workshop May 17,18 in Illinois. We’re thankful for about 40 who attended the Friday night meeting and 27 who participated in the workshop on Saturday. God bless the Soul Care ministries of that network of churches!
A photo album of Spring GFI ministry activities is online here: https://gfiworld.shutterfly.com/pictures
A Grace Fellowship seminar was presented in Ohio on Saturday, April 27th: Living Grace: Entering into the Wonder of the Christ Life. The event related Christ-centered discipleship to the ministry of soul care. It was hosted hosted by Parkside Church in Chagrin Falls. The content of this seminar is expanded in John Woodward’s Christ is Life Conference, which is available on audio CD in GFI’s store. We give thanks for the 70 who attended and for the organizing committee (pictured here).
Last Friday Charles Solomon recorded a testimony at the IAm tv studio in Pigeon Forge, TN. He begins with a poem that he wrote about the effects of Parkinson’s disease, then presses on to tell about his spiritual journey and the launch of Grace Fellowship International. The video has been posted on GFI’s video channel:
Looking Back and Ahead: A Testimony of God’s Faithful Intervention
The Spring edition of Glimpses of Grace (Grace Fellowship’s printed newsletter) was mailed out last week.
A PDF copy is available to download at the Newsletters page.
John Woodward had the opportunity to present an Exchanged Life Seminar in Litchfield Park, Arizona last Saturday. About 35 people attended. It was also an opportunity to meet and network with Lee Turner (Grace Discipleship Ministries), John & Sharon Lynch (Freedom Foundation Fellowship), Linda Gammon (Cross to Life Discipleship Ministries) and some from Victorious Christian Living International. John Lynch and Susan Bates gave testimonies. A big thanks to the team who sponsored and hosted the ministry weekend there.
Faith Radio in Minneapolis, Minnesota broadcasts a weekday program, “Afternoons with Bill Arnold.” On April 5th Bill invited John Woodward to return to this program for a conversation about Christ-centered discipleship:
“In this pain-filled world, young people are looking for help, connection, and healing. Dr. Alex McFarland reveals why only Jesus can take away our pain. Then we learn to reject the lies of our past and walk forward in victory with Dr. John Woodward of Grace Fellowship International.”
The audio recording of the broadcast is online here: myfaithradio.com/program_podcast/jesus-hope-learning-live-victoriously/
Pastors Conference Group – Malawi, Africa
Last month our Grace Fellowship associates, Hans and Elly Timmermans, had a fruitful trip to their mission base in Malawi, Africa. They report:
“…During the team meetings we talked about the future of the DCI work in Malawi. The work is growing so quickly it is hard for the Team to keep up. They are sending New Testaments and Discipleship materials in large quantities to the various coaches. For example, there were 21 coaches at the conference. Those 21 had 32 coaches under them and 913 Life Groups. Eight other coaches did not attend the conference, but they also have trained coaches to help with the large numbers of Life Groups. These 21 coaches took 3000 ShareWord New Testaments and an equal amount of discipling materials back to their areas to begin discipling people who have been waiting for these materials…
“We were blessed to meet these brothers and sisters again, some go back to 2011 and 2012 when we began the DCI work in a more focused way. God is saving a people in Malawi. We estimate somewhere from 25,000 – 40,000 people are involved in the DCI discipleship, looking intentionally for others to disciple. Churches are being planted by the leaders the DCI Team has trained. The work is growing in ways and directions that the DCI Team could never have envisioned, but the Holy Spirit is guiding His people to where the Good News can take root and flourish.
Charles Ambaka, the Grace Fellowship International Africa director from Kenya, came and taught the exchanged life for three mornings and the teaching was received with joy and even tears…
Read the full report at DCImalawi.com
Rev. Don Steve M.A.B.C.
Director of Recovery Ministries, Grace Fellowship International
Proponents of the medical model of addiction view, broadly speaking, addiction as a disease that has biological, neurological, genetic, and environmental sources of origin. Recently much focus has been given to the neurological components of addiction as foundational to understanding addiction. Science has found that the brain literally rewires itself to produce neurological desire for the object of the addictive behavior. The driving force of the addictive pattern is thus assumed to be the neurologically altered brain.
There are at least two errant assumptions in this view.
The first is that the brain is the foundation of (or the center of) human motivation. This would be a logical conclusion for those who only accept material realities. However, human beings are not simply the composite of their physiological components. Man is body, soul, and spirit (1 Thess. 5:23 and Heb. 4:12). Biblically speaking the foundational part of man is the human spirit. It is the condition of the human spirit with respect to the life of God that is most relevant to human wholeness and healing. This is why Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again (John 3:3-8). Jesus, the consummate Healer, refuses to simply treat symptoms. In order to set the captives free Jesus’ finished work had to include an eternal, comprehensive, spirit fix for those willing to receive it by faith. Christ gives new life (His very life), through the union of the Holy Spirit with our human spirit to the believer the moment faith is exercised in His redemptive work (John 3:36). He changes us from spirit beings completely void of His life to spirit beings possessing of all of His life (Eph. 2:4&5).
Read the rest of this article at Don’s blog: UncommonRecovery.org
