by Tad Lindley
Some of you read my title and are hoping that I’m going to tell some way to get ahold of elephant tranquilizer or some other drug that is even more powerful than heroin. If that’s what you’re hoping for, keep reading. It’s not what I’m going to talk about, but keep reading anyway.
Forget about the word “addiction”
For a moment, let’s forget about the word “addiction”. That can be a stumbling block. Lots of folks whom the medical field calls “drug addicts” know good and well that they can quit whenever they want to. They just don’t want to. And on top of it, any heroin user can tell you that the withdrawals make it hard to want to quit. So I am not going to argue with you about whether you are a heroin addict or not.
The true cost of heroin
Since I have not taken illegal drugs in over 30 years, I am out of touch with how much they cost. I don’t even know what a person calls heroin when they show up at the shooting gallery to get a fix. I do know this though, the cost is way more than $100 a point or whatever you are paying for it. Some of you will shoot through your PFD and your kids PFDs in less than a week, but that is not the true cost. The true cost is when they walk in on you shooting up in the bedroom or come home from school to find you nodding off on the couch with a needle still in your arm. The true cost is all of the family members and neighbors that you have betrayed when you stole berries, or guns, or money so that you score another point. The true cost is the soul passing out into eternity lost, into a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28).
You need something stronger than heroin
If you are tired of paying the true cost of heroin, and afraid of someday soon paying the ultimate price for heroin, then you need something stronger than heroin. I’m not talking about weaning yourself off with methadone or leaving snail trails on aluminum foil with pharmaceuticals. I’m not talking about oxycontin or fentanyl. I got something that is way stronger than that. I’m talking about the one who made the poppy plant in the first place. And not only did he do that, but he is the maker of heaven and earth. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:3). If there is anything on earth that is more powerful than heroin, it is Jesus.
Check out how strong Jesus is
He can cast out demons (Mark 1:21-28). Jesus healed the sick (Luke 4:40-41). He healed leprosy (Luke 5:12-15). They brought a paralyzed man to him on a stretcher, and the man left on his own two feet (Mark 2:1-12). He can even raise the dead to life again (John 11:43-44). At Corinth he delivered people from addictions, from sexual perversions, from crime and all types of corruption (I Corinthians 6:9-12). And down through the ages He has continued to do the same.
Bro. Nieman got on something stronger than heroin
My friend Andy Nieman was a homeless heroin addict on the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia. Then he found something stronger than heroin. Today he is a licensed minister, pastoring a church in Carmacks, Yukon Territory. Although he spent much time in and out of jail in his old life, since he found something stronger than heroin he has even baptized a police officer.
Addicted to Jesus
The bible talks about being addicted to the ministry of the saints (I Corinthians 16:15). Now I wish I could tell you that all you needed to do is to “accept the Lord Jesus as your personal savior” and repeat a prayer with me, but that is not from the Bible, that is from modern day Protestantism. In the Bible, from day one the church preached the message of the name of Jesus Christ, and when people believed the preaching of the power of Jesus Christ they repented of their sins and were baptized both men and women (see Acts 8:12). Furthermore, it is very important to note that they were baptized “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (see Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5), neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). And finally I would urge you to turn your attention fully upon the first church sermon ever preached. Then Peter said unto them, “Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins [including heroin], and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). In baptism we put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). And when we receive the Holy Ghost (like they did in Acts 2:4, 10:45, and 19:6) God gives us the ability to walk away from the sins of the past and to rise up in him a new creation.
If you need something stronger than heroin, He is here right now, reach out and touch him with the cry of your heart.
Reverend Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.
