Newsletter page 2

HAVE YOU EVER
THOUGHT ABOUT?

Have you ever thought about why alcoholism or drug addiction is called a disease? The term is actually an oxymoron. In all substance abuse treatment, the clients are instructed to work at changing people, places and things. They are to find new friends, go to different places and do different things. This is their formula for successfully breaking their addiction to harmful substances. Do you think this formula would work with any other “disease?” Could anyone practice this formula and rid himself of cancer, heart problems or even the mumps?

“The mind cannot really become diseased any more than the intellect can become abscessed. Furthermore, the idea that mental “diseases” are actually brain diseases creates a strange category of “diseases” which are, by definition, without known causes. Body and behavior become intertwined in this confusion until they are no longer distinguishable. It is necessary to return to first principles: A disease is something you have, behavior is something you do.” (Emphasis mine)

E. Fuller Torrey (Research psychiatrist,) The Death of Psychiatry. Radnor: Chilton Book Company, 1974, p.40.

REC-ROOM MESSAGES ON THE INTERNET

In 2003 we began a weekly meeting we called the REC-Room (REC meaning Re-Entry Chapel.) Through the LOOPS in-prison seminars we learned that many people who became Christians in prison were prone to return to the old life after being released. Since most of the new Christians were not from church backgrounds, they had no idea of what to look for in a church. With the help of some ex-inmates we started a weekly meeting that was to be a bridge to local churches. The meeting consists of refreshments, music, a speaker and fellowship. Along with presenting the gospel, we worked at finding employment opportunities, vocational training, transportation and financial assistance.

Northside Bible Church in Oklahoma City asked us to tape these programs and they are now placing them on their website, RightDivision.com. You can find the programs under the Leland Maples Audio Lessons link:

http://rightdivision.com/users/leland-maples
and at
http://LOOPS Internet Messages Right Division

SPECIAL NOTE FOR CORRESPONDENCE
COURSE STUDENTS
Please write your name on each page of your correspondence course lessons and put your name and address on the envelope. Sometimes the envelopes become detached; if you are missing a set of lessons, please contact us.