A Word from the Fellas...

Hello, my name is Gavin. I am currently a resident at FDC. There are so many blessings that God has bestowed upon me since I decided to listen to Him. First and foremost, I am sober, safe, and developing a relationship with Christ. I am learning how to apply the Bible and the words of the gospel to everyday life. Gratefully, I am finding my identity in Christ and growing to learn who I am as an individual. None of this would have been possible without the grace of having a place like FDC to go to. I firmly believe that without, I surely would only be sober by being incarcerated or worse had I not been welcomed with such caring and open arms.  

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FDC has provided me a place to come to so I can find confidence in who I am in Christ. Through everyone’s efforts at the Center, I am learning what it means to walk in the light and to live in the spirit, and every day that goes by and the more I learn God’s word, the light in me is getting brighter. 

All I have to do it get out of the way to let God be God and let Him work in me so someday He can work through me. I’m excited to be a child of God, learning to be a man of faith so that someday I’ll be a warrior for Christ. 

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.”  - 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV

Casey

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Mountains and Valleys (Part 1)

Shawn Bram

FDC Committee member

Our mindset in America and in the American church is that more is always good. More is always better. Thus:

• Fervent prayer = how passionate and emotional we are

That is how we are trained. We fall into the trap of performance so often in our walk with God.

There are times in our lives that we struggle, we travail... life can be painful and laborious. Pleading, seeking, crying out at the throne of mercy. There are times like this. This is God bringing us into the fellowship of his suffering.

You see, so often we take our performance, our experience, and we turn that into our religion. We think it has to be a progression; it's got to be progressive. We set a standard. We like it to be a routine, for our walk to be in a box and always moving in a straight line. We are linear-minded people. We put a standard on our sanctification that matches the world’s standards of success or "improvement", so I think, “Since I prayed 15 minutes yesterday, then tomorrow I have to pray 20 minutes” or, “If I cried yesterday... then I have to weep today.” Why do we have to make a routine or a standard out of our walk with the Lord? Why can't it be a season that God was working in a certain way in our lives? Why can't I be ok with how God moved me then? God brought me through a season then and a new season now. I often make a religion out of my performance, thinking, “If my experience is not at least what it was or more, then something must be wrong.”

We can't put a monopoly on God's sanctification process. We get caught up in progressive sanctification. Maybe we see ourselves as regressing. Maybe we see things in our lives that we don't like and it concerns us, thinking things like, "I shouldn't be struggling with this, I should have this licked already, what is the deal?" If you are anything like me, this can get pretty discouraging, maybe downright depressing. Why is this happening? Why am I struggling with this attitude, this hard heart? Aren't I a "better" Christian than this? Shouldn't I be more "mature" than this?

Could it be that this means we are in the Refiner’s Fire? If we don't see impurities rising to the top of our lives, maybe that is when we should be worried?

We think progression is seeing less issues in our lives; if we see more issues we think digress.

God is a consuming fire. Growing, being in His Word, living in obedience is entering into that Consuming Fire.

Spiritual pride wants to look at how well we are doing: "Well I haven't done that in a year; I haven't thought that in a month; I haven't said that in a few weeks; I have read my Bible every day for three years; I've spent an hour in prayer every morning for the last two weeks..." Take heed lest ye fall. The "time" game can be a trap. Stop counting time, stop counting years. The fact that any one of us can go 10 minutes without sin is a miracle.

Struggle in this battle is an occasion for rejoicing. We often consider and meditate on the fact that we have faith in God. Have we considered that God has faith in us? God certainly had faith in Job. God brings us to the valley's to build that faith. He has faith in us that we will stand. We are so bent on concentrating on drumming up the mustard seed. God wants to show us what He can do with us.

There are times in our lives that God takes us up on the mountain tops and oh, what a glorious time that is. LIGHT, GLORY, RAPTURE... He reveals that side of Himself to us.Yet the truth of scripture tells us that anything He shows us only becomes a reality in our lives when it is tested. Could it be that God wants to see the faith that He put in us? He wants us to see that it is real and effective and not just an experience:

“Will you worship Me in the valley, Shawn?”

“Will you worship Me in the desert, Shawn?”

“What will you do with those blessings I gave you, Shawn?”

We serve God on our feet, we come to know Him on our face. These lessons are priceless.

[To be continued next newsletter]

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The Importance of Accountability

Dennis Backes

FDC Director

We can never make more progress in our recovery when we are isolated from others. Developing healthy relationships goes right along with turning our lives over to God. On my own, I'm my worst enemy. My dependencies are crazy strong, and when I think "I" can do this, I'm putting myself right where the enemy wants me. By myself! God made us to live in Community (the Church), and gave us at FDC classes, times of fellowship, and mentors so we don't have to be without accountability and so we will have brothers in Christ to call at 10:00 pm if we need it! By depending on others, we are much stronger and don't have to fight alone (Ecc. 4:9-10). I thank all my brothers out there that I know I can depend on to hold me up in times of weakness. Part of this came from a book that my dear friends Roger and Marsha teach out of at an accountability class called Prevent Relapse at the Evangelical Free Church in Oelwein. I think classes like what they teach are so important to our recovery from any addictions. Thank you, Roger and Marsha, for all you do, and taking time out of your lives for so many others. It keeps me and many others accountable. It's by the Grace of God I am clean and sober today and my accountability partners and mentors help me remember that. Thank you! I want to thank all of you out there who so selflessly donate to keep the FDC ministry alive and going, and another thank you to all our teachers who take time out of their busy day or night to spend at FDC! God Bless you all.

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Committee Corner

As you have read, we have 2 new residents - Gavin and Casey (Hi Guys!). Please add them to your prayer list as this is always a trying time for men when they finally give up what Satan has always wanted them to do, and he does not give up. The other news on the resident front is that Nate has a great job and is coming closer to his graduation from FDC. This is the home stretch for him, so he could use lots of prayer that God would keep him focused on the Savior and doing the right things.

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FDC has had a 15-passenger van for some time and unfortunately, it decided enough was enough. We are in need of a new vehicle to transport everyone. To that end, FDC would like to announce:

A BARBECUE!!

Saturday, March 22, 2025 ,5 - 7 PM, Evangelical Free Church

225 20th St. SE Oelwein, Iowa

Nothing like a bit of summery goodness in early spring! Come enjoy some barbecue with all of us at FDC and EFCO, meet Dennis and the fellas, along with the many volunteers that help make FDC go. We will be accepting free will donations and the proceeds will be put specifically toward the purchase of a new vehicle. Sorry, there will not be carryout available, but come join us and see what God has done in the lives of men.