Foreword by Dr. Wayne Mack

No matter where you travel in the world you will find that there are certain problems that human beings encounter that are not limited to people of certain cultures, nationalities, economic or educational status, race or gender. One of them is the problem of drug abuse on which this book focuses. In this book, Alan Lester helpfully describes what the person who is enslaved to drugs is experiencing; the nature and causes of drug addiction and then provides a biblically based practical solution to the problem. All of this will be useful to the person struggling with the problem and also to those who want to help the drug abuser to overcome the problem. Much of what is written in this tome is addressed to the person struggling with the drug abuse issue. Hence, you will frequently find the author using the word "you". So this is the kind of book that a person who is addicted to drugs should carefully read. Nevertheless, the information found in this volume will be equally valuable for anyone who wants to be more effective in helping people to put off their enslavement to drugs. The approach Alan Lester explains and recommends in this book is not merely a behavioristic, moralistic or simplistic approach. He gives insights and perspectives that go to the root of the problem in a thoroughly biblical and very practical way. One of the things that makes this book unique is the fact that the perspectives on drug abuse presented in it are in keeping with a biblical anthropology. As you read through this volume, you will find solid material that exposes the inaccuracy of the very popular concept that alcoholism and drug abuse are genetic in origin or that they are to be regarded as a disease. Furthermore, since accurately defining a problem is essential for solving a problem, Alan presents a clear, convincing and accurate biblical definition of the true nature of drug abuse. Another valuable factor for dealing successfully with the problem of drug abuse provided by this book is having an understanding of the characteristics of the person who is most likely to become enslaved to this kind of addiction. One of the caricatures that is often given of those who reject the popular ideas about drug abuse and insist on using a biblical approach is that all they do is call it a sin and therefore give very superficial and unhelpful counsel. Anyone who will carefully read this book will understand that effectively promoting biblical change involves much more than that. They will be encouraged to facilitate what I call in the biblical counseling courses I teach the key elements of the biblical counseling process. The material found in this manuscript will emphasize and illustrate factors that will provide hope for change, the importance of gathering sufficient information about the person and properly interpreting what the data indicates about the person and his problem. It will also clarify the kinds of instruction a drug abuser needs; the kind of commitment he must make as well as give many valuable strategies and practical ideas for putting off the enslavement to drugs and putting on a new pattern of freedom and godly living. I commend Alan Lester for providing the material found in this volume on what has become and is becoming even more so a very common and destructive problem. I am grateful that throughout this book he has manifested an unswerving confidence and unshakable trust in the practical reliability and sufficiency of God's Word. In this manuscript your attention will be redirected away from the failed and flawed human solutions to the infallible Word of God. It does not float one more theory in an endless barrage of theories on how to solve the problem of drug addiction. Rather, it points to the certainty of God's eternal truth as the absolute basis by which to live and succeed.