A time to speak

I took a tour of America's Keswick, a Bible-based addictions recovery ministry in Whiting, New Jersey, near the shore. Dina, the staff writer, told me about Bill P., who showed up at Keswick with the double problem of drug addiction and homosexuality --- except he didn't see the homosexuality as a problem.

Counselor Jim F. wasn't sure how to handle it. Should he tell Bill in no uncertain terms that he was not welcome to the four-month program unless he was seeking to be free of both? He could have gone that route and been within his rights. But Jim decided to welcome Bill and handed him a Bible and suggested the newcomer read for himself what the Bible says God requires.

Bill read, and came to repudiate the gay lifestyle on his own. He later said that the highhanded approach would have made him pack up and leave the first night.

Today Bill is free of addiction to drugs and homosexuality and is part of the family of instructors at America' s Keswick. There are several different ways you can handle any given counseling situation, but just as I'm learning on my Jetta that only experience teaches smooth gear shifting, only experience walking with the Holy Spirit gives discernment as to which tactic is best (Hebrews 5:14).