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What CR Means To Me


 Editor    May 19 : 22:38
 None    CR Ministry News

My name is Robyn Soerries.

My name is Robyn Soerries. I was baptized into Christ in the San Diego Church of Christ in April, 2000. I quit smoking cigarettes one week prior to being baptized having smoked for 15 years. I had moved to California from Wichita, Kansas to get away from my life of drugs. I was a daily user of marijuana and also used cocaine weekly; daily if I could get it. I was too prideful to admit I needed help so I moved, thinking that if I didn't have any drug contacts, I would be forced to quit. This worked for my cocaine habit but I found marijuana in California quite easily.


After being baptized, I quit using everything but alcohol. I did not feel that this was a problem since it was never my drug of choice. However, when I drank I always craved cigarettes. After much unemployment and the rising cost of living in San Diego, I moved to Denver. With just two years as a disciple, I became over-confident in my power to "just say no". I was not as strong as I thought and was easily deceived by Satan's schemes.


I believed I was doing right in reaching out to a friend who asked me to get high with her. She said, "Well if this church doesn't control you and debauchery, as you call it, is over-indulgence, then getting high this one time won't hurt, right?" I had read a scripture that morning:

To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 1 Cor 9:22

In some strange way i convinced myself that i was doing right by getting high with her.The consequences for my one discretion were enormous! I lost an amazing job...(a promotion-from salesperson to sales manager) due to a drug test. I failed the test not due to having drugs in my system but because I continued my deceitfulness by purchasing a cover up product which was detected in the test. I actually would have tested negative due to the small amount I smoked. My guilt overcame me and was evident. The good news of all this was that it was now evident how much I needed CR.

Before this incident I would still have been too prideful and self-confident to go. And even in the first few groups, I maintained that i did not have a problem with alcohol at all; it was not my drug of choice. I did graduate CR in Denver. I now feel strongly that graduating CR was the only reason for my being in Denver. Had I not graduated CR before moving back here to Wichita I may have been easily persuaded to meet my old friends out for a drink...which eventually could have led me back into my old ways. I am eternally grateful to the CR ministry and pray that I may help to lead it some day here in Wichita.

The following is a speech i gave at graduation in Denver.

What does CR mean to me?

CR stands for: Chemical Recovery
Confessed Rituals
Choices Re-arranged
Conscience Revived
Convictions Revamped
Character Refined
Confidence Renewed, and
Clearly Restored! (SMILE BIG)

I compromise no more! I have been given the tools to conquer my addictions; and help others to do the same. I am still powerless over them and only through the grace and strength of our Lord shall I succeed. It is through His word that I am able to quench my new thirst. Without Him I am helpless, weak, and totally ineffectual. CR has helped me to see more clearly the person I was, the person I became, and the person who was in denial of who I could yet become.

I smoked cigarettes for 20 years. In that time, I polluted my body with a wide array of substances. I became addicted to them as well. Alcohol was always around but not my drug of choice. Because of this, I felt I did not have a problem with it. Even in my first few CR classes I maintained that this was not my issue.

In the book "Some Sat In Darkness" there are four reasons given why a disciple with a background of chemical addiction should not attempt to even use alcohol. I especially liked one scripture he quotes:

Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible, but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. (1Cor 10: 23-24)

I now agree that although drinking is certainly permitted, those of us who are addicts need to say no because the result may not be beneficial. Additionally, we know that Satan can use areas in which we've been particularly vulnerable in the past to lure us back into sin. We know that we must absolutely avoid certain people, places and things.

CR sparked a surge in me to delve deep into scripture. The first intoxicated man in the Bible was Noah. He planted a vineyard and drank its wine after the flood falling asleep naked in his tent. (Gen 9: 20-21)

While drunk, Lot fathered 2 sons when he was seduced by his own daughters to commit incest. (Gen 19: 32-38)

Amnon, David?s oldest son, was murdered by his half brother Absalom while drunk.
(2 Sam 13: 28-29)

Elah, the fourth King of Israel, was murdered while drunk. (1Kings 16:9)

Drunk on wine, the Persian King commanded Queen Vashti to display herself. When she refused he had her removed. (Esther 1: 10)

Isaiah included drinking parties as a contributing factor in the Israelites downfall. (Is 5:11-12)

The Bible shows us so many tragic examples and gives us strong warnings about alcohol, too many to mention them all. I personally found over 300 scriptures relating to this subject.

Proverbs 23: 29-35 paints a picture of a person whose life has come under the control of alcohol. It reflects the tremendous suffering that can result from the abuse of alcoholic beverages. In today's society, which accepts widespread alcohol usage, despite its deadly affects, it is hard to maintain a conviction of zip-zilch-zero. 

The CR graduates need your help.

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. Romans 14: 19-21

Therefore, if you are out to dinner with a CR graduate, please refrain from ordering wine or other alcoholic drinks. If a CR graduate is coming to your house to baby-sit; please put away any alcohol you may have in the house before they arrive. To my fellow grads, remember, we must:

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 Peter 5: 8-9



My eyes were opened wide. I was brought all the way out into the light and satan lost his foothold on me. I will continue to fight and complete the race. I never want to leave the side of my Lord and Savior, Jesus. Salvation is mine. That's what CR means to me!


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