Sid: We want everyone everywhere to be red hot for the Messiah and the truth of the matter is, there are many people that have the life of God inside of them, they are born again, they love God but they have certain bondages. That’s why I’m so looking forward to this week’s interview. I have special 5 fold teacher his name is Craig Hill; he’s founder of Family Foundations International. I have just heard so many good reports about his teachings over the years. I’ve interviewed him previously and I have to tell you the book that we’re offering “Bondage Broken Freedom from Compulsive Habits.” And the 3 Audio Cassettes called “Identifying Shame” every compulsive habit and most abuse is shame, its shame based. Craig tells you in this series what shame is, how it operates and better yet how to get rid of it. Let me read to you before I introduce you to Craig what he’s written on the back of the book.
“Why do I do what I don’t want to do?” Now you’ve read this Paul’s dealt with the in Romans and this is what he says. “Are there certain areas of our life over which you seem to have little or no control? Perhaps you’ve found your thoughts and your emotions are overpowering by such things as hatred, anger, lust, depression. Or you find yourself overcome by habits such as masturbation, drinking, drug abuse, cigarette smoking, or elicit sexual relationships. Maybe it’s compulsive overeating, dieting, exercising, shopping, spending, maybe lying, criticizing, gossiping or just talking too much. Even simple things like finger nail biting or excessive talking can be unpleasant binding compulsions. In this book Craig Hill gives you practical keys and that’s the word keys to break the bondage in your life and release you from prison of controlling habits. You will discover root causes of bondage and how to tear down strongholds in your life to release you into the peace and joy that God has intended for you to experience.”
You know Craig Hill we were talking before we went on the air about something like a wonderful thing for society is called a group such as Alcoholic Anonymous, Over Eater Anonymous, Drugs Anonymous. They have all of these self-help groups and many of them are even from a Christian viewpoint but it’s like one day at a time and although… praise God that I haven’t had to use such a thing I know people that it’s helped immensely but it seems as though all it does it allows them to be free one day at a day at a time. And they’re not really free they’re still an alcoholic, they’re still a drug addict they even say it by their confessions. It’s sort of like a maintenance program isn’t there something better? Isn’t there something more for us available for us today Craig?
Craig: You know Sid that is really true and we find that many many times in the church exactly what you’re talking about that people implement some of these same programs in the name of Jesus, in the name of Yeshua, they’re attempting to do those same things. But they’re attempting to those same things and what they really are I’ve come to call Sin Management Programs. And God has not called us to managing sin Jesus has said in His word “He whom the Son has set free is free in deed.” So what we’re really talking about is the fact that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has been shed so that people can actually be free on the inside.
Sid: That’s wonderful that you say what you say because it comes right out of the Bible and every Christian worth their salt knows exactly what you said, so how come we’re not a free people?
Craig: Yeah, I think that it’s an intense frustration. I know in pasturing people I found that intense frustration myself in that what we would find is that the same people would come week after week after week after week after week for prayer for the same thing. And we’d pray for them and we’d tell them that “You’re not trying hard enough, you’re not intense enough, you don’t want this badly enough, you need to try harder.”
Sid: You’re not desperate enough, you don’t pray enough, you don’t fast enough.
Craig: That’s it you need to pray more, you need to read the word more, you need to memorize the word more here’s 29 scriptures on this particular issue you need to memorize these, you need to mediate on these, you need to renew your mind to these and…
Sid: So people do that and they still aren’t free. They’re free to a degree it’s like a day to day type of thing but they’re really in their heart of hearts they’re not free. And so what do they do just give up?
Craig: And yeah, they’re really not free at all because they’re not dealing with what really is at the root, what’s deep at the inside in people’s hearts. And I think what happening Sid is that many many times the church even believes, and congregations believe the lie that somehow or another if I try hard enough through strong will self effort determination I can somehow overcome this bondage. These things that we just talked about in the beginning here hatred, anger, lust, depression, alcohol, drugs, fingernail biting really are external indicators that there is something deep on the inside that’s not being dealt with. There’s something deep deep on the inside that only the Lord Jesus Christ Himself can change.
Sid: But you know what I feel that most people are so… it’s so deep so hidden that they’re not even cognoscente of the fact that is deep there and they’re looking at the external problem and don’t know that deep root.
Craig: That’s exactly right and so those things we just mentioned really are indicators I call them indicators, what they are they’re like an oil light that comes on in your car. And when an oil light comes on in your car maybe it bothers you and you think “Well, that’s really annoying I don’t want that red light there” and so people design all kinds of ways to try to get rid of the oil light. The obviously point is the oil light is not the problem the oil light is just the indicator that there is a problem.
Sid: So overeating is not necessarily a new diet plan it’s finding out what the root cause is.
Craig: Right so to go on a diet is like trying to manage the oil light that’s why I laugh at a program like “An anger management program.” Well anger is only the oil light, it’s the indicator that there is a problem it’s not the problem so it would be like an oil light management program. Well, we don’t need to manage the oil light I mean we can manage it very simply get rid of the oil light just take a hammer bash it out; there no more problem. You carry on driving you’re going to find out that that was not the problem that was only the indicator. So these externals are indicators that there is something deep down on the inside that really is tormenting people that has not been dealt with and as that torment continues on the inside people do all kinds of things to try to make the torment go away. Some people eat, some people do drugs, some people look at pornography, some people gossip, some people tear their finger nails people do all kind of external things.
Sid: But you know the key thing that you just said Craig is “I don’t believe people are aware of the fact the torment is on the inside because it’s so deep, it’s so buried that they think it’s an external thing. If they understood the root cause then they could use the power of God to be free rather than these maintenance programs.
Craig: That’s exactly right and what ultimately happens and we see this happen all the time Sid in seminars that we do and ministry times we see the Lord Jesus Himself actually take people right to the root.
Sid: Can you give me one example that comes to mind?
Craig: I remember a man that was struggling with drugs, serious… actually he had been free from drugs for 12 years, he was one of those people that had a testimony when I met the Lord I was instantly freed from drugs. He’d been working in prisons and jails helping other people get free of drug addictions. And he said “The strange thing is this intense temptation to drugs has come back.” Now he was on staff at a church and he was afraid to admit it to anybody because he was afraid to get kicked out of the church and lose his job and not be able to minister anymore. But he did admit this during one of our seminar times, and I didn’t know what to do you know or where to go with it until I prayed a very simple prayer. I said “Lord Jesus would you just expose to him where is this coming from, where is this temptation to drugs coming from?” And we just waited all of a sudden this man burst into tears buried his face in his hands and wept and wept and wept. I wish I had been spiritual enough to know what was going on but I really didn’t so I just eventually said “Well, what’s happening?” And he said “I just remembered something that I haven’t remembered for years and years and years.” And I said “What’s that?” He said “I can see it right now as clearly as if it happened yesterday.” He said “When I was 6 years old he said “My older brother homosexually raped me.” And he said “My…
Sid: How could he have forgotten something so traumatic?
Craig: Yeah, you know the mind and emotions are a funny thing Sid because when something of intense pain happens to people sometimes the pain is so intense that it’s like the emotions go into shock like what happens when the body is traumatized and the body goes into shock it basically shuts down because the pain is so intense. That happens to the emotions sometimes. This man had not even remembered the experience and here it just came rushing back to him the Lord brought it back. And the amazing thing was then when he saw that experience and the Lord brought that to him. What God began to show him is that the pain of that experience was so intense to him it had been buried so deep that it… what he had done with that pain in teenage years was used drugs to overcome the pain of that. And of course not just from that one experience then many other experiences happened to him subsequently as a result of what had gotten on the inside. But there was an intense deep pain, deep emotional lie on the inside that said “You’re worthless, you have no value, you’ll never amount to anything, you’re just here to be used and abused by other people.” And intense pain of that had remained on the inside and he’d used drugs to comfort it. When he had met the Lord he had been delivered from the external of the drugs but the pain and the lie was still on the inside. And I believe what was going on the Lord at this time later in his life bringing that to the surface because He know longer wanted this man to just manage the pain He wanted to actually set him free. But every time the Lord began to bring the memory to the surface the pain was so intense that this intense temptation to drugs came up again. In other words what the…
Sid: You know Craig we’re out of time right now but you know some of you think “Well, I don’t have serious problem like a drug problem or an alcohol problem,” but guess what there are many many other problems that are buried that are causing you not to have joy and intimacy with God.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth