John Simmons battled an invisible addiction that plunged him into debt and deep depression. He was living a life that was totally out of control and the very thing that was pushing him closer and closer to destruction was the thing he thought would solve the issues he was facing.
It was a downward spiral that almost cost him his life.
Things are very different now. These days, John is bringing hope into the lives of others through his ministry, Testimony House.
John is the guest on my podcast, Bleeding Daylight, this week. You can hear his story wherever you listen to podcasts or use the media player below.
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Shonah Marie had a fairly sheltered upbringing, and would now admit that she was quite removed from what she would call real-world issues. However, it wasn’t too long before some very real issues invaded her life.
I don’t know how people get through tough things like that without community and without Jesus. I just don’t have an answer outside of those two things. – Shonah Marie
It was the tough times that helped her to become the person that she is today but the lessons she learned during those times haven’t been easy.
I could feel God’s heart breaking for what was going on. I could feel his sorrow for what we were going through and learning to sit with Jesus in that empathy was probably the greatest gift. – Shonah Marie
As part of our conversation, we opened a window into her life, discussing her early years living in a very protected environment before finding herself facing struggles she had no idea how to navigate.
I feel like I remained in that childlikeness for quite a long time, which I feel benefited me in some areas in the long run, but also left me somewhat naive and innocent towards how to handle navigating real-world circumstances. I kind of call it the bubble. – Shonah Marie
You can hear Shonah’s story by listening to Bleeding Daylight, wherever you find podcasts, or by clicking play on the audio player below.
She has also written a book that describes her life so far titled Steady in the Storm.
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How does a young boy with a promising future become a thief and a junkie and how does he turn his life around? That’s the story I unfold in the latest episode of my podcast, Bleeding Daylight.
Jacob Hill was a straight-A student with a dream of winning Olympic gold, but his life took a number of unexpected turns, including crime, drug addiction and coming very close to death. Some would say it’s a miracle that Jacob is alive today.
How did such a talented young man fall so far and how did he turn his life turn around? Today he’s a husband, father, author and pastor.
Jacob is my guest for this episode of Bleeding Daylight and you can hear his story by using the audio player below.
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As well as popularising the phrase, “tune in, turn on, drop out”, Dr Timothy Leary was known around the world as being at the forefront of experimentation with drugs, especially LSD.
Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs such as LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison Experiment and the Marsh Chapel Experiment. Both studies produced useful data, but Leary and his associate Richard Alpert were fired from the university nonetheless because of the public controversy surrounding their research. Leary believed LSD showed therapeutic potential for use in psychiatry. – wiki
Back in those early days at Harvard there was a young professor of psychology named Charles Slack who also began experimenting with LSD and other drugs. Within a very short time he went from being a bright young academic to being a drug addicted mental hospital patient.
Dr Charles Slack has now been completely free of drugs of any kind for over 37 years but he says he still has to deal with his addiction every day.
Dr Charles Slack is well-known in Australian recovery circles. He gained a PhD in Experimental Psychology from Princeton University and became an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Harvard Psychological Clinic from 1955 to 1960.
He was amongst the first to experiment with LSD and as a result became addicted. In 1976, clean and sober in 12-Step programs, he migrated to Australia to start a new life.
Charles is now the chairman of B-Attitudes, a not-for-profit group that aims to facilitate the restoration of the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual lives of individuals and families who have been affected by substance misuse. He has turned his own experience into a way of helping others break free from addiction.
B-Attitudes is a charitable, not-for-profit organisation, founded 10 years ago by three people who have a heart for empowering individuals who want to recover from alcohol and drug addiction and work towards a drug-free lifestyle.
The founding directors are qualified Psychotherapists in Transactional Analysis, one a Certified Transactional Analyst in Psychotherapy. Two have a background in Registered Nursing and Midwifery. The Committee of Management contributes a wide field of expertise and the Chair is Dr. Charles Slack, Ph.D. who is himself a recovered addict with over 37 years ‘clean’ and sober.
Each of the three founding directors have 15 years experience in the field of alcohol and drug addiction and community-based recovery and related family care.
I recently had a fascinating chat with Charles about B-Attitudes and about his own journey to beating addiction. He even said that a current, popular television series displays the right way to fight drug addiction. Can you guess which show it might be?
You can hear our discussion by clicking the play button on the audio player below.
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