A. SEVEN PRIMARY STEPS EVERY PERSON MUST MAKE TO RECOVER FROM THEIR PAST HURTS
1. Commit yourself to God’s sovereignty and rule in your life.
a. Receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior
(John 1:12; Romans 10:9-11; I Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:8-10)
b. Determine to walk daily in a manner that pleases God
(II Corinthians 5:9; Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 1:10, 3:17)
2. Determine the specific ways you have sinned against God. Repent of your sinful ways; they are contrary to Scripture and displeasing to God. Confess these sins to Him. (Proverbs 28:13; Revelation 2:5, 3:19; I John 1:9)
3. Ask God for wisdom to know what changes to make and how to make them. Ask with faith that He will answer. (Psalm 139:23-24; James 1:5-8; Hebrews 11:6;)
4. Forgive others that have sinned against you with a goal of reconciling with them. As biblically appropriate, confess to other individuals the sins that you have committed against them. (Matthew 6:14-15; Mark 11:25-26; Ephesians 4:31-32; Matthew 5:23-24; Romans 12:18)
5. Diligently study God1⁄4s Word on a regular basis and memorize Scripture to store His truth in your heart.
(Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2; II Timothy 2:15, 3:16-17; Psalm 119:11, 16)
6. Pray always in every circumstance and do not lose heart.
(Luke 18:1; Philippians 4:6-7; I Thessalonians 5:17)
7. Do what God says to do, regardless of your feelings in order to glorify Him, staying under the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
(Matthew 7:24-26; James 7:22-25; Genesis 4:6-7; Romans 13:14;
Galatians 5:16-17; I Peter 4:2; Matthew 5:16; I
Corinthians 10:31; Romans 8:14; Ephesians 4:30, 5:18)
B. ACCEPT GOD’S PROMISES CONCERNING BIBLICAL CHANGE
1. In Christ you have assurance of victory over failures
(Romans 8:37-39; II Corinthians 2:14, 10:4; I John 5:4-5, 18)
2. As an overcomer, you are assured of final rewards (Psalm 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3;5, 12, 21; 21:6-7)
C. LEARN THE BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE FOR BIBLICAL CHANGE
1. Scripture is the sole standard and authority for your life.
(Psalm 19:7-11; 119:24, 105; Romans 15:4; II Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; II Peter 1:3-4)
2. The only lasting hope is promised in the Scriptures.
a. God will not allow believers to be tested or tempted beyond what they can bear. He gives you His grace and strength to endure every test and resist every temptation so that
you never have to sin. (Romans 8:35-39; I Corinthians 10:13; II Corinthians 4:7-10,
12:9-10; Philippians 4:13; Hebrews 4:15-16; II Peter 2:4-9)
b. Those in Christ are freed from the power and penalty of sin. (Romans 6:6-7, 14,18,23)
c. Jesus will grant mercy and provide grace to help in every need.
As your advocate, He constantly intercedes for you to God the Father and fully understands your weaknesses. (Hebrews 2:18, 4:15-16, 7:25; I John 2:1)
d. Trials and testing will develop and mature you in Christ if you respond to them in Gods way. He never devises evil or harm for you; rather His plans for you are for your good.
(Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4; Genesis 50:20; Deuteronomy 8:2, 5,
16; Psalm 145:17; Ecclesiastes 7:13-14; Jeremiah 29:11-
13; Romans 8:28-29; James 1:13-17)
e. Only God can change people, so you cannot and are not responsible for changing them. You are accountable to God solely for your own deeds and are to do your part in living at peace with others. (Ezekial 36:26-27; Philippians 1:6, 2:13; Jeremiah 17:10; Ezekiel
18:1-20; Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:5-10; Colossians
3:23-25; I Peter 1:17; Matthew 5:23-25; Mark 11:25;
Romans 12:9-21, 14:19, I Peter 3:8-9, 4:8)
f. When you confess your sins, God forgives and cleanses you. (I John 1:9)
Next we wash them with the Word and next the Holy Spirit. We help them understand who the HOLY SPIRIT is and how He is going to bring about change in the participant’s life. To further ampllify the need for change, a study of the FRUIT OF THE FLESH vs FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is presented. The fear of change is addressed as one prepares for further strengthening.
Continuing in the study, GOD’S JUSTIFICATION or making the participant’s past just as if it never happened helps prepare their own heart to RECONCILE with God. The fear that God is going to bring revenge upon me is resolved as the participant understands God’s making Jesus the ATONEMENT and PROPITIATION of our sin. Then, the course shows them that the process of healing is the process of SANCTIFICATION. God’s taking you out of the WORLD and God’s taking the WORLD out of you. All of this is a step upon step building up to REPENTANCE and ACCEPTANCE OF GOD’S FORGIVENESS.
Logically, now that the participant knows that God forgives, the next assessment is to define where and who and why I must FORGIVE OTHERS. A study of the consequences of not forgiving others and the blessings of forgiving others leads the participant into a willful decision to FORGIVE.
The course provides a helpful tangible ANGER STONES exercise to amplify the reality of forgiveness. Likewise, a study of the consequences of HIDDEN THINGS OF SHAME drives the participant into a willful decision to RENOUNCE MY HIDDEN THINGS OF SHAME. A SHAME BALLOON EXERCISE is a wonderful tangible way of letting go of the baggage of one’s life. This is where they are encouraged to “clean out their closet” by geting rid of all the scars and pain of the past. To accomplish this, we utilize these worksheets: the Sad Face, My Idols, My IronYokes of Sin, and My Chains of Bondage issues.
D. THE RELEASING PROCESS
1. Tools available for use in letting go of the past
Offenses & Offenders worksheet and Casting Stones exercise.
Hidden things of shame balloon release exercise
Group Prayer of renunciation against demon’s assignments and the occult
2. Why is there a need for a participant to experience a releasing exercises?
To feel forgiven
To feel cleansed
To feel accepted by God and others
To feel emptied of all painful memorie
To feel free from sin’s domination
To feel free from all demonic influences or strongholds
E. THE GRIEVING PROCESS
1. Why Memorial Services are important
Extends dignity to a victims grieving process
Comforts the living cope with death and loss
Creates a definite closure experience to death and loss
It meets deep human needs to grieve their individual losses
2. What is the basis of conducting a memorial service for abortion victims?
Judeo-Christian ethic of memorializing those who have died.
International cultural acceptance of the need to grieve the death of a loved one.
Jewish tradition of a mourning Kaddash or grieving prayer honoring those who have gone before. (Yom Kippur)
3. Why is there negative resistance to abortion memorials?
Fear of facing the reality of one1⁄4s abortion
Fear of owning/facing the deep inner feeling of irreplacable emptiness and human loss
Pharisitical, legalistic judgementalism (no feelings)
Abortion memorials are foreign to American culture
Abortion memorials focus the abortion debate on the missing baby
4. Key considerations for the abortion memorial
My baby is dead
My baby is not here to hold
I cannot talk to my baby
I cannot ask my baby to forgive me
I cannot hold my baby’s body
There is no grave or grave site with abortion
I can pray to Jesus asking Him to heal my hurts
I can attend a grief loss service custom designed to address my loss through abortion or miscarriage and to extend to my baby’s memory the dignity of a memorial service
I can allow myself to think about my baby and my maternal feelings
I can give my baby a name
I can honor my baby1⁄4s brief existance by lighting a candle symbolizing my dead baby
I can allow myself to cry for my baby and in repentance for what I have done by having an abortion
5. Primary human desires seek to be filled
Desire to know my baby’s gender
Desire to remember how old my baby would have been
Desire to give honor to my child’s life
Desire to have a relationship with their baby
6. The natural maternal/ paternal instinct
Mothers instinctively have feelings about their baby’s gender
Mothers instinctively want to talk about their feelings for and about their baby
Fathers instinctively want to protect their baby
Mothers & Fathers instinctively want to provide for their baby
7. Tools used for effective memorial services For the abortion victim
Baby casket / Heritage (handkerchief) doll materials
Memorial candles
Audio Vignettes to facilitate the grieving process
TILLY -Focus on the Family (Frank Peritti)
Psalm 23/139 Audio Vignette with sample sermon outline for Pastors
For violation victims, a Broken Heart© handout with sample sermon outline for Pastors
8. For everyone attending we provide:
Dear Jesus Closure journalizing (Letter writing) exercise
Audio accompainment tape: Praise & Worship
Audio Vignette: A Word From Heaven
9. Why do we recommend using an infant casket as a tool in memorial services?
It is the only object that accurately represents the loss of a human’s life to death.
It serves a a receptacle for the Heritage doll that can be closed when finished.
A casket produces a sense of somber reverence when seen.
It provides a tangible point of closure for those who have lost a baby either by abortion or miscarriage.
10. Why do we recommend using the Heritage doll as a toll in memorial services?
Serves as a tangible, physical symbol of their missing baby
It becomes a tangible object to let go of at the altar; something to place in the casket, something to let go.
It is a fitting object to trigger one’s maternal or paternal feelings
It serves as a symbol of the missing baby
11. Things to avoid in memorial services
Communication with the dead, praying to the child etc.
Directed , guided visualization where a jesus is conjured up in one’s mind and something imaginary , but not real, takes place
.
F. THE MOVING ON PROCESS
1. Tools for helping the course participant move on into healthy life
Because I am loved exercise
Wash me clean exercise
Clean my marriage bed exercise
G. A TIME TO LAUGH…….A TIME TO CRY!
Following the LETTING GO stage where all of life’s cares are cast upon the Lord,
there is a strategic study of the need to GRIEVE THEIR LOSSES in a Godly way
that leads to repentance and not death.
To effectively bring the recovery process to a dignified close, there must be a time of grieving for all that has been lost. With
pregnancy related losses, the memorial elements such as the Heritage Doll (a handkerchief) , pink and blue candles, the infant casket and the audio segments are all very meaningful tools to use.
To be sure that everyone being served receives from the grieving service, it is important to allow all participants to have some-
thing to bring to the altar. This is served by our BROKEN HEART template. Once the participants grieve their many loses, transform the focus to a time of praise, celebration, and worship of the Living Lord who has lifted their deeply wounded hearts, broken the chains in pieces and set them free from their bondages, idols, and unforgiveness.
Next, remembering that what has been swept out of their hearts now has created an empty place, it is vital to show them practical ways to renew their mind in an effort to fill that void with the Spirit of the Living Lord.
PHASE THREE: RECEIVING
To further ground them in their new identity, which may be very foreign at this moment, the IN GOD’S EYES, I SEE MY SELF and HE SEES ME AS drawings again ask them to carefully examine themselves. Like a previous exercise, this leads into a time of self-affirmation of God’s truth in an effort to convince themselves of this truth. Because some will still have a distorted view of self, these drawings are followed by the WHO AM I IN JESUS? reading list.
This is purposely presented in a complete statement with associated reference verse to prompt the participant to look up the verse during private Bible study. However, if they never open their Bible, the emphasis is transferred even by reading the statements. Here they compare their feelings now vs. when they first began the class. They compare their understanding of God before and after.
This moves into how to CELEBRATE LIFE, affirming the need to learn to love others. Because relationship are normally the cause of the breakdown in their life, a discussion of how to confront the offender, so that peace can follow and broken trust restored, is important.
This brings us to the next to last stage when the participants begin to affirm that WITH GOD’S LOVE I AM GOING TO…. work area. As they come to understand that God desires to sup with them and have communion with them, and to be the lover of their very soul, the course teaches to express love where love has been wounded.
Applying love through a very practical study of feeling clean on the inside and learning to laugh at life, sets the stage for sharing with course participants to share their testimonial or their freshly healed testimonial via the telephone mini-teleconference with the author or recovery support training offered online and on-demand.
The course concludes with typically a pot-luck supper which where group participants can celebrate and relax knowing that this course is finished. It is important at this very moment to share with the participant their prospective roll in ministry operations as an alumni.
Good ways for helping alumni become healthier in their daily walk is to recruit them to volunteer for the very next class.
Another is to have them write a testimonial letter. we offer alumni the following access points for further connection with other alumni.
Visit: My Abortion Choice.Com to tell their testimony so others can benefit.
Connect with our alumni community social media site.
Follow Free Me to Live on Twitter: http://twitter.com/freemetolive
Certainly another is to suggest they become a supportive alumni helping to underwrite the recovery outreach. One way almost every alumni can help is by dedicating a MEMORIAL TO THEIR UNBORN through our Internet site: www.mymemorial.org
Follow up to any class participant or care team leader is most important. Thus, we now offer Last Harvest Fellowship online. A church online with 24 hour streaming praise and intimate worship, extensive Bible tools, sermon archive, prayer lines, chat rooms and Email discussion groups. Visit www.lastharvestfellowship.com
To fellowship with other members,http;//lastharvestmembers.ning.com
To join the conversation: http://lastharvestfellowship.blogspot.com
To follow Pastor Ken: http://twitter.com/pastorkfreeman
To be a friend on FaceBook: http://facebook.com/lastharvestfellowship
Opportunities for involvment helping others.
Last Harvest is proud to offer the following opportunities for any alumni:
Join our Team of Online Referral Consultants to handle incoming requests for help from pregnant women.
Join a future support group as a helper Call 214-703-0505.
Join Last Harvest Ministries, Inc.’s growing support team.
Join Last Harvest Fellowship View the Online Church where it is safe to be a member.
Thank you for reviewing this overview of the course ware.
To order: click to view our official order page.
To contact Ken Freeman:
Phone 214-703-0505 (desk) 903-926-2607 (cell phone)
Email: Use our Contact Form
Whom the Son sets free is FREE INDEED!
Ken Freeman
P.O. BOX 462192
Garland, TX 75046
www.freemetolive.com