I hope this post offends you.

Let me show you a word that should change everything you're doing.

My life looks dramatically different than it did two years ago.

Two years ago I was a full-blown alcoholic. I knew it, but I wasn’t ready to admit it. I was doing a “good job” of hiding it. At least from some people. But my stumbling was getting more and more obvious and I was starting to bump into those around me.

I’ve given you bits and pieces of the story over the last year, but the full version—with all the details that I told God I could never share—will come to light on October 7, 2025, when my new book (Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic) releases.

In that book, you’ll hear one word over and over again. In fact, there’s a whole chapter on it. Because while the first part of the book is my story, the second part is how I found freedom. How Jesus left the 99 to find me, really.

That word? Abiding.

However, that’s not the word I need to talk to you about today, believe it or not. Don’t get me wrong: abiding is crucial to my story. If I hadn’t learned how to abide in Christ, there’s no doubt in my mind that my life would be very different right now. There’d be DUIs, a broken family, and numerous other examples of carnage beyond the bones I’ve already left in my wake.

The word I need to talk to you about is somewhat related to abiding. It’s in the Bible verse about it. And yet, it’s a word I’ve overlooked for years. This morning, though, I really saw it for the first time, and it completely changed my perspective.

If you find yourself stuck even after “doing everything right,” I wonder if you need to see this word, too. See, because if you don’t understand this word and its importance, I think you’re swimming upstream. You're punching blindfolded. You're running in place.

And God knows, so many of us feel like we’re running in place.

But let me be clear: If you read what’s coming up next, and aren’t offended, then I haven’t done my job.

So, here’s the word: