Dick
B.’s Christian Recovery Radio Interview on March 6, 2013 of The Rev. Dr. Mike
Belzman, Founder and CEO of the Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug
Counselors Institute, Inc.
On
Dick B.
© 2013 Anonymous. All rights reserved
You may hear Pastor Mike Belzman right now!
___________________________________________________________________________
You may listen to Dick B. interview Christian
recovery leader Mike Belzman on the March 6, 2013, episode of the
"Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show here:
or here:
Episodes of the "Christian Recovery Radio
with Dick B." show are archived at:
Introduction
We have a distinguished Christian Recovery
Leader on our show today. We first met Mike at our May 2009 International
Christian Recovery Conference at Mariners Church Community Center in Irvine,
California. He is the Reverend Dr. Mike Belzman. Mike is the pastor of a
church. He leads the Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors
Institute. He founded the organization to enable Christians to take
certification courses and get the necessary education to have themselves
licensed as Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors in full compliance with the
laws of the State of California. Pastor Mike has honored Ken and me with
several opportunities to speak at annual conferences of the ACADC
Institute--our topic being the Christian roots of the recovery movement. And he
enabled us to become curriculum advisors for his program. Mike has also
published a fine book on Christian recovery counseling. Today, as time permits,
he will tell us a bit about his background, family, education, becoming a
Christian, and taking the long leap into the field of Christian recovery
counseling. He will also tell us about some of the many who have taken his
courses, gone on to become licensed counselors, and then often-established
ministries as well as counselor training courses in their own areas. We regard
Mike as a dear and close friend. And now, I'll ask Mike to do the talking. Take
it away, Mike!
Synopsis
Michael Belzman, Ph.D., MDAAC, MRAS, is the
Founder and CEO of the Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors
Institute of Redlands, California. He is presently on leave from ACADC and
lives with his wife in Banning, California. Mike is the author of Handbook for Christ-Centered Substance Abuse
& Addiction Counselors (Xulon Press, 2010). He studied psychology
extensively at University of Texas and Boston University. He comes from a
background of teaching psychology at secular universities which, in his view,
had a false belief in human solutions to the problems of the soul. An educator,
counselor, and pastor, he is also a speaker at congressional hearings warning
law makers against making laws that exclude Faith-Based counselors from
participation in the professional arena or infringe upon their religious
freedom. ACADC is the only Christ-centered counselor certification organization
authorized by any state government.
ACADC Institute trains their students
biblically so they can provide addiction counseling to Christians in need of
biblical rather than secular options. Few thought it possible that a
Christ-centered certification board could exist in today’s postmodern society
yet ACAD C “was written by the hand of God into the California Code of
Regulations opening a door that no man could close.”
Dr. Belzman surrendered his life to Christ in 1980. By
nurturing a personal relationship with him through prayer and Bible study, he
found that God’s life principles and promises changed his life in a way that psychology
or prescribed drugs could not do. He saw first-hand how God’s power not only
overcomes deep addiction, but can direct the decisions of kings.
His talk today was not about Christian counseling courses,
nor about certification problems and controversies, however. Mike was almost
single-minded in some thoughts about taking his Institute beginnings to the next
level.
And here, summarized briefly, are some of thought he
expressed about that. He states that some look upon the Bible as boring, but it
is not just for learning and intellect. Holy Spirit gives the understanding of
what God conveys to those who will listen and believe. Mike has been offered a
post as Educational Director of an urban church in Fresno, California and has
that opportunity in his prayers. But he views his task today as one to
simplify. Praying for leading steps to the future. He believes God’s light
shines on those who will pray that the Lord will lead to ways to minister.
He has had a long time understanding of what causes true
healing. But in 1980, he found the golden key to be the Lord Jesus Christ. His
emphasis today is on the sufficiency of Scripture. He believes it necessary
that he die that Christ may live through him. That God is busy today separating
the sheep from the sheep. In other words, there are many Christians who wind up
being fixers and playing God instead of being a conduit of the Lord’s healing
power. Long hours spent in humanistic training in counseling are taking people
away from truth; and he is now working on a Bible study curriculum that will
move people away from medical models and other insufficient healing approaches
and lead them to trust God and believe that God does the healing.
We will let you hear the rest of Mike’s talk on the air.
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