Hope in Addiction: Understanding and Helping Those Caught in its Grip
Ebook
London’s suburbs. Latin America’s megacities. West Africa’s villages.
China’s skyscrapers. North America’s homes.
Addiction is a worldwide and at home epidemic.
A powerful look at the gospel for the addicted, Hope in Addiction helps us think about what it means to be the Church in light of this growing—and heartbreaking—epidemic.
How did we get here? And how can we find freedom from addiction? This book is not just about drug or alcohol abuse. It’s about gambling addictions, porn dependencies, workaholism, and internet addictions. It’s a book about how slaves to addiction become children of the Living God and family in the community of God. Wherever they are. Whatever has enslaved them.
With clarity and compassion, Andy Partington brings together personal stories, compelling research, and frontline ministry experience. This book is for Christian leaders, influencers, counselors, and educators. For the friends and family of those gripped by addiction. And, for those who themselves battle addiction. This book is for all of us.
There is hope in addiction. Hope for freedom. Hope for wholeness. Hope for eternity.
"The scope and depth of this work is breathtaking. The wisdom embedded in Andy’s words is simultaneously soothing and piercing. He cuts to the heart of addiction on both a global and personal level, indicting systems and exposing the heart, while equally offering profound hope for those who suffer addiction, and for those who love those who war with desire. This is a brilliant gift from a man called to the margins whose passion offers us all a taste of the One whose presence is what we truly desire.”
—Dan B. Allender, PhD, professor of counseling psychology and founding president, The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology
“I love this book because it marries the logic of the social sciences and the devotion of Christian spirituality into a compassionate intellectuality that is powerful enough to confront our terrifying addiction problems. I think that both Christians and nonbelievers, like myself, will take it to heart.”
—Bruce K. Alexander, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, and author of The Globalization of Addiction
“If I had to choose one book to hand someone struggling to understand the power of addiction in their own life or in the life of a loved one, this would be it. Andy Partington’s book combines the best scholarly insight on addiction with hard-won pastoral wisdom, and it’s all narratively displayed in a series of gripping stories of addiction and recovery and the communities that make both possible. Clear, wise, compassionate, and completely engaging.”
—Kent Dunnington, PhD, professor of philosophy, Biola University, and author of Addiction and Virtue
“Addiction is the real pandemic of our time and is no respecter of culture or borders. What is addiction? How can we describe it? What are its causes and its effects on family and society? Are there any viable solutions? Is there any hope for those clutched in addiction’s grip? This inspired book by Andy Partington wrestles with these questions and more. Through storytelling, statistical research, and personal experience, Andy helps us all come to grips with the causes and cures of addiction and the role the church can play. I wholeheartedly recommend this as must-read material!”
—Tom Bremer, MA, LPC, director, Europe Teen Challenge
“Too many of us look for the right program, the right prayer, the right person to solve a problem, rather than accepting that addiction is complex. In Hope in Addiction, Andy Partington addresses the roots of addiction, the personal experiences and societal conditions that have made us vulnerable to addiction—and offers hope for change. This hope, however, is for the long haul, not the quick fix. With a heart of compassion, Andy delivers wisdom gained from years of experience working in addiction recovery as well as current research that gives us critical insight into the sources and strength of addiction. Read it all! The US is a nation of addictions—the future of ministry must include an informed, compassionate approach to recovery.”
—Deborah Beddoe, author of The Heart of Recovery: How Compassion and Community Offer Hope in the Wake of Addiction
“Hope in Addiction is a wake-up call for the church to address one of the greatest crises of our day: addiction. With compassion, insight, and years of practical experience, Andy Partington shows a way of hope amid this devastating and deadly crisis. This book is a must-read for faith leaders and families trying to understand and respond to the complex challenge of addiction in our midst.”
—Timothy McMahan King, author of Addiction Nation: What the Opioid Crisis Reveals about Us
“Gambling addiction is a huge driver of poverty, suicide, and relationship breakdown. Addictions of all kinds shatter dreams, fracture families, and destroy lives. Hope in Addiction brings clarity and compassion to a tough, complex subject. It sheds light on dark places. Best of all, it points us to hope—living hope!—for an addicted world.”
—Dr. John Kirkby, CBE, founder, Christians Against Poverty (CAP)
“Despair is often a word associated with our growing global addiction crisis, but this book is full of hope—not a naïve or uncertain hope, but a contagious hope that is grounded in credible research, personal experience, and, above all, a God who is at work in the world and making all things new. This is good news for everyone. In this informative, challenging, moving, and compelling memoir, Andy invites us to look beyond dominant narratives and perceptions of addiction and enter a better story. I could not recommend this book more highly.”
—Paul Woolley, Chief Executive, the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC)
“Hope in Addiction is a hugely significant call to action for the church and wider Christian community in this current age of addiction. Andy Partington helps us understand the 'why' of addiction in a way that challenges us to do more, and better, as we walk alongside those who are battling and recovering from all kinds of dependencies. The stark reality of the despair of addiction is balanced with the stories that he shares of those at different stages in their recovery journeys—encouraging us that healing and transformation is possible.”
—Treflyn Lloyd-Roberts, General Secretary, International Substance Abuse and Addiction Coalition (ISAAC)
“This book is highly detailed, well-researched, and based on years of experience and learning. It will educate and enlighten anyone who has a desire to understand addiction with its causes and its power over people. In a world of loneliness anddarkness, where many are searching for purpose and meaning, this book offers hope that is found in the gospel of Christ.”
—Stuart Bell, Senior Pastor, Alive Church, Lincoln (UK), and founding leader of the Ground Level Network
“Andy Partington is a gifted storyteller able to share from his own roots in Recovery Ministry and his frontline insights in a way that invites us all to suit up and show up once more as the body of Christ in service to a dying world.”
—Jean LaCour, Founder/CEO, NET Institute and International Center for Addiction & Recovery Education (ICARE)
“Andy is an Englishman and I am an American. Yet I must confess that I have learned more about the present tragic plague of addiction in the US reading Hope in Addiction than I have from any other book or article in recent years. Read Hope in Addiction. It will soften your heart, open your eyes, and minister hope to the addicted and to those who want to help the addicted.”
—Elliott Tepper, International Director, Betel International
“If you want to understand addiction, I’d read this book. If you want something more—if you want HOPE—read it slowly and carefully. You will not be disappointed!”
—John Eldredge, New York Times bestselling author, counselor, and teacher
“In an eloquent and engaging style, Andy Partington takes us through the roots of addiction and into the depth of the human predicament, before pointing us to ever-present hope. The addiction recovery movement puts us in touch with this hope, which is not just togetherness in the present, but an eternal hope found in God’s presence.”
—Ehab El Kharrat, MD, PhD, founder and director, Freedom Egypt
“I have the privilege of pastoring a church that has both members and staff who have found freedom from addiction through a recoverycommunity led by Andy. His expertise doesn’t just come through extensive research and study but also through years of practical experience where his understanding has been tested and refined. You won’t find a better-written, clearer, or more practical guide to addiction and the routes to finding freedom from it. I thoroughly recommend it.”
—Simon Benham, Senior Pastor, Kerith Community Church, Bracknell (UK)
“Addiction to drugs and alcohol, and to various activities such as gambling, has increased markedly in recent times, in large part due to the toxic nature of modern Western capitalist society. Andy Partington takes us on a journey of discovery into the nature of addiction and recovery from addiction, introducing us to moving personal stories of hope and leading research findings that educate and inspire. This insightful and thought-provoking book contains a call to action to the church—its leaders, members, and educators. Six ways forward are proposed. This call to action is relevant to us all, since we can all contribute to the creation of transformational communities that offer hope, healing, and wholeness.”
—David Clark, PhD, professor emeritus of psychology, and addiction recovery advocate
“Addiction is a confusing and misunderstood phenomenon. Society is generally misinformed and tied to many myths regarding the causes and mechanics of addiction. Hope in Addiction gets to the heart of the matter, dispelling falsehoods and opening our eyes to the actual pathology of the disease. Andy Partington does a masterful job of explaining the many aspects of addiction in such a way that the reader finds themselves thinking 'aha' throughout. He explains the underlying causes including the importance of understanding the supply versus demand side as well as some new science regarding the role of dopamine in the brain. There is hope in addiction. Every faith community needs to read this book to really understand the problem and how they can play a vital role in saving lives during this 'age of addiction.'”
—Rev. Dr. Ed Treat, Executive Director and Founder, Center of Addiction & Faith
“This is an urgent book. Andy Partington presents a well-researched and compelling case for the complex roots of addiction that steers us away from a simplistic medical or moral model. He helps us understand the contributions of early childhood trauma, despair, disconnection, isolation, yearning, and broken relationships in the volatile mix that lead us toward these surrogate yet destructive comforts, be they drugs, alcohol, or lifestyle addictions. Thankfully, this book does not leave us floundering in a hopeless state. Recovery is possible. But recovery takes comprehensive work, patience, policy changes, and supportive communities. Partington works through some practicalities of what churches can do while acknowledging that each community’s response needs to be locally contextualized. But he does not shy away from insisting that what addicts need—what we all need—is spiritual community that draws us deeply into intimacy with God and one another.”
—Aaron White, author of Recovering: From Brokenness and Addiction to Blessedness and Community
- Title: Hope in Addiction: Understanding and Helping Those Caught in its Grip
- Author: Andy Partington
- Publisher: Moody Publishers
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9780802499561, 9780802423283, 0802423280, 0802499562
- Resource ID: LLS:9780802499561
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-04-18T08:31:54Z