by Mark Shaw | Jul 17, 2021 | TAC Blog, Uncategorized
Which statement alarms you more? 1) More and more people are dying each year to drug overdoses. 2) More and more people are dying from drug overdoses, and they don’t know Jesus Christ as their Savior! If you are a Christ-follower, I hope statement #2 moves you...
by Mark Shaw | May 6, 2021 | Uncategorized
As you may have heard in today’s podcast, we are thrilled to announce the launch of Addictions Counseling Specialization: Education Phase online course, created in collaboration with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) and Grace Counseling...
by Mark Shaw | Apr 22, 2021 | TAC Blog
Needle exchange programs are often celebrated as “reducing harm” but that terminology is deceptive. Recently, I was interviewed in this WORLD Magazine article related to recent legislation in the state of West Virginia that is hindering efforts at “harm...
by Mark Shaw | Apr 7, 2021 | Substance Abuse, TAC Blog, Vs. Psychology
By Dr. Mark E. Shaw Summary: In this blog post, Dr. Mark Shaw discusses the implications of an article published about 5 years ago, entitled “Concept Creep: Psychology’s Expanding Concepts of Harm and Pathology” published in Psychological Inquiry...
by Mark Shaw | Mar 10, 2021 | TAC Blog
By Mary Shaw, with Mark Shaw and Tim Brown Is harm reduction really reducing harm and saving lives? What are the benefits of the harm reduction programs where needles are exchanged and free Narcan is distributed? Tim Brown of His Steps Ministries and Dr. Mark E. Shaw...
by Mark Shaw | Mar 1, 2021 | Media, Uncategorized
As I started researching the recent event of Bruce Springsteen’s November 2020 charges related to drinking alcohol, I was struck by reading the headlines from popular news sources. If I had just read the headlines and not fully read all the articles, I would have been...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 24, 2021 | Uncategorized
Post by Dr. Mark E. Shaw (with Mary Shaw) Bad company When you hear the term, “Bad Company,” are you flashing back to the band and the 80’s song? (Paul Rodgers) [1] Or are you thinking about the Western by the same title? Whatever you might...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 15, 2021 | Uncategorized
Guest post by Mary Shaw The Refuge & The Cellar More than just a Coffee Shop…Meet an Ordinary Couple God is Using in Extraordinary Ways, for His Glory “It’s not easy. It takes commitment. But men come [to us] from all over the U.S. …and God has been extremely...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 14, 2021 | Uncategorized
Guest post by Dr. Cindy L. Jones, CABC Recently the Lord took me back to Proverbs 4:23 which says, Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. As I pondered this scripture my thoughts turned toward one of the promises Jesus made. The...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 9, 2021 | Uncategorized
Guest post by Mary Shaw “Because it feels like an island sometimes…” We often hear people on the front lines of ministry to those struggling with addiction say they definitely are in need of help and especially encouragement. If you are committed to a genuinely...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 5, 2021 | Uncategorized
By Mark Shaw During the past year of 2020, I observed an unusual irony: people ran from a physical illness while running to mental illnesses of all types. The Coronavirus, which caused a very real physical illness called COVID-19, gave most of us great concern in...
by Mark Shaw | Feb 1, 2021 | Disciple-Making, podcast, TAC Blog
Pastor Steve Covington of Through the Gate, a women’s residential addiction program, joins Dr. Mark E. Shaw on The Addiction Connection’s first podcast of the year. (Listen now!) 2 Corinthians 5:17 states: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a...
by Mark Shaw | Jan 29, 2021 | Uncategorized
By Mark Shaw There were many takeaways and life lessons from 2020 but I want to highlight 3 of them now: 1. We’ve Deceived Ourselves Into Believing that We Can Control the World Around Us I read a secular training program that was offering “skills for living in...
by Mark Shaw | Jan 25, 2021 | Uncategorized
A Testimony from The Addiction Connection Leadership I’ll never forget the most desperate moments of my life… 21 years old and already in drug rehabilitation for a third time. I found myself detoxing from opiates again but the worst part was I had lost all hope....
by Mark Shaw | Aug 29, 2020 | TAC Blog
So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Cor. 10:31 For years Mark has been asked by countless people, “When are you going to do a group study for addiction that is consistent with the Bible?” He would always answer, “I’m...
by Mark Shaw | Mar 25, 2020 | Disciple-Making, TAC Blog
Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven… When we launched Truth in Love Ministries in 2007, the world was a messy place. Not much has changed in 2020. Some might argue the world is even messier! We’ve not had a...
by Mark Shaw | Jan 21, 2021 | Uncategorized
By Mark Shaw In James 1:27, the Bible says this: Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Today, our society’s orphans are addicts who have been...
by Mark Shaw | Jan 18, 2021 | Uncategorized
By Mark Shaw As I was reflecting upon my reading of the Bible in the book of Mark, I thought about how this principle applies to us today. Let’s examine Mark 7:1-13, which says, Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from...
by Mark Shaw | Jan 15, 2021 | Addiction, Addiction Treatment, Uncategorized
By Mark Shaw The newly hired head football coach at the University of Texas is Steve Sarkisian who was fired in 2015 from the University of Southern California for his excessive drinking of alcohol on the job. He sued the university for $30 million dollars but lost...
by Mark Shaw | Jan 8, 2021 | Uncategorized
81,230 drug overdose deaths in one year (from June 2019-May 2020) is a big number and the largest number of its category in the history of the United States. 2 major contributors to this number: Fentanyl use from a drug standpoint Recklessness and hopelessness in the...
by Mark Shaw | Jan 5, 2021 | TAC Blog
by Mark Shaw Death has been a subject that could no longer be ignored in 2020. With the coronavirus (COVID-19) infecting and contributing to the deaths of over 300,000 people reportedly in the USA alone in 2020, Americans were confronted with a reality they could no...
by Mark Shaw | Dec 31, 2020 | Ministry News
At this time last year, who would have imagined that we would experience a year like 2020? COVID-19, racial discord, an often-vitriolic election race, and so much more. The good and comforting news? God is Sovereign and at work in and through everything that happens,...
