Nov. 19, 2010: Our readers write

12 steps, no prescriptions
I want to thank The News-Enterprise for its recent article reporting the March 2011 launch of Celebrate Recovery at Severns Valley Baptist Church. This article followed the successful regional one-day Celebrate Recovery training provided by California-based Saddleback Church’s national Celebrate Recovery Team and hosted at Severns Valley Baptist Church.
The article, and particularly its headline, may have left some readers with an inaccurate perception of what Celebrate Recovery is really all about.
Celebrate Recovery is not an addiction treatment program as the headline suggested. It is a Biblically based, Christ-centered 12-step recovery program built on the words of Jesus as captured in the Beatitudes. It is important to stress this distinction as the two are very different.
Celebrate Recovery is designed to help people recover from the various “hurts, hang-ups and habits” in their lives.  These hurts, hang-ups and habits can be any and all issues we face as individuals including grief, loss, anger, anxiety, divorce and adultery, as well as habits that involve alcohol, drugs or pornography. With Jesus, any of us can recover from the hurts, hang-ups and habits that cause us to struggle with life.
Celebrate Recovery provides a safe place for people to work on the hurts of their lives that become hang-ups and habits. This is done when we recognize that only God has the power to help us recover when we have a personal relationship with Him.  Then, God uses the people involved in Celebrate Recovery who are walking on the road to recovery to support and encourage others who are traveling their own road to recovery.
To understand more about Celebrate Recovery and what it is, I encourage readers of The News-Enterprise to visit www. celebraterecovery.com to learn more about this Christ-centered program coming to Severns Valley Baptist Church next March. 
Dr. Ray Hicks
Associate Pastor
Severns Valley
Baptist Church

It’ll be a real picnic
In reference to a letter published Nov. 14 titled “Sacred cows,” I agree with the writer 100 percent.
Sacred cows, including Social Security programs, must be cut. First on the list is the entitlement programs of government officials.
We now are facing a choice between becoming a third-world country or suffering financially until this situation can be corrected. Americans, we are all in this together — I am civil service retired on Social Security.
If someone is going to bring the barbecue sauce, it’s only fair that I bring the carving knife. Long live those “Grand Old Tea Bags” and God Bless America.
Bruce Gilland
Radcliff