Crossroads: A Step-by-Step Guide Away from Addiction, Study Guide

If you want to get right with God, if you want to make better decisions, if you are struggling with any addiction (and we are) this will be a book you will want to read! Full of scriptures to guide and encourage you!

I plan to use this in a small men's group. It hits the mark as a Bible based study for those struggling with difficult sinful habits. The style is like talking to a counselor as it steps thru deep personal issues. I recommend the facilitator guide as well as the Banquet in the Grave book.

An amazing book about the word of God and how we can use it to find recovery. God (Jesus) is the only one that can get us out of the bandage of addiction. The addiction is the enemy and Jesus is the Light and light alway overcomes the darkness. Amen

I have used this book extensively in a local rehab center with an average of 20 men each time for the past year. This is an excellent resource, so good in fact that I have translated it into Spanish (with permission) for our use here. It is well understandable and relatable to the men and I have received good feedback from them. The discussion and homework questions are very good. Its focus on addictions as worship and idolatry is excellent.
There are three weaknesses that I have found, however. First of all, it is a little more verbose than I like (too wordy), but this is more personal preference. Secondly, it does not emphasize strongly enough the place of the local church. If this group was done AT or BY the local church, that would practically compensate for this lack. But as I led this study in a rehab house, I found myself adding to the book along the way, though it is there at points. Finally, I found it quite soft on the wrath of God. There is something to be said that the wrath of God is most particularly directed against covenant breakers, while most of the men I studied with come from an unchurched background. But at the same time, the book softens the wrath of God throughout. To give one example, in Step 2, Welch only cited half of Exodus 34:6-8, chopping off the part of God not clearing the guilty. Now I am sure he had his own reasons for that, but I found this lacking throughout. The Bible has some very strong words to say to idolaters. And I have found that speaking on this subject is one of the best times to preach the goodness of the Gospel call to repent and believe in the good news of Jesus Christ. Yes, it is there in the book, but I found it lacking the full Biblical witness in this respect.
All in all, however, I highly recommend this product and the accompanying leader's guide.

This is the best group guide dealing with addiction that I am aware of. Welch's guide is thorough, addresses root issues, practical, and God-glorifying.

Excellent. Simple and wise. Currently using this as the basis for a support group im leading.

Dr. Welch outlines helpful and practical steps for turning away from your addiction and toward Christ, all of which are firmly rooted in the truth of the gospel. A good balance of how spiritual realities can and do inform our daily lives (prayers, decisions, actions, etc.). I also appreciated the reflection questions (sometimes broad, sometimes quite specific) that were peppered throughout the book. A little more fleshing out of examples could be beneficial, but is perhaps beyond the scope of this short study guide. 4.5 stars

"Crossroads: A Step-by-Step Guide Away from Addiction" is the best resource for Christians with addictions I've seen yet. Written by Ed Welch, who holds a PhD in counseling psychology and serves as counselor, faculty member, and director of the School of Biblical Counseling at CCEF, "Crossroads" is a 10-part study guide rooted in his earlier book "Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave".

What makes this book so good is that is speaks directly and yet compassionately to the heart of life-dominating sin. I have read many books dealing with the issue of habitual sin or behavioral addictions from a biblical perspective, but none which cut to the heart of the matter as effectively as "Crossroads". While unflinchingly unmasking the lies and sin inherent in addiction, Welch avoids spiritual-sounding cliches, polysyllabic "Christianeze" terms, and endless lists of verses to look up and memorize.

Are You Still in the Pit? Look Up!

Since "Crossroads" is geared towards individuals still controlled by their respective vices, such exercises would probably scare the reader away rather than help them. (The average bulimic, with wildly fluctuating blood sugar levels, does not have the attention span to complete a lengthy homework assignment anyway). One residential treatment center director recently wrote me: "...when the body is going through that much stress medically most young women's brains are not functioning very adeptly. A lot of the thinking and processing required to fight sin and build new lifestyles are beyond what an anorexic is capable of doing." This book is a valuable first step to help the desperate anorexic or bulimic get to where she IS functioning at peak capacity, and can do the hard work of biblical change. It is assumed that the reader is at the critical or crisis stage, still living as a slave to sin, and looking for hope.

Welch gives that hope effectively, and shows the wanderer how to come home - step by step.

Realizing that you are double-minded is one of the first steps to repenting of an addiction. If something about your drug of choice were not attractive, you would not have chosen it. Welch describes this tension in the addict's heart:

"On one side, you feel powerless. Your world feels out of control, and you are sick of it. On the other side, you think that your addiction helps you manage your life so you have more control. That's why you hate it and you love it. You hate it and you need it. Your addiction is not the friend it once was because it has messed up your life."

This is a man who gets it. He empathizes with the inner torment an addict feels, but he does not coddle the sin. He does not minimize, nor allow the reader to stay stuck in despair or self-pity. He takes you straight to biblical principles which force you, the addict, to make a choice - which kingdom has your allegiance?

Welch immediately unveils the compelling attractiveness of God - "the only One more beautiful than your addiction" - while exposing the Christian addict's paradoxical relationship with Christ: "You know you need him, but you don't necessarily want him - at least not on his terms, which is total surrender." Rather than just prescribing the pat (yet accurate) answer, "repent and pray more", Welch acknowledges how difficult and awkward it is for the addict to talk to God, and coaches her* through it. Discussing the importance of bringing sin out into the light, which the Word does by exposing hidden motives, he notes that the reader's interest in the Bible will be a gauge measuring her desire for change.

Welch emphasizes God's infinite patience with the repentant believer, citing Romans 2:4 early on: "Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?" This is a key life verse for any of you who know the pain of trying to break free from bulimia and failing, again and again. Through the first 4 of 10 steps (I would have preferred he call them "stages", to avoid the connotation with the unbiblical 12-Step programs), Welch takes the reader through the "folly" of addiction; exposes it as idolatry that has mastered the reader by tracing her descent from life before the addiction; notes that the reader has chosen independence from God by her choices; and examines God's gracious response.

He forces the question: how does God speak to the purposes your addiction serves in your life? This is an extremely crucial point in repenting of bulimia or other food-related bondage. Until you submit to God's sanctioned means of responding to pain, disappointment and fear of man, your default mode will always be to turn to the food. The probing, penetrating questions Welch gives under each step's "Take Action" section are designed to help you see your sin through God's eyes, and renew your mind with His Word.

There is a fine line between gentleness and compassion, and sympathizing to the extent that you tolerate or even rationalize si