Transformation Ranch Ministries
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T.R.M. News
Issue No.  20
July 2011

 We Need Your Support...


Transformation Ranch Ministries is a Christian non-profit ministry that is supported directly by the donations of individuals.

We provide the following services to families or individuals in our community with no fees or costs to the families:

1. Biblical Counseling for families  or individuals dealing with:       
    -   Grief & Lose of Loved One
    -   End of Life Preparation
    -   Inner Healing of  Wounded         Hearts
    -   Marriage
    -   Substance Abuse
    -   After-Care Training
    -   Interventions
    -   Addiction Sponsorship
    -   Same Sex Attractions
    -   Parent "Coaching"
           - Mentoring Dads
           - Single Moms

2. Support Groups for parents, spouses or individuals affected by substance abuse.


3. Resource assistance for anyone looking for detox, drug rehab or aftercare.

4. Transformation and recovery mentoring for men and women looking for help.

5. On the horizon: Build a Transformation Ranch with a school for young people (12-18) struggling with chemical dependency, substance abuse and other systemic behaviors. For more information about the ranch and how you can be a part of that, call Rock Hobbs at 205-470-3830.

Please pray for the continued blessings of the Lord on this work for the Kingdom. If you'd like to help, we can take monthly donations via credit cards or mail in support to: TRM, P.O. Box 282, Chelsea, AL. 35043.  
 
Schedule of Meetings

Free At Last - Recovery and Discovery Support Group. If you struggle with any addiction this is a good and safe place to find support.  Wednesday 5:30pm at Church of the Highlands.

Men's Recovery Breakfast-  A  Christian recovery group that provides small group support and biblical training for men dealing with addictions. Breakfast provided. Open group. For more information call Tom at 253-8871 or Charles at 835-5481.
Tuesday  6:45am at the Golden Rule BBQ, Irondale.

Dodge Ballers - A support group for men and women in their twenties and thirties that have questions about life and why dodging God's truth seems to be a way of life. Open group.
Tuesday 6:30-7:30pm. Call Rock 470-3830 if you'd like to check this group out. (This group is on summer break)

Timothy House - Men's Discipleship and Leadership training small group for Christians in recovery who want to mature in their walk with the Lord. Thursday at 6:30 in Leeds.
Contact Tim Hendrix for more information at 205-919-0180.


Drug Proofing Your Kids (DPYK) A  6 week program developed by Focus on the Family to help parents of 8-13 year olds begin to recognize and prevent substance abuse and experimentation issues at an early age.  We have teams that can present this to groups in any church looking for solid teaching on tough issues.  Call Sandor Cheka at 205-441-3066 for more information on having a team come to your church or school.

 
For more information on each meeting  and it's location, call Rock Hobbs at 470-3830.
Helpful Recovery Links

Parenting Resources

Safe Harbor:  Six Week program for parents dealing with troubled teens. Meets once a week for two hours. Contact Paul Hunter, 205-901-3456 for more information.

Celebrate Recovery Meetings

Kingwood Church, Alabaster
Friday, Food @6pm, 7pm Mtg

Bethel Baptist, Moody Friday 5:30 BBQ / 7pm Mtg

Asbury Methodist, off Hwy119
Tuesday 6:30pm

For more information on other meetings or to learn more about Celebrate Recovery call Rock at 205-470-3830.

Biblical Counseling:

Truth in Love Ministries:
Contact Mark Shaw at:
[email protected]

For Discipleship:

Jason Cooke - Call Christ Health Center at: 205-380-9455


If you need
 a comprehensive resource for help with drug or alcohol related issues: 
 

 www.thefreedomsource.com



Adult Christian addiction rehab
:

 
 www.thefoundryonline.com

 New Start Ladies Home
Becky Farrell, Director
205-477--0555 
 
God's Unfailing Promises

 Psalm 34:4            Psalm 91:3          

 Psalm 18:2-3         Isaiah 41: 13-14
            
 Luke 10:19,20        Obadiah 1:7     
Quotes of the Month
"Wisdom"

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Don't taunt the alligator until you've crossed the creek."
Dan Rather

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head.  If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."
Nelson Mandela

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom..."
King David
Psalm 111:10




TRM Prayer Team
Looking for  Prayer Warriors.

It is our belief that our ministry is on the front line of spiritual warfare and needs to be covered in prayer. Our Board of Trustees as well as the staff are looking for anyone that feels called to commit to praying for Transformation Ranch Ministries and for revival and healing in the young people of our city, state and country.
  If you are interested in being a very important part of the Ranch and the Ranch development with the prayer team, please give Valerie Wheeler a call at 205-229-1580 or Rock Hobbs at 205-470-3830.




"Spiritual Vertigo" 

 Why Do I Feel Upside Down in This World?

 


1 Corinthians 10:12,13    

"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."  

 

 Many times in our Christian walk our minds come under spiritual attack and often the result may be the feeling of unbalance, of thoughts racing out of control or even that we feel like everything  is upside down. That no matter what you do to keep your mind "up-right" and level, you keep stumbling back into the same rut. Start a diet and do good for a few days and then right back to the old way of eating.  Make a New Years resolution and before long you're right back where you were before. Even in your attempts to clean house or get the yard cleaned up you just keep getting distracted from completing the job. You seem to work for hours and nothing seems to get finished.  

 

  Is your spiritual walk with the Lord "upside down? Where no matter what you try to do to feel closer to the Lord, you just seem to be tossed around going no where.  And sometimes, you may even feel frustrated with God because you don't feel  He even hears your prayers or cares. When your mind gets to this point do you really feel like you are spinning out of control and life's pressures seem to keep building but God seems more and more distant?   

 

  Well you may have what I call "Spiritual Vertigo". It's a condition that we all get and a mature Christian needs to learn to identify it and learn to navigate through it despite this temporary condition. I remember a time back in my flying days when I was flying the F-16 in a flight of four fighters in the weather at night and we were meeting up with the airborne tanker.  It was to give us each about 4000 lbs. of jet fuel (650 gals.) so we could continue our night mission. We could get gas from the larger tanker by flying up underneath it (about 8 feet away at 300 MPH) and connecting to a boom that would allow gas to flow from the tanker to the F-16.  While one aircraft was receiving fuel, the others would fly formation off the wing of the tanker.   

 

  Now this particular night there was a lot of bad weather and darkness like a black hole.  I began to experience what pilots call "vertigo" while trying to hold my position on the wing of the tanker. This condition occurs when the fluid in the inner ear plays tricks on your equilibrium and everything in your head begins to tell you that you are spinning or turning. In my case I was convinced that the tanker was doing a "Loop" while we were trying to stay on his wing.  Although I still had a visual contact with the other aircraft, it got so bad that I literally thought we were upside down.  My heart was racing, I imagine some panic was besetting me and I felt totally out of my comfort zone in the air.  

 

  Now the solution to that problem is to stop flying formation and begin flying on your instruments.  From our extensive training and experience, once our eyes are able to see the instruments and confirm the position of the aircraft, the vertigo stops and our inner ear and minds would again be in "sinc".  But you can't do that when your flying formation on a tanker in the weather in the dark. You have to stay focused on the other aircraft. And you don't want to be the "Weak One" that falls off the wing or loses sight of the tanker(once again pride becomes a factor).  I really didn't want to come on the radio and admit to anyone that I was experiencing a problem but there is no way to come inside the cockpit with your eyes and study the instruments. So what do you do? Just hang on till you crash? 

 

  Well, I didn't crash and I didn't die but I truly was scared to death and feeling totally out of control. In fact, when I finally called for help and declared my condition, I was told that we were flying straight and level and not doing any turns. But even that did not help. The only solution was to break formation with the aide of a wingman, clear the tanker and descend, all the while coming back into the cockpit gauges to be able to regain my stability of inner ear. Using my instruments and focusing on them allowed my mind to actually begin believing what my condition was. As my feelings of being upside down subsided, I was able to let my mind override what I thought I felt. That led to stabilizing the inner ear equilibrium. My wingman stayed with me until I was better and then we rejoined the mission with the tanker group. That's what happened and I made it through another what should have been very simple mission.

 

Really many of those same feelings from that night,  I have experienced with "spiritual vertigo" as I described earlier. And its the same things that saved me in the aircraft that saved me with my experience with spiritual vertigo.  Here are a few simple things that can help you recover from that condition:

 

1.  You can't always avoid the situation. Life's events are going to come upon us. Jesus said we were going to have troubles but that He was going to get us through them. In 2 Tim. 2:15 Paul tells Timothy to be prepared to be an approved workman. So study the Word and know the Truth. Be trained to use the "instruments" that God has given us in his Word.

 

2.  When it begins to happen in your life, be able to recognize your symptoms of "spiritual vertigo".  When the tasks at home with the kids are getting too overwhelming, when your job requirements appear to be insurmountable, when your marriage just seems to be so upside down, when nothing seems to working with your finances...... This is the time to realize that you may be experiencing "spiritual vertigo".  Your doubt(feelings) begins to override your mind or knowledge of what is true.   

 

3.  Get on the "gauges". Get in the Word. Declare the truth out loud verbally. Try to bring your mind back to a place where 1 Cor. 10:13 becomes believable. That God will always give us a way out of every situation. Verbal declaration has power over the instability of your mental thought. If you declare God's truth out loud long enough, your mental distraction will go away. This works when dealing with cravings from addiction, anger in relationships, jealousy in your family or even "hunger pains" when on a diet.  

 

4.  If it's too late and the "spiritual vertigo" is on you in full force, then don't hesitate to call out for help. Get a wingman. Call someone and tell them you need a wingman!  Find someone that you can share your symptoms with and ask them to pray with you. "Is any of you in trouble? He should pray....The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:13-16.    

 

5.  Finally, when you are stable and "on the gauges" and the affects of the vertigo have diminished....get back to the mission. You can't just go off on a spiritual "solo" flight. You have to get back to the tasks at hand and on with life as God has given you.  You can't check out. You have to rejoin the tanker and keep going.  Finish cleaning that house, get back to the tasks of your job,  rejoin relationships with your kids or spouse.....just get back into your "mission".

 

  So there you have it! A few simple "fighter pilot" ways to handle the "LOOPS" of life.  May God's force be with you!                

  _________________________________________       





                                                       

"The Book Drive is Still On!"
We Need Your Help!

 


 

  Would you be willing to donate BOOKS, DVDs, CDs, or Electronic Games to help support our ministry?  It's easy and it really helps!  The economy my have you in a financial bind right now but everyone has books, DVDs and CDs laying around the house that could be given to a good cause. Even that old "Game-Boy" in the closet or the video game in the dresser drawer can help. Please help us out.  

 

  Call Valerie Wheeler at 408-1870 or Vicki Hobbs at 678-9460 to schedule pick-up or delivery of your items.  Your donation could help a teen get a mentor or a mom get the support she needs in a time of crisis. 

 

                                            Thank You, 

                                                 Rock 

      ------------------------------------------------------------    

 
"Why Do We Need A Ranch
For At-Risk Teens?"



As we continue to ask you, the Birmingham community and our Alabama state leaders to help us build this ranch for troubled teens, let me share with you a few more statistics and reasons why our parents and communities so desperately need the healing programs that Transformation Ranch will offer.  

1)    A great number of teens across the country are in depression. A study released in 2005 by the National Association of Psychiatry found that the use of drugs, alcohol and promiscuous sex led to teen
depression in up to 12 times greater proportions than for teens that abstained from those activities. Depression is a leading cause of teen suicide.

2)   Teen suicide is the third leading cause of death in people ages 14-24. While no date is available on attempted suicide, there is an estimated 8-25 attempted suicides for each suicide death.

3)   A 2002 report by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism attributed 1,400 deaths, 500,000 injuries and 70,000 sexual assaults a year to on campus alcohol use. Since then those numbers have increased and the age group affected has gotten younger.

4)    Incarcerating our youth for substance abuse and other behavioral issues is not working to rehabilitate our children.  According to Alabama's Department of Youth Services(DYS) in a report released in 2005 and published in the Birmingham News, more than 70% of Alabama children sent to DYS return to the legal system.  
 
5)   "Huffing" or "Dusting" is a form of substance abuse that is on the rise.  The inhaling of aerosolized products can lead to a paralyzing euphoric sensation for several minutes but in affect can freeze the lungs and cause immediate death without normal problematic systems. Keyboard cleaner aerosol cans are a common off the shelf product that teens will huff.

  I leave you with these statistics on our program philosophy and "relapse rates" in the reality of addictions.

Statistic One: 

Our program model from Youth Town in Jackson, Tennessee has a documented 80% success rate in students not returning to the legal system if their program is completed successfully.  Additionally, it has been proven that these evidenced-based programs will save DYS $50-75,000 dollars a year per student if entry into the system is eliminated.

Statistic Two:
 
If you can help an adolescent truly transform their heart by a process of renewing their minds; personally accept the Christian world view for their life; and get freedom from addiction before the age of twenty, there is a 85-90% chance that they will never go back. Over the age of twenty that number drops to 12% and AA claims the number is 3%.  So if you were looking to put your charitable giving into something with a good Rate of Return( ROI), facilities dealing with the adolescents would bring the most "bang for your buck".

Statistic Three:

  "The number of faith-based facilities with long term care, counseling and education for adolescents in Alabama is ZERO."

Statistic Four:

"For anyone out there who doesn't know where you're going, anyone groping in the dark, Here's what: Trust in God.  Lean on your God! But if all you're after is making trouble, playing with fire; Go ahead and see where it gets you. Set your fires, stir people up, blow on the flames (do your own thing), But don't expect me to just stand there and watch. I'll hold your feet to those flames." (NIV says you will lie down in torment)
                                              Isaiah 50: 10,11 (Msg)
The use of drugs and alcohol to fix the pain will work for a short period of time but ultimately leads to depression and ruin; especially in adolescents.

       ----------------------------------------------------------

Help us turn these statistics around in our city and our state. Help us build this ranch. Be proactive....be a part of the solution. Help provide our kids with a wonderful alternative to suicide.

  If you've been affected by a child or grandchild struggling with all the family problems created by drugs and alcohol and want to help us fight this battle, please contact me or Vicki at 205-470-3830.  If you have a church group or community club that would like to hear more of what we are trying to do, I'd love to come share our vision with your group. For more information on the ranch vision check out our website at :

                  www.Transformationranch.com.


      


"Learning to Trust in the Name of the Lord can change your perspective of what you see in a storm."  Rock


 

Contact Us
T.R.M.
P.O. Box 282
Chelsea, AL 35043
.
Cell  -  (205) 470-3830
Office-(205) 701-3800
[email protected]
www.transformationranch.com