CR Director John Ogle and wife Carolyn

Welcome to SMCC Celebrate Recovery.  My name is John; I am a believer in Jesus Christ, who is in recovery from alcoholism and over eating.

Several months after attending Shadow Mountain Community Church, Pastor Jeremiah preached a sermon which became a spiritual turning point for me. It was from the book of Jonah and the message was entitled "The God of the Second Chance." As I continued to enjoy the fellowship at my church I increasingly began to notice others there, struggling as I had struggled.  They weren’t wrestling with alcohol or drugs, but they refused to openly share about the nature of their problem.  They would respond in phrases like:  “I’m just struggling with life right now”, “Work’s been crazy for me and I need a break”, “I’m in the doghouse with the wife so things are a little strained of late” or my personal favorite: “I need prayer for someone I know.”

As I gained their trust, they would tell me of horrible memories of abuse from their past, crippling habits they could not shake, or destructive relationships. Often they would refer to overindulgences in pornography, sexual affairs, lust, gambling, prescription drugs, TV, smoking, food, work, and on it would go.  Some were hopelessly imprisoned in co-addicted and codependent relationships, all of which kept them from being the man or woman God wanted them to be.

God had shown me the solution that worked, but was this same solution right for others at my church?  The Lord laid on my heart a vision for a biblically based Christian recovery program.  I checked the web site of a church called Saddleback and a Ministry called Celebrate Recovery. I read the story of a man named John Baker who had been blessed by a similar story of recovery as mine.  He too had been given a vision for a Christ-Centered Recovery Program.  I went to Saddleback, met the people and realized this was exactly what the Lord had prompted me to do at Shadow Mountain. 

I met with the Pastors of our church, seeking their permission to move forward with the program and in January of 2001, the Ministry of Celebrate Recovery commenced at Shadow Mountain Community Church.  Since that time I have seen hundreds of people profess “life changing experiences” as a result of working this Christ honoring program.  Many new groups have been established that continue to help people in ways we never thought possible in 2001.  God has blessd us with dynamic and faithful leaders, many of whom didn’t know the Lord when they first came to CR.  To our Higher Power, Jesus Christ, we give all the credit. 

What you will find in this program, and read in these testimonies, is also available to you.  God wants to do it for you.  It takes time, patience and a lot of work. But if you don’t start,  how will God ever work a miracle in your life?

I hope you will join us at Celebrate Recovery and find out how the miracle can happen for you.