Michael Liimatta Resources

Every substance abuse counselor has probably at one time or another pointed to the "skid row bum" and said, "You don't have to be like him to be an addict or alcoholic! " While this type of person may represent only 5% of all addicts, Christians who are in recovery have a lot more in common with him than they may think!

The only people I’ve ever heard using the “disease concept” as an excuse are practicing alcoholics who have no real intention of changing.   I hear something totally different from Christian counselors and other professionals who subscribe to what is also called a “clinical approach” to treatment and recovery.  While recognizing the impact of factors like heredity and brain chemistry in the development of addiction, they know that real change happens only when addicts and alcoholics begin to take responsibility for their lives and truly “own” their own behaviors. 

[img_assist|nid=73251|title=Michael Liimatta|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=78|height=100]I grew up in an alcoholic family. Both my father and my mother came from alcoholic homes, too. Because I grew up in such a very chaotic home, I was running the streets from an early age. My first drinking experience was when I was just twelve years old. I was "turned on" to pot at age fourteen, and went to jail twice for selling marijuana, hashish, and LSD, before I was eighteen years old.