The purpose of The Messenger’s Alley is to provide a respite along the journey to the Kingdom of God. A rest stop for the soul; one beggar encouraging another to seek the table of grace, and to continue the journey (Hebrews 3:13). My hope is to share the lessons I have learned through my own addiction/idolatry/adultery/sin to strengthen others so they may see the grace, mercy, love, and hope provided by Christ and his death of the cross for us.

In one of John Eldredge’s books, I recall an analogy of our walk with Christ akin to walking down the road with many alleys. These alleyways were distractions which could deter us from completing the race (2 Timothy 4:7-8). In Biblical terms, our journey on this side of the earth is faced with many different idols, whether it be sex, food, drugs/alcohol, gambling, and our phones. All of these aim for the heart’s desire for comfort, pleasure, peace, serenity, control, and/or a sense of belonging; the list can go on. The aforementioned are all of the alleyways alongside our journey to reach the Kingdom of God.

Our problem as the created and the fallen is we seek our heart’s desires over the Will of God. The problem is two-fold: 1. The adultery through the idols we seek (drugs/alcohol, sex, food, games, etc.) provide a false and temporary satisfaction to fill the heart’s desires. These false promises then ensnare us into a deep cycle of repetitive behaviors, destroying who we are, our spirituality, and eventually enslaving us until death, both spiritually and physically, is knocking at our doors. 2. Once we are in our slavery, we become deaf, dumb, irrational, and mute, just like our idols (Psalm 115:4-8). Edward Welch states it best, “Addiction is bondage to the rule of a substance, activity, or state of mind, which then becomes the center of life, defending itself from the truth so that even bad consequences don’t bring repentance, and leading to further estrangement from God. To locate it on the theological map, look under sin.” (Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave).