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Last weekend I was invited to a  rather unusual graduation ceremony. The graduation was a weekend event for an organization called “Reformers Unanimous”. RU is a Christ driven rehabilitation program for both men and women who have addictions to drugs, alcohol, pornography, work, and everything in between.

Going into the weekend I was very skeptical. The RU program claims a 74% success rate in dealing with drug and alcohol addiction. Now this may not seem that great but evaluating this statistic in light of the fact that “Alcoholics Anonymous” only has a success rate of somewhere around 3-4% you can see why I was a little skeptical about such a claim by RU.

It was not very long into the weekend I learned how they are so successful. The focus of the RU program is not simply dealing with addiction, but rather, focusing on a healthier life lived for something bigger than ones self. You may say, doesn’t AA do that? Yes they do, but RU does not stop at a general “Higher Power”. The focus of the transformation is on the giver of life himself, Jesus Christ. The program has intense study of the word and God and his will for every persons life. The program focuses on 10 keys points of life transformation in Christ to ensure success beyond the program. 

At the graduation ceremony I saw 19 men who 6 months ago were pot heads, cocaine addicts, alcoholics, child abusers, womanizers, and many other unthinkable things. But on Sunday night, 6 months later, they were different, they were transformed. A graduate of the program, Dr. Raul Jiminez stated “20 years ago a read a book that I based my life on, it is called 3 Reasons Jesus did not Raise from the Dead. Tonight as I look at my brothers graduating around me, I can tell you with complete certainty that I no longer need to base my life on 3 reasons Jesus did not raise from the dead because here around me are 19 reasons why he did raise from the dead.” 

Dr. Jiminez’s statement brought me to tears. So often we fail to recognize that the power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to each one of us if we are willing to submit ourselves to it. You see the 74% stat was not fudged, it is very real, it is very Jesus. RU is not successful because it is a great program, it is successful because it is a group of people teaching other people to submit to the will of Jesus for their lives.  The men and women who completed the program were transformed people, new creations. I think we often lose sight of the power of Jesus to dramatically transform people and situations. He has, He can, and He will, if we are willing to let him. This weekend I went in a skeptic and came out a a much stronger believer.

For more information on RU go to: www.reformu.com