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To be human is to live always before the face of God. Relationship to God is essential to what it means to be human, not just in the Christian sense (your personal relationship with God) but as creation relates to Creator. He made you a fundamentally related-to-God being, whether you know it or not.

Human life plays out on God’s stage, before his eyes. Even our thoughts, motives, desires, and emotions are before his eyes, “for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought” (1 Chron. 28:9). Every movement of your outward and inward life—every movement of your physical body—somehow moves in relationship to him.

I am on a plane as I write this. Suppose we were to hit some turbulence and I were gripped with fear. If you were to talk with me about it later—and you wanted to address the full reality and humanity of my experience—we couldn’t simply talk about survival instincts, past experiences, or statistics about plane flight. The most significant aspect of that experience would be what my fear says in relation to God. Not to talk about that would be subhuman. Do I believe God is near or far from me in that moment? Do I believe he cares about my trouble? Or do I believe he is indifferent? Do I believe that he controls what will happen or that he is as uncertain and helpless as me? You never have fears all to yourself; you have fears only in relationship to God. Theologians call this coram Deo, living all of life before the face of God.

–Excerpt from the Introduction to Redemption

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Redemption offers a biblical framework for what is commonly known as “recovery,” guided by the Exodus story, which is the Bible’s pattern for redemption. The approach to change is gospel-based, worship-oriented, and Christ-centered. Rather than targeting a specific issue like alcoholism, sexual assault, pornography addiction or eating disorder, the book addresses the deeper dynamics of the human heart and gospel themes that are relevant to a broad range of issues. However, abuse and addiction, being extreme forms of suffering and sin, are highlighted as specific, prevalent and representative concerns.