Amanda's Testimony

"Hello, My name is Amanda and I'm a 33 year old mother of two very precious (disabled) children. I've smoked for 19 years ( I was 12 when I started) a pack a day. I was so addicted that I smoked during both my pregnancies. My daughter was born ok but later we found out she had a very rare metabolic disorder. My son was born at 23 weeks gestation weighing one pound six ounces. With God's tender mercies our son and daughter are miraculously alive today but God used these children and Setting Captives Free in sending me a VERY clear message...."Quit smoking by the time you are thirty or I will have to release my hands on you and let the full consequences of smoking take it's toll." Fearful of these consequences I enrolled in the course and managed to finish only the first two nights of study but that was enough! I believe the prayers from this ministry and my heartfelt prayers to heal me in spite of myself....YES IN SPITE OF MYSELF....caused God to reach down from heaven and break the captivity of this addiction in my life. I quit cold turkey and haven't smoked since April 17, 2006. It wasn't easy. There were times I felt like starting again but God reminded me of the reason I was quitting. Ask God to give you the reason you are quitting...Meditate on that reason when you feel like a cigarette and PRAISE GOD FOR YOUR MIRACLE! You can do it!" Amanda

Doug's Testimony

"I began smoking when I was 20 and smoked for 14 years. I tried to quit several times and could never stay quit. I tried patches, gum, patches again. On my own, I could not do it. Not only was smoking a part of my life that I refused to surrender to God, but it was also a barrier between God and me and with that barrier in place, it was easy for me to sin more and more until for all practical purposes, I had no real relationship with God. One day I found Setting Capitves Free and it was just what I needed. I signed up and I threw away my cigarettes the first day. I enrolled because it was a stop-smoking method that I hadnt tried before. After the first few lessons God began to work in my life. Not only was I not smoking, but I was hungering for Gods word. The lessons were great and I looked forward to doing them every day. I also received encouraging emails from my Mentor almost every day. For so many years, my life was full of sin. After enrolling in this course and repenting and seeking Gods forgiveness for smoking and all of my sins, I began to have a joyful and rewarding christian life. I began having daily devotions. I began spending time praying every day. After two months, I am not smoking and I no longer desire to. My need for smoking has been replaced with a need to spend time with God. I came here looking for help quitting smoking and I found that, but I also found myself reunited with my Lord. Praise God!" Doug

Maurina's Testimony

"My mentor is Tonya Price. She is an excellent mentor and so full of scriptures that it flows out of her. Hanging around older kids, I started smoking when I was eight years old. I told my parents when I was about 13, and they permitted me to smoke in front of them. After many years of smoking I was so deceived, believing they were my best friend. They were there when I was happy, they were there when I was sad. Regardless of the situation they were always at hand to either rejoice with me or comfort me. In November of 2006, I became very ill. A Christian friend of mine, who is also a nurse, told me that she was going to pray that God take smoking away from me. At the thought of losing my best friend (cigarettes) there was no way I was willing to be set free. However, in early February of this year I became too sick to smoke, which lasted for about three weeks. As soon as I was better, my first thought was a cigarette. However, thanks be to God, there was a second thought that followed, which was turn to "Setting Captives Free" so I could be free once and for all. From the very first lesson to the now present lesson of "Day 59," I have been so excited each and every day. I had been so deceived by Satan, that I had no idea that smoking was a sin, nor had I realized that over the years he was successful in setting up multiplied lies in my thinking, so that I not only didn't want to ever quit smoking, but I thought these thoughts were my very own. Thanks to the scriptural studies in "Setting Captives Free" I soon learned that smoking is the sin of idolatry and that everything I believed about smoking was a lie. I also learned the importance of drawing near to Christ and feeding on Him and His goodness every day and throughout the day. Of course I now know that Christ alone is the only one who is able to meet all my needs, and He alone truly satisfies. The best part about this course is that the emphasis is more on Christ and, from the very first lesson, it has been a glorious daily adventure of getting to know Him heart to heart. I thank my friend, Shauna, for praying, even though I didn't want her to. I thank Setting Captives Free for the God-anointed Breath of Life course, as well as providing a mentor and, most importantly, I thank the Lord Jesus Christ, whom I now know as my personal Lord and Savior in both word and deed. For by His grace I truly have been set free from smoking once and for all. To God be the glory!" Maurina

Jim's Testimony

"Hi, my name is Jim and my mentor is Bill Master. Thanks, Bill, for all your prayers and patience. I’ve successfully quit smoking through the help of Setting Captives Free. I am now 48, but originally quit smoking when I became a Christian at age 17. After ten years of walking close to God, I went through a number of storms, drifted away from the church, and walked with God at a distance (long story). Smoking was among several carnal behaviors I resumed. About two years ago, I realized my distance from God and the resulting behavior exceeded any possible stretch of what would be acceptable for a Christian. I called out to God for help. He heard me, was faithful and many wonderful changes occurred in my life with bad habits/vices falling away. But, I could not quit smoking! No amount of praying for deliverance was doing the job. Maybe smoking wasn’t a sin? Maybe it was a problem initiated in my genes? Maybe I’d just have to live with it? I had almost given up on God as a solution to quit and decided to give it one last shot on my own to quit (a new technique). In hindsight, this was just another doomed attempt. Anyway, right before taking this step, I came across the Setting Captives Free website on the Internet. The rest is history. Setting Captives Free not only showed me how to quite smoking (I’ve been smoke-free more than two months) but also how to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the carnal desires of the old nature. I’ve learned how to glorify God with my body and walk victoriously in a more pleasing manner to Him. I used to be so confused about how we obtained victory regarding bad habits. All this, from a strictly biblical approach, is now clear from the courses in the Setting Captives Free Breath of Life program. My wife is also very appreciative of my quitting the biblical way. I wasn’t nearly the tyrant I was when trying on my own! Thanks." Jim

Peter's Testimony

"My mentor is John Warren. I started smoking when I was 12. My parents didn’t allow it, but I felt myself a real guy as I did it. I didn’t think of the possibility that it could be a sin, because my father smoked and many others in church, too. The first years I just smoked now and then, but from that I was 15, I smoked more and more and, when I was 18, I smoked almost 40 cigarettes a day. I tried to quit sometimes but I couldn’t stay clean for long. Now two years ago, I tried it for the last time and it didn’t work out again, so I said to myself, "I’ll never be able to stop." And I said to my wife, "You have to learn to live with it," although we were expecting a child and everybody knew how much damage it could bring to a young baby. I wasn’t willing to listen to anybody who would say that I shouldn’t smoke that much. Although I was a Christian I didn’t want anyone to say that I may not smoke because my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. I was laughing about that sort of things. Meanwhile, I was in other habitual sin, too. I was addicted to pornography and self-gratification, but God made me free from that through the course "The Way of Purity" in the Setting Captives Free site, too. And as I was moving on in that course, I realized that smoking so much couldn’t be pleasing to God. In fact, it was a sin, because I didn’t drink from the Living Water, but still had my own well. As I realized that, I planned to stop smoking after finishing that course and start this course. I couldn’t actually believe that Jesus would fulfill all my needs as I stopped smoking, so I prayed a lot, "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief." And the Lord did, He made me trust on Him. He made me believe that He was going to set me free. And He made me free. I’m now free from smoking for more that two months, and it wasnt even that hard, because the Lord was with me. Only when I thought that I could do it for a day or an evening in my own power, I was getting weak, but when I flee to Jesus, He gave me the power again. God did some great things in my life. He made me free from my pornography addiction, self-gratification and from smoking. It is great to live in freedom now. I don’t even want to be a slave any more of smoking. Because that is what I was: a slave, but God bought me free, with a price, His life and His love. And that is what makes it able for me to live." Peter

Cynthia's Testimony

"I am so very grateful to my mentor, Julie Lewis. Thank you, Julie, my friend, from the bottom of my heart. I began smoking at age 20 while in college. My friends smoked; it was cool and socially accepted at the time. I became addicted for 28 yrs., smoking 20-30 cigarettes a day. I tried five times to quit over the past few years before finding Setting Captives Free. Habitual smoking and dependence on nicotine is idolatry and kept me separated from God. For years, I also drank alcohol excessively. God delivered me of that addiction, but I continued smoking. I attended church with my daughter, but stayed in the darkness. I never really had a relationship with God, although I thought I did. But I was critical of services, the music, whatever, and slipped out early all the time to go and smoke. I never got close to people at church, because I was hiding my sin. I never hugged anyone because they would smell the smoke. I was such a hypocrite, and I had no peace. God got my attention when my mother-in-law was diagnosed with COPD and then lung cancer. I bought nicotine patches and quit smoking for seven weeks. I knew in my heart that I would end up just like my mother-in-law, if I did not quit smoking. But I relapsed and, over the next few weeks, I smoked off and on, keeping myself in constant withdrawal. I was a nicotine junkie; I thought I would never be free of the bondage of smoking. I quit again, and, on the third day, I was in agony, crying out to God and in despair, I was led by the Lord to Setting Captives Free. To quit smoking for the glory of God had never occured to me. It was such a simple and life-changing concept. Then God showed me the face of death up close and personal. My mother-in-law regained consciousness briefly and found herself attached to a ventilator. She looked into my eyes and I will never forget it. I was at her bedside when she died. Afterward, I stopped smoking for a few days and then became a closet smoker. Now that is a distressing way to live. My husband smoked occasionally while drinking a beer, although he mainly used snuff. I would sneak out to his workshop and steal his smokes, all the time while trying to work through this course. The Holy Spirit was convicting me of this behavior, but still I gratified my evil flesh, smoking and hiding. I even picked up butts off the ground and smoked them, too. When I confessed this to my mentor, she got tough with me, which is what I needed. She wanted me to start the Breath of Life course over and I agreed. What could I say; I was STILL smoking!! At that point, I totally surrendered my life to God, gave the addiction to Him, trusted and began obeying the Spirit. Everything turned around in my life. I turned to Jesus and feasted on Him, drinking of His living water, rather than depending on smoking for my emotional needs. God also delivered my husband of smoking, and he quit, too. God himself took away my access to cigarettes; I truly believe that. This course strengthened me, encouraged me and reminded me to focus on Jesus while battling the demon of addiction. I have not touched a cigarette in two months, and could never have done this without God. It was for His glory alone, and, by His grace, I will NEVER go back to my old life. The Spirit has returned to me fuller than ever before, and I am now bearing the fruit I used to covet in others. I hug everybody at church and am involved in everything my church does. I stopped isolating myself, and am happier and more fully alive than I have ever been before. My mentor, Julie, has been used by God for my benefit and deliverance. She always knows how to help me. I thank God for placing her in my life. I thank God for setting me free from the slavery of smoking." Cynthia

Jack's Testimony

"My mentors name is Bill Master. I still remember the very first cigarette that I smoked! I was 13. My 15-year-old brother and I sneaked across the road from our house, hid in the school bus that my oldest brother, drove and we smoked a very strong non-filtered cigarette. I was sick for hours afterward, but I was proud because I had done something ‘cool.’ Thus began a pattern of deceit and lying that would keep me walking in the shadows for the next 40+ years. What began as a very small act of rebellion, later became ‘chains of steel.’ I continued smoking throughout my teens, twenties and thirties. Sometime in my late thirties to early forties, I knew that I needed to stop smoking. I was an elementary school teacher, a deacon in our local church and worked with the children’s program. I knew that smoking was not a good influence. So instead of trying to quit, I began to "hide" my addiction. It was soon evident that I needed to quit. I prayed, asking God to remove this from me. I tried to quit on my own. I went to a hypnotist. I tried patches and gum. I tried prescription medicine. Nothing worked. I was desperate. I was in a situation where I had to hide my smoking from everyone that knew me, my wife, my family, my friends, and my employer. For about two years I did this. I became very good at deceit, at lying, at sneaking away to smoke. But the guilt and the shame were increasing. What started out as a small act of rebellion had grown into a monster that I could not control. I literally planned my day around when I could smoke a cigarette. But praise God! He did in an instant what I could not do in a lifetime! When my sin of deceit and lying became known, my wife was devastated. But through honest confession to God, to my wife and several friends, through repentance and asking for forgiveness, God set me free. Jesus broke the ‘chains of steel’ that had bound me so tightly. I then went to a Christian counselor who assisted me in setting up a program of accountability that would help to continue the work that God had begun. One part of the program was the ‘Breathe of Life’ course. This Bible study was instrumental in my continued freedom. The spiritual truths that this study brought to me daily helped me remain strong, focusing on Jesus, what He had done, continues to do and will do in my life. I am so full of joy now that I am free from this bondage. Words can never express my gratitude for what my Savior did for me and continues to do for me each day! Thank you, Jesus, for setting this captive free from bondage!" Jack

Nita's Testimony

"When I smoked, I was backslidden and was not able to see it as sin. For me, the worse part was that I did not understand why I smoked. The Lord had to show me by isolating everything and having me to just focus on Him. Then I could see clearly how my smoking was a sin. The Lord has shown me the timing for me to quit smoking was my "suddenly," and not a surprise, because I had been praying and fasting and seeking the Lord for deliverance, and not trying to figure it out on my own, but asking the Holy Spirit to search me and reveal why I smoked. I am grateful that the Lord lead me to Setting Captives Free, because this is the course that He used to remind me of the correct teaching of His Holy Word, and how my life should be free from bondage, including smoking. The Lord has delivered me from smoking. He removed the desire and the craving for smoking that I once experienced. I am grateful to the Lord for His deliverance, His healing of my emotions, His being the Lord of my life, and honoring His Word, that the backslider belongs to Him. I am grateful to my online mentors, Chrissy and Tonya. And I also thank the Lord for my brothers and sisters in Christ who were used by the Lord as they stood in prayer support and ministry to me while I completed the Setting Captives Free course, and gained complete freedom and victory and deliverance over smoking, through the redemptive work of the cross by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior." Nita

Donald's Testimony

"To begin, my mentors name is Douglas. His responses to my input in this course has been very helpful. I would like to take this time to thank him for his perserverance. I could have avoided the bondage of smoking had I been stronger in character. I didn’t start smoking until I was 19 years old. The excuse that I used was that I was in the army, and I had am image to live up to. Besides, the smoke kept mosquitos away and smoking helped to relieve the stress of everyday life in the jungles of Viet Nam. I will have to say that there was never a reason that I could give for smoking, because they were all excuses for doing what I wanted to do without being held accountable. "It’s my life, and I can do what I want with it." Looking back, it seems that, in order to prove that I was in charge, I would abuse myself with tobacco, alcohol and drugs whenever I wanted. But, for all of the stupid things that I did, God never abandoned me. Periodically, throughout my life, He would send someone into my life to remind me that He loved me and had a plan for my life. This was usually something that I didn’t want to hear, because it would mean that I was accountable to a higher authority and I had already gone so far astray that to work my way back into His good graces would be impossible. It has been through His patience and love that I have come to know that it is impossible to work our way into His grace. It is only through His grace that we are saved. Through His grace, I have been saved and freed from nicotine addiction. In less than 60 days, He has freed me from something that I have tried to free myself from for over 20 years. For 20 years, I tried to prove that I was in control. In 60 days of obedience, I now know that He is in control. I became curious one day and sat down to do some math and discovered a couple of interesting facts: in one quarter of a year, I would have smoked 1800 cigarettes that would have cost me approximately $280.00. If you consider a smoke break to take 10 minutes, then those 1800 cigarettes will take 18,000 minutes or 300 hours or 12.5 days out of your life." Donald