Pastors J's Blog

Short term treatment a solution?

Pastor Justin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:33:25 +0000

I heard a recent statistic that say that less than 10% of people searching for treatment will search out a long-term residential program.

So with that in mind what does this mean for the ministry of Teen Challenge? We are going to begin a new en devour at our Teen Challenge center and we are going to be launching two new short term programs in place of our induction program that has been operating for about 3 1/2 years now. These programs which will be 5 & 6 weeks will provide an alternative to the traditional short-term secular treatment options which have for the most case been the only available for those seeking help.

So for the readers out there, what are your thoughts?

Can a 5-6 week Christ Centered program be enough to plant a seed for long-term life transformation?

Thanks for Reading!!

Justin Franich, Program Director

Teen Challenge of the Shenandoah Valley

This is why gov’t funded programs fail!!

Pastor Justin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:51:57 +0000

This is what the world has come to, residential treatment has turned into a lucrative business opportunity for those whom have an extra house. The frustrating thing that we deal with as a non-profit is that the Federal Government will fund hair brain schemes such as the one you are getting ready to read about….but a Faith Based program that has proven a 70% + success rate of graduates can not get funding because we are Faith Based, absolutely ridiculous. Would I want to entrust a mentally ill family member to a group home who is just in it for the business or would I choose to trust my loved one to those whom have consumed their lives to helping people regardless the cost. Please take the time to read this and think very carefully when finding a place to send your loved one.

“Let us show you how to turn your investment property into an half million dollar group home or more an year! With the growing number of mental health clients growing throughout the United States! The federal and state department of social services and mental health services are constantly looking for more housing opportunity for community base programs! The average clients stay’s in an mental health group home for at least 5 to 10 years and since the clients are cover through medicaid, you do not have to worry about providing nursing or doctor services! As an group home provider, you only have to provide basic life support services and assist with the educations and job placement skills!

To find out more information please contact us at the following information:

We also develop certification for Non-profit organization 501(c)3 programs, LLC, C & S corporations

Please call us today and let us get you started with helping those who need your services in providing them with an brighter future!

The federal agency reimburse the group home owners on the average of $180 to $250 a day per client! So if the average home have 4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths then the investor is able to house about 5 to 6 clients! If you are have at 5 clients at $200 a day per clients then you are bringing $1000 per day! That’s about $30,000 an month, which calculate at the rate of $360,000 year per house! If you have 2 houses then you are able to bring in about $720,000 a year!

You average operational expense is around 45% to 50% per home!
You do not have to have an college degree to own and operate a residential group home!
Our company will help you design and start up your group home, step by step
The average startup time – 6 to 10 months — time vary depending on the investor

As an business owner you do not have to no anything about the residential group home business or day support services!
We recommend these programs and businesses for Investment banker, stock brokers, Property Investors, Construction Builders and developers, Apartment building owners, Rental property owners, Churches, Professional Athletes, and so much more! Not only are these programs good investments for those looking to start non-profit companies and searching for an opportunity to invest in an business that have grown for over the past 60 years and still growing with it everyday need for housing! Its a great opportunity to develop an tax break, by providing services to the mentally ill while receiving funding from the department of mental health and social services!

We also provide services for the following programs:
Foster care group home
Mentally illness/Retardation for youths/adults
Intensive in-home services
Half-way houses- for ex-cons
Day Support Programs
Outpatient Services program”

Blessings,

Justin Franich

Program Director, Teen Challenge

Change is Good!!

Pastor Justin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:23:57 +0000

I am so excited over the past few weeks there has been so much change that has happened yet I see God in and all around the change taking place. For the first time since way back when we launched the Teen Challenge program we are down to two students but during this period of a decline of intakes God has shown me major changes that need to take place for the ministry of Teen Challenge to prevail. My wife and I are beginning to work diligently to set these things in motion so that the program will grow for the future. We are so excited to be able to take part in such a wonderful new thing that God is birthing here at this ministry.

Just this evening I got the opportunity to sit down with some good friends whom are going to be helping with the upcoming outreaches that will be taking place at our location in Mt. Jackson, we are so excited about this beginning in March we will be doing monthly outreaches to meet the physical needs of the people in this community, through this it is our prayer that we can network with the local churches already in existence so that the spiritual needs can be met.

Even though the change and the shaking over the last month has taken its toll, there is always some things that are disturbed and not in place after a storm. Yet when it is a God inspired storm you know that everything is right where it is supposed to be.

Thank You God for Change and moving storms into our lives so that we can be made into more mature and complete Christians.

Blessings,

Justin Franich

Program Director, Teen Challenge

The public consequences of a personal agenda

Pastor Justin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:59:08 +0000

I want to examine Joshua 7:1-26 breifly and share some insights on this passage of scripture.

In the Teen Challenge setting many of times we have to make tough choices in order to mantain the integrity of the program. No matter how long I have been in ministry or how many times times these choices have hade to be made it never gets easier. As many know at Teen Challenge we are engaged in warfare every single day, the lives of the men in the program are at stake and there is a spiritual battle going on constantly.

Just like in our passage of scripture the army of God was engaged in battle and given very clear instructions to destroy a city and not take any of the possesions for themselves. Achan in his own personal agenda decided to take items that God clearly commaned them to leave alone. The favor of God left the army immediately and the next day they suffered a horrible defeat at the hands of an enemy that should have been easily defeated.

This is our life in a nutshell, we are engaged in warfare on a day to day basis in this walk of Christianity and when we make decisions to partake in self edifying sin that God has clearly commanded us to stay away from we tend to get slaugthered in battles in which God has already one the victory.

The promise to the people of Isreal was that they would posess the land, God was not sending them into the promise to be defeated. Yet because of one man’s choice thirty couple men lost their lives.

I consistently remain concerned that how my choices to follow a personal agenda and walk in sin could effect the lives of others. I have seen this time after time in the ministry, people come in with personal agenda’s and put the lives of others at risk selflishy. The amazing thing is that the hidden matters God does not allow to remain hidden for long, because just as Achan was exposed and dealt with, so it is in the program God brings these matters to the light and gives us the Grace to deal with them as necessary.

I urge you friends to please see what accursed things you might be holding onto in your life…whether its a hidden drug addiction, lust, bitterness, manipulative spirit…whatever you might be hiding remember it could not just cost you but your family and those engaged in warfare with you. I believe God is calling us to lay our personal agenda’s and our own selfish motives aside and deal with these issues so that we might not cost others there lives.

Pastor J
Program Director, SVTC

http://www.svtc.info

Its all comin together

Pastor Justin — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:29:22 +0000

Good news, got a call today the folks from Manassas A/G will be coming this Saturday to begin work on the old half of the Sanctuary. It amazing how God puts all the pieces together all at the right time. Just as the construction is starting to finish the strategy for this church is beginning to come together. God has begin to unlock revelation on how we are going to reach this community. In the midst of it all waiting on the arrival of our little girl. God you are so Good.

Hope you all have a great night.

Justin

Contenment while waiting for something new

Pastor Justin — Wed, 27 May 2009 02:55:38 +0000

Well, tonight I would say that God has just brought a contentment over my life. I am blessed to say that I am in this season of my life with high levels of anticipation I am more content with where I am than ever before.

The outreach is begginning to take shape, the baby will be here any moment now, and yes there has been struggles with Teen Challenge but yet through the struggle God has shown himself and we are finally I would say stable for the first time since launching the residential program.

I think about Paul as he said in 1 Cor 13:11 “when I was a child I spoke like a child..now I am an adult i have put away childish things.”

As a child I remember there would always be this high level of impatience that I had while waiting for somethings, whether it be a gift, or a new toy, or an exciting family trip. My anxiousness and excitement would be so overwhelming that sometimes it would even ruin the moment when the new thing would arrive.

Yet here recently there has been a contentment in waiting on the right thing, I think I am finally begginning to understand and know the peace that Jesus promised us. As I grow as a Christian and I starting to enjoy that process of waiting on God to do something. Just a short word of encouragement to help you know the peace of God

the constant storm

Pastor Justin — Tue, 26 May 2009 01:54:03 +0000

James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways

It seems like one of the biggest issues I’ve face sinced getting clean from drugs and stepping into ministry, is the issue of doubt. I know it’s crazy to think because I have seen God do so much in my life from day one yet the area where the flesh seems to get the best of me day in and day out is dealing with the issue of doubt.

I have seen God move major mountains in an instant, from financial issues, to addictions being broken, but yet it seems that every day a new mountain awaits that I must have the faith to trust God to move, yet the thing I am learning in this journey of Christianity is that God doesn’t always move the mountains or bring you out of the storm immediately.

Every struggle I am learning is an opportunity for growth, I believe thats why James tackled the issue of doubt right after speaking to us on the joy we should recieve from trials.

After a trial I always find my self asking God why and James right on time responds by saying if any of you lacks wisdom?

My paraphrase “if any of you are wondering why” ask God, doesn’t it seem in a storm that we tend to ask everyone else why this is happening to us but God? It’s true everytime we go through a struggle we tend to holla at all the ladies and fellas and ask them why they think the house is burning down but yet God cleary says if you lack the wisdom in any situation just ask Me, I give to all liberally and without reproach.

See this is when the storm gets tough right here, because I believe that you can navigate your way through a storm without being driven and tossed by the wind, but yet what happens to us is because we seek out man’s wisdom instead of the wisdom of our Father, the storm starts to get a little tougher. This is where the scripture becomes real, the storm that should have just been a lil tropical storm and done with, you know the ones they don’t even give a name. They begin to elevate into hurricanes, and what does the weather man do when a storm elevates to a hurricane, he gives it a name. So this storm that was meant to be pure joy in your life and produce Godly character begins to take over your identity and like James speaks on we become unstable and not in the position to recieve anything from God. All because we gave place to a little bit of doubt in our lives.

Friends, I am speaking from experience. I can tell you there have been situations in the ministry of Teen Challenge that I know I should have just trusted God, and lil scattered shower turns into a hurricane. The problem with the hurricane is not the rain, its the damage from the wind and everything being tossed about. My doubt has left me having to fix collateral damage more than once.

My prayer for you today is that God would remove every spirit of doubt that you are dealing with today. That you would not walk as one whom is double minded, but that your identity would be based upon who you are in Christ.

God Bless

Pastor J

Freedom Outreach & Worship Center

Living a transparent life

Pastor Justin — Mon, 25 May 2009 04:11:16 +0000

In my continuation of this book “Unchristian”, I am now just finishing up the third chapter and I would definitely say that God has been dealing with me on some areas in my life that I need to focus in and adjust.

This third chapter was on being hipocritical and how the new generation views the church as saying one thing but then walking away and doing something totally different. “Do as I say but not as I do”. I believe Christian or UnChrisian there is a bit of hipocracy in us all.

The author zeroes in a little deeper and really hits a nerve with this chapter, because he begins to talk about how we can cure this problem of hipocracy in the church by changing the level of transparency that we have with the outside world. For too long the Church has been “The Greatest Show on Earth”, while the whole time we honor God with our lips but our hearts are truly far from him.

I think about the apostle Paul whom labeled himself the “less of the least” of the apostles, an awesome picture of humility, all the while wide open to all of us whom read the bible about the thorn in his flesh that he plead for God to remove from him, not just once but three times. I pray that God would give me this level of transparency.

I know this is difficult because we don’t want to blast our personal info all around for the world to know our home lives, I don’t believe this was what the author was talking about. I do believe that this is something to the effect of getting rid of the “Never let them see you sweat” mentality. In our effort to shine the light of the Gospel we have tried to portray perfection to the outside world all the while failing miserably to portray something that we can not possibly attain. Through this we have shown the world a striving that makes the church an undesirable place to be, because with everyone inside the four walls acting perfect than the newcomer becomes the object of everyone else attention becuase he is “less than.” I believe in our transparency we can show the world that We are human and yes we have just has many faults as you do.

I had a conversation on the telephone the other day with a gentleman whom was searching for a church and had been clean from alochol six months and quit smoking cigarettes 22 days ago. I remember hearing a timidness as he spoke to me “I am a recovering alcoholic, ive only got a short time clean” Yet all this guy was searching for is a place he could feel accepted. We invited the guy to church and before I hung up the phone I remember telling the guy “The only difference between you and me is I have only been clean a lil while longer, I am just as close to falling as you.”

I pray God would bring a level of transparency to the church that we would not be afraid of our weakness anymore, that we would not be afraid to share our personal struggles in the areas of our lives that we have gotten so good at hiding so that we would not varnish our image. I pray that God would wreck everything we think about our own image and being to reflect Christ in our lives.

Its our weakness that his power is made perfect.

Does Christ still recgonize the church in America?

Pastor Justin — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:29:20 +0000

I recently was given this book as a gift after someone reccomended that I read it, and I will admit it has been extremely though provoking. Written by David Kinnanman and Gabe Lyons whom partnered with the Barna Group to research What the New Generation really thinks about Christianity. I know right from the gate it’s easy to throw our walls of defense up toward a book like this because right from the begginning the book provokes you to evalutae how society views us and why it my matters.

On page 35 the author quotes a believer from California “Christians have become political, judgemental, intolerant, weak, religious, angry, and withouth balance. Christianity has become a nice Sunday drive. Where is the living God, the Holy Spirit, the amazing Jesus, the love , the compassion, the holiness? This type of life, how I year for that.” This quote caught my attention, ecspecially being the leader of a ministry whom makes disciples I began to examine what kind of disciples are being produced in the church today.

Are we producing disciples that lives reflect Christ more than self? I had to sit back and ponder this for few minutes, because the fear is that Christianity has turned into a religion that is a Nice Sunday Drive in this nation. As much as we label the criticism religious persecution we as a church have created most of the criticism and are the blame for this.

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe that we are to be involved in politics and we are not to tolerate moral decay in our nation. We have an obligation to stand up for moral truth, but I think issue here is that a nation sees us just as much of a moral decay in the church that we see in the world.

Paul said in Romans “that we are not to conform to the ways of the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.” The problem is that we have conformed and the image of the Church has become so tainted in this nation. Great Christian leaders whom were once known for shining the Light of Jesus and showing a REAL CHRISTIANITY have been blasted in the media because of thier moral decay.

What can we do as a church to turn the tide? I believe just as much as our image has been tainted, the Word of God will endure forever and we are not to far gone in this nation to change things!!! I agree with the author of this book, we have gotten away from the basics of the faith. In order to see a change we have got to stop trying to build our man-made kingdoms and begin to just lift up the name of Jesus IN WORD AND DEED. Pastor Chris at Albany Tc used to quote James 2:14-16 all the time “Faith without works is dead”. During these harsh economic times the people of this nation need to see the love of Christ. I believe that we need to strip it down and get back to the basics of being the friend’s of sinners, loving, compassionate, Christ driven chrstians we have been called to be.

You who are spiritual restore..

Pastor Justin — Sat, 23 May 2009 03:13:48 +0000

Here recently as a leader at Teen Challenge God has been teaching me things and over the past few months it been with the balance of Grace and Discipline. I have been watching and it seems that over the past few months that I have seen a influx in the number of graduates falling after finishing the program, I have seen 6-8 restoration students come through our doors over the past 3-4 months and it’s a blessing to be able to help pick up those whom fall but it also brings great heartache as a leader. We pour our heart and soul into students to see them become true followers of Christ and I have found so far the greatest heartache in this ministry is when a brother doesn’t get it.

The stories I could tell of you of men that have definitive call on thier lives for ministry and right on the virge of something great getting ready to happen the enemy attacks and they make rash decisions that cost them greatly. It’s like everyone around them can see the attack coming but yet thier eyes are blinded by the tricks of the devil and they fall and fall hard.

Then I believe it hit closer to home over the past few weeks, because we had a guy come to our program about a year ago and after some struggles we sent him to the mountain. After 6 months of being on God’s mountain we went up and saw a glow on him that was incredible, then when graduation came he made a decision to serve in the ministry, yet after a week of being home he fell and went back to using heroin. God used various people to reveal this to us here at the ministry and when he came here he was confronted with it and confessed.

Every logical part of me wanted to chastize him and rebuke him for making this decision, yet this war was taking place because the very depths of my heart were broken, because I wonder how after a year in a program so intense he didn’t get something.

Yet in the still small voice God spoke and said “You who are spirtual restore”. So we brought the situation to light and God used the staff to bring him in for a period of restoration. I would say after a week or so the glow is begginning to come back and God is very much so working in his life again. I have enclosed a link to a video of this young mans testimony, I pray that it encourages you to lift up your fellow believer when they fall.

“Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted”

Pastor Justin – Freedom Outreach & Worship Center