New Wine Testimony: Bryan Reif

I am so happy that you have found Setting Captives Free. I am not sure if you are here because you are struggling with a sin that has a hold on you, or maybe a friend or family member is struggling. I want to assure you first and foremost that there is hope and freedom and it is found in the person of Jesus Christ.

My name is Bryan Reif and I lived under the power of alcohol and drugs for 24 years - over 1/2 of my life. I am very happily married to my wife Lisa and we have five kids and two grandkids. I suffered a bad industrial accident back in 1980 where I lost almost half of all four fingers on my right hand. I endured 19 surgeries over the next 19 years. Along with the surgeries came the prescription pain killers. I crossed the line from pain management to sin when I started taking more of the pills for the pleasure from them than for the pain relief itself.

I ended up going to multiple doctors and color photocopying prescriptions to ensure that I always had a ready supply of the drugs. When the drugs weren't doing it, I would add alcohol to the mix. My life was in a never-ending sin spiral that was surely going to end in tragedy. I was making secret doctor appointments and keeping it from my wife, but God knew and kept bringing to my heart that I needed to get this right. So often I tried to convince myself that I could quit on my own any time that I wanted, only to fall again and again. I felt helpless and hopeless.

On May 16, 2004, at Harvest Bible Chapel in Barrie Ontario, my pastor, Todd Duggard, was preaching on the life of Job. So much was happening in Job's life. He had lost everything. His family, his wealth, and his health. His friends were asking him what sin in his life had caused this. Well, I knew the story and I knew that there was no sin in Job's life that was actually causing the suffering, but I knew that my suffering was as a result of my own sin. On that Sunday I went forward for prayer at church and confessed my sin to my wife, Lisa, and to my pastor. All of a sudden the weight or the burden of this secret sin was gone.

The next day I got an e-mail from Pastor Todd with a link to Setting Captives Free. I checked it out and enrolled in the New Wine course. I went through and completed the 60-day course then went on to complete the 120-day mentorship course. I am currently serving as a mentor in New Wine and I have seen first-hand many men come here at the end of their ropes caught up in drinking and or drugs become free by applying the biblical principles that are taught in these lessons.

God is working through the biblical truth in these lessons to break the chains of bondage and set the captives free. I am not a recovering addict or recovering alcoholic, as the world would like me to believe. I am a follower of Jesus Christ and I simply took my sin to the cross and left it there. The Bible says that we will know the truth and the truth will set us free. It also says when the Son sets us free - we are free indeed.

I want to challenge you to go ahead and register in this course, if you have not already done so. Pray that God will work in your heart and take His Word as presented in the lessons and apply it. Someone like me will walk alongside you as you submit your lessons and respond to you to answer any questions that you may have. We will encourage you and hold you accountable with the goal of total freedom. There is no sin too big that God can not forgive or give total freedom from. I wasted over half my life in bondage. Won't you turn to Him right now, wherever you are, and ask Him to help you to break free and live the life that He has for you? He alone can set you free.

I am praying for you.

God bless you. You are Loved.