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Dear Friend, "So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free" (John 8:36). I thank God for you. This week I received some encouraging e-mails in response to our series on Coming Clean. As I am sure you will agree, the concept of Coming Clean is one that intrigues many of us. We struggle with just how it works. Deep down inside many of us know that we have issues that we need to resolve so that we can be liberated from the burden those issues create in our lives. I keep thinking about the period of transition in my life between the time I was released from prison, went to Wheaton College and wrote Coming Clean. I remember clearly that while working on my Ph. D. at Loyola University every time someone looked at me in what I thought was a 'suspicious manner', all kind of thoughts would creep into my mind. The first thought was, "Oh my God! They know about my past." I must confess it really bothered me for a long time. I feared that it was just a matter of time before someone found out about my past. Then, I wrote the book and told the world all about who I was, how Jesus Christ loved me just as a filthy sinner that I was, and how He changed me. Now, I no longer cared when someone looks at me in a 'suspicious manner', because they cannot uncover what I have already come clean about. You see my friend, when we fear that people might find out something about us that we would like to remain hidden, we get scared because of the two things people can do when they discover our hidden secrets: they can judge us, or they can condemn us. That is it. However, the day we come clean we are liberated because, first, our secrets can no longer hold us captive. Second, once our lives are transparent before those we love then we create a 'safe place' for healing to take place and for real intimacy to occur. Yet, how do we do this when we constantly say we want to come clean but in reality we are scared to death? How do we come clean? I suggest that the answer is not us, but in Him! That is why Step 2 is so critical: "I believe that a power greater than myself can help me Come Clean and thus be liberated." I want to pause for a moment here and clarify that even though our 7 Seven Steps in Coming Clean are a modification from the 12 Steps of Alcoholic Anonymous, the 'higher power' we refer to is specific. I want to make it very clear that for Jorge L. Valdes and Coming Clean Ministries that 'higher power' is Jesus Christ and no other! You see my friend, the day I was arrested I realized that if Jesus Christ existed and was going to give me a new chance at life, I had to come clean. I also realized that I was not able to do it in my own strength. Yet, according to the man who witnessed to me for over 3 years, Jesus Christ could. Therefore, coming clean was my only chance. I had nothing to loose. I had nothing to loose because I realized that I was in reality already dead. In the world's eyes I had it all. They did not know that deep inside I was dying. I was dying because of the reality of the horrific things I had done, and the many people I had hurt, most of whom, were those I adored. I needed this Jesus Christ, if He was real, to change my heart, my mind, and my soul. For this to take place I was willing to do whatever I had to do. I repented and come clean and I was set free. Halleluiah! My friend, I will not write to you and tell you that I had it all figured out. I will not tell you that this was some formula God had secretly revealed to me, nor will I tell you that I was convinced that it would work. What I will tell you is that I had no choice. I could not remain in the state of confusion and guilt that I was in. I could not look at my dear elderly mom and dad with the realization that I had destroyed their world, and I had never said I was sorry. Finally, I could no longer look at the children with whom God had blessed me, and from whom I had robbed so many years and never say, "I am sorry. I was that person, but God has made me a new man." You know the old saying; "Love is never having to say you are sorry." Well, to me, that is the greatest lie in the world. True love will always say, "I am sorry", knowing that God can heal any relationship or any broken heart once it is transparent. May the Lord Jesus Christ truly bless you?
Jorge Valdes, Ph.D.
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