I’ve been reviewing books for a dozen years now, and there are some days where I wish it could be part of my ministry description and not just a hobby. I love to highlight for potential readers some of the excellent and edifying books that I come across, and at the same time help authors’ voices reach a broader audience.

Debt Paid is one of these excellent, edifying books—and Chris Davies is an author worth listening to.

This book recounts Davies’ years of rebellion from the Lord, his addictions and incarceration, and the life-changing, spirit-healing gift that prison was in his life. He has since begun Debt Paid Ministry, which focuses on helping others pursue freedom from addictions through a relationship with Christ, and this book is a massive first step in sharing that ministry with the world.

Davies’ addiction began young, with a heavy love for alcohol at age 13 that eventually morphed over the years into a dependence on meth and the criminal behaviors required to keep the meth flowing. He was eventually arrested on felony charges and spent time in county jail, then in state and federal prisons. This book recounts his experiences in those places, not at all to glorify them but to highlight the realities of who he was in rebellion to his Savior and who he is now in close dependence on the Lord.

Several scenes from this book jumped out at me, as I’m sure they have for other readers unfamiliar with the world of drug addicts. For example, Davies writes of how, during his years with meth, he would use the drugs in order help him focus on his Bible study—yes, you read that correctly! In fact, he recounts some of the greatest, God-centered conversations and experiences he had during Bible studies just before he went back to his apartment to take yet a another hit of meth. The mental focus that meth offered was itself the deception that led Davies even deeper into this sin, because he thought he could justify doing something that he knew was wickedness simply because it ostensibly brought him closer to God. This evidences the depths to which he’d sunk, and he needed rescue. He needed a way out, to get clean, to break free from the bounds that held him captive, and to his shock and joy, getting arrested and sent to prison was his answer!

Another scene that jumped out at me came while he was in prison and part of a Bible study. He mentioned that his years with meth had resulted in him getting all of his teeth pulled. He also describes the many tattoos he acquired during his incarcerations, ink that told stories of the process of his growth. I could picture him there, in his prison uniform, all tatted up and with the toothless look of a former meth-head: it was a familiar, off-putting image. And then I read his words. There he was, this man I’d never talk to, praising Jesus and talking about how awesomely the Lord has changed his life! And it really, honestly and truly caught me in a wicked place: I see drug addicts all over my town or in Walmart or at the gas station, and I judge them immediately as lost causes, as there by choice, as destroying their bodies and families because they want to. I turn away from people like this, because they’re part of a world unfamiliar and (frankly) disgusting to me—even though they’re part of the same world I live in! That attitude is the very definition of “Denial”!

But what if I could hear their voices like I heard Chris’ in this book? What if they, like Davies, are brothers or sisters in Christ needing help to get back to their Savior? Or what if they’re lost in need of the Gospel and blood of Christ? What if they’re as desperate as Davies was about getting clean, yet simply can’t?

“What if?” is a ridiculous question to ask, because the answers are clear: I could hear their voices if only I was willing to talk to them. They are either saved or lost at that moment, and they need to turn to Christ no matter what. And whether or not they know it yet, they are desperate to get clean, because chemical dependence is unnatural and nothing more than a slow form of suicide. This book has opened my eyes to these realities, and I pray that they’ll stay open so that, rather than judging or fearing these people I see all over I town, I instead pray for them, possibly engage them, and at bare minimum see them as souls needing a Savior.

I enjoyed Davies’ writing style throughout this book, at times pure memoir, at others devotional. He says that he’s written this over a period of 6 or so months and without drafts or rewrites, and so there is a sense that we readers are occasionally peeking over his shoulder into his private journal. We might feel ashamed to do so, and yet he invites us on this intimate journey—as embarrassing and terrible as it is sometimes—and he’s a great guide.

I also appreciated his constant and careful handling of Scripture, not just grabbing verses out of thin air or spouting his opinions without explanation, but thoughtfully couching meaningful passages in their contexts and explaining the different ways others might interpret the truths that have touched him. It’s an honest approach to teaching/counseling/discipling, which is no real surprise, because this is a painfully honest book. About that, Davies writes:

This book is about being wide open. Open about everything, but most importantly, about opening the Word, digging into truth, promises, and having an open heart. (33)

One final thought is about the Debt Paid Ministry that he’s started and the description of it he offers in his book. Going into it, I was like, “I’ve never heard of it”—and there’s a good reason for that: he just started it, and he’s the only employee! Essentially, he’s been passing out to addicts he meets on the streets $20 tied to a card introducing himself as having “been there” and survived, along with his contact info if they’d like meet Jesus, get clean, or just talk. It’s a ministry which targets specific people with a specific need, and it’s a ministry anyone can do (even if they’ve never “been there”), no matter where they are. When Jesus told us to “go therefore and teach all nations…” I don’t think He meant “…by first ignoring the people around you right now.” Debt Paid might be a brand new ministry, but it’s one that’s likely in the process of recruiting its own future ministers, one card at a time.

I really enjoyed this book, even the painfully convicting portions. If you or someone you love have addictions in the past or in the present and don’t want them in the future, Chris Davies has an Answer for you, the Answer that recused him not only from his addictions and wasted life but to something far greater and eternal.

©2023 E.T.