What is Recovery Remixed?
Who is Mark Brouwer?
Why should our church trust them
with this delicate and important topic?
The issue of sexual struggle is important and challenging. If you're going to address it in your church, you want to be sure it will be handled Biblically, wisely, and compassionately. Just because someone is a good person, has solid theological credentials, or has found healing in his or her own life doesn't mean they are competant or qualified to help other strugglers find healing. You need a combination of spiritual authenticity, theological credibility, thorough knowledge and expertise about healthy sexuality and personal growth, and teaching skill. Here is a bit of Mark Brouwer's background (author and speaker for the Reclaiming Sexual Sanity program), which might help you decide about bringing this teaching to the people in your church:
Quick overview of Mark Brouwer, director of Recovery Remixed:
Mark Brouwer is a trainer and practitioner in the field of sex addiction and recovery. He provides teaching to groups of all ages about how to move towards sexual sanity, as well as coaching for people who are struggling with compulsive sexual behavior. Having served for 15 years as a pastor and started two churches, he understands the spiritual issues and perspective that people bring to this issue. Since early 2006, Mark has worked with Faithful and True Ministries, coordinating and presenting at workshops and training seminars. Having taught and coached hundreds of people about recovery from sexual addiction, he understands what moving towards sexual sanity involves.
Click here for a more thorough biography, including educational credentials.
_____________________________________________________
What others are saying about Mark
But don't take our word for it. The most important "credentials" are the results one experiences in teaching and counseling. So here is some feedback we have gotten from people about Mark's teaching and coaching work:
“I have known Mark Brouwer for a number of years and have watched his wise teaching grow over time. He is providing very valuable resources to many men around the country. I am pleased to recommend his teaching to you.” - Dr Mark Laaser, Director of Faithful and True Ministries, and author of numerous books on sexual addiction and marriage restoration
“Mark Brouwer has been my colleague in pastoral ministry and is my friend. Now he is based just down the street from where I live and work even though he counsels and teaches people across the nation. Mark is a person of integrity and courage who not only faced his own personal challenges but brings his experiences and professional expertise to compassionately and effectively help others.” - Dr Leith Anderson, president of National Association of Evangelicals, pastor of Wooddale Church
“Mark spoke at our church on the topic of sexual purity and sexual health. He spoke at both our adult forum and our morning services. Both were handled very well. He was outstanding in his excellent preparation, sensitivity to his audience and personal authenticity. I would highly recommend him for any event.”
- Pastor Eric Hulstrand, Senior Pastor, Trinity Lutheran Church of Minnehaha Falls
"What a tremendous resource for Pastors you are! I want to thank you and your wife for leading our annual Pastor/wife retreat. It was great. As we drove home, my wife and I both said we wished we would have known of such problems and resources to help correct the problems when we began our ministry. Your teaching was a great warning, particularly for those who are dabbling with or becoming addicted to not only pornography, but to other addictions as well. I have received responses from a few of our attendees and they all felt the meetings were very worthwhile. Thanks for your work and ministry." - Rev. Frank Pott, Regional Pastor
“Mark brings credibility and knowledge about his subject. He talks about his experiences - in leadership and life - with a straightforward courage that is admirable. He put us at ease while talking about very difficult subjects, diffusing our discomfort with humor and honesty.” - Pastor Kyle Haak, pastor of Living Stone, Rochester, MN
“Thank you for your openness, wisdom, and honesty. I think you could tell from the attentiveness of the students and the many questions they asked that what you said really hit home for them. I hope to have you back for future classes at the seminary.” - Dr. Bob Albers, professor at Luther Theological Seminary
_____________________________________________________
Here are some words of feedback from workshop and seminar attendees. (Due to the highly personal nature of the content of these workshops, attendees’ names are not listed to safeguard their confidentiality.)
“Mark’s teaching was a 10!! This was VERY helpful with some of the areas I struggle with, and I would heartily recommend it to other people.“ - seminar attendee
“Mark’s session was excellent. Very thorough! The only suggestion I would have is that he be given more time to speak in future events.” - seminar attendee
“I especially was helped by Mark’s openness about the issues [of sexuality and compulsive sexual behavior]. Whether or not a person struggles with these issues, it will be an eye-opening experience to hear Mark talk and learn about something a large amount of people are struggling with.” - seminar attendee
“Thanks for sharing your story, encouraging me, and reminding me how much God will always love me! Thank you so much for being real…and truly caring! My life is changed because of your Workshop!” - workshop participant
“Thanks for coming with your insightful teaching and powerful story. As time has gone by and I’ve heard you speak in different contexts, I could see how you’ve applied your teaching in your own life first. I could really identify with a lot of the things you talk about.” - addiction class participant
“It is without a doubt that I am doing as well as I am because you went the extra mile to accommodate me and help me get into your session. The personal insights you gave in your teaching and the understanding of our destructive addictive behavior has been VERY helpful.” - workshop participant
“Thank you so much for your openness, humility, generosity, and your precious knowledge. It was so helpful for me. I expect that your teaching on this topic will be a great blessing to people from all parts of the world.” - seminar attendee
_____________________________________________________
What is "Recovery Remixed"?
Recovery Remixed is a teaching and coaching organization devoted to applying the wisdom of the recovery community to issues of sexual struggle and sustainable leadership. We offer workshops, on-site seminars, and tele-seminars, as well as audio and print resources. Here is a further explanation from our director, Mark Brouwer:
What in the world does "recovery remixed" mean? Obviously, the work we are doing is around recovery - helping people deal with addictive or compulsive behavior. Or (to borrow the language of Celebrate Recovery) to help people "deal with their hurts and hangups."
But ... remixed? What is that?
I like the term because it's a key aspect of the music I have grown to love. Remixing is a way of working with songs and sounds that other musicians have created, and putting them together in your own unique way. When you are done, you have something that was inspired by (and possibly similar to) the original song, but has your own stamp on it. You add other rhythms, other influences, other sounds - and what you come up with is different (and hopefully even better).
This is what I want to do with the teaching about recovery. I have discovered great and timeless wisdom in the recovery community that I am seeking to apply in my life. I want to share that with others. But I want to apply recovery insights not so much to substance addiction ... instead I am interested in working with people who struggle with sexual behaviors (whether they're full-blown "sex addicts" or not), and with leaders who struggle with the personal side of leadership - things like burnout, isolation, and codependency.
The mission of Recovery Remixed is to: Apply the timeless wisdom of recovery to the challenges of compulsive sexual behavior and sustainable leadership. We do that by offering teaching in a variety of forms for churches and community groups, telephone seminars, and workshops.