This page is for anyone who wants to understand what Surge is actually built on before they walk in the door.
"Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 12:2 — the verse at the center of Surge Recovery
This verse is not decorative. It is the operating premise. The mind is a battlefield. The patterns we inherit — from addiction, from trauma, from the ways the world has shaped how we think about ourselves and God — do not dissolve on their own. They are transformed by truth. That is what Surge is for.
These aren't statements on a wall. They're the working convictions that shape every Thursday night.
Not a principle. Not a program. Not an inspiration. Jesus Christ — his life, death, resurrection, and present lordship — is the foundation of everything Surge does. This is explicit and intentional.
The Bible is not background. It is the active instrument for transformation. Teaching, discussion, and prayer all return to scripture as the authority on who we are and what healing looks like.
Romans 12:2 is not metaphor. Destructive thought patterns — about ourselves, our worth, our past, our future — are the ground where addiction, shame, and hopelessness live. The mind renewed by truth is the mind that can sustain recovery and transformation.
We believe God hears and answers prayer. Not as a formula, and not always in ways we can predict. But prayer is not ritual at Surge — it's honest conversation with a God who is actually present. Every Thursday ends in it.
The Christian life was never designed to be lived alone. Isolation feeds every form of darkness. Showing up, week after week, with the same people — being known and knowing others — is itself a form of healing. The room is the point.
We don't offer easy answers or quick fixes. Addiction, grief, trauma, and depression are real. The gospel doesn't make hard things disappear — it provides truth, community, and hope to walk through them with. That is what we offer.
Surge is not a performance space. Performance religion doesn't help anyone. The room works because people are honest — about their struggles, their doubts, their prayers that haven't been answered, their weeks that were hard. Honesty is what makes the prayer real.
We believe that with Christ, with scripture, and with community, people genuinely change. Not perfectly. Not without setbacks. But the renewing of the mind is real — Jim is proof, and so are the people who have been in this room for years.
Surge draws from established, scripture-rooted teaching resources. We are not affiliated with a denomination, and we do not have our own curriculum. We use trusted materials that align with our core convictions and adapt them to the needs of the group.
Freedom in Christ Ministries (FICM) has been a foundational influence on Surge since the beginning. The "Who I Am in Christ" bookmark — a list of scriptural declarations about identity — is used regularly. FICM's approach to identity, truth, and breaking strongholds of the mind aligns directly with the Romans 12:2 framework that shapes everything we do.
Joyce Meyer's teaching — particularly Battlefield of the Mind, the current group study — brings practical, scripture-based teaching on thought patterns, the renewing of the mind, and breaking cycles of shame and defeat. It is accessible, direct, and grounded in years of lived faith.
Future studies are chosen by the group as a whole. The teaching materials change. The foundation does not.
"Who I Am in Christ" — scriptural declarations of identity in Christ. Used at Surge as a grounding tool for people rebuilding their sense of self after addiction, shame, or trauma.
ficm.org →The current group study. A scripture-rooted examination of how we think, how destructive patterns form, and how God's truth renews the mind and restores hope.
joycemeyer.org →Surge is lay-led. Jim Lehmkuhl leads the group not because he has a seminary degree or a clinical license, but because he has walked the road. He's a recovered addict who built the community he needed. That is his authority, and it's the kind of authority the room actually responds to.
There is no clergy. There is no counseling structure. There is no professional hierarchy. The whole posture of Surge is: we figure this out together with God's help. Jim guides the conversation. Others bring wisdom from their own journeys. The Holy Spirit does the actual work.
This matters for what Surge is and is not. We are not a substitute for pastoral counseling, professional mental health support, or clinical treatment. We are a peer community grounded in Christ and scripture. Those are different things, and we are honest about the difference.
Surge Recovery operates under the sponsorship and accountability of Marketplace Ministry. This affiliation provides organizational structure and oversight while Surge remains independent in its format and focus.
Every Thursday, 7:00 PM. Towne Place Suites, Chesterfield. Conference Room 1.