{"id":21030,"date":"2026-03-11T10:24:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:11:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:11:18","slug":"a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/","title":{"rendered":"A Gambling Addict’s Path to Redemption"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is what the end stage of a gambling addiction<\/a> looks like.<\/p>\n

I was alone in a tiny apart\u00adment in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. On TV, the football team I had bet on was about to lose. Not even the point spread was going to save me. That bet was the last of my money. I was broke.<\/p>\n

The apartment was bare except for a couch, a bed, the TV and a bookshelf with some books about gambling and a black leather Bible<\/a> I\u2019d never opened. I\u2019d sold or pawned everything else.<\/p>\n

The air reeked of cigarettes. I was 29 years old. I\u2019d been gambling since high school. Believe it or not, I worked at a casino, dealing poker.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d been through countless rehabs<\/a>. Declared bankruptcy. Alienated fam\u00adily and friends. Even put my dog in the pound once so I could go to an out-of-state casino. (I ran out of gas on that trip, bounced a check to fill the tank, then borrowed money to get the dog out of the pound.)<\/p>\n

I had nothing. I felt like nothing.<\/p>\n

I went into the bedroom and sat on the bed. A believing person would pray at a time like this, but I had not prayed for nearly two decades<\/a>. Not since my dad had died of a heart attack when I was 12 years old. I\u2019d thought of myself as a good kid up till then. I even went to church, though mostly for the youth group. I blamed God for Dad\u2019s death and turned my back on religion.<\/p>\n

Now all I wanted was to close my eyes and never wake up. I thought about taking all the pills in the apart\u00adment<\/a>. Crashing my car into a wall at high speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod, if you\u2019re real, show me a fu\u00adture I can hope for,\u201d I said to the ceil\u00ading. I did not expect an answer.<\/p>\n

Dad had served in the Air Force dur\u00ading the Vietnam War<\/a>. Like a lot of vets, he never talked about that experience and had difficulty showing emotion.<\/p>\n

Work kept him away from home a lot. On weekends, he\u2019d disappear for hours into the basement, the man cave where he worked on projects.<\/p>\n

When I was 12, Dad decided to run for local government. All of a sudden, he was home every day. My brother and sister and I helped with his campaign, go\u00ading door to door and putting up signs around town.<\/p>\n

It was more time than I\u2019d ever spent with Dad, and I loved it. I even wrote him a letter<\/a> telling him how much I loved him and how proud of him I was. When he read that letter, a look came over his face I\u2019d never seen be\u00adfore. He gave me a big hug. What an amazing feeling!<\/p>\n

One morning a few weeks later, I woke up late for school. I raced out of my room. The house was full of rela\u00adtives. Everyone looked devastated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost your dad last night,\u201d Mom said in a broken voice.<\/p>\n

There had been a big rainstorm, and Dad had been in the basement trying to stop some flooding. He\u2019d had a heart attack and died. He was a smoker but otherwise in good health. Now he was gone.<\/p>\n

Kids are literal-minded. The night before, I had asked God to give me a day off school because I was late with a big homework assignment. Was this God\u2019s terrifying way of answering my prayer? Of punishing me for being selfish? How could I believe in a God like that or ever trust him?<\/p>\n

Mom did her best, but she strug\u00adgled. I felt lost. Mom gave me Dad\u2019s watch, the contents of his wallet and a black leather-bound Bible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Bible was your father\u2019s,\u201d she said. \u201cHe got it when he was stationed at a base overseas. It meant a lot to him. He\u2019d want you to have it.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

My dad read the Bible? Neither of my parents went to church. I\u2019d started going only because my grandmother took me. Maybe faith was like a lot of things in Dad\u2019s life\u2014private.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t care. I\u2019d already made up my mind about God. I stuck the Bible in my room and forgot about it.<\/p>\n

Mom remarried when I was in high school and moved to a new town. I stayed behind to finish school under the care of my brother, who was nine years older.<\/p>\n

My brother and his friends liked playing online poker. They invited me to join. The games were just for fun, low stakes.<\/p>\n

Not for me. I was hooked after the very first game. Win or lose, I had to keep playing.<\/p>\n

Card sharks on TV make poker look like a glamorous game of skill. Really, it\u2019s like other forms of gambling<\/a>. Even the best players lose big sometimes, and a lot depends on blind luck.<\/p>\n

I got sucked in by the card shark part. After a couple wins, I saw myself striking it rich and impressing every\u00adone with my cool.<\/p>\n

Addicts love shortcuts. The world felt unpredictable and scary after Dad died. Playing poker simplified every\u00adthing and gave me a false sense of fo\u00adcus. Staring at a hand of cards, I felt calm and in control. I was one big win away from solving all my problems.<\/p>\n

I never got that big win, even after landing a job at a casino. The gambling industry makes money by taking ad\u00advantage of willing fools like me.<\/p>\n

By the time I was 22, I had burned through $100,000, much of it bor\u00adrowed. I declared bankruptcy and started a cycle: Gamble, lose every\u00adthing, own up to it, go to rehab, re\u00adlapse, repeat.<\/p>\n

I never quit my casino job. Why would I? The pay was great, and I could plow every paycheck back into poker or sports betting.<\/p>\n

My brother gave up on me. My mom despaired. My life became a nonstop scramble to borrow money from someone to pay back someone else who\u2019d lent me money for rent so I could avoid getting evicted. I lied. Manipulated. Schemed. Lied some more.<\/p>\n

Finally the whole thing came crash\u00ading down, and I was sitting there in my apartment bedroom, broke, filled with self-loathing, wondering wheth\u00ader I should kill myself.<\/p>\n

I spoke my hopeless prayer<\/a> to the ceiling and hung my head. Which was it going to be? Pills? Or a car crash?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kingdom of heaven is upon you,\u201d said a voice.<\/p>\n

I looked around. Who said that? The voice spoke again. I realized it was coming from inside <\/em>me.<\/p>\n

I jumped up. Was I going insane? I ran into the living room. At once my eyes were drawn to the bookshelf. Lying next to the books about gam\u00adbling was that black leather Bible.<\/p>\n

My father\u2019s Bible. I had hung onto it all these years but had no idea why. It\u2019s not as if I ever read it. Yet I couldn\u2019t bring myself to get rid of it. It just kind of stuck to me.<\/p>\n

I grabbed the Bible, sat down and opened it. The pages parted at the be\u00adginning of the Gospel of Matthew. I noticed writing in the margins<\/a>. Dad\u2019s handwriting. Cross-references. Un\u00adderlined passages. I flipped around. Notes were everywhere.<\/p>\n

Dad really had <\/em>used this Bible. Had faith been more important to him than he\u2019d let on? Trust this book, <\/em>the notes seemed to be telling me.<\/p>\n

I read through the confusing gene\u00adalogy at the beginning of Matthew, followed by the account of Jesus\u2019 birth<\/a> and his baptism in the River Jordan.<\/p>\n

Then I came to the first words Je\u00adsus speaks at the start of his ministry: \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is upon you.\u201d<\/p>\n

I froze. Those were the words I had just heard.<\/p>\n

I raced through the Gospel of Mat\u00adthew, slowing down only for the ago\u00adnizing scene of the Crucifixion and the joy of the Resurrection<\/a>. A warm feeling spread through my body, like a wave. I knew without a doubt that God was real and present in the words of this book I was holding.<\/p>\n

I got down on my knees. \u201cPlease for\u00adgive me, Jesus<\/a>,\u201d I said. \u201cSave me. I give my whole self to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a clich\u00e9 to say a weight lifts when you pray, but that\u2019s exactly what hap\u00adpened. The despair, helplessness and shame that had been crushing me for 17 years vanished. I felt an unfamiliar feeling: hope<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A gambling addiction that has tak\u00aden such deep root in a person\u2019s life doesn\u2019t vanish overnight. It was six months before I placed my last bet. Another two months before I quit my casino job.<\/p>\n

Right before I left that job, I heard from God again<\/a>. Very distinctly I heard him tell me that he wanted me to stop working at the casino to do something else\u2014start an online ministry that helps people share their own stories of redemption.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what I did. I could write a whole separate story of how God helped me do that. Togeth\u00ader with a friend from the church I\u2019d begun attending, I launched Testimo\u00adny House, which continues to this day.<\/p>\n

When I told my casino coworkers that I had been saved and was plan\u00adning to give up gambling, start a min\u00adistry<\/a>, get married and have kids, they all laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn, you\u2019re a broke loser and a de\u00adgenerate gambler,\u201d they said. \u201cYou\u2019ll never change. No woman would ever marry you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three weeks later, while working on my ministry, I met Megan through a friend at church. She and I married the following year, and today we have four children.<\/p>\n

I still have Dad\u2019s Bible, and I look in it whenever I need to feel close to him. I don\u2019t know why Dad didn\u2019t share his faith with me when he was alive, but that\u2019s okay. I give thanks for that Bible, which waited patiently on my bookshelf until God knew I was ready to read it. When my very life de\u00adpended on it.<\/p>\n

For more inspiring stories, subscribe to <\/em>Guideposts<\/strong><\/a> magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is what the end stage of a gambling addiction looks like. I was alone in a tiny apart\u00adment in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. On TV, the football team I had bet on was about to lose. Not even the point spread was going to save me. That bet was the last of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[193],"tags":[194,15,168,76,16,58,30],"ppma_author":[1209],"class_list":["post-21030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-addiction-and-recovery","tag-addiction","tag-faith","tag-family-stories","tag-father","tag-god","tag-guideposts","tag-prayer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Gambling Addict’s Path to Redemption - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Gambling Addict’s Path to Redemption\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is what the end stage of a gambling addiction looks like. I was alone in a tiny apart\u00adment in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. On TV, the football team I had bet on was about to lose. Not even the point spread was going to save me. That bet was the last of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Guideposts Articles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-11T10:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-10T06:11:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/articles.guideposts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/john_simmons_marquee-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"866\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Simmons\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Neeraj Rai\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f0862e0bfb5f72f571ea4d005001f0be\"},\"headline\":\"A Gambling Addict’s Path to Redemption\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-11T10:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-10T06:11:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1741,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/john_simmons_marquee-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Addiction\",\"Faith\",\"Family Stories\",\"Father\",\"God\",\"Guideposts\",\"Prayer\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Addiction and Recovery\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Gambling Addict’s Path to Redemption - Guideposts Articles\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/john_simmons_marquee-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-11T10:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-10T06:11:18+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/john_simmons_marquee-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/john_simmons_marquee-1.jpg\",\"width\":1540,\"height\":866},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Positive Living\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Health and Wellness\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Addiction and Recovery\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/positive-living\\\/health-and-wellness\\\/addiction-and-recovery\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"A Gambling Addict’s Path to Redemption\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/\",\"name\":\"Guideposts Articles\",\"description\":\"Strengthening Faith. Providing Hope.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Guideposts Articles\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/gp-logo-white.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/gp-logo-white.svg\",\"caption\":\"Guideposts Articles\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f0862e0bfb5f72f571ea4d005001f0be\",\"name\":\"Neeraj Rai\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=gc7d9b87677b7a32d038be4d79f46df21\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Neeraj Rai\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gpbookstore.org\\\/articles\\\/author\\\/neeraj\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Gambling Addict’s Path to Redemption - Guideposts Articles","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Gambling Addict’s Path to Redemption","og_description":"This is what the end stage of a gambling addiction looks like. I was alone in a tiny apart\u00adment in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. On TV, the football team I had bet on was about to lose. Not even the point spread was going to save me. That bet was the last of […]","og_url":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/","og_site_name":"Guideposts Articles","article_published_time":"2026-03-11T10:24:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-10T06:11:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1540,"height":866,"url":"http:\/\/articles.guideposts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/john_simmons_marquee-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John Simmons","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/"},"author":{"name":"Neeraj Rai","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/f0862e0bfb5f72f571ea4d005001f0be"},"headline":"A Gambling Addict’s Path to Redemption","datePublished":"2026-03-11T10:24:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-10T06:11:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/"},"wordCount":1741,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/john_simmons_marquee-1.jpg","keywords":["Addiction","Faith","Family Stories","Father","God","Guideposts","Prayer"],"articleSection":["Addiction and Recovery"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/","url":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/","name":"A Gambling Addict’s Path to Redemption - Guideposts Articles","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/john_simmons_marquee-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-11T10:24:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-10T06:11:18+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/john_simmons_marquee-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/john_simmons_marquee-1.jpg","width":1540,"height":866},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/a-gambling-addicts-path-to-redemption\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Positive Living","item":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Health and Wellness","item":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Addiction and Recovery","item":"http:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/addiction-and-recovery\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"A Gambling Addict’s Path to Redemption"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/","name":"Guideposts Articles","description":"Strengthening Faith. Providing Hope.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#organization","name":"Guideposts Articles","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/gp-logo-white.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/gp-logo-white.svg","caption":"Guideposts Articles"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/f0862e0bfb5f72f571ea4d005001f0be","name":"Neeraj Rai","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=gc7d9b87677b7a32d038be4d79f46df21","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18c0b5a06458f26c764f5a7451f1774cfb282943f2f36a00c9a801809489005c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","caption":"Neeraj Rai"},"url":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/author\/neeraj\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":1209,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"john-simmons","display_name":"John Simmons","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fgpbookstore.org%2Farticles%2Fwp-content%2Fthemes%2Fguideposts%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Fdefault-avatar.png&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21030"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=21030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}