Ep 120: From Broken to Director of Fun - How Christ Transforms Lives (Part 1)

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"How might acknowledging our weakness open the door to strength through faith-centered transformation? Today James Serpico will tell us how God transformed him from broken addict into THE America’s Keswick’s “Director of Fun”!"

James Serpico never expected to become the "Director of Fun" at America's Keswick. Six years ago, he was just another broken man entering their addiction recovery program, assigned to Room 18, top bunk. Today, he leads programming at the very place that transformed his life.

With raw honesty, James shares how childhood instability and his father's death when he was 13 left him desperately insecure. By 15, he discovered alcohol could temporarily erase his social anxiety. "I don't have those fears anymore," he thought, setting him on a dangerous path of substance exploration. In college, he found prescription painkillers particularly effective: "I didn't have a broken bone," James explains, "I had a broken heart, and it felt like it healed."

The facade crumbled after a car crash on the New Jersey Turnpike became his wake-up call. At America's Keswick — a 127-year-old faith-based recovery program in the Pine Barrens — James encountered a radically different approach to healing. "We are 100% believers that the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what changes a person, period," he explains. With no phones, TV, or outside distractions for four months, residents immerse themselves in Scripture and community.

Through trauma counseling, James began replacing destructive lies with God's truth that he is "accepted, approved, loved" regardless of circumstances. This ongoing transformation exemplifies a profound spiritual paradox: "The weaker that we understand ourselves to be, the stronger and more confident we actually become," because our strength comes not from ourselves but from Christ within.

For those struggling with addiction or supporting loved ones on their journey, James's testimony offers tangible hope that lasting change is possible not through willpower alone, but through heart transformation. Learn more about America's Keswick's men's and women's programs, or support their work by joining the Family Freedom Walk fundraiser on May 10th (11am-2pm).

Addiction Recovery at Keswick - https://addictionrecovery.org/
Barbara's Place - https://addictionrecovery.org/barbarasplace/relaunch/
America's Keswick - https://americaskeswick.org/

Plays On Word website
Plays On Word YouTube
Plays On Word Facebook


Speaker 1 (00:06):
America's Keswick is a conference retreat center, but
it was founded as an addictionrecovery ministry for men and
it's been around for 127 plusyears.
It is a men's program thatlasts for four months no TV, no
newspapers, no magazines.
We are 100% believers that theWord of God, the Holy Spirit,

(00:28):
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, iswhat changes a person, period
for good, for the better.
You're the only name.
You're the only name.
You're the only name.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Hello and welcome to Plays on Word Radio, where we
discuss, analyze, work and playon the Word of God.
Thank you for joining us onthis excursion.
Today let's join Pastor Teddy,also known as Fred David Kenny
Jr, the founder of Plays on WordTheater, as he does a deep dive
into the Word of God.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
James Serpico, welcome to Plays on Word Radio.
Thank you for having me.
Yes, James Serpico is the ownerof Keswick.
He runs.
I can't say you're the mayor,because that's Rob Russomano's
official name.
Rob's the mayor.

(01:40):
We got to come up withsomething good for you, but
you're definitely one of theimportant you called me the
director of fun.
The director of?
That's your official title thedirector of fun.
I love it.
I love it, man.
D-o-f, d-o-f, yeah, yeah, he'sD-O-F.
He's the director of fun.

(02:01):
But yeah, so you know, I justwanted to introduce the plays.
Many in the Plays on Word radioaudience right now are going oh
wow, they got James Everett.
I know him.
You know there's a lot ofpeople that know you from
Keswick.
I first met you when we weredoing the Pete play in the back

(02:25):
at the Colony Chapel.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
That's right, yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
On the Keswick grounds and I distinctly
remember this young guy.
He was very serious butafterwards coming up to me
saying how blessed he was.
I think it was the Pete play.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
It was definitely Pete, yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
It was Pete, yeah, and you had your game face on.
I did not know what you weregoing through at the time or
what you had gone through, butapparently the Lord was in the
middle of doing a great work inyour life at the time.
Can you tell us a little bitabout that?

Speaker 1 (02:59):
Well, there's two things about what we just.
I was listening to you and twothings came to mind.
The first one was that you weresaying that some people know me
and I've thought about this.
I've thought because I have alast name.
I don't know if people know thelast name, serpico, but it has
some.
It has some connotation to it,it has some connections to it
and I'm sure there's somerelationship to the serpicos

(03:21):
that were on the movies and tvshows and stuff like that, and,
in reality, from Italy.
But I was thinking about namesand I was thinking about my name
and I remember, before comingto Keswick, I was thinking, man,
I'm leaving a bad name outthere for myself, especially my

(03:42):
last name.
My first name is differentthese days, but last name is
something that people hear andthey say, oh, and I was like,
man, I'm leaving a bad, I'mleaving a bad name out there,
and that's one thing that comesto mind is that god, he gave me
a new name, amen, and people arethinking of me differently than
they would have, and it's funnyto say that because I, I, um, I

(04:05):
was very good at hiding myaddiction.
I was very good at just hidingthe things.
If I was doing bad things, Iwas good at hiding it.
So I don't know, even if you'dask your average person that
knew me even before Kez, like,oh, what kind of name was James
Levin?
But I knew, I knew the namethat I was leaving out there.
And so I just think of peoplethat I know these days and that

(04:28):
know me, and that you say thatwith a smile, that people are
saying, oh, they're going to beglad to see james serpuk on
there and man, that's like, yeah, super heartwarming.
Yeah, I think that god hasgiven me.
I know he's given me a new nameand it's not even.
It has has nothing to do.
It has to do with me, jamesSerpico.
It has all to do with JesusChrist.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
Amen, and so the Lord is a restorer.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
Amen to that.
He's a God of redemption.
Yeah, so I was like my firstweek just about of being at the
colony.
Yeah, you were new.
I remember that you came andprovided this play and you're a
one-man show and I was blownaway by you but also by the
story and, if I can remembercorrectly, and even putting

(05:15):
myself here back to there andeven seeing your performance a
number of times since then, thatI'm sure my heart was touched
by you and the story of Peterand his mess that he made along
the way and that Jesus touchedhis life to be one of his.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
That was six years ago.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yes.
April 2nd 2019 was when I camein the doors, and so it was
probably a week or two afterthat?

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, man, and I'm just curious, how did they?
Because it's very important forus.
At Plays on Word, one of thethings we do is we make sure we
minister to the guys at thecolony there, not just come out
to do plays for just the generalpublic, which is fine.
That's what we do, but one ofthe things we do is make sure

(06:07):
that we are ministering to thecolony.
I'm just curious, how did Robpromote it?
What did they say?
Come see this.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
It was Rob and Terry Russomano.
I remember very much that Terry.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
I think she gave an announcement at one of the meals
of the colony and I remembervery much that Terry.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
I think she gave an announcement at one of the meals
of the colony and I rememberthey said, yeah, well for the
colony guys, it was for us.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, yeah yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
And so they said yeah .
I don't think they ever said itwas mandatory, but it probably
was.
Yeah, Praise God that that'swhat they were.
They were providing an offeringfor one of the, for one of the
evenings of the of the colonyexperience.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Amen, that's you know what.
What's what's funny is I wentacross the because there's no
bathroom at the colony chapel,so I walked all the way across
the pond over there to the to Iguess I don't know what that
area is called.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
The actual, probably to the actual colony, guess, uh,
I don't know what that area iscalled the actual, probably to
the actual colony yeah, thecolony building.

Speaker 2 (07:08):
And so I go into the bathroom, I'm in the stall there
and these guys come in and acouple guys were like I don't
know man, I don't feel likedoing this, I don't feel like
man and so I I start chiming in,I'm like, yeah, man, I I don't
even know what this is, I don'teven know what's going on here,
man.
They tell me some clown orsomething is going to be up on

(07:29):
stage.
So I start playing.
So I come out of there.
I wasn't dressed yet in my Peteoutfit, but when I went up on
stage I saw the guys that I wascomplaining with about having to
go to this stupid thing andthey were like what Wait, is
that the guy Boy?
He looks like him.
So yeah, I had fun with that.

(07:52):
It's always dangerous man andI've done that since.
I said let me go over to thecone and see if I can.
The inside scoop?
Yeah, because there was acouple guys.
They just were having a toughday or whatever.
If I'm it was a couple guys.
They didn't, they just were,you know, having a tough day or
whatever.
If I'm not mistaken, though, atthe end, though, they were
blessed and they were uh, andthat's that's an important thing
.
I mean, basically, for thosethat are listening right now,

(08:14):
what we're talking about colony,because we know, but how would
what do you?
What is keswick?
What do you?
How would you explain?
Explain it to somebody that ismaybe in California listening
right now.
It's like what are they talkingabout?

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Yeah, what's the colony?
What's Keswick?
What's America's Keswick?
I don't know if they can seehow it's spelled, but what's the
silent W?
America's Keswick is aconference retreat center, but
it was founded as an addictionrecovery ministry for men.
Right now it holds 40 men.

(08:49):
The capacity is 40 men andthere's staff members that have
offices within the facility.
Right now it houses 40 men andit's been around for 127-plus
years.
It was founded in Whiting, newJersey.
Whiting, new Jersey, is one ofthe highest senior populations

(09:12):
in the United States of America,which is very interesting.
It's a cool place because we'vegot a lot of people praying for
us and most of the time seniorsare of the best uh prayer
warriors out there.
So we're right in the middle ofpine barrens, which is one of
the biggest um nature reservesand national parks.

(09:34):
I believe in the country aswell.
Um, and so it's a.
It is a men's program thatlasts for four months.
You, you come in the doors, Icame in the doors, and pretty
much the majority of any outsidedistractions are stripped.
There's no phone calls, andthis might be similar for most

(09:57):
programs honestly, mostaddiction or rehab
rehabilitation programs foraddictive behavior but for
Keswick, no phone calls for thefirst 30 days no TV, no
newspapers, no magazines.
We are a hundred percentbelievers that the Word of God,

(10:18):
the Holy Spirit, the gospel ofJesus Christ is what changes a
person, period.
But what changes a person forgood, for the better?
Addiction eventually goes bythe wayside, and when I say
addiction, I mean substancesalcohol, drugs, pornography,

(10:42):
those big ones that I think getbig labels eventually go by the
wayside and then you start doingsome real work where God starts
to heal your heart, and for mehe did.
And that's the great thingabout Jesus he is a god of
sanctification, justification,glorification immediately.

(11:03):
But some of those things,especially sanctification, is
one of those things that that isprogressive and that takes time
and it continues, and I I oftenstruggle with that.
But I have come to a placewhere I say thank you, lord,
because if I was sanctifiedperfectly on earth I wouldn't
have a need for god, yeah, anylonger.

(11:23):
And so I say thank you, lord,because he's, he knows what's
best for us.

Speaker 2 (11:27):
Yeah right.

Speaker 1 (11:28):
It's good to be in relationship.
That's what it's all about.
It's good to be in relationshipwith the Lord.
And so I don't understand itfully, that's for sure.
But I know part of beingsanctified continually is that
it gives me good reason to be incontinual relationship with my
Father in heaven.

(11:49):
And so it's four months.
Let me get back to that.
Four months mandatory to stickaround.
It is fully funded by offeringsand gifts from the surrounding
community.
When I say surrounding anyonewho wants to give, we do not
receive federal funding, and Isay that to tell you that it is

(12:12):
$500, a flat fee, an intake fee.
You pay that fee, you stay forfour months and you complete
that part of the program.
And then there is another eightmonths covenant relationship
that we set up, where a memberof the colony will form a
relationship with the church andthen continue the process of

(12:34):
learning and growing in Christand with the church and with
other believers and just evenwherever they might go to work,
just in their everydayexperiences.
And so once you complete thefour months and then the eight
months, that's a full graduationof the Colony of Mercy.
With that said, you can stayfor an additional time, which is

(12:59):
called our discipleship program.
That's a mandatory three months, and then some people are
offered to stay as an intern.
You can certainly support theministry by giving that.
Information is either by phoneor by the website as well.
You can come here for ourconferences.
You can go to the events pageon our website.

(13:21):
Conferences are fantastic there.
The conferences are great.
We have conferences at least atleast once a month, and then
there's all kinds of monthlyprograms.
There's a lot going on here,and so I'm actually being paid
to talk to people about that.

Speaker 3 (13:38):
So please call me or email me, if you have to people
about that.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
So, yeah, please call me or email me if you have any
questions about that.
The most the closest thingsthat are coming up are our
family freedom walk, which isour biggest fundraising event of
the year.
Okay is on May 10th.
That is gonna be at 11 am to 2pm on May 10th.

(14:00):
That takes place during our beat 11 am to 2 pm on May 10th.
That takes place during ourreunion weekend.
So we invite all of ourgraduates.
Men's program, women's programI didn't mention the women's as
much, but Barber's Place justturned 10 years old, which is
amazing.
Barber's Place is our women'sprogram.
It's a smaller program.
We have capacity of eight foreight women.
It literally just what's theword?

(14:21):
It was on pause and it juststarted back up, okay, last
month.
We have six women currently inthe program, so if we get two
more, we're looking at a fullhouse and may 10th will be
tomorrow uh.
So tomorrow, if you're able to,if you're local or even if
you're not, if you want to takea drive, please come on out to
America's Keswick for the FamilyFreedom Walk from 11 am to 2 pm

(14:45):
to help raise funds for ouraddiction recovery ministries,
and then we have all kinds ofother stuff, and so being
involved can be.
Coming here, be praying, pleasebe praying for America's
Keswick.
As Fred said, the men of thecolony and the women of

(15:06):
Barbara's Place are top priority.
They're the reason we're allhere.
Praise God that the founderWilliam Ross started this place
because he came out of addiction, and praise God that Jesus came
not to save those, that he cameto save those that need a

(15:28):
physician.
Right, he came to save the lost, not those that think they got
it all together and thinkthey're heading in the right
direction.
Because Jesus made thatcomparison.
He said I came to save thosethat are lost, not the righteous
.
He says that almost facetiouslybecause there are no righteous.
He was basically saying not forthose that think they're

(15:51):
righteous.
And so Jesus is the foundationof America's Keswick, because he
is the best thing for thosethat are lost and searching for
love in all the wrong places.
And praise God that I think wejust said it when we're weak and

(16:12):
we're strong, when we're lostand we're found, yeah, man Right
.
And so for the guys and for thewomen, and certainly for the
staff and for our guests thatare going to be here, that's a
huge way to be involved is is bypraying amen, amen, that's.
That is absolutely fantastic,and so I'll I'll go from the

(16:32):
general statement or the genericstatement of saying the yous
and the wees and the and thedays.
So let me, let me rewind alittle bit, because it's
important to know what I camefrom, and we all come from the
muck and the mire, but we allhave a particular story too and
there's details to each, andmine is.
I'll give you some of thebackground, because that's how

(16:54):
life works usually.
My parents divorced when I wasvery young, my mother remarried
and my dad passed away.
My birth father passed awaywhen I was 13.
And so those things are thosebig moments.
I think of just childhood thatreally shook things up and just

(17:16):
had me on unstable ground.
And I think of the wordinsecurity and that words that
was really meaningful becausethere's an insecurity here.
It was like, oh, I'm insecure,but it started with an
insecurity on what I wasstanding on, what I kind of came
into life experiencing, and Ilove my parents and I love my

(17:38):
dad Uh, even even in his notbeing here, even in his death, I
love them desperately and I'mbeing taught what love is, and
so love involves loving brokenpeople and that's been part of
my healing, has been even justthe uh redemption and the uh

(17:59):
reconciliation, yeah, of thoserelationships, and even you know
those experiences.
But so after my dad's deathwhen I was 13, I would say and
that's, that's a big age, it'slike a teenager and that's a
pivotal age and you say, okay,that's usually right around
there's when there might besubstances that come into play,

(18:22):
and they sure did.
Right around 14, 15 years old, Iwas introduced to alcohol and
my insecurities that I had evenprior to my dad's, my dad's
death.
I was insecure in socialenvironments and, uh, let me
just note, I am the director offun, but officially the director
of programming, which ishilarious because programming

(18:43):
directors are typically around alot of people, yeah, yeah, yeah
, maybe even in front of a lotof people.
And so, man, god is so good tojust say this fire, this place
of discomfort, is going to be sogood for you and man, I don't
like it.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
I don't like it.
Very often I get it His poweris made perfect in weakness
isn't it?

Speaker 1 (19:07):
It sure is.
You're really living that andit's so beautiful too, because
it's hard, the hard things.
I like going to the gym, I liketo work out, since I was
probably around 12, 13 years old, and there's such a good
relationship, there's such agood illustration there.
We don't go to the gym and siton a couch.

(19:29):
You go to the gym and you geton a treadmill and you turn the
speed up.
And you put the weight up.
You don't go down and wait, yougo up and wait.
And I don't know if it's aperfect illustration, but it's a
pretty good one that god says,okay, let's add a few pounds,
let's add five pounds, yeah, buthe's right there to spot yep,

(19:49):
to spot the bar.
And then when you can't do it,he's like I'm gonna be in you
and we're gonna do this togetherand it's just a really cool
relational yeah, stretching andgrowing, and so stretching and
growing.
And so, yeah, about 15 yearsold, I was definitely taken by.
It got its hooks in me byalcohol and really it was like a

(20:11):
substance thing.
The alcohol was just, I thinkalcohol is convenient, and so it
was around and it was somethingas light-hearted as playing
ping pong with my brother anddrinking my parents wine and
saying, man, this feels prettygood.
And so at that point, the nextfew thing, next few experiences,

(20:33):
were being in a socialenvironment and saying, oh, I
don't, I don't have those fearsanymore.
This has, has alleviated thefears of being around people.
I don't really care about whatthey think of me, I'm just going
to say what comes to mind, andI was probably a fool a lot of
those times because I didn'tcare.
But that's what I felt and italleviated those fears and those

(20:55):
stresses and the anxieties, andso I think at that point I was
really hooked in the idea orthought of if a substance can
give me the experience, thefeeling of being alleviated, of
anxiety, then I'm going to checkthese things out.
That was a big reason for me tocontinue going down that road of

(21:21):
substances, of exploring andexperimenting with substances,
and pretty much each one that Ifound I was like okay and
there's a fun aspect to it too.
There's a peer pressure aspectto it.
There's a hanging out andsocial acceptance aspect to it

(21:42):
hanging out and socialacceptance aspect to it.
But for me, I think the bigthing that led me down that road
and I continued down that roadwas because I was so anxious
around people and it just tookthat.
It took that fear away I wasinto.
I got into a differentheadspace, different, different
mindset.
I found some that I didn'treally like, but at least it was
still something that wasdifferent from just me, just

(22:02):
james, being scared and anxiousand, you know, sober.
And then eventually I found oneI really did that like clicked,
and it was painkillers and uh,that's a big deal with a lot of
people.
It became huge right around thattime too.
I was probably a freshmansophomore in college, and so

(22:24):
that was probably around 2002,2003, when we didn't know how
bad they were and how addictivethey were, and there was a lot
out there as well.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
Doctors were prescribing it like it was a
candy or whatever.
They flooded the market so youcould get them everywhere.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
Oh yeah, man that's a , that's a.
That's a documentary out there.
That's the number ofdocumentaries.
But for as far as my personalstory, they were out there,
they're available and they whenyou talk about pain killers,
they definitely kill physicalpain, but they also do a lot to
emotional and mental pain andthey did that for me.

(23:08):
They I didn't have any, Ididn't have a broken bone, I
didn't have a hurt back, Ididn't have a bad knee.
I was in good shape, but I wasin really bad shape.
I had had a broken heart, yeah,and it felt like it healed.
It felt like it administeredpain relief to my broken heart

(23:29):
and it did that in a way whereit took away the anxiety really
significantly and I felt morelike me than I had ever felt.
But I was on this pill, I wason this drug.
It was an opiate and all it wasdoing was releasing dopamine,
but in an unnatural way yeah uh,and I was.
I was really, really hooked andI did that for a number of years

(23:53):
.
Only on the weekends I said Igot this under control, I can
handle it, but it was just messy, messy story.
You know, once a month, twice amonth, messy story, messy story
.
I'd still be drinking.
One thing led to another and Icrashed my car on the New Jersey
turnpike.
Going from the turnpike to theparkway, there was two options
Teen Challenge or America'sKeswick, and I landed on

(24:14):
America's Keswick.
Two weeks after the accident Iwas in the doors, room 18, top
bunk.
I stayed for the four monthsback in 2019, graduated in
August 2019.
I stayed for the discipleshipportion of the program for five
months.
Discipleship also offerssomething called trauma

(24:36):
counseling, with Pastor Noah inour Mercy Shores counseling arm
of the ministry.
That was where a lot of healingtook place, where some of the
past traumas that I experiencedwere uncovered, looked at,
examined, addressed, and thatthose traumas have started to

(25:00):
and they really started at thatpoint and they're continuing to
but have started to be replaced,those lies that I believe
through all that.
They've started to be replacedwith the truth of God that he
loves me, that, no matter whathappens to me, I'm accepted, I'm
approved, I'm loved, all myneeds are met in Christ, and so

(25:22):
that process continues.
And after five months, theyoffered me to be an intern,
invited me to be an intern.
I stayed for a year.
I mentioned that because Robert,my boss and my friend, who took
me under his wing frombasically the start and had me
dressing up as the time travelerduring the summer conference

(25:43):
season that's where it allstarted in programming for me,
and he was diagnosed with cancershortly after I was hired.
And I say to myself what ishappening?
Wow, how could this be right?
Yeah, and I still ask myselfthat.

(26:05):
But uh, the next, the followingOctober, he passed away of
pancreatic cancer.
And uh, I know you and I werewe're sitting here mourning that
right now and we miss Robert.
Uh, you know as much, as asmuch as when he left us the
first day and they named me thedirector shortly thereafter.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
And I said what Wow?

Speaker 1 (26:36):
And some days I still say what?
But I don't know if I've everbeen more comfortable in this
position.
And I stay comfortable, meaningconfident in the lord, knowing
that he, knowing that he has hasme in the right place at the
right time for the right reasons, and that's to share his love,
uh, with everyone that I come incontact with.
And uh, robert's in a goodplace, my dad's in a good place,
my dad's in a good place.
They're both believers and forthose of you that might question

(26:59):
, well, my loved one wasn't abeliever.
What's up with that?
First of all, I'm sorry.
Second of all, I don't knowexactly, but I do know God is
good and he has answers that Ican't give you outside of the
general statement, but it's abeautiful statement that he's
good and he loves you right now,right here.
I was praying this morning formy aunt who is pretty much days

(27:25):
away from passing from cancer.
I said God, help her If she hasbreath in her lungs, help her.
If she has breath in her lungs,help her.
And so that's all we have.
And that's all we need is ourFather, who's good, who's done
everything on His end to sendHis only Son for our sake to

(27:47):
save us from our own brokennessand sinfulness and selfishness,
and all the brokenness andsinfulness and selfishness that
exists around us, that he didall that for our sake, man.
That's good reason to talk toHim and pray to Him.

Speaker 3 (28:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
Amen to that.
You said something interesting.
You said you know you'refeeling confident in this
position.
I find the weaker that weunderstand ourselves to be, the
stronger and more confident weactually become.
And it's because the source ofour confidence is not from

(28:31):
within us, but it's from within.
It's Him.
The more dependent on Him, theweaker we recognize that we are
Exponentially.
Our strength increases becauseour strength is powered by Him,
not us, and it's almost as if wecan hinder the power of Him by

(28:57):
thinking that we are somethinggreater than we actually are.
You know, Amen, Amen.
Hey, that's all the time wehave.
We're going to continue thisinterview with the great James
Serpico next week, but untilthen, the Lord bless you and
keep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you

(29:17):
.
The Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
you peace.

Speaker 3 (29:47):
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