Never forget that it's Him, Christ in you, doing all these things – Ben Fuller's storyNever forget that it's Him, Christ in you, doing all these things – Ben Fuller's story
Real Recovery
Christian artist Ben Fuller shares how childhood hurt, cocaine and alcohol addiction, and the loss of close friends led him to a life-changing encounter with Jesus in a church service. His story describes a gradual journey into sobriety, restored family connections and a new purpose in sharing hope with others in addiction.
49:37•2 Aug 2026
Cocaine, Country Bars and a Church Invitation: Ben Fuller’s Christ-Centred Recovery Story
Episode Overview
- Unspoken family pain and a lack of affection can push people toward self-destruction and substance use to cope.
- Cocaine and alcohol offered temporary numbness but brought severe physical, emotional and spiritual consequences.
- Repeated losses from overdose and the fear of death stirred a deep question in Ben’s heart about what comes after this life.
- A simple act of hospitality and an invitation to church led to a powerful encounter with God through worship.
- Sobriety emerged progressively as Ben chose Christ over alcohol, responding to growing conviction rather than an instant fix.
“Never forget that it's Him, Christ in you, who's doing all this stuff and not you doing all this stuff.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? Real Recovery shares Ben Fuller’s raw account of cocaine and alcohol addiction, father wounds, and the unlikely church invitation that changed everything.
Ben talks openly about growing up on a Vermont dairy farm with a distant dad and a family culture where “we don’t say I love you.” That silence, plus hidden pain, led to a suicide attempt at 16 and, soon after, to cocaine as a way to numb everything he didn’t know how to feel.
He describes the brutal “two-day flu” of cocaine comedowns, driving drunk more times than he can count, and losing close friends – including his best friend Ryan, who died after progressing to heroin. Despite being a “functioning addict” and successful stonemason, Ben kept hearing a quiet inner question: isn’t there something more? That “something” surfaced when a family from his past invited him for dinner in Nashville and casually asked if he’d like to go to church.
Expecting nothing more than a polite payback for a meal, he walked into a worship service and was stunned: he hadn’t taken a drug, yet felt “the highest high” he’d ever known. That day he knew he’d sing about Jesus for the rest of his life. Ben shares how his faith journey didn’t instantly erase alcohol.
Now a Christian recording artist, Ben uses his story to urge dads to say “I love you” plainly, to remind those in addiction that they’re “not too far gone”, and to keep pointing back to the source of his new life: “Never forget that it’s Him, Christ in you, doing all these things.” If you’re battling addiction, wrestling with family hurt, or just wondering if God could possibly start again with you, this conversation might be exactly what your heart’s been waiting to hear.
Over seven months, conviction grew each time he cracked open a beer until, as he puts it, he realised he was trying to drown out a new flame God had lit in him. The taste for alcohol faded as he chose to be present with Christ instead.
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