Christian Recovery Resource Centers Checklist

Christian Recovery Resource Center Guide and Checklist

Taken from

The Dick B. Handbook for Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons Worldwide
By Dick B., with Ken B.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved

What Those in Need May Not Find or Hear When They Cry Out for Help
and
How Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons May Inform and Assist Those in Need

The Importance of Stressing the Availability of Healing by the Power of God—A Fact That the Cofounders of A.A. Made Crystal Clear to AAs

The Bible is filled with accounts of healing in the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the Book of Acts. Moreover, there are clearly-documented cases of healing by Christians in the centuries following. See Dick B., The First Nationwide Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference, 2d ed. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2006), 1-19, 25-33, 89-97.

A.A. cofounder Bill Wilson’s own experience and remarks attested to the fact that God healed him of alcoholism. And the trail to a cure began with his doctor, William Silkworth, and his old friend, Ebby Thacher: (1) Silkworth, Bill’s physician, had told Bill that the Great Physician (Jesus Christ) could cure him. [See Dale Mitchel, Silkworth The Little Doctor Who Love Drunks: The Biography of William Duncan Silkworth, M.D. (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2002), 33-35, 44,, 47-51.] Wilson confirmed Silkworth as “very much a founder of A.A.” [Mitchel, Silkworth, 107.] (2) Having received Silkworth’s advice about cure, Bill received a surprise visit from his old schoolmate and drinking friend, Ebby Thacher. Ebby told Bill a number of things that not only paralleled Silkworth’s advice, but demonstrated that Ebby too had believed in healing and had specifically sought it. (a) Ebby told Bill: “I've got religion;” (b) “Oxford Groupers had suggested that Ebby needed to call on God . . . to help him with his problem.” (c) “[T]hese fellows told me they had run into a group called the Oxford Group, and had gotten some pretty sensible things out of it based on the life of Christ, biblical times.” (d) They had lodged Ebby in Calvary Mission, operated by Rev. Shoemaker’s Calvary Episcopal Church. (e) “finally how he’d tried prayer just as an experiment and had found to his surprise that it had worked.” (f) Ebby had surrendered (made a decision for Christ at the Mission altar) on November 1, 1934, about a month before he called on Bill. (g) “that the desire [to drink] had been lifted right out of him. It had simply vanished. He no longer sat on a powder keg. He was released. He was free.” [See Mel B., Ebby: The Man Who Sponsored Bill W. (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 1998), 6-7, 10, 49-51, 58-59, 62, 64-65, 68.]

Several additional points about Bill and Ebby are discussed and documented elsewhere: (a) Ebby’s Oxford Group “sponsor” was Rowland Hazard. (b) Hazard had been treated
for alcoholism by the famous Dr. Carl G. Jung, but he had failed to recover. Rowland aligned himself with the Oxford Group; and, “In these surroundings, Roland [sic] did find a conversion experience that released him for the time being from his compulsion to drink.” [“Pass It On” (New York, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980), 382-83.] Subsequent research established that Rowland had made a decision for Christ. Jay Stinnett conducted a workshop in Reykjavik, Iceland, on March 11, 2007, and titled it “AA Spiritual History Workshop: Why Our Lives Were Saved.” Material from that workshop that appeared on the Web, with a date of 10/26/07, stated the following: “1932 New York. Rowland [Hazard] returns and joins the Calvary Church, studies with Rev. Sam Shoemaker, and gives his life to Christ. His obsession to drink is removed.” (c) Stinnett also wrote: “September 1934, New York. Ebby Thacher made a decision for Christ at Calvary Mission, and his obsession is removed.” (d) In his visit with Bill W., Ebby “made the point-blank declaration that God had done for him what he could not do for himself.” [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed. (New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2001), 11.]

Remembering Ebby’s report about his (Ebby's) decision for Christ at Calvary Mission, Bill decided to go to the Mission and see for himself what they did there. [Bill W.: My First 40 Years: An Autobiography by the Cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2000), 136.] Bill went to Calvary Mission and made his own decision for Christ at the altar. [Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W.: More on the Creator’s Role in Early A.A. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2006), xiv-xv, 60-62, 73-74, 88-95.] Echoing Ebby’s own words, Bill wrote: “I’ve found religion;” and shortly thereafter at Towns Hospital, Bill proclaimed, “I’ve found something” [Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W., 95.] Soon thereafter, Bill wrote: “For sure I’d been born again” [My First 40 Years, 147.] And, after Bill’s new birth at the altar, he got drunk, and went to Towns Hospital depressed and despairing. Remembering Silkworth’s talk with him about the Great Physician and cure, Bill thought to himself: “Yes, if there was any great physician that could cure the alcohol sickness, I’d better seek him now, at once. I’d better find what my friend had found.” On arrival at Towns Hospital, Bill said: “I remember saying to myself, ‘I’ll do anything, anything at all. If there be a Great Physician, I’ll call on him.'” Then Bill said, “I cried out, ‘If there be a God, let him show himself.’” His room “blazed with an indescribably white light.” He thought “You are a free man.” “I became acutely conscious of a presence which seemed like a veritable sea of living spirit.” “‘This,’ I thought, ‘must be the great reality, The God of the preachers.’” [My First 40 Years, 136-47.] Bill never drank again!

Bill’s firm confidence that he had been healed by the power of God is attested by three
documented events. First, Bill left Towns Hospital a free man. He immediately began looking everywhere for drunks to help—at the Mission, Towns Hospital, flea bag hotels, the Bowery, and even Oxford Group meetings. Second, as Bill sallied forth, “With Lois’s full support, he was soon walking through the gutters of the Bowery, into the nut ward at Bellevue Hospital, down the slimy corridors of fleabag hotels, and into the detox unit at Towns with a Bible under his arm. He was promising sobriety to every drunk he could corner if they, like he, would only turn their lives over to God.” [William G. Borchert, The Lois Wilson Story: When Love Is Not Enough: A Biography of the Cofounder of Al-Anon (Center City, MN:: Hazelden, 2005), 170.] Finally, Bill’s message was crystal clear as to his belief that he had been cured. That message is preserved to this day in Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed, page 191: “'Henrietta, the Lord has been so wonderful to me curing me of this terrible disease that I just want to keep talking about it and telling people.'”

With typical brevity and clarity, Dr. Bob simply wrote: “Your Heavenly Father will never
let you down!” Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 181.

Dr Bob had a host of healing and prayer books in his library and among the books he circulated to early AAs and their families. One of these healing books reporting thousands of healings worldwide was James Moore Hickson, Heal the Sick (London: Metthuen & Co., 1924). A second was a review of biblical healings and personal healings: Ethel R. Willitts, Healing in Jesus Name (Crawfordsville, IN: Ethel R. Willitts, Publisher, 1931).

Possible Sources of Inquiries You Can Develop and
from Which You May Hear

ñ The Internet: Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Articles, Forums, Cross-links, your own Web site.

ñ Newspapers and magazines of all kinds.

ñ TV and radio shows.

ñ Word-of-mouth mention.

ñ Clergy, churches, pastoral and recovery counselors, physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists.

ñ Fellowships.

ñ 12th Steppers, sponsors, mentors, peer counselors.

ñ Counselors and social workers.

ñ Interventions.

ñ Chaplains.

ñ Call Centers and law enforcement.

ñ Conferences and recovery seminars, programs, meetings.

ñ Speakers and our own International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers Bureau.

ñ Study groups, Big Book groups, Step groups, Bible groups, prayer groups.

ñ Bookstores.

ñ Restaurants.

ñ Welcome and information centers.

ñ Hospitals.

ñ Treatment centers, rehabs, detox facilities, aftercare, alumni, and sober living programs.

ñ Community service agencies—veterans facilities, military facilities, the United Way, the Salvation Army, the YMCA, churches, welfare agencies, mental health agencies, community medical centers, the Red Cross, the Chamber of Commerce, service clubs, support groups, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and Campfire Girls, coaches, teachers, schools, colleges, libraries, housing facilities, retirement centers, elderly care agencies, volunteer groups, and clinics.

Initial Inquiry and Interview

When a person who wants God's help with overcoming alcoholism and/or drug addiction (or someone else concerned about a family member, friend, employee, etc., who may want such help) contacts you or your group or your organization, we suggest you conduct a preliminary talk with that inquirer. A talk which, on your end, may be led by a recovered alcoholic, addict, or codependent A.A., N.A., or substance abuse worker. A leader who will tell the afflicted and the affected about healing and cure, about alcoholism and addiction, about signs of trouble, and about his or her own experience.

We suggest you ask the newcomer to tell you their personal story. Review with that newcomer the famous “Twenty Questions” originally published by Johns Hopkins. Review the “More About Alcoholism” chapter in the Big Book, and the suggested test on 44 of the Big Book. Find out if the newcomer has had enough misery and trouble; if he or she wants to quit drinking and abusing drugs for good; and if he or she concedes to his or her innermost self that he or she is an alcoholic and/or addict. Determine whether he or she is willing to go to any lengths—i.e., to do whatever it takes—to get well. Learn whether he or she believes in God and wants to seek God’s help. Find out whether he or she is born again; and, if not, whether he or she is willing to come to God through Jesus Christ His Son.

Assessment

Establish that the newcomer wants to pursue comprehensive Christian recovery.

Explain: (1) the option of seeing a professional, licensed Christian alcohol, drug, and codependency counselor; (2) what to read about Christian counseling if there is interest; and (3) how a Christian counselor might be helpful.

Help the newcomer determine whether immediate medical diagnosis, assistance, and/or detoxification are needed, and where to find medical help—even in the nearest Emergency Room.

Explain the option of an intervention by a skilled interventionist who will use love first—not just break down the patient or family—and will insure that a willing alcoholic or addict, or non-alcoholic or non-alcoholic family member of friend will also seek God’s help and be able to find it as the end result of the intervention.

Explain a comprehensive effective program elements in a Christian or Christian Track treatment program.

Provide Relevant Information about Christian Recovery

Show the person or persons interviewed why the original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” program founded in Akron in 1935—and its predecessors in the Young Men's Christian Association (the YMCA), the Salvation Army, Gospel rescue missions, revivals, and the Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor—were so enormously successful through reliance on the help of God. Show them the “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” class on four DVD’s, or enable them to procure and view the class at home or elsewhere. Explain how the first three AAs got sober; the original, seven-point, A.A. “Christian fellowship” program developed and followed in Akron, and documented in February 1938 by Frank Amos; and the 14 practices of the original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” program.

Make it clear that Christian recovery help will only begin if:

ñ The person in need: (1) believes that he or she is “licked”—i.e., fully concedes to his or her innermost self that he or she is an alcoholic and/or addict; (2) really wants help; and (3) is willing to listen and cooperate in order to overcome his or her alcoholism, addiction, and related self-destructive behaviors and life-controlling problems.

ñ The family, friends, relatives, employers, teachers, etc., of the afflicted alcoholic and/or addict don’t think that they can—by themselves—“fix” the person in need, or “force” or “persuade” the person in need to seek help; and that they recognize that they too may need counseling, and/or one or more treatment sessions.

ñ The afflicted alcoholic and/or addict concedes, through learning: (1) he or she is beyond his or her own help, or the help of others; (2) he or she has an uncontrolled alcohol and/or drug problem; and (3) that alcoholism and drug addiction get progressively worse and produce even more problems.

ñ The afflicted alcoholic and/or addict has decided to: (1) quit permanently; (2) get well; (3) end the misery; (4) do whatever it takes to overcome his or her alcoholism and/or addiction; and (5) discipline himself or herself to stick with the effort.

ñ The afflicted alcoholic and/or addict stops tolerating recidivism, relapse, and revolving door treatment; and that they “go for the gold”—complete recovery, hard-won, once and for all.

ñ The afflicted alcoholic and/or addict at least glimpses the idea that “nothing changes if nothing changes.” In other words, the afflicted alcoholic and/or addict, as well as those affected by them, all need new “playmates” (i.e., friends and associates)—not former tempters, dealers, failed quitters, or enablers. They need new “playgrounds” (i.e., places where they will not be readily tempted to drink or use)—not bars, or other dark and “slippery” places. They need completely new ideas and approaches to their problems. And they must acquire new tools to use to overcome temptation, guilt, shame, fear, anger, self-centeredness, dishonesty, and trouble.

ñ In our opinion, the afflicted alcoholic and/or addict:

◦ believes in—or is willing to believe in and seek—God;
◦ understands what it means to become a child of God by coming to Him through His Son Jesus Christ;
◦ understands the importance of appropriate and habitual prayer to God in the name of Jesus Christ;
◦ recognizes the need for Bible training and understanding;
◦ sees the necessity for keeping company with healthy, convicted, loving fellow-believers;
◦ wants to have fellowship with God, His Son Jesus Christ, and like-minded children of God;
◦ Understands that real, “old school” A.A. (i.e., the original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” program) was astonishingly simple; amazingly successful; and based on reliance on God, cleaning house, and helping others.
◦ Understands that “old school” A.A. can be followed within modern 12-Step programs today by those who want God’s help in recovery without “violating the Traditions.” This present-day opportunity still exists because A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature still in print and offered for sale by A.A. —e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous, (the “Big Book”), DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, and other “Conference-approved” literature—do talk extensively about God, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, prayer, healing, religious growth, and church. This situation exists even though the Society of Alcoholics Anonymous today also now condones and welcomes people with other beliefs, with no beliefs, or reject God outright. No matter! The “support system” of modern A.A. can still be of great value if one knows the pitfalls in present-day literature, meetings, and chatter.
◦ Understands that there is idolatry; secularism; an array of “nonsense gods;” undefined “spirituality;” and a good deal of Christian-bashing, religion-bashing, and church-bashing in many parts of the United States and other countries within modern A.A. Consequently, the afflicted alcoholic and/or addict may find it necessary to leave A.A. And seek Christian churches, fellowships, and/or groups exclusively.

Referral Options and Possible Actions

Make sure that the afflicted alcoholic/addict understands that a comprehensive Christian recovery today may require committed utilization of all the following items (as well as the many just mentioned):

ñ Qualification of the afflicted alcoholic and/or addict as to whether he or she: (1) concedes he or she is helpless; (2) understands that determined and disciplined effort are needed to overcome his or her problems; and (3) has firmly resolved that all the former temptations, dangerous habits, slippery places, slippery people, dark activities, and the like must be dumped!

ñ Medical assistance or detoxification.

ñ Good vitamin, supplement, and nutrition habits; exercise; adequate sleep, filling lonely hours.

ñ Perhaps competent Christian intervention and referral.

ñ Early insistence on belief in God, and accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

ñ Early introduction to: (1) the Christian origins of the recovery movement and the 12-Step groups that arose from it; (2) the history, founding, original program, successes of the original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” program; and (3) the changes that were made to the original Akron program, beginning with the publication of the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous on April 10, 1939.

ñ Emphasis on reading the Bible and praying in one's personal life.

ñ Perhaps competent licensed or other lawful Christian counseling.

ñ Perhaps competent Christian pastoral counseling.

ñ Perhaps competent Christian chaplaincy in situations where a newcomer or patient may be located.

ñ Continued medical monitoring and possibly mental health treatment.

ñ Effective Christian residential or outpatient treatment.

ñ Contemporaneous and complimentary treatment for family, children, concerned others

ñ Participation at A.A. or 12-Step programs and meetings, and involvement in them, to the extent reasonable.

ñ Participation in Christian Recovery Fellowships—now proliferating around the world.

ñ Bible instruction and study.

ñ Prayer instruction and meetings.

ñ Individual “Quiet Times”—including prayer, Bible reading, reading of devotional literature, seeking guidance from God, and sharing.

ñ A.A., N.A., Al-Anon meetings, Christian recovery fellowships—meeting schedules.

ñ Regular contact and communication with a sponsor, mentor, or peer counselor.

ñ Regular communication with those in recovery and/or involved in Christian activities.

ñ Competent Big Book and 12-Step instruction for those pursuing A.A. participation.

ñ Christian Aftercare.

ñ Supervised Christian sober living.

ñ Church or Bible Fellowship.

ñ Unselfish, unremunerated, vigorous work with unrecovered alcoholics, addicts, and codependents. This is the missing link today. Such work may include sponsorship, speaking, making 12-Step calls, visiting hospitals and prisons, and conducting Big Book and Step studies. Workers involved in such activities may be called sponsors, peer counselors, mentors, “disciplers,” or Twelfth-steppers. They may be called compassionate recovered drunks or druggies who are servants. But the workers need to help others. They can help others. And because such workers are often absent in today's recovery scene, it is missing a major ingredient of the original recovery movement ideas and Steps.

ñ Assistance in obtaining help and resources in the community—for veterans; the elderly; children; the mentally-impaired; the disabled; the indigent; the homeless; those needing transitional housing; the abandoned; the incarcerated; those needing financial counseling and relief; those facing legal and criminal proceedings; those facing divorce and child custody matters; those needing marital and family counseling, and those needing psychiatric help.

ñ A plan for new dedication to serving and glorifying God and His Son Jesus Christ; turning to God for revelation as to details on salvation, healing, forgiveness, guidance, comfort and consolation, peace and love, the principles and teachings of Jesus Christ, and the results described in the Book of Acts regarding early Christianity.

Suggested Reading for Further Guidance

The Holy Bible, King James Version
The Runner’s Bible by Nora Smith Holm (NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913)
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed.
Alcoholics Anonymous, 1st ed. (forthcoming Dover Publications paperback reprint with
Introduction by Dick B.)
DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.,
1980
The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches: Their Last Major
Talks
Jesus the Healer by E.W. Kenyon (Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society, Inc., 2000)
Heal the Sick by James Moore Hickson (London: Methuen & Co., 1924)
Healing in Jesus Name by Ethel R.Willitts (Crawfordsville, IN: Ethel R.Willitts
Publisher, 1931)
How It Worked:The Story of Clarence H. Snyder and the Early Days of Alcoholics
Anonymous in Cleveland, Ohio, by Mitchell K. (Washingtonville, NY: AA Big
Book Study Group, 1997)
Our A.A. Legacy to the Faith Community: A Twelve-Step Guide for Those Who Want to
Believe by Three Clarence Snyder Sponsee Old-timers and Their Wives.
Compiled and Edited by Dick B. (Winter Park, FL: Came to Believe Publications, 2005)
The Conversion of Bill W.: More on the Creator’s Role in Early A.A. by Dick B. (Kihei,
HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2006)
The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible, 2d ed., by Dick B. (Kihei,
HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 1997)
The James Club and the Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials, 4th ed., by Dick B.
(Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2005)
When Early AAs Were Cured and Why by Dick B. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research
Publications, Inc., 2006
The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide: Historical Perspectives and Effective
Application, 3rd ed. by Dick B. and Ken B. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research
Publications, Inc., 2010
Love First A Family’s Guide to Intervention: Updated Tools and Techniques to Help
Loved Ones Heal from Addiction, 2d ed., by Jeff Jay and Debra Jay (Center City,
MN: Hazelden, 2008)
Understanding and Counseling Persons with Alcohol, Drug, and Behavioral Addictions:
Counseling for Recovery and Prevention Using Psychology and Religion, Rev and Enl Ed., by Howard Clinebell, PhD (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998)
Handbook for Christ-Centered Substance Abuse and Addiction Counselors, by Michael
Belzman, PhD, MDAAC, MRAS (Redlands, CA: Xulon Press, 2010)
The Dick B. Handbook for Christian Recovery Resource Centers, by Dick B. with Ken B.
(Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2011)
As We Understand Him Meditations for Christians One Day at a Time through the Big
Book and the Bible by Cheryl Outman (Niceville, FL, 1985)