Pastor David Voss of Tacoma Becomes Coalition Participant Today

David Voss, Pastor, Recovery Fellowship Church, Tacoma, Washington
Pastor David Voss of the Recovery Fellowship Church in Tacoma, Washington just became a participant in International Christian Recovery Coalition today (April 29, 2011).

New participants are joining the Coalition every day, and you could be next. Just check out the website www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com

Dick B. Executive Director, 808 874 4876, dickb@dickb.com

The Brunkows of Texas Become Third and Fourth New Coalition Participants Today

Thursday, April 28, 2011 may turn out to be a banner day in the rapid growth of International Christian Recovery Coalition.

Earlier, the new participant from Sydney, Australia, and the new participant from Waretown, New Jersey expressed their wish to be listed in and participate in the growing international number of participants in International Christian Recovery Coalition www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com.

Just as we were retiring tonight in Maui, we received the following listing for a husband and wife team in Texas. And here are the details:

Shawn and Valecia Brunkow, responsible members of Alcoholics Anonymous, located at First Baptist Church of Hitchcock, residing at 214 Sycamore Street, Hitchcock, Texas 77563--"where we also attend church and serve in the community to those still suffering from alcohol and drug addiction. We have distributed (free of charge) over 20 copies of "The Good Book and The Big Book" in the last week, to fellow members of Alcoholics Anonymous. Thank You for your generosity! Sir. And making it possible for us to serve the Lord in this manner. Valecia and I have been born again Christians since 1989, we are graduates from Abundant Life School of Ministry in La Marque Tx. we have ministered in Honduras and Bolivia. We now reside at 214 Sycamore street in Hitchcock Tx. 77563."

Wow. Four new participants in just one day--one from Australia, one from New Jersey, and two from Texas. And that is the growth that is taking place.

In His Service, Dick B., Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition, dickb@dickb.com

For those thinking of participating, just read our mission statement at www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com; and if you concur, then provide a listing like the ones Shawn and Valecia just provided: "Shawn and Valecia B , responsible members of Alcoholics Anonymous, Hitchcock, Texas 77563"

Christopher Yax of NJ is Another New Coalition Participant

Christopher Yax is the second person this day to join the fellowship of the International Christian Recovery Coalition www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com

Christopher Yax
Recovered Christian
Waretown, NJ
yax08758@yahoo.com
cell: 215-262-0514
Founder of a solution-based AA meeting ~ "there is a solution" group, saturday nights, 8:00pm, open/speaker, bayside chapel, 965 west bay avenue, barnegat, nj. i attend services at bayside chapel (non-denominational, 1st century christianity church) on sunday either 9:00am or 11:00am. bible study tuesday nites and wednesday nites 7:00pm to 8:30pm, and saturday mornings 8:00am to 9:00am.

Nathan Haley of Sydney, Australia, has Just Become a Participant in our Coalition

Nathan Haley, Recovered Christian, Member of C3 Pentecostal church in Sydney Australia, has just become a participant in the International Christian Recovery Coalition. And his participation from Australia underlines the truly international growth of the Christian Recovery Coalition's world outreach.

Dick B., Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition,
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com

What Christians Can Learn From Alcoholics Anonymous

> Article: What Christians Can Learn from Alcoholics Anonymous
> Name: Dick B.
> Email: dickb@dickb.com
> Link: http://jeffgoins.myadventures.org/?filename=what-christians-can-learn-from-alcoholics-anonymous&bookmark=true#comments
>
> Comments: The most important thing Christians can learn from Alcoholics Anonymous today is the history of the Christian recovery movement that began in the late 1900's and provided the source material for A.A.'s Christian cofounders and the founding of the A.A. Christian Fellowship in Akron in 1935.
>
> A.A. today is not a Christian Fellowship, but there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of Christians in A.A. and other 12 Step Fellowships. Because of the diversity, Christians in A.A. need to expect all sorts of idolatrous names for some strange "higher power" that they are told can be a rock, a tree, a light bulb, Santa Claus, a door knob--and you name it. Coupled with this, they need to expect a mixture of "spirituality" and Bible roots and few who know the difference. They also need to know that some "New Thought" ideas crept into the A.A. structure.
>
> Once so buttressed, a Christian in A.A. today can then stand on his or her own faith, principles, practices, Bible study, prayer, and Quiet Time and apply James 4:7.
>
> A.A. has lots to offer a Christian. And it offerred lots to me as a Christian when I became immediately clean and sober 25 years ago and did so primarily by relying on God just as the first three AAs did.
>
>

Distributing the Free Cases of Dick B. A.A. History Books

The media mail slow boat free distribution of new Dick B. History cases has rung the bell. Our emails, facebook comments, and phone calls are filled with folks thanking us and asking what to do with them. Answer: Distribute to those who would be blessed by having them, keep them in your library, use them in your study group or fellowship, or decide how best to let them carry the message. Dick

Take12Radio.com - 7 Years of Successful Production

Hardworking Monty M. up in Albany, Oregon, has devoted seven years to producing his excellent radio show on recovery.

Once I received a phone call from Dubai. The caller said that he and his study group were listening to my material on Take12Radio.com. And many others have called telling me the same information.

Quality effort in the Christian recovery field is a blessing. And I thank Monty for his dedicated service.

Dick B., Dickb@dickb.com

Announcement! The New Dick B. YouTube Channel

Announcement!

The New Dick B. YouTube Channel

By Dick B.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved


Get Ready for Dick B. on YouTube

We are not media, TV, computer, or graphics pros. But we want to use every means possible to research, articulate, and report the role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played in the Christian recovery movement and can play today for those who want God’s help.

The following have been and still are our outreach tools:

 Web sites—particularly www.dickb.com
 Email from dickb@dickb.com
 Phone calls to and from 808-874-4876
 Mail to and from PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837
 Our main blog www.mauihistorian.blgospot.com
 Facebook: Richard G. Burns (Dick B.)
 Twitter – Maui Historian http://Twitter.com/#!/DickB_Maui
 Articles on Go Articles, Articles Base, Self Improvement, Search Warp, In the Rooms, and elsewhere
 Comments on social forums such as Cyber Social Recovery Ministries, Christian Recovery Social Ministries, Daily Strength, Recovery Internet Fellowship
 Comments on various other Web sites
 Regular “Dick B. FYI Messages” newsletters
 Audio talks and audio blogs
 Free distribution of cases of new Dick B. history books
 The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” class on four DVD's by Dick B. and Ken B.: www.dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml/

But this is the busy information age. Folks are not even reading newspapers. They are glued to TV, cell phones, texting, and all the other info briefs.

So, it's time for us to inaugurate “The Dick B. Channel” on YouTube. Our messages will be brief, anonymous, without face ID, but with illustrative books and photos. You may see them on “The Dick B. Channel” on YouTube. And you will soon be able to access these messages from any device from which you access the Web: e.g., your computer, TV, iPod, cell phones (e.g., iPhone, Android, Blackberry), Facebook, and Twitter.

Again. The videos will be brief. They will capsulize A.A. history. They will capsulize the Recovery Movement’s Christian origins and biblical roots. And they will provide updated Christian Recovery Movement developments, resources, and news. Briefly!

In the future: Forums for courteous comments and questions. Webinars for groups. Skype capability for individual and other talks.

Disclaimer

Our presentations on “The Dick B. Channel” on YouTube are copyrighted. They are the property of Paradise Research Publications, Inc. Neither Dick B., Paradise Research Publications, Inc., nor Good Book Publishing Company speaks for, is affiliated with, is endorsed by, or is in any way associated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., The AA Grapevine, Inc., A.A. General Services, or any A.A. Conference, Fellowship, Group, or Meeting. Content is documented and, where appropriate, includes attributions. The effort is non-profit. The presentations are by experienced, hands-on, Christian workers with alcoholics, drug addicts, affected others, and those at risk with life-controlling problems. Materials are distributed through the participants, volunteers, centers, and projects of the International Christian Recovery Coalition.

We Plan Soon to Begin YouTube Presentations and
to Announce Plans Widely as They Develop

Gloria Deo

Hawaii State Announcement About Homelessness

Hawaii State Homelessness Announcement

Dick B.

As the Executive Director of the International Christian Recovery Coalition, with headquarters in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii, we welcome this news. Our website provides details as to our worldwide mission, projects, plans, and resources: www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com.

In particular, we have just established a Christian Recovery Resource Center in Maui in partnership with the County of Maui Salvation Army. The Center is located in the Thrift Store complex in Kihei, Maui.

Since the opening of our Maui office in March of this year, we have already assisted in three homeless situations, and provided access to resources for recovery to desperate family members and alcoholics/addicts.

24 Christian Recovery Resource Centers have now been established in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. And, without charge, they provide information to the afflicted and the affected in the following ways: initial interview, assessment, and referral—pointing people toward potential medical assistance and detox, possible intervention, possible counseling, possible treatment programs (both inpatient and outpatient), possible after-care and sober-living, Christian recovery fellowships, Bible studies, prayer groups, recovery pastors and counselors associated with churches—as well as access to jobs, education, transitional and low-cost housing, vocational and trade assistance, and veterans and military assistance. In addition, emphasis is placed on wholesome fitness, recreation, entertainment, sports, financial assistance, and community resources. We are information purveyors who receive calls for help, talk to callers, and meet—where necessary—by appointment; and then inform seekers how and where to start receiving help. Our emphasis is on victory and not just maintenance.

We expect to have such a Christian Recovery Resource Center established on Oahu shortly.

We emphasize “A.A.-friendly, Bible-friendly, history-friendly, and community-friendly” programs and facilities to which we can refer individuals and families, both in Hawaii and other worldwide locations, and which assist individuals and meet needs in other parts of our network and their communities.

We are not professionals, nor treatment people, nor a religious facility. We do have plenty of hands-on experience helping alcoholics, addicts, and affected others learn how to start, where to go, and what to look for. We simply want those emerging from the streets, prisons, jails, treatment, the court system, military service, veterans status, abandonment and homelessness, and from various financial and other disasters to recognize their alcoholism and drug addiction problems, if any they have, and learn where and how they can start to receive comprehensive Christian recovery through God's love, power, healing, and help—if they want it.

Inquiries as to our work can be sent to Dick B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753; or to dickb@dickb.com; or to any of the 24 Centers listed on our Coalition website.

Emmet Fox, Jesus Christ, Salvation, and A.A.

For those who wonder about Emmet Fox and John 3:16, I just received the following extract from the book often read in A.A., written by Fox, and titled The Sermon on the Mount:

Emmet Fox, The Sermon on the Mount: The Key to Success in Life, pp. 4-5:

The “Plan of Salvation” which figured so prominently in the evangelical sermons and divinity books a past generation is as completely unknown to the Bible as it is to the Koran. There never was any such arrangement in the universe, and the Bible does not teach it all. What has happened is that certain obscure texts from Genesis, a few phrases taken here and there from Paul's letters, and one or two isolated verses from other parts of the Scriptures, have been taken out and pierced together by divines, to produce the kind of teaching which it seemed to them ought to have been found in the Bible. Jesus knows nothing of all this.

Updated (4/25) Listing of International Christian Recovery Coalition Participants and Centers

4/25 Updated Names and Programs of Coalition participants and Resource Centers
Both the number of participants in the International Christian Recovery Coalition and programs established under its Christian Recovery Resource Center Worldwide project since January 1st have been updated to and including April 25, 2011.

Those wishing to identify, know, and communicate with the Leaders, Outreach Directors, and Participants in the International Christian Recovery Coalition can find the information as of April 25, 2011 on www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com.

Those wishing to locate, identify, network with, and obtain information resources from the new Christian Recovery Coalition Centers Worldwide can do so by clicking on the navigation bar on www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com

It costs nothing to be listed as a Coalition participant. All it takes is a look at the mission statement and projects listed on the Coalition website, and then an email to Dick B., dickb@dickb.com, providing a simple listing such as "John
Doe, Christian Counselor, Nome, Alaska"

Once listed as a Coalition participant, applicants need to read the instructions on Christian Recovery Resource Centers Worldwide on the www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com website. Applicants can then supply the information about themselves and send their one-time donation of $500 (to cover expenses)to Dick B. And, upon receipt, they will be listed, announced widely, and provided with the "Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery" Class with its Instructor and Student Guides www.dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml. They will also then receive a copy of The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010 www.dickb.com/Christian-Recov-Guide.shtml. And they will receive the new The Dick B. Christian Recovery Resource Center Handbook and a free case of one of Dick B.'s A.A. history books. They may also be listed as on the Speakers Bureau if they feel qualified and are able to speak from experience on this origins, history, founding, original fellowship, successes and changes of A.A., as well on their own particular program or service, and the resources they can provide to their community and others.

Inquiries, suggestions, and information can be sent to Dick B. or Ken B. at 808 276 4945 or via email to dickb@dickb.com.

Richard G. Burns, J.D., CDAAC, Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition.
Posted by Dick B. at 11:57 PM

The Christian Recovery Movement Today—Growing or Going?

The Christian Recovery Movement Today—Growing or Going?

By Dick B.
2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved

Consider the Origins

In two of our recent books, Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous and The Conversion of Bill W., we covered the seemingly-forgotten-yet-very-important origins of Alcoholics Anonymous in five groups of people and organizations, primarily of the mid-to-late 19th century.

Though critics of A.A., within and without, have often sidetracked discussions of origins by pointing to the Washingtonians and the Oxford Group, they have almost-uniformly failed to research, report, and discuss the real Christian roots of the recovery movement. And, of late, some of those critics tend to bypass A.A.’s documented Christian roots and misapply Scriptural principles and segments by claiming no Christian should be involved in today’s recovery movements.

Briefly, those Christian roots consisted of the following large Christian movements of the mid-to-late 19th century:

1. Evangelists like Dwight L. Moody, Ira Sankey, F. B. Myer, and Billy Sunday. These brought tens of thousands of drunks and derelicts to Jesus Christ long before the Oxford Group or Alcoholics Anonymous were even thought of.

2. The Gospel and Rescue Missions, spurred by the highly-successful efforts of Jerry McAuley, H. H. Hadley, and the Water Street Mission. The testimonials still available show the huge number of alcoholics and derelicts who went to and were helped by many such missions.

3. The work of the Young Men's Christian Association (“YMCA”) lay leaders during the 1870's—especially those of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont—who cooperated with churches of various denominations and held huge conversion meetings that changed thousands of lives. And the greatest record of the beginnings is found in the “Great Awakening of 1875” in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, where A.A.'s Dr. Bob was born.

4. The Salvation Army’s unique, early outreach in the slums of London and elsewhere, touching the lives of drunks and criminals; bringing them to Jesus Christ; and, upon their transformation, persuading them to help others by joining “God’s Army.”

5. The Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor. At its peak, it had a worldwide membership of 4.5 million. It was founded in Maine in 1881, and it reached the Town of St. Johnsbury about 1887—with Dr. Bob and his parents involved in it at North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury. It laid out a pattern of conversion meetings, Bible studies, prayer meetings, Quiet Hours, topical discussions, and reading of literature that found place in the original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” founded in 1935 by A.A.'s cofounders, Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith.

Consider the Changes between 1939 and about 1985

Bill Wilson fashioned a new A.A.—far different from the highly-successful, original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” program begun in 1935—at the time Big Book was published in 1939. This new A.A. was accompanied by an increasing growth of welcome to atheists and agnostics, people of non-Christian beliefs, and people of no belief at all.

The new era saw the emergence of “higher powers.” These substitutes for the power, love, and healing of Almighty God, the Creator, took on strange names and idolatrous forms. They were called “the Group,” chairs, light bulbs, door knobs, trees, Santa Claus, Ralph, Gertrude, Somebody, Something, “It,” “not-god-ness,” and just about any concept a fellowship member wanted to choose.

The higher power era was marked by a growing attempt to delete references to Christianity, religion, and church by calling A.A. “spiritual, but not religious.” And this baffling “spirituality” has given rise to equally-strange names and idolatrous practices including devil worship and spiritualist practices. Not that these have received acceptance by court decisions or most Christians in A.A. But they have frequently moved fellowship meetings, speeches, and members far far away from the original “Christian fellowship” of A.A. founded in Akron in 1935.

Consider the Interesting Christian “Awakening” That Began Thereafter

During the Big Book period just discussed, treatment centers, insurance companies, therapists, counselors, academics, historians, and writers began to treat A.A. as secular and to attempt to bar any talk of religion or God or church from “treatment.”

But whatever the merit of such attempted “cleansing,” there followed a Christian regurgitation. Perhaps it began with such organizations as Teen Challenge, Alcoholics Victorious, Alcoholics for Christ, Overcomers, Overcomers Outreach, Inc., and others. And, except for a few, these tended to try blending A.A., its Steps, and its “spirituality” with biblical verses and Christian precepts.

This changing picture was seized by Christian publishers who pumped out and sold tens of thousands of what I will call “Christian Recovery Bibles.” Well-known Christian publishing houses like Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, Baker Book House, and others filled the pages of Bibles with notes, annotations, Big Book and Step references, and won a large audience of Christians.

There were other, less-widespread Christian publishing efforts in the form of Christian Twelve Step Guides which tended to link each A.A. Step with one or more Bible verses thought to be relevant to the Step or an understanding of its Christian roots or application.

In one form or another, these Christian recovery efforts survive today.

Consider the Heavy Impact of Celebrate Recovery and “Christian Treatment Programs”

Not satisfied with the “higher power” idolatry in Twelve Step fellowships, there followed a huge growth of church-sponsored and church-related imitative 12 Step recovery programs. And at the top of the list was and still is Celebrate Recovery—emanating from Saddleback Church.

With secular treatment programs and ideas changing and/or failing, many treatment program efforts were turned toward Christian Treatment Programs, Christian-Track Treatment Programs, and Christian residential treatment programs—along with others.

Also, counselors and therapists began to emphasize “Christian” alcohol, drug, and substance abuse counseling. And this too is still in the works.

Consider the Gap and the Emerging Change for the Worse

More and more Christians in A.A. and Twelve Step Fellowships were taking flight. Some went to the organizations and programs above. Many seemed to relapse. Many became part of the growing anti-A.A. community. And a few sought refuge in the anti-Christian A.A. community peopled by “Psychoheresy” and similar individuals and groups who regularly lambasted Christians who went to A.A. and issued dire Scriptural warnings about their going to “destruction”—perhaps a synonym for just plain hell

Good News!
The Pendulum is Swinging Toward Effective, Comprehensive Christian Recovery Today

We invite readers to look at the International Christian Recovery Coalition Web site, projects, literature, and “Christian Recovery Resource Centers.”

They stemmed from a large gathering of Christian leaders and workers in the recovery arena, as well as other concerned professionals, treatment people, and Twelve Step Fellowship members. The gathering was held in the Mariners Church Community Center in Irvine in May 2009. And its focus was on the hard times Christians in recovery and others were having because of A.A. opposition to Christianity, Christian opposition to A.A., and lack of what I call “A.A.-friendly, Bible-friendly, Christian-friendly, history-friendly” recovery efforts.

Without usurping the next article on “growing” Christian recovery efforts, suffice it to say that there is a worldwide effort today to bring before those who want God’s help the much-needed resources and programs and opportunities that the Christian community provides. And that it is not supplying as a united effort with common goals today. We have begun a major effort to fill many of the “gaps” in Christian recovery efforts by encouraging Christian individuals, groups, and organizations to become “Christian Recovery Resource Centers”—a project of the International Christian Recovery Coalition.

The need is great. It is spelled out on the Coalition's Web pages. And it includes all facets of successful and abundant Christian life after recovery. And it is based on the idea that Christian alcoholics, addicts, and affected others can be healed and transformed by the power and love of God, and given a new life in Christ.

It involves primarily efforts by Christians: initial interviews, assessments, and providing of basic information; possible intervention; possible counseling and therapy; possible referrals; genuine, comprehensive, Christian treatment that involves something more than a Bible study and a chaplain, Christian recovery after-care and alumni groups, Christian residential and outpatient treatment options; Christian sober living; Christian recovery fellowships, study groups, Bible studies, “James Clubs,” Big Book studies, Step studies, and retreats.

It involves reaching into prisons, jails, hospitals, rehabs, half-way houses, homeless situations and communities. It involves addressing veterans’ needs, military needs, family needs, health needs, economic needs, and other elements of successful Christian living.

And then entry into the community in fellowship with like-minded believers who can provide honest and wholesome access to vocational education, school education, higher learning, opportunities in trades, technicians, industrial, service, sales, teaching, military, government, and social atmospheres. Accompanied by awareness of and chances to acquire medical, nutritional, mental, fitness, recreational, sports, psychological, and religious training.

Consider That It Is Happening Now—And Growing, Not Going

In the next article, we will name the many efforts of the International Christian Recovery Coalition, and of other Christian leaders and workers in the recovery arena, among those we know and among those we would like to get to know and have our readers search out and learn.

Gloria Deo

A.A. Anniversary Letter Worth Repeating

Hello Dick,

Congratulations on 25 yrs. of sobriety. Thanks be to God, our Bible and our AA. founding fathers. Thank you for all you do. I'm so happy to hear about all the books you write telling the REAL FACTS of our founders and how so many got sober by following the christian way. I am a born again Christian and was baptized after I got going to AA and church. I only wish we could sit down and talk about our way of life. I started my meetings in 1980 so I have been at St.Thomas Hospital,Kings School,Founders Day,Dr. Bob's house and so much more. I live in NM now and find the meetings full of cursing and not much talk about God. I was taught by the old timers in AA in the Akron, and Cleveland, Ohio area. What a gift to have a second chance at a life we never dreamed about.Many wonderful blessings have come my way and I will forever sing HIS praises.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN AND PRAYERS FOR MANY MORE.

I GET YOUR EMAILS AND AM EVER GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE HISTORY OF AA. THAT YOU AND YOUR SON HAVE MADE KNOWN. I especially like Ann's Journal and re-read it from time to time. I have THE GOOD BOOK-BIG BOOK GUIDEBOOK ALSO.

I would love to meet you. I have a grandson living in Hawaii so I'm praying for the funds to make the trip to visit both of you.

God richly bless you. Thank you again for your wonderful example.

Regards and In His Name Jesus,

Iva N. 08-28-1980

The Resurrection

‎"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. . . . And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:1, 4).
2 minutes ago

‎'To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days. . . but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith ye, ye have heard of me. . . . But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me. . ." Acts 1:3-4, 9.
4 minutes ago

‎"And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. . . . Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believeed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:22, 29).
10 minutes ago

‎'. . . . Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she [Mary] turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing. . ." (John 20:13-14)
14 minutes ago

‎"Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole" Acts 4:10
19 minutes ago

Oroville Church of the Nazarene Esrtablishes Christian Recovery Resource Center

The Oroville Church of the Nazarene, Serenity Group, Dale Marsh leader, 2238 Monte Vista Avenue, Oroville, California 95966 has just established the 24th of our Christian Recovery Resource Centers Worldwide.

The leader, Dale Marsh, has been hard at work for the past six months showing the "Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery Class" www.dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml, holding Christian recovery fellowships, and acquainting church and recovery leaders with the mission and projects of the International Christian Recovery Coalition www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com.

The Oroville Serenity Group of the Oroville Church of the Nazarene is now the 24th program to join our Church Christian Recovery Resource Centers Worldwide. This since the founding of the project on January 1, 2011.

Dick B., Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition
dickb@dickb.com

A.A. and the Twelve Steps

A.A. and the Twelve Steps

The First of a Series of Helpful Studies to Guide You

Dick B.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved

The key reference for these articles is Dick B., Twelve Steps for You: Take the Twelve Steps with the Big Book, A.A. History, and the Good Book at Your Side, 4th ed. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2005); ISBN 1885803 98 2; (www.dickb.com/12StepsforYou.shtml); Price $21.95

Twelve Steps for You is one of a kind—a unique and compelling value. It discusses fully the many sources from which the Twelve Steps were drawn. It discusses each of these sources and its particular contribution. Then it discusses where, in each step, one by one, the particular source input can be seen. It gives you a clear statement of how you can “take” the Twelve
Steps following the instructions in the Big Book. And it shows how those Steps can, one by one, better be understood and practiced—taking into account the various materials from which the
particular Step had been drawn.

Readers are urged to look at the Steps as Dr. Bob did. Dr. Bob said he didn’t write the 12 Steps and had nothing to do with the writing of them. He said the basic ideas had come from their study and effort in the Bible. Bill Wilson did not mention the Bible in the Steps or his Big Book, Bill eventually conceded some of the sources from which he had drawn the Steps—the principal ones, said Bill, being Dr. William D. Silkworth, Professor William James, and Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., the Episcopal rector of Calvary Church—Shoemaker being the one
to whom Bill gave the most credit. Both Silkworth and Shoemaker were Bible Christians; and William James was long dead when Bill framed the Steps. And there were many other sources, including the Bible, Quiet Time, the writings of Dr. Bob’s wife Anne Smith, the ideas of Dr. Carl Jung and Richard Peabody, the religious literature AAs read, and the New Thought ideas from Emmet Fox. Without knowing all the sources, too many readers and writers and historians have erroneously focused on one or two, led AAs and others on a merry chase of evaluating such sources and either learning them or criticizing them, or concocted theories about steps involving higher powers, illusory spirituality, half-baked prayers, and self-made religion.

That is not what Dr. Bob did. Dr. Bob and Bill never publically disagreed. For example, in places other than the Big Book, Bill conceded the importance of the Bible—particularly the Book of James, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. Bill specifically mentioned Jesus Christ, and his guarded remarks can be found in the Big Book Third Edition and on page 191 of the present-day Fourth Edition. Bill frequently used words describing God—Creator, Maker, Heavenly Father, Father of Light, and God—that came directly from the Bible. Bill credited the Bible-Christian Rev. Samuel Shoemaker as being the source of most of the Step ideas. Bill specifically mentioned that the Christian message of the Oxford Group had saved his life. Bill’s original drafts of the Big Book appear to have had some 400 pages of Christian and Bible materials that were later thrown out—primarily because of heated arguments between the Christian AA (John Henry Fitzhugh Mayo) and Bill’s atheist or money-oriented partner Henry Parkhurst.
.
And Bill used a number of Bible phrases in his Big Book—Thy will be done; Faith without works is dead; love thy neighbor as thyself. He said that Dr. Bob was far ahead of him in such matters, particularly in the area of prayer.
What did Dr. Bob do? Publically, Dr. Bob said he thought the Steps were fine, but he always went on to discuss his “Heavenly Father,” the “Master,” “Christ,” and the essential source material in the Book of James, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. And when Bill and Bob were on the stage together speaking, there was never an argument or contradictory statement between them. Bill discussed Divine Aid and prayer. Bob discussed prayer and the Bible. And the records of the transmission to Bob of Bill’s Step drafts indicated Bill’s writings—at the early stages—were “warmly received” and usually returned without comment.

Whatever the differences in their religious views, principles, practices, and affiliations, these two men seemed to understand quite well that one could help drunks in a fellowship and rely on God for healing without throwing stones, harboring resentments, or hindering the common goal.

And that is the backdrop from which we will discuss the Twelve Steps in several articles. Readers can check out our titles which detail source materials (www.dickb.com/titles). They can find our latest documented research and writing in The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010 (www.dickb.com/Christian-Recov-Guide.shtml). And they can learn visually and audibly from our new foundational class—“Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” (www.dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml).

dickb@dickb.com

Christian Recovery Resource Centers – Worldwide
As of January 1, 2011, this web page will be used in part for publishing contact (and other relevant) information about individuals, groups, and organization which become “Christian Recovery Resource Centers” affiliated with the International Christian Recovery Coalition. Here are our current affiliates. Please contact them if you would like to know about Christian recovery resources—such as Christian and Christian-track treatment programs, Christian sober living, Christian Counseling, and Christian recovery fellowships—in their area (or in their state, in their country, and/or elsewhere in the world through the International Christian Recovery Coalition):

Manna House Ministries, James Moody, President, Jamestown, Tennessee
http://MannaHouseMinistries.com/ (931) 752-7075

New Life Spirit Recovery, Inc., Robert Tucker, Ph.D., President, Huntington Beach, California http://www.NewLifeSpiritRecovery.com/OC_Recovery.html
(866) 543-3361

Rock Recovery Ministries-ABC Sober Living-Soledad House, David Powers, San Diego,California
http://www.TheRockSanDiego.org/Ministries/RockRecovery/
David Powers: (619) 925-1879

Recovery Ministry, Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California
http://www.goldenhills.org/about/staff.html
c/o David Sadler, 3220 Surmont Drive, Lafayette CA 94549
David Sadler (925 382 6070)

Bruce A, Aspgren, Rocking A. Ministry, Caldwell, Texas Bruce Aspgren
PO box211
Caldwell, Texas 77836-0211

Paul Popiel, A.A. believer, Pacifica, California 504 Manor Drive, Pacifica, CA 94044
(650) 359 6794

Christian Recovery Resource Center Satellite Office, Wally Lowe Vero Beach, Florida 7835 1st Street SW. Vero Beach, FL 32968 Wally Lowe
(O) 772 794 2485; (C) 954 395 2743

Maui Christian Recovery Resource Center in Partnership with County of Maui Salvation Army Main Office, Dick B. and Ken B., Kihei, Hawaii
PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837(C) 808 276 4945

Christian Community Missions, Chaplain/Pastor Leonard Grubb, Painesville, Ohio 773 Mentor Avenue, Painesville, Ohio (C) 216 496 0406

Mark Galligan, A.A. Christian Believer, 13 Telford Road, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada 13 Telford Road, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada L9Y545
Office: 705 445 9135
Home: 416 453 6250
MagicJack: 716 240 5243
Skype: mark,galligan1

Robert P. Turner, MD, MSCR Associate Professor of Neurosciences and Pediatrics Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology Associate Researcher, MIND Research Institute
Basic Science Building, Room 344J Charleston, SC 29425
Office: 843-792-3307; 843-792-1351
Paging: 843-792-2123
Facsimile: 843-792-3220 or 792-8626

Grant Sharp, Quest Ministries, United Kingdom 24 Rushley Drive Sheffield, 5 Yorks S173EN United Kingdom Grantsharp7@hotmail.com

Roger McDiarmid, A.A. Christian believer, Salesman, Huntington Beach, California 19771 Estuary Lane, Huntington Beach, California 92646
949 836 4214

Won Way Out Ministries Treatment Center William Boyles 327 Martin Street
Dover, Delaware 19901 (302) 674-8036

Alcoholics For Christ, Neighborhood Church Gary Seymour 1001 W. Country Club Lane Escondido, California 92026 www.neighborhoodafc.com

Ken Jones, Pastoral Counselor, Melbourne, Florida 2526 Ventura Circle, W. Melbourne, FL 32904 1 321 501 2014 kjones79@cfl.rr.com
http://www.aprodigalreturn.com/

Steve Foreman, Chief Shepherd, "Came To Believe" retreats 2211 Lee Road, Suite 100Winter Park, FL 32789 (407) 862-5900
Steve@CameToBelieve.org
www.CameToBelieve.org

The Oasis Recovery Center of Western PA (Oasis Institute)
Dr. Karen A. Plavan, Ph.D., CEO/Executive Director
960 Penn Avenue, Suite 105 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
412 281 8364 http://www.oasisrecoverycenter.org

Celebrate A New Life, Bobby Nicholl Director of Admissions, Celebrate A New Life 27382 Calle Arroyo San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675(800) 708-3173
http://www.celebratedrugrehab.com

Randall Minchew, StepCloser.Inc, Columbia, Missouri Randall Minchew (randysnetwork@gmail.com) 4001 Meadow Veiw Columbia, MO 65201
http://stepcloser.ning.com/

Richard Skolnik, Addiction Counselor Assistant, Nesconset, New York
P.O. Box 955, Nesconset, NY 11767

Wayne White, CASAC; CEO of Footprints, Inc.; Heroes Home Executive Director of Alcoholics Victorious 4509 Troost, Kansas City, Missouri 64130
Hisprints@aol.com 815 561 0567

Jim Gaffney, former Recovery Pastor Mariners Church, former pharmacist
Current NY CASAC intern & Grad student obtaining Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy, 206 Hilltop Lane, Nyack, NY 10960
(845) 598-4957
pastorjimgaffney@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimgaffney

Tom and Laura Howell, Amazing Grace Fellowship By The Sea 1103 Misty\ Lea Houston TX 77090 832-971-8997 Telephone Amazing Grace Fellowship By The Sea 900 Meters East of Roxana Central (Ebais) "Solo Gringos" Cristiano Campmiento ((Direche)) On the right! Rio Santa Clara River Front Roxana De Guapiles De Pococi De Limon , Costa Rica 011 506 2 763 4972 Telephone

Is the Christian Recovery Movement Going? Or Growing?

http://internationalchristianrecoverycoaliti.blogspot.com/

And Thanks to All Who Wished Me Well at 25 Years

On facebook, by email, and by phone, a great many folks have sent very appealing letters as to my attaining 25 years of continuous sobriety, by the grace of God, as an active and recovered member of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.

I've tried to thank each of the well-wishers individually. But this will suffice for those who have not heard directly.

As I wrote in one note: 25 years of continuous sobriety in A.A., for me, is not like a 25 year retirement party which marks the end of a long and illustrious career. For the newcomer, it represents the fact that, in my case, every one of the 25 years has been better and better and farther and farther from the horrors of the last week's blackout that brought me to A.A. at about age 60. What it really represents is, that with the power, love, forgiveness, and healing of Almighty God, the miraculous has occurred. What's more - the best is yet to be.

And one person just wrote and asked if I knew where I was going. Answer: Yes. I will be with Jesus Christ when he comes to gather together the body of Christ. The dead in Christ will rise first. And then comes Dick. That's where!

Thankful for 25 years of Continuous Sobriety

April 21, 2011 marks the day for which I can be thankful to God for 25 years of continuous sobriety as an active, recovered member of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Based, I believe, on a devoted belief in the power, love, and healing of Almighty God.

Based also, I believe, in focusing on helping newcomers to get well - provided they wanted to quit permanently; were willing to go to any length to do so; would rely on God and obey His will; would grow in fellowship with Him, His Son, and other believers through Bible study, prayer, seeking His guidance, and study; would help others get straightened out; and would involve themselves completely in the fellowship and program of recovery of A.A.

Learning also the principles, practices, and successes of "old school" A.A. established in Akron in 1935.

Recognizing also that though A.A. has changed substantially, the principles and practices of the early A.A. fellowship are available and can be applied today.

Recognizing clearly that nonsense gods, phony spirituality, and higher powers that are light bulbs will offer little help to those who "pray" to them for guidance and deliverance. Psalm 115.

In His Service, Dick B., Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Why Establish a “Christian Recovery Resource Center”?

Why Establish a “Christian Recovery Resource Center”?

By Dick B.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved

Five Values from, and Reasons for, Your Participation

Increased resources: Your own knowledge, program, and service to others will be substantially enhanced by the additional, comprehensive resources you will have in your own location.

Increased referral service to the addicted and otherwise-afflicted: In addition to conducting your own program, you can help others in your community find Christian and other resources such as assessment, intervention, detox, counseling, treatment, sober-living, homeless, public aid, job and educational help, and veterans assistance—things you may not now have or do.

Increased ability to refer to other centers which can provide help in an area you don’t serve: Already, there are many “Christian Recovery Resource Centers” established in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom—with more to come. You will know about these.

Increased networking ability with us and with other “Christian Recovery Resource Centers”: And this means by phone, email, and other means of communication; as well as by personal meetings, conferences, and seminars with experienced Christian leaders and workers in the recovery arena you will get to know and can trust.

New emphasis on overcoming the present Christian recovery barriers: Our resources that document the Christian origins of the recovery movement, the Christian upbringing of A.A.’s cofounders, and the highly-successful original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” recovery program; that provide a positive refutation of the propriety of nonsense gods and phony spirituality prevalent in recovery today; and that provide an ability to reach newcomers and their helpers with success information emanating from their own turf.

Favorable Comment on Chuck Huckaby's Christian Recovery Talks and Work

Chuck: It is refreshing and important to see your posts and interviews on Christian recovery. There is a vast and growing Christian Recovery Movement today. And it is centered on International Christian Recovery Coalition www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com. It faces many obstacles: (1) AAs and 12 Step fellowship folks who don't know their own Christian roots in the Bible and in the organizations that fed the origins, history, founding, original program, and astonishing successes of the Akron A.A. Christian fellowship founded in 1935. Those roots were not Oxford Group. They were evangelists like Moody and Sankey, Gospel and Rescue Missions, YMCA lay workers, the Salvation Army, and the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. In that backdrop, A.A. cofounders Wilson and Smith had their Christian upbringing in Vermont and took the principles and practices of successful healing of alcoholism into their own deliverances and then into the program. The roots were in existence and learned long before either the Oxford Group or A.A. were thought of. (2) AAs and 12 Step fellowship folks who have been fed on the nonsense gods (higher powers that are light bulbs, Santa Claus, radiators, and chairs), strange "spirituality" that is not defined, and the idea that one need not believe in anything at all to utilize the A.A. program. (3) The secular scientists, academics, professionals, and historians who have called A.A. everything from "not-god-ness" to New Thought to the "spirituality of imperfection" to lacking in evidence-based proof. (4) A small cadre of Christian writers who quote a Bible verse or two for the proposition that a Christian dare not put his foot in the fellowship of A.A.. (5) The courts who define A.A. as a religion and therefore preclude court-ordered A.A. attendance. (6) The proliferating A.A. "imitators" like Celebrate Recovery who develop their own "steps," their own definition of a "higher power," and their own interpretation of Bible verses thought to be supportive of A.A. ideas.The bottom line is that much still is needed to fill the information gap. God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played a critical role in the whole movement to overcome alcoholism with the power, love, and healing of God. And, if people don't know where A.A. came from, and persist in attributing to it roots it didn't have, failing movements which didn't influence it, and biblical ideas which never saw the light of day in the simple basic biblical ideas of early A.A. and the dominance in it of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the Book of James, 1 Corinthians 13, Quiet Time, Anne Ripley Smith's Journal, and many of the ideas later of the Episcopal Rector Rev. Samuel Shoemker.Even more, people need to know that Jesus Christ and the Bible were deliberately dumped in recognition at the last moment in 1939 before the Big Book went to press. Yet God and biblical ideas and actual verses remained prolific despite the attempt to soften them when Steps Two, Three, and Eleven were altered to remove "God." They also need to know that there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of Christians in A.A., 12-Step fellowships, and recovery situations who are delighted to hear that they are free to believe what they choose, worship God in a way of their choice, and pursue Christianity in the church of their choice.A big challenge, Chuck. And the best vehicle for meeting it today is the internet and its accompanying techniques-- that enable information to be dispersed. These include facebook, twitter, blogs, forums, chats, U-Tube, radio, podcasts, TV and a host of others yet to be seen, learned, or even developed.Carry the torch of truth, Chuck. And congratulations for your effort and role

"Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery" The Class and Details

“Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery”
A Four-Session Class on DVD

By Dick B. and Ken B.


As you may know, about 20 years ago—just prior to the International A.A. Convention in Seattle in 1990—a young Christian man involved in A.A. approached my dad (Dick B.) and asked him the following question:

Did you know that A.A. came from the Bible?

With three-plus years of sobriety with no relapse, attendance at perhaps 1,000 meetings or more, and a number of sponsees “under his belt,” my dad replied:

I've never heard anything like that.

The young man replied:

Why don't you read DR. Bob and the Good Oldtimers?

The reading of that A.A. General Service Conference-approved book—still in print and available from A.A. in New York, but largely unknown to most AAs—launched my dad on a 20-year quest to discover what role, if any, God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played in the astonishing 75% success rate early A.A. claimed for the period of the summer of 1935 until the publishing of the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (the “Big Book”) in April 1939 among "seemingly-hopeless," "medically-incurable," "last-gasp-case," "real" alcoholics who thoroughly followed the original Akron A.A. "Christian fellowship" program developed by A.A. cofounders Bill W. and Dr. Bob.

The Power and Love of God Present in Early Akron A.A. Are Still Available Today
to Alcoholics, Addicts, and Others Still Suffering with Life-Controlling Problems

The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” class on four DVD's not only summarizes Dick B.'s 39 published titles, many recorded seminars and audio talks, and hundreds of published articles, but also brings to light many newly-discovered facts about the roles played by God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible in the miraculous cure of “medically-incurable” alcoholics claimed by early A.A. (and its Christian predecessors, such as the Young Men's Christian Association, the Salvation Army, the rescue missions, the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, Christian evangelists and revivalists, and others). The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” (“IFCR”) class was filmed and edited by Dr. Robert Tucker and his wife Stephanie in March 2010 at their New Life Spirit Recovery facility in Huntington Beach, California. They have also begun running the IFCR class at their Christian treatment facility.We are making available the "Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery" ["IFCR"] class in two forms.
Form #1
The IFCR Class for Individuals

The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” (“IFCR”) class for individuals is for their personal/private use (and NOT for public presentation). It has two (2) components. The first component is comprised of four DVD's with the following content:

Class 1/Session 1: The Founding, Activities, and Summary of the Original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” Program

Part 1: How the First Three A.A. Members Got Sober and Were Cured
Part 2: The 14 Practices the Early Akron AAs Used to Achieve Astonishing Successes
Part 3: The Original, Seven-Point, Akron A.A. Program Summarized by Frank Amos for John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Class 2/Session 2: Christian Organizations and People That Shaped the Recovery Ideas of the Original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” program before It Began

Part 1: Seven Pre-A.A. Organizations and People That Fed to A.A. the Necessity for Salvation and the Word of GOD
Part 2: The Extensive, Christian, Biblical Training Bill W. Received in East Dorset and and Manchester, Vermont
Part 3: Dr. Bob's “Excellent Training” in the Bible as a Youngster in St. Johnsbury, VT.

Class 3/Session 3: The Manner in Which the A.A. Society Came about, Beginning about 1931

Part 1: The Relevant Events in Bill W.'s Life, Including His Early Friendship with Ebby Thacher.
Part 2: The Relevant Events in Dr. Bob S.'s Life, Beginning in the Early 1930's in Akron
Part 3: Bill W. and Dr. Bob Meet at the Home of Henrietta Seiberling on May 12, 1935.

Class 4/Session 4: The A.A. Program Changes Between June 1935 and April 1939

Part 1: The Akron Program Successes between June 1935 and November 1937
Part 2: The Change of Course Bill W. Began to Take
Part 3: Work on the Big Book Between the Spring of 1938 and April of 1939
Part 4: Battles over Big Book Content and Language
Part 5: The Closing Phases of the Altered Akron Program

The second component of the IFCR class for individuals is a 23-page Class Guide for Students in 8 1/2" x 11," spiral-bound, "hard copy" format, which presents many of the key points in written form which are made in the DVD's. This Guide allows a student to read along and make notes while watching the DVD's.

The license fee amount for one (1) unit of Form 1 of the IFCR class for a single individual (for their personal/private use only) is:

$99.95, plus Shipping

[** Note: If you decide to secure a “license” for the IFCR class for individuals, we strongly encourage you also to purchase The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., by Dick B. and Ken B. (2010), which was revised in conjunction with the production of the IRCR class and provides extensive documentation for many of the historical statements made in the IFCR class. (It is included as part of the package in the "site license" forms of the IFCR class for groups.) The price is US $30.00.]
The order total will be $111.45 [= $99.95 (IFCR class materials) + $10.70 (USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate box--FRB2--13-5/8" x 11-7/8" x 3-3/8") + $0.80 (Delivery Confirmation) for shipment to a U.S. destination]. Or, $141.45 (= $99.95 + $30.00 + $10.70 for shipment to a U.S. destination), if you order The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., at the same time. * Please contact us for shipping to destinations outside the U.S. *]

Form #2
The IFCR Class for Groups and Organizations

The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” (“IFCR”) class for Groups and Organizations is the "site license" form. It includes a non-transferable, non-exclusive, limited-use, "site license" permitting duplication of the materials for use solely at the location(s) covered by the "site license." This form of the IFCR class has four (4) components:

1. The four "Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery" class DVD's whose contents are described briefly above;
2. The 23-page Class Guide for Students;
3. An 89-page Class Instructor's Guide; and
4. The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., by Dick B. and Ken B. (2010)

the “Site License” Fee for
the IFCR Class for Groups and Organizations

$199.95, plus Shipping

The order total will be $211.45 [= $199.95 (IFCR class materials) + $10.70 (USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate box--FRB2--13-5/8" x 11-7/8" x 3-3/8") + $0.80 (Delivery Confirmation) for shipment to a U.S. destination]. Order Total: $211.45). * Please contact us for shipping to destinations outside the U.S. *]

We are able to accept payment securely online by credit card, debit card, and by PayPal. We prefer to accept those forms of payment through the "Buy Now" button in the center column of the front page of the www.DickB.com web site. {We can also accept those forms of payment by phone [1-808-276-4945 or (808) 874-4876] or split over two (or even three) email messages for security.} The place to find the relevant "Buy Now" button on the www.DickB.com front page center column looks like this:

Major Christian Recovery Resource #1
The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” (“IFCR”) class
by Dick B. and Ken B. on four DVD's
Using VISA, MasterCard, or PayPal would be the fastest way to get the "Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery" class to you.We also accept payment by money order or check, but please keep in mind that there is the time in the mail and the time for the check to clear involved with your using (and our processing) a check. Money orders and checks are to be made payable to "Dick B." and mailed to:

Dick B.PO Box 837Kihei, HI 96753-0837
Gloria Deo

The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed - Comprehensive Details

The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide
Historical Perspectives and Effective Modern Applications
Third Edition (March 2010)

Based upon
Dick B.’s lifetime of Bible study, legal scholarship and training, 24 years of continuous sobriety, work with more than 100 sponsees, 20 years of historical research, and 39 published titles.

By Dick B. and Ken B.
© 2009, 2010 Anonymous. All rights reserved

"Glorifying God by making known the roles played by God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible in the astonishing success rates early A.A. claimed (75% overall and 93% documented in Cleveland) among "seemingly-hopeless," "medically-incurable," "last-gasp-case" alcoholics who really tried to follow the original recovery program developed by A.A. cofounders Bill W. and Dr. Bob in Akron, Ohio, beginning in the summer of 1935."

"Glorifying God by helping Christian leaders and workers in the recovery arena substantially enhance their effectiveness in reaching those who still suffer by including accurate information about the original Akron A.A. 'Christian fellowship' program, its principles and techniques, and its historical setting into their recovery efforts."

Prepared for
the International Christian Recovery Coalition
July 2009
(revised in August 2009 and March 2010)

The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide was a major focus of:

l Our pre- and post-Conference meetings with Christian leaders and workers as individuals and small groups in Southern California during the week of July 13-19, 2009;
l Our video taping work with Bob Noonan in a professional television studio on July 16, 2009;
l “A New Way Out Leadership Conference with Dick B.!” on Saturday, July 18, 2009;
l Individual proposals, and common approaches and projects, of the International Christian Recovery Coalition; and
l International outreach efforts designed to bring a new, accurate, historical element (with modern applications) to churches, clergy, and recovery pastors; Christian recovery programs and Christian track programs; Christian support groups; Christian recovery efforts in correctional facilities, hospitals, homeless programs, and detoxes; 12 Step and recovery fellowships; VA and military facilities, and other government programs; Christian counselors, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and physicians; sober clubs and sober houses; and archivists, historians, and speakers.

(The 3rd edition of The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide was substantially revised and expanded in conjunction with the production of the “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” class by Dick B. and Ken B. on four DVD's in March 2010.)

The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide is intended as a supplementary resource. It does not aim to change the fundamental nature of any existing Christian recovery or approach. Rather, it presents an attractive, appealing, helpful, and effective segment—primarily historical and introductory in nature—that all can use: (1) to bring to their respective audiences accurate historical information about the roles played by God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible in the astonishing, documented successes of early A.A.; and (2) to enhance substantially the effectiveness of their Christian recovery efforts by employing the successful, relevant techniques and lessons from the original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” program in helping those who still suffer with alcoholism, substance abuse, and other self-destructive behavior and life-controlling problems.

Suggested Additions to Christian Recovery Programs Proposed in This Guide

First, a concise, accurate, historical element containing discussions of:

l Christian treatments that were effective in dealing with alcoholism prior to A.A.'s founding;
l The Christian training of A.A.’s founders as youngsters in Vermont;
l The Christian beginnings of A.A. in Akron and New York, including discussions of how the first three AAs got sober;
l The founding of early A.A., its actual practices, and the "original" Akron “Christian fellowship” program;
l The astonishing 75% overall success rate early A.A. claimed and Cleveland's documented 93% success rate;
l Alterations of the original Akron program that made their way into the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous ("the Big Book") published in April 1939;
l Ways to enable a newcomer to utilize the early Christian A.A. precepts in the present-day 12 Step programs; and
l Means by which Coalition leaders and workers in the recovery arena can adapt and apply this (new) information to their own approaches and still underline the importance of God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible in Christian recovery efforts today.

Second, a "package" of proposed approaches tailored to the needs, ideas, and programs of Christian leaders and workers in the recovery arena, as well as Christians in recovery.

Third, a discussion of present-day approaches that downplay reliance on the power and love of the one true God in favor of (over) emphasizing the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions alone, “higher power” language, pseudo “spirituality,” self-made religion, and actual unbelief; and often criticizing church, religion, reliance on God, and even the mention of Jesus Christ or the Bible by those in today's recovery fellowships.

Table of Contents

Introduction (by Dick B.)

Miraculous Healings Are Recorded in the Bible and Are Still Occurring Today

Effective Christian Work with Alcoholics Before A.A.

The Background Factors from Dr. Bob’s Youth in St. Johnsbury (1879-1898)

The Background Factors from Bill Wilson’s Youth (1895 to 1913) and Later

The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous

The New York Origins

The Crucible at the Smith Home in Akron During the Summer of 1935

The Highly-Successful, Original Akron A.A. Program, as Summarized by Frank Amos and Quoted in DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers

14 Specific Practices Associated with the Original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” Program Bill W. and Dr. Bob Developed

The Verification of Early A.A.'s Astonishing Success Rates

Documenting the Successes of the First 40 Pioneers

Helping the Newcomer with a Full Kit of Spiritual Tools

Some Suggested Tools with Which to Arm the Nestling about to Be Flung out of the Nest
Helping a Christian to Begin Recovery Today

"A New Way Out"

An Emerging Picture of Proposals and Potential Service from the California Meetings with Dick B. and Ken B., July 12-21, 2009

Address by Dick B. at the Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors (ACADC) Conference in Palm Springs, August 29, 2009

Conclusion

An Important, New Way to Expand Your Christian Recovery Outreach

The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide also introduces the International Christian Recovery Coalition (www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com) as a means, through common effort, of expanding your Christian efforts in the recovery arena. We suggest, for example, that you and/or your organization enhance your outreach and your service by participating in such proposed Coalition projects as sponsoring:

l The completion of the "Dr. Bob Core Library" in St. Johnsbury, Vermont;
l The production of Quiet Time and study group guides;
l The work of distributing Dick B.'s books and Coalition literature free of charge internationally;
l The establishment of an International Christian Recovery Coalition resource center—perhaps even a "Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., Memorial Center";
l The placement of the "Dick B. Historical Treasures" in a location open to the public which will enable interested parties to verify for themselves the substantial evidence of the roles of God, Jesus Christ His Son, and the Bible in the early A.A.'s astonishing successes; and
l The utilization of TV, radio, DVD’s, the Internet, panels, seminars, conferences, and interviews to carry the message of "A New Way Out" both nationally and internationally.

Just as we have been blessed to have the specific sponsorship of Overcomers Outreach, Inc., in the publication of A New Way Out Guidebook by Dick B. and Ken B., and the sponsorship of Celebrate a New Life at Hope by the Sea in our present Conference and promotional flyer, we sincerely believe your participation in these Coalition efforts will advance both the objectives and the worldwide service potential of the International Christian Recovery Coalition leaders, sponsors, and other participants.

The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., by Dick B. and Ken B., (150+ pages in spiral bound, 8 ½” x 11” format) is available for purchase for US$ 35.50 for shipment to the 50 states of the United States ($30.00 plus $5.50 for USPS Priority Mail shipping). The Guide is available for US$ 41.00 for shipment to Canada and Mexico, and for US$ 43.00 for shipment to countries other than the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. (Shipment to countries outside the U.S. is via USPS International Priority Mail.)

To purchase the new, third edition of The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide (2010) by Dick B. and Ken B., please Click Here to go the center column of the front page of the www.DickB.com web site.
For further information, please contact Dick B. by email at DickB@DickB.com or by telephone at 1-808-874-4876 (keeping in mind the time difference between the mainland and Hawaii).

Gloria Deo

A Comment on AlcoholicChristian.com Articler

Congratulations on an unusually well-framed article. A couple of points should be made, however. A.A. is not a Christian organization. That ended when Bill published the Big Book in 1939. Alcoholics Anonymous most assuredly was a Christian organization when it was founded in 1935. And it didn't get that way because of the Oxford Group. A.A. sprang from the highly successful Christian work in the 1800's by evangelists like Dwight Moody, Gospel Rescue Missions, Salvation Army, YMCA lay workers, and Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. And see www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml. These organizations had great success converting and healing alcoholics long before there was an Oxford Group and long long before there was an A.A. Moreover, both Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith had a Christian upbringing in Vermont where they and their families attended Congregational church and Sunday school. They attended academies where daily chapel, weekly church attendance, and Bible study were required. Both were involved in or influenced by the YMCA - of which Dr. Bob's father was President in St. Johnsbury, and Wilson was president at Burr and Burton Academy. Both saw the conversions, revivals, and union meetings of Vermont. And each, when he finally turned to God for help, did so at a scene which was based on conversion and prayer - in Bill's case at a rescue mission. Then, when the two founded A.A., they established a Christian Fellowship in Akron where belief in God, acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior, Bible study, prayer meetings, reading of Christian literature and devotionals was daily, and Quiet Time was a requirement--Quiet Time having come into being in the YMCA and Christian Endeavor movement long before the founding of either the Oxford Group or A.A. Dr. Bob said the basic ideas of A.A. came from the study and effort in the Bible - particularly Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the Book of James, and 1 Corinthians 13. Though Bill attended the OG and was active in it in the East, he left it in 1937. Akron was so far removed from the Oxford Group in principle and practice that it was called a "clandestine" lodge of the Oxford Group - meaning it wasn't!When Wilson published his Big Book in 1939, he drew on all sorts of sources - Bible, Dr. William Silkworth, conversion, Dr. Carl Jung, Professor William James, the five New England sources of his youth, the journal kept by Dr. Bob's wife Anne Smith, Oxford Group ideas he had learned, the teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, some language from New Thought writers often influenced by spiritualism and Swedenborgian ideas, a lay therapist who died drunk, and Quiet Time as well. He maintained references to the Bible, to God, and to Christian language and ideas in Jesus' Sermon, the Book of James, and 1 Corinthians. And he dumped some 400 pages of Christian and Bible materials from the manuscript before it went to press in 1939. He also agreed to strike "God" from Steps Two, Three, and Eleven. But he maintained explicit references, in one form or another, to God over 400 times in the Big Book itself. In short, A.A. changed. Bill became deeply depressed. All sorts of "higher power" ideas began creeping in - light bulbs, chairs, radiators. But Dr. Bob never budged from his emphasis on the Bible and prayer. Never up to the date of his death and was, at that time, a communicant at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Akron. So what's the bottom line? As the writer says, there are Christians -- many many Christians in A.A. today. And there are an equal if not greater number of those who are atheists, agnostics, humanists, Jews, Roman Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, and of no belief or religious affiliation at all. The point today is that IN A.A. Christians can and should learn, and are finally learning there Christian roots and standing tall on their Christian principles, practices, worship, fellowship, and witnessing while joining fully in both the fellowship and the 12 Step program of A.A. and other such fellowships. They are often bewildered by the contradictions, but they do not take flight from A.A. Perhaps like the writer above, they are tolerant, thankful, service-oriented, and desirous of helping other drunks get sober - often by informing the newcomer of A.A.'s religious and Christian origins and their ability to believe in and worship God - the God and Creator they learn about in the Bible. For documentation and detail, see The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010 www.dickb.com/Christian-Recov-Guide.shtml.

Some Thoughts About Christians and Non-Christians in an A.A. Group Today

I applaud the temperate way in which you discussed the article. I confess I cannot tell exactly what your position is. If you are favoring forgiveness as part of the Christian walk, I certainly agree. If you are favoring the broad highway of higher powers today, I wouldn't argue the point because I thought I made it clear that I am a Christian, a Bible student, a solid A.A. and I am most thankful for what A.A. did for me and what I was able to do for many in A.A. That has nothing to do with whether A.A. is or is not Christian. It isn't. But it certainly was, and a few psychoheretics are so violently anti-A.A. that they think they can drive, warn, threaten Christians out of A.A. by telling them the truth--A.A. isn't Christian. Their problem is that they just can't understand or swallow the overwhelming proof that A.A. sprang from Christian origins, was a Christian fellowship, and then changed. And I strongly believe Christians in A.A. need to know their origins, need to know the change, need to reject the higher power gods, and need to feel free to believe, talk, act, and walk like Christians IN A.A. If you are not in agreement that there is little value in the psychoheretics trying to claim that which is true - A.A. is not a Christian fellowship - then I would suggest that you missed my point: There are tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Christians IN A.A. who are being vigorously and personally attacked because they belong to an A.A. whose broad membership is composed of many many Christians and many many who are not. I have no problem with those who are not. I have a great many problems with those who drive or attempt to drive Christians out of A.A. because they are keeping company with those who are not Christians. I'm one of those people who didn't conduct a litmus test as to the Christianity of my fellow Boy Scouts, fraternity brothers, law school colleagues, fellow lawyers, any judge, fellow Rotarians, fellow chamber of commerce friends, people I fished with, people I hunted with, people I played tennis with, people who were in the high school band, Army, and summer camps I attended. I was a Christian. I stayed a Christian. And I never left any of those outfits because someone else was not. In fact, I never asked or needed to ask - as far as I can remember at age 85. I'm just not one of those who thinks all Christians should crawl back into the catacombs and fear the Romans. I heartily concur in the value of fellowshipping with like-minded believers. There are not only biblical reasons for that view; there are practical reasons for praying, witnessing, fellowshipping, healing, worshipping, studying the Bible together - and much more. But whether A.A. is or is not a Christian fellowship wasn't and isn't ever an issue for me. Whether Christians can be in A.A. without intimidation, rebuke, and phony biblical arguments against their presence - that is an issue. And perhaps it's the major reason I wrote and keep writing about that along with the hundreds of other subjects I cover

3 New Christian Recovery Leaders Join Our Ranks

International Christian Recovery Coalition is delighted to announce that three new, dynamic Christian Recovery leaders have joined us in the capacities listed below: Daxton Lyon, Christian, CEO of Uniti; Marine Vet; VMI alumnus; Businessman; and student in business at Hawaii Pacific University; has agreed to serve as one of the three directors of Freedom Ranch Maui Incorporated, the non-profit educational corporation which established the International Christian Recovery Coalition and, in turn, Christian Recovery Resource Centers Worldwide. Daxton lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is married to Jessica Wiseman Lyon. Wayne White, CASAC, Christian, and Veteran, is the CEO of Footprints, Inc. - an outpatient substance abuse center; and CEO of Heroes Home - a facility for homeless veterans. He is also Executive Director of Alcoholics Victorious. Wayne lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where all three facilities are headquartered. He has just established a Christian Recovery Resource Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Rusty Warner, of Smile God Loves You Media, has long been a Christian friend, ardent recovery worker, conference taper of some of my talks and at many other conferences. He has long supported my own A.A. history research, books, and conferences. Rusty has his headquarters in Peoria, Arizona. He has just become a participant in International Christian Recovery Coalition. These three leaders have joined as participants during this weekend where we held meetings in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii with Daxton Lyon and his wife and also with Wayne White. April 15-17, 2011 Dick B., Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition"We Christians in the Recovery Arena are not alone"www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com; dickb@dickb.com; www.dickb.com

The Problem with So-called psycho-heretics who battle Christian AAs, NAs, and 12 Steppers

You have been more than generous in including my comments. And I won't repeat here what I have documented so many times about the Bible, Dr. Bob, the Book of James, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, 1 Corinthians 13, and the daily Bible studies and prayer meetings of Akron A.A. I do want to underline and reply to the continuing ad hominem assaults on the idea that A.A. has biblical roots. There are about six writing groups I have seen who persistently and erroneously say that DR. Bob and Bill W. were not and could not be Christians. Same for A.A. Number Three who had been a long-time deacon, Sunday school teacher, and church-goer. Did all three drink too much? Of course. But that didn't erase their new birth. Did all three have Christian upbringings, Bible studies, church attendance, and YMCA connections? Of course; but that didn't vanish from their lives when they finally decided to get sober. Is A.A. Christian today? Of course not. A new path was taken when the Big Book was published in 1939 and three of the Twelve Steps replaced the word "God." The door was opened. Opened to atheists, agnostics, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and ublievers. Drunks of all belief and unbelief and denominations eventually flooded in. And today you have a mixture of Christians, nonsense god admirers, and uninformed newcomers and oldtimers.Not to mention the hordes who, today--unlike their A.A. forbears--would rather be involved in a non-drinking society with huge numbers of meetingsd and lots of chatter, as well as the Big Book and hordes of new literature A.A. itself is pouring out. What is A.A. today? Certainly not Christian. Certainly not able to deny its own very clear Christian origins, history, and original Christian fellowship program where belief in God, acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and Bible study were requisite to admission. And certainly not, today, able to claim that its Christians give a fig for the nonsense gods, the "higher powers," the light bulbs, the spurious "spirituality" that have crept in under the auspices of the Adversary and those who are ordered in by the courts, bussed in by the treatment centers, and abandoned to A.A. by professionals who don't follow through or worry about the diversity. Can a Christian belong to A.A.? Of course. If he belongs, can the Bobgans, the Lanagans, the Rapture Ready folks and others suddenly declare that the Christians have become "unsealed" with that Holy Spirit of promise? Of course not. And today there is a vast, growing movement of Christian leaders, workers, newcomers, and others who-whether involved in prisons, hospitals, the VA, military, mental wards, A.A., counseling, sober living and the rest--are 100% for A.A. Friendly, Bible friendly, History friendly, Christian friendly fellowships which believe in the vital role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible have played and can play in recovery. I won't argue with the self-styled psycho-heretics who seem to have endless funds to pour out anti-A.A., anti-Christian, anti-recovery literature which is filled with falsehoods and absurd purported biblical refutations. But my 42 titles and 500 articles are just a start in helping those alcoholics, addicts, at-risk, and affected sufferers to get help if they want to seek God's help. Dick B., Kihei, Hawaii

The Bible Sources of A.A.'s Basic Ideas

The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A.'s Roots in the Bible has been the most popular title by A.A. historian Dick B. It was written after the author had devoted about nine years to discovering the various roots of Alcoholics Anonymous. He began with the question: Did A.A. come from the Bible? Dr. Bob had said its basic ideas did. And then came the various ways in which biblical ideas reached the fellowship. The clearest was the regular study of the Book of James, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. And after identifying the various sources of A.A.'s blbical language and ideas, Dick studied James, Jesus' Sermon, and 1 Corinthians 13 - comparing each with language in the Big Book and Twelve Steps that directly or indirectly was the basis for A.A. ideas. His first book on the subject, then, was The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A.'s Roots in the Bible www.dickb.com/goodbook.shtml. But Dick did his specific comparative study in the book The James Club and The Original A.A. Program's Absolute Essentials www.dickb.com/JamesClub.shtml. Then, there were additional substantial biblical influences that found their way to A.A. through the principles and practices of the Oxford Group. www.dickb.com/Oxford.shtml. Then the teachings of Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., who was the chief American lieutenant of the Oxford Group. See New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A. www.dickb.com/newlight.shtml. Two other, major contributors of biblical ideas to the A.A. scene were the many Christian and Bible-oriented books that Dr. Bob read and circulated among AAs and their families. More important, probably, were the writings of his wife Anne Ripley Smith in her journal. See Anne Smith's Journal 1933-1939 www.dickb.com/annesm.shtml. From that journal, Anne-each morning-would share from the Bible and from her journal with AAs, their families, and their children. She frequently quoted the Bible to them - as Dr. Bob himself did. dickb.com

The Real Picture of Christian Recovery Work in California

The difficulty with the foregoing article is not its theme of Christian recovery in the "South Bay." It is that it scarecely touches the surface of the vast number of Bible based Christian recovery activities in Orange County and in the Southern California area. We devoted some 25 conferences and visits to the organizations and areas I am about to mention. And we now know there is a growing Christian recovery movement under way. It is not just about Celebrate Recovery. Nor is it just about Teen Challenge and Salvation Army ARCs. And the reader will do well to get in tune with what is really happening and has been prompted by the last two years of growth since a large Christian recovery leader and worker conference at Mariners Church in Irvine, California. Out of that large assemblage of Christian recovery leaders and workers from all over the United States and Canada came a new and different approach. Call it A.A. friendly, Bible friendly, History Friendly, and Christian friendly friendly. It seeks to learn and disseminate not some particular Christian approach, but rather to encourage individuals, fellowships, groups, recovery groups, treatment programs, counselors, sober living facilities, clergy and churches to learn and embrace the real theme that put early A.A.'s Christian fellowship on the map. That is the role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played in the origin, history, founding, original program, and astonishing successes of the 1935 A.A. Christian Fellowship in Akron. The progression of this massive Christian recovery backdrop deals with far more than A.A. And let's look at the progression. In the 1850's, five strong groups set the pace for successful Christian recovery by alcoholics and addicts. They were: (1) Evangelists like Moody, Sankey, Meyer, and Folger and later Billy Sunday. (2) Gospel and Rescue Missions founded by Jerry Mc Auley and his Water Street Mission. (3) The Salvation Army. (4) YMCA lay workers and their revivals and conversions throughout New England. (5) The Young People's Christian Endeavor Society - in which A.A.'s cofounder Dr. Bob and his family were active in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The next step had to do with the Christian upbringing of both A.A. cofounders when they were youngsters in Vermont. See Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml and The Conversion of Bill W. www.dickb.com/conversion.shtml. Both young men went to Congregational churches and Sunday schools. Both were involved with the YMCA. Both had intensive Bible study experience. Both saw and knew the stories of the conversions that cured alcoholics. Both attended Academies (St. Johnsbury Academy and Burr and Burton Academy, respectively) which were dominated by the influence of Congregational Church leaders and daily chapel. The next step was the experience of Bill Wilson that few know: (1) Bill's grandfather Willie had been cured of alcoholism in a conversion experience in East Dorset, Vermont. (2) At his third hospitalization, Bill was told by his physician William D. Silkworth, M.D., that Jesus Christ could cure him. (3) Almost immediately Bill was witnessed to by his old drinking friend Ebby Thacher who had been born again at Calvary Mission in New York and gotten sober - to Bill's amazement. (4) Bill himself then went to the altar at Calvary Mission, gave his life to Jesus Christ, and wrote that he had been born again. (5) Bill then decided to call on Jesus Christ for help. (6) Bill cried out to God, had a white light experience, was healed, and never drank again. (7) Bill's message became: "The Lord has cured me of this terrible disease and I just want to keep talking about it and telling people (Big Book page 191). There is much much more: How the first three AAs got sober as Christians, Bible students, and believers in God before there was a fellowship. How early A.A.'s Christian fellowship in Akron required belief in God, acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, daily Bible study, daily old fashioned prayer meetings, and Quiet Time with God. We have covered this in a four hour (4 DVD) series "Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery" www.dickb.com/IFRC-Class.shtml, and in our The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide www.dickb.com/Christian-Recov-Guide.shtml. Also in brief form in "Real Twelve Step Fellowship History" www.dickb.com/realhistory.shtml. The groups we have visited in California and which have heard and embraced the foregoing information or been willing to incorporate it into their programs are these: Rock Recovery Ministries, San Diego Calvary Ranch, Lakeside Neighborhood Alcoholics for Christ, Escondido Celebrate a New Life at San Juan Capistrano Pacific Hills Treatment Centers, San Juan Capistrano Several James Clubs (BigBook Bible Study Christian groups) in Norco, Glendora, Covina His Place Church, Hungtington Beach New Life Spirit Recovery, Inc., Huntington Beach, Lifelines at The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa Steppin Out, Glendora Overcomers Outreach, Inc., Whittier CityTeam Ministries, San Jose and up and down the Coast Golden Hills Community Church, Antioch Cornerstone Fellowship, Turning Point Group, Livermore Oroville Church of the Nazarene, Serenity Group, Oroville Auburn Church of the Nazarene, Men's Group, Auburn Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, Redlands And a host of individual Christian recovery leaders located in San Diego, Lakeside, Carlsbad, Sunset Beach, Rancho Santa Margarita, Venice, Claremont, and elsewhere in the Southern California area. The point here is that 12 Step Fellowships contain tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Christian leaders and Christians in recovery who want God's help and are gathering together for fellowships, prayer, music, Bible study, Big Book study, Step study, Quiet Time, and other successful recovery efforts of the Akron Christian Fellowship of 1935. The next point is that these participants in the new Christian recovery movment are banding together worldwide to foster the principles just mentioned. Their movement is International Christian Recovery Coalition www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition. And is has already established a speaker's bureau and 22 Christian Recovery Resource Centers to meet the growing need for information, direction, and referral to Christian recovery facilities. The aim is not to splinter and go their own way. The aim has been to unite in supporting the single Christian idea of helping alcoholics and addicts get well in whatever situation they begin or find themselves - prison, treatment, hospitals, mental wards, A.A., N.A., VA, military, counseling, sober living, church or Christian recovery fellowships and Christ-centered recovery fellowships. See the mission statement and details: www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com In His Service, Richard G. Burns, J.D., CDAAC, Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition, Kihei, HI

Nine New Participants in International Christian Recovery Coalition

Tuesday International Christian Recovery Coalition Participant Campaign Begins. New names to be listed: Bob Bowling, Bible Ministry of Lakeside California, 13189 Old Barona Rd, Lakeside, Ca 92040 619-987-9627 Dan Hosch, Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor, Call to Recovery 12-Step Addiction Anonymous Groups (M/W/F), Athens, Texas 75757, cell 903-360-2613, office 903-597-1351 ext. 7317, e-mail dhosch@andrewscenter.com Jason Gutierrez, Calvary Chapel Mid-Valley Worship Ministry, Reseda, California Johanna Maria, participant of the ICRC, Heusden-Asten in The Netherlands Mark Tolomei, Recovered Christian Believer, Lake County, California Mr. Chris Estus – Leader. Pioneer Group Big Book/Bible Study Every Friday Night Since 2001 San Antonio, Texas, 210-213-9867 Rev. Don Allen, Jr. PhD (cand), LICDC, Through HIM Ministries, c/o Milford Assembly of God 1301 State Route 131, Milford, Ohio 45150 Stephen Krank, Director of Conferences, Vincentian Support Services, The Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa County, Pittsburgh, Califonia.

Invitations to Participate at No Cost in International Christian Recovery Coalition Being Sent Now

Personal invitations to participate in International Christian Recovery Coalition are being sent out by email to those we believe are concerned about emphasizing the role that God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible played and can play in recovery. To others: please see www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com, and contact me by email dickb@dickb. if you wish to be invited. Dick B. Dick B., Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition, Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

A.A. - Response to a "denial to save face" article

Does this article about denial to save face apply to present-day denial techniques in 12 Step Fellowships today? Here are some facts that can't be denied (but often are): Early A.A. took its basic ideas from the Bible. The ideas were honed and applied by five successful Christian organizations that preceded A.A. by many years and helped thousands of drunks. They were: Evangelists, Gospel and Rescue Missions, YMCA lay workers, the Salvation Army, and the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. Early A.A. required a belief in God; a decision to make Jesus Christ one's Lord and Savior; daily Bible study; daily Quiet Time; and frequent old fashioned prayer meetings. Early A.A. had a docuented success rate of 75% in Akron, Ohio, and soon a 93% success rate in Cleveland. The numbers were small, but the success rates were astonishing. But, in 1939, a great face-saving effort took place. "God" was removed from the Second, Third, and Eleventh Step. Strange New Thought and other "gods" were inserted in A.A.'s text - Czar of the Universe, Spirit of the Universe, and others. Soon AAs themselves were inventing their own conception of "a" god. At first they called "it" a "higher power." Soon the "higher power" was often called a tree, a rock, Something, Somebody, Ralph, a light bulb, and a host of other ridiculous monikers. Why? To sell books, that's for sure. To increase membership, that's for sure. To make the door so wide and the road so broad that anyone, anyone at all, could join as long as they said they had a problem with alcohol. Treatment centers followed suit. Scholars, writers, and publishers followed suit. The face-saving? Make up a "god" that anyone will accept. The denial? Deny reverence of and the necessity fo Almighty God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible - the sources of the very power that had made early A.A. so successful. Will this change? Not as far as the Fellowships are concerned. But it can change and is changing as far as members and non-members are concerned. There are tens if not hundreds of thousands of Christians in 12 Step Fellowships today. They are learning about early A.A. They are learning about the role that was played and can still be played in recovery by the Creator, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible. They are learning that the nonsense "higher power" is just that -- nonsense -- a devilish thought planted in minds that are vulnerable to some "easy way out." What is changing? There is a huge and growing Christian recovery movment that is not hostile to A.A., nor to God, nor to the Bible, nor to unbeliever members in recovery. The movement simply seeks to assure Christians that they can belong; they can believe what they like; and they needn't surrender to save face. Dick B.

A New Website That Seems A.A., Bible, History, and Fact Friendly

I received a solicitation through an email today. It was about a new website RumRadio.org; it contained a request for my take; and below I have listed the letter and my response: Joseph: At your request, I looked at your email, your Rum Radio site, your thank you’s, and your article on the Mayflower. There’s lots to say, but I will just bite off a few chunks and put a few comments here and there on your site. First, let me say that I am all for any site like yours that is AA friendly, Bible friendly, History friendly, and – hopefully – fact friendly. Second, in this information age, with so many different outlets, it is very hard for any one person to reach very many people, to have an assured audience, and to have a media vehicle that will attract those who would be blessed by one’s effort. These include, of course, blogs, twitter, Facebook, social forums, article outlets, newsletters, Utube, and google itself. I have to tell you that I have used and still use them all except for Utube which will be up and running soon. I also speak at conferences and seminars, do radio shows, and have done TV. But the objective is always the same – will this material serve and glorify God, will it help those who want God’s help to realize how readily available it is for seekers, and will it help the drunk or addict who still suffers – as well as those affected by the malefactor’s deeds/ Third, you may or may not know that a number of detrimental sites have crept on the scene – some well financed, and some just providing venting for the disgruntled. That alone might not mean much except that they consider themselves justified in blocking others, in name-calling, in profane language, and in promoting their own brand of no-AA, no-12 Steps, no-Christianity, no-Christians who disagree with their views, no religion, no God, no Jesus Christ, no Bible, no church, and on and on. And if you consider early A.A., that was neither the case, nor the position that made early A.A. so successful and later, with Wilson’s promotion, worldwide in impact. And you correctly observe that the growth has stopped. The numbers are still the same, not increasing. The spinoff organizations like Celebrate Recovery are proliferating in number and attraction. The sites that lambaste A.A., God, and history are also growing. And the feeds from treatment centers and the military seem on a downward path as far as their interest in A.A. is concerned. Fourth, hopefully, this will make you more, rather than less, enthused about making your site and your articles temperate, open, factual, and documented. Finally, from what I can see, you are headed in a healthy direction: No profanity or vulgarity. No anti-God, anti-religion, anti-other sites and approaches. I do think you are a bit breezy in your recitals of history; and that is a problem in many presentations. People pass along opinions, in-the-rooms myths, speculative history, and stories that detour from the truth. My own objective, for twenty years, has first been to find the facts. Second, to see what facts others have found. Third, put a factual picture together. Fourth, DOCUMENT and cite precise evidentiary sources for the findings. Finally, to disseminate as widely as my own resources, age, and energy make possible. I am writing at your request and do not wish you to think I am writing as a critic or opponent or revisionist. I like what you are doing. And I wish there were many more approaches like yours. They are much needed. They should be reporting and promoting the original A.A. program, the successes it achieved, the changes that were made in 1939, the nonsense gods and self-made programs that followed, and the wide diversity of membership and views and approaches today – and yet still trumpeting for the importance of Almighty God. For He was and is mentioned in one way or another some 400 times even in today’s Fourth Edition – though certainly not in most of the other publications pouring out of GSO at flood stage. Don’t hesitate to phone me. Count me as a friend. And my best wishes for your success. And, if I drop a documented, factual article your way now and then, please welcome it as an attempt to serve. I will probably post or circulate this letter quite a bit which should help draw attention to the Rum Radio effort. God bless, Dick B. Author, 42 titles & over 500 articles on A.A. History Exec. Dir., International Christian Recovery Coalition Christian Recovery Resource Centers - Worldwide www.DickB.com DickB@DickB.com (808) 874-4876 PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837 From: Gzepe [mailto:Gzepe@rumradio.org] Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:35 PMTo: dickb@dickb.comSubject: Billy pilgrim at the Mayflower Hi Dick I have always enjoyed your work in AA and the fundamental insights you espouse. I have put together a Big Book sponsorship website some suggestions and understanding not all program members will agree, but as you know if you get 15 alcoholics in a room you will get 20 opinions. I had been doing some research on the Hotel May flower story and have found some discrepancies that I believe that I have been able to piece together certain facts commonly held . I wanted to get your take. I have found that there were 2000,000 people in AA in 1981 (GSO) and as of Jan 2010 2100,000 (GSO) ? Looks like a flat line to me . A loss of singleness of purpose ? and possibly sponsorship has been pushed too far and out of the back and/or squeezing God out the rooms so as not to offend anyone? Hey buddy can you spare some time ,and take a look see, your input would be invaluable. We have had 30,000 hits to date and 850 or so thank you notes from all over the world and not one negative other than it was too pedantic ,I had to look that up, too detailed. I am enclosing the thank you notes also . If you find value would you please help pass it on. Joseph