Dick B.
interviews Christian Recovery worker Mary B. on the March 28, 2013, episode of
the "Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show on www.ChristianRecoveryRadio.com
Dick B.
© 2013 Anonymous. All rights reserved
You May Listen to This Interview and Show Right Now!
______________________________________________________________________________
You
may listen to Dick B. interview Christian recovery worker Mary B. on the March
28, 2013, episode of the "Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show
here:
or here:
Episodes of the "Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show are archived at:
Introduction
Today's guest is Mary B. from Delaware. Her story of deliverance is
miraculous. And this interview grew out the frequency of Mary's approving
comments on my Facebook page. Day after day, she followed my Facebook and other
posts. And then things began to pop. Mary and members of her family indicated
they were extensively studying my materials on A.A. history, the Bible, and the
help God has given and can give to alcoholics and addicts who seek His help.
Mary has a 29-year-old daughter named Natalie, who is a Federal Fire Fighter. But Mary, age 51, faced many a hurdle in A.A. She could not get sober. She had no "true God." She was having difficulties with her husband. She weighed 230 pounds, could not read or write and was dying of heart failure.
Then she cried out to God saying: "Who are you God; and I have no idea what grace means or how to get it." Her life changed forever more. The event is described on page 25 of the Big Book and in Hebrews 2:9; and she thanks God every day for it and teaches others. She believes God put a teacher of God's word in front of her; and it was a pastor. She kept hearing that Christ Jesus could heal her. That was the start. She took Holy Communion and was anointed. Her Heavenly Father taught her to read; she came off all medications and lost all the excess weight. And three years ago she hit her knees and got a woman to take her through the Steps.
Mary is bursting with the desire to help others who are afflicted with or affected by alcoholism. Her family are alive with Christian recovery messages on the Internet. And now she believes, as Bill Wilson did, that Jesus Christ can heal alcoholics.
She'll tell you some of her alcoholism story as she wishes. Then focus on what she has found in the Bible, the Big Book, and A.A. fellowship that can help alcoholics get well with God's power and love. Talk to us, Mary.
Synopsis of Mary’s Interview Points
It was a blessing for me to hear Mary’s emphasis on the Big Book and the Bible. Also that we could talk so freely about some important Big Book pages that more and more AAs and Christians are learning about and sharing with others.
The first is page 191 of the 4th edition of A.A.’s Big Book—which Mary quotes frequently—where Bill Wilson addresses the wife of A.A. Number Three and says: “Henrietta, the Lord has been so wonderful to me curing me of this terrible disease that I just want to keep talking about it and telling people.” And, in the next few lines, A.A. Number Three thanked Bill W. for the credit given God and called Bill’s statement “the Golden Text of A.A.”
Then we turned to page 181 of the 4th edition of the Big Book and the closing line of Dr. Bob’s personal story, where Bob says: “Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!”
And then to page 25 which describes “The Solution” to the alcoholic’s problem. And, in brief, that description says:
There is a solution. . . . The great fact is just this, and
nothing less. That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which
have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and
toward God’s universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute
certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which
is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish for us which we could
never do by ourselves.
And in a sense, Mary’s story revolves around the three quotes above: (1) She was lost, turned to the Lord for help, was released from her alcoholism and obesity and despair, and just wanted and wants to keep talking about it and telling people—a selfless A.A. position that used to be so common among those who recovered. (2) She is very positive that the alcoholic can be helped by the power of God—using the Bible as the teacher about God, the Big Book for instruction in taking the Twelve Steps and cleaning up one’s life, and then helping others as the touchstone which takes the self-centeredness out of the alcoholic’s life. (3) As Bill W. described on page 25 of the Big Book, Mary had a vital religious experience which changed her life and led to the solution of all her problems.
Mary had been suffering from the “Four Horsemen—Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, Despair” of which the Big Book speaks on page 151. But, as the chapter To Wives suggests: She and her husband got “right down to fundamentals. If a repetition is to be prevented, place the problem, along with everything else, in God’s hands” (p. 1 20)
Mary believes her deliverance began 14 years ago when she really said a prayer asking God to help her with her mother. Though she was not yet into the Bible, she kept asking God to help her mom. And she was led to place herself in the hands of a pastor at Shepherd’s Chapel. And she began learning more and more from the Bible. She grasped the idea that people will close their Bibles, give up, and let Satan convince them how bad they are.
But Mary has been working recently with a young lady she sponsors in A.A. The girl kept saying that she herself had nothing to give. Mary pointed her to John 1:1 and filling others with God’s Word. She pointed to the Steps, the Word, and the only God that she had. She pointed to the idea that the sponsee must abandon herself to God, know something, learn more, and expect that He will direct. In fact, she pointed to the many prayers in the Big Book. That God would direct And “freely give” so that another is filled with the Spirit of God.
Of late, Mary was unable to get out, but she turned to the Bible and the Big Book; started helping her husband out of his troubles; and watched her husband come alive on the internet as he studied and passed along A.A. history, materials on the Bible and the Big Book, and the many points available in the Dick B. books and articles. Their URL is Williambagley28.wordpress.com. And others can now be blessed by seeing and learning about their informative works.
For more information, caontact Dick B. at dickb@dickb.com or 808 874 4875
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