Dick B. interviews Steve, a recovered
Christian in the military, on the April 23, 2013, episode of the
"Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show
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Dick B.
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You may listen to Dick B. interview Steve, a recovered Christian
in the military, on the April 23, 2013, episode of the "Christian Recovery
Radio with Dick B." show here:
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The Pursuit of Excellence
[I have been a visitor to Maui, as well as other Islands,
with family and friends since 1967. And I have been a resident of Maui since
1990. And now is the time to make and important point. I am about to write up today’s unusual radio interview of a young,
bursting with zest, recovered Christian alcoholic who has had a miraculous cure
of his alcoholism and addiction while in the arena of the Navy Seals with whom he is serving and is about
to deploy. When my son Ken and I began working with alcoholics and addicts here
in Maui, the entire Island chain was rife with “ice” and the consequences of
drug and alcohol excesses. We had approached several in the Salvation Army
(where we met with much cooperation and favor.) But we also met several church
leaders who—until an unusual event this very day—showed little initiative or
enthusiasm for melding the work of God and His Son Jesus Christ with the present-day
needs and plight of those in Alcoholics Anonymous, and other 12-Step programs.
We persistently prayed for God’s guidance and help. And underlying our senses
knowledge perception, we kept thinking in terms of the pursuit of excellence by
the young (and any) alcoholics and addicts who just seem to get swept into
revolving door jails, treatments, arrests, accidents, courts, and “meetings.”
These suffering souls make no evident progress in permanently overcoming their
maladies and establishing new lives that serve and glorify God and His Son and point
them toward useful, purposeful, happy, and productive relationships with God,
their families, their jobs, their education and training, their charitable
endeavors, their service to other, and their own growth in self-esteem and
community life. In so doing, my son Ken was—among other subjects--gorging
himself on autobiographies of U.S. Navy Seals and other members of special
operations forces around the world. I had a correlative mission in mind. Among
the many newcomers with whom I have worked in the last 27 years, I noticed the
devotion they had to sports, to physical fitness, and to the state of their
mind and body. In short, there appeared forward marching recovery among those
who not only “did not drink and went to meetings” as well as “worked the
program,” but who had grasped what they could do with their lives by turning to
God, focusing on what they could do for others, educating and training
themselves, and adopting the disciplines so evident among those who are
constructively competitive, determined, and thankful for what they can do with
their minds and bodies to the end of excellence. And today, we interviewed
Steve. We also today received a call from the pastor of an up-country church
who seems a prospect really ready for such an approach. And now back to the very
relative and illustrative interview.]
Introduction to Steve’s Talk
My son Ken and I just received a wonderful surprise. Steve,
a thoroughly-trained, physically fit, very intelligent, eager young Christian
sailor, let us know the other day he was vacationing here in Maui with his wife
prior to a deployment. Several years ago, we met him at a Bible study class for
Christians in recovery held by the dynamic Rock Church in San Diego. Having seen
his willingness to serve, we invited him to Maui to be part of our Christian
work with suffering alcoholics and drug addicts. But we learned he was headed
out for military service. He later got married. And yesterday he called us to
say he and his wife were on Maui. At lunch, we were struck with his fitness,
motivation, discipline, and devotion to God. We hope he'll share today his: (1)
discipline; (2) patent intelligence; (3) commendable four years of sobriety;
(4) teaming up with a Christian Navy man; (5) work with addicted newcomers; (6)
Bible study classes among service people; (7) highly demanding training over
the past two years; and (8) fidelity to sobriety in A.A. His determination was
similar to Dr. Bob's in that he attained some remarkable education while doing
"graduate work" in alcoholism and addiction. Thus, despite
progressing drinking and drugging, he graduated from college and received his
degree in a demanding field. Recently, he received a master's degree in a
technical field that will serve him well during and after his military service.
He and his wife of two years are happily married. And he has a serviceman's
patriotic fervor for serving and defending his country. He, also appears to
have placed his life under the care and direction of our Creator and His Son
Jesus Christ, and respects the Bible's major role in that endeavor. He's an
inspiration. Here's his story. And take it away, Steve.
Synopsis of Interview
Near and dear to the hearts of many alcoholics is Akron,
Ohio—the home of A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob, and the birthplace of Alcoholics
Anonymous. And Steve was born and raised there. His mother was a nurse. His
father was a teacher and an alcoholic. He said he was dragged by one parent to
Roman Catholic Mass and by the other to a Methodist Church. He has little
interest in either. But, at age nine, Steven became an adept swimmer and good
at sports. At the 8th or 9th year, he found two bottles
and three beers, guzzled them, and then blacked out. And he fell in love with
that alcoholic experience. At the same time, he suffered from lack of
self-confidence; he believed he didn’t fit; and he had a hole in his heart and
simply ducked his feelings.
Drinking or not, swimming became his achievement of excellence.
His high school swim team became national champions. He was the captain. His
record item was the butterfly. He could and did push himself there and
developed a remarkable discipline.. In his senior year, the y had a weekend
dance. He drank heavily, threw up, couldn’t walk, and wound up in the principal’s
office. Though captain of the swim team, he was suspended for three days.
However, he entertained that his progressive alcoholism really had no effect on
his personal life. He graduated and did a geographic from Ohio to Arizona
State. There he received a scholarship.
He had trouble with alcohol. He was doing well with his
grades. But he fell in with drinking pals. He was soon captain of the swim
team. But there were three days of the week when there was no practice. And he
utilized them well for heavy drinking. Drink took over. He was cast as a “bad
role model” though he had broken no rules; and he blamed the status on his
friends. He had a desire to be in the military and chose to be one of the “best
of the best”—the Navy Seals. But cocaine, pot, and mushrooms entered the
competition also. He graduated from Arizona State.
He went through boot training in the seals. And the Seals
are hard warriors. He went through the arduous BUDS. He couldn’t drink for
three weeks. He went through Hell Week and concluded it with 15 shots. On a
motorcycle, he crashed into a wall and received a DUI. He was placed in a
treatment program. And there he was asked to tell his story as a speaker. And
he alternated between sweat and relief. He heard God tell him: “You never have
to drink again.” He knew he had a choice—Jesus Christ or A.A. And a miracle of
recovery occurred. His saw his obsession miraculously removed. It was November
16th, and he has attained more than four years of continuous
sobriety. He graduated. Became an Honor seal. He was voted the best in the Bud
crowed. He married his wife Christina, whom he had known since high school.
Steve really saw the “Promises” of A.A. come through – fear,
fear, and fear were gone. He had to deal with his legal problems, the DUI, the
lost friends, the sense of isolation. But he was firm that the change in his
life was real. Said he: “I know Jesus Christ.” In A.A. he learned that the
basic text of Alcoholics Anonymous consisted
of all of the book’s pages. He acquainted
himself with the personal stories. And there he saw that the first three
AAs were all Christians, had all given up liquor permanently, had all turned to
God for help, and had all openly explained the source of their deliverance.
On page 191 of the Big Book, Bill Wilson wrote: “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.”
On page 181 of the Big Book, Dr. Bob Smith wrote: “Your
Heavenly Father will never let you down!”
And then again on page 191, Bill D. (A.A. Number Three) said
that Wilson’s statement that the Lord had been so wonderful to him, curing him
of his terrible disease became for him
and for others in the fellowship “the golden text of A.A.”
Steve closed the interview with this succinct observations: “Christians
who went to God received complete relief.” And they did. They do!
For further information, contact dickb@dickb.com; or 808 874 4876
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