Recovery Study Group Resources - Suggestions for You!

Recovery Study Group Resources

A.A. History, Christian Recovery Origins, Big Book-Bible, Step Study-Bible, James Clubs

Dick B.
© 2010 Anonymous. All rights reserved


What Folks Have Been Asking

From all over the world, several inquiries come in almost daily. Usually, the inquirer says: I love your materials. Or, I never knew. Or, I always thought A.A. had Christian origins. Or, I thought there was a Bible background to the Big Book, the Twelve Steps, and A.A. itself. Or, I want to start a group. Or, I’d like to present my church with some Christian recovery ideas. Or, where do I begin? Or, what do we do? Or, do you have some materials that can guide us in setting up group studies and fellowships that provide Bible emphasis, Big Book 12-Step study, details about what the early AAs did in their “Christian fellowship” founded in 1935 for which early A.A. claimed a 75% success rate.

Our Answer? Yes!

Here Are Several of My Books That Provide Specifics

Dick B., By the Power of God (www.dickb.com/powerofgod.shtml). A guide to groups.
Dick B., Good Morning!: Quiet Time, Morning Watch, Meditation, and Early A.A.
(www.dickb.com/goodmorn.shtml). The how and why of Christian “meditation.”
Dick B., The Good Book and the Big Book (www.dickb.com/goodbook.shtml). A.A.'s biblical
roots.
Dick B., The Good Book-Big Book Guidebook (www.dickb.com/guidebook.shtml). Guide.
Dick B. The James Club and the Original A.A.’s Absolute Essentials
(www.dickb.com/JamesClub.shtml). Compares Big Book-James, Sermon, 1 Corinthians
Dick B. Twelve Steps for You (www.dickb.com/12StepsforYou.shtml). Step origins one-by-one.
Dick B. When Early AAs Were Cured and Why (www.dickb.com/alcoholismcured.shtml).
The original program details.

Our Latest Suggestion

Acquire a “site license”to use and present our new Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery class by Dick B. and Ken B. (2010) on four DVD’s, accompanied by a Class Guide for Students, a Class Instructor's Guide, and The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., by Dick B. and Ken B. (2010). This class presents a thorough analysis of A.A.’s roots from the history before its founding in June 1935 through the publication of the First Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (the “Big Book”) in April 1939. Plenty of resources. Plenty of study subjects. A terrific way to start your group on its way.

Some Dick B. Articles Available Free Online
That Provide Specific Suggestions for Groups and Studies

I have also written a number of articles through the years which have spawned James Club groups, Christian recovery groups, Good Book-Big Book study groups, and others. Click on my Dick B. Articles page: http://www.dickb.com/articles.shtml. Then go to the blue boxes which list articles and click on the following articles for a start:

A.A. History Study Guide
A.A. Study Groups
Guide for Recovery Groups
Study Group Topics
The James Club Groups
Study The Steps
New Study Groups
The James Club

The Final Step—Starting a Group

Review the resources online. Decide what your group or approach might be. Contact Dick B. by email or phone (DickB@DickB.com; 808 874-4876). Or contact Ken B. by email or phone (kcb00799@gmail.com; 808 276-4945). Ken can tell you how and where to buy the books, where to locate the articles online, and how to sign up for our “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” class. And either of us can tell you what other groups are doing around the world and what approach might be most helpful to you.

Gloria Deo

Shipping the 14,000 free Dick B. A.A. History Books

Shipping the fourteen thousand free new Dick B. history books in the 350 cases took about 3 months, with 5 husky young men helping with the work, and the material going out media mail. Many have received their cases, and many have not yet received them because media mail time out of Maui has varied between 4 or 5 weeks and 3 months. Hang in there. Pony express is reliable. Dick

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

200 Cases of Free Dick B. History Books - Going...

Going . . .

Get One (or More!) FREE* Case(s) of New Dick B. Books
(* $30.00-per-case for USPS Media Mail Shipping and Handling)

Offer Expires March 31, 2011*
(* or sooner, if supplies are exhausted before then)


FREE* Dick B. Book Distribution Project Update

See our inventory of cases of new Dick B. books in Maui storage as of July 2009 here:

http://mcaf.ee/f6ed4
(You can use a credit or debit card, or PayPal, by clicking on the “Donate” button.)

Over about the last three weeks since we announced our FREE Dick B. book distribution project, we have shipped or distributed about 100 FREE* cases of new Dick B. books, and we have more orders waiting to be shipped. (We had to rent a U-Haul truck over the past two days just to get some of the cases to the U.S. Post Office.)

We have already had one person order 30 cases for distribution through a Christian treatment program. Another person just ordered 27 cases of books—three (3) cases of each of the nine (9) titles available. A third person ordered one case each of all nine of the available titles.

We still have a good number of cases of these four (4) titles: (1) New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and Alcoholics Anonymous; (2) Why Early A.A. Succeeded (Bible study primer); (3) By the Power of God (study groups and content); and (4) Turning Point (comprehensive history).

We only have a few cases left of the other five (5) titles. Order as many cases as you wish—WHILE SUPPLIES LAST—before March 31, 2011.

How Dick B.'s books are being used right now: (1) people give them away at clubs, meetings, churches, rehabs, transitional housing, Vet centers and programs, and hospitals and fellowships; (2) treatment programs distribute them to clients, students, or patients; or use them in classes or libraries or sober living; (3) outreach centers sell them, give them away, and/or have them in their libraries; (4) people give them to counselors and pastoral counselors, the homeless, sponsees, sponsors, friends, family, and stores; (5) individuals and organizations sell or raffle them to fund their Christian recovery outreach; and (6) some people tell us where they would like us to ship one or more cases of books, or they tell us to select the destination (as we know where we could send all of the remaining cases right now), and we ship the books on their behalf.

** Please note: each case has only one title in it. For example, a case of New Light on Alcoholism has 16 copies of New Light on Alcoholism in it. We do not have “mixed cases” available.

*** Please also note: USPS Media Mail usually takes 4-6 weeks to get from Maui to mainland destinations, as shipping by boat and truck (rather than by airmail) is involved.

Again—why are we giving away FREE* cases of new Dick B. (* with the only cost to you involved being $30.00 for USPS Media Mail Shipping and Handling)? Because most Dick B. titles are now available through Print-On-Demand (via www.DickB.com, www.Amazon.com, and www.BarnesAndNoble.com). Consequently, we no longer have to have benefactors help us get 5,000 or more copies of a given title printed, have the cases of books shipped from the printer to us on Maui, and have them warehoused on Maui until they are sold or given away. We would now like to bless you and your Christian recovery outreach by making available our Maui inventory cases of new Dick B. books until all of the cases are gone.

God Bless,

Dick B.
PO Box 837
Kihei, HI 96753-0837
Tel.: (808) 874 4876
Email: DickB@DickB.com
Dick B.'s main Web site: www.DickB.com
The International Christian Recovery Coalition: www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
The Free Dick B. Book Distribution Project:

http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/inventory.shtml


Gloria Deo

Alcoholics Anonymous Questions Often Asked

I receive so many questions almost daily that ask whether A.A. is open to Christians, whether it is a Christian Fellowship today, whether it is a sect or cult or denomination, whether it is a religion, whether it bars Christians, their expression of their views, and their worship, and some other major items that trouble Christians, AAs, atheists, and those of no religious beliefs at all.

After 24 years of continuous sobriety, 20 years of research and publishing, and travel all over the United States, I felt it important to answer these questions for all who want documented answers.

Unfortunately, I could not post the article on this blog and also send it elsewhere. So here is where you can find those points spelled out in full:

GoArticles.com
Dick B. Newsletters to which you can subscribe on my main website www.dickb.com
Dick B. Amazon Author Central
Several of the social network forums:
CyberRecoverySocialNetwork Forum
Christian Recovery Ministries Social Network Forum
AA Sober Living Social Network Forum
Recovery Internet Fellowship Forum
Or you can send an email to dickb@dickb.com; and we will be quite happy to send you a copy of this important article by reply attachment.

Sept 17 - Dick B. Speaks at Lifelines, Costa Mesa

On Friday, September 17, 2010, on the occasion of the forthcoming speaking tour by Dick B. and Ken B. to California, Dick B. will be the featured speaker at the great recovery meeting held each week at The Crossing Church in Costa Mesa, California. Please don't miss it!

Dick's topic of late revolves around the Christian beginnings of the recovery movement--beginnings which influenced the lives of A.A. cofounders Bill W. and Dr. Bob. Beginnings which began with the great successes in the 1800's of evangelists and revivalists, the rescue missions, the YMCA lay leaders, the Salvation Army, and the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. Beginnings which brought Dr. Silkworth to tell Bill Wilson that conversion to God through Jesus Christ could cure Bill Wilson of alcoholism. Beginnings which brought Rowland Hazard to his decision for Jesus Christ. Beginnings which brought Ebby Thacher to his decision for Jesus Christ at Calvary Rescue Mission. And beginnings which caused Bill Wilson to follow suit, go to Calvary Rescue Mission, and--like Rowland and Ebby--make his decision for Jesus Christ and declare that for sure he had been born again. Beginnings which caused Bill Wilson then to decide to call on the Great Physician (Jesus Christ) for help, check in to Towns Hospital for his last visit there, and cry out to God for help. Beginnings which assured Bill of the occurrence he called a "conversion experience" in which Bill sensed the presence of God in his hospital room and proclaimed: "So this is the God of the Scriptures." And beginnings which led Bill Wilson--like those to whom the evangelists preached, like those helped to Jesus Christ through altar calls at rescue missions, like those helped by YMCA lay workers in Vermont, like those helped in the slums by the Salvation Army, and like those who turned to Christian Endeavor for a program--to go out with a Bible under his arm, telling drunks they needed to give their lives to God, and tell them that the Lord had cured him of his alcoholism (Big Book, p. 191).

What will Dick B. underline at this talk and during his almost a month of talks in California? When alcoholics accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior; when they cried out to God for help; when they decided to quit for good; and when they decided to help others and grow in their understanding of God and His will, they were cured! Cured about 75 years before Alcoholics Anonymous was founded by Dr. Bob and Bill in 1935. Cured long before the Oxford Group was organized in 1919. Cured long before Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., was serving as the Oxford Group chief lieutenant in America from 1925 to 1935 and thereafter.

You won't want to miss the opportunity to hear and personally talk with Dick B. and his son Ken B. about your desire for a recovery as a Christian in today's fellowships, counseling sessions, treatment programs, Christ-centered groups, churches, prisons, and shelters.

Dick and his son Ken will be available and speaking in California as follows: (1) September 13 - San Dimas, The James Club Fellowships. (2) A Christian recovery meeting in Huntington Beach, about September 16. (3) Lifelines at The Crossing Church in Costa Mesa on September 17. (4) A possible meeting the next day in Glendora. (5) Several locations in San Diego thereafter. (6) A group for those from the streets held in Escondido. (7) Leaders of CityTeam Ministries in San Jose on September 27. (8) A large meeting of Christians in recovery in Oroville. (9) Another similar meeting in Brentwood. (10) A possible meeting in Livermore. And meetings with the president and Senior Pastor of Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors, Inc.; and the staff of Pacific Hills Treatment Centers in San Juan Capistrano.

Get up to speed with recovery today. There is a hunger. There is a steady movement. There is enthusiasm for bringing the help of God back to recovery where it existed for seventy five years before A.A. was even thought of. The Divine Aid that produced astonishing results and set the stage for early A.A.'s Christian Fellowships


As Bill Wilson wrote in his Big Book: Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they have to offer! Are you following this vital suggestion the founders followed!

Contact us for a meeting, for information, for a personal talk in California in September: (1) Ken B. at 808 276 4945. (2) Dick B. at dickb@dickb.com. (3) Dick at PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753.

Learn the Introductory Foundations for Christian Recoverywww.dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml.

Listen to Dick B.'s audio talks available on his main website www.dickb.com

Join the hundreds of leaders, directors, and participants in the International Christian Recovery Coalition which is carrying the message: Don't leave your fellowship--enrich it. Don't leave your church--inform it. Don't distance yourselves from those who are suffering--help them.
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com

Glorio Deo

A.A. History-Christian Origins-Conference Schedule for Sept. 2010

Itinerary now scheduled tentatively for the many conferences, meetings, and seminars Dick B. and Ken B. will be holding in California during their forthcoming trip between September 11 and October 2, 2010.

Calls are now being exchanged for specific invitations and locations, and the schedule is filling up rapidly. We therefore welcome your contact with Ken B. at 808 276 4945 or Dick B. at dickb@dickb.com in the next few days of July to see how we can bless and serve you in your area during the trip.

The tentative schedule is as follows:

1. September 12 - Orange County, with probably location in Costa Mesa Hotel: with planned meetings yet to be confirmed for Assn of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors, New Life Spiritual Recovery, Pacific Hills Treatment Centers, Celebrate a New Life, Lifelines, James Club Fellowships, His Place, Salvation Army, rescue missions, and Christian recovery leaders and facilitators, as well as A.A. and N.A. leaders in the area.

2. September 24 - Escondido and San Diego Area with Rock Recovery leaders and Neighborhood Alcoholics For Christ in Escondido, plus other Christian recovery and 12 Step leaders in the area.

3. September 29 - San Francisco Bay Area with Golden West, Cornerstone, CityTeam and other leaders of recovery fellowships in Brentwood, Oakland, Livermore, San Jose.

We have yet to confirm with these folks and have a flexible schedule at this time. It anticipates personal meetings with leaders--just as we have had on other visits, presentations to groups, conferences with counselors and program leaders, and talks to 12 Step groups, as well as a new outreach to church recovery, rescue mission, prison, homeless, sober living, and ARC leaders in these areas.