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

AA-How to Study, Understand, and Take the 12 Steps

A.A.: How to Study, Understand, & Take the 12 Steps

by Dick B.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved

FIRST THINGS FIRST:

The Bible;
Dr. William D. Silkworth (“The little doctor who loved drunks”);
William James (The Varieties of Religious Experience);
Anne Smith (and her personal journal which she kept between 1933 and 1939);
The Oxford Group (also known as “A First Century Christian Fellowship”); and
Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr.

KEEP IT SIMPLE:

To learn about those key sources for material in the 12 Steps, I suggest you study:

Dick B., Twelve Steps for You: Let Our Creator, A.A. History, and the Big Book Be Your Guide (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2006):

The sources of the 12 Steps and the “taking” of the Steps to completion

Dick B., By the Power of God: A Guide to Early A.A. Groups & Forming Similar Groups Today (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2000):

Details for study and for study groups

Dick B., The James Club and the Original A.A. Program's Absolute Essentials (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2006):

Relating Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Book of James, and 1 Cor 13 to the Big Book

Three Clarence Snyder Sponsee Old-timers and Their Wives, Our A.A. Legacy to the Faith Community: A Twelve-Step Guide for Those Who Want to Believe (Winter Park, FL: Came to Believe Publications, 2005)

A 12 Step Guide for Retreats, Groups, and Individuals that also includes A.A. history

FOR: AAs, 12 Steppers, Sponsors, Speakers, Writers, Bible students, Christian recovery groups

TO ORDER:

You may read more about and order Dick B.'s titles here: http://www.dickb.com/titles.shtml

You may order the Our A.A. Legacy book here: http://www.cametobelieve.org/

Becoming a Christian Recovery Resource Center - How!

How to Become, and Help Us Serve Through, a Christian Recovery Resource Center Dick B. and Ken B. © 2010 Anonymous. All rights reserved The new plan to launch Christian Recovery Resource Centers worldwide is now the major project of the International Christian Recovery Coalition: http://ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com/Christian-Recovery-Resource-Centers.shtml Here's what has been happening: First, both the need and the solution emerged from our two years of travel throughout California and Oahu (over 25 meetings and conferences). We have been learning about and studying the Christian recovery resources currently available. We found them in churches, Christian recovery fellowships, Christian counseling work, Christian treatment centers, sober living facilities, bridge groups, study groups, and “James Clubs”—even in A.A. groups and meetings. And we found the Christian recovery efforts to be effective, attractive, full of enthusiasm, and definitely growing as to appeal, membership, and attendance. We also found them to be “Bible-friendly, prayer-friendly, history-friendly, and A.A.-friendly"—a welcome situation amidst the growing tolerance—and even encouragement—of idolatry (e.g., “your higher power can be a light bulb”) among many recovery workers and fellowships today. Second, as we prepared and circulated two items, we learned and published much more. The carefully researched and presented findings are: The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., by Dick B. and Ken B. (2010). (Please see http://www.DickB.com/Christian-Recover-Guide.shtml. The substantially-revised-and-updated third edition contains a very thorough study, with footnotes and bibliography, of the origins, history, founding, original program, successes, and changes in the Christian recovery movement that led up to and developed from Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. This Guide is detailed. It is authoritative. It is now widely available. And it is now in widespread use among Christians and others in recovery. The "Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery" (“IFCR”) by Dick B. and Ken B. (2010) on four DVD's: www.DickB.com/IFCR-Class.shtml. In addition to the four DVD's and IFCR Class Guide for Students included with both available forms of the IFCR class, the IFCR class for Groups and Organizations “site license” also includes the IFCR Class Instructor's Guide, The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., and limited duplication rights. The IFCR class shows the real origins and development of the Christian recovery movement and A.A. Third, at the recent 2010 annual conference of the Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, November 19-21, in Palm Springs, California, I was a major speaker on the topic of establishing Christian Recovery Resource Centers—particularly those which included and enhanced the role of licensed Christian alcohol and drug counselors. The idea of establishing Christian Recovery Resource Centers met with wide interest and approval among the large number of people attending. Fourth, we returned to Maui to formulate and launch the plan for establishing centers—primarily by sending out newsletters that covered the following: Five surveys which asked Christians and others in recovery what they were doing now; how they would respond to setting up a Christian Recovery Resource Center, what counselors and chaplains would do; what their position was on important Bible concepts; and if they would support such centers. Then we formulated and published several different articles that covered what a Christian Recovery Resource Center is; What it can and should do; Who can serve—individuals and entities—in this way; How to establish a center; Whether they would incorporate important biblical ideas and practices; and Whether they would include all of the services needed for newcomers—whether by way of assessment and referral, providing resource information, or actually engaging in counseling, treatment, fellowships, and so on. Now we are preparing The Dick B. Handbook for Christian Recovery Resource Centers Worldwide by Dick B. and Ken B. It will incorporate all that is needed for an individual, a program, a center, or an agency to establish, maintain, and implement a Christian Recovery Resource Center. Accordingly, we have revised and updated the International Christian Recovery Coalition web site (www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com) so that it gives a picture of what is involved in establishing and maintaining a Christian Recovery Resource Center, what can be accomplished, who can run one, and how to do it. And we are sending out newsletters; we are making announcements on Facebook, Twitter, and our blog; and we are posting articles on web sites. We will continue to fill in the details, reporting the names and programs of those who jump on board. 5. How can you participate: Join the no-cost International Christian Recovery Coalition by providing Dick B. (its Executive Director) with your name, ministry or outreach, city, and state; and you will be listed on that website as a participant. If you have a website URL, we will place that on the links page so that others can click directly to your site. Provide us with some information about yourself: Name, contact person, address, Logo, literature, newsletters, email, URL address, Facebook page address, Twitter page address, blogs, your statement of purpose, and detailed material on what you do. This is a very important way by which we can inform inquirers of exactly what you do, how to reach you, and what your mission and purpose are. It will also help insure that others in the International Christian Recovery Coalition are given substantial information about you, your program, your location and outreach, and special facts you want them to know. Tell us exactly what Christian recovery resources you now provide; those you outsource; and those to which you need access and about which you need information. Agree to be a resource information provider to your own clients or patients or fellowship members, and to the community at large as to how to proceed with a full and effective Christian recovery program—from initial assessment to life-long follow through. The degree to which you choose to reach out in the community can enhance your own program, serve others in the community, and help the worldwide coalition of centers to grow and be more effective. Agree to network with other Centers worldwide so that this information and these resources are widely available to Christians in recovery and others wanting God's help. This does not impose a burden on you. It simply means, again, that the more you inform other Centers, the more you contact them with referrals, the more you contact them for referrals, the more the people who will be served—including you. Make a one-time donation of $500.00 to Dick B. to cover our expenses of establishing the resources, issuing information, publishing our class and books, and working with you. In exchange for the donation of $500.00, we will send you: · The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” class for Groups and Organizations (www.dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml); · The Dick B. Handbook for Christian Recovery Resource Centers Worldwide by Dick B. and Ken B. in Microsoft Word 2003 .doc file format as an attachment to an email message when it becomes available—upon request; and · A case of brand new Dick B. books for your library via U.S. Postal Service Media Mail—upon request. We are available by phone and email and regular mail for continued work with you to enhance the effectiveness of this program. And are also available as consultants for those who want specific and unique help in establishing and growing their program and the outreach to Christians in need—whether they are affected by or afflicted with alcoholism, drug abuse, at-risk behavior, and other life-controlling problems. These include domestic, criminal, legal, mental health, and social problems they may not have a solution for. For further information about the new Christian Recovery Resource Centers sponsored by the International Christian Recovery Coalition, please contact Dick B. by email at DickB@DickB.com; by phone at (808) 874-4876; or by regular mail at: Dick B. PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837. Donations may be made by credit card, PayPal, check or money order. Along with the donation, we will also need your name, ministry or outreach, mailing address, telephone number, and email address. To register to become a Christian Recovery Resource Center and make your donation, please contact Ken B. on his cell phone at (808) 276-4945 or by email at kcb00799@gmail.com. Gloria Deo

Taking, Believing, and Understanding the Twelve Steps

Taking, Believing, and Understanding the Twelve Steps By Dick B. © 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved Why Take Them Before You Know What the A.A. Cofounders Said about Them? Both Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, the cofounders of A.A., spoke explicitly on where the 12 Steps came from. In sum, they stated that the basic ideas came from: (1) the Bible; (2) Dr. William D. Silkworth; (3) Professor William James; and (4) Reverend Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr. As we will see in this article, that is not the whole story. But here’s what A.A.'s cofounders said: In his last major address to AAs, delivered in Detroit in 1948, A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob stated: When we started in on Bill D., we had no Twelve Steps . . . we had no Traditions. But we were convinced that the answer to our problems was in the Good Book. To some of us older ones, the parts that we found absolutely essential were the Sermon on the Mount, the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, and the Book of James. [The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches: Their Last Major Talks (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1972, 1975), 13.] It wasn’t until 1938 that the teachings and efforts and studies that had been going on were crystallized in the form of the Twelve Steps. I didn’t write the Twelve Steps. I had nothing to do with the writing of them. But I think I probably had something to do with them indirectly. . . . We already had the basic ideas, though not in terse and tangible form. We got them, as I said, as the result of our study of the Good Book. [The Co-Founders, 14.] In The Language of the Heart: Bill W.’s Grapevine Writings (NY: The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., 1988), A.A. cofounder Bill W. stated: So, then, how did we first learn that alcoholism is such a fearful sickness as this? Who gave us this priceless piece of information on which the effectiveness of Step One of our program so much depends? Well, it came from my own doctor, “the little doctor who loved drunks,” William Duncan Silkworth. [p. 297] Who, then, first told us about the utter necessity for such an awakening, for an experience that not only expels the alcohol obsession, but which also makes effective and truly real the practice of spiritual principles “in all our affairs”? Well, this life-giving idea came to us of AA through William James, the father of modern psychology. It came through his famous book, Varieties of Religious Experience. . . . William James also heavily emphasized the need for hitting bottom. Thus did he reinforce AA’s Step One, and so did he supply us with the spiritual essence of today’s Step Twelve. [pp. 297-98] Having now accounted for AA’s Steps One and Twelve, it is natural that we should next ask, “Where did the early AAs find the material for the remaining ten Steps? Where did we learn about moral inventory, amends for harm done, turning our wills and lives over to God? Where did we learn about meditation and prayer and all the rest of it?” The spiritual substance of our remaining ten Steps came straight from Dr. Bob’s and my own earlier association with the Oxford Groups, as they were then led in America by that Episcopal rector, Dr. Samuel Shoemaker. [p. 298] What God was Bill Wilson speaking of? In The Language of the Heart, Bill wrote at page 284: And then the great thought burst upon me: “Bill, you are a free man: This is the God of the Scriptures.” What God was Dr. Bob Smith speaking of? In Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed. (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2001), Dr. Bob wrote at page 181: Your Heavenly Father will never let you down! In 1975, Harper & Row published Robert Thomsen's biography of A.A. cofounder Bill Wilson under the title Bill W. – 50th Anniversary Edition – Commemorating the 1935 Meeting Between Bill W. and Dr. Bob that Launched Alcoholics Anonymous (NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1975). In it, Thomsen wrote: Ever since he [Bill W.] and [Dr.] Bob had tried to shape a program, their ideas had been based on Oxford Group principles: first admitting they were powerless over alcohol, then making a moral inventory, confessing their shortcomings to another, making amends whenever possible, and finally praying for the power to carry out these concepts and to help other drunks. [p. 282] The difficulty with all these somewhat-conflicting statements is that the Twelve Steps themselves came from a much broader group of resources than any of the writers stated. Why Take the 12 Steps Before You Know the Details about Their 26 Sources? There are three different types of roots of the sources of the 12 Steps. Two of the three are detailed in a recent title my son Ken and I wrote: Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide: Historical Perspectives and Effective Modern Application, 3rd ed. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2010). They are: 1. The Seven-Point Summary of the Original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” Program: Page 54 of The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., quotes verbatim the seven-point summary of the original A.A. “Christian fellowship” program in Akron developed by Bill W. and Dr. Bob beginning during the summer of 1935. This original A.A. program, documented in late February, 1938, by Rockefeller agent Frank Amos, is recorded on page 131 of the A.A. General Service Conference-approved book DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980). 2. The 14 Specific Practices of the Akron A.A. Christian Pioneers: Pages 56-58 of The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., discuss in some detail the 14 actual practices employed by the Akron pioneers in their implementation of the original, seven-point, A.A. Program documented by Frank Amos. With my son Ken's help, I unearthed and reported on these 14 practices in conjunction with our 20 years of research on the origins of Alcoholics Anonymous. So what are these 26 wellsprings or sources of the 12 Steps upon which Bill Wilson drew when he put together the Big Book published in 1939? In three of my recent titles, I listed and explained what are at least 16 different sources of the ideas Bill Wilson finally incorporated into the Twelve Step program he fashioned and presented in the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous. Yet the more one searches for specifics, and the more one researches, the more the fullness of the wellspring details becomes In brief, there are 26 wellspring ideas incorporated into the Twelve Steps as presented in the text of the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, published by Works Publishing Company in 1939. These sources include: 1. The King James Version of the Bible (affectionately called “The Good Book.”). 2. William D. Silkworth, M.D. (Bill Wilson’s psychiatrist). 3. Professor William James of Harvard, whose book Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob had read. 4. Dr. Carl Gustav Jung of Switzerland, who told Bill’s mentor, Rowland Hazard, that—because he had the “mind of a chronic alcoholic”—a religious conversion might help him overcome drinking. 5. The Oxford Group, to which Bill Wilson and his wife Lois belonged and with which Dr. Bob and his wife Anne were associated in Akron. Its 28 life-changing ideas influenced all four people. 6. The teachings of Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., with whom Bill had worked on his proposed program and whom Bill called a “co-founder” of A.A. 7. The “no-cure” ideas and language of the lay therapist Richard Peabody, whose book, The Common Sense of Drinking, both Bill and Bob read. 8. The teachings of Dr. Bob’s wife, Anne Ripley Smith, who compiled and shared with early AAs and their families her personal journal which she wrote between 1933 and 1939. 9. The Christian books, other religious literature, and devotionals, circulated by Dr. Bob among early AAs. 10. “Quiet Time” and the guidance of God. 11. Belief in, and conversion to, God through Jesus Christ. 12. Qualification of newcomers as to their decision to quit permanently, and as to their willingness to go to any lengths in order to get and stay sober. 13. Medical help for, or hospitalization of, newcomers. 14. New Thought writings and ideas. 15. Intensive work helping newcomers get straightened out. 16. Recommended social and religious comradeship. 17. Recommended weekly attendance at a religious service. 18. Evangelists like Dwight Moody, Ira Sankey, and Billy Sunday. 19. Lay workers of the Young Men's Christian Association (the YMCA). 20. The Salvation Army. 21. Gospel or rescue missions. 22. The Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor. 23. Dr. Bob’s extensive Christian upbringing and Bible study as a youngster in Vermont. 24. Bill Wilson’s extensive Christian upbringing, YMCA participation, and Bible study as a youngster in Vermont. 25. The “Farther Out” ideas manifested in Big Book language, and in the practices and experiments of Bill Wilson, and seemingly emanating from Bill’s extensive involvement in the Swedenborgian sect, in psychic experiments, in Richard Maurice Bucke’s Cosmic Consciousness book, in spiritualism, and in mysticism. 26. The idea of self-made religion, a self-made deity, and choosing one’s own conception of an “higher power.” Through the years of my research and writing, all of the foregoing 26 ideas have been discussed; and today, substantial documentation can be found in several of my titles, including: (1) Dick B. and Ken B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book As a Youngster in Vermont (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2008), 275-99; (2) Dick B., A New Way Out: New Path—Familiar Road Signs—Our Creator’s Guidance (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2006), 14-32; and (3) Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed. Materials on the last two sources are discussed, from various viewpoints, in the following titles (among others): (1) Mel B., My Search for Bill W. (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2000); (2) Mel B., New Wine: The Spiritual Roots of the Twelve Step Miracle (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 1991); (3) Susan Cheever, My Name is Bill: Bill Wilson—His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous (NY: Washington Square Press, 2004); and (4) William G. Borchert, The Lois Wilson Story When Love is Not Enough: A Biography of the Cofounder of Al-Anon (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2005). Why Take the 12 Steps but Avoid the Prime Source of Instruction? It would appear that today’s AAs and A.A. critics are stuck with ideas and approaches which seem to fill their individual beliefs, unbelief, or creeds—which sadly do not point them to the one place where the initial instructions for taking the Twelve Steps can be found. We will suggest an approach, particularly for Christians, in a subsequent article. But it would be well to point to several inconsistent approaches today that leave something to be desired—by all concerned. ñ Follow the instructions in Alcoholics Anonymous. ñ Study the “Personal Stories” in the Big Book—including the original stories in the first edition (1939), all but three of which are omitted from the fourth edition (2001). ñ Use one of the many secular “Step guides” that have all sorts of interpretations and have been published by Joe and Charlie from the Big Book Seminars, Hazelden (in a variety of forms), and a host of individuals. ñ Use one of the so-called “Recovery Bibles”: Life Recovery Bible, Serenity: A Companion for Twelve Step Recovery, Recovery Devotional Bible, and the Celebrate Recovery Bible. Most are filled with page after page of attempted correlation of the Steps to the verse or section of scripture being read at any given time. ñ Use one of the innumerable “Christian Step Guides” now in print, most of which append a writer’s view of one or more Bible verses deemed to be relevant to the Step under study. Can any or all of the foregoing and other approaches be reconciled with the Bible and the Big Book? Can the Big Book and the Bible be reconciled at all? Can the Steps be used as life-changing guides emanating from biblical basics? Can the accuracy and integrity of the Word of God be preserved by a Big Book-Bible student who would like to utilize the Steps, the A.A. Fellowship, and the Bible in recovery? Can one study the Bible in conjunction the Big Book presentation of the Twelve Steps and meet the “requirement” of the Book of James—“But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22) When we address these issues in the next article, we will begin with the way in which Bill W. and Dr. Bob—though differing in theological viewpoints and religious backgrounds—were able to collaborate in the use of the Steps, build on the Bible basics, discuss A.A. history, and retain their own convictions as to how these elements could be used to help drunks. Gloria Deo

International Christian Recovery Coalition "Summit" Plans for 2011

International Christian Recovery Coalition “Summit” in Planning Stages for the Summer of 2011 Many Christian recovery leaders; many Christian recovery fellowships; and many “Christian Recovery Resource Centers” have emerged since our major conference in May 2009 at Mariners Church Community Center in Irvine, California. There is in progress a global, Christian, recovery movement. The participants include Christian pastors (including recovery pastors), Christian recovery fellowships, Christian counselors, Christian treatment programs, Christian sober living facilities, “Christian Recovery Resource Centers,” and lots of individual Christians who are active in the recovery community. There is no one program. There is no one structure. There is no one set of rules or regulations. There is a mission statement. It may be found on the front page of the International Christian Recovery Coalition Web site: www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com. We have posted the mission statement so that Coalition participants may view what we are trying to do to emphasize two things: (1) The role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played in the origins, history, founding, and enormous successes of the original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” program of 1935. (2) The role that the power, love, forgiveness, guidance, healing, and promises of God can and should play in the recovery movement today. Since it was founded in July 2009, the Coalition has enjoyed a steadily-increasing number of participants worldwide. It has fostered many conferences and meetings in California and Hawaii. It has established “Christian Recovery Resource Centers” worldwide. It has caused 350 cases of free A.A. history books to be distributed free to those who want to learn more. And it has established a Speakers Bureau. The time has come to bring together at an open-to-the-public meeting those who are leading the charge, those who want to get started, those who have suggestions and questions, and those who want to share the programs and efforts they have been conducting. We want to do this in a place where our reception has been particularly welcome and effective. That place is California. And, since we have begun, strong groups have flourished in Southern, Central, and Northern California. But we discovered at the Mariners Church event that leaders were willing to come from around the U.S. and Canada to share and get things going. The Planning Stage First, we need a large and free area—preferably at an “A.A.-friendly” Christian church—where our friends can congregate and participate. Second, we need music, and we have several talented Christian musicians in mind. Third, we need an outstanding, recovered, Christian speaker who can inspire us all. Fourth, depending on the interest, we may need two conferences—one in the Southern California area, and one in the Central or Northern California area. Fifth, we will require a small registration fee of about $30.00. Sixth, we may permit sponsors to display exhibits for a charge like we did at Mariners Church. Seventh, we would like to provide food and beverages as we have done at so many of our past conferences, with attending folks donating funds to cover the cost. Eighth, we would like to have a “round table” workshop where we can receive suggestions, questions, and reports of what has been done, can be done, and will be planned. Ninth, we would like to have a time for limited individual sharing. Tenth, we would like to have the event—or events, if there are two—take place on a Saturday between June 1 and October 2, 2011. Please let us hear from you about dates and locations and other background information that you believe would help us determine when and where to hold this/these “Summit(s).” Thank you. Offers of Assistance, Facilities, Food, Setup, and Attendance Will Be Welcome Now We would like to hear from you as soon as possible: Please contact Dick B. at 1-808-874-4876 or DickB@DickB.com; or Ken B. at 1-808-276-4945. Gloria Deo

Professors, Higher Powers, AAs, and God

Professors, Higher Powers, AAs, and God Dick B. © 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved Academics and Their Meandering Comments In the past thirty years or more, many academics have dabbled with the strange idea of some “higher power” that the recovery community has tried to relate to Yahweh, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Some have simply mentioned the many strange descriptions of this “higher power.” Some have attempted to link their self-made idea to God and the descriptions of Him in the Bible. And some have critically analyzed the inconsistencies and errors in the wild usages. The Roster of Professors We will first look at some of the more recent and specific descriptions of the professors and in their writings Professor Glenn F. Chesnut, D. Phil., Professor of History Department, Indiana University South Bend, 1970-2003 (dept. chairman 1982-4). In an excerpt set forth in his “Hindsfoot Foundation” disccusions, Chesnut wrote: It does not matter whether we call it "God" or the holy or the sacred or the numinous. All human languages have had a word for it: it was qadosh in ancient Hebrew, hagios in ancient Greek, sacer or sanctus in Latin, tabu in Polynesian, and manitou in the Algonquian language spoken by the Potawatomi tribe who live in my part of the United States, just to give a few examples. The name we put on it is not terribly important. Intellectual theories about it are not all that useful. What is vital however is that we learn how to actually feel it and experience it. Ancient and medieval Jewish, Christian, and Muslim philosophers were therefore in total agreement that the transcendent divine power which Plato called the Good Itself was the one whom they called God or Allah. Anyone who looked carefully could see that Plato, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed were all talking about the same higher power. God IS the sunlight of the spirit and the Light of the Good, for this has been -- for well over two thousand years now -- one of the traditional orthodox Names of God. Professor Richard L. Gorsuch, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary. Gorsuch wrote a chapter for Research on Alcoholics Anonymous: Opportunities and Alternatives, Edited by Barbara S. McCrady and William R. Miller (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies, 1993). Titled, “Assessing Spirtual Variables in Alcoholics Anonymous Research.” The Gorsuch article said: This is most interesting because alcoholics’ concept of God differs so widely from the Christian culture that they are supposed to have been part of. . . . In terms of psychological research, God concept studies show traditional Christians see God as kind, loving, and benevolent—but alcoholics completely miss this. They would score high on another God concept factor: wrathfulness, which is unrelated to the classical concept of the Christian God. Hence, psychologically as well as theologically the “Christianity” of alcoholics is not the Christianity of most other American Christians (page 310) Alcoholics have a non-Christian view of God. How could this have come to be? Christianity can be inadequately developed for a number of reasons. Since the majority of people in our culture are not active Christians, it is likely that many alcoholics have not been truly exposed to it. . . . The point for A.A. and its evaluation is that alcoholics are primarily those who have failed to be encultured in the Christian faith. Theirs is a theologically immature faith, and because it is immature, it is also ineffective (page 311). Professor Ernest Kurtz, Ph.D., author of Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous, with Ph.D. in the history of American civilization from Harvard and affiliated with the Center for Self-Help Research at the University of Michigan. In Not-God (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 1979), Kurtz wrote: It is the writer’s hope that the message of Alcoholics Anonymous—“not God”---is clearly defined, analyzed, and enabled to be heard from this book (page 160) Alcoholics Anonymous carefully avoided the term conversion. It came freighted with religious rather than spiritual connotations. . . . But salvation was explicitly apprehended, laid hold of, made operative, by human activity. . . . the human activity most fundamentally essential to the attainment of “salvation” is accepting reality. . . . The salvation of sobriety—the restoration of the sanity of appropriate contact with reality and truth—resulted from the active interest and free gift of a Higher Power. . . . Alcoholics Anonymous transmitted its not-God core intuition exclusively by Word and Witness (pages 183-86). , , . the first steps to sobriety did not require classic belief in a traditional “God”; but they did require that the alcoholic accept his not-God-ness by acknowledging some “Power greater than himself. The A.A. group itself clearly was such a “Higher Power” (page 206) Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham wrote in The Spirituality of Imperfection: Modern Wisdom from Classic Stories (NY: Bantam Books, 1992): For although it insists on the necessity of “the spiritual” for recovery, A.A. has always presented its program as “spiritual rather than religious” (page 5) Within Alcoholics Anonymous, they learn that they can reclaim “God,” calling that “higher power” anything they want. . . (page 109) The use of the phrase Higher Power—his, hers, yours, or mine—rather than the word God, reminds members of A.A.’s tolerance of individual differences in religious belief and spiritual inclination. The most basic understanding of the concept “Higher Power” within Alcoholics Anonymous is that it is that which keeps me sober (page 208) Professor Richard M. Dubiel, Ph.D., Professor of Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, wrote The Road to Fellowship: The Role of the Emmanuel Movement and the Jacoby Club in the Development of Alcoholics Anonymous (NY: I universe, inc., 2004). Commenting on the Hindsfoot website, Dubiel said: The writers of Alcoholics Anonymous and Paul Tillich wrote much during the same period of time yet under different circumstances. They both were addressing the same problem of understanding the complex being of the human person and how this person can save himself or herself by surrendering to a Higher Power Professor Linda A. Mercadante, Ph.D., Professor of Theology at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, wrote Victims & Sinners: Spiritual Roots of Addiction and Recovery (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998). Mercadante said: From the start, Alcoholics Anonymous was sensitive to people who were distant from or actively hostile to religion. The Big Book accommodated the antiauthoritarian bent in American culture by reducing any teaching about God to the bare minimum. Not everyone understands the Higher Power as God, however. Some simply choose the group or other tangible entity outside the self. Nor does Alcoholics Anonymous provide much content about the Higher Power. The restraint was originally useful, because it allowed people from various backgrounds with various attitudes about religion to coexist and focus on their common problem. Even today, this relative silence about God’s nature can stir controversy. One pamphlet available at a renowned treatment center well known for its Twelve Srep perspective takes this to its logical conclusion. It urges women to “shape an image of her Higher Power that appeals to her. . . . What’s best—most comfortable for you. Professor Jared C. Lobdell, Ph.D., Lecturer at Millersville University of Pennsylvania and Adjunct Professor at Elizabethtown College, published This Strange Illness: Alcoholism and Bill W. (NY: Aldine De Gruyter, 2994)]. Lobdell wrote: And since the cofounders (and their colleagues) believed that belief in God was a necessary ground for the program—in fact, that God was the ground for the program—and that the Twelve Steps were spiritual exercises, an acceptable theology (beyond a kind of “not-God” psychology would seem to be a good idea” [As to the so-called Six Steps,] these may well be considered the agnostic’s six steps, and they seem to come from a time when Bill W. had withdrawn from his very early heavily evangelistic attitude and was playing down God’s participation in the whole business Be that as it may, there is no doubt some of the early members of A.A. had a great deal of trouble with identifying the “Higher Power” with some idea of God. Particularly this was true of Hank P. . . who apparently did not stay sober. . . . Dr. Bob’s exact words, “Not a God, but God” is exactly in accord with everything I have been able to find out about Dr. Bob S. and the early days of A.A. in Akron (A considerable body of work touching on this has been published by Dick B. [1998] in Hawaii). Bill Wilson, Professionals, and Even AAs Climbed on Board with these “Higher Powers” Wilson adopted a wide variety of “Higher Powers” in his Big Book language. Let’s look at Wilson’s capitalized “gods” whose presence is still extant in one form or another in the fourth edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, published in 2001: Creative Intelligence, Universal Mind . . . Spirit of Nature . . . Czar of the Heavens [p. 12] Power beyond ourselves . . . Supreme Being . . . Power greater than ourselves [p. 46] All Powerful, Guiding, Creative Intelligence [p. 49] Spirit of the Universe [p. 52] Great Reality deep down within us [p. 55] Presence of Infinite Power and Love [p. 56] our Director . . . the Principal . . . new Employer [pp. 61-62] Great Fact [p. 164] Later. Wilson was to write in his Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions that you could make the “A.A. Group” your higher power. These man-made deities can simply not be found in the King James Version of the Bible that early AAs studied prior to publication of the Big Book in April 1939. Were these new gods? New names for a “god?” Wilson’s own self-made “god?” Or lingo that he had picked up from his association with William James, Swedenborg, and Fox writings? I don't know. To Whom or To What Should the A.A. Pray? For many in 12 Step Fellowships today, these new man-made deities represent some kind of “god.” For others in A.A., it all seems perfectly normal. Settling for a “convenient” God or an “expedient” God is okay with them. One thing we know is that many AAs don’t know Who God is, or how to “find” Him, or to Whom they are supposed to pray. We believe the foregoing ideas which they hear and mouth with frequency do not answer their questions or their needs. Again, to whom should they pray? Is it the Creator? Is it Jesus Christ? Is it a light bulb? Is it a rock? Is it Somebody? Is it Santa Claus? Is it the Great Fact? Is it the Spirit of the Universe? Is it Creative Intelligence? Is it Ralph? Is it Gertrude? Is it a tree? Or is it a light bulb? For all these absurd names keep popping up—regularly! If Dr. Bob were still alive, he would be focusing on God, his Heavenly Father. If Bill Wilson were still alive, who knows? A Survey of the Absurd “gods” Still Floating in the A.A. Stream Today In Dick B., God and Alcoholism: The Great Opportunity in the 21st Century (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2002, I did an extensive review of all the absurd names for a “god” that are extant in today’s A.A. I also reviewed how this trend found its origins in the New Thought writings. Also, I reviewed the descriptions by many professionals and writers have picked up on the nonsensical definitions. These writers include: (1) Dr. Cathy Burns—“God, Allah, Confucius, Prime Cause, Divine Mind” (page 79). (2) P.J. Flores—“natural forces other than deity. . . “Up to A.A. members to come to their own personal understanding of the meaning and significance of this higher power (page 80). (3) Walter Houston Clark—“behave as if there were a Higher Power” (page 90). (4) Anne M. Fletcher—“AAs Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions stresses that A.A. does not demand belief in anything” (page 97). (5) Terrence T. Gorski—“faith that there is someone or something bigger and more powerful than we are. . . . There are some people who claim that a Higher Power can be anything, even a Coke bottle” (page 108). (6) Marianne W. Gilliam—“a Higher Power could be anything we interpret it to be, even a tree” (page 108). (7) Martin and Deidre Bobgan—“The ‘Power greater than ourselves’ can be anybody or anything that seems greater than the person who takes Step Two. It can be a familiar spirit. . . It can be any deity of Hindu-ism, Buddhism, Greek mythology, or New Age channeled entities. It could be one’s own so-called higher self. It could even be the devil himself” ((page 109) (8) Philip Kavanaugh—“we don’t have to believe in God. . . whether that power is Jesus Christ, Jehovah, Buddha, Nature, Mighty Mouse, Higher Power, Allah, Creative Life Source, Mohammed” (page 110). (9) Ken Ragge—“defining God in A.A.’s image” (page 111). (10) William Playfair—“the AA group as the Higher Power or god of an A.A. member” (page 112). Jan Wilson and Judith Wilson—“Good Orderly Direction” and “Group of Drunks” (page 112) A Much-Needed Return to the Language of Early A.A. Though efforts were made, just prior to printing, to change the language at the close of Dr. Bob’s personal story, Dr. Bob’s own language has been retained in all four Big Book editions. Today, the following statement can be found on page 181: “Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!” This is the language AAs had consistently heard for the many years in which they closed their meetings with the Lord’s Prayer, which opened with, “Our Father which art in heaven.” Dr. Bob kept is simple, easily understood, and directly stated. In A.A.’s own biography of Dr. Bob, DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980), the following account appears at page 144: Then he [Dr. Bob] asked, “Do believe in God, young fella?” (He always called me “young fella” When he called me Clarence, I knew I was in trouble.) “What does that have to do with it?” “Everything,” he said. “I guess I do.” “Guess, nothing! Either you do or you don’t” “Yes I do.” “That’s fine,” Dr. Bob replied. “Now we’re getting someplace. All right, get out of bed and on your knees. We’re going to pay.” “I don’t know how to pray.” “I guess you don’t, but that’s all right. Just follow what I say, and that will do for now.” “I did what I was ordered to do,” Clarence said. “There was no suggestion.” (Dr. Bob was always positive about his faith, Clarence said. If someone asked him a question about the program, his usual response was: “What does it say in the Good Book?” Suppose he was asked, “What’s all this ‘First Things First?’” Dr. Bob would be ready with the appropriate quotation: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” This quote from A.A.’s own General Service Conference-approved literature speaks for itself. Dr. Bob never talked about a Coke Bottle, Ralph, a light bulb, or Santa Claus. He talked about God. And he quoted directly from the Bible in defining his terms. And once he showed the newcomer how to pray to God in the name of Jesus Christ, the solution was at hand and simple. www.dickb.com Gloria Deo

A.A. History: Descriptive Titles Bill W. Gave to Two A.A. Founders

A.A. History: Descriptive Titles Bill W. Gave to Two A.A. Founders Dick B. © 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved Most accurate and complete A.A. history accounts tell of the position of A.A. Cofounder Bill Wilson in recognizing and appreciating the important service of others who were principals in the shaping of Alcoholics Anonymous ideas. In fact, the titles which Bill W. bestowed were not only descriptive; they highlighted the type of service rendered. Comments about A.A. Co-founder Dr. Bob One of the good sources for this information about Dr. Bob’s titles is the book by Bill’s long-time secretary and archivist: Nell Wing, Grateful to Have Been There: My 42 Years with Bill and Lois and the Evolution of Alcoholics Anonymous, 2d exp and rev ed. (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 1998) “Fisher of Men”: Nell wrote, at page 89: “Dr. Bob, in Bill’s phrase, was the “fisher of men. . .” In Matthew 4:18-19, Jesus called to Peter and Andrew who were casting a net into the sea and were fishers: “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” “Prince of all Twelfth-steppers”: Nell wrote at page 90: “Dr. Bob became, as Bill described him, ‘the prince of the Twelfth Steppers’—a title for which he was well qualified, growing out of his natural instinct as a doctor for helping people, combined with his intense desire as an alcoholic to administer to his fellow sufferers.” Bill Wilson himself said: “It had been decided that Bob would attend mostly to the questions of hospitalization and the development of our Twelfth Step work. Between 1940 and 1950. . . he had treated 5,000 drunks at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron. His spiritual example was a powerful influence, and he never charged a cent for his medical care. So Dr. Bob became the prince of all twelfth-steppers. Perhaps nobody will ever do such a job again.” See The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches Their Last Major Talks (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1972, 1975), page 34. “The Rock Upon Which A.A. Was Founded”: Nell wrote at page 90: “Bill often described Bob as ‘the rock upon which A.A. was founded.’” In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:24-25), Jesus said: “Therefore whosoever heareth these saying of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” Comments about Dr. Bob’s Wife, Anne Ripley Smith “Founder and Mother of A.A.”: Bill W. wrote: “Anne was the wife of Dr. Bob, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. She was, quite literally, the mother of our first group, Akron Number One. . . . In the full sense of the word, she was one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous” The Language of the Heart: Bill W.’s Grapevine Writings (NY: The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., 1998), pages 353-54. And both of Dr. Bob’s children stated quite clearly that “Bill W. called her the ‘Mother of A.A.’” Children of the Healer: The Story of Dr. Bob’s Kids By Bob Smith and Sue Smith Windows as Told to P. Christine Brewer (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 1992), pages 29, 41, 132) www.dickb.com/annesm.shtml; www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml Gloria Deo

Moderator of aa history lovers asked to resign

The aggrieved owner of the www.aabibliography.com website has just posted the material below: "An Illustrated Alcoholic Anonymous Bibliography" Hope You Find Some Helpful Stuff http://www.aabibliography.com LD P Editor 06 15 95 eztone@hotmail.com GLENN CHESTNUT SHOULD RESIGN FROM BEING MODERATOR OF THE AA HISTORY LOVERS YAHOO GROUP His actions and postures are a disgrace to anyone who calls himself a historian!!! This action verifies and promotes the idea that AA is a cult and promulgates the cult like Activities of Alcoholics Anonymous including cult like activities of the AA history Lovers Yahoo Group. (ie Glenn Chestnut-they (he) are fearful about AA's Religious Origins so he (they) will ban all discussion in this Yahoo AA History Group about that) 04 02 2011 UPDATE Censorship in AA and Censorship in AA History Glenn Chestnut moderator of A.A. History Lovers does not permit any posts by those with whom Its moderator Glenn Chesnutt, disagrees.(Especially any info regarding the Writings of AA history Author Dickb WHO Has long been banned from this group by both moderators) Glenn C can you provide me with a list of who else is banned from participating in your list? Why is Dick B the only Author Banned??? How many other aa history website Editors are banned? Glenn Chestnut Bans LD P (17 years sober) (editor of this website) banned from Yahoo AA History Group You have been banned from this group by "the group moderator" (Yahoo! ID banned: diazeztone). You may not join the group AAHistoryLovers. I had participated in this group for 12 years. Now I am banned because I like read and enjoy writings of AA historian Dick B of Hawaii Reason:?? Asking (SENDING POST TO GROUP) that message be published to group announcing Dickb AA Historian's plans to GIVE AWAY 350 CASES OF AA HISTORY BOOKS Glenn and his Group are fearful of Dickb 's religious and spiritual meaning in AA History. However they will fully cover and discuss same message(s) from Mel B or Bill Pittmans Books. (and of course freely discuss and PLUG Glenn C's OWN BOOKS) This-his Censorship is cult- like- big -book -thumper- Fearplain and simple. (this in direct contradiction to our AA motto: that principle is not to practice contempt prior to investigation) glennccc@sbcglobal.net 02 15 2011 http://hindsfoot.org/resume.html NO PHONE NUMBER ON THE RESUME PAGE Other PAGE with photo/ CALL HIS UNIVERISTY OFFICE TO PROTEST Glenn F. Chesnut (Prof. of History & Religious Studies Indiana ... South Bend IN 46617; phone 219 233-7211 LD, I received a copy of this notice too. (click to see Dick B's Message about giving away books (which Glen Chestnut Deems so offensive; ) Does that mean that Dick is going into a nursing home or some place else like that where there will be no room to store all those books? It looks like Dick's son Ken is taking over most of the running o the operation now, and seems to want to get rid of most of the stock of Dick's books which they have stored on their shelves. And/or, Dick's son Ken (who is a pastor who is not a recovering alcoholic himself) wants to start putting more emphasis on Christian recovery as a church-oriented endeavor with less AA involvement. I don't know. Do you know more? If we posted this in the AAHistoryLovers, we would get a really furious protest from some of our members, accompanied by serious threats to quit the group themselves. It seems best, doesn't it, to assume that those who are Dick's fans will already be on his internet mailing list, or will know people who are? It wouldn't help anything at all to tear the AAHistoryLovers apart and destroy it, just in order to post one announcement which those who are interested will have probably already received anyway. Glenn Chesnut My response Group members give serious threats to quit the group themselves LET THEM QUIT THE GROUP!! Banning someone because their scholarship is different is counterproductive. Banning someone because they submitted a message about an AA historian's book give away is INSANE AND DOWNRIGHT WRONG. Where are your morals Glenn C?? are you really practicing the Principles of AA?? Read Dick B's Response Someone who purports to be the moderator of A forum posting site and someone else who uses the name AWUH decided to write insolent replies to my post. Their problem is that they didn't take the time to learn the facts before they wrote. The Big Book calls this "contempt prior to investigation." (Editor LDP: I am not sure to which site or post Dick B is Referring to here in this first paragraph) If I post, I can expect contempt now and then. Contempt prior to investigation is another matter entirely. Here are the facts: The owner of www.aablbliography.com has been a long and consistent contributor to all kinds of history about A.A. And for many years. I have no connection whatever with his website or him although he has posted a number of items about me - as well as other historians like Mel Barger, Ernest Kurtz, and many others. He has also gathered and posted a large number of books and articles germane to A.A. history. However, apparently he decided--when he learned that I was distributing free cases of A.A. history books (350 cases)--to tell aa history lovers about the opportunity. He didn't notify me in advance or ask my permission or receive any request from me. Instead, he was told by the owner of that site - Glenn Chesnut - that I was headed for a nursing home, was turning my 20 years of research over to one of my sons, and was trying to "Christianize" A.A. Then Chesnut banned the contributor from his website and told him members would be "furious" if he listed anything pertaining to Dick B. I have no connection whatever with A.A. history lovers. I don't surf it. I don't use it. I don't like one or two of the members because of their close-mindedness, but I know and like dozens of the others. And I have never met Glenn Chesnut. I have protested the affront to the owner of aabibliography because I oppose censorship of A.A. history, and Glenn Chesnut has claimed he has most of the leading historians connected with his site. If he does, I am not surprised that several of them--who are my friends--have written me regretting Glenn's intemperate and arbitrary acts. To close the matter, live and let live. Onward to the history lovers. Onward to aabibliography. And let the dead bury their dead. I’m glad to see your revised announcement about A.A. History Lovers. Chesnut deserves every statement you made because your statements are truthful and his attitude is vicious and harmful to AAs. Dick B Dick B 03 31 2011 I am encouraging Dick B to compose more thoughts on the original reasons and emails for which Dick B also was originally banned from AA history Lovers by moderator Nancy Olsen and then moderator Glenn Chestnutt email from dick b -04 02 2011 I surely appreciate your full statement of the Glenn Chesnut libel. Also my response. That poor gentleman seems to know little if anything about truthfulness, tolerance, and taming his tongue. If he did, he’d be reading Dr. Bob’s remarks and the lessons in the Book of James which were so popular in A.A. itself. Yes, I will write the story of how Nancy O’s censorship began. I never met the lady, never communicated with her except for the one time she told me she was banning me because Ernest Kurtz had told her my work lacked integrity and said I was “preaching” in my books. She said she wanted a “safe” site. Safe? Safe from the truth? Safe from all the facts? Safe for whatever purpose Ernest Kurtz had in trying to promote “not-god-ness” as the theme of A.A. and repeatedly calling me an “amateur,” a “hobbyist,” and a few other niceties. Finally, after two or three aa history lovers criticized Kurtz for his remarks, he actually apologized to me—something I don’t expect Glenn Chesnut ever to do, and something which Nancy—may she rest in peace—went to her grave with. What a heavy price these angry, jealous, envious, vindictive people pay for the privilege of having a few people read their books and listen to their views. Keep going, L.D. It is one thing to lie and misrepresent facts to your friends and your forum. It is quite another to libel, slander, and lie to anyone who comes along. And believe me, L.D., you and I are not the only ones so attacked. There are others who have been humiliated and disgraced by the acid tongues of these folks. What they do is neither godly, nor truthful, nor just. It’s a disgrace. And I’m glad to see you unearthing it. I sure have publicized your site in every way possible in recent weeks. And I will continue to do so as I have anyway for so many years. What you are seeing is neither A.A. nor history nor useful to a newcomer. It is simply uncontrolled venting by frustrated egotists. By the way, L.D., I think it is appropriate for you to address Glenn Chesnut directly and demand a retraction from him of his lying statements and demand an apology from him for his damaging attack on your reputation. He can’t put a fence around the world, and his deceitful back-biting deserve to be reprimanded. Either he espouses the 10th Step or he doesn’t. If he doesn’t, you should tree him and gain an admission that he doesn’t practice the principles. If he does, it’s more than time for him to apologize, make amends, make restitution, and publically retract the lies. God bless, Dick k B 04 2 2011 email #2 from dick b -04 02 2011 Is the material ABOVE really the view that reputable members of A.A. history lovers espouse and promote? I know a few of them rather well. And I doubt it. It is time for the professor to retract his statements, make amends, and apologize publically. There is much more to this unwarranted attack than what aabibliography has thus far encountered. It is not at all difficult to point to the two or three persons who have urged him on. It is not at all difficult already to name the names of those whose views have been barred. It's not Dick B. because I don't even know this professor, don't subscribe to his group, haven't submitted anything to it or him - other than to ask if he, like his predecessor Nancy, was refusing to post anything I wrote. To which, several years ago, he made the same statement to me that aabibliography received from him. The Chesnut statement is quoted in aabibliographyi website and set forth below The libelous remarks about me, my books, and my son are very precise: (1) Dick B. may be going into a nursing home (a lie and something Chesnut says he doesn't know). (2) Dick B. has no place to store his books (a lie). (3) The reasons for my giving away 350 cases of books have nothing to do with a nursing home or the ability to store them anywhere. Hundreds and hundreds have been stored at my expense through the years. (4) Ken B. is taking over my affairs (a lie). (5) Ken B. wants to get rid of 13,000 books (a lie). (6) Ken B. somehow is arranging for a church-oriented endeavor (a lie). There is not one shred of documentation or proof of any of the Chesnut charges. It is notable that Chesnut never made one single inquiry of me to determine if his statements were true. I have suggested that aa bibliography demand a retraction and an apology because the statements obviously intentionally damage the reputation and efforts of aa bibliography and of me. And just for the information of the recipients of this letter: Over 180,000 of my books have been sold or distributed since 1990. All of my books are now in print-on-demand and can readily be (and are being purchased) through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Baker Book house, and many other retail outlets - as well as my own website (which has had over 4.5 million visitors). Chesnut may harbor the illusion that he can destroy the reputation of those he bars by simply publicizing lies. I have no idea why he would want to do this. Nor, it appears, do some of his group who have contacted me. I do know that such intentional interference with a legitimate enterprise is an actionable tort with several causes of action. And I believe those who participate in the interference would do well to disassociate themselves from the lies, the interferencer, and the damage. For my part, I'm a long way from any nursing home. I have just completed a tour of about 25 meetings and conferences, two radio programs, two addresses to the Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors, a recent hour and a half talk at the Betty Ford annual Awareness Program, and a delightful shipping to recipients of the 350 cases of history books the professor has never seen. My addresses were to several Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, to several treatment programs, to counselors, to a Maui group, and to the hundreds and hundreds who phone and email me each month. And that will continue! The object is truthfully to report A.A. history, define the role that God, His Son and the Bible have played in the recovery movement, and help alcoholics, addicts, those with life-controlling problems, and those affected by the conduct - if they wish to seek God's help and apply to highly successful principles and practices of the program founded by Bill W. and Dr. Bob in 1935. 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

Christian Recovery Resource Centers—Worldwide

Christian Recovery Resource Centers—Worldwide The First Quarter of 2011 By Dick B. © 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved As of January 1, 2011, our Web pages and letters 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 the following individuals, groups, and organizations 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). We are pleased to announce that the following have established “Christian Recovery Resource Centers” in the first three months of the “Christian Recovery Resource Centers Worldwide” project which began January 1, 2011: ñ Manna House Ministries, James Moody, President, Jamestown, TN (931) 752-7075 http://MannaHouseMinistries.com/ ñ New Life Spirit Recovery, Inc., Robert Tucker, Ph.D., President, Huntington Beach, CA (866) 543-3361 http://www.NewLifeSpiritRecovery.com/OC_Recovery.html ñ Rock Recovery Ministries/ABC Sober Living/Soledad House, David Powers, San Diego, CA (619) 925-1879 http://www.TheRockSanDiego.org/Ministries/RockRecovery/ ñ Golden Hills Community Church, recovery ministry, Brentwood, CA http://www.goldenhills.org/about/staff.html; c/o David Sadler, 3220 Surmont Drive, Lafayette, CA 94549 (925) 382-6070 ñ Bruce A. Aspgren, Rocking A. Ministry, PO Box 211, Caldwell, TX 77836-0211 ñ Paul Popiel, A.A. believer, 504 Manor Drive, Pacifica, CA 94044 (650) 359-6794 ñ Christian Recovery Resource Center Satellite Office, Wally Lowe, 7835 1st Street SW, Vero Beach, FL 32968 (O) (772) 794-2485; (C) (954) 395-2743 ñ Maui Christian Recovery Resource Center Main Office, Dick B. and Ken B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837 (C) (808) 276-4945. In partnership with the County of Maui Salvation Army ñ Christian Community Missions, Chaplain/Pastor Leonard Grubb, 773 Mentor Avenue, Painesville, OH (C) (216) 496-0406 ñ Mark Galligan, A.A. Christian Believer, 13 Telford Road, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada L9Y545 Office: (705) 445-9135; Home: (416) 453-6250; MagicJack: (716) 240-5243; Skype: mark,galligan1 ñ 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 ñ Grant Sharp, Quest Ministries, 24 Rushley Drive, Sheffield, Yorks S17 3EN United Kingdom Grantsharp7@hotmail.com ñ Roger McDiarmid, A.A. Christian believer, Salesman, Estuary Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92646, (949) 836-4214 ñ Won Way Out Ministries Treatment Center, William Boyles, 327 Martin Street, Dover, DE 19901 (302) 674-8036 ñ Alcoholics For Christ, Neighborhood Church, Gary Seymour, 1001 W. Country Club Lane, Escondido, CA 92026, www.neighborhoodafc.com ñ Ken Jones, Pastoral Counselor, 2526 Ventura Circle, W. Melbourne, FL 32904 1 (321) 501-2014; kjones79@cfl.rr.com; http://www.aprodigalreturn.com/ ñ Steve Foreman, "Came To Believe" retreats, 2211 Lee Road, Suite 100, Winter Park, FL 32789, (407) 862-5900 Steve@CameToBelieve.org; www.CameToBelieve.org ñ The Oasis Recovery Center of Western PA (Oasis Institute), Dr. Karen A. Plavan, Ph.D., CEO/Executive Director, 960 Penn Avenue, Suite 105, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 (412) 281-8364 http://www.oasisrecoverycenter.org ñ Celebrate A New Life, Bobby Nicholl Director of Admissions, 27382 Calle Arroyo, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 (800) 708-3173 http://www.celebratedrugrehab.com ñ Randall Minchew, StepCloser, Inc., 4001 Meadow View, Columbia, MO 65201 randysnetwork@gmail.com; http://stepcloser.ning.com/ ñ Jim Gaffney, former Recovery Pastor, Mariners Church, former pharmacist, counselor, 206 Hilltop Lane, Nyack, NY 10960, (845) 598-4957; jim.gaffney1@me.com ____________________________________________________________________________ Some Words about the Foregoing 21 “Christian Recovery Resource Centers” and Those to Follow Each of the foregoing Christian leaders has substantial sobriety and experience, and is an “A.A.-friendly,”“Bible friendly,” and “history-friendly” veteran who has worked to help others recover for many years. Most have heard Dick B. and Ken B. speak, have helped with or participated in our conferences, and are actively conducting one or more Christian recovery efforts in their area. You can feel comfortable about referring inquiries to them, or contacting them for referrals or information, or just plain networking. This list needs to be more substantial. The more the foregoing folks send us about their contact information, their programs, their plans, their emails and websites, and their suggestions and needs, the better In the next three months, we expect to have another 20 or more “Christian Recovery Resource Centers” added to the foregoing 21. Already, we know of Christian recovery leaders in Maui, Oahu, Northern California, Central California, Southern California, Washington, Maine, New York, New Jersey, Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Florida, Arizona, Texas, and other locations who have contacted us and indicated they would like to establish a Center soon. The Immediate Plans for the International Christian Recovery Coalition Hawaii: We are working with some young men and volunteers on Maui with plans to work in partnership with the County of Maui Salvation Army to build a corps of clean and sober young Christians who will advance the cause of making known the role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible have played in the recovery movement and can and should play today. There should be activities, with music, Bible teaching, prayer, praise, healing, and fellowship with God, His Son, and other believers. California: Later this year, when we have filled out the ranks of participants in the International Christian Recovery Coalition, those who have established Christian Recovery Resource Centers, and our Speakers Bureau, we hope to have what some might call a “summit” conference. The event would be in a large church such as Mariners in Newport Beach. It would have one or more outstanding recovered Christian personalities speak. It would have music. It would have a workshop where all participants can report on the progress of the last two years, report on their own programs, raise questions and comments, make suggestions, and suggest any needed changes or any special needs of their own. We would expect to have a large gathering with lots of Orange County and Southern California support, plus the attendance of the many leaders who have helped us for so long. Speaking engagements: To a limited extent, we would be willing to speak at conferences and meetings such as the 20 or more we held in 2010 and early 2011 – provided there are hosts, funds for travel and meals and lodging, and a real area enthusiasm for the event. Other opportunities: Enabling participants and others to purchase the 29-volume “Dick B. Christian Recovery Reference Set” at a substantial discount to assist them in their Christian recovery work. Continuing to encourage and support the establishment of Christian recovery fellowships, study groups, Eleventh Step meetings, prayer groups, and history presentations. A Report of the Coalition’s Accomplishments Membership: In less than two years, we have established the International Christian Recovery Coalition with members from all over the world. And we are inviting new participants by newsletters, blogs, articles, Facebook announcements, Twitter announcements, and personal contacts. Publications: We have published: (a) The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed.; (b) the “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” class on four DVD's—available with or without a Class Instructor's Guide; (c) The Dick B. Handbook for Christian Recovery Resource Centers. Conferences: We have spoken at over 20 conferences and meetings in California and Oahu. “Christian Recovery Resource Centers”: To date, 21 “Christian Recovery Resource Centers” have been established worldwide. Public presentations: We have spoken on two radio shows, twice at the Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Conference, to the staff at Pacific Hills Treatment Centers, and at the Betty Ford Center Alcohol Awareness Hour Program. Free history materials: We have distributed 350 cases of Dick B. A.A. history titles in the last two months and made the distributions free except for a $30.00-per-case charge for U.S. Postal Service Media Mail Shipping and Handling (including Delivery Confirmation for many cases). Established: (a) International Christian Recovery Coalition offices in Maui and in Southern California; (b) The website www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com; (c) The blog www.internationalchristianrecoverycoaliti.blogspot.com. The Purpose of It All The International Christian Recovery Coalition is not a highly-structured organization or fellowship. It grew out of the need to bring the recovery community back to the truth about the Christian origins and successes of the original recovery movement; back to the truth about the history and founding and original program of the Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship”; and back to the truth about the development and change in 12-Step, treatment, counseling, and recovery fellowships since A.A. began. The simple purposes are to serve and glorify God and His Son Jesus Christ; and to give witness to the efficacy and availability of the power, love, forgiveness, healing, guidance, new life, everlasting life, and deliverance from the power of darkness available to those who want God’s help and establish a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ. A Request of You Please love and strengthen us and the participants with the love of God. Please feel free to contact Dick B. at dickb@dickb.com and Ken at (808) 276-4945 (after 8:00 A.M., H.A.S.T.). Please feel free to tell us of your own programs, your own discoveries, your own suggestions, and your own successes. And keep ever in mind that the major functions of this Coalition are to help alcoholics, addicts, and those with life-controlling problems, as well as those affected by them, to seek God’s help, establish a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ, and become new men and women in Christ—overcomers, victors, servants. Gloria Deo