Why the International
Christian Recovery Coalition Thrives
By Dick B.
© 2014
Anonymous. All rights reserved
Letters! We Get
Letters!
It was
probably not until our large meeting of recovered Christian leaders and workers
held at Mariners Church Fellowship Hall in Irvine, California that we really
awakened to the need for, and importance, of an informal fellowship of
participants all over the United States and other countries. A coalition that
would tell of the roles played by God, His Son, and the Bible in A.A. and
recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction.
In mid-2009,
we had gathered over two hundred people and twenty speakers, expecting they
would tell the audience their progress in restoring old school A.A. to the
recovery scene. There was music with Santos! Food for the gathered. And lots of
opportunity for expressing thoughts about A.A., recovery today, and Christians
in recovery. Elements that have grown since then.
But we heard
a mountain of stories from those who were on the verge of leaving A.A. and very
concerned about the lambasting suffering newcomers were getting if they
mentioned the Bible, the Creator, Jesus Christ, and their own born again
experiences. As a result, in July, 2009, the International Christian Recovery
Coalition was founded: www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com.
And Day After Day Since
2009, We Have Received Letters Like the Ones We Mention Here Today. And They
Have Spawned Group After Group of What Can Be Called “Old School A.A.”
The Letters from Paul
N. of Texas
[edited very slightly]
“Good
morning Dick!!!
My name is
Paul N. . . . I am a recovering alcoholic with 2.5 years sober and very active
in AA here in Dallas. And, oh my, what a miracle!! I almost died three times in
2011.
I am also a
born again Christian. I surreptitiously encounter your work on AA history. I am
intrigued. We have some "bleeding deacons" in our group who are sadly
running off newcomers who even hint that they are Christian. It is not
surprising. They can refer to Buddha or anyone else. But the name of Jesus is
so offensive to them. And to the whole world for that matter.
Through my
life I have studied the Bible arduously. I memorized it, taught it, sang it and
yes, I danced it. Yet later in life it did not keep me sober. I know that there
are many many stories of people turning to Christ and getting set free. Are you
familiar with Cyrus Scofield? That is just not my story.
Several
years ago I was in the middle of one of my many many attempts to get sober. I
was new and was sharing at a meeting about how I was learning not to judge people.
I was explaining how I do not have the power to read peoples mind and that I
should assume their motives are pure. I just mentioned I Cor 13 where it says
the "love believes all things". A man stood up and yelled at me. He
said " you cannot mention that Bible at our meetings". As a newcomer,
I had no idea what the protocol was. I was so confused and hurt that I went and
got drunk and wrote off AA.
I am now at
another group. That same man is has now started to attend my new group. He is
doing the same thing to others.
There is
another "bleeding deacon" in our group. We had a new lady whose
sobriety is so fragile. She mentioned one day in sharing how much the beautiful
passage in Jeremiah meant to her. She was referring to Jer 29:11-13. "God
has a plan for you” I love that passage!! This man was called on to share right
after her. He attacked her for referring to the Bible. She also like me did
know the "rules" She ran out crying never to return.
I have been
blessed with an "elder statesman" as a sponsor. He too is a born
again Christian. He has been able to help me tremendously in working through
these resentments.
I love doing
research. I was recently at Intergroup and noticed a nicely framed long version
of the Serenity Prayer. I was pleasantly surprised that it was the verse that
said “taking as Jesus did . . . ." I had to purchase it. I did my research
on which long version is accurate. My conclusion is that nobody knows for sure.
Before I go
further, I need to know if you are willing to answer some questions and
continue a dialogue. I have no idea if you have the time and energy.
Your brother
in Christ.
And thanks
for all of fine work!!!!
Paul
___________________________________________________
Ken,
Thank so
much for the "occurrences" attachments! I do so much enjoy my own "occurrences"
research. My latest -- Bill W. was so impressed by Ebby's statement - "God
has done for me what I could not do for myself". This is evidenced by his
frequent use of the phrase. See
pages 25, 71,
84 (last of the 9th Step promises), 457; and in The Language of the Heart, page
25. Page 76
in Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.
I wonder if Ebby
[Thacher] had read Ephesians 3:20--"Now unto Him who is able to do
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power
that works within us”
Paul
Examples of the Growing
Number of Substantial Residential and/or Long-Term Christian Recovery Homes
Often
through the early years of A.A., there were comments by members, observers,
clergy,
physicians,
and charitable organizations that the concerns and programs which preceded and
accompanied
early A.A.’s Christian Fellowship in Akron, Ohio, closely resembled First
Century
Christianity.
The ingredients of these efforts
included prayer, Bible study, Quiet Time, witnessing, breaking
of bread together, worship together,
enabling others to become children of God by coming to
Him through His Son Jesus Christ, converting
the willing, and healing the needy.
This turn of direction came as
Christian organizations and individuals like the Young Men’s
Christian Association, Salvation
Army, Rescue Missions, great evangelists like Dwight Moody
and F.B. Meyer, Congregationalism,
and Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor focused
on the plight and needs of the down
and outers – the derelicts, alcoholics, and addicts. A.A.’s
cofounders Bill W. and Dr. Bob were
born and raised during this period in their upbringing in
Vermont.
The “community” approaches were not
only quite simple. They enabled many suffering
unfortunates to obtain God’s help as
they realized their own helplessness They approached
the suffering soul on his own
miserable turf. They suggested he could get well if he
gave up his addiction, gave His live
to God, studied the Bible to understand God’s promises and
power, prayed together with others, and
obeyed God’s will. They insisted that he must help
those next in line to recover by the
same means. They often made it possible for the afflicted to
live with others during the difficult
withdrawal period.
The original Akron A.A. program
differed. It did not call for money. It did call for love,
compassion, and brotherly concern.
And it stressed helping others as a prime element for
maintaining the new relationship with
God—the relationship that Bill W. was later to call being
of maximum service to God and others.
But times changed. Insurance money
factored into recovery. Large buildings were erected to
enable “treatment.” Expensive
treatment programs required money and thereby limited the
duration of fellowship and
experienced help for most. Reliance on God and Christian fellowship
waned as new folks left their safety
nets. And candor required admission that relapse,
recidivism, and continued help for
others lost much of its impact as old ideas, old relationships,
and “God-sufficiency” gave way to
short term self-sufficiency.
A new call for change occurred in
Orange County, California in mid-2009; and Christian
churches, clergy, counselors,
recovery pastors, and leaders began to realize that the former
effectiveness of pioneer A.A. needed
to be fostered and returned.
We will shortly be providing examples
today of how the former, successful, fellowship of
Christians began to welcome recovery,
provide Christian leadership, and enable Christian
servants to strengthen the original
ideas just as they had done In the previous century.
The aim was not to exclude others
from fellowships. It was not to force religious views on
newcomers. It was not to criticize
those holding different views about God, atheism, humanism,
unbelief, and diverse religions.
It was to inform those seeking complete
healing that they could do so in today’s recovery arena
by turning to God for help using the
same “old school” program ideas that characterized early
Akron A.A.’s Christian Fellowship and
successes.
As we will
illustrate with specific examples among effective endeavors today, this focus
on
renewal of
Christian recovery from alcoholism and addiction whenever hands reached out for
God’s help
isa growing, thriving, nationwide and worldwide effort right now.
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