Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Thanks to the Gospel Rescue Missions for their role in A.A. Beginnings
Dick B., Copyright 2013 Anonymous. All rights reserved.
Andy Bales of the Los Angeles mission was kind enough to send me good wishes on my 27th year of continuous sobriety. And I take this opportunity to thank him and to highlight some important A.A. landmarks emanating directly from A.A.'s beginnings with the missions:
1. On Bill W.'s third desperate trip to Towns Hospital, Bill was told by Dr. William D. Silkworth that Bill would die or go insane if he didn't quit drinking.
2. Bill and his wife Lois were there and were devastated--asking if there were any hope.
3. Silkworth told Bill, as he had told other patients, that the "Great Physician" could cure Bill of his alcohlism. And this is something Bill specifically confirmed--that the "Lord" had in fact cured him--on page 191 of the 4th edition of the Big Book.
4. Bill's longtime school-mate and drinking friend Ebby Thacher had just been lodged in Calvary Mission--a rescue mission run by Rev.Sam Shoemaker's Calvary Episcopal Church in New York--the place where, as Shoemaker put it, "Jesus Christ changes lives." And Ebby's was sure changed. He miraculously got sober after years of heavy drinking. And he visited Bill to witness to Bill what had happened. Ebby told Bill that he had "got religion." He told Bill all about the Mission and the altar call Ebby answered. Bill concluded that Ebby had been born again and had, in fact, been reliant on the Great Physician Jesus Christ.
5. Still suffering from drinking, Bill checked out Ebby's testimony at Calvary Episcopal Church. Bill decided that if the Great Physician and the Calvary Mission had helped Ebby they could perhaps help him (Bill)
.
6. Bill got drunk, went to Calvary Mission, and answered the altar call when it was given. Several, including Bill, attested to the fact that Bill had there accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and started on the road back to healing. Mrs. Samuel M. Shoemaker was there, and she told me in a telephone interview that she had seen and heard Bill "make his decision for Christ." Bill Duvall, an assistant at the mission, confirmed the event. Bill's wife Lois reported at a recorded meeting in Texas that Bill really had, "in all sincerity, gone to the altar and handed his life over to Christ." To top it off, Bill specifically wrote in two different places; "For sure I'd been born again." See Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W. www.dickb.com/shtml.
7. Drunk again, desperate, and depressed, Bill headed out for his last visit to Towns Hospital. Bill decided that if there were a Great Physician, he'd better call on him now. Bill checked into Towns. The thought about the Great Physician returned, and Bill cried out to God for help. Bill's room blazed with an indescribably white light. Bill sensed the presence of the Spirit; and he exclaimed to himself: "Bill you are a free man. This is the God of the Scriptures". See The Language of the Heart, page 284.
8. Bill was healed on the spot. He never again doubted God. And he never again touched a drop of liquor, Much of this is told in what Bill wrote several years later in his own autobiography--Bill W. My First Forty Years.
I have twice spoken at an International Conference of the Gospel and Rescue Missions. I have also long worked with Rev. Michael Liimatta who was their education director and in charge of their Alcoholics Victorious work; and I have been much involved with rescue mission leaders in many different areas.
The joshing title for the rescue mission work has been "soup, soap, and salvation." But--like the Salvation Army--this group of rescue workers goes way back two centuries in its work to have derelicts and drunks recognize their seemingly hopeless plight, accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and then go on to do constructive life-building with the support of the missions.
Two of the best known leaders in America--who literally helped thousands and thousands of drunks--were Jerry McAuley who founded Cremone Mission and who inspired S. H. Hadley, the successor head of the famous Water Street Mission. And their techniques certainly had much to do with many of the ideas adopted by early AAs--including the original Akron A.A. requirement of accepting Jesus Christ as Lord.
For further information, contact dickb@dickb.com
Gloria Deo
Monday, April 29, 2013
Articles Missing the Real Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous
There are several points about this article that need correcton and then fleshing out. First, the roots of A.A. were in the Bible, and not in the Oxford Group. The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A's Roots in the Bible www.dickb.com/goodbook.shtml. Second, Bill's Towns Hospital event was precipiated by several preceding occurrences which should not be overlooks: (1) Dr. Silkworh, a devout Christian, advised Bill that the Great Physician (Jesus Christ) could cure him. (2) Bill's friend Ebby Thacher had been to Calvary Mission in New York, told Bill that he had been there and to the alter; and Bill concluded Ebby had been born again. (3) Bill went to the altar at Calvary Mission, accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, and wrote that he had been born again www.dickb.com/conversion.shtml. (4) Bill was then desperate, drunk, and depressedand decided to check in to Towns Hospital onece again. On the way, he decided that if there was a Great Physicia he had better call on hm. (5) At the hospital, Bill cried out to God for help; had a blazing extraordinary light fill his room; felt the breeze of the spirit; and said to himself "Bill, you are a free man. This is the God of the Scriptures. (6) Bill was cured and never drank again. (7)See Bill'sown statement on page 191 of the 4th edition of the Big Book where Bil tells of his thankfulness for the Lord's curing him
Friday, April 26, 2013
A Welcom New Wave of Calls from Christian Professionals Concerned with Recovery
A New Line of Communications Coming from Christian professionals Concerned with Recovery
26Apr
Since our research and publishing began in 1990, we have watched a growing number of alcoholics, addicts, and those with life controlling problems phone (to 808 874 4876) and/or send emails (dickb@dickb.com) expressing a deep interest in the highly successful Christian roots, history, upbringing of cofounders, founding, and early Christian Fellowship of the first A.A. group in Akron, Ohio. Their calls were welcome. They ranged from “I never knew our roots” to “what was the early program” to “where can we learn more” to “how do I start an old school group” to “what about the criticism I get if I mention my own belief in God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible.”
And out of all these sprang the many books that have answered the questions in terms of what the early AAs did and the way the succeeded with reliance on God. The calls were about learning, studying, acquiring resources, getting study group guidance, and holding meetings and conferences. And those communications still come all the time.
But there’s been a welcome change–perhaps because of social media, facebook, twitter, linked-in, Tumbler, blogs, WordPress, cyber recovery social, and other burgeoning sources. Whatever the change, it is most welcome. And we invite much more of it–from the afflicted, the affected, and those whose careers are devoted to helping them.
We sure appreciate this new influx of communications from professionals in the Christian recovery field. We are receiving numerous contacts from many new callers in our arena. They are pastors, Christian recovery leaders, physicians, therapists, counselors, treatment facilitators, psychologists, professors, and sober living-homeless workers. Their interest in old school A.A.’s Christian Fellowship, technique, and successes is heartwarming.
Thank you. Dick B. 808 874 4876; dickb@dickb.com; http://www.dickb.com
And out of all these sprang the many books that have answered the questions in terms of what the early AAs did and the way the succeeded with reliance on God. The calls were about learning, studying, acquiring resources, getting study group guidance, and holding meetings and conferences. And those communications still come all the time.
But there’s been a welcome change–perhaps because of social media, facebook, twitter, linked-in, Tumbler, blogs, WordPress, cyber recovery social, and other burgeoning sources. Whatever the change, it is most welcome. And we invite much more of it–from the afflicted, the affected, and those whose careers are devoted to helping them.
We sure appreciate this new influx of communications from professionals in the Christian recovery field. We are receiving numerous contacts from many new callers in our arena. They are pastors, Christian recovery leaders, physicians, therapists, counselors, treatment facilitators, psychologists, professors, and sober living-homeless workers. Their interest in old school A.A.’s Christian Fellowship, technique, and successes is heartwarming.
Thank you. Dick B. 808 874 4876; dickb@dickb.com; http://www.dickb.com
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Dick B. Christian Recovery Radio Interview of Recovered Christian Navy Seal
Dick B. interviews Steve, a recovered
Christian in the military, on the April 23, 2013, episode of the
"Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show
On
Dick B.
© 2013 Anonymous. All
rights reserved
You may hear this show right now!
______________________________________________________________________________
You may listen to Dick B. interview Steve, a recovered Christian
in the military, on the April 23, 2013, episode of the "Christian Recovery
Radio with Dick B." show here:
or here:
Episodes of the "Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show are archived at:
The Pursuit of Excellence
[I have been a visitor to Maui, as well as other Islands,
with family and friends since 1967. And I have been a resident of Maui since
1990. And now is the time to make and important point. I am about to write up today’s unusual radio interview of a young,
bursting with zest, recovered Christian alcoholic who has had a miraculous cure
of his alcoholism and addiction while in the arena of the Navy Seals with whom he is serving and is about
to deploy. When my son Ken and I began working with alcoholics and addicts here
in Maui, the entire Island chain was rife with “ice” and the consequences of
drug and alcohol excesses. We had approached several in the Salvation Army
(where we met with much cooperation and favor.) But we also met several church
leaders who—until an unusual event this very day—showed little initiative or
enthusiasm for melding the work of God and His Son Jesus Christ with the present-day
needs and plight of those in Alcoholics Anonymous, and other 12-Step programs.
We persistently prayed for God’s guidance and help. And underlying our senses
knowledge perception, we kept thinking in terms of the pursuit of excellence by
the young (and any) alcoholics and addicts who just seem to get swept into
revolving door jails, treatments, arrests, accidents, courts, and “meetings.”
These suffering souls make no evident progress in permanently overcoming their
maladies and establishing new lives that serve and glorify God and His Son and point
them toward useful, purposeful, happy, and productive relationships with God,
their families, their jobs, their education and training, their charitable
endeavors, their service to other, and their own growth in self-esteem and
community life. In so doing, my son Ken was—among other subjects--gorging
himself on autobiographies of U.S. Navy Seals and other members of special
operations forces around the world. I had a correlative mission in mind. Among
the many newcomers with whom I have worked in the last 27 years, I noticed the
devotion they had to sports, to physical fitness, and to the state of their
mind and body. In short, there appeared forward marching recovery among those
who not only “did not drink and went to meetings” as well as “worked the
program,” but who had grasped what they could do with their lives by turning to
God, focusing on what they could do for others, educating and training
themselves, and adopting the disciplines so evident among those who are
constructively competitive, determined, and thankful for what they can do with
their minds and bodies to the end of excellence. And today, we interviewed
Steve. We also today received a call from the pastor of an up-country church
who seems a prospect really ready for such an approach. And now back to the very
relative and illustrative interview.]
Introduction to Steve’s Talk
My son Ken and I just received a wonderful surprise. Steve,
a thoroughly-trained, physically fit, very intelligent, eager young Christian
sailor, let us know the other day he was vacationing here in Maui with his wife
prior to a deployment. Several years ago, we met him at a Bible study class for
Christians in recovery held by the dynamic Rock Church in San Diego. Having seen
his willingness to serve, we invited him to Maui to be part of our Christian
work with suffering alcoholics and drug addicts. But we learned he was headed
out for military service. He later got married. And yesterday he called us to
say he and his wife were on Maui. At lunch, we were struck with his fitness,
motivation, discipline, and devotion to God. We hope he'll share today his: (1)
discipline; (2) patent intelligence; (3) commendable four years of sobriety;
(4) teaming up with a Christian Navy man; (5) work with addicted newcomers; (6)
Bible study classes among service people; (7) highly demanding training over
the past two years; and (8) fidelity to sobriety in A.A. His determination was
similar to Dr. Bob's in that he attained some remarkable education while doing
"graduate work" in alcoholism and addiction. Thus, despite
progressing drinking and drugging, he graduated from college and received his
degree in a demanding field. Recently, he received a master's degree in a
technical field that will serve him well during and after his military service.
He and his wife of two years are happily married. And he has a serviceman's
patriotic fervor for serving and defending his country. He, also appears to
have placed his life under the care and direction of our Creator and His Son
Jesus Christ, and respects the Bible's major role in that endeavor. He's an
inspiration. Here's his story. And take it away, Steve.
Synopsis of Interview
Near and dear to the hearts of many alcoholics is Akron,
Ohio—the home of A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob, and the birthplace of Alcoholics
Anonymous. And Steve was born and raised there. His mother was a nurse. His
father was a teacher and an alcoholic. He said he was dragged by one parent to
Roman Catholic Mass and by the other to a Methodist Church. He has little
interest in either. But, at age nine, Steven became an adept swimmer and good
at sports. At the 8th or 9th year, he found two bottles
and three beers, guzzled them, and then blacked out. And he fell in love with
that alcoholic experience. At the same time, he suffered from lack of
self-confidence; he believed he didn’t fit; and he had a hole in his heart and
simply ducked his feelings.
Drinking or not, swimming became his achievement of excellence.
His high school swim team became national champions. He was the captain. His
record item was the butterfly. He could and did push himself there and
developed a remarkable discipline.. In his senior year, the y had a weekend
dance. He drank heavily, threw up, couldn’t walk, and wound up in the principal’s
office. Though captain of the swim team, he was suspended for three days.
However, he entertained that his progressive alcoholism really had no effect on
his personal life. He graduated and did a geographic from Ohio to Arizona
State. There he received a scholarship.
He had trouble with alcohol. He was doing well with his
grades. But he fell in with drinking pals. He was soon captain of the swim
team. But there were three days of the week when there was no practice. And he
utilized them well for heavy drinking. Drink took over. He was cast as a “bad
role model” though he had broken no rules; and he blamed the status on his
friends. He had a desire to be in the military and chose to be one of the “best
of the best”—the Navy Seals. But cocaine, pot, and mushrooms entered the
competition also. He graduated from Arizona State.
He went through boot training in the seals. And the Seals
are hard warriors. He went through the arduous BUDS. He couldn’t drink for
three weeks. He went through Hell Week and concluded it with 15 shots. On a
motorcycle, he crashed into a wall and received a DUI. He was placed in a
treatment program. And there he was asked to tell his story as a speaker. And
he alternated between sweat and relief. He heard God tell him: “You never have
to drink again.” He knew he had a choice—Jesus Christ or A.A. And a miracle of
recovery occurred. His saw his obsession miraculously removed. It was November
16th, and he has attained more than four years of continuous
sobriety. He graduated. Became an Honor seal. He was voted the best in the Bud
crowed. He married his wife Christina, whom he had known since high school.
Steve really saw the “Promises” of A.A. come through – fear,
fear, and fear were gone. He had to deal with his legal problems, the DUI, the
lost friends, the sense of isolation. But he was firm that the change in his
life was real. Said he: “I know Jesus Christ.” In A.A. he learned that the
basic text of Alcoholics Anonymous consisted
of all of the book’s pages. He acquainted
himself with the personal stories. And there he saw that the first three
AAs were all Christians, had all given up liquor permanently, had all turned to
God for help, and had all openly explained the source of their deliverance.
On page 191 of the Big Book, Bill Wilson wrote: “Henrietta,
the Lord has been so wonderful to me curing me of this terrible disease that I
just want to keep talking about it and telling people.”
On page 181 of the Big Book, Dr. Bob Smith wrote: “Your
Heavenly Father will never let you down!”
And then again on page 191, Bill D. (A.A. Number Three) said
that Wilson’s statement that the Lord had been so wonderful to him, curing him
of his terrible disease became for him
and for others in the fellowship “the golden text of A.A.”
Steve closed the interview with this succinct observations: “Christians
who went to God received complete relief.” And they did. They do!
For further information, contact dickb@dickb.com; or 808 874 4876
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Dick B.'s 29 Volume A.A. History Set for $249. Where do you start and in what order to you read?
Dick B. Discusses the 29-Volume
"Dick B. A.A. History and Christian Recovery Reference Set" on the
April 21, 2013, episode of the "Christian Recovery Radio with Dick
B." show
On
Dick B.
Copyright 2013 Anonymous. All rights reserved
You
May Listen to This Radio Show Right Now!
or
here:
Episodes
of the "Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show are archived at:
Introduction
We have a special program today. Grounded on the 29-volume
"Dick B. A.A. History and Christian Recovery Reference Set." And we
are currently making the entire set of 29 A.A. History volumes available for
only $249.00--with FREE(!) Shipping within the United States. (If you live in
another country, please contact us at DickB@DickB.com for Shipping charges to
countries outside the U.S.) That comes to an average of less than $8.60 per
book! (Please see the upper right-hand corner of the www.DickB.com front page
for details of the special.)
One of the questions we recently received from someone who
had just ordered the Reference Set was: "In what order would you suggest I
read these 29 volumes?"
"The Dick B. A.A. History and Christian Recovery
Reference Set" is not meant to be read all at once. It's for a lifetime.
It's for study groups. It's for special categories as to which there are
questions. But most of our friends have been voracious in their appetite to
read all the books when they arrive in the mail. And they ask how to start.
Time is short today. But we have grouped the books into six
categories listed for your reading guidance.
These are: (1) Approaches to the Newcomer. (2) Basic A.A.
Fellowship Ideas. (3) The Cofounders' Contributions. (4) People and Programs
That Fleshed out Early A.A.'s Successes. (5) Twelve Steps and "the New
Version of the Program" published in 1939. (6) A.A.'s Successes and Cures.
If time permits, I will go through all 29 books briefly,
tell you what they contribute, and suggest the order in which you can read them
for best digestion and usage.
Synopsis of Content of Radio Show
A
Suggested Order and Approach for Reading
Dick
B.’s 29-Volume A.A. History Reference Set
(Now
at a Bargain Price! $249.00 with FREE Shipping with the United States)
Approaches
to the Newcomer
Introduction to Sources
A New Way In
A New Way Out
Real 12 Step Fellowship History
Making Known the Biblical History
Basic
A.A. Fellowship Ideas
The Good Book and the Big Book
The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous
New Light on Alcoholism
Anne Smith’s Journal
Dr. Bob and His Library
The
Cofounders’ Contributions
Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous
The Conversion of Bill W.
The Good Book-Big Book Guidebook
The James Club
People
and Programs That Fleshed Out Early A.A.’s Successes
Henrietta B. Seiberling
The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous
The Books Early AAs Read
That Amazing Grace
Turning Point
12 Steps—“The
New Version of the Program”
By the Power of God
The First Nationwide A.A. History Conference
12 Steps for You
Good Morning! Quiet Time, Morning Watch, Meditation, and
Early A.A.
Utilizing Early A.A.’s Spiritual Roots Today
A.A.’s
Successes and Cures
Cured
God and Alcoholism
The Golden Text of A.A.
When Early AAs Were Cured and Why
Why Early A.A. Succeeded
For more information, phone Dick B. at 808 874 4876 or email
him at dickb@dickb.com
Gloria Deo
A Viewer Asks about Dr. Bob's Family, Oxford Group, Washingtonians, and A.A.
Dear Tom: I make a point of answering all courteous communications, and
yours is such.
Let me, however, point out a couple of facts that have nothing to do
with Holbrook and Buchman
First, the Washingtonians did not believe in God—they simply signed
pledges; and they were long gone by the time Frank Buchman was peeping over the
horizon.
Second, the “Oxford Group” had this chronology. It did not exist until
at least 1919—and even then was spawned by the joint efforts of Buchman’s
mentor at Yale, the author of Soul Surgery in India, and Buchman himself.
Shortly Buchman gathered about him a small—very small—group of Christian
friends—Rev. Sam Shoemaker, Rev. Sherry Day, a Brit and one or two others. They
called themselves “A First Century Christian Fellowship.” And this was the
first name for Buchman’s followers. Next came the phrase “the Groups.” The name
A First Century Christian Fellowship continued to be the predominant name until
the late 1920’s; and then, because a group from Oxford were traveling as a team
to Africa and they were all in the same train car, the press called the group “the
Oxford Group.”
I saw that almost immediately thereafter, invitations to Houseparties
and other such events went out as “The Oxford Group—A First Century Christian
Fellowship” invites….. Thereafter, Rev. Sam Shoemaker frequently wrote of A
First Century Christian Fellowship in the 1930’s. In fact, he authored a long
pamphlet defending “Buchmanism” as “A First Century Christian Fellowship.”
Later in the decade, war clouds were looming in Europe. Pacifists at Oxford
University (nothing to do with Buchman or the “Groups”) began chanting that
they would not die for King or for Country, Buchman decided upon a new name as the war came closer. The name
was “Moral Re-Armament.” The other names were still used in various places; and
Shoemaker completely detached his church from Buchman in 1941. Many years
later, as Buchman had his stroke and “Moral Re-Armament” began disintegrating,
the name was changed in America to “Initiatives for Change” and became much
more concerned with “forgiveness” and “reconciliation” among races and
businesses than anything Buchman himself had authored. You would never see significant mention of the
Oxford Group’s 5 C’s, 4 Absolutes, Surrenders, Restitution, Jesus Christ, the
Bible, and the old Buchman saw (Sin is the problem. Jesus Christ is the Cure.
The result is a miracle).Today, the group is virtually non-existent; and I
personally was able to meet, read the literature of, and interview most of the
Oxford Group activists who were active from the 1920’s. forward—James Draper
Newton, Eleanor Forde Newton, L. Parks Shipley, Sr., Garth Lean, Michael
Hutchinson, Kenneth Belden, Harry Almond, Buchman’s chief lieutenant Morris
Martin, T. Willard Hunter, George Vondermuhll, Jr. Most of these never heard of Dr. Bob
because their focus was never on Akron after the 1933—34 events involving the Firestones.
Second, do I see any connection between Holbrook and the Oxford Group? I have no information that would answer the
issue. Do you? My son Ken and I traveled throughout Vermont digging up all the
many Vermont—Oxford Group—Wilson and Smith connections. And our comprehensive
work is Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous:
His Excellent Training in the Good Book as a Youngster in Vermont. And we
are in the process of publishing Bill W.
and Dr. Bob: The Green Mountain Men of Vermont. Both involve careful,
documented scrutiny of the real source of early A.A. – the Bible, as well as
the Christian organizations and individuals which contributed to the Christian
upbringing of both Bob and Bill as youngsters: (1) Young Men’s Christian
Association. (2) Evangelists like Moody, Sankey, Meyer, Clark, and Folger. (3)
Gospel Rescue Missions. (4) The Great Awakening of 1875 in St. Johnsbury
Vermont. (5) Congregationalism. (6) Salvation Army. (7) Young People’s Society
of Christian Endeavor. But these were concerned with helping drunks instead of
condemning them. The Oxford Group and Buchman had no part in this period. Nor
did the Washingtonians. Do you know any documented facts that would show
otherwise?
Two of my authoritative books that hone in on the Oxford Group role in
A.A. are The Oxford Group &
Alcoholics Anonymous: A Design for Living That Works www.dickb.com/Oxford.shtml, and New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker,
and A.A. www.dickb.com/newlight.shtml.
And I hope you will purchase these two books through Amazon.com and get up to
speed on the difference between old school A.A.—which was founded on the Bible
(and the Book of James, 1 Corinthians 13, and Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount)—and what
Bill Wilson called his “new version” of the
program—the “Twelve Steps” which were not even published until four
years after A.A. was founded in 1935.
Thank you for writing, and don’t hesitate to give me a phone call .
God bless,
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Details on the Portland, Maine Nationwide A.A. History Conference Firming Up for Early September Right Now
Details on the Portland, Maine
Nationwide A.A. History Conference Firming Up for Early September Right Now
Dick B.
© 2013 Anonymous. All rights reserved
·
We will soon announce and tell you the precise hours,
dates, locations, and programs for the forthcoming Nationwide Alcoholics
Anonymous History Conference in Portland, Maine this September.
·
There will be Conferences on Friday evening
September 6, and all day Saturday, September 7. My son Ken and I will be in the
area for several days and look forward to meeting also with individuals and
groups who recognize the importance to recovery from alcoholism and addict ion
of: learning about, and passing on, the origins, history, and bliblical roots
of the early A.A. fellowship founded in Akron in 1935. And to fill in the
numerous A.A. history potholes existing in all these realms of Alcoholics
Anonymous.
·
Our additional separate Portland meetings,
whether in a restaurant, a lobby, an office, or a board room, are very
productive in learning others’ questions; hearing their suggestions, needs,
recommendations, and plans; and restoring to full view the role that God, His
Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played in the origins, history, immense
correlation among Christian leaders, organizations and workers that were
healing alcoholics and addicts long before A.A. was founded in June, 1935.Also,
to spread the message about the Cofounders’ Christian upbringing in Vermont.
And how the first three AAs got sober before there were any Steps, Traditions,
Big Books, drunkalogs and meetings like those we see today. The simply
renounced liquor, sought God’s help, and helped others.
·
Contents of our meetings and conferences in
Portland will be broad, informative, and accurate. They have as their primary
purpose helping the still suffering alcoholics and addicts. Necessarily, they
inform the suffering affected and afflicted about what our Creator has done,
can do, and will do according to His will
·
Probable subjects and events, whether in talks,
or roundtable, or by speeches will include:
(1) Our speaking at an A.A. meeting.
(2) Addressing a large Christian recovery
conference to teach, discuss, and demonstrate what God and His Son Jesus
Christ, and the Bible have done, can do, and will do for those who want that
kind of help.
(3) A round-table sharing meeting among
leaders and working attending.
(4) Hospitality, music, food.
(5) Ample literature accurately describing
and demonstrating how Christian recovery developed from the 1850’s by
(a) Young Men’s Christian Association,
(b) Gospel Rescue Missions,
(c) Congregationalism,
(d) Evangelists like Dwight Moody,
Ira Sankey, Allen Folger, Francis Clark, and
F.B. Meyer who offered salvation, the Word of
God, and healings.
(e) Salvation
Army,
(f)
United Society of Christian Endeavor,
(g) Early writings and talks by activists in A First Century Christian Fellowship, (h) Rev. Samuel
Shoemaker,
(i) Revival, conversion, and temperance meetings,
(j) the survey of vital religious experiences by Professor William James,
(k) the Christian healing of alcoholism and addiction that Dr. William D.
Silkworth suggested to Bill W. and other patients.
(l) the view of Dr. Carl Jung that the seeming hopelessness generated in
the mind of a chronic alcoholic can be countered by a vital religious
experience
(m) Bill W.’s insistence on cure by the power of God through a vital
religious experience.
(n) The disconcerting difference between Bill’s “new version” of recovery published and changed in various
manuscripts and editions of the Big Book, and the precise Christian techniques
used with a claimed 75% success rate for Akron A.A. and a 93% documented
success rate of early Cleveland A.A.
(6) The
published summary, principles, practices, and successes of pioneer AAs.
(7)
Firming up convictions that the early A.A. Akron Christian Fellowship
adapted and applied daily as did Jesus and the fellowships of the Apostles and
Disciples described in the Book of Acts.
(8) Preparing yourself for a
fruitful conference by purchasing (a) a copy of the Dover Publications, Inc.
First Edition, with a twenty-seven page introduction by Dick B.; http://mcaf.ee/j4hq5; (b) Stick with the Winners! http://mcaf.ee/s50mq;
(c) Pioneer Stories in Alcoholics
Anonymous http://mcaf.ee/gj7iw; and A.A.
Conference-approved Pamphlet P-53 The
Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches Their Last Major
Talks.
·
The Portland, Maine meetings and conferences in
September are being planned right now. The dates (and soon the times,
locations, meetings, and programs for Portland, Maine-will be Friday evening
September 6th and Saturday September 7th. We are expecting to see a number of
long-term recovered Christian alcoholics and addicts who are leaders and workers
in their fellowships and participants in International Christian Recovery
Coalition www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com. We hope they come as our
treasured recovered participants from many provinces in Canada; and locations
in Maine; New Hampshire; Vermont; Connecticut; Massachusetts; New York; Delaware;
New Jersey; Washington DC, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
·
We look
forward to their sharing their expertise in recovery, history, Christian roots,
Steps, networking, getting acquainted, helping each other, and learning facets
of recovery that have been buried and/or unspoken correctly far too long.
·
We are doing the planning, fixing the dates and
locations, and contacting likely participants at this early point. Because
experience has shown that the earlier the
planning, the better the conference.
·
We welcome suggestions, questions, and comments
right now. I’ll be celebrating 27 years of continuous sobriety in a day or so.
And I’ll be celebrating 88 years of age in May. And it’s never too soon to
alert your participation and give you information that can persuade others to
join you and/or attend on their own.
Contact Dick B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837; dickb@dickb.com; 808 874 4876
Gloria
Deo
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Alcoholics Anonymous Nationwide History Conference in Fort Worth, Texas to be Announced Today
News about the forthcoming nationwide, unique Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference in Fort Worth, Texas will get its first airing today on www.ChristianRecoveryRadio.com interview of Bryce H. Plans are to have some great speakers who know their stuff. And to have 3 workshops: (1) A sponsorship workshop. (2) A newcomer workshop. (3) A How to apply old school A.A. today workshop. See http://mcaf.ee/s50mq. Listen and then plan to join us!
dickb@dickb.com ; 808 874 4876
dickb
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Royce Dockrill, Valiant Recovery, and Treatment Progress in British Columbia
In January of 2013, Christian Recovery Radio did an interview of Royce Dockrill and his recovery program in Canada. And apparently it is going gangbusters this year.
So here are some ways you can get more information right now.
Our blog:
So here are some ways you can get more information right now.
Our blog:
And here's the contact:
Royce Dockrill CEO
Valiant Recovery
Kelowna BC Canada
1-877-618-6464
Those who want God's help in recovery would do well to go to the website of International Christian Recovery Coalition www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com and Christian Recovery Radio www.ChristianRecoveryRadio.com and see all those who have either listed themselves as participants and/or been interviewed as Christian Recovery leaders. For further details, contact Dick B., dickb@dickb.com or 808 874 4876
A New Way of Attacking God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible in A.A. Today
A New Way of Attacking God, Jesus
Christ, and the Bible in A.A. Today
Dick B.
Copyright 2013 Anonymous. All rights reserved
With Dr. Bob, his
wife Anne Smith, Henrietta Seiberling, T. Henry Williams, Bill Wilson, Lois
Wilson, Sam Shoemaker [and, yes, even Jim B.] all dead and gone, a few AAs are
presenting themselves as A.A. historians. And they are running wild with their
own versions of what early A.A. was like and what it did and where God, Jesus
Christ, and the Bible fit into the picture. www.dickb.com/JamesClub.shtml.
Here are some
examples of questionable claims being made today::
Jim B. was an
atheist (I wouldn’t know. I do know that Bill Wilson told the account of how
Jim was denouncing God in meetings; then saw Bill and others praying in the A.A.
office; and in the throes of drunkenness, reached out for a Bible in his
drunken hole, and changed his tune). Is it really difficult telling all the
facts rather than coloring them to suit your bias against “Protestants,” and “Evangelical”
whatevers? Nope.
Jim B. later claimed
authorship of God as we understood Him. The problem is that Jim B. was not
present when the committee of four surrendered to the threats, the pleas, and
objections of Bill’s partner and then removed God from the Second Step, and
added a phrase which Rev. Shoemaker had been
using for years to support his
theory that you “found” God by surrendering as much of yourself as you
understand to as much of God as you
understand. See Shoemaker’s Children of
the Second Birth and his 1935 pamphlet “The Way to Find God.”
One historian has
now taken up arms against Christians with whom he disagrees by claiming that
Jesus Christ was never mentioned in the Big Book. The problem is that the “Big
Book” includes all the book—even the parts that were removed from the First
Edition for years and years. This
advocate should own the truth and point out that every early Akron A.A. accepted
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; that a reading of the personal stories in the
First Edition of the Big Book will provide ample evidence of just how often
Jesus WAS mentioned in the Big Book, by Dr. Bob, and by Anne. In fact, A.A.
Pamphlet P-53 contains Dr. Bob’s own remarks about his Heavenly Father and the
Master.
Some preachers are
fond of the saying that a lie gets half way around the world before truth can
even get its shirt on. A.A.’s first librarian Ed Andy makes the point in his “45
feathers” story. It’s on video and is worth seeing and listening.
May those who want
to know A.A. history spend much time reading the truth about it and spurning
the myths that are now being spun by people who never saw nor heard Dr. Bob or
the pioneers. Or at least won’t mention it unless they are resurrection
specialists!
Monday, April 15, 2013
A concise summary about Bill W. and A.A. by Ken B. and his dad, Dick B.
New
post on williambagley28
Christian Recovered Alcoholic.A.A,Bible&Big.book,studies
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Free: Become or Update Listing as Participant in www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
How to Become, or Update Your Listing
as, a “Participant” (free!) in
the International Christian Recovery
Coalition
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/ICLC-Participants.shtml
Aloha! My dad (Dick B.—www.DickB.com) and I are in the
process of updating the “Participants” page of the International Christian
Recovery Coalition Web site. As you probably know, it is FREE to become a
“Participant” in the International Christian Recovery Coalition, and there is
no obligation. Our concept is to make it as easy as possible for Christian
leaders and workers in the recovery arena, and those who want God’s help in
overcoming alcoholism and/or addiction, to find those in their city, state,
and/or country who could be of help.
If you are a Christian leader or worker in the recovery
arena, please consider listing yourself, and/or or your Christian group,
organization, or church on the “Participants” page. (If you are already listed
on the “Participants” page, would you please take a few moments to review your
current listing to make sure we have presented accurately as much or as little
contact information as you would like to make available to the public?) Here
are the key pieces of information to consider listing:
Name of individual (and relevant titles): __________________________________________
Name of group, organization, or church: __________________________________________
Mailing address:
____________________________________________________________
Home/Work/Cell phone number(s): _____________________________________________
Email address(es):
___________________________________________________________
Web site URL address:
_______________________________________________________
B-R-I-E-F description of group’s Christian recovery
focus: ___________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Thank you!
Dick B.’s son, Ken
Email: kcb00799@gmail.com
Cell: 1-808-276-4945
Dick B.’s H/O tel.: 1-808-874-4876
Dick B.’s email: DickB@DickB.com
Dick B.’s main Web site: www.DickB.com
Dick B., Executive Director
The International Christian Recovery Coalition: www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
“Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B.” & other
resources: www.ChristianRecoveryRadio.com
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