I received the following testimony as a comment, and wanted to share it as an article. Thanks and blessings, Doug!
Dear Readers,
First and foremost, hats off to Mkayla,for not braking ranks in this WAR!
Okay, I have a story for you. Maybe it applies here and maybe not, but I believe that I was unfairly, verbally attacked by these three people in a supposed to be, Christian, Faith Based AA Group.
And I want to say, I’m not a member, nor am I affiliated with AA or any of its associates in any way!
A friend of mine who heads this group asked me, if I would help him with the group. I had been there years prior, and kinda chalked the whole thing up to too many rules and regulations on the surface, and just really didn’t wanna find out what was underneath.
So I said yes and started chairing this AA meeting as a fill in for this guy. These people are to be very Leary of. Just listen to this:
I began by reading the appropriated material out loud and instead the normal:”Hi, I’m (whoever) and I’m an alcoholic/drug addict, I said”Hi, I’m Doug, and I was an alcoholic/drug addict until I met The Lord Jesus Christ and he healed me.”
We’ll, suprisingly enough at first I was getting good response with this and so after about a month I started referring to divine healing for alcoholics and educating them in where their faith should be!
That it was not to be in the MEETINGS but in Christ and Him Crucified!
I began pointing them more and more to looking to God ALONE. To only use the meetings as a tool to help u by listening to others and supporting each other with their unique but yet similar stories. And I always encourage laughing and putting the past where it belongs; in the past!
This was going quite well up until about 6 weeks ago this couple from a near by town who happen to run the local Triangle Group came over. They seemed nice enough, until they talked.
These two were loud, obnoxious, and hateful. Mind you, I can be part of all three when I get ticked over something said against my Lord and Savior. But these guys starting coming down on me because I had been telling people that I had been healed of Alcoholism.
You would have thought I had killed somebody. I was finally attacked by them in a very hostile verbal way after a meeting here recently. Absolutely ludicrous!!!
These guys basically tried to shout me down for standing up to the truth about AA and their 12 steps!!!
They wanted to SILENCE THE GOSPEL! Yet, they were Christian???
I think Not! They are enemies of The Cross of Christ Paul says.
They deny divine healing and that God can and will do anything.
They tell people that they are alcoholic and will alway
s be alcoholic!
That is a lie straight from the pits of HELL!
We CANNOT GIVE GROUND. I was able to infiltrate and help for over 6 months at least is how I see it. Many I believe we’re led to Christ.
It was like these little demons just walked right in that meeting and tried to destroy what I had established as truth the past six months. They are up under law! You can’t have it both ways!
It’s either Grace or Law! You can choose the method by which ye will be judged by. But I will choose GRACE EVERY TIME!
Don’t give in and don’t give up. We are to do what The Word of God says to do until the trumpet sounds and Jesus comes back to get us. That’s it!
Their pitiful attempt to thwart the work of God will not go unheard of in the halls of heaven.
In Christ Always,
Doug
We must all be courageous. One of these was a friend of mine. Sometimes we have to make hard decisions. This war is not easy. Many of us have been wounded by false doctrine. We know what it is and want terribly to keep anyone from experiencing the things we have.____
See Also – Who The Son Sets Free, A Testimony
m'kayla's korner 
Amen Doug. I used to work for a drug and alcohol treatment center and witnessed much of what you said. They deny the true, holy God and instead worship a “higher power” who keeps them locked in their prison of addiction. The only power that sets men free is the power of the holy spirit. The Power that keeps men in chains comes from Satan.
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Bless you for your courage. I think the AA and similar offshoots is just run that you have to say “Hello I’m _______I’m an alchoholc”. We understand what they are trying to accomplish. They don’t want the people to forget what they came our of. However I was in an AA half way house in CA when the Lord revealed to me, No, you are not an alchoholic. You are a child of God. You
were an alchoholic. Now that you are born again you are a child of God. The secular world does not and really cannot understand the spiritual dynamic of being born again from above.
Being born again sets us free from any besetting sin, habit, or addiction. We still will have temptation and can give in, but our very nature has changed. We have within our spirit the very nature of God Himself. No, were not God. But God recreated our spirit when we got born again. By staying in the Word of God and in Christian fellowship we can live above the old way of life we once lived.This is a dynamic the secular person in AA doesn’t understand. You have to get
saved to understand it. There is a miraculous change that takes place when we accept Jesus
Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is done by God in our spirit. Our soul (mind will, emotions)
is basically the same. We must renew our mind with the Word of God. You did what you could with the situation, staying true to the Word of God as you could, and it’s not surprising that some of the people wanted to stay with the AA traditions – even if they are violating the Word of God.
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The ministry of the Bobgans, http://www.psychohersy-aware.org has a lot of good info on 12 Step groups and other issues like this. These groups are a religion, and it is not a biblical religion. I am sure you are aware that one of the doctrines of this religion is, “Once an alcoholic, always and alcoholic.” Now, of course a person should beware that they may be tempted by something that was a stronghold in their life, but the AA doctrine denies the ability of God to make us new creations. A person’s identity should be who we are in Messiah, not in our past and especially not in what sins we used to practice.
My experience with people I know in these groups is that they can help the person initially, but end up hurting them in the long run. They help the person to at least get out of the denial and admit they have a real problem (they don’t correctly label it sin.) Then they provide support so the person knows they are not alone and have encouragement. The downside is that they make the person dependent upon the group, its holy books, prophets, rules and doctrines, and denigrate the power of God. They are forced to accept anyone else’s higher power as equal with the Creator of the universe. They make the person think they are different than others and damaged beyond repair.
I would add that this group which claims it is not a religion, is not only a religion, but a cult. To tell people that if they will leave the group they will drink/use and die, I think could be categorized as a cult. AA-er’s have one very scary doctrine, that after having two frightening experiences, has led me to keep my distance if I meet a follower. They believe that if they hold their emotions in they will, “blow up,” and it will lead them to drink/use. So, if the unwary person manages to somehow offend a 12-Stepper by saying or not saying something, even what could be considered minor, they will explode and lash out in virulent anger far in proportion to the supposed offense.
There are ministries that have support, encouragement and accountability groups that are not based upon 12-Steps, but they are few and far between, and Celebrate Recovery, a popular group, is just a Christianized version of 12-Steps. Setting Captives Free has a good online biblestudy for these things, and they provide a mentor.
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I’ve been knowing this for years. But tell someone who’s an active member of AA and get ready for a fight.
The meetings begin with a declaration, followed by a very short prayer and then a hour of “petting” the enemy on the head, saying how tough it is, how if it weren’t for AA you just probably wouldn’t make it…and blah, blah, blah.
Trouble is, that constant “need” for meetings, that “need” for someone to be accountable to, that “need” for confession, for dredging up the past, for……(the list goes on and on)…ALL of that combined took my reliance off Him and instead, placed it on AA, on my designated person who was “holding me accountable”. All of that combined took my focus off of God.
(May I add that I was still closet drinking in between meetings and was MISERABLE.)
It was not until I asked God (for the millionth time) to completely remove my desire for alcohol, and finanlly determined inside my heart that I could AND WOULD do ALL THINGS thru Christ (!) who strengthens me(!) that I finally realized He really had begun a new work in me.
Now, it’s not a case of, “My name is XYZ and I’ve been dry for 11 years”, but “my name is XYZ and God completely delivered me AND I give Him all the glory! Praise God!”
Great article.
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Wow, it is so nice to see someone fighting the good fight of faith! I grew up around alcoholics and have watched a few wither away to a slow and painful death. God bless Doug for preaching the truth, Christ alone is an alcoholic’s hope and total redeption from alcoholism. If it would have been me, I would have rebuked them sharply in front of everyone then kicked them out. But, thats me lol. Never give in, never give up!
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Reblogged this on My Word Like Fire and commented:
As the Lighthouse Trails booklet exposing A.A. nears publication, I’d like to thank M’Kayla, and Steve at Apostasy Watch, and all the other saints who examine A.A. according to the Word of God.
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It is true. There are too many voices and opinions in an AA meeting. And too much time is spent on talking about the problem instead of “the “ solution. One thing that always helps me to understand that about AA is that in John 3, when Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, He said, “unless a man is born again, he can’t see into the Kingdom of God.” He just cannot understand the things of God because he is without the Spirit of God. And without the Spirit of God, man is left to his own flawed and sinful reasonings. In Psalms 1, the Bible says, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly but, instead, his delight is in the law of the Lord and in that Law he meditates day and night. Then he will be like a strong firm tree and, in whatever he does, he will prosper! Unless we are Born Again, we do not have the Holy Spirit residing in us to teach us and give us eyes to see, ears to hear what the Spirit says about things. And unless we go to those with the Spirit of God in them for counsel, we will not be given the Truth.
I believe there is an effective way to teach recovery from addiction to those struggling with addictions. However, we have to be able to call “sin” “sin” and to teach the Word without being muzzled by people like Doug describes in this testimony. However, in today’s circle of Christians, many are so stuck on “Love, Love, Love” to the point that it is almost impossible to get the Truth out, which is able to deliver and set people free. Most Christian Recovery programs unfortunately, and I include Celebrate Recovery, teach that alcohol and drug addiction are diseases. When you start from that premise, all else is down hill.
Truth can only come through the Word of God and through Wise Counsel. AA is made up mostly of those without the Spirit of God. And unless the Bible is the Foundation of a system of truth, those involved will not teach the truth nor will they appreciate the Truth. A very basic Truth that AA fails to see is that drunkenness, whether it be through alcohol or pot or meth or coke or whatever, is a sin and when we sin over and over again, that sin becomes, what I call, a stronghold, an addiction, that gets such a strong hold on us that we have a terrible time overcoming it in our own strength. AA calls many or most addictions now a days “diseases’ rather than sins and in so doing they make their addictions even harder for someone to overcome. One problem with that is that we have little control over our diseases and we are not always convinced that God wants to heal all of our diseases. But we do have control over what God calls sin. And more than that, we know that God ALWAYS wants to deliver us from our sins. When we have God’s prospective and God’s power to help us overcome our sin, our strongholds, our addictions, nothing is impossible with Him. Unfortunately many in the Church today, do not believe the Word of God but rather put their faith in the traditions and philosophies of men,(AA and most Christian Recovery programs) which we are told “limit the power of God.” Alcoholism cannot be a disease according to the Word of God. In Galatians, when God talks about the sins of the flesh, He tells us that no drunkard will enter the Kingdom of God. Nowhere does it say that a diabetic or a heart patient will not enter the kingdom of God. Our Loving Father just does not deny people access to Heaven because of a disease; yet, He will for unrepentant sin. (Remember repent means to confess and turn away from).
The answers to our problems are found in His Word. As we come to the place where we know that our thoughts are not His and His ways are higher than ours, we begin to believe what He says about us and how He says He can change us. But this comes by studying His Word, not listening to the many doubt filled and faithless voices in AA or so called Christian Recovery programs. Once we know what Christ did for us and we put our faith in those things, we can begin to walk in those Truths. The Truth is that Christ hung on the Cross and became our sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. On the Cross, the old alcoholic, drug addict, obsessive, compulsive person that I was, was Crucified, nevertheless, I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me. I no longer see myself after the flesh but after the Spirit. I now see myself as “dead to sin and alive unto Christ.” While teaching on “Who the Believer Is In Christ,” one of the most powerfully effective statements frequently stated by my Pastor, which helped me so much in overcoming my sinful addictions, was “that “A Dead Man “ cannot sin.” By faith I would say out loud, each time I was tempted by Satan, “No, the Bible says “I am dead to sin and alive unto God. I will not do that! I do not have to do that! I am alive unto God and I can do what pleases Him and I will do what pleases Him!” And the temptation would finally pass. As I learned what Christ had done for me and put my faith in that, He began to empower me to walk in who He says I am and what He says He did for me at the Cross. I began to learn how to put off the old man and put on the new man who is created in righteousness and true holiness. At the Cross, the power of the enemy was defeated and when I accepted Christ, the Spirit of God came into me and He now lives in me and gives me understanding PLUS He gives me the power to overcome my sin. I now believe what God has said, that the Law of the Spirit of Life In Christ Jesus has set me free from the Law of Sin and Death. I can now hear and see how God’s Kingdom operates. And I now have the power to overcome the evil one. I am not what the Devil says I am. I am what God says I am. Who the Son sets Free is free indeed. I am no longer an alcoholic or a bulimic or even a gambler or a habitual thief or liar. I am a New Creation in Christ. Old things have passed away and all things have been made new! These are the Truths that will set us free!
AA and even many Christian Recovery programs can not understand, teach, or tolerate these Truths and a Born Again believer who will preach these truths will be shunned, mocked,persecuted and muzzled, as they speak these truths, rather then the lies that serve only to baby the addict and keep him longer in his bondage to whatever controls him.
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P.S, to that last sentence-” That is when they attempt to speak these truths in AA meetings or most Christian Recovery Meetings or in the presence of those who frequent those meetings and who have been previously indoctrinated by those meetings.”
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I disagree with the cult-like approach, but I agree that many of these people are forever alcoholics. It’s funny: people who say that God heals anyone who asks and believes, it’s always those invisible ailments that are healed. Show me a healed broken leg and I’ll believe you. You may be able to forge on with life without being tempted with a drink again, but there are a lot of people who are going to find themselves in the midst of trials who, in a moment of weakness, turns to a couple of drinks because he believes he’s healed.
I’m sick and tired of Christians who blame my disease on a lack of faith. My friend had to listen to their ignorant brother tell them that their child’s cleft palate was their fault. My disease has caused me to lose every single thing I held dear in my life, and I have to listen to wrong-headed Christians tell me that IF I have faith, God WILL heal me. It’s cruel and it’s a lie. It places people at risk for losing faith. God allows illnesses as trials. God refused to take Paul’s thorn out of his side. And if God can leave one of Christ’s apostles with infirmity, you can best believe that he can leave you and me with infirmities.
This idea that we can be guaranteed that God WILL heal alcoholics of their alcoholism is no less delusional than the “name it and claim it” Word of Faith movement and the Bethel movement.
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Brainfan, I agree that the doctrine and ideas which establish the doctrine behind Word of Faith are not biblical, are lies from the pit of hell, and are downright abusive to anyone who believes and follows them. I know that they have the power to lead people away from the Lord and also believe they have been founded for that very purpose. We are told to not have anything to do with unsound doctrine, see Romans 16:17.
As Christians, we need to first come into agreement with all the bible teaches. First of all, the word Alcoholism is not found in the bible. The word is drunkenness. It is not called a disease, it is called a sin. This is the fallacy and danger of 12 Step programs. When we choose to adhere to the teaching of men, we will never find God, never find freedom and healing. The teaching behind 12 Steps, even the ones that use the name of the Lord, are designed to take people from the pure teaching of the word of God. We know this is true because the two of them do not line up together as we have just seen. Remember again, Christ said that many would come in His name and deceive, see Matthew 24.
My friend, it is not a matter of “faith” but a matter of “obedience”. Christ said if we loved him we would do what He says. What does the the word say about drunkenness? It says to not do it. It does not say to not drink, it says to not be drunk and there is a difference. If a person feels he/she cannot drink without going to excess, then it is best to stay away from it. This however, does not mean the person will forever be a drunk. I believe there is healing thru Christ. In this life we will be tempted many times with many things. Christ was the same as we in that sense, and was tempted and found without sin. The temptations and hardships made it possible for Him to understand in a physical sense all that we go thru. However, He is the overcomer; and the place of freedom from all sin, all bondage is found in Christ. He is our High Priest, our Intercessor, our Savior who will never leave or forsake us. Anyone who believes a born again believer will carry the same sin as before his conversion has not yet known Christ for all that He is, has not understood he is a new man, made whole, Colossians 3:10, a new creation, Corinthians 5:17. As Paul stated, we press forward, Philippians 3:14. Anyone who cannot grasp that is under bondage and lies of Satan.
Spend some time in the word of God, in prayer and study for your needs. I am speaking these things to you as biblical truths and also as one who has been through it. I also see that Karen has written quite a bit that should also be most helpful to you.
Blessing in Christ, I pray that you find His truth and His freedom and are able to lay aside and forget the lies taught to you in the past. I am glad you see the wrong teaching behind word of faith. 🙂
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Again, I am posting the link to a great resource regarding AA and 12 Steps and the roots thereof. Please be wise.
http://mywordlikefire.com/
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It is an issue of where your identity lies. I would never deny that some people may struggle more with sinful habits and wrong thinking more than others, and the bible calls this a stronghold. But even in the midst of the battle, rather than a person calling themselves an alcoholic, or an anxious person, they can see their identity as a child of God, a new creature and possessing every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. The 12-Step type groups reinforce a wrong identity and a hopeless one at that. A person can grow to a place of freedom and peace. That is not to say they will be free from temptation, but I don’t believe a person will spend their life gritting their teeth and “white knuckling.”
As M’kayla said, Word of Faith can be abusive in assuming that a person who doesn’t find instant, complete healing and deliverance is at fault for lacking faith or has secret sin and is being punished. There are many things we aren’t privy to, and in those situations, we provide love and support without judgement. I understand these groups formed in the first place because churches shunned and refused to minister to those who were struggling in this way. My experience with people is that these, “lifetime alcoholics” really have a lifetime bitterness that keeps driving them back to the alcohol to quench.
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Chaya, you brought out a very important point that I should have added given my own experience in addictions. There IS a reason we crave the escapism and once we allow Christ to remove the bitterness, the anger, the loss, the grief, the you-name-it root that may have been there for a very long time, we find freedom. We are called to give over our will to His, are we not?
Thanks Chaya, and blessings dear readers! love and hugs
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Dear Brianfan, One of the things that used to really get my goat was when I ran into people who would tell me how they had been alcoholics and when they got saved, they were instantly delivered and never had another drink. Most of the time, they looked down on others who were struggling with quitting or prided themselves in their great accomplishment, when really it was all the Grace of God and they never had to exercise a bit of faith to be delivered from their addiction. Then the rest of us, unlike them, struggled with quitting for a period of time. The Lord finally showed me that when we get saved, by his Grace, most of us get instantly delivered from something. If each of us would look back we would see it might have been cussing, or making fun of people, or being lazy or being really judgmental, or stopping a bad relationship or stealing or it might have been smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol. What ever it was, it was different for all of us. The thing is that the person that gets instantly delivered from anything, really didn’t have to exercise any faith to be delivered and can’t tell someone else who is struggling in that same area, the steps necessary to be delivered by God because it took no effort on their part. And came without any sweat and tears. The wonderful thing for the rest of us is that, once we get delivered, we can tell others how we did it with the help of the Lord. The Bible says that we comfort others with the same comfort He comforted us with. He wants to bless us and then turn around and use us to help others, many times with the same things we struggled with.
It isn’t easy to get delivered from alcohol or drug addiction. It is a lot of hard work when it doesn’t come instantly, which is not the norm. It takes a lot of faith and persistence and change. It takes a lot of introspection and real honesty, which I believe comes through the Word of God, God’s mirror, that is able to “locate” us. Without the knowledge of the Word of God, it is so easy to lie to ourselves and feel sorry for our selves or blame other people, all of which keeps us from our deliverance or healing, if you want to call it that. But when we get into the Word, God shows us our sinful motives and sinful attitudes and actions, and when we are willing to repent of those and ask Him to change us, we begin to get free of the very things that keep us in bondage to our addictions. None of this is easy. None of it is instant. There is a period of time for most of us that is a terrible, tearful, and painful struggle. I love this scripture in Hebrews 12:11 New American Standard Bible which says, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
And you are right, there is much more to it than confessing scriptures, but that does not mean we can rule out confessing what God says about things. He has told us to “put Him in remembrance of His promises to us.” There IS a time of struggle but once Faith comes, when we begin to believe rather than doubt what God says in the area of our struggles and take Him at His Word concerning those things, then things begin to happen. This is not Name it Claim it. Name it Claim it is foolish. It is not based on pure Scripture. It is based on a Stretch of Man’s Own Imagination and Thoughts, by adding to and taking away from the Scriptures, by twisting them to suit their own desires. The other thing is that neither my alcoholism nor my bulimia can make me lose anything. Until I can take responsibility for putting that glass up to my mouth or making the decision to get rid of my food, I will not be able to get free. Knowing that it is sin and not a disease, gives me the ability to do something about it. Like I said, many people who think it is a disease, unfortunately, think they have no control over it. Even after attending a bunch of AA meetings, many people will just think they are different and God can’t help them. But even that is not true because the Bible says God is no respecter of persons. What He does for one person, he will do for another, if they will trust Him and obey His instructions to them. By trusting Him, He doesn’t just mean trust Him that he loves us or that He has truly saved us. He means in all our ways trust Him. With that being the case, we need to find out His promises to us so we can put our faith in those promises.
One of the biggest hindrances to someone’s deliverance is the lie that AA perpetrates by saying Alcoholism and Drug addiction is a disease. Using the scriptures referring to Paul’s thorn in the flesh, which many think was an illness, while others believe it was a person, does not apply either way, because the Bible clearly teaches that Alcoholism is a sin rather than an illness. When you finally come to the place that you believe it is a sin, you will have the motivation to seek real deliverance from God, because you will know in your heart that even though He loves you and cares that you are struggling and having a very difficult time, losing relationships, homes, health, the list goes on and on, He is not pleased with the sin and you will come to see how your disobedience in ignoring or failing to admit it is sin, personally saddens the Lord and how it is what is causing your distress. How does it sadden Him? He has told us to choose either blessing or curses. If we will obey Him we will be blessed, if not we will be cursed. There are consequences to our disobedience. It grieves Him to see us reap the consequences of our sins when He has already provided the way of escape through all that Jesus did for us in His Death, Burial and Resurrection.
Brian, it is my prayer that you would consider that there is another way. Just think about it. Many of our sins have an affect on our bodies and our health. Cigarettes cause cancer, sex out of wedlock can cause unnecessary sexually transmitted diseases and on and on. Likewise drinking to drunkenness over and over again creates visible results in our bodies, so Medical Science then labels alcoholism a disease. The problem with that is, God does not. Read Galatians Galatians 5: 19-21 where God lists 17 sins of the flesh, one of which is drunkenness.
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I’m a FORMER alcoholic. This once an alcoholic always alcoholic is nothing but a lie. God delivered me / healed me from that addiction May 1st 1994 over 20 years ago and I have NEVER had nor do I crave or want to drink it ever again. To God be the glory!
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I was in Al-Anon for a while, and it helped a great deal, but you had to be very careful and I didn’t understand much about let go and let God, except that when I really did let go good things did happen. I discovered where this comes from a couple of years ago and much of 12-step programs are based on what Emmet Fox taught, but … and that but is very important … so much is left out. The Golden Key that Fox wrote, and which has helped so many others, teaches about focusing on God and trusting in God. I never knew how to do that, but it’s actually in discovering who God is in the Bible. You can’t bring up the Bible in Al-Anon meetings, and you can’t mention anything by Fox or anyone else.
The other problem that clashed when I read Emmet Fox and others, of many denominations, or not, was the issue of I Am and attaching negatives to that statement. Isn’t saying “I am an alcoholic” the same as constantly telling yourself “I am ugly, stupid, worthless …” whatever, usually parroting things that others have told you over the years. Joseph Murphy gives many examples of people cured of alcoholism and it happened by doing just the opposite of what AA says, they didn’t keep telling themselves “I am alcoholic,” but rather “I am healed,” and relied on Scriptures, such as “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” and “Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.”
Emmet Fox called the Bible the manual for the soul, the manual for life, everything you need is right there. When I left the Catholic Church I ultimately had to separate God from religion, and that meant separating Scripture from religion, too.
The way Higher Power is taught today is particularly toublesome, and I know why it’s done, but I don’t believe it’s helpful. You can’t share anything in the Bible because it’s considered a “religious” book. You know, I guess it is what it is.
Anyway, I found that I could no longer speak freely at these meetings and was reprimanded harshly if I mentioned anything from the Bible, so I left.
I think the people who have healed within AA are those “went outside the box” and went from saying “I am an alocohlic” to “I am healed” and they didn’t just rely on AA’s literature. When I sat at anniversaries or other get-together venues where you had a speaker from AA and Al-Anon and Al-Ateen I increasingly cringed where I heard someone say “I am an alcoholic” and they clearly hadn’t been for a long, long time.
I know many, many folks have been helped and lives transformed in 12-step programs, but I really think they need to evolve again, go back to the roots, but add in the message of true healing. But then Bill and Lois have been built into idols of sorts.
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I can’t figure out how to delete this post, but feel free, as it seems that the folks here all believe that everything in New Thought is heresy, and that’s okay. You’re entitled to your opinion. I’m one of those folks that take what is truth and leaves the rest. I belong to no religion anymore, and I rely on the Holy Spirit to lead me. I’m not sure if any mortal has the absolute truth. Like I said I would appreciate it if you would delete my comment because I know it will offend people, and I don’t need or desire anyone’s “my way is the right way.”
I know many people who look at the metaphysical aspects of the Bible and still believe that Jesus is who Scripture says he is, the Word made flesh,
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Samalabear, my blog is from a Christian perspective. One cannot have the leading of the Holy Spirit and follow “new thought”. God will not mix truth with the lies of the new age. If that is what you think is going on in your life you are wrong.
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Yes, I’m sure you will delete my last post as you don’t want your readers to know that you deeply hurt someone. You don’t do that to someone whose life has been torn to shreds by a loved one’s addiction. How dare you!! How dare you!!
Read Jeremiah 31. I don’t need you or anyone else to teach me what is in God’s Word. I do know how to do research really, really well. It is one of the incredible gifts that God gave me.
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I have no idea of why you are saying these things because none of them are true of me or of the comment I posted. And yet here you are venting, bringing false accusations a year after your last comment. hmmm…
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Personally, I am very sorry that a year later, you are being attacked by someone who seems to be making little sense. I have read and reread things here and I agree that most of our deliverance comes from finally exercising a little obedience rather than blaming others for our problems. But more than that, I agree that all these accusations about you, M’kayla, are unfounded and false. I am left to think that samalabear is hurting but I do not believe you are the source, M’Kayla. “Those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted!” Perhaps not here, but your reward is waiting for you in heaven, M’kayla. The Bible says that in the last days, Christians’ “love for one another will wax cold” ( the word used for love is agape’ meaning”God’s love” which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost at the New Birth. Unbelievers do not have God’s love in their hearts so the scripture is referring to Christians not unbelievers ) and it goes on to say they shall betray one another.” I have told the Lord, I do not want to be one them who are involved in that “betraying of another Christian.” We need to humble ourselves and forgive one another instead of betraying another sister or brother in the Lord. I know I have been guilty of holding on to things, but the Lord says, if we do not forgive others, He will not forgive us. I pray this man humbles himself and forgives others because I am guilty of the same thing at various times in my life. But now, in these last days particularly we have been warned, we must forgive and not betray. I love you M’kayla for standing up for God’s Truth, Biblical Truth, which is the Only Truth under incredible pressure. Please forgive me for adding to that pressure at one time. I am sorry and love and respect you, a year or two later. God bless, you!
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I’m Jaime. and have been “clean & sober” for 15-yrs. this go-around. I stopped drinking alcohol in 1980 because it was interfering with my job and family responsibilities. When I retired from work in 1995, the idea that I could now safely drink like a normal person seemed reasonable. I started off drinking 1-or-2 beers a day at home and felt very good. Within 4 months, I was drinking a six pack a day. Suddenly one evening I felt like I had to get out of the house right away. I headed to a bar and telephoned an old friend to see if I could score some pot. For the next 3-years I was caught up in the lifestyle of drinking and drugging 24/7.
My doctor referred me to AA where I finally was able to stop drinking after 3-yrs. of constant relapses.
I was told in AA that I would NEVER be able to safely drink alcohol because I suffered from the disease of alcoholism, from which there was no cure. Based on my own experience, I believe that to be true. So, I haven’t picked up a drink since 2001.
That’s my personal story.
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Jaime I know that AA has helped many people over the years. However, the bible has a completely different view than the developers of AA. 2 Corinthians 5:17 states, Therefore, if any man be in Christ he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things become new. Many people believe AA to have been founded on biblical teachings. My friend at http://mywordlikefire.com/ has done research into their foundations and according to their own publications, their true foundations are based on New Age and Occult practices. In addition, anyone who believes the need for a program such as the 12 steps has said that Christ is not enough to redeem and something more is needed. If you know Jesus today please take these things to heart. And if you do not consider that Christ died for your sins and offers you a new life, free from the sin of addiction.
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Thanks for your response. My church is planning to offer Celebrate Recovery in March, 2016, so I am considering whether to sign up for the class. CR uses its own version of the 12-steps and claims that it is “A recovery program based on the eight principles from the Beatitudes.” What are your thoughts about the CR program that Rick Warren from Saddleback Church is recommending to help Christians overcome “hurts, habits, and hang-ups?.”
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I would stay away from any kind of program simply because committed Christians don’t need them. Whatever the “hurts, habits and hang-ups” are about, catchy as that title is, Christ is enough to take care of them. James 4:7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Even simple search with an online bible or a concordance will do more for you than any man made program. The Holy Spirit is our comforter and our guide. He will bring wisdom and convict us of sin. Rick Warren and Saddleback are quite dangerous spiritually. His combination of Christianity and Islam should be enough to send everyone away from anything with his name stamped to it. Search my blog for more info on this as several years ago I posted quite a few articles exposing who and what he believes. He is a great example of the falling away of our time in which Christ warned us in Matt 24.
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When did I say that I thought everything in New Thought was correct and there was no error? There is not one Christian denomination, and just about every non-denominational that does not have error in it. And I stay away from all of them.
And just in case you also DO NOT GET IT — I do not follow the teachings of any one man and certainly no man-made programs. I am not a pew sitter. I do not allow any one person’s work to influence me. But I do love the writings of people like George Mueller, Andrew Murray and A.B. Simpson, among others, who found the Truth outside of any religious structure, and their lives were transformed, and what they did in life really does speak for itself.
Please do not preach to me about the Holy Spirit. I spend a great deal of time ALONE with God’s Word and let it speak for itself. And Rick Warren? Why are you warning me against Rick Warren. Do you think that I am stupid?
You are the exact type of Christian that I need to stay away from — sanctimonious and perfect in every way, casting judgement, putting thoughts in people’s heads, and making assumptions you have absolutely no right to make. And, yes, God forgive me, but I am judging you, since you took it upon yourself to visciously judge me.
Oh, and further for the record — and you, my dear, did not influence me one iota — I had left Al-Anon and all of that behind even before I wrote here. But just in case you don’t know this already, when you reach out to God, He will work with you wherever you are, leading and guiding. Unlike you, God is gentle, kind, compassionate and, yes — unlike the God of the Catholic Church I was born and raised in — is love. You, on the other hand, are very unloving and unkind. You are threatening, condescending, belittling and nasty.
A Christian like you is the very reason why I will not ever step foot inside of a man-made institution ever again. When I run into so-called Christians like you I am grateful that God is not like that, that Jesus was never like you.
Okay, now you can go back to your little clique of perfect Christian, holier-than-thou pew sitters.
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not sure you received my last comment. I hope you did. God bless, karen
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Hi Karen, I received one comment, for which I am most grateful to read. Thank you! 🙂
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I left OA b/c talking about a generic “God” or “Higher Power” is okay, but mentioning Jesus is pushing your religion on others. Plus, it did feel like a controlling religion.
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AA and all other 12 steps are not founded on Christ. He is the only way to true freedom from the bondage of sin and eternal life, the only way to restore our relationship with God. John 14:6.
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I completely agree now that 12 steps programs are not founded on Christ. In early 2016, however, I thought they were accepting of faith in Christ or I hoped they were, but quickly found that I would be censured for mention of the name of Jesus. By the way, thank you for this blog and for your testimony. I’m still emerging from 11 years of involvement with NAR teachings. My mom told me in 2006, when I played a music cd from a local IHOP plant, that the music seemed to her to be “repetitive and trance-like”. I wish I had listened to her. I wanted encounters with God so badly that I got lured in and recently have been detoxing and breaking stuff off and reading the Word like my life depends upon it.
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Hello again, and thanks for the clarification. Let me know if I can help you! 🙂
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