The Beacon of Hope: Recovery by the Power of God

As I reviewed the recent articles on the Expert Pages, I ran across articles by Kathy Williamson, whom I have not met. And her articles stand out like a beacon. Here is someone who seems to have grasped what the early A.A. Christian Fellowship was doing when it insisted that every member must believe in God--the Creator, Yahweh, Almighty God, "The God of the Scriptures" as Bill Wilson described Him after his famous white light experience at Towns Hospital. Also, every member was required to confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The simple program is laid out in A.A.'s own DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, p. 131; but mention of Jesus has been stripped out. However, my research has revealed the direct testimony of four early AAs who explained the necessity for Christ as part of the program. See my titles, The Golden Text of A.A., and Real Twelve Step Fellowship History www.dickb..com/titles.shtml. The virtually unknown fact needs to be counted as a major reason why the early A.A. Fellowship had a documented 75% success rate and was called a "Christian Fellowship" by its members.

Now what of today? Well, I am a product of today's A.A. with all of its pseudo spirituality, higher powers, and endless meetings. But I turned to God first. And I was a Christian. I have had no problem with members who believe otherwise than to walk away from those who try intimidate other members, acting as they do as "A.A. cops." The problem is lack of knowledge. It reminds me of Jesus' statement: "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God."

My plea is simple. It is covered in our latest release The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010. It is designed to let AAs and others know that "Christians are not alone in the recovery arena." It is designed to show the role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played in the whole recovery movement--both before and in early A.A. And to show that this option is available today. In fact, one can see it in the abc's of A.A.'s Big Book.

Let not your hearts be troubled. Even today, one who is a Christian, uses the Bible, and takes advantage of what Jesus Christ accomplished, can dive into A.A. He or she can actually enjoy serving in the great effort to help the drunk who still suffers--whether he or she be atheist, agnostic, buddhist, Protestant, or Jew.