AA Makes us Dependent on People -- Holy Spirit Makes us Dependent on God Himself

This website, HAMS: Harm Reduction for Alcohol confirmed for me what I have been learning for quite some time about Alcoholics Anonymous:

AA is most successful at recruiting and retaining males of low IQ and educational attainment who have dependent personality types--i.e. they like being told what to do. 

How can anyone expect to live a life of any joy and purpose if they have to be told what to do all the time?

I have lived this life. This program indeed created within me a program of action in which every time I felt bad, sad, glad, or anything else, I had to run and tell someone else about it in order to break free of the pain and hurt.

I look back on this and other regressive, even destructive habits.

Wow -- this AA program really sucks!

It is cruel how people get sucked into this terrible program, then they rhapsodically praise it for helping them to get sober.

After years of taking my inventory, sharing my feelings, telling people what I was going through, complaining about life, running from conflict, running from my feelings, never quite understanding why my life was not quite working, compared to everyone else, now all the pieces fit together.

This program had taught me, among many others, that we could never trust our own thinking, that any of our judgments or reasoning or understanding of issues would be forever marred as wrong.

I lived a greater part of my life waiting for someone else to tell me what to do. I lived a greater part of life convinced that I had no idea what I was doing, what I had, or who I was.

All of that changed when I read about the New Covenant., prophesied in the Old Testament, and fulfilled in the New Testament:

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

"And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)

First of all, the LORD pledges to be a god to me, not just for a nation, not just "there", but "there for me", and for all who are established in His righteousness (Isaiah 54: 14; Matthew 6: 33; 1 Corinthians 1: 30)

He offers to lead us from within through the Holy Spirit, who places on us His laws both in our hearts and our minds. Because He is my God, I no longer need wonder if I will be OK or not, because He is my Shepherd, and thus I lack nothing. (Psalm 23: 1)

Because He leads from within through peace (Colossians 3: 15), I need not question and wonder all the time if I am doing the right thing or the wrong thing. I need never worry about God being upset or frustrated with me, or even His threatening to leave me because He will be "merciful" or "pay for" my unrighteousness, and never again remember my sins or iniquities, which speak of heredity sin through Adam, and the sins which I have committed.

Knowing God does not even require steps or provisional actions in addition to believing that He died for my sins. "The Twelve Steps" are included in that heartless mix of religious traditions which actually separate us from God and His grace because they coerce into doing things to get righteousness, instead of laboring to enter the rest of righteousness paid for and provided to us as a never-ending gift (Romans 5: 17)

We can rest in His Spirit, and depend on the Truth which He reveals to us (1 John 2: 20, 27), all of which is signaled to us in righteousness, peace, and the resulting joy of the Holy Spirit, i .e The Kingdom of Heaven (Romans 14: 17)

AA is for dependent people, because it makes them dependent on people:

"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

"6For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited." (Jeremiah 17: 5-6)

No wonder so many people suffer in AA meetings. They are taught to trust in the "wisdom" of old-timers.

There is a better Way:

"7Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

"8For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." (Jeremiah 17: 7-8)

Now, the heart of man is wicked, cannot be trusted, as indicated in the next verse (Jeremiah 17: 9)

Through Christ, we receive a new heart:

"And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:" (Ezekiel 11: 18)

This new heart is filled with the peace of Christ, which rules "good or bad" in our hearts (Colossians 3: 15)

AA Creates the Problems it Claims to Cause

Selfishness - self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt. (AA, pg 62)

So, in order not to be self-centered, we should focus more on ourselves, and all the things that we can do to make ourselves less "self-centered."

Does anyone see a problem here?

Resentment is the "number one" offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. From it stem all forms of spiritual disease, for we have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick.  (AA, pg 64)

Not self-centeredness, then, but "resentment" is now the "number one offender".

So what is it, then?

Frankly, resentment is a product of thinking the that world revolves around you, or more importantly that the world must cater to you, or that your peace and prosperity depends on how the world treats you. Resentment is borne of our sentiment that we need something, that someone else can and must provide that something, and that since they do not deliver, we hold a grudge against them.

The solution is not to "not be bitter", or even resentful, or to distract oneself with busy work, or "doing good deeds", even.

The solution is "Life, and that more abundantly."

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10: 10)

Jesus Christ gives us everything that we need, and more:\

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 31-32)

Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of Faith (Hebrews 12: 2), and He is head of all creation, and of the Body of Christ, and everything was created by Him and for Him (Colossians 1: 15-20)

Whatever need we may have, we find it in Him:

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13: 8)

Men and women on this earth have knowledge of their Creator within themselves:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them" (Romans 1: 18-19)

Notice that the word "fear" is bracketed alongside the difficulties with Mr. Brown, Mrs. Jones, the employer, and the wife. This short word somehow touches about every aspect of our lives. It was an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it. It set in motion trains of circumstances which brought us misfortune we felt we didn't deserve.(AA, pg 67)

From self-centeredness, to resentment, to fear, people in AA jump from issue to another, trying to figure out what is the problem in our lives.

The solution is not to fix ourselves, but rather to fix our hearts on Himself (Psalm 110: 1), and let His love pour in (Ephesians 3: 17-20) and redefine us (1 John 3: 1; 1 John 4: 17), that we may in turn love others (1 John 4: 19)

While AA creates the very problems which it claims to solve, Jesus Christ as Savior provides us all things, from life to every other need through His righteousness (Matthew 6: 33)

Getting From God, not Getting to God

The whole AA program makes God look like a "Loving Father" who really isn't.

If you have to get rid of fears and resentments in order to be "close to God", then you never will be close to God, because everyone of us has times when we fall, fail, and flail in fears and resentments.

Honestly, fears, resentments, and other emotional tumults are just works of the flesh, attempts by men and women to justify themselves, to fight for what they need and want in this world.

Men and women come to AA dispossessed and despondent, then they are told that they have to do more, have more, and be more for other people, when what they need has not been provided for them at all.

How can a man give law when he does not have love? Paul promoted this necessity in 1 Corinthians, which is not about "doing love", but "having love".

If we do not understand how much God loves us, then we cannot love others:

"We love, because He first loved us. "(1 John 4: 19)

While we are blessed when we give to others, we are blessed when we receive from God. The AA God is just another selfish, dysfunctional parent who does not care about his kids as much as he cares about himself. More to the point, AA's "Higher Power" is just a mere extension of the arrogant and empty guru Bill W. who projected himself to be a good, wise man, when in reality he was a venal peddler looking for love and adoration, taking from everyone who came into the halls of AA, and never working the very program which he imposed on other people.

God -- Must be Believed (Too Great for Our Senses)

In one meeting, I was chatting with one guy, a teacher who loved to crack jokes, and he loved to make fun of religion.

He hated Jesus Christ, and believed that the whole Gospel story was just too much of a bunch of nonsense.

That meeting met about five years ago, a frustrating time for me who had no idea what I was doing, where I was going, and frustrated once again by how hard teaching really could be.

I also had not learned that Jesus Christ saved me not just once, when I received Him as Lord and Savior, but that He wants to save me every day!

He is the propitiation for the sins of the entire world, not just for mine:

"2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 91 John 2: 2)

This verse takes us out of ourselves, certainly, but also engages us to understand how grand, how great, how giving is the love of God:

"10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4: 10)

This verse does not quite do justice to the original verse because of the added italics. This verse does not sound of a mission which is about ot be accomplished, but rather explicitly identifies Jesus Christ as "The Propitiation -- the Mercy Seat -- for our sins!"

That is who He is - the Beloved Son of God who is evermore ministering on behalf of fallen man, the he may be reconciled forevermore with God the Father, receive the Spirit of Sonship and be one with Christ, seated at the Right Hand of the Father.

The problem for most people, for all of us, is that we need to sense, to touch, taste, and feel that Jesus Christ is real.

Yet if our five sense could discern God, then he would no longer be infinite, yesterday, today, and forever

"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4: 18)

Then Paul writes:

"(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)" (2 Corinthians 5: 7)

Of course, we do everything by faith, anyway:

"20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)

Unless we believe that Jesus Christ has done all things for us, we will be alienated in our minds against God, convinced that He is angry with us, and rebel in unbelief.

Speaking Out Who You are -- In Christ

"God, Grant me the serenity"

"My name is. . .and I am an alcoholic."

"We are like men who have lost their legs. We never grow new ones."

All of this talk, all of this labeling, all of this self-deprecation sets up men and women who enter the meetings to stay in the meetings.

"We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;" (2 Corinthians 4: 13)

Then

"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

"And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." (Mark 11: 23-25)

It's all about what we say. We are called to speak forth the Truth, for man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord (Matthew 4: 4)

AA is based on people saying that they are "fleas, dogs, and worms", that they are sick people, insane, with a disease from which they can never break free, but from which they have but a daily reprieve.

Religious people also believe, in line with the sick cult of AA, that we must think very lowly of ourselves, not think of ourselves in a positive light, or we will go out and drink again.

On the contrary: when we perceive ourselves to be bad, wrong, out of step, the condemnation that ensues leads us to keep engaging in the perversions that keep us in bondage, we keep on practicing the sins.

Scripture confirms this:

"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:" (Romans 5: 20)

and

"56The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." (1 Corinthians 15: 56)

When Jesus Christ died on the Cross for our sins, He died for all of our sins, and we receive the Spirit of Adoption (Romans 8: 15), we are then seated in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2: 6). In Christ, we are "more than conquerors" (Romans 8: 37)

We are accepted in Christ (Ephesians 1: 6), not fleas, dogs, and worms.

Often, I hear people say things like "God don't make junk." But God did more than not make us junk. He died on the Cross to take us from dead in our sins to alive in Christ, that we may reign in life in Christ (Romans 5: 17)

AA is a nasty cult which teaches people to live in shame, breathe out shame, walk in shame, to perceive themselves as never quite measuring up.

In Christ, we are made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 21)

Stop speaking out what Bill W. wanted you to think of yourself. See yourself in Christ, and see yourself as God sees you:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

God is Far More than We Can Understand

We were now at Step Three. Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him: "God, I offer myself to Thee-to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!" We thought well before taking this step making sure we were ready; that we could at last abandon ourselves utterly to Him. (AA, pg 63)

I cannot write about this element enough time.

A god of my understanding is a god that is not "godly" enough.

The first verse of the Book of Psalms warns against this ridiculous counsel:

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." (Psalm 1: 1)

The counsel of the ungodly is any counsel which does not come from the Word of God:

"2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." (Psalm 1: 2)

We are called upon to  meditate on the Word of God, or more specifically: "The law of the LORD."

The word "LORD" renders to Hebrew Tetragrammaton: YHWH - which pronounces that God was, is, and always. God has never not been, and He is very much now with us, and He will be with us forever:

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13: 5)

and

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." (Hebrews 13: 8)

If we really want to know God, to know who He is, not just guess with feigned ideas and empty gestures, then we must consult the Word of God, which depicts Him in all of us love, grace, majesty, and eternal power.

God who is outside of time, outside of our troubles, who takes us from our lowest lows and raises us to sit i heavenly places in Christ, this God cannot be reasoned or created from within the mind of man. By revelation through the Holy Spirit do we understand God.

AA's god is actually the cult creation of Bill Wilson, who created this nonentity of self-righteous aggrandizement so that he perpetuate a following which on the surface seems to affirm the individual need of man, yet in truth brings him into a subtle conformity with the pressure of other members in the group, more specifically the "Old Timers".

No Separation, No Cutting Off, From Jesus, Our Rest and Light

It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die. (AA, pg 66)

You cannot be shut off from the Sunlight of the Spirit, no matter what you do, say, or even think, if you have been redeemed:
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1: 7)

God is Light (1 John 1: 5), and because of all that Jesus has done, we are now in Christ (Ephesians 2:1-12)), and Christ is in us (Colossians 1: 27).

In fact, God is faithful and just to forgive us because of all that Jesus has done, a righteous foundation to take sinful man dead in his trespasses and cause him to live and reign in life.

This terrible teaching forced me into a state of bondage for much of life.

The next phrase in the book was equally distressing:

If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison.

I have met countless men and women  who "worked the AA program", and definitively I can tell you that they were very angry,  unpleasant, bitter people.

The notion that we must be "free of angry" is both impossible as well as immoral.

For me, like many people who "painstakingly follow" the program, they end up living a crippled life where just about anything can offend them. Like many "alcoholics", I became very self-centered and introspective, always trying to make sure that I did not get angry, or if I did get angry, I would go out of my way, doing everything that I could to make sure that I "got rid of this upset."

Yet with all of these personal accounts, which in their own right reveal the painful frustration of trying to work "the Twelve Steps", the Bible is crystal clear about our new standing in Christ, one which has nothing to do with us, and which we can do nothing to change:

"8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Romnas 5: 8-9)

and

"37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8":"37-39)

Nothing can separate us from God, not one thing. Not our feelings, not our thoughts, not our circumstances, for God has placed above the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2: 6) not because of anything that we have done, but because of grace, which we receive through faith in all that Jesus has done for us at the Cross (Ephesians 2: 4-8)

The New Covenant could not make it any clearer:

"10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)

and

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13: 5)

There is no qualification or exception to this verse, not even our sin, because He has remembered all of our sins in Christ Jesus, so that He does not remember our sins anymore in us, or in the world, for that matter:

"To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5: 19)

We receive rest from trying to make ourselves right before God, and so Jesus gives us Himself, brings us together with Himself:

"28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

and

"11Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. " (Hebrews 4: 11)

Our sins, our stances, or circumstances, our very selves, for all our upsets and wranglings in the flesh, cannot separate us from God.

The only unrest, then, that remains for the believer, is to believe that we are not one with God, that He is not pleased with us, that He has not been appeased for all of our sins and trespasses, or even the false notion that our feelings can "cut us off form the Sunlight of the Spirit."

Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8: 12), we are in Christ, and our sin, our doubts, our feelings, our anything cannot remove us.

Embrace this blessed truth. Do not be covetous, but be content, for the One who can freely give  us all things is with you, and will never leave  you nor forsake you!

AA Causes High Blood Pressure?

Someone very close to me, the one who taught me the AA Way of Life, the same one who forced me to go to AA meetings when my life was unraveling.

The same person, who died trying to work this program, had a high blood pressure problem.

She was taking pills for the ailment.

She was under a lot of stress, certainly, one of many causalities of a program which forces you to look over your shoulder frequently, to keep an eye on yourself, yet at the same time a program which deludes people into believing that the answer to life's problems lies in squashing one fire after another.

I never understood why the people in my life struggled with so much stress in their lives.

I never understood why I had a problem with high blood pressure, until I learned about the deleterious effects of not entering into the New Covenant:

"26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." (Hebrews 10: 26-27)

Here, the context bears out that "sin wilfully" means to keep on offering dead works, to offer animal sacrifices to atone for sins, when God has offered the once and for all final sacrifice of His darling Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

He is the ongoing, active, ever-present, ever-lavishing sin offering, whose blood keeps on cleansing us from all sin.

As long as we sense that things are not always right, or that there is something more that we must do to maintain our righteousness, then we never rest, and our bodies will pay the price.

These consequences include high blood pressure.

The AA racket must bring in a lot of business of the healthcare, mental illness, government dependence industry.

What a disgrace!

Inspiration in AA -- (Rest and Relaxation)

In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while. (AA, pg 86)

This piece of advice caused more problems, not fewer, in my life.

I still remember the trauma and turmoil of working out the "Twelve Steps" in my life.

I prayed my Third and Seventh Step prayer religiously, yet I found myself still flummoxed and flabbergasted by life.

I wanted to purchase a computer for myself. The moment that I arrived to purchase the select computer, I discovered that the computer was missing a number of features. I felt "uneasy" within myself, but let things pass.

I had no idea at the time how to assess this ill feeling. Was it me? Was it God?

All of this confusion and distortion is the very opposite of rest and relaxation.

How do I measure, or assess, the "intuitive thought or decision". All too often, this line of suggestion creates more problems than it solves.

If we do not have an accurate understanding of God, then we can never have an accurate understanding of His will for our lives.

If we do not believe that the Holy Spirit lives in us, that in Christ the natural life is righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17)

This peace rules "good or bad" in our hearts (Colossians 3: 15).

Point of fact, the Holy Spirit who lives in us gives us all knowledge, and we do not need to run to other people to figure out what to do (1 John 2: 20-27).

The Word of God gives us something simple to do:

"18But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." (2 Peter 3: 18)

The focus is on Christ Himself, and the more that we receive of His grace, the more that we know Him and continue in His Word (John 8: 31), we find ourselves in the Truth and set free indeed (John 8: 36)

His inspiration works in our lives to the extent that we let Him rest us (Matthew 11: 28), a rest from earning righteousness as a work, but rather we believe and keep receiving it as a  gift (Romans 5: 17, which allows us to know Him intimately, to let His laws work themselves out in our hearts and minds, and allows Him to be our God, providing all things for us.

It could not be simpler.

"Inspiration" creates confusion, distortion, and dysfunction. The Holy Spirit within us works in us perfectly, as long as we rest from our own dead works and live in Him.

Inspiration in AA -- (Limitation)

On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives.

First of all, the Word of God denounces such self-centered presumption:

"13Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. " (James 4: 13-17)

The Lord God is greater than past, present, and future, yet He intimately cares about everything that we do, have, and say. Why would be even think that we have to plan what we do in this life on our own? 
The Bible offers and delivers better promises:

"For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." (2 Corinthians 2: 16)

and

"13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2: 13)

We trust ourselves to God, who has everything taken care of us for us, too:

"My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." (John 10: 29)

and

"He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. " (Psalms 23: 3)

Because of the New Covenant. we can and should do this:

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4: 16)

We have the mind of Christ, and the peace of Christ acts as the right-standing judge in our lives, granting to us the simple knowledge of what He wants us to do, and where He wants us to go.

Like many passages in the "Big Book", the very idea that we ask God only to "direct our thinking" gives off the barren impression that God is limited and far away, not working intimately in and around and through us.

 

Inspiration in AA (Confusion)

When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life? But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others. After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.

I have written before, and I write again and again, a ;life of looking at yourself, reviewing your day, looking for your faults and failures, is nothing like the life and that more abundantly which promises and delivers to us every day:

"10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)

and

"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (1 John 5: 12)

Life is the deepest need of man, and Jesus more than supplies it through His Holy Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23)

Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life? 

What am I supposed to be doing, exactly? I have turned my will and life over to a power greater than myself, as I understand Him. Well, actually, I have turned my will and life over to some "God" that other people understand, as well. This "god" is unclear to me, as much as to everyone else.

But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others. After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.

"We must be careful not to drift into worry."

In other words, we should worry about worrying. Give me a break!

This shaming question just runs contrary to any sense and sensibility. The Tenth step requires men and women to work a "spot check" inventory, as if they can keep an eye on themselves at all times.

Can any other strategy of self-reflection declare "morbid" or "arrogant" than this constant lifestyle of spiritualized, self-centered check-up? This "new life" turns into a series of problems which we fix, a life of looking at our mistakes, asking God to forgive us, then going about fixing the mistakes that we have made.

No wonder so many people cannot "work this program" or end up killing themselves.

For me, I lived much of my life doing very little, since I could count on not having to "take my inventory" and make amends for anything that I had done.

 

 

The Twelve Steps are a Dead Work

"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9: 14)

What is a "dead work"?

First of all, a "dead work" refers to the animal sacrifices which the Israelites offered to the Lord under the Old Covenant.

These dead works are replaced by the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ, whose blood keeps on cleansing us from all sin (1 John 1:7)

This constant cleansing enforces the New Covenant in our lives:

"10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)

Today, "dead works" refer to any efforts which men and women engage in order to pacify the unrest of the sin conscience which resides in every one of us.

One man has dedicated his life to rebuilding the airplane cabins for now-defunct airlines.

Other people collect stamps, coins, or engage in other hobbies, trying to find fulfillment in activities which cannot satisfy the eternity in men's hearts.

For those who find themselves frustrated with all that life has to offer, they engage in heavy drinking or drug us, trying to find something that ends the painful tedium of a meaningless life.

These dead works not only fail to convey rest and life to those who seek it, but the enhance the sense of death in people's lives, or they contribute to the untimely deaths of many.

Such is the case with alcoholism or illicit drug use, as well.

Even Christians engage in dead works, to the extent that they do, say, or have things so that they can earn respect, favor, or anything else from God.

God cannot be bought, and the debt that we owed Him, because we are dead in our trespasses, not just sinners who do bad things, could not be paid or covered with anything that we do:

"4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2: 4-10)

Only the shedding of blood, the life of the animal, can save a  man from his fallen state. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin forever, thus permitting God to place His Son in everyone of us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This wonderful gift is shed forth (Acts 2: 33) for all of us to receive because Jesus Christ died once for all. He cannot die again, because He now lives an endless life (Hebrews 7: 16) as the first born from the dead.

Instead of trying to work for our salvation, God wants us to work out our salvation (Philippians 2: 12-13).

We cannot work for our righteousness, because this gift had to be paid for us by a price that is beyond esteem or calculation: the death of God's Beloved Son (John 3:16).

Either we believe that the debt has been paid, that God has provided a 'propitiation" for our sins, or we do not. Either we rest in His Finished Work (John 19: 30), or we will find ourselves on the never-ending treadmill of trying and failing, and finding not rest or satisfaction for our troubles.

With this understanding of "dead work" alive in our minds, there is no excuse or reason for churches to tolerate, let alone welcome, any kind of Twelve Step program, which invites members to rehash and rehearse their "hurts, habits, and hang-ups", when God Himself has declared to us:

"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103: 12)

and

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 12)

Jesus Christ took care of everything. Not only that, but since God has given us His own Son, He also promises to deliver to us all things with Him (Romans 8: 31-32)

The Twelve Steps are a dead work, one which profits us nothing, because Jesus only can pay, and has already paid, for all our needs:

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

Let Jesus do the work in you:

"But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." (John 5: 17)

and

"27To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:" (Colossians 1: 27)

and

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."  (Philippians 2: 13)

and

"10But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (1 Corinthians 15: 10)

The Twelve Steps are a dead work, compelling people to finish what Jesus Christ has already finished.

Let Him now work through you, that with His gifts or righteousness and grace you may reign in life (Romans 5:17).

Rest, Not Resentment or Retaliation

All of our need for vengeance has been exhausted, at the Cross.

Jesus Christ paid for all of it.

For so long, I kept thinking that I had to "do something" about the unrest, the resentments, and the wrestlings that I had to contend with in my life.

I am now convinced that this spirit of retaliation, this need for someone to  "pay for it" started and ended with AA.

This terrible cult tells people that they have to take their inventories, that they have to watch themselves, to make sure that they do not do anything wrong.

At the end of the day, they have to make an itemized account of what they did wrong, and what they did right:

When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life? But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others. After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.

"Constructively review" -- what is constructive about looking at our faults and failures for the day?

How many of you would like to look at yourself and comb over every failure?

For those of us who want to claim "progress", when does the self-searching step? It never does, it never will, because the sense of "sin" and of "wrongdoing" in our lives will never go away, unless we choose to rest in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ.

No wonder most people quit AA or die in the process of trying to "work the program". Imagine waking up to a life of "taking your inventory" and "working the steps", and then you attend meetings where other self-righteous, self-pitying types show up and spew about their frustrated, empty lives.

Resentment and retaliation are both borne of trying to earn one's standing before God every day, a standard which no one can meet, for the sin conscience of man cannot be perfected with our "right deeds" or our confessions.

While AA tells us to run through our wrongdoings every day, Jesus invites us to rest in His Finished Work, that in Christ all our sins are forgiven, and not only that, He takes us from dead in our trespasses to alive and reigning in heavenly places in Him!

This love is beyond our understanding. We must take God at His Word, or reject it altogether.