Not Twelve Steps.
Not needed, not wanted, not good for you, must be avoided, cast aside, thrown away.
The lifetimes of struggling with feelings, thinking that I was not OK, we are not supposed to strive and barely stay alive in such nonsense.
The work is Finished, in Christ.
AA wants people to think that the work is not done.
That is just evil.
No wonder so people get depressed and unhappy in AA meetings.
For the longest time, I lived life trying to protect my head from upsets.
I never realized what all the frustration was really:
"16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:" (Ephesians 6: 16-17)
Yet we cannot deflect the attacks of the enemy if we reflect on our sins, instead of resting in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ.
Thank you, Jesus for your grace and truth, personified within yourself.
"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)
This grace and truth is all about rest and receive all that Christ is!
That's why Peter told everyone:
"But 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)
This life is about one step: Believe on Him!
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)
I stumbled on this verse because I kept thinking to myself:
There must be a part that I have to play.
Yet when I read throughout the New Testament, I learned that I was dead in my trespasses before Jesus died on the Cross.
Then I had to take another look at the Book of Beginnings, Genesis:
"6And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2: 16-17)
Of course, we all learn what happens afterward:
6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." (Genesis 3: 6-7)
Because they took it upon themselves to know good and evil, the first man and woman looked at themselves, then they began seeking every way to measure up to the standard. I believe that their nakedness in itself was not the source of shame, but the fact that the sense of wrongdoing was implanted within them, and the first thing that they noticed about themselves was their nakedness.
Thus they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves.
Not vegetables, not fruits, not anything from the cursed ground, but only the shedding of blood:
"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;" (Romans 3: 25)
and then
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;" (Ephesians 1: 7)
and finally:
"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Hebrews 9: 22)
The blood cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1: 7), not our efforts, not our fruits, not what we do.
The one step, the only step for righteousness, peace, and joy:
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)
John later writes in his First Epistle:
"And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment." (1 John 3: 23)
We believe on His name, which grants us Jesus' righteousness, then peace, and finally His joy! -- and when all three of these spiritual gifts are flowing unimpeded in our lives, then new love one another.
Not Twelve Steps, or even Ten Commandments -- just one commandment (one!) - believe on Jesus!
Monday, March 31, 2014
Condemnation is Over in Christ
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8: 1, ASV)
I never understood the full meaning of condemnation, or rather I had no idea that I was operating under condemnation.
This never-ending sense of nagging would follow me around for a long time.
No matter I was doing, no matter where I was going, a fear that I was doing something wrong would never go away from me.
I used to rely on the sense of upset to try and direct me in this life.
For a long time, though, I walked around in great fear and frustration, because there were a number of things which I had done, following some inner prompting within me.
Where did I get these ideas in the first place?
Let's take a quick look at the AA cult:
What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind. Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it. (AA, pg 87)
In my experience, as well as the experience of many other people, I found this "spiritual sense" turned out to be foolish and wrong, and sometimes abusive and dangerous.
We cannot rely on any kind of intuition until we believe that all our sins are forever put away because of the blood of Jesus:
"
I never understood the full meaning of condemnation, or rather I had no idea that I was operating under condemnation.
This never-ending sense of nagging would follow me around for a long time.
No matter I was doing, no matter where I was going, a fear that I was doing something wrong would never go away from me.
I used to rely on the sense of upset to try and direct me in this life.
For a long time, though, I walked around in great fear and frustration, because there were a number of things which I had done, following some inner prompting within me.
Where did I get these ideas in the first place?
Let's take a quick look at the AA cult:
What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind. Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it. (AA, pg 87)
In my experience, as well as the experience of many other people, I found this "spiritual sense" turned out to be foolish and wrong, and sometimes abusive and dangerous.
We cannot rely on any kind of intuition until we believe that all our sins are forever put away because of the blood of Jesus:
"
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)
The Spirit of God cannot live and thrive in us if we do not rest in the perfection of what Jesus did at the Cross, and thus what He is doing on our behalf at the Right Hand of God the Father:
"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." (Romans 8: 34)
Because of what Jesus did at the Cross, we do not worry about perfection anymore:
"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10: 14)
We are perfected forever in Christ Jesus!
Condemnation is over, so we should stop spending any more of our time trying to make ourselves OK.
Stop Fixing Yourself
Alcoholics Anonymous induces, or rather seduces people to think that they are still not OK with God.
A sense of guilt and shame stays with people, and they can sense no rest in their daily walk, because every day they are just keeping themselves - themselves! - one step ahead of whatever addiction, perversion, or problem in their lives.
Life is not about maintaining one step ahead of our sicknesses, diseases, hurts, habits, or hangups.
That is not what life is about at all.
Life is the Person of Jesus Christ living and through us.
Life is not about fixing our problems, but resting in the Solution: Jesus
"8I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
A sense of guilt and shame stays with people, and they can sense no rest in their daily walk, because every day they are just keeping themselves - themselves! - one step ahead of whatever addiction, perversion, or problem in their lives.
Life is not about maintaining one step ahead of our sicknesses, diseases, hurts, habits, or hangups.
That is not what life is about at all.
Life is the Person of Jesus Christ living and through us.
Life is not about fixing our problems, but resting in the Solution: Jesus
"8I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope." (Psalm 16: 8-9)
This verse Peter quotes on the full Day of Pentecost:
"25For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
"26Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:" (Acts 2: 25-26)
We have this rest because of what Jesus did at the Cross. We are no longer looking at ourselves, as Adam and Eve did the moment that they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
This whole life of fixing ourselves instead of fix our eyes on Him who fixes us, that has to stop.
We are not called to fix ourselves. We are called to let Him fix us, transform us from glory to glory.
It's all about Jesus, and He is all about you!
"He 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: 32)
and then
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3: 18)
and also
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 1: 6)
We are not responsible for making ourselves better. We are responsible for believing on Jesus, and letting His life live through us.
This wonderful revelation has been difficult for me, but because of the grace of God growing in me, I understand now who God is in full, and His desire to bless me in all things.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Under a New Covenant in Christ
Alcoholics Anonymous is a dangerous cult.
Any set of thinking which tells you that God is still mad at you, that the debt is not paid in full, that you still owe Him something: that is not the grace-and-truth which we find in Christ, and Him alone:
"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1: 17)
Now, how do we get saved? Not by what we do, but who we believe in:
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)
Followed by:
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1: 17)
While the Lord God brought forth a New Covenant based on His grace, not our works, the world today still wants to bring back the law, to bring back man's efforts,
Yet man wants a part in it, because many of us do not see that we are dead in our trespasses, if we rest in our efforts, work in our own strength.
As long as I was convinced that I had to do something more, then I was not operating under the New Covenant, the current Covenant, in which all of my sins are forgiven, forever put away.
Bill Wilson was an evil man who wanted to make himself a savior, and to make people dependent on him, rather than allowing Jesus to receive all the glory which He deserves.
I walked around in bitterness and fear for so long, convinced by some nagging sense of frustration and upset that the work was not done.
That sense of "not done" was due to the upbringing which I was brought under, which included working the Twelve Steps, keeping God's Law as provided in the Ten Commandments.
This revelation of the New Covenant includes the truth that all my sins are forgiven: even the future sins, because Jesus has fulfilled the law at the Cross. Moreover, Jesus took our curse at the Cross (Galatians 3: 13)
We cannot rest in the truth that He is taking care of all things for us, if we continue to think that the work is not done in our lives.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a wicked scheme directly implicated in keeping people in bondage, so that they cannot never know rest in Christ.
I hate this evil program so much. I will not step back one for one moment, I will not relent in letting as many Christians, as many young people who are being harassed into joining this terrible cult - Not Twelve Steps, but one Savior -- and all He asks you to do is believe that He is merciful (has paid for) your sins, unrighteousness, iniquities, and utter lawlessness, and that He will remember your sins No MORE! (Hebrews 8: 10-12)
Stop remembering your sins, even the ones that you may commit, because God your Father (Romans 8: 15) has forgotten all of them, as they were all paid for in the Body of His Precious Son Jesus!
Any set of thinking which tells you that God is still mad at you, that the debt is not paid in full, that you still owe Him something: that is not the grace-and-truth which we find in Christ, and Him alone:
"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1: 17)
Now, how do we get saved? Not by what we do, but who we believe in:
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)
Followed by:
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1: 17)
While the Lord God brought forth a New Covenant based on His grace, not our works, the world today still wants to bring back the law, to bring back man's efforts,
Yet man wants a part in it, because many of us do not see that we are dead in our trespasses, if we rest in our efforts, work in our own strength.
As long as I was convinced that I had to do something more, then I was not operating under the New Covenant, the current Covenant, in which all of my sins are forgiven, forever put away.
Bill Wilson was an evil man who wanted to make himself a savior, and to make people dependent on him, rather than allowing Jesus to receive all the glory which He deserves.
I walked around in bitterness and fear for so long, convinced by some nagging sense of frustration and upset that the work was not done.
That sense of "not done" was due to the upbringing which I was brought under, which included working the Twelve Steps, keeping God's Law as provided in the Ten Commandments.
This revelation of the New Covenant includes the truth that all my sins are forgiven: even the future sins, because Jesus has fulfilled the law at the Cross. Moreover, Jesus took our curse at the Cross (Galatians 3: 13)
We cannot rest in the truth that He is taking care of all things for us, if we continue to think that the work is not done in our lives.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a wicked scheme directly implicated in keeping people in bondage, so that they cannot never know rest in Christ.
I hate this evil program so much. I will not step back one for one moment, I will not relent in letting as many Christians, as many young people who are being harassed into joining this terrible cult - Not Twelve Steps, but one Savior -- and all He asks you to do is believe that He is merciful (has paid for) your sins, unrighteousness, iniquities, and utter lawlessness, and that He will remember your sins No MORE! (Hebrews 8: 10-12)
Stop remembering your sins, even the ones that you may commit, because God your Father (Romans 8: 15) has forgotten all of them, as they were all paid for in the Body of His Precious Son Jesus!
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Why the Bible was Closed to Me -- Alcoholics Anonymous
If we read the Bible from the perspective of trying to do something, we will be frustrated.
The Bible is not about making people better. The Bible reveals the Perfect Person, Jesus, and because of Jesus, we have been perfected forever:
"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." (John 19: 30)
and
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:" (Ephesians 1: 3)
and
"And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:" (Colossians 2: 10)
"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10: 14)
It appears that we are perfected in Christ, granted His standing of righteousness, not our own:
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5: 17)
and also
"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:" (1 Corinthians 1: 30)
and also
"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5: 21)
Righteousness is something that we receive and keep receiving.
What I never understood, however, is that this righteousness has finished off the Old Covenant of law, and brought in the New Covenant of grace.
I understood that I was righteous, and that I was the righteousness of God in Christ, but I never understood that all my sins, past, present, and future had been purged.
I never understood that He is taking care of my tomorrows, too -- that He is committed to taking care of everything for me.
In effect, I was called to live by faith, faith in all that Jesus has done for me:
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1: 17)
Live by faith of the Son of God, too (Galatians 2: 20)
I never understood the finality of the Cross.
Today, I do -- and I also understand why I did not understand the rest before -- Alcoholics Anonymous, a terrible cult which taught me that I had to work out my life, that I had to maintain a spiritual program, or God would be cut off from me.
What a bunch of garbage that was -- and like many Christians, I believed that God was still angry with me. I had no knowledge whatsoever about grace, and that everything we have today is a gift, and that we are in Christ!
The Bible remained a close book to me for a long time because I was still caught up in what I needed to be doing, rather than seeing that He has been taking care of everything since the beginning.
What a wonderful revelation I have been receiving these last few days. Wonderful!
The Bible is not about making people better. The Bible reveals the Perfect Person, Jesus, and because of Jesus, we have been perfected forever:
"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." (John 19: 30)
and
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:" (Ephesians 1: 3)
and
"And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:" (Colossians 2: 10)
"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10: 14)
It appears that we are perfected in Christ, granted His standing of righteousness, not our own:
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5: 17)
and also
"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:" (1 Corinthians 1: 30)
and also
"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5: 21)
Righteousness is something that we receive and keep receiving.
What I never understood, however, is that this righteousness has finished off the Old Covenant of law, and brought in the New Covenant of grace.
I understood that I was righteous, and that I was the righteousness of God in Christ, but I never understood that all my sins, past, present, and future had been purged.
I never understood that He is taking care of my tomorrows, too -- that He is committed to taking care of everything for me.
In effect, I was called to live by faith, faith in all that Jesus has done for me:
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1: 17)
Live by faith of the Son of God, too (Galatians 2: 20)
I never understood the finality of the Cross.
Today, I do -- and I also understand why I did not understand the rest before -- Alcoholics Anonymous, a terrible cult which taught me that I had to work out my life, that I had to maintain a spiritual program, or God would be cut off from me.
What a bunch of garbage that was -- and like many Christians, I believed that God was still angry with me. I had no knowledge whatsoever about grace, and that everything we have today is a gift, and that we are in Christ!
The Bible remained a close book to me for a long time because I was still caught up in what I needed to be doing, rather than seeing that He has been taking care of everything since the beginning.
What a wonderful revelation I have been receiving these last few days. Wonderful!
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
NPR Hosts Doctor Blasting AA
 |
| Dr. Lance Dodes |
In an interview on National Public Radio, Dr. Lance Dodes blasts the supposed success rate of Twelve Step programs, which hovers between 5-10 percent, according to Dodes.
He is being generous. I have read reports which suggest as little as 3%.
The doctor also exposes that this truth has gotten too little press. The confirmation bias of anecdotal evidence, which suggests, very weakly, that the AA program works, ends up ignoring the 90% who do not succeed in AA.
They do not tell their stories, and they do not relate the damage which this program does to people.
In the Interview, Dodes also criticized the tally system of the program, which forces members back to zero if they take a drink after six months. Some of the patients who get out of AA ending up feeling more depressed because they do not get sober.
Bringing a clinical analysis to the studies which support AA, Dr. Dodes slams the methodology and research methods of the reports.
He then relates the depression and frustration from former members, while outlining that any success which individuals draw from the Twelve Step groups actually has nothing to do with the program, but the social support in the rooms.
Thank God for Dr. Dodes, who also reported that the program not only does not work for many people, but actually harms members, because the program's ironclad assertion "It works if you work it" puts all the blame on the individual, when in fact it is the program which does not work.
The New Covenant is All About Him -- Not Us!
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)
This New Covenant is all about what Jesus has done for us at the Cross, and when He rose from dead, He became our priest forever by the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5: 6).
All our sins are paid forever at the Cross, and in Christ you are perfected (Hebrews 10: 14)
We do not need more rules and regulations, we do not need more regimentations in our lives. We need righteousness, and righteousness is a gift (Romans 5: 17)
God does not remember our sins anymore, and because He does not remember our sins anymore, since all of them have been paid for forever, the Old Covenant is put away, because He has fulfilled the law:
"In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8: 13)
and
"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2: 13-15)
Jesus died for our sins, put away the law, the ministry of condemnation which was against us (2 Corinthians 3: 6-7), and thus disarmed the devil and his minions, who go out of their way to shame us and condemn us.
Because I did not understand this New Covenant, because I was living by own efforts, in my own ideas, I was convinced that I had to do everything, that I had to conjure up feelings and thoughts, and figure out everything myself.
Because I was so caught up in feelings and thoughts, and because I was under condemnation trying to be righteousness in my efforts, I was convinced that I was OK or not OK depending on how I felt. When other people said or did something, anything, which offended me, automatically I fell into great bondage, convinced that I had to "do something" about the sense of offence. The upset would drive me to distraction, and I would enter into this world convinced that other people could make me angry.
And I never understood why I felt this way.
Today, I know why -- the Twelve Steps and the AA cult, which forced me to look at my thoughts, deeds, actions etc. and have to live up to a standard, which everyone else seemed to be ignoring.
How that used to make me mad. I was upset because I was so easily offended, and that people seemed to have this power over me.
Yet the never really did, and the very program which was designed to break me and others free of resentment was actually inducing the resentment.
We will be easily set off by other people as long as we feel compelled to pay for our own failings, and then we find other people not doing the same, we get angry, and we have no rest.
In Christ, when we see that He has paid for our sins and the sins of the entire world (1 John 2: 1-2), that bitter sense of "Someone has to pay!" has been paid for, along with the rules and regulations attached to it, whether from the Old Testament or the manmade ones, like the insipid Twelve Steps.
I am so glad to learn about the New Covenant, in which Jesus has set me free from the curse of the law (Galatians 3: 13) and has also granted me permission to be still, to let go and know that He is God (Psalm 46: 10).
Awesome!
The New Covenant Has Nothing to Do With Us
Alcoholics Anonymous is all about getting people to do more about themselves.
The program teaches people that they have to work a program, and maintain themselves in spiritually fit condition.
The mixing of physical exercise metaphors with the spirit of man should raise flags right away.
Our spirit needs to be in fit condition. Really?
The New Covenant which Jesus cut for all of us at the Cross, this is a covenant which God did everything, because we could do nothing:
"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15: 5)
and then the New Covenant:
"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:
The program teaches people that they have to work a program, and maintain themselves in spiritually fit condition.
The mixing of physical exercise metaphors with the spirit of man should raise flags right away.
Our spirit needs to be in fit condition. Really?
The New Covenant which Jesus cut for all of us at the Cross, this is a covenant which God did everything, because we could do nothing:
"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15: 5)
and then the New Covenant:
"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:
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)
The New Covenant is all about "I will". . ."I will". . ."I will"
It's not the steps that you take, but the steps which He has taken and is taking for us.
We can add nothing, not one thing, to what Jesus has done for us, and that He is blessings with all things in Himself:
"And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work." (Romans 11: 6)
We are not trying to be righteousness before God, and we are not seeking righteousness through our own efforts. We receive the gift of righteousness and keep receiving it because Jesus died on the Cross for our sins, put away the ordinances which were against us, and grant us His peace and prosperity in all things.
The New Covenant has nothing to do with us, and we do not have to do anything in order that God can live and work in us, but believe on Him who the Father sent to die for us, to rise for us, to live in us (John 6: 29)
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Reproach Retrenched in AA
Imagine waking up every day with a sense of reproach, a sense of "I am not OK" and "I have to work certain steps so that my OK-ness does not step out and mess with me.
That is what the AA cults does to everyone of its members.
This cult imfuses people with an identity of reproach, and keeps them in bondage to this lie every day.
We need a new identity, a better, greater standing, which we do not find through our efforts, but through the effort of what Jesus did at the Cross.
This sense of reproach, this sense of "I am not OK" is very strong, and it has to be removed in our lives.
When other people reproach, or shame us - guess what, we get very angry, and feel compelled to punch back or reproach someone else.
I never understood where that upset came from.
I could not figure it out, and I kept thinking that there was something that I had to do or to think in order to be set free from the pain.
Today, I understand now that peace is not something that I do, but something which Jesus has done. In fact, He is my peace:
"For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;" (Ephesians 2: 14)
There is no reproach, there is no sense that someone else needs to pay for our sins or the sins of other people, because Jesus Christ has paid for them all.
When He died on the Cross, He not only died for our sins, but condemned the sin in our flesh, and thus fulfilled the law, rendering it fully inoperative.
When we understand that the sin in our flesh has been condemned, as well, then we reign in life, no longer overcome with the sin and the shame which held down our old man Adam.
AA wants to slam people with a sense of shame which they can never get rid of, but merely keep in check. Jesus grants us newness of life, which we can never lose!
That is what the AA cults does to everyone of its members.
This cult imfuses people with an identity of reproach, and keeps them in bondage to this lie every day.
We need a new identity, a better, greater standing, which we do not find through our efforts, but through the effort of what Jesus did at the Cross.
This sense of reproach, this sense of "I am not OK" is very strong, and it has to be removed in our lives.
When other people reproach, or shame us - guess what, we get very angry, and feel compelled to punch back or reproach someone else.
I never understood where that upset came from.
I could not figure it out, and I kept thinking that there was something that I had to do or to think in order to be set free from the pain.
Today, I understand now that peace is not something that I do, but something which Jesus has done. In fact, He is my peace:
"For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;" (Ephesians 2: 14)
There is no reproach, there is no sense that someone else needs to pay for our sins or the sins of other people, because Jesus Christ has paid for them all.
When He died on the Cross, He not only died for our sins, but condemned the sin in our flesh, and thus fulfilled the law, rendering it fully inoperative.
When we understand that the sin in our flesh has been condemned, as well, then we reign in life, no longer overcome with the sin and the shame which held down our old man Adam.
AA wants to slam people with a sense of shame which they can never get rid of, but merely keep in check. Jesus grants us newness of life, which we can never lose!
Monday, March 24, 2014
No More Condemnation -- None!
There is no condemnation in Christ.
There is no expectation that we have to do or have or be anything in order to be justified, to be accepted, to make ourselves feel that we are in good stead with our Daddy God.
As I am learning more about the grace of God, and as I learn more that the Ten Commandments was a ministry of condemnation and death meant for the Israelites, fulfilled by Christ Jesus when He died on the Cross, now I am beginning to understand the bondage and frustrations which I was facing.
I now understand why I was so easily offended, frustrated, embittered.
I realize now why I was so easily frightened, too.
We cannot believe that we have perfect standing before God, and then we cannot receive anything from Him.
We must believe that all our sins are put away forever, and therefore the writing of ordinance which was against us has been fulfilled forever.
When we rest in this powerful truth, that there is nothing that can stop us. There is no sense of fear and upset in our lives which will preventing us from stepping out in faith and trust in all that God has for us.
We cannot believe and receive His grace unless we accept the gift of righteousness, apart from works which no one can earn, let alone rest in as long as we think that we have a part to play, or that something more needs to be done by us.
This was the bondage that I suffered under for so long.
I had to think, feel, hope, wonder, or do something in order to be accepted, to be OK with God.
Yet all the doing had already been done, at the Cross.
I was not in bondage to the Ten Commandments, as much as I was looking to the Twelve Steps for guidance. But what can the Twelve Steps give anyone, really?
More condemnation, and a sense that one may fail, and have nothing to show for all one's efforts.
There is no condemnation in Christ, not in ourselves, and we are set free from the curse of the law, and the law has been fulfilled, put away forever because of what Jesus did!
Hallelujah!
There is no expectation that we have to do or have or be anything in order to be justified, to be accepted, to make ourselves feel that we are in good stead with our Daddy God.
As I am learning more about the grace of God, and as I learn more that the Ten Commandments was a ministry of condemnation and death meant for the Israelites, fulfilled by Christ Jesus when He died on the Cross, now I am beginning to understand the bondage and frustrations which I was facing.
I now understand why I was so easily offended, frustrated, embittered.
I realize now why I was so easily frightened, too.
We cannot believe that we have perfect standing before God, and then we cannot receive anything from Him.
We must believe that all our sins are put away forever, and therefore the writing of ordinance which was against us has been fulfilled forever.
When we rest in this powerful truth, that there is nothing that can stop us. There is no sense of fear and upset in our lives which will preventing us from stepping out in faith and trust in all that God has for us.
We cannot believe and receive His grace unless we accept the gift of righteousness, apart from works which no one can earn, let alone rest in as long as we think that we have a part to play, or that something more needs to be done by us.
This was the bondage that I suffered under for so long.
I had to think, feel, hope, wonder, or do something in order to be accepted, to be OK with God.
Yet all the doing had already been done, at the Cross.
I was not in bondage to the Ten Commandments, as much as I was looking to the Twelve Steps for guidance. But what can the Twelve Steps give anyone, really?
More condemnation, and a sense that one may fail, and have nothing to show for all one's efforts.
There is no condemnation in Christ, not in ourselves, and we are set free from the curse of the law, and the law has been fulfilled, put away forever because of what Jesus did!
Hallelujah!
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Why I Struggled to Forgive (AA's Part in it)
"31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Ephesians 4: 31-32)
"As God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."
I am learning more about the grace and peace which I have received through Christ Jesus.
I am not just forgiven for my sins.
I am forgiven for all my sins: past, present, future.
I am forgiven because Jesus Christ paid the debt for my sins -- all of them.
I am forgiven all my sins, and I am not required to pay for the restitution of my sins.
The latest part, which I wrote above, is crucial.
In the United States, and especially because of evil cults like AA, we are taught that we have to make amends for our sins, or else we will drink again, or engage in other perversions.
Yet the Bible is clear -- we forgive, we are gracious, we extend grace to others because God has extended His grace to us.
About this grace, I have learned that this grace keeps on flowing toward us:
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5: 17)
The Youngs translation brings out the active, ongoing, relentlessly loving aspect of this verse for us:
"for if by the offence of the one the death did reign through the one, much more those, who the abundance of the grace and of the free gift of the righteousness are receiving, in life shall reign through the one -- Jesus Christ."
Receiving: keep believing, keep receiving, keep on keeping taking more of His grace into the life which God has so richly blessed you with!
"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:" (2 Corinthians 9: 8)
A better translation takes away the sense of possibility, restoring the full activity of the verse: "God is causing all grace to abound toward you."
If you are under law, trying to earn God's grace, then it is no longer grace, but merit. We brought nothing into this world, so we should not assume that we bring anything now in this life which He has blessed us with, and with which He continues to bless us.
The ongoing gift of God's love is manifested to us not just in forgiving us of all our sins, but fulfilling the law, so that the claims of the Old Covenant have been fulfilled forever:
"13And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2 13-15)
Not just all our trespasses, mind you, but also the taking away of the ordinances that were against us, and contrary to us -- they are now taken way because of what Jesus did for us at the Cross.
The law, which is the very weapon which Satan uses against God's people, has been fulfilled in Christ, and thus rendered inoperative as a tool of condemnation against us.
If the fulfillment of the law in Christ is still not enough, then here is something more regarding the full grace which we are receiving from God because of His Son Jesus:
"4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7: 4-7)
We have died with Christ, and now we live because of Him. We walk in the newness of the Spirit because the Spirit of God lives and dwells in us.
All sins forgiven, and the law is fulfilled, no longer something which I try to live up to. I am also dead to the law, since the law is for dead people, or rather to show men that they are dead in trespasses needing a Savior. Once we accept this truth, then we have no longer to fear condemnation or death or reproach, because we are no longer under law, but under grace.
Galatians put it bluntly regarding the purpose of the law:
"23But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3: 23-25)
The law was primarily intended for the Israelites, a provisional covenant which came in along the side (Romans 5: 20), but with the fullness of time, with Jesus our Lord and Savior brought into this world dying for our sins, raised for our justification, we no longer have to struggle beneath the "Thou shalt nots", because we have His laws of faith, love, life, and liberty written in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit:
"
"As God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."
I am learning more about the grace and peace which I have received through Christ Jesus.
I am not just forgiven for my sins.
I am forgiven for all my sins: past, present, future.
I am forgiven because Jesus Christ paid the debt for my sins -- all of them.
I am forgiven all my sins, and I am not required to pay for the restitution of my sins.
The latest part, which I wrote above, is crucial.
In the United States, and especially because of evil cults like AA, we are taught that we have to make amends for our sins, or else we will drink again, or engage in other perversions.
Yet the Bible is clear -- we forgive, we are gracious, we extend grace to others because God has extended His grace to us.
About this grace, I have learned that this grace keeps on flowing toward us:
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5: 17)
The Youngs translation brings out the active, ongoing, relentlessly loving aspect of this verse for us:
"for if by the offence of the one the death did reign through the one, much more those, who the abundance of the grace and of the free gift of the righteousness are receiving, in life shall reign through the one -- Jesus Christ."
Receiving: keep believing, keep receiving, keep on keeping taking more of His grace into the life which God has so richly blessed you with!
"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:" (2 Corinthians 9: 8)
A better translation takes away the sense of possibility, restoring the full activity of the verse: "God is causing all grace to abound toward you."
If you are under law, trying to earn God's grace, then it is no longer grace, but merit. We brought nothing into this world, so we should not assume that we bring anything now in this life which He has blessed us with, and with which He continues to bless us.
The ongoing gift of God's love is manifested to us not just in forgiving us of all our sins, but fulfilling the law, so that the claims of the Old Covenant have been fulfilled forever:
"13And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2 13-15)
Not just all our trespasses, mind you, but also the taking away of the ordinances that were against us, and contrary to us -- they are now taken way because of what Jesus did for us at the Cross.
The law, which is the very weapon which Satan uses against God's people, has been fulfilled in Christ, and thus rendered inoperative as a tool of condemnation against us.
If the fulfillment of the law in Christ is still not enough, then here is something more regarding the full grace which we are receiving from God because of His Son Jesus:
"4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7: 4-7)
We have died with Christ, and now we live because of Him. We walk in the newness of the Spirit because the Spirit of God lives and dwells in us.
All sins forgiven, and the law is fulfilled, no longer something which I try to live up to. I am also dead to the law, since the law is for dead people, or rather to show men that they are dead in trespasses needing a Savior. Once we accept this truth, then we have no longer to fear condemnation or death or reproach, because we are no longer under law, but under grace.
Galatians put it bluntly regarding the purpose of the law:
"23But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3: 23-25)
The law was primarily intended for the Israelites, a provisional covenant which came in along the side (Romans 5: 20), but with the fullness of time, with Jesus our Lord and Savior brought into this world dying for our sins, raised for our justification, we no longer have to struggle beneath the "Thou shalt nots", because we have His laws of faith, love, life, and liberty written in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit:
"
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 to affirm the end of the Old Covenant, the writer of Hebrew adds:
"In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8: 13)
If we do not believe that the Old Covenant is finished, however, then we will continue to live our lives trying to measure up to the impossible standards of the law, which will end up bringing out sin (Romans 5: 20; 1 Corinthians 15: 56-57)
As long as I believed that the law needed to be kept, then I was always looking to my past, and noticing that I did certain things.
The law brings out sin, and even if God does not remember my sins any more, the knowledge of the law will bring back to remembrance the very sins which I have committed.
When my understanding of how great and loving God is came through, then I was in a better position to challenge the fearful recriminations about yesterday. I no longer dreaded someone or something taking away my peace. I no longer tried to fix my feelings so that I would not feel bad, feel guilty, afraid or condemned.
Yet even when I reckoned myself dead to sin, there was still this idea that the law, the moral Ten Commandments, were still in effect.
We cannot understand the love of the Father if we believe that there is a standard still in place out to get us. We cannot rest and trust that He is taking care of all things for us if we insist on the old system of rules as our standard today for living.
Not the law, but His grace teaches us to say no to sin and yes to righteousness:
"11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 11-14)
We cannot understand the grace of God as long as we believe that something, any good thing still dwells in our flesh, that we can or must keep God's rules or earn His love, life, and favor in our lives.
If I think that I can and must earn His love, then so does everyone else whom I encounter. I cannot be gracious to others, and so if someone harms me, or if I feel that I have to protect myself in some fashion, then I will live a life of thinking that I have to punch and punish everyone who harms me.
I find specifically that since there are these rules which I was supposed to live by, and that I was struggling on my own for so much, if it had not been for this person or that person, or what was said or not said, then I would have not been it the mess that I ended up in, or I would not have absorbed the consequence of this or that. . .
But when I accept that everything is gift, all is grace, then there is no reason whatsoever to hold a grudge. None whatsoever. There is no more law demanding to be upheld in my flesh, and it no longer applies to anyone else either, now that I am walking in His Spirit, not my flesh, not my efforts, not myself
I struggled to forgive because I still that the law was in place for me, and thus for everyone else. I did not see the Lord God as taking care of all things in my life, that I was dead to the law and the rudiments of the world, and therefore I did not even have to fear fear and resentment, either.
Hallelujah for all that Jesus has accomplished as is still accomplishing in me:
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 1: 6)
If I think that I can and must earn His love, then so does everyone else whom I encounter. I cannot be gracious to others, and so if someone harms me, or if I feel that I have to protect myself in some fashion, then I will live a life of thinking that I have to punch and punish everyone who harms me.
I find specifically that since there are these rules which I was supposed to live by, and that I was struggling on my own for so much, if it had not been for this person or that person, or what was said or not said, then I would have not been it the mess that I ended up in, or I would not have absorbed the consequence of this or that. . .
But when I accept that everything is gift, all is grace, then there is no reason whatsoever to hold a grudge. None whatsoever. There is no more law demanding to be upheld in my flesh, and it no longer applies to anyone else either, now that I am walking in His Spirit, not my flesh, not my efforts, not myself
I struggled to forgive because I still that the law was in place for me, and thus for everyone else. I did not see the Lord God as taking care of all things in my life, that I was dead to the law and the rudiments of the world, and therefore I did not even have to fear fear and resentment, either.
Hallelujah for all that Jesus has accomplished as is still accomplishing in me:
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 1: 6)
SHAM: Great Book Exposing Great Frauds
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| by Steve Salerno |
The joy and lasting purpose in our lives cannot be found in ourselves.
Self-help is a delusion, which implies that of ourselves we have whatever it takes to make in this world.
Yet if we are sick, unhappy, frustrated in our lvis, then in stands to reason that whatever we need is not within us, but rather outside, not dependent on our efforts and effects.
The Gospel, as presented in the Bible, through the loving help of Daddy God, could not make it any simpler:
"But 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:" (Ephesians 2: 4-8)
We were dead in our trespasses. Death speaks of separation from God, not strictly physicall cessation of movement.
This life is given back to us because we have been redeemed from this death (Galatians 3: 13)
Life is not about trying to fix ourselves, but rather accepting that this is a fallen earth, yet we can reign in life through the risen Christ:
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5: 17)
We were never intended to suffer limitations and privations under other people, and certainly not in bondage to ourselves.
Yet in the name of self-help, men and women find themselves going around and around like dogs chasing their own tails.
God never intended such an empty frustrating life for His creation.
In fact, God grants us the easiest route to excellence, through His Son:
"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)
The way of Cain, the way of hte world, the deception of Satan, is convincing people that if they try harder, do more, follow all the rules, then he can achieve good things.
No!
The modern manifestation of this falsehood is pervasive in the SHAM legacy, (Self-Help and Actualization Movement), which tells people that they can have if they do, think, follow the steps laid out by some guru.
And speaking of following steps laid out by some guru, let us look no further than Alcoholics Anonymous, where we find the most bankrupt of cults, which teach new converts to identify with a perversion, then revert them to doing their very best to stay one step ahead of this "disease". Thus a new member's life is all wrapped up in not drinking, as if that should be the most important decision any person makes in his or her life.
SHAM is exactly that, because in telling people that they need to do more to have more, they teach people to ignore the very One who has all things, and freely gives to all who are willing to believe:
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)
And then
"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:" (Ephesians 2: 4-8)
Paul also explains in Romans:
"31What 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? 33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." (Romans 8: 31-24)
SHAM is a scam, and AA is one of the most prolific and famous (or rather infamous) SHAM scams out there.
No More Law -- All is By Grace! His!
The last thing that anyone needs in this life is a sense of burden in which the world is against you, or when you can have no assurance that God is on your side, or worse that He is for you when you are for Him.
That kind of life is absolutely impossible. We can never love God with all that we got, and any other form or formula for us to reach to God will only expose how out of reach and out of touch He is.
The AA cult taps into ma's innate self-righteous nature to try and make himself OK.
We want to perfect ourselves, we think that if we try a little harder, then we will get where we are going.
Yet God has provided us all things through His Son Jesus, yet as long as we look at ourselves, rather than looking at the Son, we will find ourselves going around and around in dry frustration, much like the Israelites in the wilderness, who refused to believe that God was so good that He had taken care of everything for them, and all that they had to do was enter into His rest.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus offered a parable to explain the hardships He faced getting men and women to receive His blessings and bounty:
22And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper." (Luke 14: 22-24)
While Jesus was feasting with the Pharisees, His soul was not content, for they were interested in magnifying themselves rather than receiving from Him.
God made man in His image, then man decided to step out on his own and exist independent from God, yet there can be no life in and of ourselves. It simply cannot be done.
We need life, and this life comes from the Life-Giver, the Life of Men:
"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)
and then
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Jesus is the only way, but He is so good about bringing us to Himself, that we need never fear being taken over or taken advantage of.
We are no longer under law, but under grace. The Old Covenant finished at the Cross, and the New Covenant and the glorious dispensation of God's grace through Christ is flowing fully all over the world!
AA is a cult, a dangerous cult, and I am glad to be one more person exposing this evil for all the world to know!
That kind of life is absolutely impossible. We can never love God with all that we got, and any other form or formula for us to reach to God will only expose how out of reach and out of touch He is.
The AA cult taps into ma's innate self-righteous nature to try and make himself OK.
We want to perfect ourselves, we think that if we try a little harder, then we will get where we are going.
Yet God has provided us all things through His Son Jesus, yet as long as we look at ourselves, rather than looking at the Son, we will find ourselves going around and around in dry frustration, much like the Israelites in the wilderness, who refused to believe that God was so good that He had taken care of everything for them, and all that they had to do was enter into His rest.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus offered a parable to explain the hardships He faced getting men and women to receive His blessings and bounty:
22And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper." (Luke 14: 22-24)
While Jesus was feasting with the Pharisees, His soul was not content, for they were interested in magnifying themselves rather than receiving from Him.
God made man in His image, then man decided to step out on his own and exist independent from God, yet there can be no life in and of ourselves. It simply cannot be done.
We need life, and this life comes from the Life-Giver, the Life of Men:
"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)
and then
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Jesus is the only way, but He is so good about bringing us to Himself, that we need never fear being taken over or taken advantage of.
We are no longer under law, but under grace. The Old Covenant finished at the Cross, and the New Covenant and the glorious dispensation of God's grace through Christ is flowing fully all over the world!
AA is a cult, a dangerous cult, and I am glad to be one more person exposing this evil for all the world to know!
Saturday, March 22, 2014
The Law is Not for Sons -- Grace!
This truth has been too much for me.
I could not quite understand the power of God's grace in my life.
I never realized that it is all of Christ, none of us.
It is all of Christ, all of Himself, and not about what we do, what we try to accomplish in ourselves.
The revelation which has taken me a long time to receive is that I am not under law, not under sin, but under grace.
Under the grace of God.
Not my efforts, but His Work. Not my striving, but His thriving.
The law was never meant for me, ever.
I was never supposed to try to live a righteous life based on the law, but it's all about the grace of God.
I have to report this. I do not meant to cast shame or aspersions on my parents. They did the best that they could to assist me and to help me to grow.
Yet from the moment that my mother rigorously schooled me in Alcoholics Anonymous, it was a life of trying to be OK with God.
That seemed like the norm to me. It was all about my doing more. It was all about striving in my efforts, instead of resting in His love for me.
How could I ever know that He was on my side, as long as I was still looking at my sins, and I was looking at my sins because I was looking that law, the Ten Commandments, the ordinances which are against all men, ministering nothing but shame, death, and condemnation.
Now I understand the pain and frustration which I had been facing during so many difficult times in my life. I could never quite put my finger on the fear and upset in my life, the "fearful looking after of judgment" mentioned in Hebrews 10: 26-27.
The law is no more in my life. The law is fulfilled in Christ, and there is no going back.
Too many Christians, however, still want to live under law, convinced that they can do it, or worse, they are informed that they are on their own in this life.
This life, however, is Christ's life living in us. If we do not understand that He came to make dead people live, then dead people, or living Christians still in their flesh, will try to live the Christian life on their own, and produce the works of the flesh, the very things which they do not want to see in their lives.
I did not see Jesus big enough in my life. I did not understand how great He is, and par of the reason why is that I was taught to factor in and rely on my own conception of God.
We cannot conceive how great he is -- it is just plain impossible!
The law precludes our understanding of God. The law is not of faith, but anyone who wants to live under law must keep the whole law, which no one can do.
No one at all.
Yet the loneliness of this law was so great, precisely because I had no idea how much He loved me. As long as I was convinced that I had to take care of everything myself, I was back under law, forced and pressed to make the most of this life, figuring everything out on my own.
Such is the result of religion, including the AA cult, which ultimately teaches people to be completely dependent on a group of people or the thoughts and feelings of others.
We receive life, a new identity, a righteous standing before God. He works within us, grants us His peace, and guides us by this same peace.
This life is too short, too good for us to throw it away trying to follow a set of rules, when the Ruler, the King of the Universe, wants to serve us, and let us use Him, for He is our life.
Law is not for sons. The Ten Commandments were never for me, and the Twelve Steps are an evil cult which brings men and women into greater bondage, all which claiming to grant freedom and release.
It's all of God's grace in our lives. All of His grace!
I could not quite understand the power of God's grace in my life.
I never realized that it is all of Christ, none of us.
It is all of Christ, all of Himself, and not about what we do, what we try to accomplish in ourselves.
The revelation which has taken me a long time to receive is that I am not under law, not under sin, but under grace.
Under the grace of God.
Not my efforts, but His Work. Not my striving, but His thriving.
The law was never meant for me, ever.
I was never supposed to try to live a righteous life based on the law, but it's all about the grace of God.
I have to report this. I do not meant to cast shame or aspersions on my parents. They did the best that they could to assist me and to help me to grow.
Yet from the moment that my mother rigorously schooled me in Alcoholics Anonymous, it was a life of trying to be OK with God.
That seemed like the norm to me. It was all about my doing more. It was all about striving in my efforts, instead of resting in His love for me.
How could I ever know that He was on my side, as long as I was still looking at my sins, and I was looking at my sins because I was looking that law, the Ten Commandments, the ordinances which are against all men, ministering nothing but shame, death, and condemnation.
Now I understand the pain and frustration which I had been facing during so many difficult times in my life. I could never quite put my finger on the fear and upset in my life, the "fearful looking after of judgment" mentioned in Hebrews 10: 26-27.
The law is no more in my life. The law is fulfilled in Christ, and there is no going back.
Too many Christians, however, still want to live under law, convinced that they can do it, or worse, they are informed that they are on their own in this life.
This life, however, is Christ's life living in us. If we do not understand that He came to make dead people live, then dead people, or living Christians still in their flesh, will try to live the Christian life on their own, and produce the works of the flesh, the very things which they do not want to see in their lives.
I did not see Jesus big enough in my life. I did not understand how great He is, and par of the reason why is that I was taught to factor in and rely on my own conception of God.
We cannot conceive how great he is -- it is just plain impossible!
The law precludes our understanding of God. The law is not of faith, but anyone who wants to live under law must keep the whole law, which no one can do.
No one at all.
Yet the loneliness of this law was so great, precisely because I had no idea how much He loved me. As long as I was convinced that I had to take care of everything myself, I was back under law, forced and pressed to make the most of this life, figuring everything out on my own.
Such is the result of religion, including the AA cult, which ultimately teaches people to be completely dependent on a group of people or the thoughts and feelings of others.
We receive life, a new identity, a righteous standing before God. He works within us, grants us His peace, and guides us by this same peace.
This life is too short, too good for us to throw it away trying to follow a set of rules, when the Ruler, the King of the Universe, wants to serve us, and let us use Him, for He is our life.
Law is not for sons. The Ten Commandments were never for me, and the Twelve Steps are an evil cult which brings men and women into greater bondage, all which claiming to grant freedom and release.
It's all of God's grace in our lives. All of His grace!
Righteous by Faith in Christ
"But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify." (Romans 3: 21)
There is no righteousness through the law, through the Ten Commandment, ordinances which are against us, contrary to us (Colossians 2: 13-14)
They cannot bring forth righteousness, but actually bring forth the sin and death within us:
"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:" (Romans 5: 20)
and
"The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." (1 Corinthians 15: 56)
and
"6Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." (2 Corithians 3: 6)'
and
"24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3: 24-25)
and
"He is our peace. . .Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;" (Ephesians 2: 14-15)
There are many other passages in the New Testament, which testify that the Old Covenant, the Ten Commandments and the accompanying ceremonial mandates, are all fulfilled and put away in Christ.
In order to make this truth plain and simple to the Israelites, and to all of us, Jesus declared:
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)
Paul then writes:
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1: 17)
and then:
"I 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." (Galatians 2: 20)
We are righteous by faith, not the law -- or any other set of rules like Twelve Steps or any other program, which has been put away and is no longer needed because we believe and receive Jesus as our Savior.
There is no righteousness through the law, through the Ten Commandment, ordinances which are against us, contrary to us (Colossians 2: 13-14)
They cannot bring forth righteousness, but actually bring forth the sin and death within us:
"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:" (Romans 5: 20)
and
"The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." (1 Corinthians 15: 56)
and
"6Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." (2 Corithians 3: 6)'
and
"24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3: 24-25)
and
"He is our peace. . .Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;" (Ephesians 2: 14-15)
There are many other passages in the New Testament, which testify that the Old Covenant, the Ten Commandments and the accompanying ceremonial mandates, are all fulfilled and put away in Christ.
In order to make this truth plain and simple to the Israelites, and to all of us, Jesus declared:
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)
Paul then writes:
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1: 17)
and then:
"I 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." (Galatians 2: 20)
We are righteous by faith, not the law -- or any other set of rules like Twelve Steps or any other program, which has been put away and is no longer needed because we believe and receive Jesus as our Savior.
Everything is Done -- AA Lies
The revelation of God's grace is too much for me not to write about.
And it have given me the perfect platform to blast Alcoholics Anonymous as well as another other religion or cult following which brings men back into bondage to rules, rudiments, and regulations.
If we labor under any set of rules, we will find ourselves ruled by guilt and shame, rather than rest and peace.
The Twelve Steps is a treadmill in which a man walks all over himself, and then is expected to get up and try again, only to find that by working the program to the best of his ability, he just walks all over himself even more.
Dr. Genita Petralli blasted this cult precisely because the whole mandate pressed on people a false identity, one which cripples a person, and casts a negative pallor on everything that a man does.
Imagine waking up every day, learning that all you have is a daily reprieve, one in which you may or may not drink, and that in order to avoid slipping, you have to exercise such steep, dire diligence.
Is it any wonder that individuals get so depressed in AA, and that the suicide is so high, yet remains unreported?
Everything is done for us in Christ -- we live a life of rest from the inside, no longer striving for holiness in our efforts, but allowing His life to burst out through us.
We do need a new identity, one in which God is our Father, and we are His Children. Yes, the AA book talks about seeing God as our Father, and no one should disregard the importance of this truth. One of the reasons why this cult has been so effective is that the program incorporates some truth into it.
Yet there can be no mixture between law and grace. Either we believe that Jesus did it all, or He did nothing at all. We cannot assume that once Jesus died on the Cross, the our actions and thoughts can finish what He declared was already Finished.
It is not the rules of men, or the force of government, but the grace of God which makes us holy, righteousness, and good:
"11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 11-14)
Because we are saved by grace through faith, let us also receive this truth, that everything we have is by grace, not of ourselves, and thus we have nothing to boast about.
"But 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)
His grace works more, does more than anything that we can do in our flesh, in ourselves, in our efforts. And that includes the empty, inane, and ultimately immoral Twelve Steps.
Not what we do for God, but what God has done for us in His Son. When we understand what He has done, and what He is still doing for us (our high priest, ministering on our behalf after the power of an endless life (Hebrews 7: 16)
And it have given me the perfect platform to blast Alcoholics Anonymous as well as another other religion or cult following which brings men back into bondage to rules, rudiments, and regulations.
If we labor under any set of rules, we will find ourselves ruled by guilt and shame, rather than rest and peace.
The Twelve Steps is a treadmill in which a man walks all over himself, and then is expected to get up and try again, only to find that by working the program to the best of his ability, he just walks all over himself even more.
Dr. Genita Petralli blasted this cult precisely because the whole mandate pressed on people a false identity, one which cripples a person, and casts a negative pallor on everything that a man does.
Imagine waking up every day, learning that all you have is a daily reprieve, one in which you may or may not drink, and that in order to avoid slipping, you have to exercise such steep, dire diligence.
Is it any wonder that individuals get so depressed in AA, and that the suicide is so high, yet remains unreported?
Everything is done for us in Christ -- we live a life of rest from the inside, no longer striving for holiness in our efforts, but allowing His life to burst out through us.
We do need a new identity, one in which God is our Father, and we are His Children. Yes, the AA book talks about seeing God as our Father, and no one should disregard the importance of this truth. One of the reasons why this cult has been so effective is that the program incorporates some truth into it.
Yet there can be no mixture between law and grace. Either we believe that Jesus did it all, or He did nothing at all. We cannot assume that once Jesus died on the Cross, the our actions and thoughts can finish what He declared was already Finished.
It is not the rules of men, or the force of government, but the grace of God which makes us holy, righteousness, and good:
"11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 11-14)
Because we are saved by grace through faith, let us also receive this truth, that everything we have is by grace, not of ourselves, and thus we have nothing to boast about.
"But 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)
His grace works more, does more than anything that we can do in our flesh, in ourselves, in our efforts. And that includes the empty, inane, and ultimately immoral Twelve Steps.
Not what we do for God, but what God has done for us in His Son. When we understand what He has done, and what He is still doing for us (our high priest, ministering on our behalf after the power of an endless life (Hebrews 7: 16)
Friday, March 21, 2014
Don't Counsel Me -- Reveal More of God's Love in Christ
Now I am really angry!
All this time, I was still operating according to rules and regulations, thinking that I had to think or feel or do something in order to be good or to maintain my good standing with God.
Jesus did all of that for me at the Cross.
No wonder Jesus talked about wolves in sheep's clothing, men and women who offer what seems to be a perfect sacrifice, when in fact they want to lay people down with rules and regulations and keep people in bondage to the rudiments of this hollow, empty, and lost world.
Even the people very close to me, who were trying to do their best, who wanted the best for me - guess what? They brought the law into my life, as well!
Guess what -- it's OK to be angry!
It's OK to be so upset!
It's OK to be afraid -- and what you feel ultimately does not matter, because His love for us is perfect, and cannot prevent him from living and moving and having His being in our lives.
In our lives at all times.
I used to believe that I had to feel a certain way in order to know that God was with me, for me, etc.
There is a new statement for that -- carnally-minded:
"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8: 6)
To be carnally minded means more than to be sin-minded, but also flesh, sense, law, and ultimately self-centered, as if everything depends on us, which is another way of saying "It's all about me!"
We need to realize that His love for us has nothing to do with us, and that we do not, must not add certain requirements, such as I need to feel that He loves me. He love us, lives in us, and empowers us through Himself, by His Spirit, to do all things.
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4: 13)
It's all of Christ!
So, what is one of the big problems in AA? and also Celebrate Recovery?
These garbled, garbage "self-help" groups actually think that our flesh - our efforts, our feelings, etc -- can help us, that we can improve ourselves/
We do not need self-improvement, we need the Divine Providence of God Almighty through all that Christ Jesus has done for us.
The more that we look at ourselves, however, the more that we will acknowledge how little we measure up. We must not look at ourselves, but rather at the perfect Man at the Father's right hand -- Jesus!
We do not need counseling on how to be better Christians, or what it will take for us to be Christ-like. We do not need people to sit down and listen to our hurts, habits, hang-ups, hardened feelings. We need someone who will reveal to us more of the love of the Father (1 John 2: 15).
This love cannot be understood based on our doing something or fixing something or trying to get something, but rather this love is based on all that He has done for us, and a growing revelation of how great if God's grace in our lives.
I do not want anyone to ask me how I feel. Oftentimes, our bad feelings come from the fact that we do not understand, or we have lost focus on, the fact that God loves us, no, God loves ME so much!
Do not tell me about me -- tell me about Him who loved me, and gave Himself for me ({Galatians 2: 20-21)
Do not tell me what to do -- tell me what He has done, and what He is committed to doing in me and through me (Philippians 2: 12-13)
Do not tell me what I am, but tell me who He is, for as He is, so am I in this world (1 John 4: 17)
Do not give me Ten Commandments, or Twelve Steps -- tell me about the One Perfect Man, and the One thing that He did -- Christ and Him Crucified (1 Corinthians 2: 2)
Forget the counsel of the ungodly -- but tell me about Christ, my hope in glory!
All this time, I was still operating according to rules and regulations, thinking that I had to think or feel or do something in order to be good or to maintain my good standing with God.
Jesus did all of that for me at the Cross.
No wonder Jesus talked about wolves in sheep's clothing, men and women who offer what seems to be a perfect sacrifice, when in fact they want to lay people down with rules and regulations and keep people in bondage to the rudiments of this hollow, empty, and lost world.
Even the people very close to me, who were trying to do their best, who wanted the best for me - guess what? They brought the law into my life, as well!
Guess what -- it's OK to be angry!
It's OK to be so upset!
It's OK to be afraid -- and what you feel ultimately does not matter, because His love for us is perfect, and cannot prevent him from living and moving and having His being in our lives.
In our lives at all times.
I used to believe that I had to feel a certain way in order to know that God was with me, for me, etc.
There is a new statement for that -- carnally-minded:
"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8: 6)
To be carnally minded means more than to be sin-minded, but also flesh, sense, law, and ultimately self-centered, as if everything depends on us, which is another way of saying "It's all about me!"
We need to realize that His love for us has nothing to do with us, and that we do not, must not add certain requirements, such as I need to feel that He loves me. He love us, lives in us, and empowers us through Himself, by His Spirit, to do all things.
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4: 13)
It's all of Christ!
So, what is one of the big problems in AA? and also Celebrate Recovery?
These garbled, garbage "self-help" groups actually think that our flesh - our efforts, our feelings, etc -- can help us, that we can improve ourselves/
We do not need self-improvement, we need the Divine Providence of God Almighty through all that Christ Jesus has done for us.
The more that we look at ourselves, however, the more that we will acknowledge how little we measure up. We must not look at ourselves, but rather at the perfect Man at the Father's right hand -- Jesus!
We do not need counseling on how to be better Christians, or what it will take for us to be Christ-like. We do not need people to sit down and listen to our hurts, habits, hang-ups, hardened feelings. We need someone who will reveal to us more of the love of the Father (1 John 2: 15).
This love cannot be understood based on our doing something or fixing something or trying to get something, but rather this love is based on all that He has done for us, and a growing revelation of how great if God's grace in our lives.
I do not want anyone to ask me how I feel. Oftentimes, our bad feelings come from the fact that we do not understand, or we have lost focus on, the fact that God loves us, no, God loves ME so much!
Do not tell me about me -- tell me about Him who loved me, and gave Himself for me ({Galatians 2: 20-21)
Do not tell me what to do -- tell me what He has done, and what He is committed to doing in me and through me (Philippians 2: 12-13)
Do not tell me what I am, but tell me who He is, for as He is, so am I in this world (1 John 4: 17)
Do not give me Ten Commandments, or Twelve Steps -- tell me about the One Perfect Man, and the One thing that He did -- Christ and Him Crucified (1 Corinthians 2: 2)
Forget the counsel of the ungodly -- but tell me about Christ, my hope in glory!
Love of the Father: More than a Feeling
Our love for God is nothing.
We cannot love God enough, and the law which He handed down to the Israelites is both fulfilled and rendered done because of what Christ Jesus did at the Cross.
Instead of our trying to love God or others, we are invited to let Him love us, and His love informs us to love others in turn:
"We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4: 19)
I am learning so much more about God's love for me.
His love has nothing to do with how I feel.
Nothing at all.
If I feel fear, if I sense reproach, all I have to do is look to the perfect man at the Father's right hand, Jesus (Hebrews 1: 3)
He is the propitiation, the mercy seat for all my sins (1 John 2:2 ) as well as the sins of the entire world.
The entire world includes those who do not (yet) believe on Jesus yet.
All we have to do is believe!
Now, about the love of the Father.
For the first time in a long time, if not ever, I have been learning the importance of growing in understanding of how much God loves me.
God loves me, and that is not some idle notion or emotion.
His love for me has nothing to do with how I feel, by the way, and nothing to do with what I do or think, either.
Because of the mind-control nonsense in the AA cult, though, in which we start to think and feel that how we think or what we feel can block God from working in our lives, then I began also to struggle convinced that I had to maintain a certain level of emotional balance in order of God to be with me, so to speak.
But what does the Bible say?
"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 the love of God.
Yet why did I still struggle in this life? Because I did not understand that God is committed to working in and through me, taking care of all my needs according to His riches in glory, that He cares for me, and therefore invites me to cast all my cares on Him (1 Peter 5: 6-7)
And why did I have such a limited understanding of God's love for me?
Easy -- the AA cult, which told me that I could operate on my own conception of God, yet at the same time had to work a set of steps.
That is not love, and we cannot know the love of God based on such stupid rules and regulations.
We need to understand God's love for us, and that begins with knowing that He totally accepts us, and this acceptance was bought and paid for with His Son's death on the Cross!
Wow!
We cannot love God enough, and the law which He handed down to the Israelites is both fulfilled and rendered done because of what Christ Jesus did at the Cross.
Instead of our trying to love God or others, we are invited to let Him love us, and His love informs us to love others in turn:
"We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4: 19)
I am learning so much more about God's love for me.
His love has nothing to do with how I feel.
Nothing at all.
If I feel fear, if I sense reproach, all I have to do is look to the perfect man at the Father's right hand, Jesus (Hebrews 1: 3)
He is the propitiation, the mercy seat for all my sins (1 John 2:2 ) as well as the sins of the entire world.
The entire world includes those who do not (yet) believe on Jesus yet.
All we have to do is believe!
Now, about the love of the Father.
For the first time in a long time, if not ever, I have been learning the importance of growing in understanding of how much God loves me.
God loves me, and that is not some idle notion or emotion.
His love for me has nothing to do with how I feel, by the way, and nothing to do with what I do or think, either.
Because of the mind-control nonsense in the AA cult, though, in which we start to think and feel that how we think or what we feel can block God from working in our lives, then I began also to struggle convinced that I had to maintain a certain level of emotional balance in order of God to be with me, so to speak.
But what does the Bible say?
"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 the love of God.
Yet why did I still struggle in this life? Because I did not understand that God is committed to working in and through me, taking care of all my needs according to His riches in glory, that He cares for me, and therefore invites me to cast all my cares on Him (1 Peter 5: 6-7)
And why did I have such a limited understanding of God's love for me?
Easy -- the AA cult, which told me that I could operate on my own conception of God, yet at the same time had to work a set of steps.
That is not love, and we cannot know the love of God based on such stupid rules and regulations.
We need to understand God's love for us, and that begins with knowing that He totally accepts us, and this acceptance was bought and paid for with His Son's death on the Cross!
Wow!
Love the Father -- Not a List of Steps
"King James Version
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2: 15)
We cannot know the love of the Father as long as we think that we have to keep certain rules, whether the Ten Commandments, or the Twelve Steps.
How can anyone experience love from a parent or anyone else as long as they have to meet some standard or set of rules or list of experiences?
As long as we think that we have to do something in order to receive, feel, or experience God's love in our lives, we will find ourselves battling fear, anxiety, and frustration in our walk with God, for we have ceased to realize that all our needs are met in a loving Father who cares for us, rather than the other way around.
We need to know this love, and never should we think that we have figured out how much God our Father loves us.
Because God's love for us is so great, Paul prayed the following:
"16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesioans 3:" 16-19)
Before we can rest in the knowledge of growing in understanding of how much God loves us, we need to recall all that God has promised us through His Son Jesus, as we are blessed with all spiritual blessings, made accepted in the Beloved, seated in heavenly places in Christ, far above all other opponents and obstacles, in whom we have all peace, and are freed from the bondage of the ordinances of the law.
The last part is particularly important, and I have been learning to rest in that wonderful and important truth as part of the Finished Work of Jesus Christ.
We are redeemed from the curse of the law, freed from the rudiments of the world, and now under grace, that we can freely receive all things with Him.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Penn and Teller Tell it All About AA
 |
| Penn and Teller cut through the BS All the Time -- including AA |
I never thought anyone could go to such a place.
But the building does exist.
The title on the building reads:
Interchurch Center
What??!
I thought that AA was not a religious program?
Right. . .
Penn and Teller know how to cut through the crap.
And Teller never says a word, since he lets Penn pin down the nonsense.
They decry the "Michael Moore" instigating which they had to do, when going undercover into the AA headquarters.
Someone has to do it, and they did it
But the real reason I was so impressed with the Penn and Teller take-down on AA is that they point out the logical folly of everyone choosing their own conception of "God". God, as any concept, must be a unified reality. There cannot be lots of people who are call claiming "God" as a higher power, yet at the same time recognizing him, her, it in different forms.
Plato took down such polytheistic rationalizing (rationed thinking) in his dialogue Euthyphro.
If there is a God - and I both know and believe that there is, even though Penn and Teller claim to be embittered atheists - it cannot be so that there is a God, and this God can be different gods at the same time.
Thanks again for pointing out another irrational bankruptcy of the AA cult, Penn and Teller!
Hilarious Comic Takes Down AA Cult!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4txNz25Ht9o&feature=player_embedded
Thanks!
This is one of the best take-downs I have ever heard about AA.
His story sounds a lot like mine. My mother went to AA meetings, and she would tell us about all that nonsense, and once I remember sitting in the back with a coloring book, while the rest of the room was lit up with people sharing their stories.
Yawn.
The best line coming out of the whole bit:
If people go to AA and have to declare that they are powerless over alcohol, then that would make alcohol a higher power, would it not?
So, when a member is then supposed to turn his will and his life over to a power greater than himself, why not turn it over to Vodka!
Hilarious!
The circular arguments of AA should leave us rolling in the aisles.
Except that when a person is trying to break free of alcohol, and nothing else seems to be working, people will resort to just about anything, even a cult-religion which claims to have the answers, but which instead lies and distorts the truth, leaving nothing but broken people who "Don't Drink!" yet who can barely function in any other area of their lives.
The book claims to sell AA as a set of suggestions, then pulls the plug on you about four steps in, telling you that if you do not work this program, you will drink again, and to drink is to die!
Lie!
Thanks for the laughs, everyone!
Thanks!
This is one of the best take-downs I have ever heard about AA.
His story sounds a lot like mine. My mother went to AA meetings, and she would tell us about all that nonsense, and once I remember sitting in the back with a coloring book, while the rest of the room was lit up with people sharing their stories.
Yawn.
The best line coming out of the whole bit:
If people go to AA and have to declare that they are powerless over alcohol, then that would make alcohol a higher power, would it not?
So, when a member is then supposed to turn his will and his life over to a power greater than himself, why not turn it over to Vodka!
Hilarious!
The circular arguments of AA should leave us rolling in the aisles.
Except that when a person is trying to break free of alcohol, and nothing else seems to be working, people will resort to just about anything, even a cult-religion which claims to have the answers, but which instead lies and distorts the truth, leaving nothing but broken people who "Don't Drink!" yet who can barely function in any other area of their lives.
The book claims to sell AA as a set of suggestions, then pulls the plug on you about four steps in, telling you that if you do not work this program, you will drink again, and to drink is to die!
Lie!
Thanks for the laughs, everyone!
Freed From All Demands of the Law (even our own)
Not just the Ten Commandments, but from all rules and regulations we are set free.
Yet most people, and especially in churches, contend that without the rules, without the Ten Commandments, we are just giving people a license to sin.
Paul countered that concern immediately:
"1What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein." (Romans 6: 1-2)
And then, Paul writes:
"11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yet just before people start jumping up and down shouting unfair, let us rest and receive the promises offered to us because of the Second Adam:
"15But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)"
We can reign in life because of Jesus!
Because we are now in Christ, rather than in ourselves, we are freed from the curse, from the demands of the law. Instead of trying to be blessed, we receive His blessings and release them in turn.
We are freed from all the demands of the law, which includes the Ten Commandments, because of Jesus:
"4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7:4-6)
We are freed from all these silly, and yet fatal rules, no longer in bondage:
"8Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (Colossians 2: 8)
and then
"20Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21(Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh." (Colossians 2: 20-23)
There were so many rules under which I put myself in bondage.
I felt that I had to feel a certain way, that I had to be thinking a certain way, that if I was not thinking about God, that would make me separated from Him in some way.
The trauma and pain that I was living for so long, I had no idea what to do. For so long, I never realized that He had taken care of everything, that He was dedicated to continue taking care of all things.
I had so many of these conditions which I had placed on myself, much of the time because my understanding of the Bible was so flawed, and the reason for this? I was trying to read the Bible in conjunction with the Twelve Steps and the AA Book "Alcoholics Anonymous."
Those were crazy times, to say the least. I was chronically frustrated, trying to create the very life which God was so freely giving me through His Son.
There was no sense of hope, either, because while I had believed that Jesus had died for my sins, I was convinced that I had to maintain my holiness by confessing (working those damned fifth and tenth steps, for example)
There is no hope as long as we think that we still owe someone (or Someone) something.
In AA, the debt is never paid, because members are expected to continue taking their inventory, never resting in a sense of completion.
When Jesus died on the Cross, we He cried out "It is Finished!" (John 19: 30)
He finished every requirement of the law. His blood cleanses us from all sin (present tense, read about it in 1 John 1: 7). To this day, Jesus remains a full and forever propitiation, or payment, more specifically mercy seat for all our sins (1 John 2: 1-2)
We are freed from all demands of the law, and any other rules, because we have died with Christ, and in Christ we now live.
Like many man-made cults and religious sects, Alcoholics Anonymous merely seeks to place as many people under a new set of rules, when such rules are not longer necessary. When you know that the ruler is watching over you and blessing you in all things, there is no need on your part to work for what He is already working in you to will and to do for Him (Philippians 2: 12-13)
Yet most people, and especially in churches, contend that without the rules, without the Ten Commandments, we are just giving people a license to sin.
Paul countered that concern immediately:
"1What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein." (Romans 6: 1-2)
And then, Paul writes:
"11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6: 11-14)
When we are under grace, in that everything is granted and given to us because of all that Jesus has done, then sin shall not, cannot rule over us.
If we find ourselves struggling in any area of our lives, we struggle because, in effect, "we" or our flesh, our self-effort, I struggling.
Sin is more than what we do, but where we are, and who we are in:
"12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." (Romans 5: 12-14)
Where many Christians, including myself, failed to understand was that sin is deeper than what we do. We are born into sin, because of Adam.
Yet just before people start jumping up and down shouting unfair, let us rest and receive the promises offered to us because of the Second Adam:
"15But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)"
We can reign in life because of Jesus!
Because we are now in Christ, rather than in ourselves, we are freed from the curse, from the demands of the law. Instead of trying to be blessed, we receive His blessings and release them in turn.
We are freed from all the demands of the law, which includes the Ten Commandments, because of Jesus:
"4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7:4-6)
We are freed from all these silly, and yet fatal rules, no longer in bondage:
"8Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (Colossians 2: 8)
and then
"20Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21(Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh." (Colossians 2: 20-23)
There were so many rules under which I put myself in bondage.
I felt that I had to feel a certain way, that I had to be thinking a certain way, that if I was not thinking about God, that would make me separated from Him in some way.
The trauma and pain that I was living for so long, I had no idea what to do. For so long, I never realized that He had taken care of everything, that He was dedicated to continue taking care of all things.
I had so many of these conditions which I had placed on myself, much of the time because my understanding of the Bible was so flawed, and the reason for this? I was trying to read the Bible in conjunction with the Twelve Steps and the AA Book "Alcoholics Anonymous."
Those were crazy times, to say the least. I was chronically frustrated, trying to create the very life which God was so freely giving me through His Son.
There was no sense of hope, either, because while I had believed that Jesus had died for my sins, I was convinced that I had to maintain my holiness by confessing (working those damned fifth and tenth steps, for example)
There is no hope as long as we think that we still owe someone (or Someone) something.
In AA, the debt is never paid, because members are expected to continue taking their inventory, never resting in a sense of completion.
When Jesus died on the Cross, we He cried out "It is Finished!" (John 19: 30)
He finished every requirement of the law. His blood cleanses us from all sin (present tense, read about it in 1 John 1: 7). To this day, Jesus remains a full and forever propitiation, or payment, more specifically mercy seat for all our sins (1 John 2: 1-2)
We are freed from all demands of the law, and any other rules, because we have died with Christ, and in Christ we now live.
Like many man-made cults and religious sects, Alcoholics Anonymous merely seeks to place as many people under a new set of rules, when such rules are not longer necessary. When you know that the ruler is watching over you and blessing you in all things, there is no need on your part to work for what He is already working in you to will and to do for Him (Philippians 2: 12-13)
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Law is Fulfilled -- No More Elements
Another reason that I despise AA.
This religious program, and it is a religious program, has caused people to have the wrong view of God the Father.
The very idea that AA can talk about a loving God on one page, then talk about a bunch of rules and a spiritual program, is just a wicked distortion of Daddy God.
Yes, He is our Daddy:
"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (Romans 8: 15)
"Abba" is Hebrew for "Daddy!" the simplest, most affectionate term one can utter.
That is the name which Jesus revealed the most about God:
"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (Galatians 4: 6)
We have a new spirit, the Holy Spirit, who lives and dwells in us, granting us not just a new life, but a new identity, just like His own Son Jesus:
"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 4:1 7)
We need to recognize that we are no longer living this life to measure up to a standard, because Jesus has fulfilled the law fully, finally, and forever:
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." (Matthew 5: 17)
and
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" (Galatians 3: 13)
and
"And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:" (Colossians 2: 10)
The New Covenant has taken care of us and our part, because we simply cannot fulfill it:
"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:
This religious program, and it is a religious program, has caused people to have the wrong view of God the Father.
The very idea that AA can talk about a loving God on one page, then talk about a bunch of rules and a spiritual program, is just a wicked distortion of Daddy God.
Yes, He is our Daddy:
"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (Romans 8: 15)
"Abba" is Hebrew for "Daddy!" the simplest, most affectionate term one can utter.
That is the name which Jesus revealed the most about God:
"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (Galatians 4: 6)
We have a new spirit, the Holy Spirit, who lives and dwells in us, granting us not just a new life, but a new identity, just like His own Son Jesus:
"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 4:1 7)
We need to recognize that we are no longer living this life to measure up to a standard, because Jesus has fulfilled the law fully, finally, and forever:
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." (Matthew 5: 17)
and
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" (Galatians 3: 13)
and
"And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:" (Colossians 2: 10)
The New Covenant has taken care of us and our part, because we simply cannot fulfill it:
"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:
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)
This new covenant removes our "I" and replaces it with God's "I"
For too long, I had always believed that my sins were forgiven, yet no one had explained to me that because of this New Covenant, the Old Covenant was rendered inoperative and unnecessary, because Christ Jesus fulfilled the law in its entirety, dying for all sins, even all our sins -- past, present, future -- then granting us His life, Himself, including His perfect standing at the right hand of God the Father.
We do not need rules, because the Ruler rules within us, yet God the Father thourgh His Son, by the power of His Holy Spirit makes us not just alive, but sons, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8: 17)
Jesus came to give us life, to give us His life, and to give us Himself.
How dare AA make God the Father, Jesus Christ, and everything that He has done for us anything less.
Forget about a conception of God. We need to receive a growing revelation of how great He is --and continues to be great in our lives!
The law is fulfilled! The law is complete! We are no longer under the law, but we are under the grace of God in that everything that we are, that we have, that we do is based on the requisite knowledge that everything has been paid for, and paid for forever!
The part that has really opened up my eyes, just as the eyes of the two travelers on the road to Emmaus, is that law is not for me at all!
It's all about Jesus, who fulfilled the law, who fulfills, who fills me full of Himself - and blesses me fully to the fullest with His filling!
I could go on and on.
It's not enough for us to realize that all our sins are put away, which means that we should not go around taking our inventories, or confessing our sins.
We first need to accept that there is nothing, not one thing good in us.
Then we see how good God is, and then He blesses us with His infinite goodness in all things!
We must not, cannot return to the weak and beggarly elements without ruining the peace within, only because the law brings out sin, and as long as we walk around in these bodies, we can still be tempted to sin. Yet the greatest temptation to sin is not in circumstances, but in God's own law.
And the law has been fulfilled, and thus we are no longer under the law and have nothing to worry about!
Saturday, March 15, 2014
12 Things AA Hides About 12 Steps/AA
http://porkchoptze.hubpages.com/hub/Twelve-Things-That-Alcoholics-Anonymous-Doesnt-Want-You-to-Know
I wish that I had found this website sooner.
I never realized how AA made lots of people crazy, not just myself.
Here are the Twelve things that AA does not want you to know.
I wish that I had found this website sooner.
I never realized how AA made lots of people crazy, not just myself.
Here are the Twelve things that AA does not want you to know.
1. People are just as likely to quit drinking on their own as with a 12 step program like AA:
Numerous studies have confirmed that AA is not necessary in order to get sober. The link pasted above mentions at least five.
2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is about twice as successful as 12 step programs at helping people to quit drinking:
Cognitive therapy which deals with the emptiness, fear, and loathing in life will better treat people than calling them "alcoholics" and then expecting them to turn their will and lives over to some hollow program.
3. Calling yourself an "alcoholic" is harmful to your mental health:
Thank you!
4. AA is a religion by definition:
Yes, and therefore, the state cannot force people to go to AA as part of a court-mandated program. It is against a person's First Amendment rights to force a person to go to AA as a part of their sentence.
5. Over ten billion dollars per year is spent promoting AA:
False promotion, since telling people that they are alcoholics is not going to go well unless there is just enough force and restraint to make people fall for the garbage.
6. Project MATCH did not study AA:
One more confirmation that this cult has no substantial, scientific support to back up its wickedly deceitful claims.
7. Many "alcoholics" eventually become moderate drinkers:
This I never knew, since I never drank in the first place!
8. There is no meaningful definition of the word "alcoholic":
Give people a false identity, and at the same time this identity has no substance to it, so that who you re depends on what a bunch of people in a room, who refuse to share their full names, tell you you are!
9. AA has not been updated since its inception in 1935:
The triumph of tradition over truth -- the hallmark of every religion, and cult.
10. AA founder Bill W demanded whiskey on his deathbed:
So much for "We are not a glum lot." Ha!
11. AA claims that it is God:
Yes, I recall many times where members were taught to treat the meetings as their higher power, until they could figure out their own conception of God. Really bad stuff, people!
12. You can't "take what you like and leave the rest" in AA:
This part I choose to post in its entirety:
When you go to your first meeting you will hear that the steps are "merely suggestions" and that you can "take what you like and leave the rest". But once you have been sucked in by declaring that you are powerless and decided to rely on AA as your higher power and the rest--you will soon hear that "This is like suggesting that you put on a parachute before you jump out of a plane". You will also hear what Bill W wrote in the 12 by 12, "Unless each A.A. member follows to the best of his ability our suggested Twelve Steps to recovery, he almost certainly signs his own death warrant." Nothing in AA is optional.
AA is an evil cult. Must be stopped. Nuff said.
Numerous studies have confirmed that AA is not necessary in order to get sober. The link pasted above mentions at least five.
2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is about twice as successful as 12 step programs at helping people to quit drinking:
Cognitive therapy which deals with the emptiness, fear, and loathing in life will better treat people than calling them "alcoholics" and then expecting them to turn their will and lives over to some hollow program.
3. Calling yourself an "alcoholic" is harmful to your mental health:
Thank you!
4. AA is a religion by definition:
Yes, and therefore, the state cannot force people to go to AA as part of a court-mandated program. It is against a person's First Amendment rights to force a person to go to AA as a part of their sentence.
5. Over ten billion dollars per year is spent promoting AA:
False promotion, since telling people that they are alcoholics is not going to go well unless there is just enough force and restraint to make people fall for the garbage.
6. Project MATCH did not study AA:
One more confirmation that this cult has no substantial, scientific support to back up its wickedly deceitful claims.
7. Many "alcoholics" eventually become moderate drinkers:
This I never knew, since I never drank in the first place!
8. There is no meaningful definition of the word "alcoholic":
Give people a false identity, and at the same time this identity has no substance to it, so that who you re depends on what a bunch of people in a room, who refuse to share their full names, tell you you are!
9. AA has not been updated since its inception in 1935:
The triumph of tradition over truth -- the hallmark of every religion, and cult.
10. AA founder Bill W demanded whiskey on his deathbed:
So much for "We are not a glum lot." Ha!
11. AA claims that it is God:
Yes, I recall many times where members were taught to treat the meetings as their higher power, until they could figure out their own conception of God. Really bad stuff, people!
12. You can't "take what you like and leave the rest" in AA:
This part I choose to post in its entirety:
When you go to your first meeting you will hear that the steps are "merely suggestions" and that you can "take what you like and leave the rest". But once you have been sucked in by declaring that you are powerless and decided to rely on AA as your higher power and the rest--you will soon hear that "This is like suggesting that you put on a parachute before you jump out of a plane". You will also hear what Bill W wrote in the 12 by 12, "Unless each A.A. member follows to the best of his ability our suggested Twelve Steps to recovery, he almost certainly signs his own death warrant." Nothing in AA is optional.
AA is an evil cult. Must be stopped. Nuff said.
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