Comments on: The Christian Recovery Movement: a Brief Introduction

By: BertieorBirdie

BertieorBirdie — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 01:35:26 +0000

I was so confused about what to buy, but this makes it undretansdable.

By: LYNNE

LYNNE — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 23:10:51 +0000

Just from the beginning I can see some error (whether intentional or not). He references that AA is critized for not being Christian enough but people fail to see that it was a baby step pointing to God or something along those lines. I’ve been in a NA meeting for someone I loved & I heard that ‘the god of your understanding’ can be anything even a doorknob by someone. How is not making it clear that help comes only from the true & living God pointing to Him? That is the same rhetoric one hears in the lost world (come to God your own way & believe about Him as you please). The solution to addictions, as with all sin & life problems is a loving Savior the Gospel. I have been to recovery places by churches that use they claim biblical teachings not NA/AA, etc…and still open to anyone who wants help as long as they are willing to not interupt & try to change the biblical message. So, I disagree & am concenned with that view & how it may be alligned with other errors. Also, I’ve read by DAVE HUNT in a book warning about New age etc in Church that AA movement had some occult or other non biblical ties in its foundation.

The bottom line is to be careful & not make a movement to help those caught up in man religion join another & become part of a more man religion or even a cult. I have to learn more to come to a conclusion by asking God to guide me…but yes I have concerns. Originally I was researching a movement know as Recover which I was told was Latin based & has books written by an author of Asian heritage. Thats how I came upon this site. May God bless, guide & keep all in Lord Jesus.

By: Diana Alanis

Diana Alanis — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:24:08 +0000

I think the expression “spiritual kindergarten” refers exactly to what Mr. Dale Ryan explained “make it simple”. It doesn’t mean that people attending Alcoholic Anonymous are situated in a lower spiritual level than non attenders Christians are. It means that the programmme doesn’t containe doctrine and some other openned Christian methods that would have probably make the programme inaccessible for people with addictions, hurts and traumas. What Christians must work on is in making them easy to get into the Church, with love and grace, and in recognizing that most of us – or maybe, all of us – need to participate in recovery programmes, since we all are sinners and have suffered some kind of hurt.

I’ve just read Mr. Dale Ryan’s speach, and I´ve found it such a blessing. My dear Lord Jesus, thank you very much for AA’s groups, for its founders and for the Christians who have given credit to them, finding the Christian principales in it and incorporating them to the Church.

By: jill francis

jill francis — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:50:28 +0000

I thought the example of the lady who needed an interim church before she came to the nice church illustrates wonderfully the difficulty a rising number of people have when joining a church. I am a christian believer of 9 years. it is disappointing that it has taken so long to begin to gain some recovery. Maybe it would have been sooner if I had not been told that God had been taken out of the 12 step programme. It is humbling indeed to realise that although I have read loads about the grace of God, there are a vast number of people out there actually experiencing the grace of God.

By: Dick B.

Dick B. — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 22:42:40 +0000

Vital to note that it was Bill Wilson, not Dr. Bob, nor some A.A. publication that used the expression “spiritual kindergarten.” Bill was pointing to Dr. Bob’s prayer life and effectiveness in prayer and said that he himself (Bill Wilson) never grew up and was just rushing around teaching spiritual kindergarten. There is no “A.A.” that can be referred to as kindergarten or graduate study. A.A. is simply a fellowship. Originally it was a Christian Fellowship. It certainly is not today. And the important thing to remember is that there are tens of thousands of Christians in A.A. today. They rely on the Creator, study the Word of God, and accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. That’s not kindergarten. It’s the way they establish and maintain a relationship with their Creator and fellowship with Him, His son, and other believers. See When Early AAs Were Cured and Why http://dickb.com/alcoholismcured.shtml

By: admin

admin — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:59:57 +0000

I can certainly appreciate your concern about people who are “too righteous and judgemental.” And I see how “spiritual kindergarten” might sound like an expression of that kind of thing. Actually, it is an expression used often by Bill Wilson, one of the founders of A.A. Here’s a quote from Ernest Kurtz’s book Not God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous:

“We are only operating a spiritual kindergarten,” Bill Wilson often claimed. . .

I think the expression is an attempt to communicate “keep it simple”.

Dale Ryan

By: HaJi

HaJi — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:33:56 +0000

I do not appreciate your implication that 12 step is the kindergarten level of christian church. That is rude. Christians are too righteous and judgemental.