CIR KBs

Christians in Recovery Knowledge Base article

When We are No Longer Invincible

My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26

The older I get, the more I become aware of my own frailties. When we’re young, particularly if we’ve been blessed with good health and strength, we fall into the trap of thinking we’re invincible: someone else may step into the street and get mowed down by a truck; someone else might get cancer and die before their thirtieth birthday; someone else may drop dead of a heart attack in the middle of shooting hoops with friends. But not us.

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Overindulge? Who Me?

2 Peter: 1:5-6: Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness.

I turned on the TV to hear the news and the weather report. In a commercial, the person said this is the season “of overspending and overindulging.”

Years ago, a friend told me she gains 10-15 pounds every Christmas season. My mind pictured her in January with her eyes bulging out of her head as she tried to squeeze into her jeans. Vaseline on her legs wouldn’t have helped her slide her body into those jeans.

An acquaintance told me that when his credit card bill from last Christmas came it was as high as the national debt.

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Workshop: Rebuilding Relationships in Recovery

Obie-Host Welcome to the “Rebuilding Relationships in Recovery” Workshop!
We are glad you could join us.
Who would like to open us in prayer this evening?
Heavenly Father…..
We ask that You anoint our speaker Michael tonight…..
as he speaks to us….
open our hearts and our minds to Your truths….
help us to share openly and honestly with one another….
lead those who are in need of fellowship to this workshop….
in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Tonight our speaker is Michael Clark. He is a Chaplain, Biblical Counselor and Speaker.
He is also in recovery himself.
Michael will talk for a period of time after which we will open the floor to questions for him.
I now introduce to you Michael.
You now have the floor Michael.

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Journaling in Eating Disorder Recovery

Write what is on your mind and in your heart. While in eating disorder recovery, you can write poems, stories, lists, letters to others, letters to the eating disorder, prayers, song lyrics or whatever else comes to mind. Copy meaningful quotes or verses into your journal. Record your thoughts, whether positive or troubling, and your emotions, whether uplifting or depressing. There are no rules to journaling, so you don’t have to worry about doing it right.

Maybe you have never written in a journal and feel hesitant to try it. If so, please read further. Let me encourage you to at least give it a try. It may not be for everyone, but how will you know if it is for you or not if you don’t attempt it?

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A.A. – “Stick with the Winners” – Preparing the Newcomer

“Stick with the winners!” That’s one of those often heard, but little understood suggestions a newcomer hears both in his treatment program and in the recovery rooms of Twelve Step Fellowships. The problem is: Who are the winners! How do I find them! What do they do and say that is recognizable and profitable. And if the newcomer is not prepared to spot them, seek them, and follow them, he can’t reap the benefit of “sticking” with them. We believe the winners will subscribe to the following.

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Is God a Choice for You in Your Recovery Today?

In this article about God and Alcoholics Anonymous, we pose the question: Is recovery, healing, spiritual growth, and Divine Aid (as Bill Wilson called it) in A.A. still about “finding God” and “establishing a relationship with God”? A.A.’s basic text still says, “Yes.” And you can find the documentation on pages 29, 58-59 of the Fourth Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, published in 2001. See also Dick B., God and Alcoholism (www.dickb.com/godandalcoholism.shtml)

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Alcoholics Anonymous and the Bible

You would be surprised at how many people in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings today think that you can’t mention the Bible, share from the Bible, discuss the Bible, or even place a Bible on a table in the meetings.

This is a sketch of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Bible–by no means comprehensive, but definitely informative and useful.

    1. The first three Alcoholics Anonymous members–Bill Wilson, Dr. Bob Smith, and attorney Bill Dotson–all had Christian upbringings. All had studied the Bible long before A.A. began. And all believed in God.

    2. When Bill and Bob were formulating the Akron Alcoholics Anonymous Christian recovery program in the Smith Home in Akron in the summer of 1935, Dr. Bob’s wife read the Bible to Bill and Bob every single day.

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