Religion The Placebo Effect Vrs. The Renewed Mind By: Minister Speed

Religion

Most Christians are just church goers.  This is what I call A Nominal Christian, or in Name only.  This is what I call Religious people. Their Belief System is so Polluted and Diluted from the Truth of Gods’ Holy Word that what they call the Holy Spirit is nothing but Satan’s Placebo. 

They are devoid of Biblical Truth and therefore cannot realize that their minds have not been renewed and that ANY thoughts they have on God, Christ, Spirituality, or life is a problem.  This is what I call Religion.....

1. Romans 10:17- So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

2. 2 Corinthians 10:5 - Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

3. Romans 12:2- And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

4. 2 Corinthians 4:4 - In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

5. Romans 8:7- Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

6. John 8:32-And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

7. Ephesians 4:22-24 exhorts us to "... put off concerning the former conversation (behavior) the old man (old self), which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man (the new self), which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

8.  2 Corinthians 11:14, And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

A Placebo is a substance that has delusional positive effects as a result of a patient's perception that it is beneficial rather than as a result of a relevant ingredient.  In medicine a Placebo is a pharmacologically inactive substance or a sham procedure administered as a control in testing the effectiveness of a drug or course of action. 

In all cases 100% of the time the person giving the Placebo does not know he has been administered something that is not real.

To put it as simple as possible, a Placebo in Christianity Is a psychological and emotional attachment to a church house, religion, denomination or a man.  These people have a psychological loyalty to the philosophy and traditions to their Placebo Christianity.  

A Christian under a Placebo effect is a person who has not responded in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord. There is no Transformative Power although this person professes belief, faith and love in Christ.

As a minister, I truly believe  that "nominalism or the Placebo effect is a major issue and that the majority of the  Christian populations know nothing of a personal faith, true repentance, and a trust in the finished work of Christ for their salvation.

Some have drank poison willingly, spent thousands of dollars attempting to appease God, neglected their own families and fell prey to many scams and schemes because of the counselings and teachings of the Placebo effect.

Colossians 2:6-9, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8 Beware 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. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

A Recovered Mind is a Renewed Mind

Romans 12:1-2 tells us that the way we are "transformed," the way we learn to live Christ's Life, is by the renewing of our minds - putting off our own negative and corrupt thinking and putting on God's Thoughts.  As we continue in our series on being transformed by the renewing of our minds , we want to cover two important questions. 1) What is "mind renewal?"  and, 2) Why is "mind renewal" so important?

Ephesians 4:22-24 exhorts us to "... put off concerning the former conversation (behavior) the old man (old self), which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind ; and that ye put on the new man (the new self), which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

A "renewed mind," then, is one that has done two things: It has "put off" any sin (any hurt, doubt, fear, rebellion, self-centeredness, lust, bitterness, etc.), any corrupt thinking, or any barrier that would quench God's Spirit and has "put on" the Mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Renewing our minds is not simply "changing" our thoughts, but actually putting off the old, negative thoughts as well as putting on God's Thoughts.  In other words, we can't just say to God, "Lord, give me Your Thoughts," and somehow expect Him to "automatically" give us His Mind.  We must first put off our own self-centered thinking by confessing, repenting, and then giving it to God.  At this point, we can then put on the Mind of Christ.

To renew" means to exchange one thing for another.  In other words, when we put off and put on, we're exchanging our thinking for God's.  If we're not willing to Set Aside and relinquish our own thoughts, then our thinking process will never be renewed and our lives will never be transformed.

Reasons A Mind Renewal Is So Important

There are many reasons why "mind renewal" is critical.  But there are several reasons worth pointing out in this series:  God wants us to have His Mind (His thoughts, His viewpoint) in every situation.

He wants us to have the supernatural ability to discern everything that happens to us from His vantage point and His perspective, and not get dominate down and buried by our own negative thoughts and feelings or by what we can "see" going on.  If we can see from His perspective, then we'll be able to "soar" above our circumstances, our problems, and our trials and not get buried under them.

An Example of A Renewed Mind

Joseph in the Old Testament, I believe, is a wonderful example of someone who was able to see all that happened to him from God's perspective.

The story goes like this: Joseph, the most beloved of all the sons of Jacob, had a dream.  However, he made the mistake of telling his brothers the dream.  His brothers were already jealous of him because he was their father's favorite.  But after hearing Joseph's dream, they were resentful and determined to get rid of him any way they could.

The brothers put Joseph in a pit and finally sold him to the Midianites.  The Midianites, in turn, sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer in Pharaoh's guard.  After an incident with Potiphar's wife, however, in which she tricked Joseph by making it look like he had seduced her, Joseph was sent to prison (Genesis 39).

While in prison, Joseph met the King's baker and butler and did them a favor by interpreting their dreams.  He begged them to remember him when they were released from jail.  However, when it came time that the chief butler was released, he soon forgot Joseph and his favors. 

I'm sure you know the rest of the story.  Two more years went by when Pharaohs dreamed a dream and the chief butler finally remembered Joseph in prison and the interpretation of his own dreams.  Pharaoh’s men contacted Joseph, released him, and eventually Joseph became Pharaoh’s right-hand man.

Joseph was only 17 years old when his brothers threw him into the pit to be sold, and he was well over 30 when pharaoh finally released him.  He had been "in bondage" for over 13 years!

Now you know Joseph must have struggled with "justified" hurts, resentments and bitterness.  He was not a "super saint," but a human being just like us.  Scripture tells us, however, that all who saw Joseph "knew God was with him." (Genesis 39:3) 

Somehow, in spite of all the horrendous circumstances and all the justified natural emotions Joseph must have had, his countenance and his life actions still showed forth his love of God.

The only way Joseph could possibly have made this impression was by constantly "putting off" his own natural bitterness and resentments and putting on God's wisdom and understanding, thereby being able to see all that happened to him not from his own viewpoint, but from God's. 

This is validated in Genesis 50:20 when Joseph finally meets up with his brothers and says to them, "...ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." 

This is an incredible response.  It's not a natural reaction.  Humanly, I'm sure Joseph would have loved to have had his revenge, but that's not how he acted.  He saw all things that had happened to him as being used for God's purposes in his own life.

Do we "see" like this in your own trials?  Do we see all the things that God has allowed in our lives as being used for our good?  I know I still have a long way to go in being able to do this continually.

Joseph received the Promises of God

He knew a new freedom and a new happiness.

He did not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.

He comprehended the word serenity.

He knew peace.

No matter how far down the scale he had gone,

He saw how his experience could benefit others.

His feelings of uselessness and self-pity disappeared.

He lost interest in selfish things and gain insight in his fellows.

Self-seeking slipped away.

His whole attitude and outlook changed.

Fear of people and economic insecurity left him.

He intuitively knew how to handle situations which used to baffle him.

He suddenly realize that God is doing for him what he could not do for himself.

Are these extravagant Promises for God? 

By the way, there were no psychologists and no psychiatrists in Joseph's day.  Yet somehow, Joseph was able to become free from his traumatic past (and his dysfunctional family), and his life was transformed anyway.

It takes constant discipline not to give in to our negative thoughts and emotions that are trying to crush and drown us.  Often, it seems like it would just be easier to give in and let our own feelings rule.  But, you know what happens if we do that?  Those negative thoughts and emotions "take us captive," and then we'll drown for sure. The devil works in our feelings and emotions.

This, of course, is exactly what Satan wants!  He revels in our bondage to our own negative thoughts.  He wants us totally immersed and consumed in our own problems, bound to him by our hurts, our fears, our pain, our wounds and our circumstances (chains of sin) because then we'll see everything that happens to us from our own horizontal viewpoint and not from God's perspective or the Mind of Christ.  As a result, we won't be transformed into God's image, but simply conformed to the world's image and the Gospel won't be passed on.

The Eagle

Scripture often refers to the eagle as a symbol of this renewing process.  Psalm 103:5 says that "our youth will be renewed like the eagle."  "Youth" here, I believe, refers to the "original image" that God created us to have - His Love, His Wisdom and His Power.  As we renew our minds, it's true, we'll be transformed back into God's Image, which is what God intended for us all along.

One of the reasons I believe God uses the eagle as a symbol of this transformation process is that the eagle is the only bird whose whole physical strength is literally renewed after each molting season.  In other words, only after the eagle has "put off" his old feathers, so to speak, does he actually receive "new" physical strength to soar above his enemies.

It's the same with us.  When we "put off" the old and "put on" the new, we too receive God's supernatural strength to soar above our enemies (Isaiah 59:19).

Another reason I believe God uses the eagle as a symbol of our renewal and transformation is because the eagle again comes from the only bird family that has "telescopic sight," a kind of "zoom-in-focus" lens.  An eagle can search out objects literally miles away (indistinguishable to the human eye).  Eagles can see a quarter from over 200 yards away and a rabbit from over a mile away.  This, of course, increases their ability to judge and discern the true situation.

It's the same with us.  Our minds, when renewed by God's Spirit, have the same supernatural ability.  We are able to judge, discern and pick up things that the natural eye (natural mind) would never be able to see or understand.  We are given the supernatural wisdom and ability to discern the true situation and see everything that happens to us from God's vantage point.

Lastly when it comes to the eagle I've found out that in a severe storm the eagle does one thing that no other bird can do.  When it is caught in a storm it instinctively locks its wings and soars above the storm without effort.  This puts this bird due to its size and power at the top of the food chain as apex predators in the avian world.  They are on the highest level in their world.

 Isaiah 40:31, They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

These are the true over-comers.  "Overcoming" simply means freedom from self, freedom from our circumstances and freedom from others' responses and freedom from what my carnal resentful mind is telling me.

Having a renewed mind, putting off our own negative thoughts and putting on the Mind of Christ is the only way we can begin to see everything that happens to us from God's perspective and not get buried by our own.

The Pain and Fear of Recovery By Minister Speed

A wise man once said pain is the touchstone of spiritual growth.

That means Pain is necessary, But Suffering is optional.

You see suffering is living in the past, avoiding the future, and neglecting the now.

Most people don't grow up because they are afraid to face and be rid of the suffering and pain that's blocking them from the touchstone.

The touchstone is the path to progress.  That’s the pain to move to the next level.

It is said we practice spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

Right there those who fear pain stop. They minimize and justify and use progress as an excuse for failure.

The word progress means to move forward in growth and development towards a goal.

Progress like a seed planted is sure and like an arrow in a bow true.

Progress is reality.

Progress is maturity.

Perfection in a mature man is simply giving your very best. 

Progress like success is intent and deliberate.

Progress is like the kind of faith that says nothing happens by coincidence.

Listen, if it is to be it is up to me.

You see the word touchstone means - A standard or by which something is judged or recognized.

Have you ever met a man that you know had something special, something great?

Tell me by what standard or criteria were you judging his greatness by?

It should have been by his courage to face his own fears, walk through and then reach out to teach it to others. 

You see cowards and failures are those who cannot or will not face their own fear, walk through their own pain and come out on the other side.

Greatness is not being afraid of failure rather greatness comes out of failure.

Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he finally succeeded. He's quoted as saying - experience is the thing of supreme value in life.

But in order to have your experience work for you. You've got to go through the pain so you can see the touchstone.

You see winners do what loser can't do or won't do.

A loser won't ever do inventory on his own character, but a winner will do inventory every night along with amends, prayer and meditation and then reading and studying. 

For the winner, Failure is not an option but part of the progress.

Babe Ruth considered by sports historians to be the greatest athlete of all time and once famous for setting the home run record, also holds the record for strikeouts.

Louis Pasteur was only a mediocre pupil in his undergraduate studies and ranked 15 out of 22 in chemistry studies but he went on to invent penicillin.

Listen most listening to my voice or reading this message have had complete failure in life.  The word normal should be eradicated from your vocabulary.

If you are to be successful there must be a revolutionary outlook in the way you view life.  There must be a change in your approach.  Life must take on new meaning.  Let me explain.

Many want change but refuse to change their belief system.

Listen Einstein said the same level of thinking that created the problem cannot be the same thought process or belief system that creates the solution. 

There is only one that can truly change your mind and belief and that one is God…

There is one who has all Power.  THAT...ONE...IS...GOD…

MAY YOU FIND HIM NOW!!!

Listen we've talked about fear.

We've talked about pain.

We've talked about progress.

We've talked about being successful in every area of our lives, but there can be no success without GOD.

Check it out; if I can’t change my mind, or my belief system without God, then I've got to learn to accept Gods’ will for my life.  It is only then that my belief system will change.

If I change my belief system…..Then I change the way I think.

If I change the way I think, then I change the actions I take.

If I change the actions I take, then I change my character.

If I change my character, then I change my circumstances.

If I change my circumstances, then I change my destiny.

When my destiny changes, I begin to tap into Gods’ Purpose, Pattern, and Plan for my life.  To put it as plan as possible, I begin to operate in Gods’ will for my life. In this state, all sort of remarkable things begin to happen.

I must learn to accept Gods’ will No matter how I feel.

Repeat it after me.

I must accept Gods’ will No matter how I feel.

Believing in God is not feeling.

Believing in God is a fact.

Let me Illustrate;

The planet Earth is rotating at 1, 37.3 miles per hour on a 23 degree global axis for equal sunlight distribution without deviation or failure.

The Earth is so perfectly situated at 92.96 million miles from the Sun that if it was 5 degrees closer it would be an uninhabitable Tropical Jungle, and if it was 20 degrees farther it would be an uninhabitable Arctic Iceland. 

Can you say precise, intent, and deliberate.

That means God is on the throne and He is in complete control.

You might say but why do I have to believe in God to produce this change?

Listen most people only go to God when they are in a bind, when they are up against the wall. 

This would be like a man who is sick in His body. He goes to the Dr. who tells him his specific problem. He then gives him medication and tells him to eat fruit and vegetables daily, which he does, BUT he smokes a pack of cigarettes a day alone with this regiment.

This is how most people approach God. They know they need spiritual help.

They may say a few prayers when in need, but that's it.

After that it’s business as usual. 

They are always looking to the heavens wondering where God fits in all of IT.

Listen up, if you are having issues in life that won't move, Whether relational, financial, spiritual or physical, YOU must realize that you need to stop living in Self Will.  You must come to believe that you are the common denominator with your problem.

Get out of your thinking.  Get into the Mind of God.

Listen, God will not give His power to a person who has not shown himself worthy of it. He is not obligated to bless you if your house is not in order.  You must clean the House to your heart.  God will not give you the Power until your HEART changes.  

Your heart will show through in your actions and behaviors, but also your mouth will begin to speak and believe in God’s word because now you have a heart for Him.

It is with the mind that you believe, but it through your mouth that your heart speaks.

Listen, Your physical heart is the vital organ that pumps your life's blood throughout your body.

Your spiritual heart does the same. It is the center of your being apart from your self that allows for God to manifest Himself within you.

This is your Spirit. It is your HEART. This spirit is God. We all have one Spirit and that is where God dwells.

The Word of God is the only thing that gives instruction on how to heal, develop, and strengthen your Spirit Man.  For us at this moment, the Big Book of Alcoholic Anonymous is God's Word.

Listen, if your heart has been broken God has a solution.  A broken heart is when your spirit has been attacked by life issues.  I’m talking about Alcoholism, addictions, Death, Divorce, Molestation, Racism, Mental Illness, Illiteracy, Poverty and all those things that cause us to falter, fall, and self destruct.

These all take away from the Spirit and cause fear and with fear the faith has to remove itself.

The word of God renews my mind to tell it in spite of my circumstances to trust God for We walk by faith and not by sight.

The word convicts you when you're out of alignment with God so you don't receive His consequences.

The Word increases Faith because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

The word decreases my selfish nature so that God can increase inside of me.

The word shows me Gods purpose pattern and plan so I can run this race of life with Him and Be still and know that He is. 

Through the word I learn what God's Will is for my life,and that way I can be healed. 

The Big Book of Alcoholic Anonymous is God’s will for the healing of the alcoholic/addict.  

The Big Book of Alcoholic Anonymous is the most vital piece of information in the earth realm to the newcomer at this time. 

Don’t just Read this Book, Study this book!

The 12 Step Christian By Minster Speed

This blog is for my brothers and sisters in the 12 Step communities. I've noticed that most 12 steppers that profess Christianity spend their time seeking spiritual growth on Facebook through pictures and cliches or traditional "saying".  

Sorry my brothers and sisters but the bible doesn't have pictures you can click and share to receive spiritual growth or oral psycho-babble that brings frothy emotional appeal which moves you emotionally.  I suggest you spend less time on Facebook, and more time studying the Holy Scripture.

If you really want to understand the plan of God for your life He said you would have to read and study His word.  God said "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God". Romans 10:17.  This is why He sends a preacher.  To speak, teach and reach through His word.  This is the only way to build faith.

You don’t build faith through trials and tribulation.  If this was the case we would all be spiritual giants.  Trials and tribulations build patience (James 1:2-3) but only if you are being faithful while you’re going through them.  This is why most people remain spiritual babes when they ought to be mature soldiers.  They can’t stand on God’s word when they are experiencing life’s troubling moments.

God said His word was alive.  It is the only living book ever written through men moved by the Holy Spirit of God.  God then built mankind on a system of growth in the body, mind, spirit, and soul so that we would be able to be spiritually reborn and mental renewed by His word.

You need to ask yourself the question: Are you built for this?

If not one single person agreed with anything posted on my page, books, or blog site I would die knowing that I received my calling from God and that my recovery from alcohol and drugs was not necessitated upon Salvation in Christ but faith in a power OUTSIDE of myself.  This could include anything such as meetings, service work, or any creative force that could help me get me out of myself.

Do you need to be Saved to go to the hospital? Do you need to be Saved to have brain surgery?

Then trust me when I say that just because you’re clean and sober does not mean you have found God.  It's a shame to get sober and go to hell when you die!!! When you found sobriety you got sober and being sober does not mean you found the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who worship Jesus the Christ.

After my initial decision to get help in recovery, it was intimated I would find God if I sought after Him.  People, places, and things were not sufficient enough to initiate spiritual growth.  I was a Christian and indeed only the Creator could suffice.

God has never changed.  He is the same God as He was before I got sober, He is the same God when I got sober, and He is the same God after I got sober.  The only one that had to change was me.  I had to conform to His ways to receive His promises.  I had to change everything!!!

Many of you Christians left your first love for a 12 step god that not only you created but one that you control and one that allows you to do, be and act anyway that you deem allowable in your imagination.  And listen to this…with no consequences as He is only a loving God. He doesn't offer any punishment or corrections at all.  How delusional is that?

The bible says in Romans 1:21-22 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened”.   22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

In Revelation 3:19 the bible goes on to say “I correct and discipline those I love, so be serious and repent”.  Only a terrible parent would offer a child a sick version of love that brought with it no corrections or consequences.

I hear you parrot the non-believer in the rooms stating you chose to call God (by the title) God, when God states in John 15:16 "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you".

 Stop speaking like a non-believer.  God says, “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is death”. Proverb 14:12.  You don’t have the power to choose God.  The bible says “ No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: John 6:44

 My hat is off to you.  How can your finite mind understand an infinite Christ without knowledge of who He is through Holy Scripture?  The bible says in Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”.

Even the Co-Founders of the 12 Step program appeared to understand the significance of who God through Jesus Christ was, and were not afraid of that gospel.  Listen to what Bill W the Co-founder wrote.

Despite all the protests that Bill Wilson never wrote of Jesus Christ, and despite those who have spurned Bill’s statement about the “Lord” and “cure” on page 191 of the Big Book, most don’t realize the truth of what we found and recorded in our recent title, The Conversion of Bill W. See link below.

http://www.dickb.com/aaarticles/Alcoholism-Could-Be-Cured.shtml

Now, thanks to a phone call with an assiduous A.A. history researcher and friend on the East Coast, our attention was called to a letter Bill wrote—dated 1940—and published in the A.A. General Service Conference-approved book, As Bill Sees It (New York, NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1976). Thanks to our friend. And blessings to the readers.

Page 114 As Bill Sees It

No Personal Power

“At first, the remedy for my personal difficulties seemed so obvious that I could not imagine any alcoholic turning the proposition down were it properly presented to him. Believing so firmly that Christ can do anything, I had the unconscious conceit to suppose that He would do everything through me—right then and in the manner I chose. After six long months, I had to admit that not a soul had surely laid hold of the Master—not excepting myself.

“This brought me to the good healthy realization that there were plenty of situations left in the world over which I had no personal power—that if I was so ready to admit that to be the case with alcohol, so I must make the same admission with respect to much else. I would have to be still and know that He, not I, was God.”  LETTER, 1940

Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob never intended for this circus to take place in the 12 Step program and it is showing in our 3% success.  In the beginning the program recovery rate stayed between 91% and 97%.  There are many who remain clean and sober and show no spiritual growth beyond their sobriety which has cause many to state that this beautiful program does not work at all.

See Article below:

AA wrestles with its own True Roots and Spirituality.

These sober people lord and flaunt their TIME and CLEAN DATE as if it was something they had the power to pull off when everyone knows that “there is only one that has all power and that one is God” Pg 58/59 Big Book. Everyone knows that "TIME is not an indication of spiritual recovery."  I truly believe this has resulted in a satanic confusion in the rooms between those who have misused the Big Book and those who are illiterate and confusing others.  Anyone found worshiping Christ will find complete and utter intolerance.

I know there are many who will never accept Christ and that's your choice.  My ministry has always been an Inreach Ministry and I'm speaking to the ones that God has called according to His mercies and grace.  I am not afraid of the 12 step community of non-believers.  I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He has given us a second chance and we should not take this lightly as God has a side to His character that demands justice. 

Personally I cannot understand why churches rent space to Alcoholics Anonymous? Are churches really that desperate for money that they need to allow a group that cuts against the grain of their own beliefs, within their walls? Especially with regard to Christian based churches; The AA of today should be an affront to Christians everywhere.  

One would think that the AA concept of God would be enough to have most Christians kicking AA to the curb.  Today's AA view of God is that of self design.  A God created out of your own imagination.  For example, if a person decided to make their god Satan and they felt that the teachings of Satan should guide their life this is perfectly acceptable.

I sit in utter disbelief at so called professing Christians who are turning away from Christ for a creation within the confines of their own minds.  But there are worse issues regarding AA than just theological conflicts. Another major issue for a church should be the fact that many AA members are very hostile towards churches. They have sayings that mock organized religions:

"Who needs church; I get everything I need in AA."

"Church is for people looking for god, AA is for people who have found him."

"Church is for people who fear hell; AA is for people who have already been there."  Trust me there will be a reckoning and you will find that Hell indeed exist and you will find yourself there...SOBER !!!

If I belonged to a church that catered to a AA group I would be insulted by these statements. Lessons such as this highlight the fact that AA members think AA is superior to church. Not just superior, but condescending to the churches members.

There is no Salvation outside of Jesus Christ. Being sober in the 12 Step program does not mean you are saved and will rest in the presence of God in the thereafter.  

The 12 Steps were never intended to replace Salvation through Christ.  They were design to bring about recovery from alcoholism.  No person in their right mind if they had a broken arm, upon arrival to the hospital would change their god, and risk their salvation just to get their arm repaired.

Listen 12 stepper, Grace is unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification.

This is a virtue coming from God. A state of sanctification or justification enjoyed through divine grace, approval, favor, mercy and, pardon.

The words sanctification, justification, or regeneration all comes from the application of the blood of Jesus in and upon your life. Without this blood covenant there is no justification, regeneration or simply put. NO GRACE.

 I wrote this because many are claiming, choosing or creating their own god then picking from the Christian religious phrases, words, and concepts that have no integrity without Jesus Christ. 

This is what Jesus meant when He said in Matthew 7: 16 “Ye shall know them by their fruits: Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles”?

This is a good rule to see if you are in the midst of a false prophet or if your Christianity is not real itself.  Grapes and Figs were two of the most common foods in Israel and they could have no stock if they grew among thorns or thistles.  The fruit are the true converts, the true disciples.  If you are a Christian leader then this is a mandate or part of the Great Commission.  A true teacher leads mean away from Satan to the light of Christ.  A true disciple lives with the Holy Scriptures in the light of the ways of God. Not within the confines of his own imagination.

Does your life produce a gospel that looks like Christ’s but is distorted with the thorns and thistles (common things of the world)?  Only through the lens of Jesus Christ and His Holy Scripture would you even be able to know this and make the necessary adjustment from your deception.

Speaking Christianese is a very popular spectacle in America at this time and in the 12 Step rooms many have taken this concept to the full and dangerous extreme.  Using words like faith, grace, saved, favor, cleansed, healed, and many other concepts which without Christ would be futile and to some degree insane.

The above words come after one accepts the Blood of Jesus upon their life.  To be a Christian is not done in word but in Power.  

Grab your bibles and let’s grow in Christ.

I leave you with the beauty and grace of Holy Scripture.  I promise that if you read and digest it your life will change.  The word of God is not locked into the ancient of days, nor is it conditioned by man.  His word is both timely and timeless.

Proverbs 13:16-25 New Living Translation (For easier digestion).

16 Wise people think before they act; fools don't and even brag about it! 17 An unreliable messenger stumbles into trouble, but a reliable messenger brings healing. 18 If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept criticism, you will be honored. 19 It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools will not turn from evil to attain them. 20 Whoever walks with the wise will become wise; whoever walks with fools will suffer harm. 21 Trouble chases sinners, while blessings chase the righteous! 22 Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the sinner's wealth passes to the godly. 23 A poor person's farm may produce much food, but injustice sweeps it all away. 24 If you refuse to discipline your children, it proves you don't love them; if you love your children, you will be prompt to discipline them. 25 The godly eat to their hearts' content, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.