Dick B. interviews
Christian Recovery leader Alan McC. on the January 14, 2013, episode of the
"Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show.
Copyright 2013 Anonymous.
All rights reserved
You Can Hear the Alan
McC. Radio Interview Right Now
______________________________________________________________
You may
hear Dick B. interview Christian Recovery leader Alan McC. on the January 14,
2013, episode of the "Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show
here:
or
here:
Episodes
of the "Christian Recovery Radio with Dick B." show are archived at:
Introduction of Alan by
Dick B.
Alan
McC. is our guest today. He and his family vacation, and have visited us, on
Maui. They have a condo on Maui and attend a Christian church here. Alan
resides in Clayton, California, and is retired.
He's an avid Big Book student and teacher, and has long been an
active AA. He participates in the International Christian Recovery Coalition.
He and his wife reach out to still-suffering alcoholics in many ways, including
support for CityTeam International.
He'll tell us his vigorous exercise and sports life--golf,
swimming, diving, hiking, and running. And Alan’s Big Book and 12-Step
knowledge have been extremely helpful to us, particularly since Ken and I have
turned our latest research and publishing work to telling AAs and others just
how much there is in present-day A.A. General Service Conference-approved
literature that encourages the interests of those alcoholics who want God’s
help. Who want to invoke it in their own 12-Step Fellowships. And who are
looking for the ample historical facts showing that the principles and
practices of the early A.A. “Christian fellowship” founded in Akron in 1935 are
quite appropriate in A.A. today.
We believe that emphasis can significantly help Christian
leaders and workers in the recovery arena, as well as Christian newcomers,
understand what the early Christian AAs did with such great success in
1935-1939. How Bill Wilson’s “new
version of the program” (including the 12 Steps) altered the highly-successful
“old program” yet retained its basic stress on the power of God. And how the
two programs (old and new) meld together for believers needing and wanting
God’s help.
Alan will tell about his drinking days,, career, and his
vigorous service to God and others.
Synopsis of Radio
Interview
You
will learn the most and the best of Alan’s remarks by listening to the radio
show itself
But there are some highlights that are
important to report here:
1.
Alan
has no doubt he is a real alcoholic. He can’t and couldn’t control his drinking
and couldn’t control to whom or where it would land him once he began.
2.
The consequences
of his own life and drinking were the shame, guilt, fear, separation and
loneliness he felt. But, at age nine, he experienced the “ease and comfort”
that came with drink. For, when he didn’t drink, his life was unmanageable. But
when he got drunk, everything became joyous and manageable.
3.
On New Year’s
Eve of 1983, he relapsed. He was riding a motorcycle. The noise and joy left
him confused. He had done the 90 meetings in 90 days. But he had a sponsor who
was content to go to meetings. Period! Then the sponsor left the country. For seven years, he didn’t drink. But he had
never heard of Jesus, God, the Solution, or the Program of action (a situation
not uncommon in the later A.A. days of his and of Dick B.)
4.
Then he
found a new sponsor. The man asked what happened since he hadn’t been drunk for
seven years. He then asked Alan if he believed in God and if he knew what God’s
name was. When Alan gave the appropriate answer, he was told to get on his knees
and pray the 3rd Step Prayer. Then the 4th, 5th,
and 6th Steps. Followed by the 7th Step prayer asking God
to take away his character defects.
5.
But he
was losing his job. He called his sponsor. They went to a meeting—a meeting of
7 men. A meeting that is still going in San Francisco and now has 70 attending.
Alan had learned the importance of working with others. He is sure he sponsored
between 100 and 150 men and women. He conveyed to them the hopelessness of
their plight—the situation Dr. Silkworth had described so well. But there was
an emphasis on morality, rather than the Christian person for morality. And he
felt his life had become purpose-driven.
6.
Fourteen
years after he was sober—fifteen years ago—he had been insulted by a woman. He
became separated from God. And he grasped the importance of God. The key was
honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness. Alan had been chastised for
mentioning Jesus. But he was told he need never be ashamed of Jesus. That page
29 of the Big Book had nothing to do with how the pioneers got sober. It had to
do with the personal stories of how the pioneers had, in their own language and
from their own point of view, established their relationship with God.
7.
To an
AA who had reproved him for saying Jesus Christ, he said he stood on Romans 10.
He told the person, “I know where I’m going.” He asked the man if he knew where
he was going, and the man said he did not. Alan realized his job was to spread
the news of hope and that love did not separate people. His sponsor made clear
that he must not take irrelevant or hurtful remarks personally.
8.
I (Dick
B.) will not steal the high point of a final story that Alan told about the
miracle that happened when he was under water trapped in a cave, and cried out to
the Lord for help. He referred to what Bill W., Bill D., and Dr. Bob all said
about who could and did deliver them. The first two said the Lord had cured
them (page 191 of the Big Book). The third (Dr. Bob) said “Your Heavenly Father
will never let you down.” And, when our listeners have digested that, and have
heard of Alan’s deliverance, we’ll let them decide if miracles still can and do
happen when resort is had to the love and power of God.
Gloria Deo
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