Gregg Tells How The Good Book and The Big Book Helped Him in His A.A. Journey and Recovery

To order a copy of The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A.'s Roots in the Bible, go to amazon.com where you can obtain it in print-on-demand or electronic book format (Kindle) Or order from our site: www.dickb.com/goodbook.shtml

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to respond. It was a very pleasant surprise to get an e-mail from you personally.   I know you must be busy so I am not expecting another response as I don't want to tie you up with endless e-mails.  However, I did want to let you now how your book "The Good Book and the Big Book affected me personally.

 

Before I got into AA I was a student of the Bible.  I read it cover to cover several times but could not manage to get sober. Eventually I abandoned it and focused solely on AA and the Big Book and got sober.  About 4 years ago my sponsor suggested I read The Good Book and The Big Book.  I finally got around to it about 6 months after his initial suggestion. That had a powerful affect on me.  It immediately got me back into the Bible. It was like being reunited with an old friend.  

 

Since that time I have read the Bible cover to cover about 3 more times.  It also gave me an resentment of sorts.  I know that resentments are not particularly good for AA's but I had a resentment that AA was not giving credit where credit is due; namely to Jesus Christ and the Bible.

 

I had a burning desire to attend a meeting where you could say the name Jesus or read from scripture and not be chastised.  I really did not want to begin one myself.  I found Christian based recovery meetings in my area such as Celebrate Recovery which were great but they just were not AA.  I chanced upon the Came 2 Believe Retreat put on by John R. and was blown away when they openly read scripture.  Anyway, after trying hard to suppress the idea, it kept coming up.  So I finally gave in and, with the help of a few friends, began a Monday night meeting called Champions and Winners.

 

Originally I planned call it a Christian-based AA meeting but it was suggested that I forego that because I might catch too much heat.  Instead we focused on modeling after early AA, which used the Bible.  As a preemptive strike against the AA police critics, I use a excerpt from your book, of course giving you the credit. (see attachment) 

 

We are a 1st Edition Big Book Study.  We purchased several 1st Edition reprints in paperback for $4.00 a piece. Also, at the end of the meeting I typically read a paragraph or two from your book.   

 

Anyway, I say all the above just to simply express my gratitude for the work that you are doing for AA as a whole and how your work has affected me personally.  THANK YOU AND MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU!

 

P.S.  I already order, Stick with the Winners.