“The sight of a woman being tattooed live on the altar accompanied by the sound of a buzzing ink gun provided a startling backdrop to Sunday’s evangelical sermon,” begins the article. Read it and believe it. LINK: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010334052_churchtattoo23m.html

Who had rights to royalties from the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book and other books written by Alcoholics Anonymous cofounder Bill Wilson?

According to Pulitzer Prize winner Nan Robertson, “Royalties from [AA co-founder] Wilson’s books would ultimately give him and [wife] Lois a comfortable home.”  (Getting Better: Inside Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 69)

Robertson notes there was also “…1.5 percent for Helen W., Bill’s last and most enduring mistress.” (pg.69)

It’s all torn down now. The drunkard’s alley no longer exists, nor does the 211, the pool hall where David Mamet filmed “House of Games.”

But I used to drink in that alley quite a bit. Garbage cans from the various businesses were placed every twenty feet or so, and it always smelled of rot, refuse, and wet newspapers. One of the businesses was a Teriyaki place. They used to open their back door to the alley and  dump their chicken bones and customers’ unfinished meals throughout the day.

One afternoon an old white haired lady came down the alley, looking in each garbage can. I was the only drinker in the alley, and taking a swig of my high-class fortified wine, I asked, “Hey! How come you’re digging through the trash?”

The white-haired lady paused, as if she didn’t know what to say.  “Oh. Well. I make soup from the bones for my dog.”

I was drunk enough that the concept of a soup-eating dog didn’t seem odd at all.  “I have the perfect garbage can for you,” I said, as if I were hosting a bone collecting event in the alley. “It’s right behind the teriyaki restaurant, and they put a million chicken bones in there.”

She was a very polite lady, and she thanked me as she picked out bones and put them in her canvas shopping bag. I beamed benevolently and sipped fortified wine.

It wasn’t until years later that I finally understood. She was making soup all right, but not for her dog. The garbage soup was for her.

Don Koenig notes, “Both Carl Jung and [Alcoholics Anonymous cofounder] Bill Wilson claim in their own writings that they heard the voices of spirits that gave them some of what they wrote. Bill Wilson wrote a letter to Carl Jung and at the end of the letter, he refers to psychic phenomena among AA members and he gives praise for “I Ching” (an ancient Chinese philosophy and system of divination).”

This is from an interesting article about End Times Prophecy, Dominion Theology, and much else. Here: http://www.thepropheticyears.com/comments/The%20woman%20on%20the%20beast%20in%20end%20time%20prophecy%20has%20dominion%20theology.htm

LINK: http://www.thepropheticyears.com/wordpress/2009

A.A. cofounder Bill Wilson “felt that no one should have to believe in any particular faith or dogma; that each member was entitled to a personal interpretation of the words ‘God as we understand Him,’ including the concept of the group as a ‘Higher Power.’”

So writes Pulitzer Prize winning writer (and A.A. member) Nan Robertson, author of ‘Getting Better: Inside Alcoholics Anonymous.’ (pg.124)

According to the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book (the A.A. “bible”), “We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the Realm of the Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men. When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God.”[1] (Bold mine)

 Well, that sounds very loving and reasonable. Yet Christ Himself warns us against such a thing. Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father but through me. (John 14:6)

The Lord, in fact, specifically warns against the broad way. “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is BROAD that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.” (Matthew 7:13)

It is no coincidence that the AA Big Book again makes a direct reference to this spiritual Broad Highway: “If our testimony helps sweep away prejudice, enables you to think honestly, encourages you to search diligently within yourself, then, if you wish, you can join us on the Broad Highway. With this attitude you cannot fail. The consciousness of your belief is sure to come to you.”[2] (Bold mine)

In 2 Corinthians 6:14-17, we are told to separate ourselves. In Galatians 1:6-9, Paul says that he who brings another gospel is “accursed.” The Alcoholics Anonymous theology, wherein Christ is seen as one higher power among many, is most certainly another gospel.

If Christians were to base involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous on the Word of God—Sola Scriptura—we would not be at the meetings at all.

Why, then, are so many of us part of it? Most Christians believe AA and the 12 Steps have a Biblical beginning. Therefore, the reasoning goes, we can either “take back” the 12 Steps (Celebrate Recovery etc.), or attend AA with Jesus as our “higher power.”

 http://www.worldviewtimes.com/article.php/articleid-4875/Brannon-Howse/John-Lanagan

The saints at DEFCON know Scripture. This makes for an interesting give and take between Bible believers and advocates of 12 Step spirituality. LINK: http://defendingcontending.com/2009/11/07/exposing-the-12-step-cult/#comment-15698

Francis Hartigan was the secretary for Lois Wilson, Bill’s wife, for thirteen years. He had many conversations with Lois about Bill. He writes, ““[A.A. cofounder Bill Wilson's] belief in God might have become unshakeable, but he could never embrace any theology or even the divinity of Jesus, and he went to his grave unable to give his own personal idea of God much definition. In this sense, he was never very far removed from the unbelievers.”(Bold mine) 

From ‘Bill W.’ by Francis Hartigan, pg. 123

My wife and I love this woman. She makes no apology for the Word of God, not for what it says, nor for what it means. Here is Lyn’s testimony. Where I have tried to hide my past, Lyn begs people to understand hers–because she knows it glorifies God, and will free people.

We’ve said it already, but Lyn, Kristin and I love you, o servant of the Holy One. May He bless and keep you as you continue to minister.

Lyn’s testimony:  http://iamhis-lyn.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-testimony-up-until-fall-of-2003-i.html