celebrate recovery exposed
There simply is no way to justify the need for anything else - especially something as far from the Christian gospel message as the Twelve Steps. And while confession is a good thing, its not the same thing as repentance. And a lost person cannot gain the power to follow His will without the indwelling Holy Spirit. Repentance and faith. Homosexual Agenda Recovery Would you be ok with Celebrate Recovery if they stopped using the familiar 12 steps as a reference and only used the scripture verses? Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." [1] John Baker served as the primary author of The Celebrate Recovery curriculum and materials. Saturday. Treating the one who sinned and the one sinned against as though theyre the same by placing them in the same recovery program is damaging to both because it teaches the sinner hes not responsible for his actions and has no need to repent, and it teaches the one sinned against that shes no different from the one who sinned against her. This is not the same thing as adding to Gods word. The word poor was used to describe abject poverty and a raggedly covered (if covered at all) beggar, cowered over with head down and hand out (TDNT, 6:886), while in spirit refers to our moral/spiritual state. www .michaelenglishmusic .com. How do you reconcile using any part of an idolatrous program and mixing it with God's Word in scripture as Celebrate Recovery does? And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. Your comment will be posted after it is approved. Openly examine and confess my faults to myself,to God, and to someone I trust. Apostasy Faults are not equivalent to sins. Fellowship House, 1998. They'll say, "I don't know anybody that doesn't need recovery" where I often chimed in, "I don't know anyone who doesn't need Jesus." How does adding to God's Word, blending the heretical teachings of AA with God's word, labeling the sin of addiction as disease, and focusing on supposed humanistic needs rather than the un-compromised gospel of Jesus Christ in any way bring glory and honor to Him? They have NEVER presented the Gospel, only their own convoluted fantasies of how things ought to be in their make believe world. Freedom From Sin Reformed Theology The purpose is to focus on God's healing power through fellowship and community with others who are struggling with life's hurts, habits and hangups. CR Tools. The lost son was the fathers son before he fell and remained his son while he lived in sin. Print. So that you can study what Gods word actually says in comparison to those well known 12 steps. Besides that, the pick and choose usage of Bible verses made the whole thing pretty disingenuous and cheesy. August 2017 Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. Locators. humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. The father never disowned his fallen son. As a defender of AA and CR who claims to be Christian, you have to ask yourself - how could you ever claim the authority and sufficiency of scripture as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches without being a hypocrite? Thank you for this. The Celebrate Recovery Bible is a study bible with added stories and devotions. The idea is that the sinner has come to terms with Gods towering moral standards for humanity; absolute perfection (cf.Matt. Further, the purpose of this review is not to question whether the 2.5 million participants have felt that they were assisted with enslaving behaviors, nor to doubt the sincerity of individuals seeking to help, but, instead, to examine CRs claim to be biblically based. I dont agree with Rick Warren on a lot of things but this program works and the HolybSpirit uses those scriptures to deal with people. Celebrate Recovery is a safe place to find community and freedom from the issues that are controlling . John Baker and Rick Warren of Saddleback Church created the program in 1991 to help people with various addictions. Most do not read their Bibles, and so these two programs become their false gospel. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012. The biblical means for helping a saved person who is committing the sin of drunkenness is to follow the steps of church discipline (beginning with a one on one call to repentance and restoration) commanded in Matthew 18, and if he repents, disciple him in obedience to Gods Word. They present a works-based gospel, which is no gospel at all. The global headquarters is in Lake Forest, California, United States. You state that, "Its obvious why the 12 steps are included, because the world is familiar with them." I do not endorse anything on these sites that deviates from Scripture or conflicts with my beliefs as outlined in the Welcome or Statement of Faith tabs in the blue menu bar at the top of this page. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. To learn how to forgive themselves , to love themselves as Christ loves them. They tell sinners Jesus loves them, invite Him into your heart, make your decision, choose Jesus, get baptized, etc. The ministry below is one Ive been asked about recently, so Ive done a quick check (this is brief research, not exhaustive) on it. Join more than 7 million hurting people across the globe who now walk in freedom through the power of Jesus Christ as we walk through the 8 principles of celebrate recovery based on the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. Each person has their own unique relationship with Jesus based on how the Holy Spirit translates the scripture to the individual, each person is free to seek outside sources for guidance on how to translate scripture and when they listen to a sermon or read a study it is that individuals responsibility to test the message against scripture and since we are all unique we dont have a right to determine that the other persons belief is wrong simply because it doesnt perfectly match our own. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. May 2020 Once youre saved (or if youre already saved as youre reading this), find a doctrinally sound church, make an appointment with your pastor, and ask him to point you to someone who can disciple you in obedience to Gods Word. It guides us toward new healthy truths and life-giving habits as we repair our broken relationships. Rick Warren's statement above is completely false and it is irresponsible for any Christian Pastor to make such claims. This Good News capital G, capital N? Proverbs The common argument from proponents of Celebrate Recovery when presented with the truth of the twelve steps heretical origins is that because bible verses are used along with the Twelve Steps in Celebrate Recovery it is a Christian program - this defense is ridiculous. Proverbs 30:5,6 says, "Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Absolutely not says researcher John Lanagan. [17] January 2015 Spiritual Formation The issue here is that the unbeliever is not indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit to resist and flee from sin. In his review, Davis informs us that CR is founded on eight principles taken from the Beatitudes and has similarities to the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.. Universalism Chad, Change). Hope Specifically, Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matt. May 2015 Your First Step to Celebrate Recovery: How God Can Heal Your Life. I know , I was the saved son that fell into darkness and through other Christians and prayer I found my way back to Jesus. Home. Words, "Any teaching that detracts in the slightest from the glory of God is not a biblical teaching.". Celebrate Recovery is an American Christian twelve-step program designed to facilitate recovery from a wide variety of troubling behavior patterns. December 2014 A ministry or trend cannot allow or encourage any of these things. Mark 16:15 says,"And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." Hold the phone, Henrietta. (2) Though claiming to be Christian based, its theology often clashes with sound Christian theology. Only a omnipotent, omniscient God has the power to free the sinner. (The most noticeable difference is that the phrase God, as we understand Him has been changed to simply, God.). Thus, he comes to God, as nothing more than a head down, hand out, moral beggar, with zero moral/spiritual contribution to God except sin. The son repented and the father ran to meet his son and helped him heal. Celebrate Recovery Shoreline Church Beginning August 21, we will be offering THREE Sunday gatherings at 8:15, 9:30, & 11 AM. The program, created by John Baker and Rick Warren, is supposedly based on biblical principles. Celebrate Recovery is sponsored and supported by Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral, Austell, GA. All comments are handled manually, and I do not publish comments which promote false doctrine. Celebrate Recovery (CR) was created by John Baker, a member of false teacher Rick Warrens Saddleback Church. ; The ability to have face-to-face conversations and . ), Is Celebrate Recovery Biblical? It is my opinion that no believer will ever experience their freedom in Christ from a program. The Egyptians at the Red Sea believed in Gods existence and power. Strength Stop wasting time and money on man made programs that cannot free sinners from their bondages. Bill Wilson simply switched from booze to cigarettes, and died from emphysema. God does not bless heresy and worldliness. Jesus tells us in John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." Ashley, in what way does being involved in and defending Celebrate Recovery which is based on heresy bring glory to Jesus Christ? RW does speak of repentance, and the Jesus is the only higher power. Friday. It is common knowledge that the Alcoholics Anonymous program and the Twelve Steps that Celebrate Recovery adopted were demonically inspired and directly contradict the gospel of Jesus Christ - they are obviously the works of darkness. The global headquarters is in Lake Forest, California, United States . One that walked the walk and one that fell to sin. There is NO man made program that can free a sinner from his/her bondage to sin, theres only ONE who can set us free from the grasp of sin, for sin overpowers all sinners. April 2019 The Good News of Celebrate Recovery? As I said above, the first half isnt bad. In 2020, the organization was present in 10 countries around the world. In todays post, this first problem will be demonstrated. [9][10] They may not use resources outside of the Bible and authorized Celebrate Recovery curriculum materials. New Mexico was the first state to adopt Celebrate Recovery into its state prison system and now has Celebrate Recovery pods in all its state prisons. The question we must ask ourselves is, should Christians get involved in a program that stems from A.A.s twelve steps? [8], Celebrate Recovery uses both the 12 steps developed by Alcoholics Anonymous and a very similar set of eight sequential principles that are understood as a lesson of Jesus' Beatitudes. Addiction Discernment Humility The prophets of Baal all believed in Gods existence and power (right before Elijah slaughtered them all). Meditation At 20:11ff, Johnny quotes Romans 3:23, and then proceeds to define sin as mistakes. Articles. Clever readers will notice that the first letter from each of the eight steps forms the acronym, recovery. CRs approach takes each of the eight principles and expoundsthem with a few lessons, forming the 25 lessons in which participants are guided through how to deal with their hurts, hang-ups, and habits (the oft-used phrase in CR to describe our problems which need recovery). 7:10-12 gives very specific evidence of genuine repentance and the effects it has on a believer. The twelve steps referred to in the above excerpt are the demonically inspired twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous which directly contradict the gospel of Jesus Christ. Born Again If youd like to check out some pastors and teachers I heartily recommend, click theRecommended Bible Teachers tab in the blue menu bar at the top of this page. Celebrate Recovery (CR) is a Christ-centered, 12 step recovery program for anyone struggling with hurt, pain, or addiction of any kind. Purpose Driven No mention is made of personal repentance of sin or placing ones faith in Christ as the Bible defines it anywhere in this video. Thats unbiblical. How do you reconcile using the heretical Twelve Steps of AA instead of the gospel with this command? A murderer can confess his crime, but feel completely justified in having done it, and be perfectly willing to do it again if given the chance. Prayer [14] Celebrate Recovery has not been significantly studied, so there is no empirical evidence regarding the impacts or efficacy of the Celebrate Recovery program. Both sons remained his sons no matter what. Celebrate recovery is a biblically balanced approach to help bring sustainable recovery and healing to our hurts. If you participate in Celebrate Recovery you have to reject the truth of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 because you are relying on steps and a program from outside of scripture that contradicts scripture. We are in desperate need of an Elijah, Apostle Paul, John the Baptist, or Jonah type of man that truly has been regenerated by God, empowered by the Spirit, trembles at His word, and will stand up and proclaim the whole counsel of God as well as speak out biblically against nonsense like celebrate recovery! Its an outreach to the community. Free-will Principle R2 is great if youre saved, since all Christians are supposed to be doing these things anyway. I desperately tried to find Jesus in the recovery steps but could not find him. Jesus begins this great sermon by turning the common understanding of those in Gods favor on its head. Who will replace retiring Rick Warren at Saddlebacks Helm? Rather the terminology he uses is hurts, hang-ups, and habits (instead of sin) and healing from your hurts (instead of repentance). Below are the biblical criteria I use when deciding whether or not to recommend a teacher, ministry, etc. Access our library of updated, exclusive material that will strengthen both individuals and local ministries. Sinful Desire So similar, in fact that each Principle is followed by a notation as to which of the 12 steps it corresponds to. Faith The Worst Part about Our Sin. Watch Pastor Johnny and Jeni explain what Celebrate Recovery is all about. Now lets take a look at some of the unbiblical 8 Principles and 12 Steps of the Celebrate Recovery program: Its a little confusing as to why CR has both 12 Steps and 8 Principles of recovery, but if Im understanding it correctly, CRs 12 Steps are designed to be sort of a bridge to assimilate people already familiar with the 12 steps of secular recovery groups (such as AA) into CR. C-R also claims progress in place of Spiritual perfection as does A-A. More specifically, CR teaches that the Beatitudes (Matt. I give all the praise and glory to the spirit which moved that mountain for me. The core of the CR program - the twelve steps are heretical. CR is just a humanistic self-help program. Even Jesus had struggles with the religious leaders in his life. Grace CRs 12 Steps are almost identical to the secular 12 steps. Nowhere does Scripture suggest that we need to heal and recover from sin. What an insult to Jesus Christ our Savior to label Him with a name from a program (Alcoholics Anonymous) which directly contradicts His gospel! Rick Warren writes that CR was born when I began an intense study of the Scriptures to discover what God had to say about recovery. To my amazement, I found the principles of recoveryin their logical ordergiven by Christ in His most famous message, the Sermon on the Mount (12). Your objection is most likely answered here. April 2020 During the past 25 years, some 20,000 churches in the United States have reportedly used CR, with some 2.5 million people having completed the program. The Holy Spirit said it through PaulRom. Its not that God isnt powerful, its that as an unbeliever you dont have access to, or a right to that power. So, on the macro-level, CR has taken a worldly philosophy and attempted to Christianize it slightly in order to appeal to the lost, which, again is typical of the way Saddleback the original seeker driven church tends to operate, and which, as I mentioned earlier, is unbiblical. John 4 Is His gospel in His Word not enough? The man has sinned. Rick Warren writes, [D]uring the ten-week series that I preached to kick off this program, our attendance grew by over 1500! (John Baker, Celebrate Recovery Leaders Guide, 12). CELEBRATE RECOVERY 12 STEPS AND BIBLICAL COMPARISONS. Living in a broken world we all deal with lifes hurts, hang-ups, and habits. Popularity does not equal correct doctrine. The indwelling Holy Spirit is a sign, seal, and guarantee of our salvation, and salvation does not take place without the repentance of sin and placing ones faith in Christ. The best first step to start a CR at your church is to contact your State Rep. Another great step when starting a CR is to attend a Training Conference. The wife needs to be cared for, helped to heal, and ultimately, to forgive. Love 5:3) is not a recovery principle, teaching that Im not Godpowerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable (9). And they definitely mattered to God, just not in a good way. Many AA or CR members dont realize this!) Alcoholism Sufficiency Of Scripture This interpretation, however, incorrectly understands the Beatitudes by removing them out of their context and interpreting them in an eisegetical manner. The biblical means for helping a lost person deal with addiction is to call him to repent and believe the gospel, and, if he gets saved, disciple him in obedience to Gods Word. Peace But the Scriptures teach that all mans efforts will fail and the result of the failure will be worse for the man that depends upon his own efforts. Baker, John, and Richard Warren. February 2015 Thanks for taking the time to respond. March 2015 Read the articles on this site entitled "Was Alcoholics Anonymous Started by Christians?" Ashley, God taught us this way back in Psalm 51 where David, repenting of his sin with Bathsheba said, Against You [God], You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight. God is the first, last, and ultimate object of our sin. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. Todd-April 2, 2018. In response, various efforts have been made to deal with the problem. I am a sinner like everyone else walking this rock we live on. Warner Alliance, Curb. Learn how your comment data is processed. As if man can free someone from the bondage of sin. Having said that, this review (completed largelywith the help of Matthew Mumma) will demonstrate that CR contains two major problems: (1) Though claiming to be biblically based, its teachings are often constructed from a misuse of Scripture and an erroneous hermeneutic. Neither are they ways to be happy (12). Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover. Designed for those with "hurts, habits and hang-ups," as its slogan says, CR offers biblically-based encouragement and hope for change. Scary, how many people we know that are full on CRs. The program, created by John Baker and Rick Warren, is supposedly based on biblical principles. Catholicism (RCC) The most dangerous thing Ive read on this subject is some people claiming they know who is saved for eternity and who isnt. Finally, I will tell you this: I have never met a single CR leader or attendee who understood the Gospel, the New Covenant Gospel of Grace. You mention Rick Warren added some scripture so it could be sold and marketed as celebrate recovery. While there are many godly and well-meaning people involved at the local Celebrate Recovery, the message has been twisted. And if theyre trying to circumvent repentance, faith, and the biblical gospel in order to steal what they want from God, theyre not asking humbly, theyre asking pridefully. I basically drank everyday for 40 years. I have seen addictions brought under control, have seen fathers helped with addictions then start going to church and bring their whole families and the whole family get saved. Also, we are told in scripture not to add to or take away from God's Word. Celebrate Recovery's 12-steps, are AA's 12-steps, but with a "biblical comparison" to each one. But what about the micro-level of the individual Principles? Life Adapting worldly means and methods for use in the church (though characteristic of Saddleback) is not biblical. Very sad. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998. People really need to get back to believing in the transforming power of Christ through true repentance and faith. Ill just let Scripture speak to those points: If the world hates you, know that it has hated me [Jesus] before it hated you. July 2020 How do I know? Thats not the same thing as a mistake or hurting/being hurt by others or hurts, hang-ups, and habits. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Anyway, thank you for helping me reach greater clarity about what we did. In answer to your last statement why not tell what you are doing to help, Im telling you the truth as found in the Scriptures. Print. Husband and I were drawn in by this CR group by someone in our old church both of us being recovered alcoholics, and saved, we went to one session. Living Water But not to the point where it is unpleaseing to our lord. Celebrate Recovery is an American Christian twelve-step program designed to facilitate recovery from a wide variety of troubling behavior patterns. The wife has been sinned against. Have you ever heard him or anyone connected to RW/CR say For sin shall not have dominion over you? Heres a nut shell result of genuine repentance: if your sin is not now repugnant to you then you have not really repented, but are only caught up in some sort of remorse for being busted and the fear you MAY feel is that of its consequences and not a fear of God whom you have sinned against. Jesus Christ The program has impacted adults and teens all over the U.S. and across . This leaves room for lost people to infer, These are their beliefs, but they dont have to be mine.. 10. CRs Road to Recovery begins with the Eight Principles Based on the Beatitudes (12), stated above. Some of the best known can be found in the blue menu bar at the top of this page at myPopular False Teacherstab. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Angels, Demons, Spiritual Warfare Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.". Your words are so wise Alison Jones: I am a Christian living in South Wales, UK, and ha Annie G.: It is not wrong to consecrate a day for the Lord, Greg: I agree.