Here comes another video from our NYC conference, this time from John Zahl. In addition to some deep wisdom, it features what was hands-down the best joke of the conference.
You may download the recording of this talk by clicking here. And you may order a copy of the book that the talk is based on by clicking here.
Continuing with our series of previews of our recent publication Grace in Addiction: The Good News of Alcoholics Anonymous for Everybody, here’s a section from the chapter having to do with Step 7, i.e. “Humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings.”
An important part of parenting comes when the parent makes a mistake. Perhaps tempers flare in a regrettable way. Or maybe a crucial decision turns out to have been a misstep. Maybe the parents move their child into a new school that proves to be a poor match, and the child has to switch back later. God’s grace is…
I’ve noticed a thread that runs through a few of my favorite (relatively) recent films. Win Win and City Island and Ruby Sparks and Secrets and Lies and even last year’s Flight–all highly recommended–tell stories where the thing that everyone is dreading, the outcome that the characters are working tirelessly to avoid, turns out to be the key to their personal happy ending. Films, in other words, where the worst thing that could happen turns out to be the best thing and vice versa. This is what John Z talks about so beautifully in the opening to Grace in…
Continuing with our series of previews of our recent publication Grace in Addiction: The Good News of Alcoholics Anonymous for Everybody, we move to a section from the chapter having to do with Step 7, i.e. “Humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings.”
“Although people do sometimes have a sense of peace with God… nevertheless, in a given situation it is not so much peace with God that is the true mark of the Holy Spirit at work, but birth pangs.” -Christoph Blumhardt
Another image of God’s work in a person’s life comes from John’s Gospel: “The wind blows wherever it…
A second preview from our brand new publication Grace in Addiction: The Good News of Alcoholics Anonymous for Everybody. We’ve heard that it makes a terrific Christmas present (not unlike giving someone a stick of deodorant, but hey…). This one comes from the chapter on Step 3 (“made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him”), pgs 64-69:
“Let me give you a truth that can make all the difference in the world: almost everything you think about doing to make something better is wrong and will only make…
Our last post before taking a break for the holiday and the first in a series of previews of our brand new publication, Grace in Addiction: The Good News of Alcoholics for Everybody by John Z, this section comes from pages 23-25:
An important issue for Alcoholics Anonymous is the problem of agency: in other words, is the emphasis placed on the individual’s initiative or on God’s work upon the individual?
For starters, it should be understood that the “work-related” terminology of the Twelve Steps can just as easily be interpreted as a descriptive tool, rather than a prescriptive one. In other…
1. A brilliant article by Eve Tushnet at The American Conservative examines narratives of moral progress in American culture – “Hedonist, Disciple, or Bourgeois?” She critiques the dichotomy between hedonism/moral license, on the one hand, and discipleship/moral progress, on the other, claiming that it misses a crucial third option: the bourgeois ethos that permeates much of American culture. I’ll let it speak for itself, and it’s well worth a full read (it’s mercifully short):
…of course there’s a third option, the life of bourgeois stability. The life of building up a reasonable income, getting married to somebody your parents approve of, doing well and…
We are beyond excited to announce the release of our new publication, Grace in Addiction: The Good News of Alcoholics Anonymous for Everybody by John Z! Years in the making, this book is the most substantial–and dare I say practical–project that Mockingbird has ever done. The official blurb goes like this:
Church basements are curious places. Playing host to the vibrant world of Twelve Step Recovery, they witness the sort of healing and redemption that would make those on the ground floor proud, and maybe even envious. Yet despite the Church and Alcoholics Anonymous both being in the business of bringing “hope to the hopeless”, the two worlds seldom seem to interact. Packed with vivid illustrations, good humor, and practical wisdom, Grace in Addiction attempts to bridge this divide and carry the unexpected good news of AA out of the basement and into the pews–and beyond! Highly recommended for anyone who has struggled with addiction, knows someone who has struggled with addiction, or spent any time living and/or breathing.*Not to be confused with the Grace in Addiction pamphlet that Mockingbird published in 2010. That one provided some of the basis and inspiration for this one, but it was 30 pages, as opposed to 285! To read an excerpt of the introduction, go here. There are also some preview pages available on Amazon–where the book is available for purchase
As a bonus, here’s the author himself (whoever he may be), giving a presentation about the material at our recent conference in Charlottesville:
1) “Who’s in Charge Inside Your Head?” asks the New York Times this week, and the answer? Not as much you as you think. The op-ed from David Barash compares the human mind to a phenomenon that’s taking place in honey bees around the world, that are infected by flies and suddenly have powerless compulsions to fly at night, something they never had the compulsion for before. This night-flying, parasitic takeover is Barash’s comparison to the way the human mind (and will) works in porous interaction (dependence, even) with the world around it. The piece itself may not leave much…
In 2010, Mockingbird published a little pamphlet called Grace in Addiction: What the Church Can Learn from Alcoholics Anonymous, and the response was so positive that we decided to develop it into a full-length book. We are truly excited to announce that the project–retitled Grace in Addiction: The Good News of Alcoholics Anonymous for Everybody–is now finished and will make its debut later at the Fall Conference in Charlottesville, VA (9/28-29)! Not only will it be available for the first time, the esteemed author John Z will be on hand to present some of the material in person. The session,…
Undeniably one of the most powerful breakout sessions at our 2012 Spring Conference in NYC–indeed at any of our conferences–was presented by special guest Jay Haug on the subject of Sex Addiction. What follows is Jay’s preview of the session and the recording of the session itself:
Pornography, cyber hook-ups, friends with benefits. What was once a major journey into the inner city has now become mainstream temptation, a small step only a few clicks away. It is a web into which many become entangled, taking years and multiple failed efforts to free themselves. Reliable statistics tell us that within the…
One more excerpt from our recent publication Grace in Addiction: What The Church Can Learn from Alcoholics Anonymous. To order your copy, click here, or for more excerpts, click here.
Martin Luther’s biographer Roland Bainton once wrote in his classic volume Here I Stand:
Those who are predisposed to fall into despondency as well as to rise into the ecstasy may be able to view reality from an angle different from that of ordinary folk. Yet it is a true angle; and when the problem or the religious object has been once so viewed, others less sensitive will be able to…
All of the other excerpts we’ve posted from our new publication, Grace In Addiction, have dealt with what the church can learn from Alcoholics Anonymous. Of course, it is not a one-way street. So we thought we’d post a portion of the inverse section toward the end of the pamphlet “What AA Can Learn From The Church.” Be sure to order your copy today!
Far from being completely misinformed about Twelve Step groups, the Christian community does have some legitimate and helpful input to offer people in recovery. To quote The Big Book on this matter: “Not all of…
Another plug for our publication, Grace In Addiction: What The Church Can Learn From Alcoholics Anonymous. For those of you who have yet to pick it up, do so now! Here’s a truncated version of a section that deals with matters of sanctification:
In Christianity, the term “sanctification” refers to the way in which God’s grace transforms an individual life. It is a topic which has divided Christians for centuries. AA has become a kind of contemporary think tank on the question, and has some valuable contributions and considerations to offer Christians.
First and foremost, recovering addicts would suggest that, in spite…
A few excerpts from the aforementioned section of our new publication:
The ironic and sad truth is that in AA one finds a much better example of Christian community than in most churches. This is a controversial statement, but there is much evidence to support it. AA presents an impressive model for church, not to mention evangelism: it started with two drunks in 1939 and today has almost as many members as the Anglican Communion. How has this happened? Especially when there is nobody saying “we have to grow”? There are no altar calls in AA. A small percentage of people…
Charles: "full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction" ...
Paul Walker: Amazing post! Thank you....
David Morton: Thanks! Ummm... yeah... that was probably the most dead-on, jam p...
Mark Salomon: How am I only discovering this... today? Best to you and your future e...
David Zahl: Fixed! Sorry about that......