A Response to a Celebrate Recovery Leader

By Chad Prigmore

After being on the Matt Slick Live radio show for three days last week I was contacted by a few individuals trying to defend Celebrate Recovery. The following is my response to a man who leads Celebrate Recovery at his Church:

Hi ****,

Thank you for your comment on the Recovery Reformation website.

For clarity, I will address your comments point by point.

It is well known by those familiar with the history of Alcoholics Anonymous that Bill Wilson regularly used a Ouija board and communed with demonic spirits - especially during the time in the 1930’s when he was writing the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. AA's official biography Pass it On of Bill Wilson states that he and Dr. Bob, the two co-founders of AA, during the summer of 1935 were involved with practicing seances and communing with demonic spirits. In his biography, Bill Wilson explains one of their experiences with a Ouija board: "The Ouija board began moving in earnest. What followed was the fairly usual experience-it was a strange melange of Aristotle, St. Francis, diverse archangels with odd names, deceased friends-some in purgatory and others doing nicely, thank you! There were malign and mischievous ones of all descriptions." Also, Henrietta Seiberling who worked for Bill Wilson  wrote on July 31, 1952 of Bill Wilson's communion with demonic spirits while he wrote the 12 steps, "He imagines himself all kinds of things. His hand 'writes' dictation from a Catholic priest, whose name I forget, from the 1600 period who was in Barcelona, Spain-again, he told Horace Crystal he was completing the works that Christ didn't finish, and according to Horace he said he was a reincarnation of Christ. Perhaps he got mixed in whose reincarnation he was. It looks more like the works of the devil but I could be wrong. I don't know what is going on in that poor deluded fellow's mind."

These demonic practices are obviously condemned in scripture. Leviticus 19:31 says, Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says, There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.

I am actually quite familiar with Celebrate Recovery and it’s teachings. CR does use scripture - particularly the Beatitudes in an effort to market the twelve steps as a Christian Recovery program. However, most of the Beatitudes are ripped out of context by CR and applied erroneously. Also, the Beatitudes are blessings by God’s grace that are beyond our power to obtain outside of God’s grace. Celebrate Recovery replaces the the word “Blessed” which conveys God’s grace and and our joy in it with the modern connotation of the word “happy”. But what is worse is that CR turns something so majestic and beautiful and Godly as the Beatitudes into a ridiculous self help program to be worked through. Where is grace and blessing in that? It’s completely man centered. How does that glorify God?

CR’s attempt at Christian justification of the twelve steps by mixing in some Bible verses is blasphemous. Why would anyone ever want to add to the Word of God - and especially add something that was demonically inspired and teaches a false gospel as the twelve steps do?

On page 58 of the book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions a direct insult to and denial of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins is made. The claim is made that, "Our moral inventory had persuaded us that all-round forgiveness was desirable, but it was only when we resolutely tackled Step Five that we inwardly knew we'd be able to receive forgiveness and give it, too." Jesus tells us in Matthew 26:28, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Bill Wilson and the AA/12 step program insult Jesus Christ by rejecting the truth that Jesus taught in John 14:6 and instead claiming on page 98 of Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions that, "Now and then we may be granted a glimpse of that ultimate reality which is God's kingdom. And we will be comforted and assured that our own destiny in that realm will be secure for so long as we try, however falteringly, to find and do the will of our own Creator." Jesus tells us in John 14:6, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Some of the most confused people I have encountered are those who have been misled by the teachings of Celebrate Recovery. One of the men in our Church, just yesterday evening at Bible study made the comment that in all the time he spent in Celebrate Recovery he never learned of sin, condemnation, repentance, the atonement, etc… Basically, he never heard the gospel in CR because it is not a part of it.

You make the statement that, “CR is a Christ centered program, Jesus Christ is our higher power…” As a Christian, demeaning the name of the Lord in such a way should turn your stomach. Where is reverence for Jesus Christ in applying to him the man made label “Higher Power”?

The reason Celebrate Recovery is worldwide is because it is of the world and therefore the world accepts it and loves it. John 15:19 says, If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. And John 17:1 says,  I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

You claim that you have seen people come to Christ through Celebrate Recovery. That may be possible because God works all things together for good. However, because of the nature of CR being based on heresy there is the very real danger that I have witnessed, of people being led to a false Jesus through the program of CR because it is outside of the Biblical gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is presented in the Bible and should not be added to or tampered with which is what CR has done by creating it’s own Bible. We are commanded in Deuteronomy 4:2,  You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you. 2 Corinthians 11:4 says, For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Galatians 1:8-says,  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. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

You ask, “how many people in your Church are hurting but can’t talk to anyone about it for fear of being seen as someone with less faith than other members?” My answer is none. Our Church seeks the Lord, preaches the Gospel, and strives to serve the Lord and be in loving fellowship. Anyone who comes will be welcomed and we will share the Word with them. The Way Ministry Church was born through homeless outreach on the streets of Boise and include people who have been set free from addiction without worldly programs.

You seem to think that Recovery Reformation is a program. It is not because there is no need for recovery programs in the Christian faith. We strive to open people’s eyes to the heresy of Alcoholics Anonymous and its application to programs like Celebrate Recovery and to point to the cross and preach the gospel.

Now ****, I ask you the question that you asked me, “Do you, or have you really looked into Celebrate Recovery?” And I will also ask, "have you held the teachings of Celebrate Recovery up to the light of scripture?" Because I have and it is not Biblical and is based on heresy.

God’s Word is the authority and it is sufficient. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says,  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 

I pray that you will seek the Lord in truth and come to see as many others have that CR has no place in a Christian Church.

God Bless,

Chad Prigmore
Pastor
The Way Ministry Church
Recovery Reformation