I am truly blessed and honored that my God breathed on me, that my Christ Jesus spoke through me, that my Holy Spirit inspired me, and that I was chosen by the Trinity to be their disciple to write, My God Favored Me with My Twelve-Step Recovery Wishes. However, I boast not in myself but entirely in my Heavenly Father, in my Christ Jesus, and in my Holy Spirit, who all favored me and will favor you also if you will allow yourself to be their servant. I am a born-again Christian, and I thank my Heavenly Father for never giving up on me when I was living in the world because the lifestyle I was living could have killed me, but my God had other plans for my life. Thank you Heavenly Father for your unconditional love for me, for never giving up on me, and for giving me a second chance in life.

Uses the hero's journey as the path on which to travel for overcoming addiction and crisis and rescuing your own story. This is a book about becoming heroic. A hero is a person who faces great danger, overcomes incalculable odds, and accomplishes that which would have been thought (especially by the hero) to be impossible to achieve. Considering the fear and pain that a person must experience in such an adventure, it is a role that few would desire for themselves. And yet, more of us find ourselves in circumstances demanding heroism than one might imagine. In fact, people who are never called upon to be heroic at some point in their lives are in the minority, if they exist at all. This is not a book for people who might want to become heroic someday. It is for people who are in the midst of a crisis, and who must make a decision about whether they are going to face their situation, survive, rise above themselves, and share their newfound knowledge with others who may need salvation. And it is for those who are already traveling such a journey and who would like to gain a new understanding of themselves, what their journey was and is about, and why it is so important. Using the twelve step framework for understanding the inner work a person must do in order to overcome addiction, Michael Cowl Gordon walks readers through the journey to inner salvation and peace. Using the hero's journey as the path on which to travel through these steps, he uncovers the deep work that it takes to be the hero in your own story.

Willpower is not enough.You need more, and that more is a Higher Power. Every recovering alcoholic or addict--regardless of length ofsobriety--will reach a time when the only thing that stands between himor her and picking up a drink or drug will be a personal relationshipwith a Higher Power.This book is an invitation to explore and nurture that relationship. Reconnecting with the Christian roots of Alcoholics Anonymous, Higher Power combines classic biblical teaching, spiritual formation, and contemporary 12-Step practice. Higher Power is an excellent resource for anyone in recovery seeking to develop a personal relationship with a loving and merciful God. [Doug Himes] knows his Bible. He knows his Big Book. And he knows amultitude of quotations relevant to the way out. Here is an extremelywell written, scholarly formula for renewal. I loved reading it. And sowill you. --Dick B., author of 44 books and more than 1,000 articles on AA history and Christian recovery Douglas Himes provides those who suffer from addictions with muchinspiring and practical wisdom and guidance that can help them walk theego self-emptying path that leads to the realization of their true selfand life in God's image. His own 12-Step experience and considerable spiritual knowledge and practice enrich the value of his insights. --Tilden Edwards, Founder and Senior Fellow, Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation Douglas D. Himes, Ph.D., is a trained spiritual director andsought-after retreat and workshop leader who provides spiritual counselat Cumberland Heights, one of the country's leading alcohol and drugtreatment centers, in Nashville, Tennessee. A formerFulbright Scholar and Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, he has degrees in physicsand historical musicology and is published in two languages in sevenfields. In his words, "I was so smart that it took me only nine and a half years to get the First Step. This book parallels my now life-saving journey from self-sufficient knowledge to universal truth."

Twelve-Step Recovery! Beyond the journey, there is a change going on. You have been chosen to come forth to be processed. I make no excuses for the process I traveled to get to today. Realizing that I was chosen for purpose and no matter where this earthly journey might take me, I know that God, in all his majesty, is in control. Don't Trip, Chocolate Chip, Because God Is in Control can be very exciting to read while on your journey to see the King. This book is designed and laid out through the teaching and listening and obeying what to write in this book from the Holy One who resides in me. I sometimes had no idea what I wrote until I was finish writing for that moment. This book will give you a real-life experience of me as an addict realizing that I had a problem and journeying through with uplifting stories that will have you laughing and crying at the same time. Some parts of the book God just wanted many to know I see you too! Let's do this together! Starting at step 1: realizing that your life is out of control rather it be substance abuse, immoralities, finances, relationships, etc., you have become powerless! Journey with me to the end, step 12, where now you have had a spiritual awakening that you not only know the twelve steps to recovery, but you are living in them. So it's on you to tell someone else about your journey home. Don't Trip, Chocolate Chip, Because God is in Control.

My story, which chronicles a long and merciless struggle with alcoholism, is offered to illustrate the human tragedy that we all encounter with a life that is void of the presence of God. In fact, the crux of the story is not about alcoholism, but an on-going battle with God caused by pride. To alleviate my plight, an enormous price had to be paid. The solution was found in two significant books: (1) The Bible and (2) Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book). The New Testament of the Bible gives us the good news of the Gospel where God has provided us the "Way, the Truth and the Life" (John 14:6) through His Son Jesus Christ, which is our only hope. The twelve steps of the Big Book takes us step by step to a spiritual awakening and the promise that only God can restore us to sobriety and a new life of recovery. The overriding message that is developed in this book is that the solution to our predicament is not found through an intellectual exercise, but by engaging an action plan. I describe in this book the power of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) along with working the twelve-step action plan resulted in a life-saving spiritual awakening. But more importantly, I demonstrate through my story how a spiritual awakening and the promises of the twelve steps revealed the good news of the Gospel. And the Gospel of Jesus Christ not only saved my life but gave me a whole new life. All the glory is to God.

The Twelve Steps for Everyone

How many of us have felt like Phillip Z? He has a staunch belief in the Twelve Steps, yet struggles with the concept of a Higher Power.

In A Skeptic's Guide to the 12 Steps, the author investigates each of the Twelve Steps to gain a deeper understanding of a higher power. He examines what may seem like ""unsettling"" concepts to us including surrendering one's will and life to God, and he encourages us to understand the spiritual journey of recovery despite our skepticism.