"Addictive Voice" or Lust & Devils?

Before I begin showing you where the Bible disagrees with the religious views expressed in the Orange Papers, I want to recommend that you watch my TV program "Alcoholics Anonymous Is Dangerous!" And please don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

(Words in the [brackets] are mine unless stated otherwise.) If you've read the homepage of The Orange Papers, you know that these papers are a book which presents Orange's "analysis of Alcoholics Anonymous and substance misuse recovery programs, and real recovery." In this book, Orange does a good job of exposing AA for the evil program that it is and offers a wealth of good information. However, for the benefit of true believers in Christ, I would like to present a Christian perspective on many of the things written in this book.

 

In his "Introduction" Orange mentions the "Rational Recovery's AVRT technique (Addictive Voice Recognition Therapy). He say that "AVRT is actually just a process of recognizing the thoughts that are the voice of the Addiction Monster", [which is also known as] "the Beast" [as it] "tempts you to take a drink." 

He goes on to say how "easy" it is to do this "once you get the hang of it." Then he makes an analogy by saying that this AVRT technique "is just like those Walt Disney cartoons with Donald Duck having a little devil on one shoulder, and a little angel on the other, and the little devil is whispering into Donald's ear, "Smoke! Drink! It will be fun!"

 

Orange then rightly points out how children can understand the point that this cartoon is making, and that his so-called counselor was wrong to accuse Rational Recovery (RR) of "confusing people into drinking themselves to death." However, I would like to point out some important differences between what the Bible teaches and what RR teaches about this "Beast". And since The Bible came from The Mind of God, what it says about this (and how to deal with it) is 100% correct.

 

The Bible says that "every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed", (James 1:14). Lust is a longing desire to possess or enjoy something, and, in this case, that something is drugs and/or alcohol. So, according to the Bible, the so-called "Beast" or so-called "Addictive Voice", that decides to take a drink or misuse drugs, is our really own evil desire for pleasure. Lust is the root cause of so-called alcoholism and all other so-called addictions, and lust is where the blame should be laid.

 

And although it is true that Satan (the devil) is called The Tempter, and that other things may sometimes happen that tempt us to drink or misuse drugs, we can't blame the devil, another person, or anything else when we give into temptation. Why? Because the true cause is our own lust and God always provides a way to escape temptation, (1Co 10:13). And although a devil (an evil spirit) can put thoughts in our heart (which is our mind, the place where we settle issues) it is still our own lust that causes us to choose to follow his suggestions. 

 

You see, a devil can't make you do anything that you do not want to do. It can only make suggestions and remind you of how good it feels when you do certain things, but it can't make you do anything, unless you've allowed it to possess you. 

 

Some people want to make Satan and his devils seem like a fairytale by portraying them as red beings with horns and forky tails. However, devils really do exist and Jesus proved it by commanding them to come out of people, and they did, every single time (Luke 4:35; Lu 8:29). And he did this in broad daylight in front of thousands of people, including his enemies (Mt 12:24; Mr 3:22).

And whenever he cast a devil out of a person the problem it was causing was over, immediately, (Mr 9:25-26; Mt 9:32-33; Mt 12:22; Mr 9:20-27; Mt 17:14-18). So the Bible teaches that some people are possessed or strongly influenced by devils. And these people don't always behave like the actors in movies who pretend to be possessed. Some of them behave like so-called "normal" people, like some of the members of the OPF, (Acts 16:16-17; Luke 22:3-4). Such people cannot be helped by the AVRT technique or by any other technique or "tools". Why? Because only Jesus Christ truly has the power to cast devils out of people.

 

That's probably why some of these people never stop drinking or misusing drugs. And they  probably believe that it's because they are not applying the "technique" or using the "tools" of some program that does not even consider the fact that a devil might be a major part of the problem, at least in some cases.

 

Devils really do exist and Jesus proved it in front of thousands of people, (Mt 8:16; Mt 9:33; Mt 10:1; Mt 10:8). Even His powerful enemies admitted that He was casting out devils, (Mt 12:24). So, sometimes, our so-called "Addictive Voice" or "Beast" is the voice of a devil making suggestions that seem to be our own thoughts. Have you ever thought about why our thoughts often go something like this:

 

"Why don't you stop by Joe's house?" "Yeah, I think I will stop by."

 

Now why does the first so-called thought have the word "you" in it? If it was really our own thought it would go something like this:

 

"I think I'll stop by Joe's house." 

 

Now that sounds like an idea that came from our own mind, but this is not what always happens. Many times, as in the first example, the first so-called thought has the word "you" in it. But why? Why does the first so-called thought sound like a suggestion? Because it is. 

 

Many times, the first voice in our head is not really our own thought but a suggestion made by either a good spirit (the Spirit of God or a holy angel) or a bad spirit (a devil) - 1Ch 21:1; Acts 5:3; Ne 2:12; Ne 7:5. However, the second voice truly is our own thought. It is us agreeing to take the suggestion, and that is why it says, "I" will do such and such or "I" am going to do such and such. 

 

Nevertheless, most so-called mental health experts would probably disagree with this, although they cannot disprove it scientifically. They would probably give us an explanation that they cannot prove scientifically, but would pretend that they can. They do this all the time and millions of people fall for it, (1Ti 6:20; Ro 16:18).

 

On the other hand, we also cannot prove or disprove(scientifically) the existence and influence of spirits. To confirm their existence we have to really on the historical fact that Jesus said they existed and then proved it by casting them out of many people, sometimes in front of thousands of eyewitnesses. He even commanded some of these spirits to come out of a man and enter into a herd of pigs. And when He did this, all of the pigs drowned themselves immediately and the man was immediately restored to sanity, (Mark 5:2-17).

 

So, it is not a good idea to make people believe that devils do not play an important role when it comes to so-called alcoholism and other so-called addictions. Why? Because if they believe this they might never be free from drunkenness, drug misuse, or some other so-called addictions.

 

Jesus Christ is still casting these spirits out of people, and He has also shown how we can ALWAYS resist their suggestions (temptations). So Rational Recovery's AVRT technique is simply a watered-down version of the Lord's solution - the ONLY solution that can TRULY make us free from the influence of devils, (John 8:31, 32).

Watch To Hell and Back!

Click the link above to go to my blog and watch two short videos of two former atheists who believe they went to Hell (or somewhere near it). They each tell their story as parts of the story are dramatized. Both of these men are doctors. One was an "alcoholic" physician who partied with famous people like Ringo Starr of The Beatles and Hoyt Axton. The other was a Russian scientist who was run over by a car driven by KGB agents. The latter spent 3 days in the morgue before he was revived. Keep in mind that the first story ends on the second video.