korienblueye—When you tried to refute: „. There is no point in having a discussion or argument with a member or ex-member for this Xenos case. You are trained and well trained to refute everything you say, never. Their main program is to grow. To win a debate, you have to anticipate and have an answer to every question, it`s a tactic they`re taught and their skills are honed – it`s the people who succeed in that tactic, who become leaders. They overlooked the fact that on the annual evaluation form of the home group on the Xenos website is one of the stated criteria they use for evaluation, and I quote: „Effective response to satanic attacks (para. B example, temptation, OPPOSITION, ACCUSATION, deception or seduction). This is a clear indication that the previous speaker was right in his analysis that Xenos members are very well trained to refute any challenge to what they do, namely misleading and aversive recruitment based on sophisticated behavior modification techniques. I invite readers to consult this form on www.xenos.org/homegroups/evaluate. htmYou can see Xenos` agenda very clearly when you see what criteria they use to judge their own members. There is another interesting form to: www.xenos.org/homegroups/stnominate.doc 3) MINISTRY HOUSE LIFE: Well, this offer is rarely refused because the newcomer has been sufficiently approached by everyone he trusts.

As Dennis pointed out, you are now trapped in the obligation to monitor HC, CT and Cell every week, unless a rare situation requires absence. This means that a home meeting is now also added to the weekly schedule. It can be a great experience and Dennis is right, it`s for those who want to be very engaged. The problem is that few of them are experienced enough to realize how much they accept a commitment. Most do not yet know how to actively seek God in prayer, seek themselves and wait for a clear answer to see if this is the best way for their lives. It may or may not be, but most simply commit to being convinced by their peers that it`s the right thing to do. Some time ago, on a Saturday night, I went to the Xenos Christian Fellowship in Columbus for their Saturday night service, which they call „CT“ („Central Teaching“). Silly name, of course, and they don`t have MUSIC, which blows me away, but what a COOL church, in this regard: these people really live together. Xenos is a collection of house churches/small groups, and these people are extremely well rejuvenated (see their website, xenos.org) and at the same time involved in the lives of others.

I thought I wish I had learned more about Xenos 20 years ago before entering ministry because in many ways these people do the Church well. After CT, every week (I think) they have a big bridge party with burgers and sand volleyball and everything else. They enjoy each other`s company and build friendships. I hung out and was deeply impressed. There are many other things I liked about it, but I encourage you to go to the website and look at some things out there. Stewicked, if you want me to investigate this and respond to you, send me an email with your name and the group involved in mccallumd@xenos.org, I won`t read any of the answers to that, but I have a few things to say. My friends experienced church discipline here in my home group in Xenos. They lied and manipulated us while hiding their lesbian relationship for several months. and we let them go for a while, during that time we encouraged them, reprimanded them and spent time helping them and getting THEIR point of view so that we could better understand the situation. Ultimately, the Bible is very clear about what to do in such situations.

they were NOT full of remorse. They did not want to change God`s will for their lives or follow Him. They wanted to continue to have sex with each other. Sex is great. I admit that. Before accepting Christ, I spent a lot of time in the alien. But after I agreed, I read what the word had to say about it and made the decisions I made because of that, not because of what someone had told me. You can hate the Church. You can blame people. but in the end, YOUR PROBLEM IS BETWEEN YOU AND GOD.

the bitterness you feel and all that. Let it go and look out of you for a second. Our society is so absorbed and obsessed with „following our dreams“, achieving on our terms and thriving in every situation. IF JESUS HAD HAD THIS KIND OF ATENCY, HE WOULDN`T HAVE DIED FOR US, HE WOULD HAVE FUCKED A HOE AND SAID, „DAMN, I`M THE SON OF GOD. I WILL DO WHAT I WANT. It`s an amazing place. Once you become a member, you will be transferred to those home churches, cell groups, prayer groups, service houses, etc. That your life is slowly being consumed by the Church and not much more. Xenos was founded in the 1970s by two Ohio State University students, Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt, who remain leaders to this day. The two founded the church in their campus home after feeling called to teach the Bible to others, said Keegan Hale, the coordinator of the pastoral support department for Xenos. Today, the Church continues to focus on Christopher Columbus, he said. Look at this thread from time to time, and I can`t resist commenting.

The last two entries are interesting enough for me to comment on them in separate entries. A few points before: + CD, part of the reason why people can stay anonymous (and for that reason, I wouldn`t mind staying at least partially anonymous, even though it seems like Google hasn`t managed to keep me so anonymous) is the tendency of Xenos members to blow up reviews. It`s by no means as sinister as a group like the Church of Scientology, but the consequences could easily become quite real. I think I could survive a few broadsides ad hominem from people who knew me in Xenos, but I have family members who wouldn`t feel so comfortable with such things. I want to respect their interests.+ It`s partly for this reason that those of us who criticize Xenos at any level (my criticism is quite limited) feel uncomfortable providing a lot of details about the events. Events reveal identity. I sometimes had the impression that CD and Sociological Zephyr wanted several affidavits, followed by an FBI investigation with wiretaps to believe everything I or someone else said. Anyone I could report being treated unfairly would face ad hominem attacks. I have guides in Xenos who tell me they thought people were treated unfairly.

Any of those I might highlight or quote may not want to be quoted and might deny the conversation. In addition, there is A LOT of EVIDENCE of what I say in the writings of Xenos members.+ I am aware that little progress is likely to be possible in the argument. Nevertheless, reading Icy Mountain and Keith McCallum`s suggestions about what`s really going on and the impact on people who left in frustrating circumstances upset me so much that I started shaking in a university library and stopping working on a big job to write these answers.+ As before, I am all about defending some of those who dare to criticize Xenos. The members of Xenos used even more evil, if subtle, arguments against the people who left. I do not commit to proving anything about Xenos per se, but only to defend the criticisms of former members. Certainly, the accusation of a group of being a „cult“ will take little water everywhere. Worship is an extremely pejorative term, and I don`t feel comfortable pointing the finger at a group other than groups that openly advocate violence. Xenos is a mixed bag – it also does good things – but never doubt that the people who left have experienced bad things. Which brings me to an argument that was made against me by „Ed“ and now pushed forward by Icy Mountain in a more sophisticated way. The argument is something like this: „We are all human beings.

The leaders and members of Xenos are people. Maybe something difficult has happened to you. Move on to something else. Life is hard for everyone. To quote Icy Mountain directly, „I understand that it`s much harder to turn the tide when you live in a service home. When 95% of your deep personal relationships take place in a church, a church, it`s a very scary thing to take a point of view that could cool their relationship with you. Since I was 21 years old, I know it`s even scarier at this point in your life. Is it difficult to make the decision to get away from your best friends and find new ones? Absolute. This makes the decision difficult, but not impossible. Many bad things happen to people in this world.

People are poor, have difficulties at work, are treated unfairly by society, and many other things happen to them. The „difficult but not impossible“ test of accepting these things could apply to any negative event. Have you been attacked? Overcome it, difficult, but not impossible. Did you have a terrible time in high school? Overcome it, difficult, but not impossible. Wrongly dismissed from a job? Overcome it, difficult, but not impossible. Life itself is „difficult, but not impossible.“ However, when a „humane“ institution deals with something dubious, it does not prevent us from criticizing it. .