YWAM is a cult.

I spent a year with YWAM. I saw horrible spritual abuse happen there. A dear friend of mine underwent an excorsism carried out by staff members. She was an 18 year old rape victim. She later developed anorexia, and was put in food preperation at the base cafeteria as a way to "overcome" her eating disorder.

Another classmate who had a disability commited suicide after his Discipleship training program. He was teased a lot for being different and a little mentally slow.

I was in turmoil there...but couldnt figure out why. I was 19 years old. I didnt know how cults work. Now I am older and wiser. I see clearly now, how sick the situation was.

I am so sorry for the victims of this horrible shooting. I feel so much compassion for their families. However someone needs to hold Ywam accountable for the damage they have done to so many peoples lives.

Hey poster above, thanks for posting your experience and letting us know some details of this group. Young people cannot being to understand what the term "brain washing" is but we learned back in the 70's what it could do with the behavior of Jim Jones (google him). That is why any of us refer to the new version of the repulican party as kool aid drinkers..and they sadly have no clue what we are taling about.

Last night talking on a forum (chat) there were accusations that this was some liberal attack on christianity. We warned them not to think like that and the person was probably mentally sick (confused at that age) and had some kind of connection with the chuches or some members of it. We also speculated his religious extremism.

Hopefully time will spill the whole story here. Is it not odd they still haven't revealed if the shooter is the same at both places when they have eye witnesses? I find this very odd!

Anyway, thanks for your details and I hope more come forward so we can have a better understanding of who these people (groups) are.

Best wishes to the families who are mourning their loved ones too, of course.

It's quite unfortunate that that first poster was blaming those innocent victims at YWAM for being brutally killed at the hands of this shooter. Whatever his views on YWAM no one deserves to be shot in cold blood.

Let's pray for the families of the victims and that we may not be cowered from believing in Christ Jesus by those who want to carry out evil works.

Thank you for your supportive words.

These are painful memories, and this shooting brings it all back up.

I dont blame the victims. They are totally innocent. However, any organization that gives such spiritual power to 19-20 year old staff members should look at this practice as potentially very dangerous.

Christian groups can be cults. Just like Jim Jones group was a cult. Its not so much about what they believe. It is a matter of how the group operates.

Here is a link to a list of Characteristics of Cults-

http://www.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/checklis.htm

Ywam is cult based on this list.

Francis. I think that you need to be less hasty in jumping to conclusions. I didn't read anything in the first post that indicated the poster was blaming the victims. The poster was giving us useful background information on YWAM. I am, to be sure, a little skeptical of anonymous posts. However, if there is abuse going on in this organization it might be the case that the shootings were tied to the abuse. This is certainly something that must be investigated. There are contradictory reports coming out, but we know enough of the shooter's connection to fundamentalism to know that the sheriff's widely reported statement that he simply "hated Christians" is a gross oversimplification.

My story is sadly very true. I just choose not to put my name all over the internet, being a 30 year old woman with children etc.

My point is, Lets make sure this never happens again. I agree with Jeremy that oversimplifying this situation is not wise. Lets learn the lessons that this tragedy can teach us. Spiritual Abuse by an organization can have consequences. Some people are fragile and the pressure of a cult could cause them to snap.

That first poster was not blaming the victims, only pointing out the kind of problems this organization has. Putting a young mentally unstable person through various ad-hoc 'spiritual' solutions administered by other teenagers in authority is a recipe for disaster.

Of course no one deserves to be killed by some attention-starved psychopath with a chip on his shoulder. And they are not to be blamed for what happened to them. Let's find solutions to prevent these confrontations from happening again. Let's regulate these organizations and not just trust that anything labelled "christian" is holy and unblemished in any way.

The media must take some of the blame here though. The promise of infamy through newscasts and episodes of 20/20 or American Justice is just too much for some people.

Read "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin De Becker, it will open your eyes.

It appears God left the building about the same time as Elvis.

YWAM Arvada is not a cult. 15 years ago today I was a 19 year old student attending a DTS at the same Arvada Campus, and living in the same dorm where the shootings took place. Peter Warren and the staff at this school do not abuse the students or rule them through manipulation and fear.

I am assuming that the experience post # 1 describes had nothing to do with the Arvada organization, therefore to lump them together is very unfair. With every very large world wide organization there will be problems. I agree with her that if abuses occur, the individuals should be held accountable and the organization should do what they can to prevent further abuse.

I am thankful for the time that Peter and the staff put in to my life. I am much better off because of it.

This is all so sad. What we know about folks like the shooter here is that they are very brittle and probably had hyper religious parents as an attempt top keep the bad genie in the bottle which just doesn't work. Most of these types such as Hawkins from Omaha, Harris of Colorado and Murry of Co.were folks that just didn't fit in, had bouts of depression and never received adequate treatment. Maybe this will do something about the problem of stigma in mental health issues and assist those that need treatment to get it instead of receiving prayer as the treatment of choice.

Yes, a genuine tragedy has taken place at YWAM Arvada, and yes, we should not be prone to jump to conclusions about the causes, or to lay blame. These events sadly occur all over the world and have potential multiple causes. The alleged offender may have been mentally ill (perhaps experiencing a first episode psychosis), who knows? They may have been high on crack or another illicit substance. They may have been aggrieved and revengeful. Furthermore, if it was a random event, it would have been virtually impossible to predict; all that could have been done was to minimise the risk, based on a thorough understanding of risk assessment and risk management. In the final analysis though, only a coronial investigation will sort out the detail and establish the facts. However, I too remember being placed in genuine harm's way over 30 years ago as a young Ywammer, but with equally young leadership (who had little concept of danger, or sense of responsibility for their charges) the probability of injury occurring was obviously increased. I just hope that YWAM uses the Colorado tragedy to further develop a sense of organisational responsibility for the safety of their workers and trainees. They have a legal responsibility to do so. Personally, I could have spent many years in an Eastern European prison had I been apprehended after being encouraged by YWAM senior leadership to smuggle bibles across the then very dangerous borders of former communist ruled Eastern Europe. I considered it a challenge back then, a god-ordained challenge, and I was willing to be ‘imprisoned for Christ’ as a young zealot. Looking back in hindsight however, I am now not so sure it was a wise thing to do, and certainly not a wise decision by YWAM leadership to encourage me to do. After all, YWAM leadership or the organisation may have been held legally responsible for my fate. Also, had I ended up with a criminal record as a ‘Smuggler’ I could never have pursued the very rewarding career in human services that I have been privileged to enjoy. I may also have been raped, murdered, or died of illness in one of Eastern Europe’s infamous correctional facilities. But then I believe that 11 of the 12 Disciples were martyred for the Cause. Who can argue about risk with that fact ringing in your ears.

YWAM is not a cult, anymore than any other church is (which may hint at the real reason behind this strange smearing of a great organization.) While it may be deduced that committment to Christ in a very disturbed post-modern, post-Christian world may seem "cultish" to the comitted to the dogmatically non-committed, YWAM focuses on discipling committed young people, like every other active church in the world throughout Christian history. The reports state that the gunman, Murray, while in YWAM, heard voices, played music by satanist Marylyn Manson, and was generally anti-social. We can conclude that he carried some baggage into his short time with YWAM- grievance with family or others, or spiritually negative activity. Like most youth organizations I know or have worked with, the last twenty years has seen an enormous increase in dysfunctional youth enrolling into its programs, due to the rapidly progressive distintigration of society, family, values, and culture. Some groups have had to design strict screening programs, others not so much. Regardless, grouops like YWAM are simply not set up to deal with the ever-growing casualties from our dysfunctional society, and should not be blamed.

I too spent a few years brainwashed in YWAW and absolutly think it's a cilt. I worked for someone very "high up" in the organization and saw the worst of abuse take place. Manipulation, Degrading Comments, Control, Confusion... Obviously this incident is not the fault of the innocent victims who lost their lives and murder is never right or justified. But YWAM should start taking seriously the state of their organization. It has taken me years to recover from the abuse and I have over a dozen friends who have had the same experience. The Kona base is the worst of the worst as it's known as the "YWAM mecca"

does a gay church leader bring the devil to the door??

In regards to the first posting....

Not every YWAM base is the same, just like not every "Baptist" church or "Lutheran" church or whatever the flavor is the same. Although each base throughout the world holds the same basic philosophy--to know God and to make Him known---each base is completely different in size, scope and ministry.

Yes, it is true. There are YWAM bases which have committed incredible injustices of spiritual abuse. I attended one over 10 years ago which was incredibly abusive. However, the organization as a whole is tremendous, training people of all ages to hear God's voice and to follow Him.

With that said, I do believe that YWAM needs to hold leaders accountable for spiritual abuse. It's easy for baby Christians who are given authority to become legalist and rule-based. Yes, there is the law but there is also grace.

No doubt the details of the gunman's release from Arvada YWAM 5 years ago are yet to be released....though this killing is a horrible tragedy, it makes me wonder if the killer was "dealt" with in a mature manner when he left the base.

Such a tragic thing to happen. My prayers are with the families, however, I am not surprised this has happened. I was with YWAM for years, from Texas to Atlanta to Asia and I have experienced spiritual and emotional abuse from every base I have visited. Sadly, YWAM is a cult. I know there are very well-meaning and wonderful people within YWAM, but many, if not most, of the leaders are spiritually abusive.

In regards to the first posting....

Not every YWAM base is the same, just like not every "Baptist" church or "Lutheran" church or whatever the flavor is the same. Although each base throughout the world holds the same basic philosophy--to know God and to make Him known---each base is completely different in size, scope and ministry.

Yes, it is true. There are YWAM bases which have committed incredible injustices of spiritual abuse. I attended one over 10 years ago which was incredibly abusive. However, the organization as a whole is tremendous, training people of all ages to hear God's voice and to follow Him.

With that said, I do believe that YWAM needs to hold leaders accountable for spiritual abuse. It's easy for baby Christians who are given authority to become legalist and rule-based. Yes, there is the law but there is also grace.

No doubt the details of the gunman's release from Arvada YWAM 5 years ago are yet to be released....though this killing is a horrible tragedy, it makes me wonder if the killer was "dealt" with in a mature manner when he left the base.

In regards to the first posting....

Not every YWAM base is the same, just like not every "Baptist" church or "Lutheran" church or whatever the flavor is the same. Although each base throughout the world holds the same basic philosophy--to know God and to make Him known---each base is completely different in size, scope and ministry.

Yes, it is true. There are YWAM bases which have committed incredible injustices of spiritual abuse. I attended one over 10 years ago which was incredibly abusive. However, the organization as a whole is tremendous, training people of all ages to hear God's voice and to follow Him.

With that said, I do believe that YWAM needs to hold leaders accountable for spiritual abuse. It's easy for baby Christians who are given authority to become legalist and rule-based. Yes, there is the law but there is also grace.

No doubt the details of the gunman's release from Arvada YWAM 5 years ago are yet to be released....though this killing is a horrible tragedy, it makes me wonder if the killer was "dealt" with in a mature manner when he left the base.

In regards to the first posting....

Not every YWAM base is the same, just like not every "Baptist" church or "Lutheran" church or whatever the flavor is the same. Although each base throughout the world holds the same basic philosophy--to know God and to make Him known---each base is completely different in size, scope and ministry.

Yes, it is true. There are YWAM bases which have committed incredible injustices of spiritual abuse. I attended one over 10 years ago which was incredibly abusive. However, the organization as a whole is tremendous, training people of all ages to hear God's voice and to follow Him.

With that said, I do believe that YWAM needs to hold leaders accountable for spiritual abuse. It's easy for baby Christians who are given authority to become legalist and rule-based. Yes, there is the law but there is also grace.

No doubt the details of the gunman's release from Arvada YWAM 5 years ago are yet to be released....though this killing is a horrible tragedy, it makes me wonder if the killer was "dealt" with in a mature manner when he left the base.

This is a very good discussion. I don't sense anyone trying to earn 'points' as it were for blamming YWAM for the killing. I think it's natural to muse and guess and think about it. It helps us all to process horrible events like this. And, hopefully, at the end of the day, discussions like this will help people learn from them so it doesn't happen again.

First and foremost let me say that this is a tragedy and I grieve for YWAM Denver staff and for Murray's family. It is horrible and painful and points out how frail and imperfect us human beings are.

I do hope YWAM Denver, once they've had time to grieve and process this tragedy, will take stock of how they handled this guy in the past. It could be that they did recommend him to a psychologist and tried to get him help. There is no mention of his parents in any of the news articles except to say his father was a neurologist. As a neurologist, you'd think the father would have been tuned into the fact something wasn't working in his son's head and that he might possibly suffer from schizophrenia. Hearing voices is never a good thing and indicates some psychological disorder which can be treated both by drugs and psychotherapy.

What is a tragedy to me is that this young man, for whatever reason, didn't get the help he needed. He was treatable and cureable, but as others have said, no one can make another person get help. However, one thing that often does happen in Christian circles is that things like schizophrenia do often get spiritualized and the blame gets put on demons rather than some sort of trauma that cause them to process in a way that their inner thoughts are perceived as external voices.

That said, I do hope YWAM as an international organization will review its responsibility of care to its employees and volunteers. Spiritual abuse is a problem in many YWAM bases and the appeals process is somewhat flawed. I agree with posters that say that YWAM as a whole needs to be better about doing risk assessments for staff and more consistent about pastoral care and staff justice issues. Unfortunately, it is a very decentralized organization and it is hard to maintain consistency across the board no matter what steps the international leaders take.

My personal experience with YWAM Denver is that it had tendencies, at least when I was there, towards spiritual abuse and authoritarian leadership. Of course, that is a matter of opinion and the poster who had a great experience there is entitled to say that there was no spiritual abuse there. However, I would beg to differ based on my own experience. Spiritual abuse is not just in YWAM but in many Christian organizations and churches. The key is for people to take ownership of their own relationship with God and hear God's voice for themselves and test spiritual leaders for fidelity to scripture and to the heart of compassion and love of Jesus. Jesus was not authoritarian and he did not abuse.

Shouldnt the organization be held responsible for the abuses that take place at their bases? Even though not all bases are abusive, some are! Robere, one of the other posters is correct. They could be held legally responsible if something horrible happened. Too often horrible things do happen. Teenagers have serious gaps in judgement at times. These are situations that are too intense for a child.

The problem is that by the time 10 years have passed and your mind clears its really too late to do much. Youth are great recruits for brainwashing because they lack the life experience to defend against it. They desperatly care what their peers think and want to fit in.

As a parent I would never allow my child to do this. After my experience, I know the evils that can take place in Gods name.

Fundamentalism can be dangerous. If someone is troubled, they should get psychological help.

Ywam is a well-regarded Christian institution, not a cult. Every organization has people who misuse or abuse their power, and I'm sorry that that happened to poster #1 and her friends. I pray that you and your friend find healing and learn to trust again. Perhaps this forum, though, isn't the best place for your comment. The shooter in this situation apparently had mental health issues aside from whatever may or may not have happened to him at Ywam. The families who lost people need prayers for healing, as this will devastate their lives long after the media coverage fades away.

The young man who did this terrible deed was a very troubled young man. It is not uncommon for mental illness to come to the fore in late teens and young adulthood. It is too bad that he didn't get the help that he needed.

Everyone is a victim in this case.

I had to scroll up to the top again to make sure I was actually reading in a Christianity Today forum. I am surprised they allowed these negative comments about YWAM. My advice would be to read the book by Loren Cunningham, "Is That Really You, God", and some follow-up material concerning Youth With a Mission. There is no way that this organization is a cult. Human beings make mistakes and no doubt there were mistakes made in some cases but this is a legitimate Christian organization which does a lot of good all over the world and their goal is to serve God, serve people and bring as many as possible into the Kingdom of God. Please don`t play the blame game when all the facts are not known yet.

I was absent-mindedly reading this article and then the posts, and after reading all those describing YWAM as a cult, I had to go back to the top of the page to make sure what site I was on. Yeah, a "Christian" website. Wow. I imagine the tactics of the apostle Paul and even Jesus Himself ("let the dead bury their own dead" "He who loves father and mother more than me is not worthy to be my disciple" Here's one I love - "If you beat your servant, he will not die")would yet in our day invite the branding of cultic activity. Now YWAM doesn;t do anything of the kind anywhere in the world, but challenging people to radical Christianity? You bet!Y'all need to read your Bibles - and be careful not to blaspeheme the Holy Spirit by calling things of God the work of "beelzebub" 'cuz you don't understand them or are afraid...having a form of godliness but denyong its power...

Of note, the message that can be drawn from the above comments is the instant grasping of the opportunity for various individuals to express negative comments about YWAM. It is not so much the validity of what is being said, but the fact that it is being said at all, and increasingly so. YWAM needs to take an objective look at the reason for this phenomenon, a long hard look. They also need to consider the growing chorus of negative comments from past adherents at other sites like factnet, rickross and the like. They are not one-off comments as appeared to be the case in the past; rather they are comments that are apparently based on some degree of factual experience and often made by 'together' individuals who have made a success of life outside of YWAM and have no real axe to grind apart from a possible motivation to tell others to ‘take care’. I mean, many of these comments are coming from individuals who do not appear to be 'disaffected cranks', but genuinely aggrieved individuals, or otherwise individuals who though not aggrieved, are deeply concerned about the governance of YWAM. The subject is certainly worthy of further investigation in my estimation. If such comments were made about the organisation for which I now work, I would immediately take it up to the executive governance committee for serious consideration. Not in the sense of silencing the growing chorus, but rather to analyse the credibility of the comments and to use them to enact positive change in my organisation.

I realise that my comment has strayed from the subject of the Arvada events, but nonetheless I believe it is relevant to the above comments.

By the way, in respect to some of the latest information that has come to light, albeit hearsay, some people do hear voices and are genuinely psychotic, a phenomenon that should never be mixed up with so-called 'demon possession' or 'behavioural difficulties'. To not treat such individuals pharmacologically (or to try to 'exorcise' them in lieu of seeking treatment) is just asking for trouble.

YWAM is a huge organization with hundreds of bases all around the world. I have had the privilege to personally meet the founder of YWAM Loren Cunningham as well as many of the top leadership on the Kona campus, these are God fearing people that have great vision to see God's Word spread to all the nations and believe youth are the best conduit to see this happen. Much of YWAM staff are young, but the leadership are typically older more mature Christians. As there are thousands of YWAM staff there will be those that abuse the power that they are given and end up hurting people, however this is not the norm and YWAM leadership does their best to ensure the base staff are following Biblical principles in their dealings with students.
Both my wife and I have attended DTS (discipleship training school) a 6 month program that is a time of intense commitment to getting to know God, we attended separate bases and neither of us experienced nor saw any abuse. There are times in the program that we are challenged to stretch our faith beyond what we've learned at church and dig deep into the Bible to find the answers to our questions, instead of just listening to someone standing behind a pulpit. At the end of our program we had a greater understanding of who God is and of His Holy Word. Please don’t let a few people that have had bad experiences dictate your opinion about YWAM, it is a great organization working for God’s kingdom. Our prayers are with the families of those involved.

If I heard this right, some lady with a gun had to take out YWAM's trash because they don't know how to recycle. I also heard that they kicked him out of missions because he was an introvert?? A well established study shows that CULTS tend to merge all their members to the same Myers-Briggs personality type. Pretty profound evidence that YWAM can only honor certain organs in the body of Christ, if you believe in that horse dung. If you're like the rest of us who actually believe science, it's time to put serious creedence in the idea of reining in these out-of-control parachurches. Just like the right to bear arms doesn't let me stroll with an Uzi down main street, freedom of religion should mean we should allow totalist organizations who discard 'human resources' for which they have no use. Germany, ritually steeped in guilt for the Holocaust, still has the guts to stand up to Scientology. We should consider this an wake-up call, or altar call if preferred, to the possibility that we came so close to an exponentially greater tragedy and that the next time, a mother with a pistol may not be able to take out an angry young cult survivor with an assault weapon. There must be more done to protect us from mind control and its inevitable side effects.

It's awful what happened to the YWAMers that were killed. There's no denying that.

I do agree with Ted Olson though. YWAM is a very destructive organization. I spent 4 years with them in Australia and it was a very spiritually abusive place. They use subtle tactics of control and manipulation to "mold" their followers into what they want them to be. I came away with an anxiety disorder and depression, which I went to counseling for, and am on medications for. There was a one woman who went on an outreach through the base in Australia and she jumped out of a window and committed suicide because she was suffering with depression so badly. I would never recommend YWAM to anyone. They do need to be held accountable for their abuse and fanatical behaviour before more horrible things, like Colorado take place. I do feel for the families of those who were killed and sympathize. What happened to these people was wrong.

There have been ongoing reports about spiritual and
other abuses at YWAM for years. I myself was thrown out
of a YWAM base merely for asking whether I could transfer
to another facility. The problems with YWAM are not
incidental or accidental. They, and other groups like
them but unrelated to them, unfortunately practice
throwing people out for what is often no more than a
paranoid whim in some leaders's mind. They are also
over authoritarian and practice interfering with
the young people who volunteer for them....in areas
such as marriage, etc. They may have reformed in some
of these areas, but there have been serious problems
for years. Also, yes, YWAM is a big and diverse
group, and some bases or facilities could be better
than others. However, despite the sincerity and
desire to serve Christ of YWAM leaders and members,
the problems should be confronted and corrected.
Here is a link that discusses YWAM futher:

http://www.cephasministry.com/transformation_spiritual_mapping.html

I would be very careful before joining them or allowing
my young adult child to join them, despite the
Godly and good things.

I read Mary Morin's comments above that included the warning,

"... and be careful not to blaspeheme the Holy Spirit by calling things of God the work of "beelzebub" 'cuz you don't understand them or are afraid...having a form of godliness but denyong its power..."

This is the type of dribble that was fed to me as a young child in Sunday School. Words that reflect the brainwashing that fundamentalists foist those that no doubt pose a threat to their world view. Mary, do you really believe that god is going to strike us down if we make fair criticisms about the flaws of an organisation like YWAM. I see such comments as a hysterical attempt to silence the free speech that is the very cornerstone of the democracy in which you live. I lived in fear as a child and young adult for many years of so-called, 'blaspheming the holy spirit' or some other equally irrational fear that was drummed into me as child in an evangelical/ pentecostalist home. I now see such baseless fears as springing from utter ignorance. I say, go for it and give your opinions about your experiences in organisations like YWAM. Without such critics, people might get away with murder. Believe me, god won't strike you down, he hasn’t struck me down as yet, but maybe that is because I have been a bit too quick for him for over 60 years now! It is the fear of speaking out that strikes us down, not a just and loving god. Believe me Mary, I will still be posting on the web when you grow old, if not, god must have sneaked up behind me, or perhaps he will strike me with one of those bolts of lightning that the old hell-fire and brimstone preachers used to gabble on about when I was an innocent child (scared the living daylights of me too – paramount to child-abuse if you ask me).

I have been in YWAM for over 20 years. We have had over 20 million people of all ages go through YWAM teaching. A hand full of people that had a bad experence is NOT a bad record

David, does YWAM conduct systematic standardised exit interviews with all those who leave the organisation? If not, then your statistics are probably way out of whack. The handful of people you are hypothesising about may indeed turn out to be a throng of significant proportions if the silent majority of dissatisfied participants are surveyed. Restaurateurs and hoteliers know only too well that most people vote with their feet, but lack the assertiveness to verbally communicate their dissatisfaction. That's why the very best hotels have exit interview cards waiting for you in your room so they can collect some valid exit stats. Don't hide your head in the sand like so many ‘long-termers’ in organisations like YWAM. It is all too prevalent to live in denial if your primary reason for living is tied up with the vision espoused by an organisation like YWAM. I was with YWAM for some years too, and successfully so, but was one of the silent throng who have left feeling that there were too many barriers to committing one's life and talents to an organisation that had some major problems at the foundational philosophical level (such as the intense American ethnocentrism that alienated so many ‘foreign’ participants). Yes, I realise that some very talented people have stayed, some gifted leaders, but these are the exceptions. How many others have stayed because after some years they start to believe that it may be too late, or just too hard to retrain for another vocation, or to transfer to another missionary organisation? By then they are probably tempted to live in denial and defend the organisation 'by hook or by crook'. To not do so would leave their ‘raison d’etre’ for life and career in a very precarious state indeed. Furthermore, how many are now staying because they were born into it, and after years of intense socialisation in the Mission, they know nothing of life outside of it? With the hope of not sounding patronising, let me assure you and others in YWAM, that it is not too late to leave. There is a whole world of wonderful service opportunities awaiting the brave and honest at heart who decide to take the challenge and depart.

It has been an interesting read thus far. It has now been some time since the events in Colorado. Life goes on! Robere says on 13 Dec, "that 20 million have passed through YWAM, with only a handfull of ex-ywamers who had a bad experience". Robere, I wish that were true! I believe that possibly 50% of that 20 million, have a story to tell, but are still trying to "get over it" the best they can. I was involved in YWAM (Australia), and my story is so much like those previously posted. The YWAM Arvada base has close ascociations with YWAM OZ, so my immeadiate reaction when hearing of the shootings, was that the shooter had to have been associated with YWAM at some time, and must of had a horrible experience. My prayer is that other ex-ywamers don't ever get so desperate to see 'justice served' that they would go the route of Matthew. For those who have posted comments, that seem to dismiss the 'concerns' of many, please try to imagine walking in their shoes, before being judgemental.

I was at the Kona base for ten years. That was some 15 years ago. I've spent these subsequent years trying to figure out what happened. Those who have spent lots of time at Kona understand how things change like the wind with all the new "vision" the leaders are trying to implement without usually having finished the work necessitated by former "visions." It was like a fizzing bottle of cola.

Check out Dean Gotcher's writings on transformational thinking, also called the consensus process and many other names. Transformational thinking is the most subtle and effective modality of brainwashing ever devised, having been tinkered into perfection by social scientists over the last century. It is the chief component of the YWAM and U of N school infrastructures. It is implicit in every DTS and all the other schools. It is informally structured, but no less ineffective because of that.

Check out Christian Reconstructionism, which is another name for Dominion Theology. This is a heresy that has actually overtaken the American Republican party at this time, and it is the basis of the U of N. It sidelines Chrsitians into a "saving the nations" mentality, which we really can't do. It's not our calling to save a nation. Probably the main goal of Christian Reconstructionism, or Dominion Theology, is more political than religious. It's to replace existing governmental structures with theocracy.

Loren has said, "YWAM is not a democracy. It's a theocracy." Theocracies are no longer pertinent since the inception of the Church. We Christians don't need a leader to guide us, to give us vision, or to interpret God's will or word for us. Theocractic leaders in the Old Testament did that sort of thing, before Jesus' time. Theocracies are obsolete. The New Testament abrogated them.

Christian Reconstructionism is heavily financed by the occult, particularly in the American political arena at this time. I won't go into details on that. It's a potent heresy, and many political leaders are immersed in it. That's why we have seen so much corruption in Washington with this so-called Christian Right. They are not serving Jesus, but false teachings.

Check out communitarianism. It goes along with transformational thinking. It's sort of a new age modality of living, and YWAM is doing it.

Three things: transformational thinking, Christian Reconstructionism and communitariansim.

Long time ago YWAM had problems with Moral Government, another false teaching that actually fits well enough into Christian Reconstructionism. Now they've got another problem with new false teachings, and two of them--transformational thinking and communitariansim--are part and parcel of the occult push for the New World Order.

Aloha nui loa.

“I have seen the church endure through many triumphs and a few tribulations,” Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said. “New Life Church will continue to prosper because of the enduring and inspiring faith of its members.”

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johnvicter
Addiction Recovery Colorado