Monday, November 21, 2011
New post
We're here to stay my friends; let the truth ring out! To bring peace and freedom to those stuck (mostly unknowingly) in the bonds of abusive discipleship.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Idolatry
This article is very relevant and thought you all should take a look. http://withoutwax.tv/2010/02/16/seduced-into-idolatry/
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Feeling Change in the Air
I don't know if you all can feel what I am feeling, but I sense that things are changing for the better. Not much proof, but I just feel it is coming. I very much hope that Quest can come to terms with where they are and head back in the right direction. The very definition of repentance. In the meantime, continue to pray for the leaders of Quest. Keep hope alive.
Theo
Theo
Friday, January 29, 2010
The Truth About Experiencing God's Love
At Quest there is much talk about "experiencing God's love for yourself." This concept of getting a small understanding of just how much God values us individually is great for growing Christians. These moments are precious and can add to the many moments of growth for a believer. From my observations there are many misconceptions regarding this idea and will list them below in a Q&A format:
If I truly am a Christian should I be experiencing God's love all the time?
In short, no. God understands that our feelings are highly variable. Our relationship with Him is not subject to the whims of our feelings and emotions; rather our foundation is constant and stable in Christ.
If I have not experienced God's love am I a Christian?
Jesus explained very clearly in John 3:16 what denotes a Christian. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV) According to God's Word, the only requirement is belief. You don't have to experience God's love, only believe in it. Its that simple.
If I truly am a Christian should I be experiencing God's love all the time?
In short, no. God understands that our feelings are highly variable. Our relationship with Him is not subject to the whims of our feelings and emotions; rather our foundation is constant and stable in Christ.
If I have not experienced God's love am I a Christian?
Jesus explained very clearly in John 3:16 what denotes a Christian. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV) According to God's Word, the only requirement is belief. You don't have to experience God's love, only believe in it. Its that simple.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Facebook Group Available
I happened upon a group on facebook that is for people who have left Quest. Seems to be a support group that has similar aims as our blog. It requires approval to join (which you can request) so I would encourage those of you who are on facebook to check it out. Search the Facebook groups for "Post-Questers Support" and you can't miss it. For the record, I do not run that group, just found it today.
Cheers,
Theo
Cheers,
Theo
Experience of a Post-Quester
I received this email with the story of one of our posters who used to go to Quest. His experience is rough as many of ours has been. Read his story and if you feel led to respond with an encouraging word, then feel free to do so.
"Thanks for creating this site. I'm glad to see an active outlet inexistence for those who have been harmed by Quest to discuss what they endured, warn others, and find healing. Questers do need our love andunderstanding as well as our continued prayers.
The reason for this entire post is because some current Questers who post here want specifics. I'm also tired of their implied maliciousness towards anyone who could possibly have something bad to say about QCC. Here's my story in brief...
My experience at Quest for around a year was not positive in its majority, unfortunately. I will not name anyone specifically although it could be helpful (and certainly within scriptural boundaries) for the church to confront its own. First off, I was not in leadership,and I was active in a life group. I am in my mid to late 20's. I was fairly well known and also attended both the college group "Reverb" aswell as the young adult group "Mosaic" fairly regularly.
Initially I was treated well, and every one at QCC around my age suddenly acted very interested in me as soon as I started attending. That interest was not very genuine as I later came to find out after multiple attempts to foster a genuine friendship with a few of them failed repeatedly. None of them were willing to be as forthcoming with the same information they seemed so eager to prod from me either.
The Lord has been at work in my life for many years, brought me through much, and taught me much. I know His presence and guidance. I am a genuine born again Christian, understand what it means to be saved according to what Jesus said in scripture, and have seen further evidence of this through the fruit I bear because of the change the Holy Spirit has brought in my life. I am not the man I used to be. Those at Quest, however, where not so content with my faith and peace of mind. I was continually pressured (often by large groups in circle around me...creepy much?) into thinking that I might be kidding myself and that maybe I "just had a head knowledge". Nothing I said or proof I could offer could dissuade them. As a result I was continually shunned and made an outsider from that point on. Typical cult behavior. I was being pushed away in an effort to make me conform and seek acceptance. I saw this exact same strategy time and time again with the saved and unsaved alike who visited.
Life groups seldom touched on anything deep. They seemed little more than monitoring devices to keep tabs on people, constantly inject Quest rhetoric, and foster a feeling of unquestioned loyalty to"leaders". Out of further respect, I will not list my former lifegroup leader and any of the shallow and hypocritical behavior rampant within our group. However, you'd think that Christians wouldn't constantly quote an obscene anti-Christian movie like "Borat", behave exceedingly crudely, or have statues in their homes of a naked Africannative with a giant upright phallus on a spring.
On the occasions that I either disagreed with something said in a sermon, wondered why scripture was seldom studied (or used to back upa "sermon" points), questioned why obviously openly homosexual members where in staff positions, or just wanted to go deeper in my understanding of why Quest's pursuits (and considerable revenue) seldom seemed to extend beyond the building and into Christian service to the community (as both Jesus and the early church were fond of)...I was either ignored, rebuffed, and made to feel inferior via thinly veiled insults. Whenever I used scripture in its correct context to support my opinion or provide a rebuttal to something said to me (often in a fashion to indicate there was no argument and I was rude or stupid for even making one), I was told on more than one occasion that it was possible to read scripture with the wrong heart (simply because I didn't agree with things they had taken out of context) or that it was possible to read it too much. Do I even need to go into what's wrong with those statements?
In the end, all that I saw underneath the nice manufactured atmosphere was a lot of immaturity, arrogance, manipulation, commercialism, and a system designed to perpetuate the existence of the Quest machine and unquestioned obedience regardless of one's misgivings or unanswered questions. Compartmentalization and secrecy abound in an environmentwhere genuineness and transparency are extolled as virtue. They care more about making everyone happy and making sure the stupor produced from their crafted environment isn't disturbed. Point in case...they do nothing about all the spoiled emo kids of memebers/staff who makeout and smoke cigarettes in front of the church during service, but they will happily make sure a family with a baby moves away from the sound booth (so their precious video recording will be flawless) regardless of the discomfort and embarrassment it causes the family.Mind you the issue with the family was something I heard about, but didn't see personally. However, it is believable considering the disposition of the staff when it comes to a "production". They also boot anyone out of their live internet broadcast who asks theological questions they may have answers not supported by Quest dogma. This happened to me one week when I was sick at home and asked a simple question. It was fairly early in my time at Quest.
I could go on and on listing specifics and recalling various conversations, but I won't. It would be too lengthy and I would end uprambling. In conclusion, Quest puts more emphasis on itself and how they have changed people's lives with Jesus being a foot note. They also confuse coming to the understanding of the love of God with salvation. They don't spend much time talking about repentance, belief, and obedience to Jesus nor going deeper into simply studying books of the Bible. QCC is enthroned instead and there is always a gimmick to keep the crowd smiling. The puppeteers have perfected what emotional strings they need to pull in order to keep the majority from seeing past the glamour. They serve for the most part spiritual junkfood with little nutrition. They are wholly unapologetic and unashamed. They feel they can do no wrong.
May God have mercy on them and open their eyes."
Thanks for your boldness in posting your story! I wish you well on your journey of healing and discovering God's intent for what a community of believers looks like for today.
Theo
"Thanks for creating this site. I'm glad to see an active outlet inexistence for those who have been harmed by Quest to discuss what they endured, warn others, and find healing. Questers do need our love andunderstanding as well as our continued prayers.
The reason for this entire post is because some current Questers who post here want specifics. I'm also tired of their implied maliciousness towards anyone who could possibly have something bad to say about QCC. Here's my story in brief...
My experience at Quest for around a year was not positive in its majority, unfortunately. I will not name anyone specifically although it could be helpful (and certainly within scriptural boundaries) for the church to confront its own. First off, I was not in leadership,and I was active in a life group. I am in my mid to late 20's. I was fairly well known and also attended both the college group "Reverb" aswell as the young adult group "Mosaic" fairly regularly.
Initially I was treated well, and every one at QCC around my age suddenly acted very interested in me as soon as I started attending. That interest was not very genuine as I later came to find out after multiple attempts to foster a genuine friendship with a few of them failed repeatedly. None of them were willing to be as forthcoming with the same information they seemed so eager to prod from me either.
The Lord has been at work in my life for many years, brought me through much, and taught me much. I know His presence and guidance. I am a genuine born again Christian, understand what it means to be saved according to what Jesus said in scripture, and have seen further evidence of this through the fruit I bear because of the change the Holy Spirit has brought in my life. I am not the man I used to be. Those at Quest, however, where not so content with my faith and peace of mind. I was continually pressured (often by large groups in circle around me...creepy much?) into thinking that I might be kidding myself and that maybe I "just had a head knowledge". Nothing I said or proof I could offer could dissuade them. As a result I was continually shunned and made an outsider from that point on. Typical cult behavior. I was being pushed away in an effort to make me conform and seek acceptance. I saw this exact same strategy time and time again with the saved and unsaved alike who visited.
Life groups seldom touched on anything deep. They seemed little more than monitoring devices to keep tabs on people, constantly inject Quest rhetoric, and foster a feeling of unquestioned loyalty to"leaders". Out of further respect, I will not list my former lifegroup leader and any of the shallow and hypocritical behavior rampant within our group. However, you'd think that Christians wouldn't constantly quote an obscene anti-Christian movie like "Borat", behave exceedingly crudely, or have statues in their homes of a naked Africannative with a giant upright phallus on a spring.
On the occasions that I either disagreed with something said in a sermon, wondered why scripture was seldom studied (or used to back upa "sermon" points), questioned why obviously openly homosexual members where in staff positions, or just wanted to go deeper in my understanding of why Quest's pursuits (and considerable revenue) seldom seemed to extend beyond the building and into Christian service to the community (as both Jesus and the early church were fond of)...I was either ignored, rebuffed, and made to feel inferior via thinly veiled insults. Whenever I used scripture in its correct context to support my opinion or provide a rebuttal to something said to me (often in a fashion to indicate there was no argument and I was rude or stupid for even making one), I was told on more than one occasion that it was possible to read scripture with the wrong heart (simply because I didn't agree with things they had taken out of context) or that it was possible to read it too much. Do I even need to go into what's wrong with those statements?
In the end, all that I saw underneath the nice manufactured atmosphere was a lot of immaturity, arrogance, manipulation, commercialism, and a system designed to perpetuate the existence of the Quest machine and unquestioned obedience regardless of one's misgivings or unanswered questions. Compartmentalization and secrecy abound in an environmentwhere genuineness and transparency are extolled as virtue. They care more about making everyone happy and making sure the stupor produced from their crafted environment isn't disturbed. Point in case...they do nothing about all the spoiled emo kids of memebers/staff who makeout and smoke cigarettes in front of the church during service, but they will happily make sure a family with a baby moves away from the sound booth (so their precious video recording will be flawless) regardless of the discomfort and embarrassment it causes the family.Mind you the issue with the family was something I heard about, but didn't see personally. However, it is believable considering the disposition of the staff when it comes to a "production". They also boot anyone out of their live internet broadcast who asks theological questions they may have answers not supported by Quest dogma. This happened to me one week when I was sick at home and asked a simple question. It was fairly early in my time at Quest.
I could go on and on listing specifics and recalling various conversations, but I won't. It would be too lengthy and I would end uprambling. In conclusion, Quest puts more emphasis on itself and how they have changed people's lives with Jesus being a foot note. They also confuse coming to the understanding of the love of God with salvation. They don't spend much time talking about repentance, belief, and obedience to Jesus nor going deeper into simply studying books of the Bible. QCC is enthroned instead and there is always a gimmick to keep the crowd smiling. The puppeteers have perfected what emotional strings they need to pull in order to keep the majority from seeing past the glamour. They serve for the most part spiritual junkfood with little nutrition. They are wholly unapologetic and unashamed. They feel they can do no wrong.
May God have mercy on them and open their eyes."
Thanks for your boldness in posting your story! I wish you well on your journey of healing and discovering God's intent for what a community of believers looks like for today.
Theo
Thursday, December 17, 2009
The Truth About Christmas
I've been working on the next post so thank you for your patience in its arrival. Mostly I just wanted to post and let you all know that something is in the works and we're going to be having our first story from one of our posters coming up.
While this blog does focus on Quest in many ways, I'd also like to redirect the focus towards Jesus. During the holidays its very important that we as Christians keep our eyes focused on who the Author of our faith really is and celebrate the anniversary of His arrival to our broken world. I encourage you all, Christians, non-Christians, Questers, non-Questers, post-Questers, to find plenty of time to spend quietly with God and enjoying His heart for the season. Let the joy that you gain from that stillness with the Lord brim over to others around you and spread the "cheer" to anyone you can.
Love you all and a very Merry Christmas!
Theo
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