This weekend we celebrate Independence Day. But an even more significant independence day occurred two thousand years ago. An excerpt from the Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse: The Christian life begins with freedom from dead works, from religious systems, and from all human attempts 5 comments: Recovering Alumni says: July 3, 2010 at 10:37 AMReply […]
Celebrating Freedom Read More »
A number of TM supporters have made it clear how disgusted they were with my tone so I addressed their criticisms yesterday. Today, I’d like to discuss Dave Hasz’ tone. As a man of God that supposedly loves teenagers and wants to bring them closer to Christ, what do you think a proper response would
The Question You Should Be Asking Read More »
Let’s just get this question of tone out of the way and then we’ll dive into the substance of the call in the next post. A lot of people didn’t like the tone I took with Dave. People have called it bitter, disrespectful, angry, rude, etc. (Of course, many people already had their mind made
The Question of Tone – Let’s Settle This Read More »
I’m going to take a few posts to respond to the monster 2.5 hour conference call last night. In this post, I’d like to highlight what I appreciated and was glad to hear. At the beginning of the call, Dave listed several significant changes which I think will help prevent some of the problems we’ve
HA Conference Call: The Good Read More »
(2021 Update: The links in this post point to the Wayback Machine as the original sites have since gone down.) If you missed the conference call last night, you can click here for the audio. The first 90 minutes or so was a monologue from Dave answering questions that were emailed in. The last part is a
Conference Call Audio Read More »
Matthew 18:15-17 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two
Thoughts for Tonight’s HA Alumni Conference Call Read More »
Since Dave seems to want all the questions emailed in prior to the call, let’s congregate them here so we can make sure that everyone’s questions are addressed. Put your question(s) in the comments. Here are mine:ESOAL: 1) What exact changes have been made to ESOAL and when?2) Have medical professionals, not affiliated with TM,
What Are Your Questions? Read More »
218-936-6581 Code–14601 The first line is full, but this one is open. 4 comments: Anonymous said… heath doesn’t know he is on the air June 28, 2010 9:37 PM Anonymous said… We have to have a link to the phone call recording!!!My question didn’t turn out so well. and my cell died (my only phone)
If Lines Are Busy, Call This Number Read More »
UPDATE: I suggest sending your questions in ahead of time to make sure they get answered. The email address is confcall@recoveringalumniresponse.com. In case you haven’t heard, Honor Academy leadership is hosting a conference call tonight at 8pm Central Time. I’d like to make a few suggestions. (If you can’t make it, they’ve announced they will publish an audio
Honor Academy Conference Call Tonight Read More »
A reader and fellow alumnus wrote this essay and sent it to me. I thought he made some great points and it was worth sharing here. Please keep the discussion civil. 🙂 1. Embrace actual doctrine: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate
8 Things Teen Mania Needs to Change Read More »
A reader and fellow alumnus wrote this essay and sent it to me. I thought he made some great points and it was worth sharing here. Please keep the discussion civil. 🙂 1. Embrace actual doctrine: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate
Eight Things Teen Mania Needs to Change Read More »
(Moderator’s Note: This story and the comments below briefly, and with minimal detail, mentions rape.) Life After the Honor Academy: Once home, I received one phone call from a guy friend to see how I was doing, then nothing. It was as if I never existed to TM or any of my friends. I was
Kate’s Story: Part 3 Read More »
I started the Honor Academy in January 1997 just after Teen Mania moved to Garden Valley. Things started out on the wrong foot from the get go. I was under Kim W’s supervision and she seemed to take an instant dislike to me. I later learned that this was partly because Kim was best friends
Kate’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
I, like so many others, was introduced to Teen Mania at an ATF. I went on my first Global Expeditions Mission Trip the following summer to Russia (’93), I was 13. For the first time I felt like I had a place were I just fit in. In many ways TM became my family. I
Kate’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
Oh. My. Goodness. Look at what this place has become! I can honestly say that I NEVER expected this blog to gather such a wonderful and healing community together. One year ago today, I attended a seminar on understanding and recovering from a cult. I was struck at the similarities between the experiences he was
It’s My Blog Birthday! Read More »
I have been reading through the RA site here and there, and in the beginning, I will be honest, my thoughts were something like, “Well, good for them. They are hurting and finding a way to work through it.” But I felt disconnected. It has been 15 years since I was part of TM, before
(2021 Moderator’s Note: Allie’s Story is part of The Vault, a series of drafts that were discovered in a backup file from 2011. These posts were not published for some reason but are now being published. If this is your story and do not want your story to remain published, please email me at recoveringalumni
When I arrived at the HA, I was placed in a room with Alex, a life saver at this point. My so called ACA showed up a week late and was promptly dismissed. I don’t even remember his name or even his face. During my first week we had corporate exercise. We didn’t have an
Mark’s Story: Part 2 (Global Expeditions Review) Read More »
I attended ATFs in Denver since 1996. The first time I went to ATF it was amazing, the preaching, the music, it was so wonderful. I wondered how someone could ever be that kind of Christian. I grew up in a Southern Baptist background. I went every year waiting until I could attend the HA.
Mark’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
00:00 -The video starts with an intern discussing their decision to “ring out” of ESOAL (AKA quit). “I had to ring out because my health was on the line.” I think this is a pretty fair representation of the overall mindset – its considered a huge spiritual accomplishment to quit ESOAL for the sake of
Honor Academy ESOAL: Never Before Seen Footage #2 Read More »
The other major thing I got confronted about constantly was “rebellion.” Any opposing thought or belief not preached to us by our leaders was considered “rebellion.” Had I actually believed everything that people were confronting me about, I would have ended up hanging myself in the Back 40. Thank God (literally) there is grace. Without
Mariana’s Story: Part 3 Read More »
During Gauntlet Week, we had numerous interviews and personality tests. I didn’t know at the time that behind every curtain the Directors of Oz were hiding out listening to our conversations Big Brother-style so they could determine who they wanted for their team for our “ministry placements” (i.e. free youth labor). I had been majoring
Mariana’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
FYI: This story is a 3 part story. I was a sophomore in college when I was called to the Honor Academy. I was living with 4 guys and 2 other girls in a house we dubbed “The Real World.” The majority of us had never met and had found out through a friend-of-a-friend about the rooms
Mariana’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
I recently received a copy of a letter that an alumnus wrote to the Board of Directors. Although the Board knows his identity, for the purposes of the blog, he wishes to remain anonymous as he said, “I do not want any honor coming to me for what I wrote and such – I’d rather
Open Letter to the Board of Directors Read More »
I recently came upon a very lengthy ESOAL documentary (2.5 hours). This particular video is from 2002 but recent interns have confirmed to me that most all of these events and attitudes are still firmly in place. This footage has never been seen outside the Honor Academy before now. I’ve edited down the 2.5 hour
Honor Academy ESOAL: Never Before Seen Footage Read More »
