What Patmos Is Really About
Now that more truth is coming forward about Chet Lowe and his “Patmos” boot camps, we need to examine what the programs are really all about.
“This discipleship experience is a 24/7, 16-week adventure of faith and tithe of time to the Lord where students are taught lessons based on the discipleship style of Jesus. You will not only study the Word of God, but also be given various opportunities to apply it in real life situations as you are challenged for the purpose of change.
The Patmos intensive will stretch you spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally to drive you to the feet of Jesus. ”
This “stretching” is accomplished through mental and physical manipulations that border on (or cross the border) of, abuse.
“It was meant to break you down,” said Ashley Ruiz, a former student and former staff member at Patmos.”
This is not the discipleship ship style of Jesus…to claim such is blasphemy.
The discipleship style of Jesus is presented by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.
The discipleship style of Jesus is training people to live in sacrificial love and suffering for the sake of others.
There is no physical training, no psychological torture…only the training of a godly spirit.
Jesus does tell us how to prepare for persecution…
““Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”(Matthew 5:11 ESV)
““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:43–45 ESV)
Learning how to love your neighbor is not accomplished by food and sleep deprivation or pretending to flee from “Muslims” in the middle of the night…
The things that will drive you to the feet of Jesus come naturally in life…we are constantly challenged by people and the culture in act in opposition to the the narrow way of following Christ…and we are challenged in the church to do so as well.
The Patmos and Potters Field ministry models are in direct opposition to the teaching of Jesus and the New Testament…so what are they really about?
What do we call people who take pleasure in creating pain for other people?
What do we call people who justify the use of assumed power to break down other human beings?
What do we call people who use the name of Jesus to satisfy their own wickedness?
Answer those questions and you know what these programs are really about…
Then ask yourself why such is allowed and promoted in the house of God…
A long time ago, the summer before my freshman year of college, I went up for a weekend of orientation. We stayed in the dorms, toured the campus, etc. That Saturday evening we had a hayride. Being a city kid, I was pretty excited. It stated off well enough in a wagon pulled by a tractor along country roads. All of a sudden, two motorcycles pulled up beside the tractor with men dressed in what were supposed to be PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) attire. Think Arab terrorists. They had fairly real (probably replica guns), were quite threatening, and made us all climb out of the wagon. I was absolutely terrified, as were the other students on the cart. They took us to a bonfire for singing and S’mores, but you can be quite sure that it took some of us a long time to get over it and some parents were very ticked off. If that’s what happens with a “prank”, I can’t even begin to fathom what several weeks at Patmos would be like.
Hey, remember that story in the gospels where Jesus dressed up like a Roman centurion and then woke up his disciples in the middle night, chased them around with a spear and then waterboarded them? ……. Yeah, me neither.
Linn, Kevin…exactly.
Good grief.
I can’t even comprehend…
We have a young friend who was directed to CBI (Calvary Bible institute), who reported to us that they have a lot of abuse there (nothing in the level of Patmos, though)… Lots of overworking, little pay, no direction from leadership… all in the name of “training” them to be faithful to the call of the Lord when things get difficult.
Not even close to the same level of abuse as Patmos, I know, but definitely of the same origin.
Abuse is still abuse.
Steven,
Same stuff, different only in degree…
When is a cult not a cult?
Never!
What do Patmos and Pottersfield both have in common? Calvary Chapel. So glad, I’m no longer part of that.
It’s really sad that some Christian movements use LGAT (Large Group Awareness Techniques) where they otherwise eschew or reject the otherwise secular. There’s nothing Christian about LGAT, quite the opposite. What’s scary is that LGAT works, an extreme and sometimes abusive application of emotional contagion.
The New Victor wrote:
“What’s scary is that LGAT works, an extreme and sometimes abusive application of emotional contagion.”
Little difference from a Nuremberg rally in the 1930s.