Author Topic: Craig Stephen Rogers is also angry at Southern Utah News (Read 4114 times)

Oscar · « **on:** January 31, 2011, 05:15:18 AM »

For more info:

Southern Utah News & Dixie Brunner - Setting the Record Straight SUNEWs

Properly because the newspaper wrote:

Quote

Abundant Life Academy has employee shake-up, by Dixie Brunner. Southern Utah News, December 8, 2010

Abundant Life Academy has had its ups and downs in six years of operation here. The Christian home for teens (who have had issues, either with behavioral problems in their homes, or minor infractions with the law), have been placed into ALA by their guardians, at a substantial cost, to refocus on spiritual values and education.

The relationship between the school and community has been interesting. There have been many events, projects and challenges that the teens have responded to with community service. There have also been some behavioral issues acted out, causing local law enforcement headaches.

Owner Craig Rogers, in a phone interview, said of ALA, “we don’t have any money.” He cited the economy as being a factor, and him not being at the helm due to surgery. Rogers said his blog on the academy’s website was improper and inappropriate. He said he wrote it out of anger.

He said there are two companies involved – Abundant Life Academy and Virtual High School – of which he co-owns with Rod Quarnberg.

“Our attempt was to heal the divide,” said Rogers, of the shake-up and subsequent offer to key staff a percentage of ownership in Abundant Life Academy, if they gave up two months of pay.”

Rogers told ‘the team’ through an e-mail written on November 17 through Wendy Riddle-Henderson, ALA Director of Operations, that if they decided to invest in this course; they would have two options;

One – work for two months (four pay periods) for free, thus investing the amount of your salary for two months into part ownership of the company.

Two – you bring in the amount of cash that four paychecks would provide you (before taxes) and invest it into the company.

Several employees (some former) provided the e-mail Rogers sent to the team and other employees.

The following is Craig Roger’s blog on the ALA website after the incident:

Dear Parents, Staff, and friends of ALA,

In the last few days I can’t remember ever being in a battle like the one I am in now. I have been fasting and praying for days upon days. I really don’t even know how many days it’s been. But, I am very weak in the flesh and the emotions, but strong in the Spirit. Faith is abounding ... unstoppable ... jacked up and on overdrive. I guess I live for these types of “recovery missions.” My vision and mission are strong and deep. I am determined and I know what needs to be done and how to restore everything. I am very sorrowful for allowing things to flounder and come to this point. It is all my fault. But I want to say that God honored Himself anyway, and it’s really amazing all that He has still done despite our failures.

I didn’t have a clue that any battle could be this brutal. No words can describe the spiritual fight that we all have gone through over the last year, but there has been nothing in my life like the last few days ... it’s been like a living nightmare, not in the physical world, but in the spiritual battle. I have endured torment and doubt like never before. Relentless badgering, constant reminders of my lack, and the ridicule of the mockers just won’t stop. I thought I had seen some rough moments in life before, but the last few days has been something I couldn’t have imagined ... like the perfect storm. The depth of ugliness and despair suffocated me (physically). Last night, through prayers and reading the Word, I got through it. I even had some small victories. I saw some good things, and remembered even better things. But I don’t know if I could do it again, ever! I am praying that I am through the worst of it. God has prepped me, equipped me, given back the vision and restored hope.

What will be restored ... our focus back on Jesus, “Jesus is the only answer!” We will be phenomenal communicators once again. Our commitment to academic excellence. We will take the educational program to the very top. Lastly, we will restore the leadership and creative drive that has always been an earmark of ALA.

A while back, after I had returned to ALA fulltime, I knew what had to be done. But really didn’t have the guts to do it ... I had to carve out the people who were opposing the Spirit of God. But where to start? And, did I have what it takes to do it the right way? I knew that it was time to separate the sheep from the goats, but these goats had become my friends.

ALA had become “Mormonized,” which is another word for deceived, which is another word for hypocrite, which is another word for oppressed liar. I ended up loving these people, and we shared many things that led us to “know” God. But the truth is that they were never going to leave the Mormon faith, and even though they may know better, they are “lifers.” Therefore, it was time for them to go. There was a faction, division, and discord at ALA and there was only one way that it was going away ... we had allowed a faction of people to stifle the Spirit of God. It was my fault. I can love the Mormon, but I don’t have to let him/her to be in the core of the leadership team at ALA. Mormons are children of God, and they just haven’t figured it out yet. They live in a culture of performance, cover up, and denial. The Mormons of ALA (just a few) became a part of our ALA family. They took too much liberty and I have to take it back. The Mormon “oppression” was able to infiltrate ALA, subtly, over the last year. I am so sorry. But God set up a scenario that allowed the pretender (the goats) to leave with dignity and honor.

Not all of them are actual goats ... some that have left ALA lately are lukewarm believers. Wishy-washy. What I did was to follow God’s lead and set up a system where only the true people would stay at ALA. The people of faith and of the Spirit would stay, and those that are pretenders would depart, on their own without a lot of pain. What we set up was an opportunity for anyone at ALA to “follow Jesus ... declaring that he was the only answer!” Those that didn’t, were off and running in another direction, but away from us and the ALA kids. Although it was not easy, and I feel as though I lost some very good friends, the truth is that God has declared, and let no man oppose.

The disciples Jesus called left everything, literally ... they sacrificed everything. They were told that they would be fishers of men. They were not told that they would lose everything. They were not told what they had to sacrifice, not until much later. But they knew that they had to leave everything, give up everything, and sacrifice everything and follow Jesus. I am sure they had somewhat of an uderstanding that when they left their boats and nets they were at least sacrificing the profession, their money makers, their employment, their income. But the disciples first actions were to “give up everything, leave behind their jobs and their income, and to follow Christ.” That was their first action as disciples.

But even before that, Simon was asked by Jesus to do something that he had failed to accomplish. Jesus told Simon to put down the nets in the deeper water. Simon said, “we have been fishing all night and have not caught anything, but I will do it anyway.” These are acts of faith, without promise or fore knowledge. Simple situation here ... Jesus suggests they put out their nets into waters with no fish, and they caught so many fish two boats almost sunk. Luke 5: 1-11

Jesus said, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men” ... and off they went. They left everything and followed Jesus.

Wow.... could you do that? Well, recently, I witnessed many staff members of Abundant Life Academy do this exact same thing.

Every staff had been called out of the boat and to follow Christ to become fishers of men. But, not all of them did ... some followed their fear, and their comfort, and they denied the faith. Those that chose to follow Christ, without hesitation, began to encourage one another with statements of faith, gratitude, hope, charity, and “doing.” Facing the fear, and leaving everything, to follow the calling in their heart. This is what happened at ALA over the last week or two. Staff had a chance to be fulling committed and “bought” in with sacrifice. Many did it with glee, praising God, even though they had no idea how God was going to accomplish this feat, they have unusual faith.

Unfortunately, that was not the case with all the Abundant Life staff. Some staff only looked at what they would lose, and focused on their entitlements. There are some that acted exactly like the rich ruler, the Pharisees, and those who shrank back in fear deserting Jesus when they were asked to sacrifice. Jesus did ask all of us to sacrifice. He told us that we would be leaving father, mother, siblings, jobs, goals, aspirations, and going out without support or guarantees that needs would be met.

Recently, I have called all the staff at ALA to come out of hiding and to declare their intentions regarding the work of the Lord as it pertained to ALA. I was asking for strong believers to take bold steps of faith and warned that we were weeding out those who were not here for the Kindgom first and foremost. I had no other choice but to set up a confrontation, where God would allow for every person to decide. He was going to separate the sheep from the goats, the job seekers or the kingdom believers. The pretenders were going to have to declare and move out in a major faith walk, and if they were in on alignment with God’s plan for ALA, then it would be made obvious to everyone.

In the last year there has been a contention at ALA; along with strife, and a subtle rebellion toward leadership. It seemed as though there was competition between men, with different factions subtlety holding out for their philosophic view points. Good strong men who had success with previous schools. But instead of learning the Abundant Life program, which is based on Positive Peer Culture, these guys gave lip service to the PPC, but all the while ran their own show (convenience, ease, and comfort). It was only a matter of time before the rebelliousness caused enough discord that something had to be addressed.

At that time the program and academics were blended, acting more as a team, and managed by one person. Rod Quarnberg greatly struggled under the circumstances and even with my help we could root up the rebellious spirit (we called it the buffet-style employee), where employees went through a buffet table only taking the foods they like and leaving the rest on the table. Our employees did the same, deciding individually what they were going to invest into and what they were not. Rod had hand-picked these guys and he stood by them way too long. By the time Rod finally took his blessings off these guys, the damage was too far done. These guys had good hearts, and were good men. But they had another vision, another direction, and did not understand that rebellion is rebellion. I decided that being “good men” with “good hearts” was not enough. Therefore, I changed the criteria for staff selection back to the early years.

Although we saw a great deal of improvement after these staff members were eliminated, Rod decided to step down at the same time. It was never the same between Rod and I. He returned to academics and rarely engaged in the program elements. I believe that some bitterness and resentment remained in his heart. Being defeated and feeling like he let everyone down, Rod sank low and really never came out of it. Too much damage had been done and relationships bruised so severely they never did heal. Unfortunately, the division within the academy remained. Led by Rod, the academic staff were isolated from the issues of the overall academy and kept to themselves. This was not healthy, and in hindsight perhaps we should have had a clean break back when Rod stepped down.

The issue described above was entirely my fault. I am responsible, and I the one who set it all up, and there is no one else to take the blame. I was wrong and God gave me plenty of time to repent and I failed. I justified my disobedience through convenience. The point is that I alone did this and only by God’s grace can we overcome and survive. The bottom line is that I compromised. In my desire to provide the best staff at ALA, I allowed Mormons and pretenders to take key roles at ALA. Especially in the core academic positions. The Mormons by-in-large are lovely people, hard workers, loyal, and honest ... but only to a point. They have a fundamental belief that non-Mormons are not children of God and that we will not be a part of Joseph Smith’s heaven. They have never said this out loud in the open, but they will share this in the subtle corners of the room. They are not allowed to spiritually bond or accept the brotherhood from a non-Mormon, therefore they could never accept my leadership.

All the professional staff have returned to the classroom and the units. Wendy and I are working directly on the floor with the students Thursday through Sunday. During the week, we will be in the classrooms as teachers. Our academic team will not miss a beat, and in 30 days we will have exceeded anyone’s wildest expectations. This is going to be fun!

–Craig S. Rogers

Abundant Life Academy

When questioned about the blog, Craig Rogers said that it was not meant for everyone, but rather a certain group of people. (He has since taken it off the Internet.)

Rogers said that after health issues and surgery, and his absence, ALA business operations were out of money.

Staff comments –

“The staff wants to help the kids,” said one disgruntled former staff member. “We have always cared so much about them.” They said Rogers operates the business on fear and threat behavior towards staff.

Estimations from prior staff – roughly 20 personnel have left – is that there are around 50 kids there currently, with probably eight to 10 people left to work with the kids, with no educational staff.

“It’s just all about Craig,” said a former staff member. “We are worried about the kids.”

seamus · « **Reply #1 on:** January 31, 2011, 01:00:09 PM »

Ah...... such indignation......Im suprised he hasnt bellowed "god wills it", hes pissed cause he's getting called out. :nods:

BuzzKill · « **Reply #2 on:** February 05, 2011, 11:39:18 AM »

I had somehow missed this. What a mess. Actually Seamus, you have a point. I will say "God wills it" and that God is trying to tell him something.

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpuQCCa1VyE

Ursus · « **Reply #3 on:** February 05, 2011, 07:29:58 PM »

Quote from: "Craig Rogers"

I can love the Mormon, but I don’t have to let him/her to be in the core of the leadership team at ALA. Mormons are children of God, and they just haven’t figured it out yet. They live in a culture of performance, cover up, and denial. The Mormons of ALA (just a few) became a part of our ALA family. They took too much liberty and I have to take it back. The Mormon "oppression" was able to infiltrate ALA, subtly, over the last year. I am so sorry...

<snip snip>

In my desire to provide the best staff at ALA, I allowed Mormons and pretenders to take key roles at ALA. Especially in the core academic positions. The Mormons by-in-large are lovely people, hard workers, loyal, and honest ... but only to a point. They have a fundamental belief that non-Mormons are not children of God and that we will not be a part of Joseph Smith's heaven. They have never said this out loud in the open, but they will share this in the subtle corners of the room. They are not allowed to spiritually bond or accept the brotherhood from a non-Mormon, therefore they could never accept my leadership.

Lolollll. What is this? A "my religion is better than your religion" pissing contest? This oughta go over REAL well in Kanab, Utah!

BuzzKill · « **Reply #4 on:** February 06, 2011, 09:14:33 AM »

No kidding. I've been reading some of his other blog rants. He is also upset with the local law enforcement and there is another one dedicated to the LDS discrimination of non-LDS in Kanab/Utah. I can not believe he moved to Utah not understanding this basic fact of life about the unquestionable church-state of Utah. No doubt he moved there to avoid regulation. Discrimination is the price one pays to live in Utah, with all its natural wonders and lack of regulations, if they are a Bible believing Christian. He had to know this. Furthermore, he markets ALA as a Christian school. This amounts to false advertising if he then exposes the kids to LDS indoctrination - which is unavoidable if they are teaching and counseling the kids; unless he tells the parents up-front his "Christian" school is operated by Mormons - which I do a little doubt.

Ursus · « **Reply #5 on:** February 06, 2011, 01:25:39 PM »

Quote from: "BuzzKill"

No doubt he moved there to avoid regulation.

I do believe that Craig Rogers has blogged, in the past, on the superior "family rights and values" that Utah accords its residents and businesses, making it a far more desirable location for reworking young minds into service for the Lord, unlike those so-called heathen "liberal" states such as Florida and California...

Froderik · « **Reply #6 on:** February 06, 2011, 01:47:40 PM »

Quote from: "Ursus"

Quote from: "BuzzKill"
No doubt he moved there to avoid regulation.
I do believe that Craig Rogers has blogged, in the past, on the superior "family rights and values" that Utah accords its residents and businesses, making it a far more desirable location for reworking young minds into service for the Lord, unlike those so-called heathen "liberal" states such as Florida and California...

Wasn't that loon posting on this board a long while back as the "Word of Wisdom"?

Mormons are a weird bunch...Joseph Smith.. how the fuck did they come up with that one?

BuzzKill · « **Reply #7 on:** February 06, 2011, 01:58:43 PM »

He did post here in the past but I don't recall if that was what he called himself or not.
Mormon history, as in Joseph Smith's biography and how he developed his theology, is fairly fascinating. Utah Light House ministries has a ton of background info. Saints Alive can be a good source too.

Froderik · « **Reply #8 on:** February 06, 2011, 02:05:47 PM »

"Let's be big for a change."
-- Groucho Marx, on bigamy

Ursus · « **Reply #9 on:** February 06, 2011, 02:47:47 PM »

Quote from: "Froderik"

Wasn't that loon posting on this board a long while back as the "Word of Wisdom"?

Quote from: "BuzzKill"

He did post here in the past but I don't recall if that was what he called himself or not.

Here ya go: CraigRogers

seamus · « **Reply #10 on:** February 07, 2011, 01:57:43 AM »

Yep,another blind fool,who could seriously benefit from a library card.

Ursus · « **Reply #11 on:** February 16, 2011, 10:58:40 PM »

Curiously, despite the exhaustive detail provided below for most of Rogers' endeavors in the realm of employment, there is NO mention of his time as "Program Director for Positive Impact of Bahia de Kino"...

Is Craig trying to minimize his WWASPS connections?

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

Craig Rogers

Zion Educational Systems - Internet Media Marketing - New Business Development/Network Expansion Specialist
Las Vegas, Nevada Area[/list]

Current

[li]Zion Educational Systems - Founder - Executive Director at Zion Educational Systems, Inc.[/li]
[li]Director of Internet Marketing - Search Engine Development at Zion Educational Systems, Inc.[/li]
[li]Social Media Applications Developer at Zion Educational Systems, Inc.[/li]
[li]Director of Marketing at Abundant Life Academy, a therapeutic boarding school for troubled teens[/li][/list]
Past

CEO at Abundant Life Academy
Program Director at Rite of Passage
Regional Director - Nevada at Koinonia Foster Homes, Inc

Education

California State University-SacramentoRecommendations · Craig has 2 recommendation(s)

Connections · 500+ connections

Industry · Education Management

Websites

Craig Rogers's Summary

Craig Rogers - New Project Development
Zion Educational Systems, Inc.(ZES) "treating people as "people of value"
435-899-9997

Craig Rogers, Internet Marketing Consultant - New Project Development. Craig represents each prospective ZES client as if he was the owner of their business or service. He sees himself as a stockholder, totally committed to his client's success, willing to serve in any capacity necessary to lead them into success. Craig's passions is not about marketing, the Internet, or developing web sites. Craig is passionate about people. He is hooked on seeing hard working people who have invested everything they have into their vision or dream, become financially successful. Most Internet marketing companies sell SEO services, promising high rankings in Google search results. Most Internet Marketing company's promise to increase Internet traffic, improve conversion rates, and lower costs. Craig will not even mention these topics because he is too busy learning everything there is about his clients vision, purpose, people, and customers. Craig promises to become a friend, confidant, counselor, coach, and family member because he knows that success starts and finishes in strong relationships, unwavering commitment, and a covenant that stands firm through all adversity. Through a relationship with Craig the ZES client should expect creative energy, contagious passion, unwavering faith, inexhaustible tenacity, and a tremendous sense of urgency.

Craig Rogers's Specialties:
Search Engine Optimization - Internet Marketing - Social Media and Internet Video Specialists - Developing Client Potential for Monetizing Referral Networking: increasing referrals and creating new revenue streams through shared collaborations with colleagues, industry professionals, businesses (small, medium, and large)

Craig Rogers's Experience

Zion Educational Systems - Founder - Executive Director
Zion Educational Systems, Inc.
(Privately Held; Education Management industry)

January 2003 — Present (8 years 2 months)

Zion Educational Systems (ZES) an Internet Marketing Media Group founded in 2003 by Craig Rogers. Founded on the elements of integrity, trust, passion, and collaboration, ZES's clients dominate Google's search results, generating top search positions for over 20,000 different search terms representing the Behavioral Health, Addictions Treatment, and Mental Health industries. Serving clients (schools, programs, and services) in the behavioral health arena, moving them from network marketing to the "Internet Referral Marketing Systems. Specializing in developing Social Media Marketing, Video Production for Web 2.0 Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Network Referral Marketing, New Market Acquisition, Web Site Analysis, and Website Design. ZES's Behavioral Health Clients enjoy 65,000 new visitors per month (goal to reach 65,000 new visitors per day by 2011
Director of Internet Marketing - Search Engine Development
Zion Educational Systems, Inc.
(Privately Held; Education Management industry)

January 2003 — Present (8 years 2 months)

Social Media Applications Developer
Zion Educational Systems, Inc.
(Privately Held; Education Management industry)

January 2003 — Present (8 years 2 months)

Director of Marketing
Abundant Life Academy, a therapeutic boarding school for troubled teens
(Primary/Secondary Education industry)

December 2000 — Present (10 years 3 months)

Responsible for the Internet Marketing systems and campaigns for a therapeutic boarding school for troubled teens. Creating and implementing Internet Marketing web-based systems designed to generate and manage high quality highly valued traffic. Integration of the Internet Lead Management Systems with Admissions (Student Record Systems - Database). Tracking and analyzing traffic, new and unique visitor traffic, analyzing industry competition. Management of ALA's Social Meda systems
CEO
Abundant Life Academy
(Educational Institution; Primary/Secondary Education industry)

December 2000 — June 2010 (9 years 7 months)

Craig stepped down as the CEO of Abundant Life Academy after 10 years of faithful service. In a 17 year career, Craig served over 5,000 students and families, and leading hundreds of staff. Greatest accomplishment: Communicating with hundreds of students on a monthly/daily basis. As the majority owner of ALA Craig will continue to serve ALA from the Chair of the Board of Directors. Craig's passion (teaching, writing, and life coaching) will continue as he is underway in a project to write and publish a series of books related to leadership, teenagers, and family restoration. Craig's first book, "Get Real - Overcoming the Spirit of Performance", is due to be published in April 2011. As a powerful and effectual motivational speaker, Craig will continue to inspire parents through ALA's bi-monthly Family Conferences. Moreover, Craig will act as the consultant to ALA's CEO. Craig's commitment to ALA is to continue his unquenchable thirst for research (outcome-based results), keeping ALA on the cutting edge of leadership training, Positive Peer Culture, and entrepreneurial development.
Program Director
Rite of Passage
(Education Management industry)

1998 — 2000 (2 years )

Regional Director - Nevada
Koinonia Foster Homes, Inc
(Civic & Social Organization industry)

January 1996 — July 1998 (2 years 7 months)

Program Director of the Loomis Group homes, transfered to Las Vegas, Nevada and started up the Therapeutic Foster Care Regional Office
Craig Rogers's Education

California State University-Sacramento

BA of Psychology - MA Chemical Dependency Studies , Environment/Experiential Psychology , 1995 — 1996
Additional Information

Craig Rogers's Websites:

Craig Rogers's Interests:

Enjoying my life with my bride of 20 years, Wendy Rogers, and our four children.
Craig Rogers's Groups:

Christian Professionals Worldwide
PrivateSafe Independent/Private School Risk Management & Safety Professional Networking
NO FEAR, Christians in Business
Mental Health Networking
Clinical Development and Innovation
Wordtracker
The Association of Boarding Schools
C12 Group Austin/San Antonio/Hill Country
Addiction Professionals
NATWC
Mental Health and Addiction Specialist
Marketing Treatment Programs and Centers
Parenting 2.0
CLA Christian Leadership Alliance
Christian Impact
Struggling Teens
Social Network and Internet Marketing for Addiction/Recovery Based Services
Abundant Life Academy
Social Media Boot Camp for CEOs
Heart of Transitions
Blue Kiwi Social Media - Collaborative Internet Linking
Christian Mission Trips

Craig Rogers's Contact Settings

Interested In:

career opportunities
consulting offers
new ventures
job inquiries
expertise requests
business deals
reference requests
getting back in touch

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