Last year September 2007 I contacted Turning Point Church and asked specific questions regarding there affiliation with Tony Cunningham
I received this email from Kim Barns

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KIM BARNS
Dear Dan,

Thank you for your email. I was not aware of the news regarding the churches. I just read your email and wanted to respond quickly since I will be out of town for 4 days. Pastor Tony is not affiliated with SOMA NW College. Tony has had opportunity to teach as our school, the last time being about 10 months ago at a Strategic Advance Intensive.

I am going to take this information to our Senior Pastor Mike Villamor and elders and we will do some investigating on our own. We will be calling you soon. I would like to ask if you could please not put of church or school in the website until we can have time to respond in more detail.

Here are some quick answers to a few of your questions (I will answer the rest when I have more time and I will talk to you on the phone): Do we practice Spiritual Parenting? No. Spiritual Covering, Discipleship, and Covenant Relationships? Not like it is taught and practiced at Radiant Life, although there are teachings on these in the bible. Pastor Mike did a year long teaching on Discipleship "Into the Nations" - becoming a disciple of Jesus. You can probably hear some of the messages on the web.

We are in no way (never have been) affiliated with Radiant Life Church.

You asked: How much money has Turning Point given Tony for SOMA Sacramento? $0.

I look forward to talking with you.

Kim Barnes

Elder and Dean of Students

Turning Point Church

Turning Point You people need to see the layers of lies that are underneath the surface!

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BraveHeart
Thank You "TurningPointReject" for pointing out the most obvious!

I was trying to give the folks from SOMA NORTHWEST / Turning Point Church an opportunity to save face and clarify the remarks they make in the video that is on there web site regarding SOMA NORTHWEST.

To say they are no way and never have been affiliated is misleading.
No it is more than misleading!!! Its an out right LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had Pastor Mike and Cindi at our home here in Elk Grove with Tony Cunningham, Tom Borsic, Brandon Miller and some other pastors for B-B-Q Lobster. My good friend Jeff Greer made a special purchase of these fantastic 1 pound Lobsters for each person who was there I had the privilege of B-B-Qing the lobsters.

So I know there is a connection in fact if my memory serves me right Mike was in Tonys Youth Group back in North Bend Oregon.
So there is a long history with Tony and Mike Turning Point Church and SOMA NorthWest.

I do not understand why church leadership can not be honest, even when they are caught red handed embracing the very guy they think is an apostle!
Even if they are trying to break away to be honest & open would be to there best interest.
I believe that if and when they realized that Tony is a fraudulent apostle self promoted prophet and false teacher the best break off would be to publicly and spiritually break off all ties and and soul ties that Tony has attached himself to that is just for starters.

Has the leadership of TPCWOC at anytime sat under the teaching and instruction of Tony in a retreat, seminar or classroom setting?
YES THEY HAVE!!!
We see it in the Video!!!!

Has Tony Cunningham ever gone to Washington to teach, instruct, guide or encourage the leaders of TPCWOC?
YES he has several times!

Has the church ever adopted or implemented any of Tony or RLC's methods, models or teachings?
YES!!!! THEY USE HIS CURRICULUM FOR SOMA

If so then it is safe to say there is an affiliation??? That is what I was seeing...but to be given an email expalaining their points I have to accept it at face value and hopefully I can have an opportunity to ask some followup questions.

SOMA_NW_Tony_in_the_backgorund.jpg (65.6KB) Tony Teaching at SOMA NW.jpg (74.4KB)

When I called Turning Point Church last Friday I asked for some one who is familiar with the video and I explained the the quote who said “I have Grown in my gifting of leadership, Being under cover, learning about being under the covering of an apostle, of church leadership, of Elders” I asked then who the apostle is? I was told that it is Tony Cunningham From Sacramento.


So there are a lot of Questions For SOMA NORTHWEST and Turning Point Church of Marysville Washington.

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TurningPointReject
When a person says they are no way and never have been affiliated can be misleading. Since affiliate means to associate with or to adopt then Turning Point has affiliated with RLC. Evidence of this is TPCWOC having adopted SOMA model, methods and teachings. Anyone who has attended SOMA can look at the SOMA information on TPCWOC's website and determine for themselves if it is similiar to RLC SOMA.

To say they are no way and never have been affiliated is misleading. Has the leadership of TPCWOC at anytime sat under the teaching and instruction of Tony in a retreat, seminar or classroom setting? Has Tony Cunningham ever gone to Washington to teach, instruct, guide or encourage the leaders of TPCWOC? Has the church ever adopted or implemented any of Tony or RLC's methods, models or teachings? If so then it is safe to say there is an affiliation.

MOST DEFIANTLY......THERE IS AN AFFILIATION WITH THE COUNTERFEIT APOSTLE MR. TONY CUNNINGHAM!!!

BraveHeart

if the leadership is willing to lie and cover up then you have to ask....
What are they hiding?
Why would an elder make such a bold face set of lies?
Who is she trying to protect?

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BraveHeart
if the leadership is willing to lie and cover up then you have to ask....
What are they hiding?
Why would an elder make such a bold face set of lies?
Who is she trying to protect?

Braveheart,

As you might have guessed by now, Mike and Cyndi tend to surround themselves with the kind of people who do not do much critical thinking. (I mean that in the academic sense, for those who may think that critical thinking sounds like a bad thing.) Perhaps "investigative thinking" or "being a Berean" will make more sense to those who do not understand the real academic meaning of critical thinking.

The elders of the church are "yes men" (and women) who do not question what Mike says or does. They give him the kind of unquestioning obedience that we should give only to God. They trust Mike like we should only trust God. (Scripture says the Jesus did not entrust himself to any man, because He knew what was in man.) I guess in TP's leadership's view, modern-day apostles (which you and I know don't really exist) are tantamount to God himself, since they give Mike that kind of honor which only belongs to God.

I have not known Kim to be a liar, but I think that if she was fearful she might lie (like we all are tempted to do when we're afraid), BUT you asked a GREAT question: What is she afraid of? Why hide things?

Also, Kim is not exactly a walking dictionary (and I don't mean that as a slam. She has many great qualities as a person.) It's possible that she thought affiliation meant something that it does not. HOWEVER, why did she make a promise that she never revisited, even if to say, "Sorry I didn't follow through on my promise to get back to you"? Integrity issues abound at Turning Point....And your inablility to get a response from leadership is a TYPICAL TACTIC of that regime: that is, they ignore problems and questions until they seem to "go away." They don't have time for people who have honest questions that they may not be able to answer or that will call their bluff or that will challenge their position(s). They just won't face up to these things. What I wonder is this: WHY? If you're standing in truth, you have nothing to fear. You should be able to aptly explain yourself and listen to the other perspective without feeling threatened. This kind of healthy dialogue does NOT happen at TP when there is someone who is versed in scripture well enough to ask probing and important questions. Leadership will shut down such a person and suggest they go elsewhere to fellowship.

Kim is defending and protecting what she and her husband have thrown everything else away for to follow after. If that ends up being a sham, what then? I'm sure the thought is terrifying. When we're faced with terror, there are few of us who will not hide or lie. I am not justifying it; I'm just explaining what I think might be going on. I wish Kim wouldn't be afraid. It seems she has so mixed her trust in God with her trust in Mike, that she has forgotten that if Mike ends up being apostate, God is still God. He will not fail her. He will never leave or forsake her. Unfortunately, since Mike has told her not to read this forum, she probably won't, such is her devotion to the false apostle.

I will always wish her freedom in Christ and a new start if she is willing. She has a wonderful bent toward (or gift of) faithfulness that is rare in many believers. I pray that faithfulness will be devoted only to God and purified by Him so that it can be rightly applied to all He has for her to be and do in this life.

Meanwhile, Braveheart, I believe that at TP there is a fear of being questioned, as I have mentioned, that DOES reveal that there are many things being hidden in darkness. You are right about that.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2009 04:15AM by LearningPoint.

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wherefromhere
at church today the topic was joy again. pastor mike made reference to scripture in ezra 3 about how some wept and others had joy. i always interpreted that scripture to mean the ones that wept were weeping tears of joy. correct me if im wrong someone. anyways my wife and i have decided to go one more week. we plan on each fasting one day and seeing what the Lord my speak to us. also, we really like david luster and his preaching. another one who is good at preaching is pastor jeff moors. neither one of them sounds like mike. we wondered about pstor barnes, because sometimes he didnt sound like he was convinced of his own sermons. well this is the hardest decision we have ever really had to make and we would appreciate your prayers.

its amazing on how we think so much alike it really makes me wonder who you are we said the same thing about twisting that scripture to make a point we also when read in context thought tears of joy we also believe the same about dave and jeff moors and have said the same exact thing about pastor jeff barnes. It always sounds like he's trying to convince himself.

During Mike's "Deluge in Heaven's (Mike's) Overflow" sermon series I think Pastor Dave Luster preached one of the last sermons of the series. But anyway it was an outstanding sermon on finances and the biblical approach to help us. There was no prosperity doctrine so I agree on Dave Luster. Someone has to stand up to truth, whose it going to be? In Christ Love, Buddy

SOMA NW students...

Welcome.
Free your mind.
Ask your questions.
Share your story.

We wont ask you to double tithe to us.
We wont require you to volunteer your time.
We wont ask you to forsake your parents.
We wont ask you to check your brain at the door.

Come out of the shadows.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2009 01:58AM by TurningPointReject.

Some of the issues that have been raised in recent post have included:

Word of faith doctrine
Tithing methods
TD Jakes and the helicopter pastor from Washington.
Attitude of Pastor
Ect…
.
The main problem I have is the accountability/elder format.


Even if there is nothing wrong with turning point and everything on this forum is a lie, there is nothing stopping it from happening in the future until they change the structure of the leadership

According to the website, “Therefore we are an elder-led church that believes in God's fivefold ministry approach to growth and leadership.”

[turningpointchurch.com]

The church is not a part of a denomination and the Pastor’s only accountability comes from the Elders.

The number one elder is Mike and the number two elder is His wife Cyndi. Both on staff.
The number three and four elders are Pastor Jeff B and his wife Kim. Both on staff
Rick Lewis’s wife is on staff, and Pastor Jackie is also on staff. The only one not financially dependent on the church is Ron Olin.

Imagine if a CEO and his wife were also on the board for a major corporation. No one would call that accountability.

The elders are the ones who pick the pay of the staff or themselves. They also don’t disclose how much they make. I don’t think you can have it both ways. Either you have someone not on staff pick your salary or you disclose how much you make. If they feel that they are immune to the allure of money or power then this would only make me more worried.

In children’s church teachers are very careful not to put themselves in situations where they are alone with a student. I don’t think that the children’s director is worried that they would be temped to do anything but wants to protect there reputation. The same is true with the system of accountability.

I trust that all of the elders and pastors have pure hearts, but they have built a system of leadership which I feel is damaging to the reputation of Christ.


I personally have attempted to witness to someone that was familiar with turning point and he regularly asked me to explain why the pastor chose how much he was paid. It was very embarrassing. While the explanation given by the leaders may hold up to a captive audience on Sunday, it doesn’t work with your non Christian co worker or friend. Imagine if your Sunday school allowed teachers to be alone with students and having to explain to someone who has been abused before, that you don’t have a problem with it.


If there were a meaningful accountability system for the church and pastor mike the other issues mentioned on this forum wouldn’t bother me nearly as much. I feel that this is the root problem which all of the other come from.

I would also have an easier time believing some of the teachings from 1st timothy 5:17, about pastors receiving double honor and it specifically referring to the money, if it came from someone other than a direct benefactor.

Northwest
Yes these are recent issues
Word of faith doctrine
Tithing methods
TD Jakes and the helicopter pastor from Washington.
Attitude of Pastor
Ect…

The main problem You have is the accountability/elder format. and you make a great point!!!!

But
How easy we forget
I Keep raising the issue of the false teachings! Teachings like;
Spiritual Parenting, Discipleship Training, Covenant Relationships that include a secret pagan like ceremony pledge to Tony and Mike. these are un-holy Soul ties with The false teacher and Counterfeit Apostle Mr. Tony Cunningham. This church leadership has been dabbling with the demonic realm and making friends with the enemy. Heck Mike said it the other day "If a wolf gets into our midst we will buy some dog food. Idon't know!"
The Curriculum of SOMA is from Tony and even if this leadership dresses up the school with a new name they are still embracing the demonic influence of Tony Cunningham's teachings!

TP claims to be multidenomination christian church,we have many different people that makes TP special. THE promblem is that this word/of faith,name it claim it,positive confession,prosperity doctrine is going to take over TP. Also all the stuff that Tony Cunningham has taught Mike and he is passing on to SOMA Northwest regarding the covering, spiritual parenting, etc. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that this teaching is false. Do your research and get on the internet and find out where this false teaching came from and how it started. Then go to your Bible and check out what God says. Many special people have been there from the beginning and have been teachers and haven't been paid any money. They have donated their time, talent and treasure for the love of God. Now are we going to be forced to leave TP if we do not accept the false teaching that is taking over at TP? I plead with you all to have courage to seek the truth and speak out against these false teachings. This forum has been awesome and I encourage you to tell others before they are deceived. In Christ, Buddy

Quote
Northwest
Some of the issues that have been raised in recent post have included:

Word of faith doctrine
Tithing methods
TD Jakes and the helicopter pastor from Washington.
Attitude of Pastor
Ect…
.
The main problem I have is the accountability/elder format.


Even if there is nothing wrong with turning point and everything on this forum is a lie, there is nothing stopping it from happening in the future until they change the structure of the leadership

According to the website, “Therefore we are an elder-led church that believes in God's fivefold ministry approach to growth and leadership.”

[turningpointchurch.com]

The church is not a part of a denomination and the Pastor’s only accountability comes from the Elders.

The number one elder is Mike and the number two elder is His wife Cyndi. Both on staff.
The number three and four elders are Pastor Jeff B and his wife Kim. Both on staff
Rick Lewis’s wife is on staff, and Pastor Jackie is also on staff. The only one not financially dependent on the church is Ron Olin.

Imagine if a CEO and his wife were also on the board for a major corporation. No one would call that accountability.

The elders are the ones who pick the pay of the staff or themselves. They also don’t disclose how much they make. I don’t think you can have it both ways. Either you have someone not on staff pick your salary or you disclose how much you make. If they feel that they are immune to the allure of money or power then this would only make me more worried.

In children’s church teachers are very careful not to put themselves in situations where they are alone with a student. I don’t think that the children’s director is worried that they would be temped to do anything but wants to protect there reputation. The same is true with the system of accountability.

I trust that all of the elders and pastors have pure hearts, but they have built a system of leadership which I feel is damaging to the reputation of Christ.


I personally have attempted to witness to someone that was familiar with turning point and he regularly asked me to explain why the pastor chose how much he was paid. It was very embarrassing. While the explanation given by the leaders may hold up to a captive audience on Sunday, it doesn’t work with your non Christian co worker or friend. Imagine if your Sunday school allowed teachers to be alone with students and having to explain to someone who has been abused before, that you don’t have a problem with it.


If there were a meaningful accountability system for the church and pastor mike the other issues mentioned on this forum wouldn’t bother me nearly as much. I feel that this is the root problem which all of the other come from.

I would also have an easier time believing some of the teachings from 1st timothy 5:17, about pastors receiving double honor and it specifically referring to the money, if it came from someone other than a direct benefactor.

Northwest,

This is a well thought out position you have taken regarding Turning Point.
Do you realize you are thinking for yourself?
Do you realize you are wandering around the recesses of your mind without your discipler to guide you?
Do you realize that these sorts of questions are not welcomed by the leadership of TPC?
If you ask these sorts of questions to Mike or Cyndi you might be told you are in a dangerous place.

Are you a SOMA student by chance? SOMA students are not allowed to come to this site. Did you not get that memo?

Seriously, Northwest your posting is a great post. And you have very valid questions. Asking those questions here, though, is fruitless. And if you ask these same questions of your leaders at TPC you will dicover that asking them there is fruitless as well.

On another note...I believe you have self deceived leaders who believe they are making decisions based on God's leading for the best of the people in their church. What they do not realize is that many of their decisions are really just made based on what is best for them as individuals.

Self deceived people see other people not as persons but as objects to be used to bring about their own grandiose purposes. As long as you are useful to Mike in helping him achieve his person vision then you matter to him. But as soon as you have nothing to offer that will help Mike then you will be discarded.

I dont know if this is true or not. However if you read the thread about RLC you will see it is true about Tony. If Tony has passed on his DNA to Mike then you will see symptoms of self deception at Turning Point as well.

See comments below by Kevin Heaton:

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In the work place, great working relationships result in high productivity. Supervisors
can destroy great working relations by thinking of their colleagues and subordinates as
objects.

This thinking leads to believing that subordinates are inferior, unproductive and
even incompetent. In turn, they unknowingly treat them as inferior, unproductive and
incompetent.

People treated as inferior, unproductive or incompetent perform as such
and lose their desire to help and/or perform to their best ability.

Most importantly, they lose allegiance to the organization and do not care if the organization succeeds or fails.

This is how self deceived people operate. People are a means to an end. As long as you are able to help me get what I want then I will treat you as important. If you can't help me then I have no time for you. If you are perceived as a threat to me getting what I want then you must be destroyed (nothing wrong with destroying objects is there).

I don't know. Does this describe your experience at TPC? If so they the leader may be self deceived and not even realize it.