I am trying to back off from posting on here as I feel I have said all I can say and it is up to RLC leadership to change. I can't do it for them. However, from time to time I read things that may be helpful to those in leadership at RLC including Tony and those who are still hurting and damaged. Below is a short instruction by Rick Warren on Leaders and people taking responsibility and how to deal with failure.



Here are four steps to take when starting over after a failure:

1. Accept responsibility for your own failure. If you've made a
mistake, admit it. Welcome to the human race! Don't blame others. To
blame others is to "be lame." Losers love to blame bad luck, the
economy, the boss, their spouse, or even God for failure.

But winners never accuse others and never excuse themselves when they
fail. In 1974, after an 88-game winning streak, the UCLA basketball team
lost to Notre Dame in a game where they'd led by 11 points. The next
day's headline read: "Coach Wooden says, 'Blame me!'" Wooden
was a winner.

"A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But
if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance"
(Proverbs 28:13 LB).

2. Recognize the benefits of failure. Failure teaches you what
doesn't work. Thomas Edison, the great inventor, said, "Don't
call it a failure. Call it an education!"

Failure forces you to be more creative as you look for new ways to
accomplish something. It prevents arrogance and egotism. If everything
you did was a stunning success, no one could live with you!

Failure also causes you to reevaluate what's important in life.
It's one way God gets you to reflect on the direction of your life.
"Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways"
(Proverbs 20:30 GNT).

3. Ask God for wisdom to understand what caused your failure. Why did
you fail? Is there any reason you might have set yourself up to fail?
There are many unconscious reasons we sometimes sabotage our own
efforts:

* Fear of success * Success may mean handling more responsibility
than you want to carry.
* Guilt * If you feel you don't deserve to succeed, you may set
yourself up to fail.
* Resentment * Some people fail as a way of getting even with those
who are pressuring them to succeed.
* Ask God what caused it * "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should
ask God, who gives generously to all ..." (James 1:5 NIV).

4. Forget the past and focus on the future. Your past is past! It's
water under the bridge. You can't change it so you may as well stop
worrying about it. "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward
what is ahead, I press on ..." (Philippians 3:13-14 NIV).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2008 02:30AM by whatajoke.

To anyone who may read my last post and conclude that Scott is connected to RLC:

Let me state clearly I do not know Scott nor do I know the extent of his connection with RLC/Tony, if any.

I only know that he was, at one time, a Pastor in an Oregon community where Tony pastored at one time. I only know that he was/is a pastor of a church in California that may have had the same/similar name as RLC.

Please do not interpret my comments as an attempt to discredit or cast Scott in a negative light.

Quote
TurningPointReject
Hmmm even back then people were questioning or rather "joking" about RLC being cult like.

What is the name of the church plant? Do you know if this plant was started by RLC?

Tony has a long history of influence. I know that the founding pastors of Turning Point Church in Washington were discipled by Tony when they lived in Coos Bay. But I thought that they had grown so discouraged by Tony and his behavior that Mike had decided not to go into ministry. Obviously Mike changed his mind and did go into ministry. I wonder how that came about.

It seems like Tony has had an influence on College Park long after he left. Didn't Scott McCollough pastor there for awhile? Seems like Ive read some things here about Scott being a disciple of Tony.

It would be prudent to exercise caution around anyone who has yielded themselves to Tony's teaching and influence. And if those who started this new church in your area have had strong connections with Tony and/or RLC I would say proceed with caution.

I actually don't know the name of the church or if it is connected to RLC or not. The person that is pastoring the church did attend SOMA, though.

Yes, Scott pastored at College Park. He was part of the group that left 8ish years ago. I don't know what became of him after that, though.

I think you are right....I will exercise caution. I don't intend to leave my current church (College Park), but I just am concerned about those that did leave if this is indeed a plant. Maybe it isn't and I'm just getting all worked up for nothing....but I will be in prayer regardless. Thank you for your input.

Beware of Love Bombing
Leonard Brenner

Love-bombing is characteristic of most cults. Prospects, recruits and members are drowned in a sea of love and caring.

Recently in an evangelical church I heard the pastor describe his visit to two cultic groups in which he praised their love-bombing and urged that his church adopt the same loving attitude towards visitors and members.

Should the evangelical church practice love-bombing? Is this what Christ meant when he said, "By this will all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another," (John 13:35)?

I've heard cult members say, "Of course we practice love-bombing: Who'd want to be in a group or church that practiced hate-bombing?" This attitude highlights a common misconception. Hate-bombing is not the opposite of love-bombing.

The opposite of love-bombing is unconditional love. Love-bombing is highly conditional.

The cults will love you to death while you represent a prospective convert to their group. As a member a tight family love will surround you as you faithfully promote their cause.

However, when it is clear that a prospect will not join the group or a member voices doubts, create waves, or leaves the group, all love ceases.

Indeed scorn is immediately heaped on these individuals and remaining members are told not to have any contact with them.

All time, effort and love-bombing is then directed towards new prospects and the faithful members. Is this the love evangelical churches should practice?

Unconditional love is what God practiced when he sent his Son to die for us "while we were yet sinners," (Romans 5:8).

He doesn't love us because we might become or are his faithful servants. He simply loves us. He will disapprove of our sin and approve of our faith but He will always love us.

Churches need to love visitors because they are humans created in God's image and not because they are prospective members. The love needs to continue if the visitor chooses to associate with another group of believers.

Problem members need to be loved even if they create problems or leave in a huff. Christians need to practice God's kind of love.

Beware of the love-bomb.



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Great Post Marc very helpful thank you!

Whatajoke,

That was a great post. I think we all have experienced that to some level. Its like dating for many people. They "put on" something they are not in order to get what they want. Once the relationship and romance begins and all of the hype is gone, "CRACKS" in the relationship begin to show. Once the individual in the relationship discovers these crack and challenges the other party, that party begins to withdrawl from the romance and eventually either "breaks-up" or has an "affair".

This has happened over and over again at RLC. I have actually had this happen to me in every church I have ever attended. As a result, I regret to say that I have done it also. I was made to be very superficial in my relationships with people.

A SIDE THOUGHT:

I remember a time at StarBucks by Lowes, when Tony told me that "I did not know Jesus. That my problem is that I did not love people." I said how is that? He said, "if you cannot preach Jesus or have a 30 second powerful conversation with someone without being able to just let them go, than it is a good indication that I do not love people. That you are selfesh." He did not agree with the fact that it bothered me when we would preach Jesus and never follow up with them. I loved these people and wanted to see the mature. Tony said, "THAT IS NOT LOVE".

-Ryan-

Also watch out for Private Messages from people who have not posted. These people are often Tony worshipers posing as being distanced from RLc......they often are encouraging you to back off on a speciffic topic at hand or threaten you with a law suit.
So my question to you cowards who will not post or be honest of your motives on what gounds would you make that kind of statemen? I say bring it on and let the evidenc speek for its self! Let a 3rd party wade through the testimonies and evidence of Radiant Life....believe me the Thruth will prevail!!!!

Does anyone know anything about the little church in West Sacramento that Don Bozley is now pastoring at? Is it a mini RLC or the real deal? Is he still close to Tony?

What we are watching in an implosion from performance based discipleship. When the true anointing is gone from leadership you have to prop up your ministry with man powered discipline. Anointing can lift off ones life. Not only do you as a leader have to live under your own rules and doctrine you force everyone else to do the same in order to be approved. Blind leadership duplicates itself from the top to the bottom. Blind from the top down.

Leadership without true power or anointing is holy humanism, designed and created by a man. The anointing breaks bondage, and no anointing creates bondage. A leader who has no anointing has to formulate their own anointing or power, the function or use of this false anointing is witchcraft. It has to control the subject, it has to project an element of fear and secrecy, challenging false anointing will receive retaliation so no one will break ranks. If you break ranks from a person with false anointing/control you are now a target of critisism, through the vehicle of gossip and heresy through phone calls, text messages, and small group meetings to isolate and murder a persons integrity.


Severe discipleship produces performance based christianity (high powered religion) and performance based christianity produces death.

This performance driven culture has entered our christianity, our homes, our parenting. It is time we look at our performance driven christian culture and rid it from our pulpits, churches and homes. Many people live in private pain because they are afraid to confess their faults and shortcomings in churches and in our homes, because of the lack of grace.

You can not live up to anyones highly overrated standard that they propose as leaders. Performance driven church and home environments create a masqueraded culture, even in our homes. People implode from the inside out because they are afraid to confess sin or faults to people who seem to have a higher standard.

I have watched our churches parade people who have fallen from grace before our congregations with no intention on the part of the pastor, nor the board of elders to restore that person. We didn't restore pastors or people, we got rid of them. The motive was to public wash their hands of that person and their mess ups, never following through to restore that person in love and gentleness.

Jesus was the consummate physician. He parked himself in the middle of the abused, and the broken to heal, comfort and restore while rebuking the performance oriented leaders. The wounded loved him and He loved them.

A few years back I buried my young cousin Jenny. She was raised in a performance based christian environment. The family and close Christians knew her problems, but kept it sheltered from the general church life. The family was ashamed of her problems, her private alcoholism because they were a performance oriented christianitty and no room for grace to be applied. Jenny was was a disgrace in the performance driven church culture that surrounded her. At the funeral I asked how many knew some one in "private pain", many hands went up. I then asked how many were suffering from private pain, and still many hands went up. We could have helped her but her pain and struggles were kept secret all the way to her grave.

Yes we want our spouses to be great , we want our children to succeed like other kids, but is it worth it to despise grace and lose them in the process.

Severe discipleship process produces performance based christianity and performance based christianity produces death. Spiritual death where you can't believe for yourself, mental death where you can't think for yourself, social death where you can't have a life without (elder) controlled living and quite possibly physical death because you can't fit in.

People who are coming to me from rlc are wound up tight, confused, deaf to the voice of the Spirit, spiritually starved. I ran into a great friend of mine who attends radiant and all I saw was death in his eyes and on his physical body.
and

[...]

Telling it like it is!
Mike Tate



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2008 02:53AM by rrmoderator.

After my last post I received a private message from "Ihavedecided". I may be mistaken, but I do not think Ihavedecided has left any messages with this forum to help those who are spiritually reeling and healing from RLC. Can you help, Ihavedecided? If so, will you? Please?