Quote
Won't Be Dogmatized
Thank you, prayforthem, for having the courage to talk with Tony and for personifying this forum! There have been some pretty amazing and productive posts lately. All of you are providing compassion and perspective needed to understand this mess. So much love and empathy! What if Tony is not capable of empathy? Can we expect him to sincerely express love and compassion? Please go to: [en.wikipedia.org] ...It might explain EVERYTHING! Here’s just a smidgen of what I suspect we're dealing with - from Wikipedia:
"To the extent that people are pathologically narcissistic, they can be controlling, blaming, self-absorbed, intolerant of others’ views, unaware of others' needs and of the effects of their behavior on others, and insistent that others see them as they wish to be seen [4]. They may also demand certain behavior from their children because they see the children as extensions of themselves, and need the children to represent them in the world in ways that meet the parents’ emotional needs [7]. (For example, a narcissistic father who was a lawyer demanded that his son, who had always been treated as the "favorite" in the family, enter the legal profession as well. When the son chose another career, the father rejected and disparaged him.)"
Quote
Worship_Big
The RLC superliner has hit an iceburg and the ship is rapidly sinking, The captain seems to be in denial and is looking for someone else to blame, The Elders and Staff are dancing in the ballroom while the band continues to play...all the while the ice, cold water is filling up the ship ever so swiftly and the lifeboats are filling up so fast people are not waiting to jump ship...
After walking through the presidential like security check sign in tables and being greeted by elders; the shepherd all but dared all those in attendance at the so called "business meeting" to leave! All those who had stated they were waiting to see what action was going to be taken that night to decide if they were going to leave or not. Then all of the elders joined the shepherd or should I say hired hand, on the platform to join in a show of solidarity and support... well, they have chosen and they have decided.
It is time to shake the dust off and journey away. My family will no doubt be villified, again, along with all of the others here or who have left and be forsaken and forgotten by them... so be it.
We will move on, we will live, we will love, we will grow, we will laugh, we will learn and with God's help we will all heal.
Quote
Deja Vu
To all who are reading:
Can anyone with complete validity answer this question?
Q. Does anyone know why the message from last Sunday has not been posted on the RLC website yet? I know there were a lot of "blame shift" apologies and other things spoken on Sunday morning, but I am not sure why the whole message has not been posted. If you have the truth of it, please respond. Otherwise...Please keep your assumptions to yourself. I want to know the truth.
-Ryan-
Quote
longtimer60
The gentleman said that as far as he could perceive, there has been some "Tony worshipping going on" and that these people really wanted to get in close and when they didn't get what they wanted they became disgruntled", to which many in the "rlc camp" affirmed with nods and hums.
I just wanted to emphatically say that whoever this gentleman was that made the above comment he couldn't be more wrong. It is ridiculous to play off the issue. There are not other churches that are meeting regarding pastor worship. The problem at Radiant Life is real. It being a topic at the elder meeting should be enough to know and see that it is going on. I hope this gentleman is reading thie forum.
To the gentleman who made the above comment at the meeting;
There was more than some Tony worshipping going on. In my observations I saw a prevalent attitude of Tony worship throughout all areas of the church with the most passionate ones being in leadership (including the elders) and SOMA. I left and I did not worship Tony. I did not become disgruntled because I did not get what I wanted. All I wanted was a healthy relationship with God. I left because of the Tony worship, the gross perversion of the gospel, the families I saw being torn apart by Tonys teaching regarding Spiritual Parenting, the overall immaturity of most people there, and the extreme sense of phoniness I saw in tony and everyone. I never aspired to get close to Tony. I am not unhappy because I am not close to him. I think your perception is very wrong and naive. I don't think you have fully considered the testimonies of how Tony pitted brother against brother. I don't think you ever fully analyzed why Tony would celebrate the giving away of a baby when the birth parents never intended to give the baby away at conception and had capacity to care for the child. What a selfish act. Has anyone ever thought of the child in that circumstance? The child will grow up one day knowing his parents gave him away and then went off the deep end for awhile afterwards. It is hard enough dealing with adoption when you are older when you know your parents were jacked up and couldn't care for you. In my time at Radiant Life I personally witnessed a 40 something woman constantly say she just wanted to sit at Tonys feet. These people I am talking about, the woman at Tonys feet, the children who left their parents to take on an illegitamte father, these people all still attend there. Tony has done nothing to reconcile these situations. Many of these kids go to SOMA or went to SOMA and honestly believe they are honoring God by turning their back on their parents. These are just some of the issues. Not some stupid high shool game that people wanted to be next to Tony and couldn't so they got pissed off. I believe you having that view and perception alone indicts Tony. Anyway, i will end this with a copy of what a SOMA student said about Tony. Everything he has said would indicate he wants to get next to Tony. However this student has not left because he was disgruntled. You have many left there including elders and leadership who are in the same boat. Longtimers testimony of Tony breaking in when he heard Tony worship shows just how defensive and guilty he is.
“It is impossible to mention all of Tony’s qualities because he is in constant transformation. … He loves everybody and takes care of us in ways we can’t even understand. … Tony is one of my heroes and somebody whom I want to follow wherever he goes. I want to learn more and more and adopt his way of life, because it is almost similar to what Jesus wants us to live.” (Memo Olivares)
to the gentleman: I would like to remind you that this was printed in Convergence. The whole church read it. I would bet with most of what I have that Tony read it and this went unchecked. Heck, the leadership that is involved in the printing of it were ignorant enough to put it in. I want to ask you does Tony take care of you? How does he take care of you? Is it in ways you can not understand? Do you want to follow Tony wherever he goes? How does your wife feel about that? Do you want to adopt his way of life or have you already bought a home on White Peacock? Is Tony's life so close to emulating Jesus' life that it is almost similar to what Jesus wants? I would tell you now that if you were doing what Jesus wants you would not be here or at an elders meeting sticking up for Tony. You would be looking after the brokenhearted, the poor, the abused. There are many people who stand up and sing at church on Sundays. There are also many people on street corners, jacked up from the floor up, that are going to beat these people to heavan. I would ask you to go back through all of the testimonies and read them carefully. Do your best to filter through some of the anger and bitterness expressed because of the pain. Filter through some of the rants and sarcasm and get to the substance of what people are saying. Talk to people. What you said in the elder meeting is a tragedy. It is a slap in the face to God and to those who have experienced Tonys lies and bs. Tony is playing childish, high school games with his people. This has been well documented in testimonies on here about some of the inner circle people and the stories of him pitting people against each other. I am glad it was not my daughter who came home and said that my ways are filthy rags and I am moving in with the Childs or Huths or whoever because they will be able to take me to a higher level in God. That is diminishing what God himself can do. Yes it is good to be led by responsible people in the faith who may have been in the faith longer. But it is not good to diminish the fact that God himself can spiritually parent you.
I challenge all of you at Radiant Life Church who have kids or people living with you that are not your children. I would tell you that in a majority of those situations there has been tension created in the family relationship. I challenge you to tell those children to go home and reconcile with their families. That in the long run there is nothing you can do for them that their families can not do better. Humble yourselves. That is where they belong. They do not belong with you because you think, and they think. that they will be better off for it. I have not seen the fruit in any of those relationships. If you really care about them push and ask questions why they are there and if you sense anything that indicates that their is tension with their own family, make it right and send them home, kick them out. The house on Rio Cavodo or whatever is a great example of a house full of strays. With all the praying and teaching going on there, I never heard of an attempt to preach the family and reconciliation. I know some of these people are still at it and continue to take in strays. SEND THEM HOME. TELL THEM YOU ARE WRONG FOR INTERFERING WITH THEIR GOD GIVEN PARENTS.
Sorry longtimer60 but your post moved me to speak again. I just wanted to end by saying that all of you that listened and hummed and nodded are just as bad and inconsiderate, hypocritical Christians.
God bless me and you .
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2008 08:55AM by whatajoke.