Re: Has Anyone Ever Heard of Radiant Life Church in Sacramento
Posted by:
wantingtruth
()
Date: April 01, 2009 01:29PM
Thank you for your input Iseenow. It seems that we’ve all been through quite a lot. There is an issue that has not been discussed much on this forum regarding Tony Cunningham, and that issue is one that I believe has caused much pain and distress over the years. In order for this to affect you, you will have had to have known Tony for some time and been inner circle or part of some ministry. The issue I would like to bring up can aptly be called “THE WRATH OF THE APOSTLE”. This is personally one of the most difficult subjects that I have brought up.
There seems to have been a desire for perfection in others, and when they didn’t measure up, or worse, when Tony was in some “mood” he would verbally attack you. It was often because of some minor failing, or even for not thinking as he did that he began his assault. His fits of rage were never kind and left his victims feeling subhuman. Is that the way of Christ? Of Jesus it was written that a bruised reed he would not crush.
For me personally, Tony’s rage was in response to my asking an innocent question about a passage of scripture. On another occasion, he let fly for 30 minutes while my thinking was “I’ll take it because he’s a man of God, and maybe I need the correction”. Tony, of course, felt free to tell me what a complete failure I was and how God had passed me up. He said things to me that I would never say to my worst enemy. Nice. That was my senior pastor. Things like this happened so randomly that I elected for a long time to just stay out of his orbit. The effect on me was devastating, and left me feeling very unsafe around him. Why? Because one doesn’t have to look hard to find my faults. My affliction is that I am human.
I know that I am not alone in this and would welcome others’ input into this experience.
Some on the outside might look in and see those close to Tony and think that he must really be something because he acts like it, and those around him view him with such awe. The problem is that while some of it may have been awe, most of it I believe was FEAR. FEAR became such that no one would question him any longer, and the prevailing thought became that to hear from Tony was the same as hearing from God. One by one, we all lost the courage to stand up to him because the potential for him to go off on you was just too high a risk to take.
FEAR, false teachings, extreme discipleship, a code of silence, cutting off of family relationships, the cessation of friendships with ex RLC-ers, sure makes RLC look pretty cult-like. The main contributor by far was Tony. Most of us just wanted a place to love God, and grow close to our brethren. To find a place to serve. And we were used to serve someone who was not God, but who wanted god-like honor; someone who gave full vent to his anger whenever he felt like it or had had a bad day. I really pity those that remain. Some might say that I am bitter and hence am unable to comment on such things because I am in sin. I disagree. I am not bitter, but I do distrust Tony. He has earned that distrust, and I sincerely hope that he realizes the enormity of his errors and repents and leaves the ministry.