Thanks for the updates on the meeting yesterday...Very interesting...

Ezekiel 22
Jerusalem's (rlc’s) Sins
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices 3 and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, 4 you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil.
6 " 'See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood. 7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the alien and mistreated the fatherless and the widow. 8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths. 9 In you are slanderous men bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts. 10 In you are those who dishonor their fathers' bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean. 11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor's wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father's daughter. 12 In you men accept bribes to shed blood; you take usury and excessive interest and make unjust gain from your neighbors by extortion. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD.
13 " 'I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed in your midst. 14 Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it. 15 I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries; and I will put an end to your uncleanness. 16 When you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the LORD.' "
17 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 18 "Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver. 19 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem. 20 As men gather silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a furnace to melt it with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you. 21 I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the LORD have poured out my wrath upon you.' "
23 Again the word of the LORD came to me: 24 "Son of man, say to the land, 'You are a land that has had no rain or showers in the day of wrath.' 25 There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her. 26 Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. 28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says'-when the LORD has not spoken. 29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.
30 "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD."

"The officials name that aledgidly invited Mr. Cunningham was never given nor rank and position of authority was ever given."

correction: he did say he had been working with the Minister of Underground Resources or something like that

the body at rlc has become quite a different place than was prophesied many years ago... I believe that Rick and Pam Wright said that this body was going to be an Emergency Room to the Lost, wounded and broken hearted... instead it has become an institutionalized insane asylum where the patients seem to be running the show and operating on each other as he/she sees fit. No wonder there is a wake of broken hearts and lives!

People wake up! There is disaster following this part of the body... but the "Pastor" is not held responsible? He brings the teachings of "Extreme Discipleship", "Spiritual Parenting", and "Modeling"... calling himself an Apostle or at the least believing the hype... all of which are as dangerous as Katana swords placed in the hands of folks with no proper training or experience and releases those folks to 'teach away', or hack away at the body! Who is responsible?

Apparently not the teacher who ignored the pleas and cries of the multitudes of people, who did come... one by one and two by two but were either told how wrong they were for raising questions and concerns, or shoo'd away as irritating pests, not worthy of consideration.

The choices have been made, the course has been set and the cries were heard last night... "All for one, and that one is Tony"!!!

Greetings. I was at last nights meeting and boy was it interesting. Tony began by casting vision. His vision looked like the old 2010 vision statement (beginning in 2010 RLC will plant 10 churches a year domestically and 100 churches overseas). It would see him overseeing all operations & with him moving about all the different local loactions on a Sunday. I just could not comprehend how anyone could buy into the idea - given that we had just tried that model and it has failed miserabily. The biggest reason for the 2010 vision failure was Tony himself. Why is that, because in order to make something like this work you need to maintain relationship with the men and women that will pastor these churches. And while Tony has demonstrated that he can build relationships, once they no longer fulfill he needs or he finds something else to focus his attention on he dumps them - then everything falls apart. Just like Katy; Laguna; Phillipenes; etc..

It was evident (at least to the audience) that Tony wanted to press forward with this idea, and that his desire (although not stated directly) was to maintain absolute power over all aspects of the ministry. No accountability to anyone. One young man asked Tony about this (I believe it was Ruben Garcia - married to Dan Flory's daughter. I wonder what was going through Dan's mind. Perhaps .. "I wish I was that brave"). He asked him about Tony being a single authority over all the churches. Tony basically dismissed the question with an answer of (parphrasing) Well that won't be up to me, meaning there will some board to make that decision. Ruben followed up with another question (I thought Tony was just going to go crazy then - you could see his jaw just tighten) and Tony basically blew him off again with a non-answer.

We put up with the merry-go-round of Pastors and so-called pastoral types being placed around the sanctuary representing all the different locations this vision would populate. Frankly, I don't believe the vision will ever go anywhere - as Tony I believe wants to really go in another direction.

Tony eventually went to where he really wanted to go - that was pressing the congregation to consider sending him off as a church plant. What a joke - you thought you were watching a politician running for office. He told them that he was in a situation, one he really did not want to talk about, but that it had forced him to this point. Of course people wanted to hear about it, so he spoke on it (he body language and his speech made it seem that he really did not want to but since the audiance was really pressing him to do so he would). He basically set himself up to be the victim; then indirectly blamed the board of elders; then clarified that he really only had a problem with a few of them; and then reiterated that he was the victim by claiming that he was trying to work with them but they would not work with him. WOW - he really knows how to play the crowd.

Jesse Mancias got up and to the members that he was willing to work with Tony to find reconcillation - Tony would have none of that. Members of the congregation began to ask Tony want the issue was and he said he really could not talk about it since some aspects related to personnel issues. Thats when Ken Bolinger got up and told Tony that he had no idea what he was talking about and said he had his permission to lay it all out; Ken then pointed to Greg Huth and asked if he agreed and Greg said OK; and then he asked Jesse and Jesse said OK also. Tony was silent and would not go there. I saw that and all I could think was that this guy (Tony) is a real coward in my book.

Anyway it went down hill from there and they eventually took the vote. You all know the results (RESET).

I'll be leaving the church, as I cannot sit under the teaching of a man who manipulates the situation and is not willing to speak to the issues at hand. I will not be lead by a coward. A coward will not defend the sheep, he will only defend his own self interests. This was evidenced last night.

Freedom awaits. Pray for the church body at 7710 stockton blvd.

Tony began the meeting by bringing up the fact that there were some at the meeting who had left the church and he was wondering why they were here when he was planning to cast vision for body life. He was wondering why they would be there if they didn’t plan on participating as a part of the body at RLC. He asked if anyone else was wondering the same thing, too. Somebody made a motion that everyone who was no longer of the RLC body should leave, but then that would cause pointing fingers, etc.....and someone else said that if people meet the requirements as laid out in the by-laws then they have a right to be there and to vote if they so choose. Robert’s rules of order? were spoken about. SO, in the end the meeting was continued and we got to see what Tony's vision was. This is what the vision, as I understood it to be:

Tony said that, as he could see it, much of the problem was that there was a lack of Body life because RLC was run more like a corporation and his plan was to decentralize control and plant numerous churches in the area that would, in time, "birth" new churches in the area when they got to a certain number. At the beginning, each church (let’s say 3 of them for starters) would have a different pastor to run it and Tony would "pop" in for the ministry of the Word by delivering the message at each place at a different time (confused yet?....let me continue). The time for the preaching at each place would be staggered and Tony would arrive in time at each place to preach. The "pastor" in charge at each fellowship would have a core group of 100-150 who would assist the pastor in managing church affairs. The actual time spent as a body at church would increase because there would be more time for fellowship this way, as the Main pastor of each little church would still be around to "pastor" before and after Tony preaches. No one would have to leave the church building to make way for the next service. Pretty soon, and after time, more and more churches would be birthed and cycle would continue. The original pastors would start doing what Tony did at the beginning and would be the traveling pastors as their own group of birthed churches grew and as they were able to preach the Word. The pastors at each church would be raising up more pastors to plant, pastor and preach…and so on and so on. I am not sure how many "caught" the vision. There was no specific plan about how the church or Tony would go about this, no plan on who would be in charge of each plant, or how each plant would be run....although it was made clear that they would not bear the name Radiant Life and they would NOT be autonomous, meaning that they would be under central control still (as I understood it).

Lots and lots of questions were asked about how this would all come about, and how the churches would be governed. Nothing really settled on that issue. No vote on the vision, and, I am not sure if Tony really wanted to talk about this vision in the meeting because it seemed so disjointed and not very well thought out, or if this was just brought up sort of "off the cuff" to take up time that could be used to discuss the real problems that Radiant Life is experiencing and has experienced as testified to on this forum.

Then the mood of the meeting then changed. It came down to the fact that Tony revealed that he cannot continue in the working situation that he is in with the current voting Board of Elders. They (certain members of the board vs.Tony) have a different way of seeing the pastor's function and practice in the church. Lots of questions asked and lots of questions evaded. It is all about Tony’s view of authority, and Tony did not have complete authority (he did not say this, this is my observation). He was not saying the way this church is run was wrong, per se, but he does not want to be an employee of the church. He wants to be the leader of the church. He even asked for a show of hands of those in attendance who considered him the leader of this church and most everyone in attendance raised their hand. And for some reason or other, because of this difference between him and the current board of elders, he was not allowed to lead the way he wanted to? I am just really guessing cause I am not sure, it was all sort of fuzzy.

Tony said that the general assembly was “the boss”, the ones in charge, as stated in the By-laws, but he only allowed the boss to be “in charge” when it suited him. He did not mention anything in addressing any of the issues as to what was wrong between him and the elders. Many people asked for concrete information to be given and none was. The voting board even gave Tony complete permission to lay it all out on the table, but he didn’t, at least not that I could figure out. There were all kinds of crazy things said and motioned. I am not sure what the by-laws state about “motions”, etc, during a meeting of the general assembly, but Tony just went with it. These were some of the things suggested and some motioned: demolish the board of elders, rewrite the by-laws completely (more confused? so am I), return to the previous by-laws. Motions made and seconded. Not much accomplished. Reconciliation was spoken about but nothing really addressed. Actually, Jesse did said that he is open for reconciliation and is willing to discuss things with anyone. Someone mentioned reconciling all the people in Katy and at RLC Laguna, and how grieved they are over the splits. Tony did not speak to that. Finally, someone mentioned that everything that is being motioned and discussed should be put on the board (overhead), so that all of it could be seen and considered and so that everyone would see what it was they were voting on, and in the end, out of the many suggestions made, the only thing that was put up was the “Reset”, (huh?). The same guy even said that Roland being reinstated as an elder should be subject to a separate vote and Tony put that suggestion down, saying that it was a "package deal". Another suggestion was that there should be a member of the general assembly on the Board and Tony said no, it can only consist of elders…..but I suppose that the General Assembly, being the boss, could have spoken up and pushed for a “regular congregant” to be put on the Board, but that didn’t happen, and I am sure that Tony would not have allowed it.

Anyway, what it all boiled down to is this: Tony wanted things changed as far as him being able to have better working conditions and to be able to work with the board more or influence the board more or have say when it comes to what the board votes on (that is the way I understood it), OR, get this, to be “sent out” as a church planter with enough monies to support his family and several of the leadership and their families that he is sure would go with him...to support them, too. FOR A YEAR. The $100,000 spoken about on the forum was just a beginning amount. He would go completely free from RLC. He wants RLC to pay him for leaving (send him out) and go autonomously and free of any ties or oversight from RLC. He says he started this church and that he has served faithfully for 17 years and would ask for much more than was given to Tom Borsic when he was sent out.

He did not say what would happen to RLC in Sacramento. How would RLC send him and several other families with full support for a year and try to survive itself? No Plan. He did say that he thought someone would step up to preach?

Anyway, it was either, change the way things are currently or he wants to be sent out (with much compensation) to set up shop somewhere else without any strings attached. So, the General Assembly, because they don't want Tony to leave, and coaxed by Tony as I saw it, "reset" the voting board of elders by putting the 4 non-voting elders on the board and reinstating Roland Pang to the Board of Elders (Tony specifically asked the GA to do this, even though Roland admitted that the board had not done right by the General Assembly by not listening to their concerns and by misappropriating some monies). The majority agreed to reinstate Roland as per Tony’s request. Tony did not ask for Matt (he was at the meeting) or Ron or Mera to be reinstated, only Roland. Someone said something about Tony having no say, and to that he said, well, you could vote me onto the Board, and viola! He is now on the Board of Elders as a voting member once again. I believe this was a problem that many elders in the past had….that of having the senior pastor as a member…of the voting board.

The vote that went down was this.

Reset....I am not sure what they reset...did they rescind all the By-Laws? I am not sure what happened, but the vote was over 120 to 18 to put all the elders who were not voting elders onto the voting Board of Elders, including Tony, and to reinstate Roland as a voting elder. So, the new Board of Elders, the only elders that we have now, includes Greg Huth, Jesse Mancillas, Ken Bollinger, Tony Cunningham, Gregg Skinner, Roland Pang, Jesse Mancillas, and Dan Flory.

And that, my friends, is my summary of the meeting. Anyone wanting to add to, or correct my rendition is welcome. I am sure that I did not hear all of the questions asked. I would specifically like more info on the question regarding Tony being or considering himself as an apostle or apostolic. I didn’t really get that whole exchange.

I am sure many of you remember Tony prophesying "jail break". Maybe someone has mentioned this earlier. Without wanting to give Tony credit as a prophet, IT IS F*@#ING AWESOME to see peoples eyes opened and see them break free.

You can bet Tony never thought "jail break" would mean that so many people would be breaking free from his authoritarian oppresive bullshit.

YEAH!

ps - sorry about the explitives. Sometimes they are all that really capture the moment.

sometimes i get sooooooo confused....is he a prophet or an apostle

Yes TPR............... believe it or not he is masquerading as both.

cuz false prophets are judged harshly by God...i think something about stoning comes to mind...and false apostles who do bogus miracles...well thats bad news too