I did not mean to post my message two times, my apoligies. I was just thinking the same thing Timetospeak mentioned, so I accidently posted again.

JustHim,

BRILIANT!!!

You are poetic in your delivery and nailed it completely… I have to speak out! You have to speak out! Anyone affected has a biblical charge to expose and not partner with Mr. Cunningham…

You pointed out the shifting in his teachings… again, clinical behavior. I encourage everyone to study cults and cult leaders. You will find that there are clear patterns and clear behaviors… Mr. Cunningham has almost all of them… look for yourselves…

Welcome JustHim
I been thinking of your post for many days now, and I had an experience very similar to yours. I know that Tony and the current "shadow" elders think that bad things happen to them because they have been unjustly persecuted. I call the current elders "shadow elders" because they are a mere shadow of a true elder. A true elder would be able to think independently given guidance by the Holy Spirit. A real elder would have the courage to stand up for what is right, and defend those who have been hurt. A real elder would not act in his or her own self interest, or follow the party line. A real elder would do what is right despite the cost. I'm thinking of Jesse Mancillas and Ken Bollinger when I say real elder. Both of these men really put themselves on the line when their number was called. They both suffered for doing what was right, and I tip my hat to both of them.
If a man were to cheat on his taxes and get caught by the IRS, and the IRS come and give him grief, fines, jail time, and more, would you say that man is persecuted?
No, he clearly ignored the law and skirted it for personal gain.
If a man were a womanizer and caused tremendous termoil in his marriage and family, would you say to him as you see him in family court that he is being persecuted?
No, the reason for your divorce and loss of custody of your children is because of your lust and indulgence.

Radiant Life Church through the leadership of Tony Cunningham is reaping what it has sown.
Tony has sown the following
Marital strife (counseling people to leave their spouses)
Marital strife (introducing spiritual parenting as a competing interest into the marriage. Wife becomes the spiritual daughter of Tony, now it's a threesome)
Marital strife (teachings about poligamy and concubines that undermine the One Flesh that God instituted)
Family strife (spiritual parenting where youth are instructed to tell their parents that they are "filthy rags" and cannot receive any useful instruction from the natural parents)
Family strife (using teaching times to soak up every spare moment of peoples lives so that they do not connect as a family anymore)
Strife among friends (If you have friends at RLC chances are that it is frowned upon to even speak to them. you are to treat them as unbelievers)
Separation from local churchs (they do not connect in any meaningful way to ANY other churches )
Separation from authority (discredit and remove elders who oppose)
Separation from authority (removed themselves from any denomination, and denominational accountability)
there is much more, and listing them could go on and on.

My experiece was this.
I was very confused because I had over the years (especially earlier years) received much good from RLC, and was favorably disposed toward Tony Cunningham. When I began to hear of things this last fall, I thought "wow there are a lot of very bitter people out there. I read the blog for the first time in October, and in my mind I was very confused, as I continued to believe that Tony was a man of God.
I also knew that God knows all things and He is not confused. So I prayed. I prayed that God would show me the truth, because I wanted to follow Him. I wanted to know the truth. Hence my Blog name. God reveals secrets, and clears up confusion.
And God the very next day cleared the air and I could see clearly. I saw that that RLC became all about Tony, not God. So I left. But I left with a strong sense of needing to warn others off. It is a bad and dangerous place to be. It is performance based, and deadly to your intimacy with God.
It is so unimportant for Tony and RLC to get worked up because his reputation and future apostleship is damaged.
What about the reputation of GOD's church? What about the reputation of the Bride of Christ? RLC has smeared those.

So some of you readers still attend there. Here is my message for you.
Leave
I will not lie, it is not the easyest thing to do. You will go through a wide range of emotions from anger to disappointment in yourself. You wil be angry that you wasted so much time on a faux church. Angry that you were used to support and lift one person who was not Christ.
But mostly you will feel RELIEF.
Why relief? because the longer you are out the more you will realize how crazy things are there. You will come to realize that there is a tremendous cloud of OPPRESSION at RLC, and that you are now free. You will feel a strong desire to connect with many who have left and you will find something curious. No one will be mad at you, no one will think little of you, you won't find us talking obessively about RLC, you will find yourself in the company of many true friends. You will visit other churches, and find that you have friends every where you go.
So come on out the there friend. We're waiting to greet you.

Quote
Ring barer
JustHim,

BRILIANT!!!

You are poetic in your delivery and nailed it completely… I have to speak out! You have to speak out! Anyone affected has a biblical charge to expose and not partner with Mr. Cunningham…

You pointed out the shifting in his teachings… again, clinical behavior. I encourage everyone to study cults and cult leaders. You will find that there are clear patterns and clear behaviors… Mr. Cunningham has almost all of them… look for yourselves…

So with Radiant Life Church slowly dying we can see clearly see how manipulative, and cunning Mr. Tony Cunningham can be.
With nearly 80% of his staff leaving we can predict that Tony will reinvent himself as the victim or as the leader with just a few brave followers (sycophants).
We can sit back and anticipate his next move.....I'm sure he will reemerge somewhere with scales, like a slithering snake.
OH!!!!
What is this
“Auctor Leadership Training Series”
Is this the new power word for Tony to use?
Auctor???
Tony says the word means;
“AUCTOR (n., Lat.)– One who originates any worthwhile object or objective, or by his efforts gives greater permanence or continuance to it.”

Check out Tony's new business called Resonance Institute.

[www.resonanceinstitute.org]


Look this site over carefully and consider this,
If Tony is an apostle for God, then where are the references or connections to God in his new business???

I believe this really exposes the true nature and motivation of Tony Cunningham.
He is an opportunity seeker and poser.
Like a shape-shifter he will transform himself into what ever he needs to be to deceive people!

Listen to what he says in his video that mirrors the Radiant Life web site.

"I’m Tony Cunningham, and at Resonance Institute we know this about leadership. It isn’t, cheep, it isn’t easy, and it certainly isn’t measured by titles or hype, it’s measured simply by looking behind you and seeing who’s following.”
Great leadership isn’t something to be grasped.
But it is something to be qualified for defining moment, by defining moment.

Resonance Institute exists to find those leaders, and to unlock there potential
Potential that you didn’t realize you even had our principals and training modules are designed to cut through every false pretense and assumptions you had, ever about leadership and to replace it with something genuine, something that will resonate far beyond you.
Were Resonance Institute and we’ve got one question for you; how do you want your leadership story to unfold?"

Tony you are Clinical!!!

Sounds like he is plagiarizing the motivational speaker Mr. Anthony (Tony) Robins

Here is the real truth you said it Tony "Great leadership isn’t something to be grasped." Tony you have not grasped the concept of responsibility! Nor have you grasped the concept of leadership, because you have not learned how to submit to any one in leadership!!!!

Cunningham is a False Apostle, False Prophet, a False Teacher and now a Delusional Motivational Speaker.

Tony you will remember this word... I hope you will receive it now.

Cry, Cry, Cry and Weep
Your transgressions are too many
A stench!! REPENT!
Turn from the pretense of goodwill
Do not pretend to love Me while plotting against your neighbor
I see...
Love is a command and Mine hear and obey, I put My seal on them
Mercy and Compassion are My Gift to My people
They walk in My Mercies when mercy flows from them
JUDGEMENT- Who are you to judge mere man
I AM ALMIGHTY GOD
You need to FEAR ME!
Fear of the Lord keeps you safe-

Many of the posts here seem to be aimed at an emotional level and I feel that some overlook, what was for me, the quintessential event that led to the largest exodus away from RLC. Aside from the glaring spiritual problems that Tony C. teaches and are discussed on this forum, there as some simple issues that don’t require “Christian-ese” to look at. In fact the average non believer can even see the problems when looking at this.

This is going to be long, but please bear with it.

Here is a synopsis of the meeting that took place on November 1, 2008 and the definitive confirmation for me to take my family and leave. The things that Tony said and left for speculation were, at the least, truly astonishing. I have done my best to separate my personal feelings so that I could stay objective and simply report the facts that I witnessed.

Tony Cunningham held a short notice RLC Membership meeting under the guise of casting vision for a new direction that he felt God calling him to. (The concept, of the vision was good, for the most part. After that part was done, the meeting took a turn for the Surreal.)

He started by stating that he could “no longer work under the conditions he is under with the present Board of Elders.” He began to share how the board had “handcuffed” him and prevented him from speaking with “his Boss, the body at 7710 Stockton Blvd.”.

He proceeded to lay out many charges against the Elder board including:
- Rewriting the by-laws to remove him from the Elder Board (one year prior) without his knowledge.
- Having meetings with his “Staff” without his knowledge.
- Preventing him from calling meetings
- He also made reference to some other things that he would not be specific about because he wasn’t suppose to talk about them in public.

He then requested that he be sent out to plant new churches under his new vision. He also requested he be given $100,000.00 plus One year’s salary. He said that “since HE built up the church and spent 17 years doing it,” that he “actually deserve more than that”. Further, he asked for one year’s salary for all pastors and staff that decide to come with him.

This started a frenzy of questions, statements, accusations and generally riled up the audience.

Finally one of the elders, who was sitting in the front on the side, volunteered to discuss everything and attempt to come to a resolution. While he was speaking, Tony turned around and walked away, rolling his eyes. Another elder, who was sitting in the front on the other side, spoke up and said, he too, was willing to do the same and he asked the Third Elder (sitting in the audience), who agreed also. Then he asked Tony, who initially agreed. Then the first Elder, asked that there be allowance for open discussion amongst them with a moderator. Tony then dismissed the whole concept saying there wasn’t time in the meeting.

Many questions were asked and none really answered very clearly. But one question in particular that stood out as very telling and Poignant to Tony’s character at this moment. The question asked was. “Who have you raised up to take over once you leave?” His reply was very important and MUST be carefully analyzed. He said, “I have raised up many capable people that could step in to my place, but I believe that all of them would come with me.” He then turned away and fielded another question. (This, in my opinion is no better than someone telling me, “you’re on your own, it’s not my problem and I don’t care.”)

As the meeting progressed, someone brought up disbanding the board and starting over, essentially “pushing Reset” if Tony would agree to stay on. He re-presented this to the crowd as an option to him leaving and became the item to be voted on. Not too long later, I ended up leaving in disgust at the manipulative “witch hunt” I had just witnessed. Later as was witnessed by others, and by fact, the body elected a new elder board and Elders 1 & 2 from above, resigned the next day.

Tony always preached from the Pulpit that “words are weighty” and my experience with him is that he has always chosen his words very carefully. So, with this in mind, consider the following…

- Tony said he could No longer work under the current conditions with the elder board.
o One of the Elders main functions is to keep the pastor Accountable and protect the body if he goes awry. So, if he can’t work with the elders anymore, why is that?

- Tony said the Elders changed the Bylaws without his knowledge and removed him from the board.
o Per a member of the elder board and other elders, a copy of the new Bylaws was delivered to Tony several weeks before the board voted on it with a note asking for his input. Per that elder, it sat on his desk and he never responded.

- Tony said that the Elders held meetings with his staff that he was not invited to.
o Per a member of the Elder Board, Tony was emailed several days in advance every time they met with the staff. Tony never responded.

- Tony said that the elders tried to cancel this meeting and kept him from calling others.
o Per the Elders I spoke with, Tony never asked for general meetings.
o Per the Elders I spoke with, they tried to get Tony to postpone the Nov. 1st meeting for a week to get out proper notification and stay in compliance with Federal Guidelines of at least seven (7) days notice for Non-Profit Organizations (IRC 501(C )(3)). Tony refused to postpone the meeting. The meeting was announced through a phone blast on the Wednesday 4 days prior to the meeting and announced from the pulpit that morning.
o Tony always taught, from the pulpit, to Honor the authority that God has placed over you. So, where is his honor and respect to the US Government who was placed over him by God?

- The Elders offered to discuss the issues at hand so they could ”try to resolve any problems and move on in repentance if needed and in forgiveness”. Tony refused it.
o Tony’s response was to walk away from the Elder speaking and Rolled his eyes while walking away. Remember, Tony always taught in SOMA and from the Pulpit that “Rolling yours eyes” at someone showed disdain for that person or what they were saying.

Here are the main issues at hand and where my own analysis and, sometimes, opinion come in.

Tony asked for a huge sum of Money to go away and do what he feels called to do.
- Can you say Extortion? Tony didn’t want to leave; he wanted to manipulate the people into thinking he wanted to leave and get them to come up with a way for him to stay.
- If his desire was truly just to leave, wouldn’t he have simply announced God was calling him away and give a date? (Like every other pastor I’ve ever been under or known (and there are many)).

Tony didn’t completely answer questions.
- Remember the example “who have you raised up…?”. He didn’t answer the question. This says, “I don’t care about you, you’re on your own.”
- Avoiding answering questions and giving partial statements is contemptuous to the one asking the question.

Tony blatantly ignored the Authority of our Government (whom God has put in place over us) and held an illegitimate meeting and vote. He even ignored the requests of others to postpone it to stay in compliance. He refused.
- According to Tony’s own words and teachings, this kind of action is arrogant defiance. When did he become exempt?

Tony Lied about the Elders actions.

Tony refused to attempt to settle differences, offer compromise, or offer forgiveness (if needed) to the Elders that were there.

Tony attempted to Extort Hundreds of thousands of dollars from the church body.
Tony demonstrated no empathy to the people who were questioning him on what would happen if he left.

Tony manipulated the audience into getting what he wanted. (Which seems to be no true accountability as no one who will stand up to him and say he is wrong.)

Some people may think that some of these things are petty, but someone can’t be honorable and honest in the little things, how can we expect him to be so in the larger things?

To the people who are still at Radiant Life Church, I have a question for you. Why do you allow yourself to be lead by a Lying, Unforgiving, Manipulating, Arrogant, Extortionist to lead you and offer you spiritual covering?

In the immortal words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

Bee Dub,
This is amazingly accurate. I believe there are many that would tell the leadership where they are wrong. Problem is, they will not publically meet with those that have asked. The meeting should be held off site of RLC.

Hello Bee Dub,
Well done and finely dissected. I am remiss in that I never mentioned that I have a copy of the premodified bylaws of RLC from some previous meeting long ago, and I spoke to a friend of mine who was at the meeting about a year ago and he gave me a copy of the "new" bylaws. I looked over both, and there seems to be only minor changes. But what do I know, as I work in the medical field and am not a lawyer. I cannot see anywhere in the new or old bylaws that Tony was written in as an elder. I do not see any meaningful changes other than the new bylaws appears to leave out the Church of God affiliation, and changes some voting requirements. There is nothing stated in either the old or new about how the senior pastor operates, or how the elders interact with him.
A thorough reading of both old and new bylaws leads me to the same conclusion as Bee Dub: Tony is a lying, unforgiving, manipulating, arrogant extortionist.
To make the bylaws available to all who want, I will Email them to Braveheart as he seems to be the graphics expert, and maybe he can figure out a way to post them.
This is not underhanded as the bylaws are not secret, but rather distributed to the congregation from time to time.

Perhaps I should ask first:
Does anybody object to me giving Braveheart the documents?

I think a public posting of the bylaws is a spendid idea. They had not been written either for or against Tony. However, the involvement of the congregation did significantly change.