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BraveHeart
NOTIC TO ALL EX-RLC MEMBERS, ELDERS, PASTORS & STAFF

You all have a story that will help bring healing to the many who been hurt & abused. Tony is banking on your silence! After all none of you want Tony to label you as a gossiper...he has put that fear in everyone assocciated with RLc. Your silence empowers Tony to spin your departure however he likes.

Now is your time to share your story.

I totally agree!

I will like to thank each and everyone of you for contributing to this thread. I have read the recent posts and all I can say is, "WOW!" I have both tears of sadness and hope as I read the many posts on this thread. The tears of sadness are for all the hurt and destruction that has occurred in people's lives. The tears of hope are for knowing that many people are leaving RLC, many people wiil not join, and that a change is going to come. Thanks for coming forth and sharing your testimonies.

THANKS! THANKS! THANKS!

With apprehension, I am coming on here to write again. I am posting this message with GREAT anguish tonight because of so many new developments that have recently occurred. I grieve with the thought that so many of us have been not only divided from each other but worse than that, the body of believers who have come from the influence of Radiant Life Church of Sacramento have become divided within themselves. I hope many if not all of you who are reading this right now will be able to read all of what I am about to post and weigh it with great consideration and concern. Many of you who have bought the lies and disregarded this forum and the “real people” on here as valid and call them dangerous, I hope your eyes and heart will be changed. GOD himself gave us the Ministry of Reconciliation so that WE, as Christ followers, can be reconciled to Him. If we perpetuate any other ministry that opposes this ministry and instead of reconciling, causes “division”, than we have entered into a ministry as enemies of the cross. Please read the scripture below.

2 Corinthians 5:18-21

18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

What many of you, including the elders fail to recognize today, that we as a body of Jesus Christ, have become divided by what has been taught and practiced. We have not only been divided from each other, from mother and daughter, father and son, husbands and wives, but worse than all of that, we have become divided “within ourselves”. Most of you who are reading this can admit that within you, there is great hostility between your flesh and your spirit. Always trying to perfect and cleanse and “throw off” all the crap. Rarely is there PEACE and oneness within yourselves. How many times have you left a service or a leadership teaching or SOMA, feeling worse than before and ultimately feeling like you let your God down? Come on… lets be honest for just a moment. You have been taught that this is normal. ITS NOT!!!! Quite the contrary. In fact, if we cannot be first reconciled within ourselves and have peace between our flesh and spirit, we cannot be reconciled to Jesus. WHY? Jesus is not divided! Read the scripture below:

Ephesians 2:11-22

One in Christ

11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)— 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Jesus the Christ came to “become sin” for us and made sure that through and by the cross he “reconciled” the two ( his flesh the law and his spirit) thus making ONE NEW MAN from the two. IS Christ divided within himself? NO! He is one and has been reconcile thus making PEACE. Does he desire to teach or practice “division”? NO! Worse than that is when we have become divided within ourself, creating a “dividing Wall of hostility” that ultimately causes division from Christ himself. ( how can we know? We do not feel peace with Christ)
My experience so far is that there is a GREAT demonic spirit of division amongst the body at RLC that has done much damage. It is absolutely coming down from the teachings, practices and philosophies of one man and being inbreeded into others. How much longer can we be ignorant in this matter and hide our faces from the very thing that opposes Christ purpose on earth?

Elders: Why have you allowed such ignorance to occur? Why have you turned your eyes from what is right? I truly believed in you and now am realizing that you are ruled by the power and principalities of the enemy. THESE PEOPLE are not your enemies! Satan is your enemy. Hell, TONY is not the enemy either, just more like a “tool” that the enemy has manipulated in using for his glory of destruction. Why have you denounced all of the claims? I know my God is not happy. He desires reconciliation, not division.
Am I perpetuating this spirit of division by speaking like this or by calling everyone out who has acted in TRUE ignorance? NO! I am out to pray against and bring to light the very thing that is separating many from Christ and from each other. Did Paul perpetuate division or did he call it for what it was? Read next scripture:

2 Corinthian 1:10-17


10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas[a]"; still another, "I follow Christ."

13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? 14I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. 16(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power

Does this sound familiar? Some say, I follow Tony, some say I follow Brandon or Ryan or whoever else, and even some say I follow Christ. Is Christ divided? NO! Once again, Christ is the only one to follow. LETS STOP THIS NONSENCE! LETS STOP THESE PRACTICES AND TEACHINGS! Please, please, speak out, stand upright and do what is right! Please stop becoming an adversary of the cross, but rather become an advocate of Christ. Join others in RECEIVING the Ministry of Reconciliation that is spoken of at the top of this post. Please join others in the destruction of “division” and the rebuilding of Christ body.

My phone number is 916-203-2186 if you would like to call me for any reasons as long as your motive is right. Bless you all. I pray that your ears tonight have been open to here. May your heart bleed tonight with mine so as to be able to pray with much more passion and concern.

-Ryan-



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2008 01:29PM by Deja Vu.

Please out of respect to the moderation do not post personal contact info. Tell people to send you a personal message. I have to agree with dejaveu that this division sh#t gotta stop. That is what made me leave you christians in the first place. Jesus fans preach about the body but hate each other. That is not jesus but is religious bullsh*t. I can believe in jesus but to trust some of his followers is hard. Good luck getting ready for the second coming.

DEJA VU

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"Elders: Why have you allowed such ignorance to occur? Why have you turned your eyes from what is right? I truly believed in you and now am realizing that you are ruled by the power and principalities of the enemy."

After reading this again, I would like to restate this. First, I should not have put ALL of the ELders lumped into this, so I am sorry to all of you reading that. Second, it was potentially extreme to say that they are "RULED" by the power and principalities of the enemy at this point. I do believe that some blindness is effecting them and that many of them are being decieved and minipulated by others and by the enemy. I hope the enemy doesnt begin to rule them however. Only time will tell. I pray for wisdom and strength for the Elders right now to do what is right and fear the Lord.

-Ryan-

"Elders: Why have you allowed such ignorance to occur? Why have you turned your eyes from what is right?"

Ryan,

Here is my opinion as to why this has occured. Let me give you some FIRST HAND TESTIMONY to run-ins that I have personally had with these individuals and should speak of some of their character.

1. Inappropriate conversation with the opposite sex. (By a confessed adulter).
2. Encouraged to falsify a business application to benefit the elders business.
3. Allowed my child to move in with them without any consideration given to us.
4. I was told a racial joke which I was highly offended by.
5. Listened to an elder boast about a time whereby the elder was so aggressive in his demeanor and approach to a situation that the person left the church.
6. Brought the spiritual parenting to two separate elders, told of the devastation it caused, they agreed that it was incorrect teaching (even back then!) yet nothing was done about it. (I don't want to hear the old, 'you don't know if nothing was done about it. I will judge that comment by the fruit!)
7. Personal phone call to ask for money donation for the car that they were building for Tony.

While some of these items listed are not necessarily 'sin' issues, others clearly do not bring glory to God. The Bible states the following : "1Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer,[a] he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money". Above reproach simply means "without blame". Some of these actions leave room for blame.

I realize that we are all sinners and fall short of God's glory. This is not some sort of witch hunt to blast someone's sins on the web, that is why I did not include names. Some of these individuals have only served under Tony. Can we expect the leopard to change his spots? No. But what I can expect is great things from God because He is mighty and powerful. If the vision of all the church plants is of God, then it will happen. If it's not; then move out of the way lest you get caught in all of the rubble from the destruction.

Fuzzymug18
I’m pulling your post into the main thread because people need to see the consistency of the attitude people from the inter circle towards to the victims of RLcult

YES Tonyisms are the by product of just being around the demented man, especially if you have ever attended SOMA! That is what you sound like when you ask your condescending questions! You see SOMA is where people become indoctrinated into a mind set of Tony. Unknowingly they take on his demonic ways of thinking and reasoning. Then they soon learn the art of manipulation; the people adsorb his mannerisms almost on a sub-conscious level. How many times have you spoken to tony or sat under his teaching and he gives you that smug nod? (Like he knows it all) Then look around at the people doing the same thing! Yeah the Elders and Staffers. It is just a step above demonic! People from Rlc use words like “purposeful” in there vocabulary just because Tony is says it all the time and acts like he is purposeful….NO….HE IS CALCULATING! AND MANIPULATIVE!

Yes Fuzzymug18 you made a good point on that other thread but that you can’t blame a steakhouse for something that happened at Chipotle. But when pasturing a church a pastor is in charge of his flock that equals Responsibility!!!! Yes Tony is a pastor and is Responsible for the teachings and instruction to his flock. Oh I have heard Tony say to me using this logic “if I instruct someone and they take it and go sideways ‘how can I be held responsible for that?’”
This is his classic blame shifting!

If Tony did not teach spiritual parenting then where did it come from?
Are you’re saying that some people took it out of context!!! Well sorry bud “Tony sucks as a teacher.” If that was the truth Tony should have pulled in everybody in and made the correction immediately!!!!! but NO he allowed people to take to his false teaching and give it life! That is his classic excuse and frankly I’m sick and tired of hearing it!!! Besides he still practices the spiritual parenting lifestyle in his very own home today!

When will he admit he is wrong and give back all the children he a taken from there natural parents???? When will the Elders pull there heads out of the…….sand and see the devastation of Tony Cunningham!!!!!
If your so interested in what happened to cretin people go ask them for your self! Oh and look up the the Jinkersons, Pastor Adam Greer. Pastor Don From Antioch. Elder Rick Watson! That should keep you busy for about a week.



Fuzzymug18 wrote “Tonyisms? I'm honestly asking these questions with phrases from my own vocabulary. Does it bother you?

I am being sympathetic because there is so little that I know. All I know is the end result: missing friends.

Never knew what happened with the Richards, Childs, Flores', Simons, Retas, Davis', Otts etc.

I come to this site and I read some background of those I was curious of their happenings.

I'm also reading as much as I can to bear witness to any healing that this forum has brought. There's a lot for me to catch up on.

i can see how people avoid confrontation, especially in matters of money. That the original contract holders avoid addressing their responsibility for any reason is irresponsible.

Why accuse a steakhouse for food sickness if you were, in fact, poisoned by Chipotle? (I have been food poisoned by Chipotle by the way).”

If Radiant Life wants to regain their lamp stand or witness then there are some things that need to happen immediately or the doors will soon close!
This Church needs a Colossal size Enema! Especially since the Elders are so spineless and unable to handle there job and position.

First the Church Body needs to remove Tony as the pastor immediately with no severance pay!

Tony needs to pay back all the victims of Rlc seven fold of what they lost. (That is biblical!) I don’t know how the will be able to pay back all the children that he has stolen and taught them that it is OK to disrespect and dishonor your parents but reconciliation needs to happen!!!!

Second the church body needs to remove all Elders and Deacons and Staff. Then let the congregation vote by secret ballet new elder’s new staff and new deacons.

If that does not happen with in a week this church is doomed.

On a morning that I would normally be working in my ministry of 5+ years, I am still coming to terms with that part of my life being over. Part of me feels emancipated from a very sick system and the other part of me feels like the ugly stepchild. This is a very strange path God has led me down. I am absolutely confident that I am where he wants me, but it still makes me sad. I mourn for all those who have been abused and misled, and certainly those who don’t even realize it’s happened to them too.

My name is Sara Griffiths. I have previously hid my identity to protect myself and those who I was still involved with at the church. That’s all done now though, so I don’t have snoop around anymore. I never should have felt the need to snoop to begin with, but alas – here we are.

This is written to anyone who is reading, but mostly for those who don’t know why I left. I have heard what is said about the people who left the church, that they were evil or dangerous. My own mother has been told by an elder that it is a sin to listen to my questions about the church or leadership. I (personally) have had leadership openly dispute the definitions of ‘gossip’ and ‘slander’ from the Webster’s dictionary. There is some serious denial going on. It’s just like living in an alcoholic home, where nobody wants to upset the alcoholic and as long as everyone pretends everything is okay, life will just go on as it has. The ones who cry out get ignored or hushed, all the while the alcoholic never has to face the consequences of his actions because he is being enabled. I can’t represent that. I can’t stand in front of a group of people and act like everything is okay, when everything is really, really broken.

I love the women that I worked with in children’s ministries and women’s ministries. I don’t know what the answers are for all of you. I can’t tell you what to do or how to do it, nor do I want to. But I want it to be known what I stand for. I stand for the truth – even when it hurts. Isn’t this what we are taught so well?

God has been so good to me. He has not let me hold any hatred or bitterness towards anyone in leadership, even the worst offender. I have forgiven all. However, an abuser must not be allowed to continue in abuse. He must be removed from power immediately. There are no excuses for allowing this to continue. Playing with people’s lives, especially when it comes to their spiritual walk, is of the highest offenses. To me, it is no different from any other kind of abuse.

I welcome anyone who has known me to contact me. I have always been an open book. I have no secrets and I will not tell lies. This is real. This is happening right now. Do you really think God would let this hardship come upon RLC if these things weren’t true? That’s not the way God does business and you know it. This house will fall if it is not brought into alignment with God’s ways and I fear for all who will stand under it. God will get his way, either by obedience or destruction.

Love to you all – Sara

Thank you Sara. It is good to know that God does open people's eyes to the unfortunate things that are happening and have happened. I know God will bless your journey with Him through this. God bless and have a nice day!