Where has the Radiant Life cult run off to?

Oh sure we see a few families still meeting at Tom's house on the occasional Sunday morning, but what are you people holding on to?

What do you people have to show for your hope or why you still meet together?

How can you all gather around and look each other in the eye with any good conscience?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2011 11:20PM by BraveHeart.

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Guess Who
hmm . . . . Brings to mind an old Petra song:

"Looking Through Rose-Colored Stained-Glass Windows"
Bob Hartman, CD More Power To Ya, 1982

Another sleepy Sunday, safe within the walls
Outside a dying world in desperation calls
But no-one hears the cries, or knows what they're about
The doors are locked within, or is it from, without...

Looking through rose colored stained glass windows
Never allowing the world to come in
Seeing no evil and feeling no pain
Making the light as it comes from within, so dim...

Out on the doorstep lay the masses in decay
Ignore them long enough, maybe they'll go away
When you have so much you think, you have so much to lose
You think you have no lack, when you're really destitute

Looking through rose colored stained glass windows - stained glass windows!
Never allowing the world to come in - they won't lemmie come in!
Seeing no evil and feeling no pain - no feel, no pain!
Making the light as it comes from within, so dim - the light's so dim!
- so dim - the light's so dim!

Guess Who
That was a great song !

Watch for an identity change.

"Here is an account for the day that Tony Cunningham drove the nail into his credibility. God revealed for many who Tony was and what he valued - he valued himself and used the elders, still does actually. He took no responsibility but rather blamed everyone else. Whoever wrote this was well informed, educated, and accurate:

Here is a synopsis of the meeting that took place on November 1, 2008 and the definitive confirmation for many families to 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Per the Elders I spoke with, Tony never asked for general meetings.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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?" ------Author Unknown

End Quote

The days after this event speak for themselves. One prig ruined the walk for so many people.

It is really hard to describe the destructive swath of Tony's influence.
Tony's reactions to all that has happened is pure arrogance and self preservation. Jesus said by their fruit you will know them.

Ok Tony, let's look at the fruit.

Radiant life Church is regarded by nearly every ministry in the greater Sacramento area as at best a diseased organ. At worst, a cult.

your "ministry" went from a 2500 member body to maybe 50 or less holdouts. A reminder: just because you are a remnant or a holdout, does not mean you are doing what is right. The stupid church that protests at soldiers funerals is comprised of a bunch of holdouts, or a "remnant".

Many who have left are so disillusioned that they will never go to church again. Some no longer follow Christ. these were not fringe people, but many were core types. You are not guiltless here. There are scores of these people. They are your true legacy.

Scores more people have gone through years of soul searching and restarting their relationship with Christ. We feel betrayed. Damaged. Lied to. You took precious trust and treated it like a cheap rag. Again your fruit.

You taught destructive Heresies such as spiritual parenting, and then tried to blame the mess on Brandon Miller. WE KNOW BETTER. It was you. Your teachings brought confusion, conflict and family strife. By teaching what you did, you created a suffocating climate of spiritual blindness. You yourself are so blind that to this day you still live with your spiritual daugther Veronica. By keeping her with you, you prove that you don't even care about your own wife and family.

You could never man up. You became a coward and hid. You told a man I know that "my family was hurt too". Of course, criminals families suffer when the father is convicted or disgraced.

You took what was meant for God and his use and "privatized" it for your own benefit and use. Good luck on the day of accountability.

But the absolute worse is that you brought disgrace and shame to the body of Christ. There is no positive spin that you can put on this. You had quite an impact on the community. You stunk it up real good.

So in the end you fled to McNeal Arizona, living in the desert so that you would never have to be accountable to anyone, with the added benefit of being able to flee across the Mexican border just in case. Are you worried about something we don't know? And occasionally you fly up to Sacramento to shake down the remnant. Maybe its for the better. They'll probably drift away one by one. Very few will be blind enough to follow you down there. I can only hope that no one new is taken in by your destructive influence.

You sure did the devil's work.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2011 09:12AM by wantingtruth.

Who cares what Jesus supposedly said? And by the way, the devil is a myth and hell is the dung heap outside of Jerusalem (gehena) which burns continually. Who gives a shit about religion. Drink a beer, smoke a joint, crank up some music and enjoy life. Take a load off.

ignorance and medication are no answer. that's just trading one deception for another. I want the truth.

This is really good and needs to be said again

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wantingtruth
It is really hard to describe the destructive swath of Tony's influence.
Tony's reactions to all that has happened is pure arrogance and self preservation. Jesus said by their fruit you will know them.

Ok Tony, let's look at the fruit.

Radiant life Church is regarded by nearly every ministry in the greater Sacramento area as at best a diseased organ. At worst, a cult.

Sorry to break in here, from the 9 churches that are still members of “the church at Elk Grove” only one pastor would call Radiant Life, a Cult. However he stresses that is not for public record, he agrees (off the record) Radiant Life had some strange teachings but is afraid to call the teachings and behavior cultist, even tho he has tried to help over 30 families that have come to his church from Radiant Life. He is afraid to call Tony Cunningham a false teacher or Radiant Life a cult.

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wantingtruth
your "ministry" went from a 2500 member body to maybe 50 or less holdouts. A reminder: just because you are a remnant or a holdout, does not mean you are doing what is right. The stupid church that protests at soldiers funerals is comprised of a bunch of holdouts, or a "remnant".

Many who have left are so disillusioned that they will never go to church again. Some no longer follow Christ. these were not fringe people, but many were core types. You are not guiltless here. There are scores of these people. They are your true legacy.

Tony has turned so many people away from faith in Jesus

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wantingtruth

Scores more people have gone through years of soul searching and restarting their relationship with Christ. We feel betrayed. Damaged. Lied to. You took precious trust and treated it like a cheap rag. Again your fruit.

You taught destructive Heresies such as spiritual parenting, and then tried to blame the mess on Brandon Miller. WE KNOW BETTER. It was you. Your teachings brought confusion, conflict and family strife. By teaching what you did, you created a suffocating climate of spiritual blindness. You yourself are so blind that to this day you still live with your spiritual daugther Veronica. By keeping her with you, you prove that you don't even care about your own wife and family.

Spiritual Parenting? This is something Bill Johnson of Bethal church promotes along with his crowd manipulation techniques like feathers appearing in the ventilation system or gold glitter falling from the AC vents

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wantingtruth

You could never man up. You became a coward and hid. You told a man I know that "my family was hurt too". Of course, criminals families suffer when the father is convicted or disgraced.

You took what was meant for God and his use and "privatized" it for your own benefit and use. Good luck on the day of accountability.

But the absolute worse is that you brought disgrace and shame to the body of Christ. There is no positive spin that you can put on this. You had quite an impact on the community. You stunk it up real good.

So in the end you fled to McNeal Arizona, living in the desert so that you would never have to be accountable to anyone, with the added benefit of being able to flee across the Mexican border just in case. Are you worried about something we don't know? And occasionally you fly up to Sacramento to shake down the remnant. Maybe its for the better. They'll probably drift away one by one. Very few will be blind enough to follow you down there. I can only hope that no one new is taken in by your destructive influence.

You sure did the devil's work.

Well Said!!! He brought shame to the bride of Christ "the church"
Tony's fruit is rotten, from his influence in Coos Bay, Oregon to Marysville, Washington to Elk Grove / Sacramento "the destructive swath of Tony's influence" has hurt so many people!

History sure has a way of telling the truth,
I appreciate the great reminders of how it went down and the reminder
to look at the fruits of what Tony has taught and the fruit of his past 12 years.



This last image is a classic self-preservation shot, Tony covering up his face, not his dear mothers face.

The question to ask Tony, do you think your a good person?
most of us know how he would answer that, of course he thinks he is a good person, listen to all his blame-shifting and excuses, it is always somebody else's fault. [The arrogance that came out of his teachings was Tony has some how earned more special favor with (his god; himself) masqueraded with knowledge and authority. Look at what Tony has written in his books, more false teachings and bad theology that opposes the Gospel, Jesus and the bible. What a scam that was, it relay comes down to a little man trying to control people, manipulating peoples lives especially in the area of finances and working for the cult.]

The next question should be,
Tony, have you ever told a lie?_____ What do you call a person who lies? That's right a lire!

Tony, have you ever stolen something? _______ What do you call a person who steels? That's right a Thief!

Tony have you ever committed adultery? ________ Even if you said, no, Jesus said; You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. So how do you account for the women following you? yes it looks a bit like Polygamy and this 'spiritual daughter' thing that you got going on?.....a bit too creepy!!!
So by you own admission your a Lying, Thieving, Adulterous of the heart and that is just 3 of the 10 commandments that you will be judged by when you stand before God

Tony what if the next time you were to jump on a plane to fly up to Sacramento (to extort more money out of the 13+ families who are still worshiping you) and it crashed, you died and you stand before God; would you go to Heaven or Hell? _____________

Tony You need to Repent of your sins you have committed against God, the Holy Creator the one who gives you every breath, every heart beat. Repent of your pride and arrogance and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, (yes, you steping in and trying to change somebody's behavior by having them adhere to a set of moral rules, is YOU steeping in and trying to do the work of the Holy Spirit) Tony you need to put your trust in Jesus and Jesus alone for your salvation! Not your works! because your works will fail! Look back at the past 12 years that should be enough proof.

Tony please learn from Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

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Luke 19:1-10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

We will pray that salvation would come to your heart soon.

Ok, so here is the latest explanation from the faithful holdouts of the WWTS (what would Tony say) cult.

It is very deep, heartfelt, and comprehensive. They now say about all that has happened with RLC, and Tony that "mistakes were made".

Really? Mistakes? you mean like "oops, sorry"? Wow, how compassionate. I am sure glad that you are stepping up and being accountable.

So it was all just a bunch of mistakes, like; oops, sorry I bumped you when you had coffee in your hand, or; sorry dear, I forget to get milk when I went shopping.

So when Tony went to India with tens of thousands of dollars to plant churches and support the local work there, and instead of staying at places arrainged for him, he decides to cancel his accomodations and check into a 5 star hotel instead. oops, mistake? When on the way back he stops at Singapore for a shopping spree, after all, all that money was to stay "overseas". Mistake! Lying, manipulating, destroying peoples reputations. Oopsie!

I get it now. Spiritual parenting that ruined many peoples lives, controlling church legalistic atmosphere, corruption, destroying the faith of many, blameshifting, highly questionalble personal and financial practices, Hiding out in remote McNeal Arizona where no one can see what I'm doing.

OOPS, SORRY

well, I guess that we can all just move on now, nothing to see here.

I think that when they say that mistakes were made, they actually mean to imply that OTHERS, not Tony made the mistakes. Tony was just too slow to correct people, because he is soooooo gracious. To a fault really.

Nice.