April 11, 2006
Dear Jon Moyer, Kim
Leonard, the Deacons of Iuka Baptist Church, Staff and Members of Iuka Baptist
Church.
I a letter from Jon
Moyers, who identified himself as an administrative assistant on staff at Iuka
Baptist Church, Mr. Jon Moyers states:
"You have yet to
contact this church and ask for church minutes or interviews with the staff."
I
would like to ask him for the minutes to the Church meeting Wednesday, April 5,
2006, where Charles was voted off the Iuka Baptist Church Board of Deacons by
the congregation. Specifically,
1. Minutes which
document that Charles Jones was notified of this meeting
2. Minutes that
Charles Jones and the two other deacons were given the opportunity to face and
question their accusers
3. Minutes which
reflect specific charges and allegations
4. Minutes which
reflection that Charles Jones and the other deacons removed were given the
opportunity to bring witnesses to testify
5. Minutes which
document that none of Rick Warren's Purpose Driven books, materials, or books by
his partners, were in fact NOT being taught at Iuka Baptist Church
6. Minutes which
reflect that the defenders were able to submit documentation proving the
presence or absence of Rick Warren's teachings or Henry Blackaby teachings being
presently taught at Iuka Baptist Church
7. Minutes which
reflect that Matthew 18 and other passages such as Acts 25:26-27 in which even
the pagan Festus said that charges must be specific before anything could be
done to the Apostle Paul:
Therefore I have
brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that
as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. For I think it
is unreasonable to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against
him." Acts 27:26-27
were adhered to in
the proceedings against Charles Jones and the other two deacons which were
removed (i.e., Was there an investigation? Were the charges specific?)
8. Minutes which
reflect that church discipline was exercised according to the Iuka Baptist
Church by laws and church constitution
9. Minutes which
spell out necessary steps that Charles Jones, Buddy James and one other deacon
who were removed, be restored and/or reconciled, according to Scripture
10. Minutes
which document that Charles Jones was personally notified of the church
meeting to remove him with minutes including his response
11. Minutes
which reflect who the moderators were and was there a mediator present
12. Minutes which
reflect procedure of how these deacons who were removed were approached and who
approached them? Where?
13. Minutes which
reflect the decision was made to do take this action against three deacons and
who made it.
14. Minutes
reflecting the stated purpose of the meeting? Who was there...(all Rules of
Order require this)?
While we continue to research this
matter and receive the testomonies of many members of Iuka Baptist Church and
attenders of the April 5 Iuka Church meeting and other meetings, and before any
further consideration can be given to your request regarding the posting of Nena
& Charles Jones letter on Abrahamic Faith website, any future national radio
interviews and articles or books I write, you must first supply a satisfactory
response to each of the above questions, particularly since you requested that I
ask for minutes.
You have appealed to me to contact
Iuka Baptist Church, so here is your opportunity to respond with facts.
What is astonishing to me about
your responses, is that Jones' letter was fundamentally a good report for Iuka
Baptist! Depending on your answers to the above questions will determine
whether or not this remains a good report that Iuka Baptist was turning from
Rick Warren's teachings!
Sincerely,
James Sundquist
Director
Rock Salt Publishing
*******************
Letter
from one of the victims of the Purpose-Driven Kangaroo Court Church
I should have written weeks ago, but all my energy was directed to the
problems at hand.
We cannot thank you enough for all the assistance--the prayers, the
information, the support and the love, Nena Jones has been so faithful to
relay that help to us.
Our story is not uncommon. The very first sermon our new pastor
"preached" to IBC, flags went up in my mind, as did my husband's and
father's. I was raised to respect and support the pastor and negative
comments were not allowed. So, reactions were delayed.
As a 47-year member and the pianist at IBC for 33 years, I attended
almost every Associational Meeting, many senior members' group meetings,
youth meetings, etc. Even before I left my teaching position at a nearby
community college, I volunteered for secretarial and cooking duties. So I
was at the church a great deal of the time. Perhaps I was privilege to more
information than most simply because I was present. This information led to
concern and anxiety but in no way equipped me for the terrible things to
come.
In that first sermon, we were told, "it's going to be a rough
ride....we may lose some along the way, but hang on", and that things would
be changing drastically. My question was, "Why should we lose anyone?"
When I realized we had a "jerk" for a pastor, I thought it was just
me. But after months of personal agenda sermons, of personal
confrontations, of witnessing many intentional attacks on others and total
disregard for Biblical procedures, I realized this was much , much more than
just a personality conflict. I could tell you hours of personal
experiences.
His program was to divide and conquer--using his influence as pastor to
create rifts between family/friends/believers. We now know his mission. We
have a name for it.
I am the hot-head in the bunch. I am vocal and opinionated, so I tried
to wait until I had definite proof. The pastor had laid his ground work
carefully. Even with proof, my complaints mostly fell on deaf ears. Once I
found others were unhappy and we began conversing, we also began acquiring
the information that other churches were struggling with what was called a
movement. Then Nena found verification--it was PDC.
You entered the picture then. Please let me tell you that I have known
Charles and Nena Jones my whole life. No matter what our former pastor, our
education director/senior adult pastor, the temporary administrative
assistant or even a few so-called deacons tell you, the Jones are the most
wonderful Christian servants. They have worked diligently and quietly in
IBC for 40-plus years. Nena has not exaggerated nor embellished any
information sent to you. I have only known Lawrence and Betty Barkley for
25 years. More dedicated, loving Christians, you cannot find. Buddy and
Shirley James I have known over 40 years, also. They have no agenda but
Jesus Christ. I (as any other church member) could call any one of these
deacons in the middle of the night with a crisis and within minutes, they
would be there--no questions asked. Thy have become my family.
I resigned my position as pianist April 8. I could no longer be a part
of IBC. The difficult thing was not my resignation. What has hurt the most
is the pure hatred on the faces of people in that Wednesday night business
meeting. I thought they were my church family and friends--people I had
known and loved 50 years. I could not conceive anyone would do what these
people did to three fine, blameless men and their families, and then
REJOICE. I could not imagine others just sat back and let it happen. And
some deacons (loosely applied) not only supported, but actually pushed this
assassination. Even with proof that both pastors lied; even with proof the
chairman of the deacons lied; even with proof our own by-laws were
disregarded; our objections were ignored.
My heart is broken for my church. It is broken for these men and their
families. Most of all, it is broken for those people who have fallen under
the spell of these false prophets. I have heard from the pulpit
(the educational director) on two separate occasions the words "mystic" and
"mysticism". I have a copy of the former (head) pastor's e-mail, "click on
your month of birth to receive your HOROSCOPE".
The battle has only begun. Perhaps God has plans for us to help others
recognize, name and oppose this garbage. I don't know. I just know He will
reveal His will on His schedule.
It would be so wonderful to know you would continue to counsel and
support us. You have been so invaluable. We love you and I would do
anything you asked to support your work.
POST TO BELLEVUE BLOGSPOT FROM PURPOSE DRIVEN VICTIM
By Nena Jones
December 01, 2006
Several days ago, after having given the idea a lot of thought and after
having prayed about it, I decided to post to the Bellevue blogspot
http://newbbcopenforum.blogspot.com/ listed under
http://www.savingbellevue.com in hopes the people there could relate to
problems arising from the church growth movements from my experience. This
website has been birthed out of a need for those members of Bellevue to come
together and discuss their situation arising from the atrocities present in
their church. Needless to say, most of the people presenting themselves in
this website and the blog are those who would be considered to be the
resistors, the pillars, and/or the "leaders from hell" which I make mention
to in my following post. It is my prayer that the scales will fall from the
eyes of those who are blinded to this movement . My post to the Bellevue
blog follows:
1 Timothy 4:1, 6 "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter
times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils;.If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these
things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the
words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained."
I am taking seriously your invitation to post here if one has something
which might aid in the understanding of what is taking place at BBC. Taking
this into consideration in that I have 'been there, done that', I do have a
few things to say which I hope will be beneficial to you. Please understand
that what I am about to say is done with the intent to help rather than to
hurt anyone. The people who are responsible in having 'driven' fellow church
members out of their churches need to repent and make public apologies to
their victims in making right the wrongs they have done to the Body of
Christ. Having said this, I want to tell you that there is little doubt in
my mind that your church is being highjacked by the purpose driven movement.
I have spent the last one and one half years doing extensive research into
this movement and others similar to it.
It is my prayer that those
initiating this movement in your church will repent and that the scales will
be removed from the eyes of those members who are being manipulated by them.
Please understand that what I am about to say only touches the tip of the
iceberg. There is so much more to our story and there is so much more to be
said of the devastation brought on by the PDM. This is not just about
Bellevue Baptist Church, Germantown Baptist Church, Gardendale Baptist
Church of Corpus Christi, Iuka Baptist Church, and hundreds of others.this
is about the dishonor being brought about to our Lord Jesus Christ through
this movement.
Since the beginning of savingbellevue.com, I have been reading and keeping
up with things at BBC. My heart breaks for all of you, especially those of
you considered to be 'resistors' or 'pillars' or 'leaders from hell'. If
these terms mean nothing to you, this probably means that you are not
educating yourselves on the purpose driven movement enough to understand
what is happening in your church. These terms refer to those who resist the
movement and are asked to leave or are voted out (or worse) by those who are
in control and are bringing the movement into the church. The harder these
people resist, the harder they are dealt with. The blows can be devastating.
These people, the resistors, have discerned that there is a serious problem
in the church, even though they have not or cannot identify its root cause
initially. Or it might be that these people are just no longer wanted in
the church for whatever reason. This transitional movement is done in total
secrecy. It is transitioned into an established church in darkness. More
often than not it is a 'slow boil' and is often carried out over a period of
several years. I have come to learn that often times the plans are fouled
because those in the lead become impatient. Once they lose control, things
run amuck. I believe there is a strong possibility you are witnessing this
at Bellevue . Let me add here.if you have read Transitioning an Established
Church by Chuck McAllister in Rick Warren's Toolbox and it sends up red
flags, then you best listen to your innermost being.
My blog name, "Been there", bears witness to the fact that my husband and I
are victims of this horrible movement which has invaded churches all over
the world. My husband was voted out of his church of fifty-nine years, as an
active deacon in a business meeting that defies anything even remotely known
as 'Christian' behavior. I could never have taken part in treating another
human being in the manner in which my husband and these two other deacons
were treated on that fateful day/evening on April 5th of this year. People
who call themselves Christians actually stood and applauded, cheered, and
rejoiced at what they perceived to be the spiritual destruction of three
Godly men, not to even mention the damage to their character that could have
manifested in their community as a result of this heinous act.
The people
taking part in this atrocity were jubilant, seemingly overjoyed with what I
perceive to be the equivalent of a modern day lynching. That morning the
other two deacons were approached by members of the active deacon board with
typed resignations on church letter head stationary and were told that if
they didn't sign these typed resignations, they would be voted out that
night at the business meeting. They signed. People have been led to believe
that they willfully decided to resign and did so.this is not true. It was a
well planned and orchestrated nefarious plot. My husband was not available
so they could not ask him to sign his typed, church letter head resignation.
I found two deacons that afternoon, including the chairman, in our secluded
backyard, certainly not gated but private nevertheless, looking for my
husband. I had seen one of these men driving slowly back and forth in front
of our home earlier that day several times looking our way with a fixed
stare. I felt like we were being 'cased'. It was the most eerie, unnerving
feeling I have ever had. These three deacons have yet to be told what they
were guilty of. One of the deacons voted out was told by one of these
deacons that they just didn't 'have the same ideas'. And, in fact, just
shortly before they were ousted, the chairman of the deacons told my husband
that if he wanted to remain fundamental Baptist, then he would need to get
out and find himself a fundamental Baptist church. He said this is the
direction the Southern Baptist Convention is taking.
I can tell you what
these three deacons were guilty of.they were guilty of loving their church
enough to try and stop the invasion of the purpose driven movement into it
by bringing it to the attention of the deacon board. I asked one of these
deacons who took part in removing these three men at that business meeting
on the evening of April 5th, just this past Sunday night for the first time
since the business meeting just exactly what it was that these three men did
to be removed from their church and his answer to me was, "I don't know."
How pathetic this is. Tragic! Let me just add here, that it is possible to
listen to this business meeting online. You can go to
'abrahamic-faith.com/false-teachers.html and look near the bottom at 'part 1
and part 2' and listen to that April 5th meeting. My prayer for all of you
is that you can find an answer before something like this happens in your
church. I could write a book on what led up to all of this in our lives and
it still continues on. The feeling of betrayal remains...it has left a bad
taste. One of the most devastating things used to discredit these three
deacons and their families from the onset and throughout all of this was the
rumors they spread, total untruths.and people swallowed them. People who
were our friends won't speak now..we are avoided. It has divided families.
The aftermath of this atrocity has been truly as remarkable as the events
leading up to and including the night of April 5th, 2006. This is part of
the plan of the purpose driven movement..the Hegelian dialectic. Pragmatism.
Whatever it takes. There exists a picture of Rick Warren holding up a sign
with this written on it, "Whatever It Takes." Understand that these people
will stop at nothing to get their way. You are already witnessing this at
Bellevue . When I first started reading all of these things on your
savingbellevue website about Mark Sharpe, I could not believe the
similarities of the things that happened to him to those of my husband. It
is truly incredible.the similarities. There was no doubt in my mind that
Mark Sharpe was telling the truth. Truth is not a part of the purpose driven
agenda. I could never have imagined I would have ever seen the things
transpire in our former church, or any church for that matter, that I have
witnessed.
In September, the Wall Street Journal featured an article by Suzanne
Sataline titled, Veneration Gap-A Popular Strategy for Church Growth Splits
Congregants. The front page carried a picture of my husband, the article
written about both of us along with other congregants in other areas of our
country. This was the first time a secular media has openly discussed
anything in opposition involving Rick Warren and the purpose driven
movement, aka church growth movements. For the first time, an avenue was
opened where people could email a source voicing their opinions about the
betrayal they had undergone in their churches. Ms. Sataline was inundated
with emails from people like you and like us from all over the world.telling
their horror stories about abuse coming from their churches. I pray that
there will continue to be avenues opened up where people can voice their
grievances on these issues and unite in the hope that people will return to
the faith, turning from the seducing spirits and doctrines of devils so
prevalent today.
Your website, your blog are such avenues and I see this
as an area of accountability. You are to be commended for this. We have
been asked to write our story for publication. We must all tell our
stories.we must fight this demonic transition overtaking our churches and
our people. "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul?"- (Jesus Christ)-Mark 8:36.
I read one of your entries by a Germantown Baptist member, who stressed to
all of you to educate yourselves on these movements so prevalent today,
especially the Rick Warren movement. He is giving you excellent advice.
This is truly the only way to learn what is going on in your church. I find
that to be the main problem in churches.that members are unwilling to read
about it, unwilling to educate themselves about it. It is not going to self
destruct. One of the deacons in our former church, inactive at the time,
told my daughter he didn't know what purpose driven is, he didn't want to
know what purpose driven is, and had no intention of trying to find out.
This man has since been voted back in as a deacon in said church. I find it
to be total ignorance to refuse to educate oneself on something so crucial.
It is truly tragic. One could fall prey easily when they don't understand
what is going on.
This is a responsibility we owe ourselves. Mr. Haywood has
ample information for you to read on savingbellevue.com. and at the
beginning of this thread. I would like to include these which I find to be
good sources and in no particular order: 'crossroads.to' by Andy and Berit
Kjos; 'sliceoflaodicea.com' by Ingrid Schlueter;
'lighthousetrailsresearch.com' by David and Deborah Dombrowski;
'abrahamic-faith.com/false-teachers.html' by James Sundquist;
'newswithviews.com' Paul Proctor; 'erwm.com' (Eastern Regional Watch) by
Steven Muse; 'swrc.com' Dr. Larry Spargimo and Noah Hutchings,
'deceptioninthechurch.com' and look under purpose driven. I would also like
to recommend the books Redefining Christianity-Understanding the Purpose
Driven Movement by Bob DeWaay, Who's Driving the Purpose Driven Church ? and
Rick Warren's Global Peace Plan vs. Scriptural Teachings on Peace by James
Sundquist, Ashamed of the Gospel by John MacArthur, and Deceived on Purpose
by Warren Smith.
The book, Transitioning-Leading Your Church Through Change
by Dan Southerland is one you should read.paying particular attention to
Step 6, page 110 on Dealing with Opposition; the foreword is written by Rick
Warren and instructs pastors on how to take your church into the purpose
driven church by deception. You can also find similar reading in The
Purpose Driven Church and of course, you can find all sorts of information
of pastors.com, Rick Warren's own website. You might want to pay particular
attention to Dealing with Opposition, Step 6 under the thread,
Transitioning, Dan Southerland. Please read and educate yourselves on this
movement. It is true that you need to be careful what you read; however the
footwork has been provided for you by Mr. Haywood and myself, as well. It is
credible and validated.
The most important thing in all of this is.you must stand for what is right.
You must take a stand for Jesus Christ at all costs. That is what my
husband and the other two deacons who stood with him have done. There were
others with us.small in number but big in heart and discernment. Standing
for what is right is not always popular. The majority is not always right.
Remember the crucifixion. This purpose driven movement is all about
changing the church to become worldly.the Bible tells us in Romans 12:2 "Be
not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will
of God."
"If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and
warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh
not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon
his own head. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the
trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take [any]
person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will
I require at the watchman's hand." Ezekiel 33:3,4,6
Yours in Christ,
Nena Jones
"That very church which the world likes best is sure to be that which God
abhors."-Charles H. Spurgeon, 1859
