Is this up somewhere here already Paul Stevensb letter

[cordell (cordell)]

Pastors,
I am writing to those, whose email addresses I
have. Feel free to forward this email to those that
would like one. Today, I have been told that there are
pastors that have concerns about my being a part of a
new affiliation. In some ways, I understand this and
in other ways, I do not. I pray that God will fill my
mouth with His words and not mine.
My feelings at this time are in great conflict.
When I heard of Sandy Cove and the things that were
discussed there, I was encouraged and in total
agreement. I am sorry for the things I have done and
if I have hurt you or the work, God is doing in your
area, I am very sorry. I have repented on Grace Hour,
the pulpit in Baltimore, my pulpit and on factnet. I
was a part of a system that was wrong Biblically, but
was used to cover things and protect the image that
all of us would desire to have, though we have failed.
I did not agree with how things have been handled for
many years, but I was taught to submit and not to
question the decisions. I was told it was for the good
of the ministry. That is not an excuse for anything I
was a part of. I hold myself accountable for my own
decisions.
I understand your concerns and agree. It does not
appear that I should be a part of your new
affiliation. I am not looking for sympathy, but my
family has been through a lot and I will not put them
through anymore. Many of you have heard things about
me and formed attitudes and judgments without ever
coming to talk to me. Some of you have submitted to a
leadership that told you things about me and others
and never came to hear our side of things because we
were marked. Some are doing the same thing still
today. I feel that is the same system that I have
experienced all my life. We all need to humble
ourselves before God and put a stop to this. I am
seeking for a real healing from God, for my family and
myself. I do not want to be a part of something, where
I will be brought up and talked about over and over
again, just to have wounds opened back up and my
future restricted in going forward with my Lord and
Savior. I have done all I can do to make myself
accountable and to move forward in truth. I do not
know what else I can do. We have fasted and prayed for
our direction. We have received counseling from an
organization here in Bel Air. God has been so kind to
us. We have a beautiful group of people that want the
message of the glorious gospel of Christ. I desire to
serve them and with them, until God tells me
otherwise.
Please understand, I am not trying to prove
myself to you. I am only telling you where I am at
with all of this, since many would not come and ask. I
thank God for the ones who have come to me. Your
encouragement has been a great blessing to us. There
are pastors that have been a life-line to a lot of us.
Our message is great and I still feel that much of our
lives were very positive and profitable for the
Kingdom of God. God is exposing the things that need
to be corrected in our belief systems. I am grateful
that He loves us enough to do this for us. I see that
everything that has happened is for my sake and for
those everywhere. I desire to go forward in truth,
clean by the Word He has spoken to us. I know that is
what my God desires for me also.
I have a different viewpoint on a few things
now. I have a lot to grow in, but it is happening. I
no longer believe in the "one pastor-teacher"
doctrine. I do not believe in the "marking" and
governmental rights to hear and judge people behind
their backs. I have done this and it is now being done
to me. God is teaching. I agree with Sandy Cove, but I
have reservations about being a part of it also now. I
want the Finished Work and will not submit to people
who think evil of me, without even trying to reconcile
me or restore. I have seen letters go out, bringing up
things about me to others. Is this doctrinal? If I
have areas that need to be corrected, I do not
understand, why, in the name of love, some have no
desire to reach out and see if they could be used to
correct me. Yet, they have called others, talked with
pastors and even written on factnet, things about me
that they really know nothing about. My past is gone
and I can do nothing about it. But, by the grace of
God, I have a great future.
Thank you for some wonderful years of friendship.
I have many memories that I will always cherish. God
allowed us to walk together and serve Him. It was not
all bad. It was amazing ! If this season is over, then
my heart will thank God forever. I believe in new
beginnings in Christ. I am excited about the Work of
God. I love and pray for you. I know God will continue
to lead His church in a victorious way. I pray for
healing for everyone, who has been impacted by all of
the recent events and the things of years gone by. I
know there are many. I know that if we lift up Christ,
He will be our healing and there can be a great
revival in our midst. It starts with repentance and
continues by His mercy and grace. The Work is His. I
apologize for the length of this letter. Thank you for
taking the time to hear me.
In Christ,
Paul Stevens

[jeannie (jeannie)]

Jim, It should be noted this letter is from 8 months ago and is not current thought. As you stated in your post recently there is a process to this exitin for all of us. Paul is in that process and I would offer the suggestion of reading his recent thoughts on Discussggwo.org, which more accurately speak of where he is in the process today.

[johncollins (johncollins)]

Nice thing about the world wide web is how easy it is to link from one document to another, so you don't have to reproduce the same information in multiple places.

For example, while Paul's letter was recently posted at http://s10.invisionfree.com/DiscussGGWO/index.php?showtopic=15&st=15 and was undated there as well, there's a very interesting discussion taking place there this week.

John

[lee (lee)]

Sorry folks, I thought it was recent. I haven't taken the time to follow the discussions on all the sites, but visited one this week and saw the date was Dec 16th (I think), so I read it , thinking it was recent. Also, whenever I've checked, I've thought there were no new postings.

Jeannie, from what little I know of what is 'going on', I find my faith stirred up to believe the the process is still going on.

[nonotone (nonotone)]

... just posted to DiscussGGWO at http://s10.invisionfree.com/DiscussGGWO/index.php?showtopic=15&st=15

Paul,

I've wanted to communicate to you for quite awhile, but it's taken me some time to gather my thoughts before our Lord to do so. If you have followed FactNet at all for the past 18 months or so then you may be aware that I was first shocked, then grieved, then angered, etc. over what has come to light regarding immorality and ethical violations in the senior leadership of TBS/GGWO in various events spread over the past 30 years or so. It is clear that these violations by this leadership include:

1) Manipulation to gain sexual advantage over vunerable single women and women covenantally married to other men. An inordinate need (by Carl) to be surrounded by and have the approbation of highly-attractive women who often were not modestly dressed by conservative Christian standards.

2) Incredible damage to familes as a result of 1) ... and if you’ll recall a private counseling session that I had with you in the late 90’s then you know that I was the childhood victim of a broken home and thus especially sensitive to it.

3) Lying to coverup these sins and developing an overextended, unbalanced understanding, and Biblically inaccurate picture of the “finished work” to make these coverups and lying appear to be “covered” under Scriptural grounds.

4) The use of cultic manipulation in an attempt to control the minds and hearts of men, women, and children for financial gain, personal approbation, “power”, etc. The “whispering” and other forms of vocal inflections used in the “pulpit” by Carl H. Stevens are a direct example of such manipulation.

5) The mismanagement of ministry funds and properties resulting in financial losses that dear, trusting people spent years-upon-years faithfully earning and giving. Throughout the 70’s, 80’s, and even early 90’s many of these faithful folks left “the ministry” in utter disappointment (of TBS/GGWO) only to be mocked and ridiculed by your father.

6) The exhalation of your father Carl and indeed yourself at times as men who had achieved such an “advanced level” of spiritual understanding and Scriptural insight as to be “accountable to God alone”.


Because of the loyalty that I once had toward your father Carl, and the ministry of TBS/GGWO, I took great pains (through many hours of phone conversations, personal visits, and EMAILs) to verify the “general truth” (apart from caring about salacious details) of these events. My reasons for this inquiry were as follows:

1) I’ve come to understand and believe that the Holy Scriptures demand the highest standards of Ethical/Moral Behavior for New Testament Church leaders and that accountability to these standards is required before an objective plurality of Elders and indeed to all members of the congregation.

2) There are always (often far-reaching) consequences associated with violating these standards.

3) This should cause deep concern to all Christians who voluntarily placed themselves under the teaching of leaders who, while continuing in visible, public preaching/teaching ministry, violated these standards.

4) This concern should strike at the very heart of how leaders (shepherds) are initially qualified for ministry, and if they are able to remain in ministry after egregious moral, doctrinal, or financial violations occur against the sheep for which they are given stewardship.

5) It is my conviction, that apart from all of the justifications that can be given, many of the men historically trained by TBS/GGWO are out-of-step with the reality of the historical Evangelical faith and do not possess the foundation in thinking skills and depth of Scriptural understanding necessary to accurately interpret and rightly divide the Word of Truth.

6) Furthermore, in light of 5) it is my contention that Carl H. Stevens never encouraged this kind of intellectual or doctrinal harmony with Christian leaders who have true integrity in their understanding of the Biblical Doctrines of Grace. Some examples throughout Church History including many who are contemporary are: Agustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge, B.B. Warfield, Cornelius Van Til, Greg L. Bahnsen, John Piper, Albert Mohler, R.C. Sproul., and James White.

7) Attempts from the pulpit to mock and intimidate men who did exercise intellectual/spiritual freedom and in humility studied the Word of God with sufficient depth to see the problems that surround many of the historical teachings of CHS/TBS/GGWO and the men they so trained.

8) Finally, I believe that Carl H. Stevens and some of his underlings used 6) and 7) to hide their own ignorance of much doctrinal truth out of shame and fear of being exposed as fundamentally unqualified ministers.


Paul, I have forgiven you for the Lang debacle, etc. I don’t know what might remain that you could do to make restitution to them - I’ll leave that between you and God. My main concern is what are you doing to personally insure that your Pastorate is free as possible from the error and sin that has historically attended your father’s ministry?

At the final judgment your accountability will truly be to God and to no man. I want to pray and hold you up now so that you’ll be able to stand in confidence at this glorious yet solemn event.


Kind Regards in Christ,



Brian Bowman
John 3:21, 1 Corinthians 1:30

[nonotone (nonotone)]

Please see Paul Stevens' response at:

http://s10.invisionfree.com/DiscussGGWO/index.php?s=e2b2284ecd4b793f74b782888d73425b&showt opic=15&st=30

[no_touch_love (no_touch_love)]

"I have repented on Grace Hour,
the pulpit in Baltimore, my pulpit and on factnet."

well he never repented to LiquidWaves or Stevens Seagal!

[boss_martian (boss_martian)]

This was taken from the by-laws on Finished Work Ministries web site. This is how far along Paul Stevens is in his "walk".

“On becoming a member of this church, in addition to the covenant contained in Article XIV –Statement of Faith, Section 35, each one further covenants to love, honor, and esteem the pastor; to pray for him; to recognize his authority in spiritual affairs of the church;”

"Love, honor, and esteem"? Sounds like a wedding vow. Also sounds like marching orders for how to treat Carl Stevens.

Yep, this guy fully gets it. If you want to join his church, you must pledge to love, honor and esteem Paul Stevens. What a humble and broken Man of God.