16 April 2003
Greetings to everyone in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For those who have known me for a long time, I am sure you may have heard by now that I am no longer affiliated with Christian Fellowship Church Ministries International. My departure came after nearly 17 years of love, labor, and dedication.
For those who claim that I am now an enemy of the church, and wish to have nothing to do with me, let me ask you the following. Have I ever, at any time, slandered anyone in the faith? Have I ever taught any doctrines contrary to the scriptures? Has my departure meant that my Bible studies are no longer any good? I have received e-mails from the brethren who are deployed, and only one has come up and said he did not want to hear from me anymore. Everyone else who has responded has thanked me for the words of encouragement and the sharing of the precious word of truth. I never denied the gospel. One Lord, One faith, One baptism - in Jesus' name - is still held in the same high regard as it did when I first got saved. There is still only one God, and His name is Jesus. For those who visit and wish to ask me more about God's plan of salvation, feel free to visit my website at the link on my main page...click on the e-mail link and I will gladly reply.
On 18 March 2003, Pastor Thomas called us who were there and had been with him for over 15 years into his office. I was one of those who prayed with him. However, on the very next night I reached the point where I knew we could never work together anymore in the same organization. That moment came when we filled out the 3x5 cards to cast our votes. One may wonder why a dedicated "staffer" like me would cast a vote of no confidence for my pastor.
The reasons go back to October of 2001. I was deployed on the USS Bataan, fighting a war against Taliban terrorists, when God began dealing with me on the issue of accountability. In my own opinion, I felt we as a ministry failed miserably when it came to holding the pastorship accountable for their actions. We allowed an evironment to exist where the pastor had absolute control, and thus he was untouchable. Seeing what had happened with CFCMI's founding pastor, I prayed and drafted a detailed proposal on how to hold the leadership accountable for their actions. After three attempts, I was finally able to forward the proposal to both Pastor Thomas and Pastor Paine. On 28 May 2002, I spoke with Pastor Thomas about this, and he replied that the proposal was not accepted, and he and Pastor Paine "were keeping each other accountable". When Pastor Thomas said he was willing to speak with me, I was seconds away from walking out the door, and I was not going to come back. Ever. After the discussion, I walked out and wondered why the proposal was not accepted. I have my own speculations. All I wanted was to have a church where my friends whom I witnessed to on deployment could come and feel safe, free to worship God.
Being a single man, and especially after what I experienced, I started having more questions about what was going on. I have heard stories about how the men were "forced" to live on $20 dollars a week; I personally have never seen this, nor had anyone ever approached me on that subject. Had it ever been brought up, I would have questioned the logic behind it. But I saw situations where I began to wonder if the men were still waiting on the pastor to say what to do...most notably a wedding of two non-members, and the men were all still hanging around in the parking lot. To me, that did not look or feel normal. I left and took some of the brethren with me to the store; I later told Pastor Saniatan that stuff like the wedding made me feel embarrassed to be a "staffer", and then we all wondered why folks accused CFCMI of being a cult. I also questioned the ethics behind CFCMI being more involved with Quixtar/Amway. I will refer back to the 2000 conference when Pastor Paine addressed the single men about Quixtar; I did my own reading online on the Amway website and I was not comfortable with the idea. I had seen family members get burned in pyramid schemes like this, and I had no interest. I personally view that when a pastor gets involved with a business like this, and gets the members in his upline or downline, a conflict of interest is created, and the ethics are questioned.
A common complaint, and one which will never be resolved in the foreseeable future, is the perception that the pastor and his family are living quite well while the church and the members are struggling. I hold nothing against Volvos, motorcycles, new houses, etc.; when all this is going on and yet the church needed a new heater upstairs for the children, and Pastor Thomas announced "we do not have it in the church's budget", what are the members supposed to do? I am a believer in sacrifice and offerings. I believe selling the Volvo would have more than financed the heater, for example. I do not speak this in malice...I am just questioning priorities. Just like when I see more men going to Quixtar meetings than Bible studies. Just like when the senior pastor got mad and decided to dissolve the church on the very same night we as a nation were going to war; what kind of message does that send to our brothers and sisters who were deployed, laying their lives on the line?
I am amazed at the aftermath. I did not receive one phone call or even an e-mail from Pastor Thomas or Pastor Paine asking why I voted no. I only received one...only one...e-mail from anyone active in CFC Norfolk. (Other than those deployed) To the sister who cared enough to ask me how I am doing, I thank you; your compassion will be rewarded in heaven by an even more loving God. All I got was a surprised expression on Pastor Thomas' face and "I'm sorry to see you go". After all those years, that was it. Nothing else. Had I received an e-mail or a phone call, I would have gladly come over and discussed my reasons, and prayerfully we could have arrived at a solution. I, along with many others, was denied that chance.
I was blessed with many good things during my tenure with CFCMI. It was there I learned the word of God, and was baptized in Jesus' name. I received the gift of the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking in tongues. I grew as a teacher, and learned about ministry there. These are things I will take with me as I continue to grow forward in Christ. However, I will not deal with the innuendo, allegations of cover-ups, and other issues of that nature which I view were not handled correctly. This was the contention which led to my decision to vote No on 19 March.
If Pastor Thomas and Pastor Paine read this, I wish only the best for both of you as you serve God; I still regard you as brethren. My concern is that unless some critical matters change from within, CFCMI will die off, and more souls will be scattered away.
Yours in Christ's service,
John S. Cady
A Sailor for the Savior: http://www.geocities.com/sailor4savior