Living Waters And GNN no longer together

Dear Friends,

For the past few years, our ministry has endorsed and worked very closely with another ministry called The Great News Network (GNN). Many of you first learned about GNN through our website, one of our newsletters, or on our radio program. We know that some of you are members of GNN and will therefore be greatly saddened by the following announcement. Please know that we share in that sadness, and thank you in advance for your gracious understanding.

Due to growing concerns involving the direction of The Great News Network, the leadership of Living Waters Publications and The Way of the Master has decided to withdraw our ministry’s endorsement of GNN. These serious concerns were greatly compounded by a recent letter issued by the Network’s founder, entitled: “Warning! A Storm is Coming!” Our ministry strongly disagrees with both the severe tone of the letter and the disturbing ministerial philosophy engendered therein. Living Waters and The Way of the Master will no longer be working in conjunction with GNN in ministry outreach efforts, nor will we be recommending GNN to the friends and supporters of our ministry. We greatly regret this recent measure, but feel that it is most necessary for the good of our ministry and all those involved.

We sincerely value your faithful prayers in the days and weeks ahead. We are truly appreciative of your sacrifice of love as you continue to labor with us for the furtherance of the gospel.

Living Waters Publications / The Way of the Master

this comes from ray comfort's newsletter sent to all subscriber's to the newsletter

oops. double post.

I am quite interested in reading this letter, do you know where I could?... I googled the title “Warning! A Storm is Coming!” and found nothing... I wonder what this was about, at least?

Jordan

This is our response from Living Waters....

"The letter was not sent out to the general public, but to all GNN members. Therefore, we are not in a position to release it. However, you can contact GNN directly and ask them if they are willing to release the letter to you: www.thegreatnews.com."

Please saints remember not to go overboard with evil suspicions and ridiculous notions.

I say this as Living Waters employee and SermonIndex moderator. Thank you God bless!

You can access the letter from the Internet. I ran across the link on another message board.

It probably would be best to contact them about it. I don't think I will post a link to it, unless I read somewhere that they don't care it is made public. Anyways, it is out there if you search around.

Brothers and Sisters,

Please pray for Way of the Master, Living Waters and The Great News Network Ministry.

Grace,
Doug

http://www.intout.com/gnn/astormiscoming.pdf - Email from GNN

http://www.intout.com/gnn/replyto_astormiscoming.pdf - Our reply

GNN Brisbane & Gold Coast believe the email from GNN to be unbiblical. So as a result we have withdrawn from the network. The reasons stated in our reply.

Josh,

After reading the reply all I can do is pray that the Lord will be glorified in all of this. Pray, pray and pray some more!

Grace,
Doug
http://prayerandfaith.blogspot.com

After reading the reply I thank God Living Waters took the stand and did what they did. I can't believe some of the things stated in that letter! I could actually taste koolaid while reading it :)

Thanks for posting this and for your excellent response. I hope Living Waters will start something new.

Wow I just read the letter, haven't yet read the reply and am going to but one thing stuck out.. Darrel is acting like GNN is the Church-- the complete Church... a fatal error... i.e. as if someone leaves GNN, they leave the Church. The whole spirit of the letter was wrong... I hope Darrel repents from this. It's quite cultish. Especially when Darrel said that you would be destroyed if you left GNN.. what is that about?? Sigh.

Jordan

Jim and others,

I have emailed Daniel Comfort and Way of the Master Radio asking them for the specific reasons why they have chosen to separate from GNN. We all are discussing what we do not know... Let's pray and wait until we hear from Way of the Master and Living Waters ministry the specific reasons for separation.

Grace,
Doug

jimdied2sin wrote:
I am a member of GNN and ask that former members act in a Biblical fashion when discussing this. Making comments about tasting koolaid based on your isogesis of what Darrel was saying is fruit of the flesh. I too am disturbed by the letter but will give a brother the chance to clarify what he meant by some of his statements.

I strongly support standing up against false doctrines or error, but let us not do so in pride or immaturity. We will give an account for it.

Blessings in Christ - Jim

The Brisbane team has followed the pattern of Matthew 18. We have gone to Darrel but were ignored. So we are at the part now where we go to the church. So that is why we are making our reply public.

This is quite sad and I am not surprised because of all the things I have heard in the last 2 years about the GNN organisation. What a fearful day the Judgement Seat will be.

I agree this is going to be fearful on judgment day. We are all squabbling on the ship while the populous sinks into damnation.

Perhaps alot of GNN will transist over to www.openairoutreach.com now

8-)

A trembling amen to that!

I apologize if my Koolaid comment offended anyone. I agree it was not necessary. However, I do prefer to be forthright. This matter has been made open and public, there is no mystery, it is obvious. So let's not assume we don't know enough to make a right judgment. Especially for those of us who've been on the inside and seen this long ago. If people cannot see through the obvious control and manipulation of a domineering and possessive leader, they are deceiving themselves. I was once a seed sower with GNN and I read Darrel's response to this matter last night. His defiance towards LWP is extremely unreasonable and only adds to his cult like behavior. He is obviously unwilling to see his error, even after being confronted as Josh has pointed out. Sure we care for him and want him to repent, but wake up people. Many have been deceived and led into destruction by such men before. We must not let it happen to those in GNN now. So I will speak my mind if it helps vulnerable people to see things as they are. The letter Darrel wrote speaks for itself. It is laced with obvious signs of abuse of power. It is a totalitarian leadership with no dissent. The fact that LWP broke off shows GNN is unwilling to be made accountable. If you stay with them, you condone their behavior. You give them a reason to continue abusing people. WAKE UP!! Stop trying to find a way to justify what has been going on.
We need to be accountable to one another. If Darrel cannot be accountable to anyone, he has lost any authority he had.

1Peter 2:13-18 "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward."

So I ask you, who is Darrel's authority now that he has lost LWP's support?

1 eter 5:5-8 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour...

I call on GNN to humble themselves and acknowledge their error. Then we will have reason to show grace. I pray that GNN will submit to authority and prove hemselves worthy of our respect.

With love and respect for the Body of Christ.

The Apostle Paul said it well in 2 Cor 4:5:

For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.

This way is contrary to GNN's "leader."

Perhaps alot of GNN will transist over to www.openairoutreach.com now

This is quite sad and I am not surprised because of all the things I have heard in the last 2 years about the GNN organisation. What a fearful day the Judgement Seat will be.

Or perhaps alot of GNN will transit over to www.officialstreetpreachers.com or www.brojed.org :-P :-P :-P :-P these guys are just as bad as Jesse and his group of jokers.

Wouldn't it be sad if peopled jumped from the frying pan into the fire so to speak by jumping from GNN to Jesse and his crew. :-o

I don't understand why anybody feels the need to belong to anybody but the local church? That is the problem with these things, is when they start becoming something outside of the church. I know many street preachers ministries are frowned upon by local churches, and it is made clear to them in no uncertain terms. And sometimes rightfully so. But sadly, the local church is forgotten in much of this.

After much prayer and pondering I have decided to post some thoughts on all of this. I'd be glad to talk with any of you and since my phone has been ringing quite often, I'm nearly out of minutes. ...

I must first say that just like you I have been blown away by the Urgent Blast...a total surprise to me...I don't have the inside scoop on this so no need to ask. I too have lots of questions.

Many have asked me what I'm going to do. Well I'm not one to be hasty in decisions except in the grocery store on an empty stomach. I woke up in the middle of the night realizing that the timing on all of this may be a blessing. WHAT? EBC MIAMI is happening...yup and I'm praying for them. But...this is a perfect time to wait on the Lord. When all of this happened, my emotions when haywire...I first felt like taking my football and going home, then I started being bombarded with ..."well what about this, what about that..huh!" Last night at Bible study, the Pastor talked about unforgiveness and said he hadn't planned on saying a few words about how destructive it is not to mention how offensive it is to God but he thought someone needed to hear it. You can bet it was me! Brothers and sisters regardless of where you are in all of this...please let there be no root of bitterness in your heart...we cannot allow anger, spite, bitterness, unforgiveness to dwell in our hearts...it is so very offensive to God. By the way...did you ever realize what is last in the list of things that are an abomination to the Lord in Proverbs 6:16? "There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers." Regardless of the differences we have, we are all of One blood...the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ....just a simple reminder...yeah...mostly to myself.

I think Darrel may address much of this when he returns from camp and thinks through it all after meeting with the Advisory Board. If you know Darrel like I know Darrel, you know he is a man of prayer, a man who wants nothing more nor nothing less than to please God in all he thinks, feels, says and does...yes he is just like us...he has clay feet.

So rather than respond from emotions or go on limited information I ask you to seek the Lord in much prayer during this time. The Bible says in Proverbs 18:17 "The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him." I think emotions will settle down so you can think through things with a clear mind. I know this is really hard...I'm no different to than you...I feel wounded and am bleeding in pain too....His grace is always sufficent and He always provides an escape from temptation.

I love you guys...you are the very ones God has used to change my life. You are the ones I think about when I'm the Lone Ranger Seed Sower on the street corner. You are the ones who share your victories, your defeats, your resources, your hearts with me. God used Ray Comfort and WOTM to change my heart but He used GNN to change my very life. If I hadn't meet you and gone to EBC 5, I'm afraid I would have thought WOTM was really a great thing and I would have gone on to take the next Beth Moore Bible study. You are the ones who came along side of me...scared too..and helped me to let God stretch me beyond my wildest dreams. It has been nearly 2 yrs since my first Open Air at Johnny Rocket's in Daytona...who'd have ever guessed this woman who hid behind church work would be proclaiming the word of the Lord to those lost and headed to Hell. Praise God for leading me to GNN...it's not perfect, what ministry made of people is... but it certainly is a Seed Sower Sanctuary.

Finally my brothers and sisters...I love you. Be strong in the Lord...seek Him with all your heart...He is worthy...worthy is the Lamb. Count on my prayers.

Yes, Brother Darrel (and I'll certainly call him BROTHER) made a very big mistake, which he admits - he blew it.

It seems many here have blown it - we've forgotten that GNN is made out of brothers and sisters in Christ, who have joined and the LORD used to bring many, many lost souls to Christ. GNN has helped me tremendously, and I met Darrel at the EBC I went to, EBC-11. He's definately a man of prayer, a godly man who seeks the Lord, who's put all of his finances into GNN without expecting a return, and I'm so thankful to God for him. He's definately a brother in Christ, and he's made a mistake, but there's no reason to use such harsh words of scrutiny against ANYONE! The Lord Jesus told the disciples 'You don't know what spirit you're of,' when they said something harsh about Christ's enemies. He said, "For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village." Luke 9:56.

You can say what you want about GNN, and you can even have your way with Darrel's reputation (I don't think he minds), but please, remember why God allowed GNN to exist, and even Living Waters, and why there's a Classic Comfort thread...

Jesus came to save men. The heart of our Savior groans that His bride be readied. GNN and Living Waters, as is apparent to me, God used as instruments to do part of this task... The church on earth and in heaven, partly. My love goes to all of my fellow Christians who have given their lives for Christ, sharing the Gospel, handing out LW tracts (many started this way), open air preaching, everything...

I respect all that you have to say, my brothers and sisters. The good and the bad. If I really do believe in my Savior as much as I say I do, I'd give my life for the man who bashed Darrel and compared him to Jim Jones with the poison Kool Aid. I love you so dear.

I freely confess - if the Holy Spirit wouldn't have sent a man who heard Hell's Best Kept Secret to come and talk to me, I don't think I would have ever open air preached - I'm a coward and a meek chihuahua in my personality. But the Holy Spirit is in me, and is my boldness before men - I would run, when no man pursued... But in Christ, I'm as bold as a lion.

Thank the Lord, Praise the Lord! That I can even make this post - when I should be in my grave... My grave-plot beckons my name, the tombstone, my pillow, awaits my comfort. But Jesus Christ compels me with new life and boldness and zeal to not rest in peace, but tell every man about Himself - rest in Him.

KingJimmy wrote:
The Apostle Paul said it well in 2 Cor 4:5:

For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.

This way is contrary to GNN's "leader."

It's not about GNN. It's not about Living Waters, or a certain preacher. It's about the comforting arms of a man who gave His life for you and me - God Himself, the shoulders of Jesus Christ.

In some ways I am at a disadvantage because I have no idea who GNN or the rest of the initials are. However I have read the thread and gleaned a bit. I felt to share this quote I read this morning in my devotional time:

"Those who aim at being perfect must be kind, easily entreated, and yielding, keeping rather than quarreling. It is hard to believe how much these strong quarrels impair the spirit of love, soil the soul, and strengthen stubbornness and self-sufficiency. Though the one we quarrel with may have a wrong opinion, he will never be won through contending. On the contrary, he becomes bitter and hardened, whereas by kindness, without controversy, he may be won. As soon as agitation appears, it is better to stop the debate: death to ourselves is more useful than all we could do through this life of self, which truly shows itself in such arguments: for as zeal comes, bitterness also enters into both parties, and instead of being united in feelings, we are separated in heart. Yielding to others, submitting to everything except our faith, is a necessary virtue. Losing is gain, and he who yields is most enlightened, because he knows how to master self."

Jean Guyon

We all must be very careful to admonish and correct out of a heart of love. When we get into anything that has a bite behind it we would be much better leaving off and keeping our mouth in check. Love covers a multitude of sins. That is not to say that we don't go to a brother and confront his sin. The word says we have to or his blood is on our hands, however after that has been done biblically we need to not rehash it because it becomes vain disputings and that is as much of a sin as the orginal sin committed.

I recognise the desire of many folks on this thread to protect the little ones who might be damaged by what has happened, but what is in our hearts as we do this? Love, forgiveness, patience? A desire for healing? Or do we just want to make a point?

As a part of the Body of Christ our goal should always be to see healing come. If our words are divisive they will only further the enemy's kingdom. This is why most of the time it is better to speak about an error in doctrine, like the sin of the Nicolaitians for example, rather than bring a particular man's name up. I know that there were times in the word where names were brought up but it was rare. In Corinthians it is said there are those amoung you who, etc. If it is handled in that way it is better because the minds of someone will not be poisoned against the individual if they repent in the future, but the reader will know to watch out for the error in doctrine.

Those in leadership should be corrected before the church according to scripture, but after that it is better to not re-hash it over and over, but to go on and commend them to the Lord praying dilligently because we love them, knowing that when that part of the body is healed the entire body is whole.

I quote Darrel Rundus,
I'm nobody. Telling everybody. About somebody. Who can save anybody.

That's a great quote. But a clever maxim will not undo a lengthy letter where he demands allegiance to the organization. This letter he wrote is not a simple mistake, where he spoke something off cuff and off color. It's not a mere (if there can be any such thing) slippage of the tongue. The letter itself states that he had been bottling all that up inside of him for three months before. And if he thought about saying it three months ago, that means it had probably been festering quite a long time before that. For as the Lord said, it is out of the abundance of a man's heart that he speaks.

The attitude conveyed in the letter was not that Darrel is a nobody trying to serve everybody. The attitude was one of a dominating personality trying to lord his ministry over that of others. It was pontifical in nature.

Sadly though, such an attitude has never been rare in the church, nor is it rare today. It's a mindset that is birthed from the spirit of this world. Even many so-called "servant-leaders" still embrace this worldly mindset, but think they have shed it simply because they picked up a phrase at some conference or in some book. A true servant-leader is never in the place to demand anything.

A true servant's attitude is "What can I do for you?" As a servant, one seeks to fulfill the needs of another. If they see another lacking something, a true servant comes to supply. Thus, those in equipping ministries (Eph 4:11) are there to empower others to do what God has called those others to do. They are not there to say, "What can you do to better help me do my ministry?" And this is exactly what Darrel did in ripping off an John Kennedy quote: "Ask not what GNN can do for you, but ask what you can do for GNN."

Thus, if those in GNN are true servants, they will simply equip those brothers and sisters they come across, and never in anyway demand loyalty to their own work. They should give with no strings attached. They should only be interested in equipping the saints to do the work of evangelism. And if those saints wish to do evangelism simply unto the Lord and on their own, then GNN should rejoice. For either way, a saint was equipped for the work of the ministry. And that is all that matters.

I have posted a public statement regarding GNN on my blog: http://www.xanga.com/Josh_Williamson

Wow! This is really heating up. Doesn't look like it's getting any better for GNN. I think if Ray suggested Darrel resign (as Darrel claims), he should just get on with it and resign. Mr Comfort has tremendous respect and recognition from many well respected church leaders and ministers across all denominational bounds, including MacArthur, Ravenhill, Wilkerson, etc... Darrel Rundus only has what was given him by Ray Comfort to begin with. I think it's a losing battle for Darrel. He is displaying extreme arrogance. Imagine, your pastor puts you in charge of a ministry and later removes you due to growing concerns... But you refuse to resign because "God gave me this ministry". Talk about arrogance.

Good work at pressing the matter Josh.

I guess I am a bit child-like, innocent, simplistic, I see things as they are.

Bless you Jim. And Bless Darrel, and everyone else. But let’s call a spade a spade and have the courage to speak honestly and forthright. It would be quite different if all this was based on rumors, but an official statement has been made. It’s wide open. And it’s not time to pray, it’s time to confront the issues. I’m just letting Josh know that I support what he’s doing.

This is how God responded to Joshua when he decided to pray rather than deal with the sin…

7:10 The LORD said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. 12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.
13 "Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it.

Sadly though, such an attitude has never been rare in the church, nor is it rare today. It's a mindset that is birthed from the spirit of this world. Even many so-called "servant-leaders" still embrace this worldly mindset, but think they have shed it simply because they picked up a phrase at some conference or in some book. A true servant-leader is never in the place to demand anything.

I am wondering if also at times we run the risk of having folk who have no sense of any authority at all. One of the great debates of our times deals with authority in the churches. Should there be an authority? Who is in authority? Who makes the decisions? So in a sense I have been hearing both sides and see quite a contrast.