Former Members of Faith Christian Church Tucson and its offshoots

The last couple of days I have been listening to some sermons that Steve Hall preached about 5 years ago. I was struck by how much he appealed to the occurrence of miracles and works of faith at FCC to validate his ministry. Then today, the Lord brought the passage from 1 Cor 13:1-3 to my attention in two quite distinct and unrelated ways.  The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the church at Corinth, another church with great manifestations of the Spirit but also with lots of strife and division, selfishness and pride. Paul told them, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”

This reminded me of when I went to Florida with the Coopers and Saucedos to start Cornerstone Christian Church. One day we sat around discussing the problems that existed in FCC and pondering how Steve could hurt so many people, including ourselves. One of the people there brought up the triad from 1 Cor 13, “faith, hope, and love.” She remarked how Steve always emphasized faith and hope, but love seemed to be glaringly lacking from his ministry and his teaching.

On another occasion in Florida, after talking with Steve and hearing reports of some miracles that were taking place in Tucson, Bill remarked to me that Steve seemed to be using the miracles as proof that he was doing the will of God and his church was in the right. Bill brought up to me the Scriptures where Jesus had sent out the seventy, and they had come back bragging that even the demons were subject to them. Jesus warned them not to rejoice in their works of power but in the fact that their names are recorded in heaven (Luke 10:17-20). Jesus told the disciples that he had seen Satan fall from heaven like lightning, implying that the seventy were in danger of such pride and such a fall.

My prayer is that Steve and his leadership would see the danger in boasting in miracles while neglecting love. May they turn and repent from their abusive and controlling practices, seek to make reparation and find reconciliation, and cry out for the love of God to transform them into agents of His love, a love that can keep them from falling headlong and God’s sheep from being scattered.

–Jeff Phillips

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/what-not-say-someone-who-has-been-hurt-church#comments