An Unauthorized History Of 3abn, Chapter 4 (takin care of business...) Options

[simplysaved]

that qualifier does nothing but muddy the water... a person can be "coverted" be exposed to power, make a few missteps, be corrupted by it.... are we saying then that the person was never converted? I wouldn't say that...

The Bible says "who can know the heart"....this is not about whether or not you have accepted Christ, but whether or not you have "surrendered all" and one's spiritual maturity...IMO

[Clay]

The Bible says "who can know the heart"....this is not about whether or not you have accepted Christ, but whether or not you have "surrendered all" and one's spiritual maturity...IMO

truism.... we can't really know....

[simplysaved]

For the intents and purposes of this thread, that is the bottom line from what I am hearing from most of the posts (short version)....This is one of those things (again) we have to be careful with because you never know....He may just be one of the surprises in heaven with many others surprises--burned up....

[higherground2003]

For the intents and purposes of this thread, that is the bottom line from what I am hearing from most of the posts (short version)....This is one of those things (again) we have to be careful with because you never know....He may just be one of the surprises in heaven with many others surprises--burned up....

To be honest, I am shocked that this is even on here. You would think that a "remnant" organization would never jump to conclusions based on one side of the story.

[Hersheys99]

To be honest, I am shocked that this is even on here. You would think that a "remnant" organization would never jump to conclusions based on one side of the story. tongue.gif

Yes but when there are more than 1 person telling the same story & some of these folks have worked previously at 3ABN & have seen first hand what is going on we are not jumping to conclusions we are going by FACTS! I know some of the things being said are true as I have seen it myself or been told the "stories" by some of them that the "stories" are about.

[Clay]

To be honest, I am shocked that this is even on here. You would think that a "remnant" organization would never jump to conclusions based on one side of the story.

Its on here because initially the only side of the story being told was Mr. Shelton's... and they were dragging Linda's name through the mud..... it wasn't right, and many of us here began to dig around to find out the story behind the "official" version... The stuff here is to balance out the hype that 3ABN has been spewing....

[sister]

A Man of Influence...

His name is recognizable to few of the rank and file that make up the millions of members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Although holding no prominent church office, his name alone guarantees his entrance at the highest organizational levels. Like a master puppeteer who manipulates the strings from behind the curtains, out of sight from the audience, he causes the marionettes to perform at his bidding through the pressure he exerts on their strings. With a few well chosen and well placed words he puts up Division and Conference Presidents, then has them removed or moved at his discretion.

How can one man weld so much power? Money... To refuse to comply with his wishes would mean the rescinding of the funds he so “generously” supplies. As many have experienced, “He who pays the piper calls the tunes.” In addition to the organized church, he guides the reins of many familiar SDA organizations. Have you heard of ASI or OCI? Who is this individual that makes church officials tremble in his wake? Who is this shadowy figure, his plans concealed from view? What is his motivation? Where does he fit into our story?

* * * * *

As a come up to a red traffic signal, a large truck is stopped before me. On the mud flaps is a partially obscured name. It ends with the letter “s”, but the rest lay hidden behind the construction grime that covers it... I just can not make it out clearly, the image haunts me the entire day as I try to remember the name. Like a snippet of a melody that plays over and over in your head and you can not recall the rest of the tune, it permeates my thoughts.

* * * * *

“C-O-N-T-R-O-L!” “CONTROL!” “It is spelled C-O-N-T-R-O-L!” Then Danny opens his mouth, sticks out his tongue and jabbing his fingers toward the opening, completes a gesture for vomiting that one would expect only from a small child. “That is just what Garwin did and said!”Then Danny laughs and continues on with the story.

The story Danny related took place during the administration of Robert Folkenberg as president of the GC. The purpose of the meeting? It depends upon what version you are quoting. To hear it told from Danny’s perspective, Folkenberg and the GC were attempting a hostile takeover of 3ABN. As the parties involved addressed each other over the formulation of the document that lay on the table between them and what this would mean for the administrative and operational future of 3ABN, an older man walked in and sat down. Intent upon the negotiations that were suggested by the parties involved, he remained silent. Pairs of eyes darted back and forth, trying to “read” what lay behind his intent expression, with the full knowledge that once his opinion was voiced they would be expected to fall into line.

He stood up and all conversation ceased, you could feel the tension mount as those assembled waited for his pronouncement... Raising his hand toward his head, his mouth opened and sticking out his tongue he jabbed his fingers toward the opening. After completing this gesture he said, “C-O-N-T-R-O-L!” “CONTROL!” “It is spelled C-O-N-T-R-O-L!” With this announcement and his elaborations that followed, 3ABN was “saved” from the interference of the GC. But at what price? Instead of becoming an organization working in conjunction with the organized church, 3ABN became what it is today: a private institution with accountability to no one, run by a man who has professed himself to be as “god” in his ministry.

To be continued...

[higherground2003]

Yes but when there are more than 1 person telling the same story & some of these folks have worked previously at 3ABN & have seen first hand what is going on we are not jumping to conclusions we are going by FACTS! I know some of the things being said are true as I have seen it myself or been told the "stories" by some of them that the "stories" are about.

I know plenty of lies out there that has more than one person telling it. In my opinion, this is just as wrong as what 3abn did.

[Hersheys99]

I know plenty of lies out there that has more than one person telling it. In my opinion, this is just as wrong as what 3abn did.

I find it interesting that since you find it so wrong then why are you reading it? If I find something wrong or that I feel is wrong I surely wouldn't sit & read about it. That is my opinion.

[sister]

The Sword of Damocles... a warning

A sharpened sword is suspended from the ceiling on a single horse hair above where Damocles is seated. Sweat forms on his brow, his eye begins to twitch, gazing up a thought suddenly leaps into his brain, “Is it more dangerous, to move slowly and deliberately, risking the possibility that even this minute disturbance of air is enough to loose the weaken single strand of hair or to move suddenly, springing forth from his seat, or should he remain perfectly still, diligently pursuing the outcome of each possibility in his mind...

I have been warned that in my last post I may have awoken a sleeping giant, much more dangerous than Danny. I have been cautioned that I am probably safe at this time, but that I should be careful to remember what has happened to others that have made statements exposing this influential man for what he does.

The following quote from beartrap speaks for me. I have supplied the bold print.

I can't say that the NAD does, or doesn't firmly support 3ABN, but I can say that there are a number of influential leaders from the local conference level on up to the GC who firmly support Danny Shelton. As one of them once told me, there is a vastly wealthy man who unquestioningly supports Danny, and no church entity with any monetary sense will jeopordize funding from this man by questioning Danny's integrity.

Stay tuned...

This post has been edited by sister: Apr 28 2006, 03:55 AM

[Jvat]

Does the SDA church operate like a Mafia Organisation, folks? That a man can have money and use it to manipulate the church to his own ends and GET AWAY WITH IT???? Lord help us all!!!

[Zephyr]

What is happening to 3ABN now might b a great blessing for the church. Truly the church is the apple of God's eyes. The gates of Hades shall not prevail...the SDA church now has the opportunity to rethink, regroup and be responsible and reject what Danny and his telecult aka 3ABN stand for. As a proivate ministry 3ABN and Danny can do what they want but they should not be given a free pass or wink rob widows and orphans and wheel and deal right in the church to part members from money better spent reaching real people in real communities. But the house of cards is coming down quickly...a few weeks with no airtime and no church will want 3ABN ...the high living and expenses PTL-like will have to be cut back....without airtime 3ABN is nothing...now let's see if they really were about ministry or money-stry.

This post has been edited by Zephyr: Apr 27 2006, 10:19 PM

[Prisca]

To be honest, I am shocked that this is even on here. You would think that a "remnant" organization would never jump to conclusions based on one side of the story.

We seem to excell at 'fruit inspection'...It is the only side we have, although there are three sides. His side, her side and the truth.

The question came up about the other folks seen on 3ABN. Whatever their reasons, I am sure that at least some of them have chosen to keep their programs going on that network in spite of Danny, because they truelly want to reach the potential audience that 3ABN covers. Others have chosen to confront the ethical quagmire they see building around Danny, and they have been removed.

When it comes to them going on other Adventist media, 3ABN has a much bigger reach than all of the other Adventist media outlets put together (at this point). They may cover the globe by satellite, but without terrestrial coverage, they just shouting into an empty room. Through cable, and terrestrial broadcast 3ABN has substantial coverage.

That having been said, Hope Channel is growing at an unbelievable rate. In just three years they have far surpassed what took 3ABN twelve years to accomplish. Their growth in terrestrial coverage is largely outside the USA, but I strongly encourage you to recommend to your church that they participate in helping HopeTV get on cable locally. I also recommend that if there is a local Christian broadcast station, especially if run by Adventists, that they be encouraged to start carrying Hope Channel at least part time. If you are thinking about where you should put your donations toward the dissemination of Adventist TV programs, consider Hope Channel. This is something very positive that we can do.

How will the backstage reasons for their 12 year miracle growth, if discovered to be less than admirable affect your feelings about them? or do you believe they, unlike 3ABN are without spot or blemish?

The Bible says "who can know the heart"....this is not about whether or not you have accepted Christ, but whether or not you have "surrendered all" and one's spiritual maturity...IMO

That is on a daily, daily, daily basis, right?

[Guest_statrei_*]

I can't say that the NAD does, or doesn't firmly support 3ABN, but I can say that there are a number of influential leaders from the local conference level on up to the GC who firmly support Danny Shelton. As one of them once told me, there is a vastly wealthy man who unquestioningly supports Danny, and no church entity with any monetary sense will jeopordize funding from this man by questioning Danny's integrity.

Sounds like good business sense if Danny has not done anything illegal. The problem is not Danny but those who believe that what he does is anything more than good family TV entertainment.

[sister]

The Tree in the midst of the Garden...Part 1

Texas has been represented by soldiers, who have had the misfortune of receiving their basic training in it’s broad expanses as “the only place on earth where you can have mud in your boots and dust in your eyes at the same time”. This is the land of long horned cattle and “remember the Alamo”. Amid the dangers, initiated by both nature and man, the treat of settling disagreements with a gun has permeated the history of the Lone Star State. We now intensify our focus, narrowing our field of vision to a compound located near the town of Waco. The year is 1993 and we are transported back in time to the infamous showdown between the United States government and the Branch Davidians. Lead by David Koresh, self proclaimed “god” of his ministry, a confrontation was to take place that would shock the world.

Born Vernon Wayne Howell, 1959, in the city of Houston, Texas; by 1990 he had become the leader of the Branch Davidians and legally changed his name to David Koresh. He said that the change occurred because he believed that he was now head of the Biblical house of David.

Beginning in his late childhood, Koresh had a strong interest in the Bible and developing musical abilities. At the age of twenty he turned to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the church of his mother. When the preceding information was released in the media, a shock wave swept though the Adventist church that appeared to be of cataclysmic proportions. Media damage control was immediately undertaken. The church survived any association that existed between it and David Koresh, however brief. In fact, the story has been told that he was removed by the local congregation for being a bad influence on the young people. I would venture to say, in that local congregation were members who believed the Biblical admonition, “ You can recognize a tree by the fruit...” On hindsight most of us could agree there were some wise folks in that local church.

A few years after David Koresh was removed from a SDA congregation, another young man, a few years older, with a certain interest in the Bible and musical ability was to start his own ministry. He too would come become a self proclaimed “god” within the confines of his compound. Here the stories diverges. The former man was shunned by the SDA church, the latter man has been allowed to become “the face of the SDA church” around the world. A small aside, in opposition to rumors that floated through T’ville beginning in the time of “Waco”, I would be willing to swear in a court of law, on a stack of Bibles, “There are no weapons or ammo hidden beneath the floorboards of 3ABN”.

Ever since Eve ate of the fruit of the only tree from which she was forbidden access in the garden of Eden, men and women have been tempted by that old serpent, whispering in their ear, “listen to me and heed my advice... then you will surely become like God”. Now most of us would be willing to agree that it is no sin to be tempted. The sinning begins when we don’t walk away from the temptation and keep right on looking and listening.

Imperceptibly at first, to the human eye, we start to incline our ear, to hear what is being said more clearly. That’s when the Devil knows that the hook is sliding into your mouth and with patience born of over 6 thousands years of experience with human beings, he just waits for you to bite down. Then just like the proverbial fish tale, he plays you for a while, slowly reeling you in, then letting you run a bit, finally secure in the knowledge that the hook is deeply imbedded, he hauls you in...hook, line and sinker. Before you realize what has come to pass. The devil presents you, like a catfish all fried up and crispy with a mess of Collards on the side. That catfish, may look good on the outside, the aroma may start the juices in your mouth to run, but the Lord has told us it will not provide the what a body need to remain healthy.

Like Adam was lead to that certain tree in the middle of the garden by Eve. Two women have been responsible for leading Danny Shelton to the perception that his voice is as the voice of God at 3ABN. Like Eve they may have brought him to that tree, but like Adam before him, Danny choose to eat of it. And it appears that once Danny began, he continued on, whole hog.

At this point we pause...

The story will continue in Part 2...