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Freedom Church Back In The News.


dippyhippy

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Surprise not, FC planning on opening a new church very soon…so who will be the lucky country & city to recieve the dishonour of hosting FC's new venue?…well here's something I can tell you it's going to be somewhere a little closure to home…so some poor residents of an unfortunate,unsuspecting city get to host them here in the UK…so pay your money & take your pick…if I was a gambling man I'd probably put me money on the Big Smoke?

 

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HONESTLY EVALUATE YOUR CHURCH

The Bible says that we should examine everything, and hold on to the good.

The questions in this list help you take a step back so that you can honestly evaluate your church, its leaders, and your church experience.

 
  1.  
    1. Is your pastor fully accountable to a board of elders, presbyters, etc?
     
  2. Is loyalty to Jesus and to one's own calling placed before loyalty to pastor and church?
 
Does your pastor encourage questions and suggestions? Is he approachable?
 
Does your pastor give equal attention to all kinds of people in his congregation?
 
Does your pastor readily admit his errors?
 
Does your pastor avoid boasting or hinting at a special anointing?
 
Is your pastor truly humble?
 
Are the sermons based on clear Biblical truths, not on “original revelations or ax-grinding?
 
Does your church interact with other churches?
 
Does your church staff avoid secrecy?
 
Is power shared in your church (rather than preempted by a hierarchy)?
 
Does your church see itself as just one organ of the Body of Christ, and not the main one?
 
Is your church truly friendly?
 
Does your church emphasize ministry to people rather than church programs?
 
Are especially needy people cared for lovingly in your church?
 
Are church members encouraged and loved even when they leave?
 
Are relationships with former members encouraged or allowed?
 
Do the pastor and congregation avoid attacking and using as object lessons, former members or those who disagree?
 
Are families encouraged to stay together and spend time together?
 
Does your family worship Sunday service include children, at least for part of the service?
 
Are you encouraged in your own calling?
 
Are pleas for money rare and unemotional?
 
Are your children happy to attend church?
 
Are you happy to bring unsaved friends to your church?
 
Is there a diversity of classes, races, dress styles, ages, and occupations in your church?
 
Are people encouraged to hear from God for themselves?
 
Is there a single behavior standard for all people in the church?
 
Are all types of people considered welcome at your church?
 
Is the joy of the Lord present in your church?
 
Are you free from fear in your church?
 
Do you think more about God and Jesus than you do about your pastor and church?
 
Does your pastor include himself in any calls for repentance and forgiveness?
 
Are you clear that the pastors and elders never exaggerate or lie to make themselves look good?
 
Is your group encouraging of each other and free from gossip and rumoring?
 
Is there a humility of doctrine that points to the grace of God and His mercy for sinners?
 
Are you encouraged to serve in ministries or missions outside the local body?
 
Is there ever any pressure put upon members to give or lend money to leaders for their personal or business use (exclusive of church business or projects)?
 
 

This checklist of cult-like tendencies, written by Charles Lesser, was published in the October, 1991 issue of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project Newsletter.

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  • 1 month later...

They were down in Cardiff on Saturday 30th April.  I was having breakfast in a café and there was a group there.  Owner asked were they down for the rugby.  Stated they were the Freedom Church from Hereford and were running an event at the Uni.  So spreading out.

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They were down in Cardiff on Saturday 30th April.  I was having breakfast in a café and there was a group there.  Owner asked were they down for the rugby.  Stated they were the Freedom Church from Hereford and were running an event at the Uni.  So spreading out.

Yes spreading far & wide across the nations…Chris Cooke who's both a trustee & one of the leaders in Cardiff claimed £9,823 expensive from FC

 

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Chris & his wife karin are directors of a company call green light people solutions FC paid that company £23,647 for services

 

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Every Pastor Who Collects Tithes Is A Thief – Femi Aribisala

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[some folks are upset by the author's calling tithe collecting pastors as thieves. They think it is not "Christ like". They conveniently forget the fact that Jesus Christ called the religious leaders of his day as hypocrites (17 times), generation of vipers (twice), and children of the Devil. How "Christ like" was Christ?]

.

As far as many pastors are concerned, the most important scripture of all is not to be found in the word of Jesus. Neither is it even in the New Testament.

 

That scripture says: “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’†(Malachi 3:10).

 

This scripture is drummed repeatedly into Christians on Sundays. However, the only time Jesus mentioned tithing in scripture, he pointed out that it was not a weighty matter of the law. (Matthew 23:23). Hebrews says people only receive tithes “according to the law.†(Hebrews 7:5). It then insists tithing (and everything else under the law) has been annulled: “The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless.†(Hebrews 7:18-19). Nevertheless, mercenary pastors continue to insist on the payment of tithes.

 

Latter-day Pharisees

 

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for keeping part instead of the whole law. (Matthew 23:23). That is what tithe-collecting pastors do today. If we insist our congregants must pay tithes, we must also insist that they keep the rest of the law. James says: “Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.†(James 2:10). Therefore, if we insist on tithing, we should also refrain from eating pork. We should stone adulterers, execute homosexuals, kill Sabbath violators and restore blood-sacrifices.

 

Tithe-collecting pastors counter this by maintaining the payment of tithes pre-dated the law. Here Abraham is cited as the cardinal example of someone who paid tithes before the promulgation of the Law of Moses, as did Jacob, his grandson. However, such arguments are disingenuous.

 

Before the law, tithing was at best an example but not a commandment. Moreover, pastors fail to mention that Abraham only tithed once in his lifetime. When he did, he did not even tithe his own money: he tithed the spoils of war. He gave ten percent of the plunder he took when he rescued Lot to Melchisedec, king of Salem. But then he did not even keep the rest but returned it (all ninety percent) to the king of Sodom.

 

For his part, Jacob also tithed only once. He did this in a “let’s make a deal†arrangement he offered to God: “Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will surely give a tenth to you.’†(Genesis 28:20-22). This kind of deal about accepting God only under certain self-serving conditions should certainly not be a term of reference for any serious believer.

 

Lies upon lies

 

The first lie pastors tell Christians is what some have referred to as “the eleventh commandment:†“Thou shalt pay thy tithes to thy local church.†But the bible says no such thing. The storehouse of Malachi was not a church. It was a place where food was kept.

 

Pastors hide from church-members the fact that money was not acceptable as tithe. The tithe was a tenth of the seed and fruit of the land and of the animals which ate of the land. (Leviticus 27:30-32). That is why God says: “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be FOOD in my house.†(Malachi 3:10). He does not say “that there may be MONEY in my house.†The food was used to feed the Levites, the poor, widows, orphans and strangers.

 

Pastors also conveniently fail to teach the biblical tithe. The principles of tithing were not laid down by Malachi. They were laid down by Moses. The study of Moses’ guidelines quickly reveals that the biblical tithe has no application whatsoever to Christians and is mischievously violated by tithe-collecting pastors today.

 

According to the Law of Moses, the tithe was divided into three allocations. The first year, it was given to the Levite. The second year, it was given to widows, orphans and the poor. The third year, it was eaten in the company of the faithful before the Lord as thanksgiving for his faithfulness. (Deuteronomy 14:22-28). In the seventh year, there was no planting and no reaping and therefore no tithing.

 

So the next time your pastor asks you to pay tithe, ask him about the seventh-year reprieve. Also ask him if you can give your tithe to the orphanage, or bring it as food items to be eaten in church. Believe me; he will not agree with you because it is your money he is after.

 

Inapplicability of tithes

 

Tithing was only applicable to Jews and to the land of Israel. When large populations of Jews lived in Babylon, Ammon, Moab, Egypt, and Syria, these lands became tithe-able lands. However, tithes were not acceptable from strictly Gentile lands. So you need to ask your pastor how come he is collecting tithes in Nigeria.

 

Servants or slaves who worked on the land did not tithe because the land did not belong to them. Since only agricultural and animal resources were included, a fisherman gave no tithe of his fisheries. Neither did a miner or a carpenter pay tithes, nor anyone from the various professional occupations. So if you are not a farmer or a keeper of livestock, tell your 419 pastor tithing is biblically inapplicable to you.

 

Moreover, the only people authorized to receive tithes were the Levites. (Hebrews 7:5). So if your Pastor is a “tithe-collector,†ask him if he happens to be a Jew. Remind him that, even though a Jew, Jesus could not receive the tithe because he was not from the tribe of Levi but from that of Judah.

 

The trick, of course, is for pastors today to claim we are “Levites.†If your pastor is one such dissembler, ask him if he lives as a Levite. Remind him that Levites had no land and did not have private property. Ask him also how he knows he is from the tribe of Levi, which happens to be one of the lost tribes of Israel. Point out to him that even Jewish rabbis don’t claim to be Levites today because all Jewish genealogical records were lost with the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, ensuring that it is no longer possible to ascertain the true identity of Levites.

 

Therefore, if Jews no longer tithe because the Levites are a lost tribe, how can Christian pastors collect tithes when we are not even Jewish, how much more Levites? If Jewish rabbis, whose terms of reference remain the Old Testament no longer collect tithes, then pastors who insist Christians are under a New Testament have no business doing so.

 

The conclusion then is inescapable. Every pastor who collects tithes is nothing but “a thief and a robber.†(John 10:1).

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

SO, it's been a while since anything has been seen or heard of this mob - perusing the planning determinations this morning, I spot application number P161825/F, change of use of Plot 1 Holme Lacy Road from A2 to B1. Me being curious as to where it is, I open it up, and lo and behold, Freedom Church have bought it off Full House (or are renting it for next to nothing off the landlord) and are going to be using it. I suppose it's sensible as it's next door to their new lair at the old convent.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Where is Tom Cooke? Is he in Rotterdam heading up the new church as pastor for FC?…it would seem so judging from the photo below at the bottom of this post

 

 

 

Tom Cooke seems to of vanished with his company cornstone building ltd owing money to a number of businesses in Hereford one of which is small firm run by a friend of mine who has had no joy in trying to contact him!…another business cornstone owe is a well known national builders merchants…I've also been informed that he owes money to a local builders merchants too although I am yet to confirm this one? Are these the only ones or are there more?

 

Not the sort of behaviour you'd expect from a pastor to abscond without so much as a bye you or a leave you & how much do his new employers FC know about this?

 

Now there might be a simple explanation but his phone is switch off & his home tel is coming up as incorrectly dialled?

 

Also his wife Sian resigned from the company on the 1st of August 2016?

 

 

 

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Never a good idea to upset local suppliers.  Suppliers will be a little more cautious selling to anything connected to FC in future. No doubt their takings will drop on a Sunday.  Never mind I expect Mummy and Daddy will step up to the mark and pay off the debts out of their takings in Cardiff - mind you it might mean a few less trips overseas.

 

I thought Cornerstone was part of a larger organisation.

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Never a good idea to upset local suppliers. Suppliers will be a little more cautious selling to anything connected to FC in future. No doubt their takings will drop on a Sunday. Never mind I expect Mummy and Daddy will step up to the mark and pay off the debts out of their takings in Cardiff - mind you it might mean a few less trips overseas.

 

I thought Cornerstone was part of a larger organisation.

This is not the same Tom Cooke who is the son of chris & karin Denise he's heading up the new FC in Birmingham.

 

Interesting to note that his accountants are the same ones that do work for FC

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Tom Cooke seems to of vanished with his company cornstone building ltd owing money to a number of businesses in Hereford one of which is small firm run by a friend of mine who has had no joy in trying to contact him!

 

UPDATE

Good news

I have been informed by my friend that Tom Cooke has been in touch with them sending a message early this morning to apologise & to aslo say he has made a payment for the full outstanding monies owed into their bank account for the work they did for him.

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  • 10 months later...

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Having been away working for a while I missed this article by the HT on local entrepreneur Rayseesa making appearance on dragons den…I wonder if she is still hanging out with the FC crowd? if so is she handing out some of her dishes to the homeless sleeping rough in FC's doorway down at the old cinema which it has been reported on another thread on this forum that there are indeed homeless people sleeping rough outside?!…it would be nice to think that she is doing just that not just those sleeping rough in FC's doorways but others too throughout the wider community? & if so I wish her well.

 

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/15513908.County_entrepreneur_pitches__Spiced_by_Rayeesa__to_Dragons__Den_investors/?action=success#comments-feedback-anchor

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If the woman on the photo is there with her Veteran posters she may be homeless BUT she is not a Veteran .She moves from town to town using the same MO , Police are aware but not a lot they can do. All we can do is keep sharing this story , members of the public are phoning up the Military Charities asking why aren't the Military Charities helping her , going on from that we purchased a tent and all season sleeping bag when she was in a dour way by McDonalds a few months ago , then she was checked out for military Service etc , negative. .

The photo of the soldier with the SA80 is of a Medic who was awarded the Military Cross for carrying out a very courageous act while under sniper fire in Iraq.

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  • 6 months later...

Planning Application 180276 submitted by David Bowlzer  https://myaccount.herefordshire.gov.uk/documents?id=31300ba8-285a-11e8-9816-0050569f00ad

Not too much unusual(well not too much anyway) in that but if it went to Planning Committee could prove to be a bit of a problem for some of the Councillors and their declarations of interest 

 

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  • 4 months later...

Not had a chance to review this properly yet but I'd thought I'd post it anyway 

freedom churches annual returns for last financial year 2016/2017

http://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details?regid=1161926&subid=0

http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends26/0001161926_AC_20170331_E_C.PDF

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