3. Rick Renner and the Scandal

According to his biography extracted from his website, Rick Renner and his family moved from USA to Latvia in former USSR in 1991. Rick has established the Good News Churches in Riga, Latvia (1993), Moscow, Russia (2000), and in Kiev, Ukraine (2007). Rick seems to be doing well with these churches, especially in Moscow; we should thank God for his life. However, Rick's comments on the King's Capital Scandal, published by Charisma, deviated from the central issue. He delved into other issues that he seemed to have been nursing before the scandal broke out. On several instances, he used the strong word "lying". Let us examine some extracts from the article.

1. Rick accused Sunday of "lying" on Orange Revolution.

"Pastors and Christian leaders are now trying to maneuver through new restrictive laws that have been passed because of Sunday's claim that he and his church organized the Orange Revolution," Renner said. "He owes the body of Christ an apology, first for lying about the fact that he organized it and carried it out, and second, for creating this very difficult environment for which others are now paying a very high price."

I have covered this in my article on Charisma. Again, I do not know where Sunday made such claim. I hope Rick will help out to clarify that. I believe the ChurchShift book should have clarified Sunday's position on the subject. In the Churchshift book, Sunday said the Embassy of God Church participated in the Revolution. Anyways, Rick seems to be looking for a comfort zone on the battle field. Rick should stand and not compromise on the truth for which the Lord has sent him to Moscow. Rick should study the church history and understand that right from the first century, the government always find an excuse to persecute the church where Christianity or a type of Christianity is not wanted. It is still happening in China, India, and other countries. Yes, Rick, we need to pay the high price. Many have been doing it for centuries. Jesus' blood is priceless and He paid the highest price.

2. Rick accused Sunday of "lying" on numbers.

Renner and other Pentecostal leaders say they have long been concerned about Adelaja's claims that God's Embassy has 100,000 members across Ukraine when they believe the church has closer to 10,000 members nationwide. But Renner said the King's Capital controversy provoked him to speak out.

This is really a no issue. By this, Rick has to accuse many Church leaders, including himself. Rick claims on his website that his first three-day crusade in Riga was attended by more than 32,000 people. How did he get the figure? Rick also claims that he broadcasts to 110 million people on TV. Really? Do all these people watch his programs? Many evangelists have always given numbers of attendance or repentance at crusades that look exaggerated. Yoido Full Gospel Central Church founded in 1958 by David Cho today, is the largest in the world. The church is quoted as having over 830,000 members total; but in a regular attendance at a worship service, the average is about 253,000. Churches built on cell groups, such as Yoido and the Embassy of God, always estimate their membership from the number of cell groups.

3. Rick said the Lord impressed him to speak out.

I have never wanted to call Sunday a liar, so most often I tried to ignore the subject of Sunday's falsehoods when I heard them. Now in light of the lies being told by Sunday, denying that he ever recommended that his people invest in this company, I was taken to a new place of prayer and concern. It was in the midst of this that the Lord impressed me to speak out."

What does Rick mean by "the Lord impressed me"? If Rick is saying that the Lord told him to chastise Sunday publicly, then I can confidently say that it is not true. And this is coming from Rick who has called Sunday a liar in almost every paragraph of the article. I received a lot of revelations on Pastor Sunday and the Embassy of God Church. The Lord knows how to deal with His erring servants and He knows that none of them, including Rick Renner, is perfect.

4. Rick advises the Embassy of God Church members to leave the church.

During a recent sermon, Renner told his congregation that the members of God's Embassy should leave the church if Adelaja doesn't repent... "They are not obligated by God to sit up under deception," Renner said.

This is the most disappointing statement. Rick is trying to put the church in disarray. Where is Rick recommending that the members go? To his "Good News Church"? Rick is being arrogant here and he seems to be dipping his hand in the cookie jar. For God's sake, Sunday has only been accused. Rick is American and he understands "innocent until proven guilty". What is the basis of his statement? Unless most of Christendom find Pastor Sunday's teachings as false, Rick's recommendation here is ridiculous. I do not know about Rick's ministry, but the fact is, many Christians all over the world are influenced by Pastor Sunday's teachings. I met them in Ukraine and many visit the Church every year. So, who is Rick putting himself on the judgement throne? Why does Rick think someone cannot find his own teachings as false? The best thing for a Church leader, in this kind of situation, is to stay humble and let God take control of His Church. Rick might consider visiting the Embassy of God Church as well and learn from each other. Satan is a liar.

Abi Olowe, Ph.D.