Several weeks ago, information was brought to our attention regarding a ministry many of us know and love and even support financially, Frontier Alliance International (FAI). They have produced several excellent films in recent years and have launched a new app that has become very popular; they are having a global impact and it is growing larger still. This information came to us serendipitously and it relates the account of a former FAI board member who had pioneered the medical unit that runs now in Iraqi Kurdistan. (read his full account here including email at the beginning: https://www.mikereynolds.me/writing/fai)
The allegations made were very serious and none of us had ever heard them before from any source, and so the three of us committed to prayer, fact-finding, counseling and in-depth discussions amongst each other for many days before taking any actions. After hours of direct contact with FAI and gathering as much information as possible from as many sources as possible, the conclusion reached is that the main events alleged did in fact occur and that no public statement of this has ever been made. There does exist one video of a local church service in 2013 that generally brought the original incident up, but nothing of any depth and nothing anywhere of the 2016-2017 incident. This years-long situation is a consequence of the lingering dysfunction caused when sin is concealed. The decision was made organizationally not to reveal the scope of this years-long situation in any public way. The end result today is that the vast majority of current FAI supporters/financial donors do not have the full history of the organization with which to make informed decisions.
We have shared in the mission and teaching of FAI over the past 5 years, hosting films at our churches, referring other ministries to come alongside them in partnership, etc. The three of us agreed that if we had known these things in 2019, we would never have gone to Israel in January 2020 for their “Maranatha Conference”. It wasn’t only the sense of woundedness and personal betrayal we all shared for having no idea about these things, but our common urgent concern for the wider Body of Christ who are similarly in the dark. The damage already being caused – and the potential for exponentially greater damage – to the Body and the global Maranatha message – was our overriding concern. So after these days of prayerfully considering what the right Biblical way to proceed was, we decided to issue a “corporate to corporate” communication; not personally as individuals to the individuals at FAI, but from three concerned mature men of God to their Board of Directors as a whole.
Following the example set forth in 2 Corinthians 5:20, a letter of Appeal was sent to the Directors on Friday, August 28th. Approximately 6 hours later we received a reply kindly acknowledging our opinion but unambiguously declining to revisit the issue or to change course. The three of us again were immediately thrown back into the gut-wrenching well of seeking how to Biblically respond, if at all. Over the weekend of the 29th and 30th, God was faithful to respond with confirming signs from those outside our circle and through a Word given directly to one of us. We felt compelled by the Spirit to send a followup ASAP, so a letter of Imploring was sent to the Directors on Monday, August 31st. To this point, no corporate reply has been given and one may never come. One is left to conclude only that, on this matter at least, the Board is not functional and any appeals to course-correct on this matter will be summarily dismissed.
We feel this satisfies the unction of the Spirit upon us as a group. This Statement is to enlighten those who are tracking with our various ministries to see exactly what has occurred and to be open about our best efforts to try and address it. Please know that we have nothing to gain from this in the natural; indeed there has been little other than distress, lost sleep and agonizing within and among us. It is entirely possible that we will lose many members/followers/friends who read this as a “circle the wagons” mentality rises up. But as in the corporate world, the temptation to view entities as “Too Big To Fail” must not be permitted. “Maranatha” is the core Cry of the Bride of Christ in these dark days; it is not a “brand” to be appropriated by anyone. This Maranatha cry being sullied is not something we – all Christians – can afford to overlook in this generation. Please take the time to prayerfully read this letter and the email contained at the beginning, and pause to ask whether or not God is happy with this situation being “contained.”
If we as followers of Jesus attempt to excuse or paper-over serious transgressions because “the fruit is so good” or the millions of dollars being raised is “justification from heaven”, we are in extreme danger of falling, of shipwreck, of apostasy, of besmirching the image of our perfect King. The era of “Christian celebrity” must end. The Maranatha message must – in word AND deed – be intentionally “decentralized”. No church or ministry – FAI or any other – should be kept from the Altar of sacrifice. It’s all God’s decision what to do and when. We deeply respect the goal of missions to Muslims and Israel and are friends with some of the Directors and other members personally. We do not desire more pain or damage to anyone in the Body. We continue to hold all involved in consistent prayer for healing and restoration.
Your Brothers in Christ Jesus,
Nick Franks, Steve Buckley, Christopher Mantei
firebrandnotes.com 
About the situation with FAI, the Lord is sifting and refining. Time is short and it is a time of repentance for all those walking with Him.He said we must be continually repenting.It’s very serious now. There’s been too much ‘playing church’ amongst us. I warned a small fellowship of ladies here nearly a year ago, that towards the End, we would all be out of our churches. Either in obedience to Him, ‘come out!’, or we would be thrown out as heretics by the One World Church. Little did even I imagine how fast this would start to happen!
Thanks for your time with this Alexandra. Nick
Some months ago, as I was praying the Holy Spirit gave me a specific check that all was not well within FAI, with some folks, and I was unsure initially what to I should do, if anything, As I prayed over the next weeks or so I came to the conclusion that I could only pray that the Lord would cause these things to be resolved His way. To that end, this is what I did. Some weeks later I received this information via another source and was incredibly grieved and saddened understanding only too well that damage to the Lord’s reputation, the fruit of the harvest and the lives of many would-be significantly affected and this would give the enemies of Jesus Christ the opportunity to blaspheme HIS name. In addition, the lives of many people both associated and non-associated would be affected and some considerably. Over the last 45 years plus I have witnessed many high profile organisations and people seriously damaged and some destroyed due to unconfessed and unrepented sin. God is never mocked.
The Lord first brings to our individual attention our sin, then if we do not respond He will bring others or circumstances to pass that cause us to confront this sin and then if we do not respond, acknowledge, repent and submit to wise and genuine Godly counsel the He allows life to correct us in various ways and these ways are usually extremely humbling and difficult and leave no room to move. Finally the Lord then usually allows far more serious consequences.
He always does this out of redemptive love, compassion in grace at the beginning and moves eventually to judgement for judgement must begin in His house. Disciples of Jesus Christ are called to love God, their brothers and sisters, other people and obey the Lord Jesus Christ. Over time the Holy Spirit has taught me many things and one key component has been not to entrust myself to people fully yet to remain open, humble and accountable to a few other person’s that will speak the truth in love and hold me accountable. At times this has been painful. This revelation came about due to what was said about Jesus in that He never entrusted himself to men as He knew what was in men’s hearts. We must learn to do likewise while remaining teachable, accountable, humble, soft-hearted and quick to repent.
Sadly today we see these events happening in many places in the world and I have observed them in places all over the world that I have been involved in. There is no place in the body for Jesus Christ for super-stars or rogue operators. He came and made himself of no reputation and yet all over the world I have smelt and seen the corrupt fleshly displays of people flaunting their reputations that make me want to vomit and anger me.
In conclusion, it is my considered conviction we must pray for the folks in FAI, the people they serve and interact with, remove ourselves from them due to unrepentant sin, not allow bitterness or shock to waylay us rather determine in our hearts to seek those things above where Jesus Chris is as we are not earth dwellers but citizens of the Kingdom of God redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb. Love them, yes but have nothing to do with them as it is shameful even to speak of the things that some do (Ephesians). This serves as a good warning for us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. What Alexandra said is true, come out in obedience to the revealed word of God and stay faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. The way Nick, Steve and Christopher is the biblical model that we should learn from. It is rare, at least in experience to see such wisdom and difficult choices of obedience today. I understand how hard this is for them and therefore we must pray for these three men of God diligently.
Vague
This is undoubtedly one of the most difficult situations leadership has to deal with, compounded by the scope of the people involved and the importance of the Maranatha message of Christ. What better way for the enemy to derail the message than to strike the one proclaiming it–but this is no new tactic. This behavior I expect of those young in Christ and in life, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that we are not incapable of the same fall–the entanglement of unaddressed sin spreads its tentacles into every area of our lives–for some to the point of shipwrecking their faith; and God is not mocked, he will chasten those He loves in order to bring them to repentance. The disappointment lies not only with Dalton and Anna, but with the failure of the leaders around them who were tasked with their accountability and failed to follow through.
It’s hard to know the biblical process for conflict resolution here. Obviously the offenders are unrepentant, the matter has been brought before the “elders” with no action taken, and now with the release of this letter to the “body”, the wake-up call has been delivered. My hope and prayer is that it will be heard and acted on and that hard hearts would soften, eyes would open to the damage being caused, and the full light of confession would be offered with perhaps a break from direct leadership and a season of “tent-making.”
I am new to FAI, just finishing my 14-day fast, and frankly am completely enamored with Dalton’s insight and treatment of scripture, putting the puzzle pieces together to form a harmonious picture of the church at the end of the age–this has resulted in a fundamental shift in my approach to eschatology as well as the internalization of the Maranatha message. My admittedly selfish desire is to see Dalton, in his season of tent-making, be relegated to teacher only, and continue to share the deep insight God has given him. Father, raise up a leader to take the reigns!
Regarding going through the fire, I too have been lied to, lied about, mistreated, besmirched, literally thrown out and abandoned by church leaders, and I was a leader myself, a serving elder, a trustee that stood my ground! I did go through the lengthy process of our denomination’s “legal” process for holding those accountable but to no avail. Unfortunately, I found out much too late that the senior pastor was not a shepherd at all, but merely a hired hand, more concerned with keeping his job than standing up for God’s truth.
While I could have chosen to continue my campaign for justice with the body, I chose to bow out gracefully, shake the dust off my boots, and God moved our family to another church where we have grown by leaps and bounds since! When the world fires you, God promotes you in return–the Great Redeemer redeems those faithful to Him and His word.
All this to say that I empathize with Nick, Steve, and Christopher–it is a brutal process of accountability, but one that will reap rewards in this life and the next. Hypocrisy will be revealed and shouted from the rooftops (just look at Nancy Pelosi and her trip to the hair salon, lol).
Strange enough, God gave me this nugget of wisdom this morning concerning leaders and leadership that I offer for encouragement. Enjoy!
Ruling with the King
Revelation 5:10 “And have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth.”
Revelation 2:26-29 “To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
2 Timothy 2:11-12 “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.”
These are a few examples of verses that describe our role as believers during the millennial period after Jesus returns victorious, to set up his throne and rule from Jerusalem. He will put an end to sin and death, and renew the earth to a pre-fall state. For all who have been saved throughout history by His precious blood sacrifice, and who are now in this end-state (either raised in resurrection bodies from the dead or those few who have been translated in the blink of an eye at the return of our conquering King), our role is to “rule and to reign as kings and priests.” We will be leaders over nations. So the question is, would it be wise to put a leader in place who has no experience to lead?
For those who are currently in (or have experience with) positions of leadership, it is often a thankless job, full of many travails. But by persevering through those trials and tribulations, our spirits are shaped, as we are being prepared for our “dream job” of ruling and reigning with Christ!
The decisions we face as leaders, to make right judgements, to cast vision, to meet the needs of those we have responsibility over—not to “lord over” but to serve, these are the character traits God is trying to develop in us now to mold us into the leaders of the millennial kingdom.
So then, as church leaders, it would behoove us to provide opportunities to mold and shape as many leaders as possible—and to look for those that God raises up to lead. To mentor and provide guidance and support. To equip them to stand the test of the times of our returning King. To enable them to stand firm when the world is crumbling around them. To fix their eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of their faith, to renew their minds daily, and be transformed into His likeness. To be washed and made holy and blameless by the blood of the Lamb. To eagerly seek and groan for His soon return, and to prepare, as the Bride of Christ, in purity and holiness for the wedding feast following His triumph.
Dear beloved, when faced with the daily frustrations of leadership, keep the end in mind. May it lift up your hearts with the knowledge that you are being forged, you are being given the gifts, the tools necessary to rule the nations. Maranatha Lord Jesus!
Please forgive my brevity, and thank you for the comment:
The failure of oversight/leadership within this is indeed both chronic and appalling…
Thank you for your hearts and for sharing this Nick, Steve and Christopher. May we continue to see and seek God in the refiner’s fire as He shakes everything that can be shaken, and prepares His pure and spotless bride. Maranatha!
Amen and thank you; please excuse my brevity. Come, Lord
Dear Everybody,
My husband and I are ready to publicly weigh in only since this whole thing has now gone public. I am the primary eschatology student in our household, and my husband is more into apologetics, so this message comes mostly from me, but my husband backs it fully.
For those of you who know me, I play worship music every other week for End Time Church. My name’s Taryn and my husband is Bryan.
We’ve followed and supported FAI since its inception. Before that, I avidly scoured the internet for every Dalton sermon I could get my hands on. We’ve supported their work from the beginning, and only heard of this news about a month ago, I believe.
We’ve also avidly supported Joel Richardson from the moment we found him, as well as Christopher Mantei, Steve Buckley and Nick Franks. These people and their work has inspired and galvanized us to the core and greatly shaped our own Christian walk and ministerial efforts.
I cannot describe the shock and horror I felt-followed by a deep, all consuming depression-upon reading Mike R’s long post. I’ve only grieved like this over deaths and heartbreaks of the most personal and painful sort. While I’ve investigated and come to understand that great portions of what seem to be a straightforward confessional letter from him are held to be false and misleading by those who have truly investigated these actions for many months, the fact remains that there was marital sin, repentance and restoration between Dalton and Anna, and two other parties in their ministry.
After my own month long investigation as to how this was handled, here are my findings:
1. Dalton and Anna submitted to a repentance/restoration process headed by a group of pastors. They were willing to stop their mission work and live ordinary lives here in the USA.
These pastors concluded that this sin did not need to be all over the internet, but did hold a public confession process in Dalton and Anna’s church.
2. Our dear friend, much admired and truly honorable church leader Chris Mantei, Steve and Nick (two equally adored & mighty men of God, though we don’t know them as well yet) have raised the question of whether this repentance should be now and forever public, as FAI itself is such a public ministry. Many patrons, FAI ministry recruits and supporters lay their hearts, lives, blood, wallets on the line extremely sacrificially to fuel their important work in the Middle East. Shouldn’t they know about this?
3. One of our all time favorite, much admired and truly honorable church leaders, Joel Richardson has headed a year long investigation on these matters on behalf of the FAI board, and he respectfully disagrees with our dear friend Chris Mantei, Steve and Nick. The irreproachability of Joel’s character and his meticulous researching style lends a lot of weight to his conclusions and stance on the matter, whether or not he and the FAI board are completely correct in their assessment on how this should have been handled. On the other hand, we applaud the willingness of Chris, Steve and Nick in taking their stand. The act of taking such a stand against teachers as influential, successful and beloved as Dalton and Joel and the enormous power that FAI has been blessed with may cost them a great deal in their own popularity in the media Body of Christ; they have truly done what they thought was right in a sacrificial manner.
4. My husband and I also see Joel as heroic and honorable in his willingness to plunge into this matter, to give his time extremely sacrificially, and conduct exhaustive research into this sad matter for many months. Nobody is ever satisfied with the way these kinds of sins are handled in the Body of Christ. He has taken on a thankless task that will anger and upset many, regardless of what actions are taken.
5. Besides Joel R, FAI leaders tend to stay pretty personally distant from their supporters, other than to release the excellent media content they produce, so we will refrain from speculating on their hearts/minds.
6. No matter whether this matter was handled perfectly or not, our sympathies and prayers go very much towards all involved, our hearts are broken for them. Handling something like this is every Christian ministry’s worst nightmare. On the one hand, why should someone have to drag repented for sin out over and over and over publicly and painfully? On the other hand, mightn’t it protect FAI to keep this public forever, as it might protect them from criticism to point to the full transparent forgiveness within which they are walking?
We will never ever divide from any of the parties involved in this dispute. We love you all unreservedly, and, no matter if this was handled perfectly or imperfectly according to the Biblical standards, there’s forgiveness for that. There’s forgiveness for those of us who may overreact in our sorrow at this news, or act too hastily. And, as surely as the sun rises, there’s forgiveness from our Savior Jesus for all our sins. We admire all those involved in this difficult situation, and we will not stop praying or trying to help all of you any way we can.
Love, Taryn & Bryan
Hi Taryn,
Thanks for your time with this but please respect that I’m not going to respond comprehensively, or back and forth – it’s not the place.
Having said that, it’s important for anyone else reading your comment to understand that, although deeply disturbing, this situation is actually very simple:
The public are entitled to know about this moral failure before they engage, support or relocate to be involved.
It remains impossible for anyone to know to what extent the testimonies involved are true or false because there is no public statement from FAI; neither did the FAI board function as a board within the process of our recent enquiries/appeal/imploring. (Any board isn’t truly accountable if it responds only by one individual).
I appreciate your conciliatory response and your personal relationships within this but – and I’m sorry to sound harsh – it’s not good enough.
The multiple people who have contacted us to thank us for exposing this (before relocating their lives to the Middle East) unreservedly agree.
Indeed, it is disturbing for any Christian to be satisfied with anything less than full public transparency when such a colossally important cause is under scrutiny.
In Jesus and may God have mercy,
Nick Franks
Thanks so much for the thoughtful, quick response, Nick. God bless you and your wife and household. Our comments weren’t meant to be exhaustive or comprehensive or even good enough, either, just coming from the place of our desire for ultimate right and reconciliation, and mostly just coming from our desire to express our confidence in the good motives of those involved who we know and trust, whatever conclusions are reached by those of you in the midst of this thing.
thank you. I was very disturbed by Nick’s letter, in that I felt that if a church, the church family of those involved in the fall, has gone through a process of full restoration, and repentance, any further discussion of the event, no matter how public and ‘famous’ the fallen are or how big their ministry is, is simply gossip. I was very disappointed to read Nick’s letter regarding these three men’s response. I feel they need to look inward to what is in God’s heart, maybe do a big study of Zechariah 3-4.
And what would you then say to the British nurse who, having been seriously considering a move with FAI to the Middle East, had been having disquiets regarding their wider culture? What would you then say to this dear lady who now thanks Steve, Chris and myself for alerting her to this information that is obviously sufficiently serious for her now not to move and partner with them? Indeed, what would you say to everyone else on this comments section who is appalled at the hubris and lack of public clarity? Presumably they are all gossiping in error as well as us? Presumably, they should also form a godly opinion while the required information remains concealed? Get a grip of yourself, man….
Nick, since the mention of Joel R’s investigation of the matter, I am curious to know how his findings differ from that of your own? I’m assuming he made a report to the board, and they were satisfied with the results.
Secondly, if I understand you correctly, the issue is not that of original transgressions, but of full transparency, honesty and confession, which has been glossed over by the FAI board as well as the pastoral leadership involved—so in effect, no true repentance has occurred—therefore full restoration is not warranted, and the fear being that this disfunction will continue to manifest. Is this essentially correct?
Lastly, what do you see as a path forward here? What are you asking of Dalton & Anna? What are you asking of the FAI board? Are you asking anything of us—other than to have eyes wide open if choosing to partner with FAI?
And for yourself Nick, amidst the pain of betrayal and disappointment, what do you see as a path forward for yourself?
In an imperfect world with imperfect people, what outcome, what course of action can be taken that will glorify Jesus the most?
Hi Wendell,
I won’t be replying in full here.
Suffice to say, again for the record and again to point everyone reading back to the original statement above (that is very clear indeed): Christopher, Steve and myself have been obliged to appeal for public clarity that the Body of Christ are entitled to have.
We have received full assurance from FAI, having spent nearly three hours on the phone with Joel Richardson, as well as two letters to the whole FAI board, that no public clarity would be forthcoming.
This is not complicated.
How very very sad Nick. 😢 I tried a couple of times to donate to FAI through PayPal but never succeeded! Strange! Love in Christ Val
Oh so sad, Val. Love, N
God bless you guys. It’s hard and costly to do the right thing here. Praying for you.
Thanks very much, Samantha. Blessings, N
I have struggled and cried over this information since I learned about it, as well, after returning home from the tour and Maranatha conference in January. Chris, I saw this post on your FB page and you hit the nail on the head…”God bringing souls under your personal pastoral care is just another level of responsibility and sobriety that most non-pastors just don’t understand. I know because I never did.” Has FAI soberly accepted the responsibility of the pastoring and preaching they are doing across the globe in the setting of poor transparency? It’s not even about the sin…we all sin…we all fall short, but our pastors, leaders and preachers are Biblically held to a different standard of accountability. 1Timothy 3:1-13, 1Peter 5:1-4, Ephesians 4:11-12. I continue to pray for all involved, particularly those going to the field under their leadership. Thank you for helping me process this further.
Thank you, Rhonda…please forgive my brevity but thank you for speaking plain truth. In Jesus, Nick Franks
No apologies necessary. Just wanted to thank you guys for helping with this struggle. I want to help FAI in a loving and accountable way. Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” I am just one person who prayerfully and financially supports one of their field workers who is near and dear to my heart. I pray they understand that we are looking for their humble acknowledgment and accept that we can extend the same grace as the Lord has shown all of us. Not the hubris and deadly fruit of Christian celebrity that they continue to exhort. That is what I am seeing, struggling with and agonizing over.
I will add one more thing. Many non-Christ follower NGOs and non-profits work under a much more rigid lens of transparency into their going’s on, missteps and financials. Again, these are basic Biblical principles, precepts and tenets. My heart aches.
I was very disturbed by Nick’s letter, in that I felt that if a church, the church family of those involved in the fall, has gone through a process of full restoration, and repentance, any further discussion of the event, no matter how public and ‘famous’ the fallen are or how big their ministry is, is simply gossip. I was very disappointed to read Nick’s letter regarding these three men’s response. I feel they need to look inward to what is in God’s heart, maybe do a big study of Zechariah 3-4.
And what would you then say to the British nurse who, having been seriously considering a move with FAI to the Middle East, had been having disquiets regarding their wider culture? What would you then say to this dear lady who now thanks Steve, Chris and myself for alerting her to this information that is obviously sufficiently serious for her now not to move and partner with them? Indeed, what would you say to everyone else on this comments section who is appalled at the hubris and lack of public clarity? Presumably they are all gossiping in error as well as us? Presumably, they should also form a godly opinion while the required information remains concealed? Get a grip of yourself, man….
Nick you might be a brother in Christ, but you are way out of line, what you are doing is pure evil. If you had a sincere interest in the welfare of Dalton, his wife, and FAI, you would have contacted them with your concerns and discovered the issue had been addressed, acknowledged, repented of, and fully restored and redeemed. You are publicly involved in character assassination for some personal advantage. It is evident there is no love of Christ in what you are doing. We are told to love one another sacrificially as Christ loves us. (John 13:34) And that love will cover a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8) I am very disappointed in you and those who support what you are doing. This is not the actions of spiritual mature leadership in displaying the love and commandments of our dear Lord and Savior. Have you not read Matthew 18:15-20, what the Lord said about restoring a brother and the parable that followed? YOU my brother need to repent yourself, confess what you have done, and ask for forgiveness. and do it as publicly as you have attacked your brother. If you choose not to do so, the bad seeds you have sown will reap a harvest upon you and your associates.
To anyone who is reading this, let the love of the Lord dwell in you richly and fill your heart and mind with the righteous discernment of the Holy Spirit. and remember this, “a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bed tree cannot bear good fruit…you will recognize them by their fruit.” (Matthew 7:17-20)
Dear family Gagne, you’re so wide of the mark that it barely warrants an acknowledgement, let alone a response. However, for the record, come the second half of your second sentence (where you claim that we would have done X,Y&Z had our motivations been pure), you have already become factually incorrect – inaccuracies that betray your own motivation in writing. Whether or not you are disappointed with our stance – or indeed the stance of many other grateful others – is, and will only ever be, entirely irrelevant. I’m now signing off to go and gloat and revel in all of the benefits that I have personally gained by taking this course of action, so I’m afraid I will be too busy to correspond further.
By your response, you have made it very clear where you stand and where your heart is. Your pride and arrogance as if no sin has never entered you displays your lack of grace and mercy. We will continue to support FAI and keep a close eye on your public actions as well as how the Lord may chose to deal with your lack of displaying His love for your brother. You are not the only one to look into these allegations, however you have come to a different conclusion through a spirit of condemnation than what others had determined. However, You are a brother in Christ and it is my hope that you seek an intimacy with Him that will give you a deeper understanding of John 17.
For the record, my love for my brother – and his family – was conveyed, through tears, multiple times in personal messages as well as in our public correspondence that you claim doesn’t exist. Therefore, I am not in any way concerned, before God as my witness, about your threats. You are operating in – and under – a spirit of deception.
Nelson, as one of the other signatories I can affirm what Nick has told you. The steps you outlined were taken before anything was ever written. As the statement says we have NOTHING to gain in the natural. It is only because of our collective years in Christian leadership and our concern for the Body of Christ as a whole this was done. Your raucous accusations aside, the fruit is and will be good and Jesus glorifying.
Good afternoon. I just wanted to share my thoughts with regards the news about Frontier Alliance International (FAI) and my recent experiences. (This is not gossip!!)
Like many others my wife and I were introduced to the FAI teaching/YouTube channel/App etc earlier in the year. Again, like so many, we were blessed by the teaching especially around the time of the pandemic. We were extremely challenged by the Sheep Amongst Wolves episodes in particular. We decided that we would financially support FAI and started doing so. This was not a huge weekly amount to some, but for us it was a sacrifice to give this amount weekly.
After a couple of months of giving, out of nowhere, we felt the urgency to cease giving. We did not expect this and in fact, originally planned to give for the foreseeable. Of course we ceased our giving immediately.
That exact week the Father gave me a prophetic word to Christian leaders (this word will be at the end of this comment).
I brought this word to a couple of trusted brothers in the Lord before I felt I could publish it. At the time we in no way saw a direct connection to this prophetic word and FAI.
In this past few weeks the news regarding FAI was also brought to our attention.
We fully believe that the reason the Father told us to stop giving to FAI a couple months ago is linked to this.
Through looking at the timeline of events and prayer, I also believe that the prophetic word is for those leading FAI (specifically those involved in the related news).
I join with my three brothers Nick Franks, Steve Buckley, and Christopher Mantei in their imploring.
Your fellow brother in Christ
Séamus Bannon
Sunday May 24th
The Father, in His omniscient mercy, has graciously given this time of isolation in order for the leaders of today to cease and listen to what He has to say. To cease and listen to His instruction in order that they would be prepared for what is to come. For those who have ears to hear let them hear and be obedient. For those who choose to ignore what He is saying and continue in disobedience, He again in His omniscient mercy, will take those individuals out of the equation.
Thanks for having the courage of your convictions, Seamus, and being willing to comment. I don’t think I am alone in saying that I am appalled by this situation and the comments made by others today. Since the beginning of this drama, and throughout, the degree of casual contempt shown towards the prophetic words, convictions and promptings of the living Spirit of Christ, makes me genuinely wonder if the corporate whole have any interest in knowing Him at all…May He have mercy on us all.
As a pastor, and director of a House of Prayer in the US, we’ve appreciated the ministries of FAI for several years. We’ve also been profoundly blessed by our friendship with Nick and Chris, and their good ministries in recent years. What I have to say comes from a matter of Kingdom principle, rather than a desire to arrive at guilt and/or an adequate administration of church discipline.
In as much as each of the participants in this dialogue are engaged in ministries that are heralding the return of our Lord, it’s incumbent upon us to remember that in numerous places in the New Testament we’re told that on the Day of Jesus’ appearing the secrets of our heart will be disclosed. (Luke 2:35; Mark 4:22; Romans 2:16; 1 Corinthians 14:25) This dynamic is what the judgements of the Lord are all about today, in 2020. The Lord is graciously using pressurized circumstances in our social structures, relationships, governmental systems, and ecclesial to disclose the attitudes that we really have toward Him, ourselves, and others in our world. He wants us to align the deep (even secret) ways of our hearts with the deep ways of His Son’s heart, so that in that Day, WHEN HE APPEARS we can “rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11) because we have become “like Him” (1 John 3:2) And so that we’re not the ones who are surprised about the reality of what He exposes in our hearts. (Matthew 7:23)
One of the most tragic things that will happen in the Day of the Lord’s return will be the massive carnage of souls that will crumble under the weight of the true and righteous judgement of the Lord: “Though you prophesied in My Name, though you cast out demons in My Name, and though you did many wonderful things in My Name – you and I never knew each other.”
Beloved, the excruciating reality of millions of Christians on that Day will be that they short-changed the Lord’s many (temporal) “thlipsis” judgements and left themselves unprepared for the Lord’s final judgement.
As a simple pastor who has been in professional ministry for 35 years I can say with some perspicuity, the Church in the west has tended toward minimizing the work of the cross in our lives in the short-run, and it has left us largely and tragically impotent in the long-run. In far too many instances we’ve “sought to save our own lives”, when the Lord of the resurrection was urgently calling us to “die to self-saving; self-justification, self-correction and self-promotion” for the sake of being united with Jesus in the likeness of our death.
Friends, Jesus’ maxim “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it” (Luke 9:24) isn’t a ministry principle open to debate. It’s a promise from the Lord of Life Himself. This one statement, especially in a year like 2020, when the judgements of the Lord surround the Church at every turn, should fill each of our hearts with holy fear. This is no hour to fiddle with the straw of self-saving. Better to have been thorough before the Lord in righteousness, and lay the fruit of our work at His redemptive feet than to be found shallow before the Lord and tragically compromised and fruitless in ministry in the years ahead. Our world needs the witness of the integrity of the gospel solution in Christ. Those who align themselves with FAI have a right to expect that. In the end, which is where we’re all focused, our Lord will demand it. “He who does not take up His own cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:38)
The Lord’s deep, thorough and authentic work of the cross to us all – unto His resurrection power.
JSB
Amen to that. I’ve seen this around the world. One of the things some of us are experiencing this year is the very much stronger sense of repentance within ourselves and the closeness of His coming to fetch us away. I was taught there is a continued spirit of repentance through out lives. Not condemnation. Repentance and Restoration. God help us in this.
Amen, amen and amen.