Why Write This Blog?

I have had a number of people at the Rock approach me in the last year condemning this blog. In contrast, many more people have expressed gratitude. Still, transparency is important to me, so I want to spell out the reasons I have taken hundreds of hours to study, research, document, and finally write a blog to warn my community about the Rock.

1. My Experience

I now know what is like to have your voice taken from you, to be misrepresented, and then thrown away as if I were last week's garbage. That is a terrible thing to feel and experience. Worse, I was powerless to stop it. I had to watch my family suffer as members of the Rock quickly moved to isolate themselves from us.

All of this happened without a single person - not Todd, not his leadership, not his people - coming to us to discuss what we did "wrong" or what happened. This was unethical, unscriptural, and wrong. I write this blog to help people avoid my own horrible experience.

2. The Experiences of Others

I found out that what had happened to me was hardly an isolated incident. Many others have been tossed aside as well. It's hard to believe that a ministry which refers to its most loyal members as "sons" could cut people out of their lives as aggressively as the Rock does. As I heard more and more stories I knew something had to be done.

3. No Other Forum Exists

Since Todd Murner refuses to document his doctrines and will not go on the record, to what other medium can people turn? There is great confusion both in the people of the Rock and in this community concerning the doctrines Todd teaches. Since I could not direct people to a place where they can get answers, I had to make my own.

4. No Accountability

I personally went to Todd, his presbytery, his peer group of other "apostles," and even the man that sent Todd to NW Arkansas. I have the letters and correspondence to prove it. None of them would respond to me.

Todd Murner told us at the Rock that he was accountable to all these groups, but in the real world this proved to be false. Todd was eager to meet behind closed doors, but behind those closed doors was zero accountability. If Todd will not be accountable in private, then I have no other way to hold him accountable other than this public manner.

5. The "Ignore Them and They Will Go Away" Doctrine

Todd Murner cites the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) as his reason for ignoring people that he has cut off from the Rock. Instead of seeing this parable as a story of unconditional love, Todd has made this his source for protocol. Just as the father in the parable did not pursue the son, Todd believes that he should not pursue the people he has cast from the Rock.

The result is that people hide from truth at the Rock. Instead of seeing those with questions as an opportunity to grow, those people are shunned. Pursuit of those that have left is off limits. "Ignore them and they will go away" is the fruit of this teaching.

If my family had left to pursue some "sinful" system or had left in such a way as to intentionally hurt the ministry, then I can see why Todd would protect himself with this idea. The truth of the matter is that we observed unhealthy practices, we saw what people were doing with Todd's teachings, and we respectfully addressed these concerns in writing. That's a far cry from a prodigal son...

We will not be ignored any more. As much as the people of the Rock would like to bury their heads in the sand and pretend that their church is healthy, then nothing will change. I write this blog so that the people of the Rock will have to consider and weigh their choice to ignore those they try to discard.

6. Hope for Healing

I sincerely believe the Rock can become more balanced. This will not happen so long as these ideas and behaviors go unchallenged. Once Todd brings discipline to his teachings then I believe that over time healing can begin. My hope is that through writing this blog that the policies and doctrines will change so that families and friendships can be restored.