In the past few years, beginning just before we left for Rwanda, the Lord began to speak to me about what He called the ‘Citadel’. In the context of the Fox Valley prophecies, the turmoil coming to the churches and the plumb line that He would move through the area stirring up conflict, the Lord began to speak about what the ‘Citadel’ is. He showed me that His intention was to pour out His Spirit in the Valley and recalibrate the church to His headship.
CITADEL
The “Citadel” was the church structure that was developed by men who were more concerned with their own agenda of “success” than what God actually wants to do through them. This structure has grown into a Citadel and is impeding the move of the Spirit by controlling Him and using His work to gain money and influence for themselves. The Lord specifically spoke about three local churches and how He was allowing them to flourish in size and influence. Then when the time is right He will take them down quickly. The churches He named that comprised the ‘Citadel’ were Christ the Rock Community Church, Appleton Alliance, and Pathways. For each of these specific churches a number of prophecies were given explaining how the leadership was in control and not Christ. I have written a number of articles in my newsletters and blog about the specifics regarding Christ the Rock. I have sent Appleton Alliance one word about not building the expansion they are about to complete. The words about Pathways and Mike stepping down were spoken about but the ones about Brad were not except for a few people close to me. Then we moved to Rwanda. It wasn’t until two months ago when the Lord started to speak again about dealing with the ‘Citadel’.
He showed me that the three churches mentioned have bought into the way our Western church has absorbed a humanistic, post-modern worldview. They are moving the Word of God out of a place of real authority and depending on methods developed by what they see as successful seeker sensitive churches.
Appleton Alliance is a bit different being that I have been told only that the Pastor there is moving farther and farther away from the works of the Holy Spirit in the Body and that Alliance would swell because of the sickness in the churches in the Valley. He told me that people would run there to hide as they attempted to heal from the abuse of the churches they were attending. And to warn the leadership to not build the expansion because when the outpouring of His Spirit finally comes they will leave in mass number and the building will no longer fit but the financial burden will remain. I was not told that Alliance would allow the heresies of the Seeker Sensitive methodologies to sweep through the flock as the other two would and since have. CTR and Pathways I was told were buying into the spirit of age and his design to neuter the church through the post-modern Seeker Sensitive methods of ministry.
PROLEPSIS
As the Lord began to speak about the ‘Citadel’ and it being the church structure built up around the move of the Holy Spirit in the Valley He began to speak to me and others in our church about the idea of prolepsis. Prolepis means: the representation or assumption of a future act or development as if presently existing or accomplished. In the Greek: prolēpsis, from prolambanein to take beforehand, from pro- before + lambanein to take
Think, ‘speak to the mountain to be removed’. Prolepsis tells us that the mountain is already taken care of and removed spiritually and that we are called to speak to it as if it were already removed. The Lord was asking me to speak to the mountain of the ‘Citadel’. He is wanting to remove the modern way of making the church into a corporation and reform it by bringing it back under His headship.
One aspect (and there have been many since all of this began) of what God is wanting to do is to rebuild a biblical foundation for how we do things in the context of the church. Biblical methodologies of ministry need to be reinstated. Take a moment and think about the churches you have been in. How many have a simple prayer meeting where a large portion of the church gathers to pray about the church, direction, missions, and so on? Even the way in which conflict or leadership structure is handle has become more like a CEO in a corporation than following the clearly mandated biblical processes. Let me explain what I mean. On April 6, 2013 I attended the Saturday evening service at Pathways in order to hear for myself that Pastor Brad Liebe was being removed from the senior pastor position because of what they called, “an inappropriate relationship with another woman”.
The Chairman of the Board, JJ Eaton informed the congregation in just a few short sentences that their Pastor had been caught in this repeated inappropriate behavior before he went on to explain that the Liebe’s were already in counseling. He never mentioned sin. He never mentioned repentance. He never mentioned the Biblical process of rebuking a leader in the presence of the church so that others will be afraid to sin in the same way as we are instructed to do in 1 Timothy 5.
19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. 20 Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning. 21 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.~NAS
As I sat there listening to Mr. Eaton I thought, wait a minute, why are you not saying that Brad has repented and turned back to Christ but are saying instead that the Liebe’s have turned to counseling? Why are you telling us that Brad was in a repeated affair to squelch gossip and confusion and not because Paul instructs us to in 1 Timothy so that we don’t sin in the same way? And in that line of thought why are you, and the guest speaker, equating us with Brad instead of warning us from the destruction of sin and addressing the more serious consequences biblically for leaders who cause a little one to stumble or lead his sheep astray? Can you see the subtle shift from a Biblical view to a humanistic view? This shift is exactly what the Lord is telling me He is finished with and about to destroy and remove by calling the Body back to His headship, His word, His Spirit.
As I heard more information come out about the situation at Pathways I noticed some other very disturbing things in the leadership at Pathways and in the Assemblies of God, again all directly related to this shift away from the headship of Christ. Let me explain.
Brad Liebe was initially an ordained minister in the Assemblies of God. He was a minister at Dan Betzer’s AG church in Fort Myers, Florida and became Sr. Pastor after Betzer retired. In 2008 (I believe), Brad left that church in scandal. It is said that he embezzled nearly $700,000.00 from the church and the Board covered up the enormity of the act. No legal action was taken. He did have his AG ministry credentials revoked and was asked to apologize to the body of believers in FL. He began a restoration process for fallen AG ministers but quit before it was finished, re-ordained by Grace International and took the job as Pathways SR. Pastor.
ASSEMBLIES OF GOD
Brad Liebe’s father is Larry Liebe. Larry Liebe, several years ago, was voted in as the Wisconsin district superintendent. Until that time, Larry had served as the District Youth Director.
Upon Brad’s taking the position at Pathways Larry Liebe and Steve Tripp (District Youth Director in the AG), both district leaders, started attending Pathways~ a non-AG church. Steve Tripp is reported to have served on the board at Pathways at one time, and was featured in promotional videos for the church.
Larry Liebe and Steve Tripp are in violation of the AG bylaws but have also, in effect condoned Brad’s previous affair and money embezzlement in FL by following him to Pathways. It is hard for me to fathom that those who oversee Brad and Steve could possibly agree that while they represent and shepherd the AG denomination in our area, a blind eye should be turned to attending a non-AG church whose pastor was disciplined and removed from the Assemblies of God. The message this speaks to the body at Pathways is that everything is ok and gives Brad a level of credibility that he simply does not have.
AG bylaws Article IX, Section 9-10:
Section 9. Ministry in a Non-Assemblies of God Church
Ministers shall not be limited or restrained from entering open doors to preach this Pentecostal message, so long as they retain Assemblies of God doctrine, standards of holiness, proper attitudes, and proper ministerial conduct without compromise. Inasmuch as unity is a vital principle for growth and spiritual development of the Assemblies of God Fellowship, it is essential that we recognize our relationship to each other and that we practice Christian cooperation in all our pastoral, evangelistic, missionary, and local church work.
We recommend therefore that our ministers confer with district council officials before engaging in ministry in any church group or organization not affiliated with the Assemblies of God so as to ascertain whether such ministry might result in confusion or misunderstandings. If the minister does not have district approval, he or she shall be expected to refrain from conducting services for the church. Ministers who violate this principle shall be subject to discipline.
Section 10. An Improper Attitude Toward Those Removed From the Fellowship
In order to render effective decisions made in the interest of proper discipline and for the protection of our assemblies, all who hold credentials, and local churches holding certificates of affiliation, shall refrain from taking an attitude toward offenders that would tend to nullify or set at naught the solemn verdict of those entrusted with this responsibility. Those who fail to support said verdict shall be subject to reprimand or, if persisted in, appropriate discipline.
Now as we see in Section 10, due to the revocation of Brad Liebe’s credentials by the Assemblies of God, it is improper for the district officials to give approval to his ministry, seriously undermining the verdict given by the general council when Brad was removed from the Assemblies of God. The bylaws maintain a level of accountability to the scriptures and to the leadership in place over these Pastors, however, Brad and his father and those closely associated with him are following another course that contradicts even that which they signed to uphold. I point this out because again we see even church leadership following their own course outside of the headship of Christ.
I wondered about Grace International as well and why in the world they would miss the leading of the Holy Spirit and a clear mandate in scripture that a leader should be:
2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. 4 He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity 5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), 6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. 7 And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. ~1 Timothy 3:2-7 NAS
GRACE INTERNATIONAL
And yet Grace International ordain Brad with such a serious scandal still in process of investigation. I went to their web site and found that under the state of Wisconsin where they listed their churches Pathways was not listed. However, on a page of events Pathways was listed to have hosted the Wisconsin Leadership Gathering April 26th. This makes me wonder if this overseeing organization is also not willing to own their ordaining Liebe and sending him out to an unsuspecting flock.
Something that also strikes me is the similar nepotism that we see in Christ the Rock and also the working inside of the ministry to hide sin instead of simply exposing it, getting it into the light and repenting. A prevailing problem with the church today is the humanistic way of not wanting to biblically address sin inside the church. You find an extreme aggressive response when exposing sin in a biblical pattern, far greater than the response to the sin itself. This I believe is a work of the enemy and an underlying reason how so many have gone so far astray.
HEADSHIP OF CHRIST
When pastor’s fall they leave a congregation full of deeply wounded members. The Fox Valley has thousands hurt in the wake of pastors not allowing Christ to be the head. God is asking us to call them back to the church but as members of a body working in the gifts of the Holy Spirit under a five-fold leadership found in Ephesians 4 and submitted to the headship of Jesus Christ rather than one man’s personal agenda and charisma. God is going to allow some serious chaos in the churches here in the Valley as we finish the dark night and the outpouring begins. I am feeling an urgent need to continue to share with the people what He has been speaking about all of this because the church needs to be aware that God sees every bit and He is allowing it for His purpose. Be encouraged because He has a plan for His people and is calling every one of us back to His headship.
Ephesians 4: 11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.~ NAS
I don’t know what to say, they all seem so fallen, and yet what will become of it. A famine for the Word?
This is the 3rd time a church has let Brad Leibe in the first 2 was for embezzlement now this chuch for having an affair.. His father covered for him to get his last job..the first church was a first assembly in fort myers Florida
A restoration of what God intends for leadership. Have hope. I believe He is exposing things to show how man centered they are and make people wonder hey where was God in this? He wasn’t. So what was I doing? Those are the questions to ask. Then seek until you find.
I have attended small Churches and Large and am familiar with many of the brothers and sisters who worship at pathways. I think it is dangerous to when you make these generalities that large Churches are leaving the Word of God and you classify them as seeker friendly. I used to think the way you do until I saw people who went off on there own and ended up in cults because they thought the western church was so evil. Satan loves to get people to leave because of twisted half truths. Satan also loves to cause division among the body so he can destroy anything effective for the kingdom. the Lord showed this to me by examples and spoke to me about how much damage this does to people. I decided to stay in a large church because I have seen more results in souls being saved- real conversions that last. I have seen that larger churches can make a bigger impact on more people because of the pooling of gifts that God has given through the Holy Spirit.
It really grieves me when I here gossip about churches and lump them into one persons sin as it is the whole body.
What I saw was Brad’s sin brought out and it did warn the leaders that you will be removed if you do this. Because the word “sin was not used is petty. I think everyone there knew that what he did was sin. I agree that the Church needs to deal with things like this, but to continue to revel in it is wrong. I am wondering what the motivation is to post this at this time? And you seem to be mixing what God has shown you with your own conclusions. A Prophet should probably stick to What God says and not there own modern interpretation.
You mention a lot of Biblical principles that most of us know about and adhere to, the problem seems to be the intent of division and jumping on this band wagon for self promotion.
I am not by anyway defending Brad’s actions or the lack of leaders handling these issues, but I am concerned with all the extra talk that does not come from love. As Christians they will know us by our love and not our knowledge, our prophecies or principles. Prayer is key in everything we do, we should be praying together and in our closets which I found is much more effective in fixing the Church. We are a body, not individual organizations. when the body actual acts on that knowledge and works together, it will be beautiful.
This prophecy says, “A prevailing problem with the church today is the humanistic way of not wanting to biblically address sin inside the church. You find an extreme aggressive response when exposing sin in a biblical pattern, far greater than the response to the sin itself. This I believe is a work of the enemy and an underlying reason how so many have gone so far astray.” Can you not see that this is exactly what you’ve just done in your comment and you are proving the words of this prophecy to be true? 1 Timothy 5 is very clear – when a leader is caught in repeated sin, the biblical duty is to bring it out into the light for all to see. If God (through his Word) does not seem to be too concerned about this causing division, why would any of us take that worry on ourselves? Do we not fear the Lord more than we fear man? This comment actually helps highlight the problem the church is facing. This, after all, is the prevailing thinking in church culture today – and it has absolutely hamstrung and manipulated the body into staying silent when it ought not. When my son misbehaves, is it not love to discipline him, to explain how he’s strayed off course and what he can do to get back? If that’s love, then so is delivering a rebuke or word with the intent of calling the church back onto the path from which it has strayed.
No I don’t see that I proved this so called prophecy as true. You didn’t address the point of the post. There is a difference in exposing a sin and gossiping about it. I am all for dealing with sin and removing it, A lot of churches don’t deal with church discipline biblically, they tend to try to cover it up. The point was that the prophecy was mixed with your interpretation, which makes it false. You cannot add whatever you want to God’s word or a prophecy and make it your own, and try to defend it.
I know you think you are doing the right thing, but I have seen enough. Was curious about your prophecies, but now I know what they are. You start out with a thought that has some truth in it, but then add your ideas about it, and in the process you twist and stereotype the whole thing. It is how Christians become deceived. I have seen it happen, usually ends up in a cult where they think they are the only one right. Then they attack the body of Christ using generalities to make their case. Until they are the only they become their only true voice. Dangerous position, to be in. Hope you don’t take it that far, some never get out of it. You wondered and added so much, I don’t buy it. “post-modern Seeker Sensitive methods of ministry.” So trendy. I have studied this and inquired of this as being true and in my research have found the opposite in some of the churches you attack. Are you jealous that some large churches actually operate biblically? I am not talking about the 3 you mentioned, but they are big so you generalize about them and make false assumptions. the fact is all churches have problems- they are made up of people. They are seeking God. Because they are imperfect and makes mistakes proves that they need to seek God. I haven’t met a perfect person yet. We seek a perfect God, to focus on the mistakes misses the whole point of Christianity. I came from a neutral view of your prophecies, after examining them, to me they are not credible. Sorry, but I don’t see it coming from Jesus. What hamstrings the body is divisive tactics, beware of using them. If you are the parent, you should discipline. In this case you are not.
I am reminded of a book entitled “Merchandising the Anointing” I believe Rick Renner was the author. The A.G. itself has problems that hinder God’s ability to work. As for the seeker friendly bodies of believers they are undercutting Gods ways and principles to their own hurt. It is insulting to Him that we have a the audacity to dumb down the word to effectively deny Romans 12:p1-2.
I’m encouraged that the Lord has spoken about how to get His church back on track. If we heed His words, a large number of the walking wounded from area churches impacted by non-biblical leadership and teachings will be healed. Using the “Prolepsis” word here with past prophecies, our churches WILL experience true revival as people repent, the Holy Spirit is welcomed back, and Christ is restored to headship. It involves some hard choices, but why wouldn’t people want this?!!!
I’m posting to correct some misinformation in regard to the Brad Liebe embezzlement in Ft. Myers, FL. Brad was voted in by the church membership to become the Senior pastor by a 97% yes vote. This was Pastor Betzer’s desire and there were never any other candidate pastors brought forth for the congregation members to consider. Pastor Betzer stated that he was going to stay on one more year to help out with the transition, then, he would be moving to Lake Table Rock MO. Two weeks after Brad was voted in, the exposure of his embezzlement was made public and he was fired and publically brought before the congregation to fess up to what he did. Brad elected to NOT go through the 2 year AOG pastoral restoration program , thereby having his AOG credentials pulled. Pastor Betzer has not yet retired. He is still pastoring First Assembly of God in Ft. Myers Fl.
Thanks Janet. I also had heard that Pastor Betzer in the end did not leave right away. Thanks for the correction.
Hello, are you able to provide me any info on these circumstances, like articles, documents, etc on any of these allegations with Brad?
He is at my church now and things are not going very well and he’s at the center of it since he’s our Chief Operating Officer.
Any help would be appreciated.
Kirk, 559-824-2763, kwpool6x@gmail.com
http://shoutsofjoyministries.com/citadel-corruption-in-the-churches/
Praying for Brad Liebe’s wife and children during this difficult time.
It’s a shame. I attended this church since birth and to see him go, it is hard for all us.
Yes it is a shame. I had no idea what happened until I found out by reading this blog. Saddened by his fall…
Hi, watch out you do not walk in pride. What would jesus do if He was to meet Brad? Confirm he is an adulter or call him down from adultery tree and ask top dine in his house? Leaders become worse when handled irrespective of position. Jesus took the short man back to his house, where are wise men to take Brad to his house than makers of mere condemnation? By the way God is in business of raising citadel of honorables, men and women forgiven and walking by the grace.
Jesus would forgive. He died on the cross for just this reason for all of us. We cannot accept God’s forgiveness of our own sins if we are not willing to extend the same mercy towards one another…and yes it is just that simple.
It is that simple but you seem to be forgetting one necessary step and that is repentance. Jesus didn’t go around first forgiving sins, he called people to repent and then forgave. You need to turn back to God to access that power of the cross.
Sin is sin. Not to start anything. Yes I do believe leaders should be held to a higher standard but I believe that sin is sin. I believe in this time his family needs prayer and definitely doesn’t need people ranting about this situation. Pray for his family and pathways as they try to recover from this.
Agreed a sin is a sin and we all sin….even pastors. Lets not forget Jesus died on the cross for all of our sins and that doesnt exclude pastors. Not saying there shouldnt be consequences and we shouldnt be held accountable for our sins but all have sinned and have fallen short…….
I am glad to have found this site because I had no idea what happened to Brad L. I had been attending church only when I was able due to being so busy with my studies. I just started attending again last week and heard they were searching for a new Sr. Pastor. Ive got a few things I could say but the most important is this: He who is without sin should cast the first stone. Yes a pastor should be held to a higher standard; however a pastor is still a human being capable of sinning just like the rest of us.
Hope, your words are true but unfortunately irrelevant in this context. You need to understand the Biblical requirements of a spiritual leader. Brad did not meet those requirements when he was hired by Pathways. That makes the Pathways leadership the ones who are corrupt. That has yet to be dealt with. Unfortunately most of the church is still blind to this corruption. Brad had a proven track record of criminal behavior and immorality. Pathways knew about this when they hired him. Brad is not the problem, he was only being the criminal and sociopath that he had already proven himself to be. The remaining leadership of Pathways is the problem. If you want the full details of who Brad is and who Pathways is for hiring him in the first place, please look here: http://wisdomseekerprov4.blogspot.com/
I am shocked, saddened and angered that you are at yet another church spewing forth your “prophecy”. One of the sins God hates in causing discord among the brethern, which is what you seem to do from church to church that you attend until you are asked to leave because of the havock and discention you cause.
I am sorry that you seem hurt by the rumors that you have been listening to. But I think that it is important for you to get the facts before you decide on matters that are so spiritually serious. For instance, you treat prophecy as if it is some kind of fake irrelevant thing and yet the Bible is full of prophecy in both the Old and New Testaments. And in both, people are lied about, beaten, even killed for prophesying. I say that not to imply that your accusations prove my prophecies to be true, because the only real proof to prophecy is if it comes to pass. So I encourage you to seek the Lord about these things and ask for the facts to discern wisely and watch to see what happens. God is doing something wonderful here in the Valley…He is recalibrating His Church to His Headship. That is very hard for many people but He is worthy of our flesh being offended as He breaks things up to clean them up. Remember, judgement begins in the house of the Lord. And revival begins with repentance.
I watch the stats on the web site a few times a week and can see that numerous people come to this article every day. I was wondering if any of you know who the man was who stood up in the Sunday morning service a few weaks before Brad was exposed and rebuked him? I heard that same morning from a friend who was there that the man spoke for a moment from the floor but then Brad cut him off and ushers came and escorted him out. What I am wondering is who that man is and what exactly did he say. Does anyone know anything about this? If you don’t want to post on a public blog you can email me at: joiepirkey@shoutsofjoyministries.com.
This stupid b***** has ruined my dads life first he gets my dad fired from his great job. And my dad didn’t do a damn thing. Next almost 8 years later my dad get a great new job and then because of this gay a** man he got let down because he new this god awful man. I hope he goes strate to hell for the crap he has put families and us through.
[…] we began to grow as a church Body at Wellspring we were told to resist the ‘citadel’ way and pray about the gifting of the believers. The first thing the Lord set in place was the five […]