The audience is expanding, and it should be clear after almost a decade, I’m not giving up on reconciliation.
My Lady, I hope you see, I love you!
An email sent to Chris Bitterman.
Chris,
On Dec 30, 2013 I sent you a detailed email with questions about relationships and obedience to Christ. You responded three weeks later on Jan 22, 2014 with a one sentence email without a salutation or close stating: “1 Timothy 5:8”
On several occasions I have pointed out how you have misused that verse, specifically noting that where we read “provide” comes from the Greek “pronoeō / προνοέω” which means think of or provide beforehand. The context of the chapter is clearly focused on widows, so it is for a man to prepare for his wife before she become a widow. It is to train their kids to provide for their mom and grandmother when he is gone. This is consistent with verse 4 and Deuteronomy 6, a passage that seems unknown in the institutional church.
Obviously I do not know what has happened with you, perhaps you have simply retired. For me I continue to strive to mature as a follower of Christ and in the Lord’s grace I see His work in me. The Lord’s grace to me was remarkably seen last Saturday in a visit with Lillian, a 93-year-old widow. This is now documented in a video at http://Kozlowski.org/1Tim5. It might be a bit scary for you to watch.
I was actively pursuing your help in restoring a family and you gave subterfuge. It seems your successor does the same. What I see is a love for the institution, not people. I continue to challenge people to find one verse where the Lord calls for the institution. It is simply not there, but rather He calls us to love Him and our neighbor. When asked who my neighbor is, the Lord made it clear it includes our enemies. So it seems I don’t qualify in any way as your neighbor, or the neighbor of your successor or Meadowview leadership. You might understand what a cult is.
What is online continues to grow and for someone who claims to be a follower of Christ it might give them a bit of concern. So will you continue to cower in your corner? Will you again send the police to intimidate me? Or will you go all the way and have me assassinated? That would be your only option to get me to stop. OH, what a minute, there is another way. It is called reconciliation. But it requires both parties. The offer is still in front of you. A hand of love continues to reach out to you. Will you take it or spit in it?
Respectfully,
John Kozlowski
Since it is unlikely to get a response, the following was sent to Meadowview leadership
Greetings,
I have been attempting to reach out to Chris Bitterman and others. There have been difficulties in forming a bidirectional dialog. Emails have been unsuccessful and I have been trying DVDs and postcards. These also have been without success, but I continue to try.
As I have started into my second batch of postcards with the “Promise” or “They are one till death” theme, the new cards also includes a link to http://Kozlowski.org/HeBeggedUs. This might be a bit uncomfortable for those who heart is invested in the institutional church, Meadowview in particular. It requests what I have described as a whistleblower. My request remains and most might live in fear that one might come forward.
I do send out cards daily and the images of all of them are online at http://Kozlowski.org/Promise. Today’s card was to Chris Bitterman and the image is below.
Since it seems unlikely that there will be a response from him, or anyone else for that matter, I am asking if you would forward this to him. Please feel free to forward it to anyone you desire.
This might be a bit confusing for most, but you see it is that the Lord requires His followers to never give up (2Tim4) and to endure to the end (Mark 13:13), and that our hope is in Him, not an institution.
So please pass this on to Chris. Also if you or someone you know is the described whistleblower, simply reply.
1Co 4:10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.