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The Rise and Fall of |
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As a believer in jesus christ that was acutely aware of the organized church's enormous apostasy, Craig was a welcome addition to the Christian Media lineup, and everyone that knew him greatly enjoyed his wit and his radio style. Because of the daily exposure to the shortwave radio listening audience, Portwood quickly became relatively well known to Christian Media"s constituency. As the head of the network, I came to know Craig very well; and although we were like-minded in most areas, there was always a secretive, darker side of Craig that was rarely seen. It is that dark side that has resisted the work of the Holy Spirit that has proven to be his undoing. |
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The Hidden Things Of Dishonesty |
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The fact is, over the years, as the Christian Media ministry has been repeatedly embroiled in controversy due to our radical stance concerning the misbehavior of leaders in "ministry," we"ve encountered all sorts of illicit activity. After having experienced the latest salvo apparently originating with one of God"s "helpers," I'm reminded of the Apostle Paul"s incredulity when he encountered particularly wicked behaviour among the church at Corinth. In that instance, he marveled that the sin that had taken root among the Corinthian believers was so far over the line that it was "not so much as named among the Gentiles" (I Corinthians 5:1). In early 2002, a serious conflict erupted with Craig Portwood. As previously stated, Craig was a host, friend, and staffer at the Christian Media Network. Last summer, the conflict began to move towards its present dreadful state as I learned there were many late night telephone calls made from our studio being placed by Craig (who was working a night shift on the network premises) to a married female listener named Linda Kristich. The phone bill indicated some of these calls lasted 2 and 3 hours and were placed very late at night. After querying Craig on the subject, I was told he was "counseling" the married woman who was known to us due to her previous contacts with the ministry. This did not sit right with me, and I hoped that Craig was not getting involved in something that would be spiritually destructive to all concerned. Some weeks later, Craig informed us he would be taking a leave of absence to go to Indiana and Michigan where he would attend the Clifty Falls Fellowship event produced by another Christian Media Network host named Rick Walters. Several Christian Media hosts including Kirke Wise and Ralph Haaff (as well as Craig Portwood himself) were scheduled to speak at that event. Craig had also arranged for Linda Kristich to be a guest speaker who would give a talk related to child rearing. A week before he left Oregon, Craig casually informed me that after the weekend event he would be staying in Linda"s home state of Michigan for an unspecified period and then he and Linda were going to come back to Oregon and set up a household together! I was aghast as I asked Craig "Isn't she a married woman?" He responded that she was getting a divorce. Realizing that a very serious problem had quietly crept in to our midst, I calmly told Craig that his present course of action would require me to sever our ministry association with him. At about the same time Craig told me of his relationship with Mrs. Kristich, he also mentioned it to my wife Susan. She related that Craig told her the couple was planning on returning to the Jacksonville area where they would build a house somewhere in the vicinity of Christian Media. Craig provided Susan with a detailed description of a survivalist oriented structure that would be custom designed to be able to deflect the effects of the HAARP technology (a well known black budget system the government is known to be deploying) as well as other threats that are expected during the forthcoming tribulation. When Craig also told me of the couple's plans to undertake a significant building project, I asked how they could afford such an undertaking. Portwood told me that Mrs. Kristich was "a woman of means." Susan related to me that when she also asked Craig about Linda"s marital status, he told her that Mr. Kristich was a "very sick man" that was not expected to live much longer. Craig even stated that Linda"s children were having dreams about "daddy dying in a fire" and he said that Linda had called this a "premonition." K nowing what we now know about Mr. Portwood, we can"t be certain how many (if any) of his statements are true, as Craig Portwood has now been transformed into a thoroughly reprobate individual that is completely devoid of any presence of the Holy Spirit. In short, Craig Portwood, the host of a "Christian" radio show, CAN NO LONGER DISCERN BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG. |
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The Portwood Plot |
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I was already aware that Craig Portwood had come to the point where he held me in disdain and gave others the impression that he should be running the Christian Media Network. While the old adage "familiarity breeds contempt" is an appropriate credo, in the present application we"ve learned there are spiritual undercurrents to just about everything that happens in this ministry. On more than one occasion, Craig stated that if I was not the founder of the network, I would be fired for ineptitude. Susan recalled that many months before the controversy began, Linda had inquired about airtime costs at the network as she indicated she was considering entering into some sort of Christian broadcasting - thus the grandiose nature of the couple"s plans began to come into focus. Craig indicated to Susan that he had worked hard all of his life, and "it's my turn for someone else to take care of me." He seemed to give the indication that he was destined for something great like this to happen, and this was his chance at "the brass ring." As he described the big plans that he and Linda Kristich had, we were gripped with the horrifying realization that Linda"s effort at divorcing her husband was conveniently timed to coincide with the apparently substantial inheritance he had received - and all the "spiritual justifications" for the impending divorce was only window dressing to rationalize the clearly unscriptural course of action Craig and Linda were undertaking. Although we were already aware of many deficiencies in Portwood"s character at that point in time, we were dumbfounded that he could commit such an obvious spiritual infraction as pursuing a relationship with another man"s wife. Furthermore, Craig himself is married to a woman that he has been separated from for over a year! Craig Portwood left Oregon for the Clifty Falls Conference less than a week later where he would meet with Mrs. Kristich. Knowing that Craig already knows the truth of how he is to behave as a believer, I firmly but gently told him Christian Media could have no association with him based upon his planned course of action. I resolved to take a hands-off approach and keep my distance. A week later, I was informed by our people present at the event that Linda had met with Craig and they stayed together at a motel in the area. She brought her children to the weekend venue and Craig introduced Linda to more than one person at the event as his fiancée. |
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raig
Portwood is a forty-something shortwave radio host of a periodic
program called The Beacon Of Truth. His radio program
was originally launched as a weekly hour in the late 1990"s on
shortwave station WGTG, but he later joined the Christian
Media Network which expanded his show to a daily hour. After
moving to Southern Oregon from California, Craig came to work for Christian
Media as a studio board operator, and became a central part of the
network's operations.
t
this point in my life, I can truthfully say that I never cease to be
amazed at the level of duplicity that some "Christians" can sink to
in order to further what they believe to be the will of the Lord
in their lives. Although I expect to find resistance and opposition due
to the ministry the Lord has given us, I am frequently astonished at the
sheer audacity of some that have convinced themselves that their chosen
course of action is spiritually acceptable.
e
were told that Linda Kristich"s husband, a man named James Kristich,
had recently inherited a substantial amount of money, and his wife Linda
was attempting to gain a sizeable portion of those funds by divorcing
her husband. The justification for the planned divorce was that he was
an ungodly man that wanted to put the couple"s children into Catholic
school. Craig sought to give the impression that James Kristich
was some sort of monster and Linda was perfectly justified in divorcing
the man.