Taken out of context?? Let FFOZ's words speak for themselves, this is how they describe the Gospel:

The primary pushback from the local Torah Club leadership has been that my recent six-hour seminar has taken the positions of the First Fruits of Zion organization out of context.  While this charge falls flat when considering that I utilized 13 primary sources published by FFOZ consisting of 27 pages and 14,000+ words worth of quotations {About 1/10th of which is my commentary, the rest is verifiable quotes from the organization’s top leaders}, another way of demonstrating that the concern of our ministerium’s pastors is well grounded exists.  

Why not list all the ways that FFOZ’s leadership describe the traditional/biblical/apostolic Gospel as accepted by Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians alike, and contrast the words they choose with the ways in which they describe their new ‘gospel.’  Let the descriptors they choose shed some light on this question. {FYI, the whole quotes are available, they were used in full in my seminar}.  At a certain point, the very weight of the evidence makes its own point.

How FFOZ describes the Gospel that has been preached for the past 2,000 years:

Inauthentic, devoid of the kingdom, obscuring the kingdom, missing the very cornerstone of Jesus’ message, incomplete (3 times), partial, missing something, oversimplified distortion, temporary, watered down, simplified, a tiny sliver of an idea, dry and dead, bad news (4 times), pretty bleak, a little absurd, convoluted, repellent, and God’s hatred for Israel and mankind. 

How FFOZ describes the new ‘gospel’ they have uncovered and are now selling:

Totally different, robust, broader, deeper, wider, original (2 times), green, plush, beautiful, unencumbered.

Can you see the difference?  How much closer do we need to look to see, how much more do we need to listen to hear?

** Note, some of the pejoratives used by FFOZ are aimed not at the Gospel as it has been taught in Church History, but at the Straw Man they routinely utilize and which they accuse the Church of routinely teaching.  This is either ignorance of what the true Gospel message is, or a deliberate choice to try to win converts by slandering the Church.  In all my research I can’t recall any FFOZ publication saying, “Some in the Church have misunderstood the Gospel”, instead the Church is always painted as a failed monolith, all equally “missing something” in every generation of its history that only FFOZ can provide. **

Sermon Video: A God honoring rebellion? Romans 13:1-2

In these verses the Apostle Paul lays out our responsibility as Christians to the human governments that we live under.  His statements are general principles rather than specific applications, and are based upon the reality that all authority ultimately rests with God (thus every human authority is a delegated one).

Church history has examples for us of the Church working to maintain the status quo, even when that state was unjust to most of its people, and examples of the Church standing with the oppressed and rebels, and bearing the consequences.

Rather than firm answers, this passage reminds us of the prayer, study, and deliberation that ought to go into our desire to live out our calling to be Christ-like in this world.  God-honoring Christians may arrive at different answers to these questions, what we all must do is respect God's authority enough to wrestle with them when we choose to act either for or against a particular governing authority.

Sermon Video: Rejecting Evil and Revenge by Embracing Kindness and Peace - Romans 12:17-21

How should the followers of Jesus respond to evil?  The answer can never be with our own evil attitudes and actions.  Where does that leave us?  We must turn instead to kindness and peace, embracing them no matter what happens, knowing that God may use our kindness to open the door to his own mercy upon those who are evil, for only God knows how each person's story ends, as objects of God's wrath or love.

Sermon Video: Living like Jesus in the everyday things - Romans 12:13-16

As disciples of Jesus, imitating him is a key aspect of our faith.  Here in Romans 12, the Apostle Paul offers 4 examples of behavior that help illustrate our obligation: (1) sharing/hospitality, (2) blessing those who persecute us, (3) having empathy, and (4) limiting pride to foster harmony.

Sermon Video: A Zeal that imitates Jesus - Romans 12:11-12

The Church, in America at least, isn't suffering from a lack of zeal.  We have plenty of passionate intensity, much of it in the form of outrage, but we sorely lack zeal that looks like that which Jesus demonstrated.  We need Christ-like zeal, need it focused on doing God's will (which he alone can define for us) and we need it bolstered with hopeful joy, patience, and prayer.

I was asked to pray for a church that is being torn apart by a Torah Club

 

I was asked today to pray for a Baptist Church in Iowa ahead of expected turmoil this evening.  The pastoral leaders and I have been in conversation since February after they watched my initial YouTube video which explained why the Franklin Christian Ministerium had written a public letter warning about the teachings of the Torah Clubs.  As it turned out, this church in Iowa had a sizeable number of members who had been participating in their local Torah Club, a development that alarmed the leaders of the church.  They and I shared research on the First Fruits of Zion (the parent company of the Torah Clubs), talked through our findings, and in general supported each other in this processes of learning more about this false teaching and formulating a response.

Prayer is needed today because the pastor of the church and his wife are going to be meeting with a family that have been members of the church for 40 years, this family is a part of the group that recently began participating in a Torah Club, and when the pastoral leaders of the church (having fully researched the FFOZ) asked them to discontinue their participation in this unorthodox group, they refused.  Sadly, the report that I have received is that most of those from this church who now belong to a Torah Club  have refused to leave it when warned of the dangers.  The demonstration of unorthodox beliefs that should have sent chills down their spines, has fallen on deaf ears.  It is expected, sadly, that this family will be choosing to leave their church family at tonight's meeting.  Please pray for the hearts and minds of the pastoral leadership of this church, pray for repentance and reconciliation on the part of those who have gone astray.  Please pray that this doesn't split the church in the days ahead.

As someone called by God, and ordained by his Church, to fill the role of a shepherd of the sheep, it is deeply emotionally painful when the people we have invested our blood, sweat, and tears in decide that they would rather be somewhere else.  Even when that somewhere else is a church where you have a reasonable expectation that they will be nourished, it still hurts.  Believe me, I speak from experience.  But, when they leave and you know they're walking away from an orthodox understanding of the Gospel to chase after "another gospel" (that actually is recycling 1st century heresies), it doesn't just hurt, it is a wound that won't soon heal.  Shepherds are called to protect the sheep, to risk ourselves, sometimes literally, to protect them.  What do we do when they walk into danger of their own accord and refuse to heed our plea?

Stories like this one are the reason why I've devoted so much time to this issue, why I've written and spoke about it many times, and why I'm teaching a seminar on it starting on 9/11.  What is happening to the church in Iowa is the goal of First Fruits of Zion, it is what they believe must happen, and what they are doing their best to accomplish.  (During the seminar I'll show you the video clips that prove it.)  Please pray for them tonight and in the days ahead.  You don't need to know which Baptist Church in Iowa it is, God has known them since the day the church was founded, he will know who you are praying for as his heart aches for them too.   And please pray for me as I deliver my seminar, pray for the acceptance of this warning on the part of our Christian community in Venango County, and pray for those who have gone astray, may they return to the faith which our ancestors handed down to us.  Thank you.

** Update 9/5/23 **

The initial update I received from the leadership of the church in Iowa is that the family in question has decided to remain in fellowship with the church and continue dialogue on the relevant theological issues.  This openness to correction is an answer to prayer, may God continue to work in hearts and minds with respect to this family and the others from the church who have started down the unorthodox path of the Torah Clubs.  Thank you for your continued prayers on this matter.