A local pastor who received the letter below shared it with me out of concern about this effort, I am sharing it here with the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of the local Torah Club leaders blacked-out in order to avoid both the potential of inadvertently advertising this club, and the possibility that anyone would (against my wishes) harass the individuals that are involved in spreading this theology. I don't know how many local pastors received this invitation, I'm not surprised that I did not. My response to this letter will be below.
1. There has been no effort (to my knowledge) by the local Torah Club leaders to respond to the Franklin Christian Ministerium's January letter.As the letter states, the group's leaders decided to not respond to our very detailed warning filled with direct quotes of First Fruits of Zion published materials. We, the collective pastors of the ministerium, representing diverse theological backgrounds, unanimously warned that this teaching is unorthodox. Rather than drop the sponsorship of First Fruits of Zion upon learning more about the plans and purposes of the organization they are championing (more on that later), the local leadership has decided to instead offer the exact same materials in private lessons to local church pastors.
Since the publication of our letter, further extensive research has uncovered much more damning statements published by FFOZ, including video proof from the 2022 Malchut Conference {that will be shared in my upcoming seminar: Warnings against FFOZ seminar} that the leaders of this organization are aware that what they're teaching is untethered from 2,000 years of Church History (this is actually a selling point, they want to jettison the traditional/received/orthodox Gospel in favor of the understaning they alone posses), amounting to a "different gospel" to use Paul's terminology {Galatians 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!}, AND that the primary target of their efforts are those already participating in local churches. In other words, FFOZ is purposefully aiming to entice people from local churches with a different gospel, that's not my accusation, that's their business strategy.
This is a significant charge, akin to the heretical teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Mormons, but local Torah Club leaders are, as this letter demonstrates, sticking with the organization.
2. Having demonstrated a lack of understanding with respect to Christian orthodoxy, the local leadership has now offered to teach local pastors.
As James wrote, "Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." (James 3:1, NIV) I make no claim that the pastors of this county, myself included, need no further wisdom or understanding, we are fallible men and women who are prone to the same failings as the people in our congregations, but, and this really does matter, we have been called to serve our churches (through our various different process of training and ordination) and are responsible to the checks and balances on our beliefs and teachings that come from being part of a church.
To say that individuals who have left the oversight and discipline of a local church {as the local leaders offering to teach this class have done}, and are not therefore subject to any discipline for the apostasy of leaving orthodoxy behind, should set themselves up as teachers of church pastors is both shocking and highly dangerous. This is NOT how church pastoral leaders gain further wisdom and knowledge as they shepherd Christ's sheep.
To call this letter's purpose bold is selling it short.
3. I have read the HaYesod workbook, it fully embraces the FFOZ ethos, it is in no way an example of orthodox Christian teaching.
In my upcoming seminar I will quote this workbook a number of times (45 times in the full primary source document I created that I will be condensing for the seminar!!), demonstrating over and over that is contains false teaching after false teaching.
4. The promise of not publicly revealing the name of pastors who decide to participate is an important concession.
Again, when you're leading an organization that was unanimously called-out by the local pastors of an entire ministerium, and disseminating materials from an organization that believes the Church has been preaching an incomplete Gospel throughout its entire history {And, in fact, that the Church should never have existed in the first place}, it certainly wouldn't be unwise for local church pastors to knowingly sit under this teaching, it is the kind of thing that would upon up a pastor to ecclesiastical discipline, and rightly so. That being said, if any of the laity in our area are concerned that their pastor may be interested in learning from or joining this movement, please refer him/her to the many posts illustrating the dangers of FFOZ that I have written this year {clicking on the First Fruit of Zion tab in the topic list on the righthand side of the blog will bring them all up}.
5. While I appreciate that they "have no desire to continue in perpetuating harm within the body of Christ," and am willing to take this at face value, the further spread of this unorthodox theology WILL harm our local churches.
Sadly, I once considered the local Torah Club leaders to be, if not friends, certainly fellow laborers for the Kingdom of God {back when we worked together in the early days of Mustard Seed Missions, they left years ago}. That changed when the Franklin Christian Ministerium pointed out the numerous heretical teachings of FFOZ, but these individuals chose to maintain (and further promote) this allegiance. They chose FFOZ over the local church. We have gone past the point of calling this a misunderstanding, it is a choice they have made, and continue to make. At this point, my top priority has to be protecting my fellow Christians, both laity and clergy, from following this path into apostasy. I didn't want it to come to this, neither did the pastors I have worked with to defend the Gospel, but we haven't been given that choice, we must act, we must warn you of the dangers this organization poses to the Bride of Christ.
Every house needs a firm foundation. The church has built its entire mission on an incomplete foundation on a partial gospel. This process began early, early, early when church theologians intentionally, intentionally stripped away the Jewish context of the New Testament. - Michael Boaz, founder and president of FFOZ, 2022 Malchut Conference.
This is what we're up against.
This is why your pastor needs your support and prayers.
