Showing posts with label hebrew roots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hebrew roots. Show all posts

Monday, December 1, 2014

It's Christmas time and that can only mean one thing: the Hebrew Roots folks are busy telling Christians they are sinning if they celebrate Christmas

Posted by Christine Pack


The Hebrew Roots folks are out in force again this Christmas season, attempting to convince Christians that they are sinning against God by celebrating Christmas.* Sorry, but I'm going to have to whip out my can of Luke on them for that. After all, if the gospel accounts record Jesus' birth being proclaimed, angels singing his praises, shepherds rushing to see him, and wise men bringing him gifts some time later, why should we not, as Christians, also have the freedom to:
......proclaim his birth (using Christmas as a springboard to talk about how God has sent a Savior who died for sinners); 
......sing his praises; 
.....dwell on the fact that one day we will bodily be in his presence, just as those who rushed to his side that day were in his presence; and 
.....exchange gifts with my loved ones as a way of remembering the greatest Gift of all time, our Savior, who was given to us by God out of his great loving-kindness.
* Please note that I respect the right of my Christian brothers and sisters who choose not to celebrate Christmas. And just as I do not look upon them with disdain, neither should they look upon me with disdain [Col 2:16]. Christians can and should thoughtfully and prayerfully wrestle through these issues and come to their own convictions.....but that is a separate issue from the Hebrew Roots thing. What I am specifically addressing here is Christians who have felt burdened under the wrong (but widely disseminated) teachings that Christmas is a paganized celebration. These teachings almost always find their root in errors taught by historian Alexander Hislop in his book "The Two Babylons," errors which have been picked up and widely repeated over the years since the book was first published in 1858. Christian writer Ralph Woodrow has written that he once believed these views taught by Hislop to be true, to the point of publishing his own book in the same vein as Hislop's entitled "Babylon Mystery Religion," However, after continuing to research, Woodrow came to understand where Hislop went wrong, and to his credit, Woodrow has since withdrawn that book (a bestseller for him), and has made a public statement explaining the errors of Hislop's original book. BUT, having said all that, I would never urge another believer to go against his or her own conscience, for as the well-known Reformer Martin Luther once said, "To go against conscience is neither right nor safe."

***********
"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!' When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.' And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them." (Luke 2:8-20) 
"And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh." (Matthew 2:11)
For a brief overview of the Hebrew Roots Movement and the theological problems associated with it, go here - Addressing the Hebrew Roots/Sacred Name Movement. Additional resources can be found below.


 Additional Resources 

A Biblical discussion of the errors of the Hebrew Roots Movement (Echo Zoe)

The Attack on Christmas (Answers in Genesis)

To Christmas or Not To Christmas.....That Is the Question (Sola Sisters)

God Came Near (Sola Sisters)

The Glory of Jesus (Sola Sisters)



 4 Part Series by Dr. Richard P. Bucher 

Christmas Is Not Pagan, Part 1 , Overview

Christmas Is Not Pagan, Part 2, Answering the Argument: "Christmas is obviously pagan because there is neither Biblical command nor precedent for celebrating Christ's birth."

Christmas Is Not Pagan, Part 3, Answering the Argument: "The first Christians never observed the celebration of Christ's birth until emperor Constantine in 313 AD officially tolerated Christians."

Christmas Is Not Pagan, Part 4, Answering the Argument:  "The date of Christmas (December 25), and its many customs all come from pagan sources. Therefore Christmas is pagan."


 Resources Specifically Refuting the Errors of Alexander Hislop 

Myths From Hislop: A Call To Examine Facts (Marcia Montenegro, CANA)

Exposé of Alexander Hislop's The Two Babylons (UK Apologetics)


Thursday, April 10, 2014

Addressing the Hebrew Roots / Sacred Name Movement [UPDATED]

Posted by Christine Pack
"You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?" (Galatians 3:1-3)
"What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them." (Matthew 15:11)
"Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer." (1 Timothy 4:1-5)  
"One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God." (Romans 14:5-6)
"On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, 'Get up, Peter, kill and eat!' But Peter said, 'By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.' Again a voice came to him a second time, 'What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.' This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky." (Acts 10:9-16)
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Peter's vision in Acts 10: "The prejudices of Peter against the Gentiles, would have prevented his going to Cornelius, unless the Lord had prepared him for this service. To tell a Jew that God had directed those animals to be reckoned clean which were hitherto deemed unclean, was in effect saying, that the law of Moses was done away. Peter was soon made to know the meaning of it. God knows what services are before us, and how to prepare us; and we know the meaning of what he has taught us, when we find what occasion we have to make use of it."
* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Hebrew Roots Movement/Sacred Name Movement is a fast-growing works righteous movement which is a modern day form of "Judaizing," the heresy that the Apostle Paul had to address several times in his ministry. From an article posted at The Berean Call by Richard Fisher, the movement is described this way:
"(The Hebrew Roots Movement) is a very modern movement that insists that we must resurrect first-century Judaism (our Jewish Roots) and the milieu and lifestyle of first-century Jews and impose them on both Jewish and non-Jewish believers. This is not just an academic study to better understand Scripture and its setting but is rather a movement of restoration that claims that the church has moved off its Jewish foundation and must return to a more Jewish way of life to be authentic." (online source)
To gain a better understanding of the heresy of Judaizing, please listen to this excellent talk by Phil Johnson of GTY. Please note that when Phil Johnson gave this talk, the Hebrew Roots Movement did not yet exist, so you will not hear Phil mention this movement by name. But if you listen to his excellent talk, you will have a very biblically grounded understanding of the markers of this current and ongoing Judaizers movement.


 My Comments 

I had my own brief flirtation with some Hebrew Roots-like legalism, early in my Christian walk, which primarily centered around following the Leviticus food laws. I was a brand new Christian, saved in a seeker/emergent church, and I was constantly going around with my Bible open saying, what is this? and what about this? and explain this to me? My new Christian friends kind of patted me on the head, and didn't give me what I felt were thorough, Biblically-reasoned responses. But when I came upon the legalists, they did have answers. And they had their Bibles open, and were just as intent and serious as I was. I think that's the edge that lots of cults have, they will give answers, albeit the wrong ones, and they will use scripture, albeit twisted out of context. I praise the Lord for allowing me to be humbled by that season in my Christian walk, and for keeping that season mercifully brief. And of course, after that, I was all, praise the Lord, and pass the bacon :)


 A Few Pointers. . . . .  

It's important to note that when someone is going into Hebrew Roots, you will notice one or more of the following: 
- dietary changes (going back to the Leviticus food laws),
- a heavy emphasis on Jewish festivals (with the implication that those who observe Christmas/Easter are sinning), 
- a rejection of the Apostle Paul's writings, 
- a denial of the Trinity, and 
- the usage of "Yeshua" instead of "Jesus" when speaking about Jesus
Now, someone doing some of the aforementioned things, or holding to those beliefs, doesn't necessarily mean they are whole-hog into the Hebrew Roots heresy........but it could mean that. And so these are good markers to bear in mind when trying to evaluate this.

Hebrew Roots Movement/Sacred Name followers often claim that they are just exercising their liberty and freedom in Christ, but this often quickly escalates into those things becoming law, and binding upon themselves and other Christians........ meaning, their expressed "freedom" and "joy" in doing these things often turns into them thinking that they (and you!) are sinning if they (and you) don't do these things.

Below are some excellent resources for getting up to speed on what the Hebrew Roots Movement is, and how to biblically respond to those ensnared in it:
Debate Between Christian Apologist Chris Rosebrough and Hebrew Roots Leader Jim Staley
The Sabbath, The New Covenant and The Hebrew Roots Movement (Stand Up For The Truth)
■ The Hebrew Roots Movement (Watchman Fellowship)
What is the Hebrew Roots Movement? (Got Questions?)
■ What Is The Sacred Name Movement? (Got Questions?)
Who Were The Judaizers? (Got Questions?)
Torah Fulfilled: Why Christians Don’t Keep the Sabbath and Other Mosaic Laws (Fighting For The Faith)
Are you a Sabbath Keeper or Sabbath Breaker? (Fighting For The Faith)
Should Christians Keep Kosher? (Word of His Grace)
The Hebrew Roots Cult (Cy Shift)
An Examination of the Hebrew Roots Movement (Fighting For The Faith)
A Discussion About the Hebrew Roots Movement (Andy Olson, Echo Zoe Radio with Chris Rosebrough)
Joyfully Growing In Grace Website
The Sacred Name Movement Debunked (video)
Who Were The Judaizers? And What Do They Look Like Today? (Phil Johnson, GTY)
Bewitching Believers Through the Hebrew Roots Movement (The Berean Call)

 Hebrew Roots Ministries and Teachers 

Below are some Hebrew Roots ministries and teachers (please note that this is not a comprehensive list, as this movement continues to grow rapidly, and new ministries and teachers keep popping up):
■ Jim Staley (Passion For Truth Ministries) [UPDATED BELOW]
■ Mark Biltz (El Shaddai Ministries)
■ Michael Rood (A Rood Awakening)
First Fruits of Zion
119 Ministries
■ Bill Cloud (Shoreshim Ministries)
Monte Judah (Lion and Lamb Ministries)
■ Brad Scott, Preston McNutt (Wildbranch Ministry)
■ Victor Schultz (Torah Teachers
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

UPDATE January 2015: Since the posting of this article, Passion For Truth pastor Jim Staley has pled guilty to defrauding elderly investors of $500,000 in an investment scheme. Sentencing will be held in July 2015, with a possible maximum of 20 years in jail and/or fines of up to $250,000. Jim Staley is perhaps the most widely known leader in a movement known as Hebrew Roots. Hebrew Roots adherents observe Jewish festivals, follow Old Testament dietary laws, refuse to call Jesus "Jesus" (they call Him Yeshua instead), and deny the Trinity. (News report about Jim Staley's conviction - KSDK St Louis News)

UPDATE August 2015: Hebrew Roots Movement teacher Jim Staley (Passion For Truth) has been sentenced to seven years in prison for defrauding elderly investors of $3.3 million dollars in an investment scam.

NOTE: Even though Hebrew Roots leader Jim Staley has been convicted of fraud and is currently in prison, his Facebook ministry wall still boasts more than a quarter of a million followers, and is currently very active, with daily postings.

After being initially charged with multiple counts of investment fraud the summer of 2014, Staley claimed in a teaching session at his church (which has since been removed from YouTube), that a member of his church had shared a vision with him in which Staley was portrayed as the victim of spiritual warfare, with angelic beings being "seen" coming to his aid to destroy those coming against him (presumably meaning those bringing charges against him for the financial fraud he has now pled guilty to). The vision also portrayed Staley as the leader of a massive spiritual revival in the church. From the YouTube video:
JIM STALEY ("Pastor Jim Staley Explains Indictment" [6-29-14] - starting at 25:18): I'm gonna share with you some unbelievable dreams and visions and words from the Lord that have led us to this place, and even one that happened today that will encourage you to know that the power of God is moving..........So I'll take you back to August of last year, where our Russian prayer team, some of you have heard this story, but our Russian Prayer Team called us immediately because something unbelievable happened in their prayer time, where the husband, apparently was in a different room, and the rest of the group was together. And there was a word of knowledge and a vision that was shown to them. And for those of you that don't have a supernatural grid, I know it's difficult, if you've never had a vision or a dream, it might be difficult to believe, but after about three or four of these, you'll start to develop a radar. But what happened was they called a meeting, and what she said was, she said, 'I saw two high ranking generals, demonic generals. And these generals, she said, are working among you and have been working among you for quite some time. And then she saw a door in heaven, and behind the door were angels, and the angels were packed up against the door waiting to be released because they saw the plan of these generals, and they wanted to foil the plan. And God smirked. She said it was very clear, she saw a smirk, as if God knew something that they didn't know, and said 'No, it's not the right time. I have a surprise for the generals. At the last minute, I'm going to let my surprise come, and it's gonna come out of nowhere, and it's gonna strike fear into the hearts of the generals.' At the same time, the husband had a, what's called an open vision. I've never had an open vision, where I see something with my eyes open. I've had multiple visions, many visions, with my eyes closed, but he had an open vision where he saw two angelic beings, they were demons, and they were high ranking uniformed soldiers. And he came back in the room and said, I just saw two demonic generals. And so they didn't know what it meant, but they were in high nine one one alert, so they called our ministry. Natalia was there, she was translating, the whole deal, we got through the whole thing, and honestly it scared me. I didn't know what that meant......And then we were receiving other visions. I don't know how old that woman was, 84 I think is what I heard. [off-camera correction] 83 year old woman, who flew here from the east coast because she said that God told her......she didn't even know about us for very much time, but God said, I want you to fly to St. Louis, to Passion For Truth, and I want you to pray over their building because there's a catastrophe coming.......And she just showed up at the airport, trusting God. She ends up getting here, she spends a month here, walking up and down the hallways and the sanctuary, praying and praising the Lord and worshiping, and she shared two visions with me at that time. And she said, I saw a 747 -- now what you have to know about this is there's another vision that happened in 1984 by a gentleman by the name of Dean Cozzens ["Two Prophecies 27 Years Apart Are Coming True Before Our Eyes"]...... where he saw a vision of a 747, and it had four engines, with four different movements of God. And the last one, it was a faith movement, a pentecostal movement, the charismatic movement, and this thing called a Hebrew movement. And this last engine on this plane, as it revved up, every previous engine revved up, revved down, everybody got excited, thought the thing was gonna take off, but it never did. And when this last engine revved up, it revved up and then all of the other movements, engines, revved at the same time: the faith movement, the healing movement, the charismatic--- it all moved, because everyone had a piece of the truth. And then the plan started to move, and everybody got excited, and the dream ended.
Well, this senior citizen [the 83 year old woman who flew to PFT Ministries] had a dream, or a vision, that she saw the 747, and I don't know if it was the same one, but it is an amazing connection. She saw it sitting on the runway for a long time and eventually it took off, and right when it took off, she saw two missiles come from nowhere. Two generals, two missiles. And these missiles came right toward the 747. And everyone, she saw closeups of people looking out the window, they were very scared. And right at the last minute, the missiles hit some sort of a barrier that was around the plane, and they never hit the plane.
She saw another vision of, she was in the sanctuary, and she saw come and it went through the top of the sanctuary, and came down and stuck into the ground. And she was scared at first until what came out of it, it was the angelic hosts of God. They were intercessors. They were prayer intercessors that had been called to pray for Passion For Truth.
And since then, it's been unbelievable, how many people have contacted us, saying that, you know what? this doesn't surprise me because God gave me a word of knowledge two months ago, three months ago, four months ago, six months ago, two weeks ago, a few days ago, to pray for Passion For Truth, because something is coming. I can't tell you how many times we've heard this. Have we not? It's been unbelievable. The visions continue......

Friday, August 23, 2013

Setting The Record Straight: What Susan Heck Actually Said (Compared To What Brannon Howse Says That She Said)

Posted by Christine Pack

"The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him." (Proverbs 18:17)

In the midst of an ongoing public dispute with Brannon Howse (host of Worldview Weekend Radio), I have really struggled with whether or not to say anything public past the one post I initially wrote (An Open Letter To Brannon Howse). I wrote that post in order to address our conflict and to correct some misstatements and mischaracterizations that Brannon has made about me personally. However, in the face of the relentless Facebook postings, comments, articles and radio shows by both Brannon Howse and Chris Pinto, I feel I must once again speak up. I know that God is my Judge and my Vindicator, and beyond that, what can man do to me? (Hebrews 13:6) And that God also says, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," (Romans 12:19) but this is not about vengeance, and I do think biblically it's acceptable, and even good, to speak up when false witness has been borne against you by a brother or sister in Christ. So that is what I'm doing.

So. In the middle of this dispute, it was brought to my attention that Brannon had mischaracterized statements made in an interview by respected author and Bible teacher Susan Heck, who is a wonderful Bible teacher and whom I know slightly from women's conferences at my church where she has taught. In the interest of keeping this as simplified as possible, I am creating a brief timeline that documents this mischaracterization of Mrs. Heck's comments by Brannon Howse.

 Tuesday, August 13 

Susan Heck was interviewed by Pastor Justin Peters on Tuesday, August 13. This exchange occurred in the interview:
Justin Peters: Well, Susan I want to just follow up a little bit on something in the last program, which is, kind of in broad terms, what the Bible has to say about the role of women. And we discussed our men and women are of equal value before God, no argument there, we are of equal value, and in Christ there's neither male nor female, Jew nor Gentile, we are all of equal value. But we do have different roles. And following up with our discussion about the role of women, both in the church but specifically what about the public forum? What does the Bible have to say about women who confront teachers, even if they're criticism is valid? Is that the role of a woman to confront in a public forum of a teacher, a male teacher, who also has a public ministry, and who they feel, rightly or wrongly, is teaching some errant doctrine? And we're not talking about Benny Hinn or people who are way, way out there, but people we would consider to be in the fold, if you will. 
Susan Heck: Well, the last time you asked me the question, I think I told you then I am not a blogger, I don't even have a Facebook account, I know I'm kind of archaic, back in the Little House on the Prairie days. But you kind of piqued my interest so actually I went home and began to look at some of those blogs, and kind of read what was going on. And I would say the thing that concerned me, and I've also asked my husband what he thought, since you asked me that question the last time I was interviewed, but the thing that concerned me when I read some of these things was that even to the testimony of some people, they were saying they were sacrificing what they should be doing domestically i.e., whether it's clean the house or cook meals or whatever, for the sake of the blog. And I would say that that is a concern to me, because the Bible is very clear, even Paul writes to Timothy when talking about young women that are widows, they're to bear children, rule the house and give no occasion for the Adversary to speak reproachfully. And so my question would be: are the women doing what they're supposed to be doing? Which is to bear children, rule the house, and keep their domestic duties. Look at Proverbs 31, and that one woman, she was busy! She was up late at night, up early in the morning, and she was busy. And her husband was known in the gates, and she feared the Lord, and she knew what her role was. And so I would say that was one of the things that pricked my conscience the last time I was here, and I thought well, I really ought to be educated about blogs and so I read some. And then I also actually asked my husband because I respect my husband greatly. He is a master of the Scriptures, and so I just asked him, I said, what do you think about that question that Justin asked me? And he said, I personally would have issue with that, because that is a public forum, and a woman therefore puts herself in authority over a man by doing that. And so that gave me pause to think through that too. And so like I said, last time I really hadn't had time to really think through that issue. I never had been asked that question. I did give the example last time of Priscilla and Aquila, but as I've rethought that even, they took him aside privately and explained to him the way of God more excellently, the Scriptures say. So I personally would have an issue with that. Women need to remember their role as women, I think we would do good to limit our teaching and authority to women and to children. And I think we need to be careful about that. It doesn't mean we shouldn't be educated,we should be educated, and we should know who the false teachers are. I personally, I thought about your question last time, and I thought, if I was going to find out who the false teachers are today, and what they are teaching, I personally, and I'm a woman, but I personally would not go to woman's blog to find out. Before Phil Johnson had to go off his, I'd look at his. Or yours. You know, somebody who I believe is a male  and who is educating themselves and is very aware of false teachers. So even myself as a woman, I wouldn't turn to a woman's blog to try to find out who the false teachers are for the day. So, I don't know if that answers your question, if you want to follow up with more, you certainly are free to do that, so....” [See note below]
Justin Peters: I think there's a danger, whether it's a blog or whether it's Facebook or these social media outlets, that that can become enormously time consuming, whether you're male or female. And we've talked to people, and know of people, who spend hours every day getting into arguments on Facebook, and all this kind of stuff. And again, I don't know a lot about that from first hand experience, but I think that could be one of the trappings of the “Information Age,” if you will. And there's so many things that distract us away from the time that we need to spend with our families and in the Word of God.  
Susan Heck: My  concern, Justin, is that I know women personally who can sometimes spend two to four hours a day, and yet when I see their homes, they're not clean, their children are not being taken care of. I've been in restaurants where women have actually physically pushed away a child, and said, don't bother me, I'm trying to-- , you know, they're looking on their Facebook or whatever on the phone, and that is very distressing to me. That is very distressing to me. Especially as Christian women, we have a high calling before God to rear our children to the glory of God, and to parent our children. And so, I personally am puzzled why women today are even having children, if they're not gong to care for them and parent them. And you know, they put them in a daycare or they push them aside while they're doing their internet surfing, and my question would be, to some of these women, are they spending as much time in God's Word as they are searching for these type of things on the internet and studying these? You know, they tell us the way we can identify a false dollar bill is not to study the false dollar bill but to study the genuine. And so my question is, how much time are they spending studying God's Word, which is true and sufficient and is going to give us everything we need? And so I think some of these things can be trappings of the Evil One to get us sidetracked from sitting at the feet of Christ, and learning from Him and his Word. That's my two cents, I'll get in trouble. 
 Friday, August 16 

A few days later, on Brannon Howse's Friday, August 16 Worldview Weekend radio show, Brannon played the above exchange in a clip from Susan Heck's interview with Justin Peters, and then, immediately following Susan Heck's comments, said the following:
Brannon Howse (commenting on the audio clip): I wanted to play that, I think it's very important. I appreciate what (Susan Heck) said about the fact that she was looking at one of these discernment ministry websites, and there was a notice about, something about making a donation to buy food at a fast-food restaurant because the blog keeps them so busy, and so they need to buy fast food for the kids from time to time. And I'm thinking, really? That's the level of discernment we're talking about here? And yet some of these people want to be calling out Godly men and their ministries on sidebar issues, but they don't have enough discernment to realize that hey, your first responsibility is caring for your family, not wagging your finger in the face of some Godly man who just happens to be covering a topic you find objectionable or troublesome. That's really not your place. (WVW Show, Friday Aug 16)
Also from Brannon's show notes for that day, in case anyone missed what he was trying to say, Brannon again reiterated this statement on his website (Worldview Weekend)....


....and again on his Facebook wall:


But my friends, if you go back and very carefully listen to (or read) what Mrs. Heck actually said in her interview with Justin Peters, she did NOT say that she was shocked to see a blog with a donate button asking for people to "help purchase fast-food for the kids because the blogger was so busy at times blogging that the blogger could not make meals for the family." She did not say it, folks.

And yet Brannon insists that she did.

Now let's go and look at a button on the Sola Sisters website that Brannon might have had in mind when he tried to make it appear that Mrs. Heck said she was so shocked over a donate button asking for fast-food money (which again, friends, she never said). Now, I'm not saying Brannon was trying to connect these two things, but let's just look at evidence and see where it leads.
This is a button that appears on the sidebar of the Sola Sisters website. Let me just explain that when my husband and I put up the Sola Sisters website, he said to me, you know, addressing false teaching is really sober and serious stuff, and I'm going to be silly with that donate button for the sake of interjecting a note of lightness. After all, people should know you're not a one-note person. So there the button stands. Yes, perhaps in hindsight, it wasn't the wisest thing to put up there, but you know, we're not perfect. And are we right now rethinking the wisdom of this button? Umm, yes!

(A small side-note about the button: this button brings in a small amount of money, for which I am grateful, and which I mostly use to buy burnable CDs, which I make CD labels for and then hand out. I have regularly used CDs in my Christian walk, both in witnessing encounters and also as a way to give valuable teaching information to the women I teach.)

My husband, in defense of this now infamous button, made this statement on Brannon Howse's wall:


Unfortunately, my husband's comment, in which he came to my defense, explained that the button was a silly joke, meant to be tongue-in-cheek, and that I really am a Godly wife and mother, along with his public plea to Brannon to talk this out privately with me, was deleted. He was then blocked from making further comments. (But thank you anyway to my Sweetie for making that public statement in defense of me )

But back to Brannon Howse mischaracterizing what Susan Heck said. In my opinion, because of how Brannon framed his remarks, and reiterated them several times in several places, many people assumed that Susan Heck had in fact made this statement that she never, in fact, made.

And thus, an even greater controversy was borne, because now there were folks, who, having heard Brannon say what he did, were convinced that Susan Heck was publicly naming my ministry as being problematic (including my own mother, who, not having any background information on this, called me from her car saying, I just listened to Brannon's show today, and I think he just said that Susan Heck is concerned about the Sola Sisters ministry!)

In closing, let me state that I recognize that there are a lot of moving parts to this drama, and I'm sorry for the complexity of it, but I think for those willing to take a breath, and stop and ponder, and then take the time to examine the evidence, they will see that I am not a gossiper or slanderer or tale-bearer or murmurer or tattler or an embarrassment to the Lord (all charges which have been made by Brannon over the course of the last week, though I may have missed a few). If anything, I am being gossiped against, slandered and have had false witness borne against me. And I do have a biblical right to correct misstatements and mischaracterizations being made about me. In the end, this is not about Team Brannon or Team Sola Sisters......it is about truth, and don't we think that truth matters to God?

_____________________________________________________________________
 NOTE: We may agree or disagree with Mrs. Heck on whether or not women may publicly contend on spiritual matters, but that is something of a separate issue. And please understand by my saying this that in no way do I consider differing views on this to be an issue of separation or breaking fellowship. I'm simply saying that brothers and sisters in Christ can land on different sides of this issue and not be in sin. This is an issue that Godly and very solidly biblical men and women have just come down on differently over the centuries. It is true from Scripture that women are not to exegete (teach) Scripture to men. However, I (and many others) think that the idea that women cannot speak publicly at all, in any way, about spiritual matters is an idea that is not clearly taught in Scripture, and is more of cultural construct that has taken hold in the church than actual biblical truth (particularly in the Southern Baptist realm). Jude 1:3 says "Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people." So I (and many others) understand the Jude passage to mean that all Christians can, and should, contend on spiritual matters. Now, are there other constraints that we must follow in this endeavor? Yes: a woman must not teach a man (exegete Scripture to him), we must be kind, gracious, above reproach, gentle, loving, etc.........but contend we must. And so there are disagreements over this. But again, that's a separate issue from the fact that Mrs. Heck's statements were mischaracterized by Brannon in his Friday, August 16 radio show.


 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 

 Miscellaneous   
An Open Letter To Brannon Howse (Sola Sisters)
Talebearing "from house to Howse" - A 'Perfect Storm' of Accusation (Susan Stilley)
Dr. James White (AOMin), Fred Butler (GTY) Weigh In On The Problem With Chris Pinto's Conspiracy Videos (Sola Sisters)
David Rockefeller, the New World Order, and the Necessity of Verifying Internet Quotes
The Christian and Conspiracy Theories (Ken Samples, Issues Etc.)
Clearing Up The "Discernment Diva" Thing (Phil Johnson)
Brannon's treatment of me "shameful" (Phil Johnson)

 Dr. James White (Alpha and Omega Ministries)  
"Ex Vampire" William Schnoebelen in Chris Pinto's Film (8-20-13)
Chris Pinto's Conspiracy Theories (8-29-13)
A Discussion of Chris Pinto's "Tares Among The Wheat" (10-22-13)
Chris Pinto's Conspiratorial Worldview (12-3-13)
DEBATE: Is Codex Sinaiticus a Jesuit Forgery? (Dr. James White and Chris Pinto, 12-11-13)

 Fred Butler (Grace To You, Hip and Thigh blog)  
Why The White/Pinto Debate Matters (12-16-13)
Mystic Helena Blavatsky Bolsters Chris Pinto's Case? (12-29-13)
Fred Butler: An Interview on King James Onlyism
 (12-6-13)
Tares Among The Wheat - A Review (11-26-13)
George E. Merrill on the Simonides Affair (9-28-13)
Slandering Tischendorf  (9-27-13)
Determining the Antiquity of Ancient Manuscripts (9-25-13)
Chris Pinto’s Disingenuous Response to His Critics (9-20-13)
Answering the Claims of KJV-Onlyism (6-1-10)

 Christian Research Network  
The Slips and Follies of the Pintonian Inquistion - Part 1 (C. Michael Majewski, CRN)
The Slips and Follies of the Pintonian Inquistion - Part 2 (C. Michael Majewski, CRN)
The Pintonian Inquistion: Scholarship or McCarthyism? - Part 3 (C. Michael Majewski, CRN)

 The Salt Lake City Messenger (Gerald and Sandra Tanner)  
Magic in Mormonism: From Denials It Was Practiced to Exaggerations (Issue #65)
Covering Up Syn: Ex-Satanist Brings Confusion to Mormons and Their Critics (Issue #67)

 Pastor Bob DeWaay - Critical Issues Commentaries      
King James Only? Refuting the False Conspiracy Theories of King James Only Teachers
How the KJV Only Doctrine Obscures the Truth, Part 1
How the KJV Only Doctrine Obscures the Truth, Part 2