hey it says at the end of this to forward it to people i love and care about so i am,,Happy New Year and i pray that you are all blessed with the knowledge of The SPIRIT of YAHWAH ,,many blessing to you and your loved ones
or
Will we now see the U.S. turn its back on Israel and further embolden the Muslim nations to launch Zechariah�s Thermonuclear War resulting in Damascus becoming a smoldering �ruinous heap� of radioactive ruins by Yom Kippur???
One week before the New Moon that ends the 12th month of the Biblical year, the barley in the land of Israel was declared �AVIV.� This past six weeks, the seasonal conditions in Israel were perfect for producing an early barley crop this year. While I heard several people making both predictions and plans for Sukkot of 2010 based on the inevitability of a 13th month being required this year, I stated that it is historically possible that the barley could be aviv by the new moon of March 17th � but to my surprise, it was aviv a week earlier than that! Since the New Moon of the 12th month was sighted at sundown February 15th and it will be astronomically impossible to see the new moon at the end of the 29th day of the 12th month, by default it will be the Aviv Moon at sundown on Wednesday evening, March 17th in Israel whether the New Moon is sighted or not. For the first time in the history of the publishing of the Astronomically and Agriculturally Corrected Biblical Hebrew Calendar, I am able to send out this New Moon announcement and declaration of the beginning of the Biblical New Year BEFORE the Aviv Moon is sighted! If we understand our Creator�s Times and Seasons, there are some things that we are able to understand and do ahead of time that the world will not understand. We go to press with this year�s calendar today! The calendar page that is officially sanctified from the outgoing calendar is page: AVIV 6010B.
This Passover will occur on the same day of the week that it did in the year of Yahshua�s crucifixion. You can carry your calendar with you everywhere you go and teach the �three days and three nights� of the Jonah Code by showing how Passover and the Firstfruits offering would be done this year if the Temple were still standing. In a couple weeks you will have the new Aviv 6010 � Aviv 6011 calendar in your hands.
As of sundown March 17th, we will be exactly seven years to the day that I received the vision in Jerusalem concerning the nuclear war in Israel � it was the night of Aviv 1, 6003/2003. This is the vision that I revealed at Yom Teruah 2008 when I taught �the Beating of Balaam�s A--� detailing the 3 times 7 prophecy concerning the United Nations and their prophetically doomed plan to keep Israel from occupying their entire land. This is the month in which, five years ago, I determined to be out of the Galilee and back into the city of Jerusalem � out of the frying pan and into the firestorm.
I am watching Aviv 1 for the indicators to flash that will allow us to know for certain whether the third layer of Daniel�s 70 Shavua prophecy is a reality � or just a mathematical coincidence of the major events that has transpired in Israel since General Allenby captured Jerusalem in 1917. I would have loved to be able to say �thus saith Yahweh� five years ago when I unveiled the proposed third layer of Daniel�s prophecy at the same time that I declared the final solution to the Jonah code � but I cannot speak that which the Almighty has not authenticated or commanded me to speak. I must still say, at this moment, �IF� this mathematical pattern is accurate and �IF� I have actually been led by heaven into a third layer of Daniel�s prophecy (after proving the second layer which allowed me to accurately decipher the first layer) then we will see a firestorm of apocalyptic proportions erupt in the land of Israel in which Damascus will be nothing more than a �ruinous heap� of thermonuclear debris by Yom Kippur this fall � now known by default new moon calculations as September 20, 2010.
When I revealed the vision of Aviv 1, 2003 at the Feast of Trumpets celebration in 2008, the stock market crashed 777 points in one day to punctuate Balaam�s 3 times 7 prophecy (777) that I was instructed to deliver to those who gathered in Detroit � the city with the greatest Muslim population in America � at the close of Ramadan (which also began Yom Teruah that year).
This year, the Almighty has already punctuated his calendar by the unseasonably early ripening of the barley, which again demonstrates that the man-made hybrid Babylonian and Egyptian equinox calendars are a fraud � and those who continue to promote these paganized bastardizations of the Creator�s calendar are exposed as simply making another calculated calendar for their own convenience in their kingdom of extras. (I am referring to the pagan-tale that the first month is intrinsically tied to the Babylonian equinox calculations rather than the aviv barley in Israel � which allows one to mathematically calculate the dates 10 million years into the future so that they can reserve their Sukkot campgrounds for eternity.)
There are some things that the Messiah wants his people to know in advance, other things we are much better off not knowing. Yahshua put his spirit in us so that we can do the exploits of which Daniel prophesied � the exploits that would be accomplished by those who really know their Elohim in the last generation. Messiah wants to lead you by his spirit � he doesn�t want you panting after the multitude of pseudoprofeticos who would lead you into their own kingdoms and tell you where to gather so that you can follow them into the jaws of the great tribulation. It is the MESSIAH IN YOU who wants to teach you as he did his apostles and disciples as detailed in the book of the Acts!
For years, I have been doing my utmost to teach you the basics of obedience to the Torah and obedience to the Messiah by both word and example. I have done this in person and on television and on DVD so that you could share that same message with your family and friends. You have, in turn, risked complete rejection by your closest friends because you loved them enough to present the truth to them. I have reported to you a fraction of the incidents that have occurred around the world as I have been led by the Ruach. Seven years ago I survived a terrorist attack in downtown Jerusalem in which the first female philistine homicide bomber blew herself (and others) into small pieces just a few feet away from me. I have taken you to the jungle plain of Uganda where I was picked up at the airport expecting to be speaking to 1000 pastors gathered for a Full Gospel Businessmen�s conference, only to be taken outside of town and unceremoniously dumped at the side of the road because some full gospel morons read the ridiculous false witness of Dickey Villain on the internet. That death knell to their earthly �spiritualized� kingdom allowed me and Todd Bennett to minister to multiplied thousands who gathered under the banyans trees in the jungle plain where we met the true ministers of the true gospel who are taking our videos and Todd Bennett�s excellent books all over Uganda.
I can relate to Shaul, who, when unable to go into one area to minister, received a vision in the night to go over into Macedonia where he and Silas were beaten mercilessly, thrown into prison, and then met the man who Shaul saw in the night vision. That jailor became responsible for turning the entire city of Phillipi upside down after Shaul was ejected from town the day after his beating.
If you came to Yahshua because you wanted your life to be easy � you need to go back to the circus pew where they preach �another Jezuz� � you know, the prosperity Jezuz who wants you to have a non-eventful cushy life while the entire world is going to hell in a religious hand basket! NO!!!! Yahshua wants your life to be exciting! He is in you!! He wants to continue to challenge the religious systems that enslave people. He wants you to challenge those who, against his direct orders, call themselves messy-antic rabbis � or even better than that � they demand that you refer to them as rabbi (which means �great one� and regardless how they might want to mislead the deliberately misinformed, does not mean �teacher�.) He wants you to challenge those who say they just �love Jesus� why they ignore the one and only sign that he said would prove his authenticity (in contrast to the �another Jezuz� that Paul articulated) the sign of the prophet Jonah. He wants you to challenge the religious systems that cannot count three days and three nights between their �Good Friday� Dagon fish god worship ceremony and their �Easter Sunday� Babylonian sex goddess sunrise sun worship rehearsal. Yahshua wants you to take a stand for him � and if I have been the one who has opened your eyes and opened your heart to the REAL Yahshua, he also wants you to stand with me to help get the unleavened gospel of the kingdom out to the nations of the world. This ox has been working himself to an early grave and is nigh unto starvation. If you can help me feed a few more oxen, I would get a lot more work done for the kingdom. Take a look around you � have I made an impact for the eternal kingdom with what I have been given? Is there fruit that is still remaining?? Would you be better off if I had never given my life in service to reach out to you???
We were born, groomed, and led by the Spirit who now lives inside you to be a hupernikao � a superconqueror in this generation. Do not settle for the mundane. Do not settle for the ordinary. Do not settle for being just another extra on the set! This is your greatest hour!!
Happy New Year
You will know what to do when the brimstone starts hitting the fan � we rehearsed this in my newsletter to you last fall�
Michael Rood
PS1. The Astronomically and Agriculturally Corrected Biblical Hebrew Calendar went to press today. Order now to get your copy and share it with friends. Passover will occur on the same day this year as it did in the year of Yahshua�s resurrection. Show the calendar to everyone you go out of your way to meet.
PS2. If Yah wills, I will be with you in the �Out of Babylon� world tour. I really need your continued support in order to continue reaching out to you and the rest of the world. Please remember us in your tithes and special offerings at the time of the Feast of the first month.
PS3. Immediately forward this to anyone who you consider to be a friend or worthy of reaching out for the sake of the heavenly kingdom. If I offend them, so be it � but you have delivered your soul because you have warned them concerning the fulfillment of the Creator�s promise to Abraham, the upcoming thermonuclear war, and the perilous days to come.
Thanks for sharing this. I respect Michael Rood's ministry. He poses some powerful questions at the end:
"...have I made an impact for the eternal kingdom with what I have been given? Is there fruit that is still remaining?? Would you be better off if I had never given my life in service to reach out to you???" I pray that we are all bold enough to consider these questions in regards to our actions toward others. (Ouch!)
I recently heard a forecast...not prophesy, there is a difference...concerning 7/7/10 that seems to line up with his comments. I will not go into it but will say, we should all awake, arise and prepare while there is time left to do so.
Would you mind posting the newsletter he referred to in saying: "You will know what to do when the brimstone starts hitting the fan � we rehearsed this in my newsletter to you last fall�"? ...if it is appropriate to do so.
Sorry, guys..but Michael Rood sounds like a false prophet of his own calling... sure isn't a God kind of word in this letter. (false profit)....
I have a few interesting question: What's the purpose of his message? And What is he trying to say? Is he trying to prophesy or what ?...much rambling in his letter that goes nowhere?...I'm just saying...:rolleyes:
No, I have not heard Rood's teaching, but its not necessary that I listen to him, because his writings are enough for me to know he is a false prophet of if own calling, and not of God. There is NO WAt God has given this dude the messages he is giving out, which are all lies. Therefore, i must based this on what the word of God has to say... Rood nor any man can tell us when the end times will be according to what God has to say in His word. Even Jesus or the angel don't know, so who told Rood?... in all of his false predictions of doomsday?
As it is written in I John chapter 4: beloved, DO NOT believe every spirit, but TEST the spirit (based on God's word), to see whether they are of God, because many FALSE PROPHETS have gone out into the world. By this (meaning this is how you will know if they are of God): Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh IS NOT OF GOD. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now already in the world.
After reading your question to me, I went online and found this article that should shed some light for you and others who believe in Rood's false predictions and teachings, as well as other false prophets and prophetess who are predicting lies in the name of the Lord.
MICHAEL ROOD, DOOMSDAY PROPHET
by
Dr. John Juedes, 2003
Used With Permission
"Michael John Rood is an ordained nondenominational Christian minister and Messianic rabbi," according to a brochure Rood produced to promote his seminars which have been held around the United States. The brochure from Lubbock, Texas describes his seminars:
+ From Here to Eternity Bible Prophecy Seminar, which claims to be "for anyone who wants to know the future of planet earth." It uses the book of Revelation to assert that Jesus Christ is not "legally obligated" (a key Rood term) to rapture the church before the global economy collapses, America is destroyed by nuclear attack, and an atheistic global government is established.
+ Archaeological Proofs of God's Hand in History seminar describes unusual and contested archeological finds such as remains of Sodom and Gomorrah, remains of Pharaoh's chariots in the Red Sea from the time of the Exodus, the real mount Sinai, the altar to the golden calf, the rock that Moses struck, and Noah's ark.
+The Feasts of the Lord and the Hebrew Roots of Christianity seminar claims to present Rabbi Shaul's (apostle Paul's) understanding of the Torah, ways which Y'Shua (Jesus) fulfilled the spring feasts described in the Old Testament (OT), and how a Hebrew understanding of the fall feasts makes the book of Revelation understandable.
+ The Mystery of Iniquity: The Legal Prerequisites to the Return of Jesus Christ, a book which claims that the Christian church at large is under " full deception." It claims the Antichrist will be revealed and America destroyed "in our lifetime."
Rood distributes material from these seminars on video and audio tapes through his web site, www.michaelrood.com and at personal appearances. He publishes his audiotapes, videotapes and book under the name Early Church Communications in Two Harbors, Minnesota.
Pictures of Rood show him wearing Mideastern dress-- a long, first-century style robe, Arabic or Hebrew headdress, and long untrimmed beard. He also claims to be a Jew, "We, who are Jews by nature, know..." (Mystery of Iniquity, Chapter 8, also web interview with Sid Roth).
Unfortunately, Michael John Rood and his teachings are not credible or accurate. Rood is not trained, certified or recognized as a Rabbi, and his "ordination" by a cult called The Way International (TWI) required only minor instruction in an unaccredited TWI program. His central teachings depart radically from the evangelical Christian faith, and several of his teachings and practices are typical among cults rather than among Christians or Messianic Jews (that is, Jews who have accepted Yeshua [Jesus Christ] as Lord and Savior). Furthermore, many of his teachings and practices are drawn from a cult called The Way International which was incorporated in 1954 and widely denounced by Christian leaders and TWI's ex-followers alike. About 95% of TWI's followers have left TWI after seeing its severe errors, and many ex-leaders of TWI have founded a variety of splinter groups or ministries, just as Rood has.
ROOD'S TEACHINGS AND PRACTICES
**Rood predicted in the 1990s that the seventh millennium of earth's existence would begin on sunset, September 11, 1999, which he says is Tishri 1, 6001 on the Hebrew calendar. This would begin the "intermediate events," before the rapture of the Church. He generally interpreted the "intermediate events" to be the seven year Great tribulation which would include collapse of the world economy, world chaos, appearance of the Antichrist, the establishment of a global government, attack on Israel, nuclear attack on America, revolution in the United States, martial law, invasion of America by the armies of Russia, China and other countries, destruction of most of America and the death of most Americans. He summarizes this list in Mystery of Iniquity saying "America will be smashed by Russia, and Russia will be smashed by God as they attempt to invade Israel" (p.48).
Rood's other web site, www.6001.com, showed a dramatic image of a mushroom cloud under the title "Zecharia's Thermonuclear War." Rood's article "Zacharia's Thermonuclear War" described the destruction of America, 9/11 terrorism, Iraq and related topics. Residents of Two Harbors where Rood moved after leaving San Antonio, Texas, say that Rood persuaded several of his followers to move there also, and that they stockpiled food and weapons to prepare for the American holocaust. He claims that catastrophe would take its greatest toll on coastal population centers, leaving remote Two Harbors generally untouched.
One of Rood's followers, Daniel J. Lee, also described these events in some detail in his article "Doom, General All-Purpose 2001 and Beyond" on the Internet (www.mdcplus.com/web/webmaster/Dan2001gen/html). Lee attributed all the doomsday predictions to Rood.
The specific date of these events is extremely important to Rood. He claims that the current Hebrew calendar is wrong (see below for more on this concept), and that the seventh millennium would occur on Tishri 1, 6001, which he asserted was September 11, 1999. This date was so important to Rood that he named his web site www.6001.com. He was very disappointed when the political catastrophes did not follow this date, but still warns that their arrival is imminent.
Rood's ideas about the end times include a heavy dose of conspiracy theory. In an advertisement for his seminars, Rood wrote, "...Atheist have taken over the corridors of power in Washington.... We are on a headlong plunge into the terror of a plan for a world government who answer to no God, and their power limited by no man. Through the illegal Department of Re-Education, atheists have trashed our constitution and polluted the minds of our children with the raw sewage of evolution...." (Advertisement for seminar on Revelation, Bible Prophecy and the New World Order, Feb 23-25; 1998, reiterated in Mystery of Iniquity, p. 70 under the subtitle "The Fiery Judgement of America").
**Rood constantly criticizes the Christian church at large as being "Babylon," which is full of "pagan traditions" and under "full deception" (web site and Lubbock brochure). He advocates that people leave the Christian church to follow him and his teachings, which his web site calls "journey out of Babylon." One of the tapes by Rood sold on www.michaelrood.com is described as, "The Doctrine of the Nicolaitains 90-minute audio tape defines and exposes the present-day reality of Nicolaitanism as it thrives in the hierarchical structure of the modern 'Church.'"
He specifically denounces tax-exempt status and says he does not believe in 501c3 organizations. However, he apparently has begun using that himself when he asks for donations personally and on his web site. Rood gives donors two options: mail donations to Two Harbors if donors don't want a receipt, or to his foundation in Oregon it they do.
His teaching on "Nicolaitanism calls for speculation, since the book of Revelation refers to but does not describe the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Rood especially denounces denominational and tax-exempt churches.
Rood poses as a Christian minister and claims to have references from several churches. In fact, most of these references have been shown to be false. For example, Rood attempted to gain followers from Alliance churches in northern Minnesota. The District Office of Alliance churches in that area wrote a letter outlining Rood's false teachings and warning Alliance members to avoid him:
"According to Rev. Misener this group is very deceptive in how they approach churches and individuals. 'At first glance this group appears harmless,' Rev. Misener stated, 'But once you sit down and dig into their doctrinal stands they become pretty destructive. While they call themselves a Messianic Jewish movement similar to Jews for Jesus, they are far from that. They actually teach that unless we return to the observance of the Sabbath on Saturday, and the celebration of the Jewish festivals we are an abomination to the Lord. It's like reading from the Book of Galatians where the Judaisers came in and told the Gentiles they need to observe all Jewish traditions and laws. In fact... this group would not consider evangelicals to be Christians at all. And they are VERY secretive about their belief system.'" (The Alliance Echo, quoted in the newsletter of the Hibbing, MN, CMA church newsletter, Nov. 1998)
The Two Harbors Ministerial Committee also published a flyer warning that Rood's group was aberrational. The churches also discovered that the churches and ministers Rood gave as references were false-- they either did not know Rood or did not approve of his ministry.
**Rood claims that he alone teaches accurately and that following him and his teachings is the way out of deception. His web site offered a package of his teachings to help people "get back to the Lord." It asserted that Rood's teachings would get people "out of Babylon" (www.6001.com/product1, 9-10-99). He promoted his teachings on the Hebrew festivals as "greater... than any available on the planet." He is the one who can reveal "the mystery" that the Christian church is too deceived to recognize. He often uses words like "mystery" and "unknown" to attract others' curiosity and imply that he knows what few others do. He likes to say that his teachings are so different that they are "a Rood awakening" to people.
**Rood repeatedly inflates his accomplishments, ability and importance. In an advertisement for his seminar on Revelation, Bible Prophecy and the New World Order, he claimed that when he was a Marine, the whole Marine battalion on a ship gathered at the same time to hear him speak on the return of Christ which led to "the largest number of Marines since WWII" being baptized at once. His claims to be an ordained Christian minister and Messianic rabbi are also misrepresentations. The Lubbock brochure mentioned above is not the only time he claimed to be a trained minister in a denomination. He said, "I was an energetic exponent of the teachings of my church and theological institutions. I had a... denomination to protect.... Just because a denomination is in the mainstream of modern Christianity...." (Mystery of Iniquity, p. 23). Readers are led to believe that Rood was affiliated with a mainstream denomination and theological institution, when his involvement in a cultic group was actually far from that.
Rood repeatedly claims that respected people in certain communities approve of his ministry when in fact they do not. Several ministers in the northern Minnesota area report that Rood falsely claimed their support in order to gain a hearing from people. Once Rood spoke at a seminar at which minister and former pro football player Reggie White spoke. Soon thereafter, Rood's web site said that White supported Rood's ministry, when in fact White did not. This claim was soon removed from Rood's web site.
**Counting time, calendars and date setting are very important to Rood. He, Robert Wadsworth and Richard Fike (also ex-followers of TWI) developed an "accurate" Hebrew calendar using sightings of the new moon from Jerusalem, observations of barley (aviv) crops in the Negev of Israel, and astronomy. (www.michaelrood.com/calend). (Because Wadsworth believes that celestial events in the next 20 years are much like those which occurred before Messiah's birth, he believes that Christ will return to earth in 2040 instead of 2010 as he previously believed.)
This calendar is critical to Rood for several reasons: First, it gives him a way to establish a definite date for the "intermediate events" of the collapse of America which precede the second coming of Christ. Second, Rood uses it as a tool of legalism, implying that all Sabbath and festivals observed by Jews are false-- unless they use his calendar. Third, he uses it to assert himself as the source of accuracy regarding the dating of the end times and Hebrew observances, which he says are essential for all believers to do today, as well as the date of Biblical events. For example, Rood's web site offers charts which give specific dates for creation (March 23-29, 001 BC), Gabriel's announcement to Zechariah about John's birth (Sunday, May 23, 4 BC) the birth of John the Baptist (March 21, 3 BC), the birth of Jesus Christ (Wed, Sept 23, 3 BC) and the beginning of the seventh millennium (Sept 11, 1999). Fourth, he uses it legalistically, to require that all observances be done on his definite, minute to minute schedule.
**Rood's emphasis on particular days blinds him to truth. For instance, he says worship on Sundays, and especially sunrise services on Easter, are an abomination to the Lord because the sun god was worshiped on Sunday mornings (Mystery of Iniquity, Chapter 8). He seems to completely miss the fact that Jesus Christ chose to rise from the dead at sunrise on a Sunday. As the apostle Paul mentions, the resurrection was on the Feast of Firstfruits which was a Sunday (1 Corinthians 15). By Rood's theory, people should conclude that God was creating an abomination by placing both the resurrection and the Feast of Firstfruits on the morning of sun god worship! Christian don't worship on Sundays because they honor the sun God, but because God chose Sunday as the day of Christ's resurrection, by which he gives eternal life to His people. From the earliest times, Christians worshiped at sunrise on Sundays (as Roman official Pliny the Younger noted in his famous letter to Caesar). Rood doesn't seem to realize that when Christians worship on Sundays, they worship the true God and read the Holy Scriptures, and never impregnate virgins and kill babies in sacrifice as he says believers in the sun god did.
Rood also seems to miss the fact that celebrating Jesus' birth on December 25, doesn't mean that people are worshiping Saturnalia, anymore than celebrating your sister's birth on December 25 means you're worshiping Saturnalia. And when they recognize Christ's death on Good Friday, no one actually offers sacrifices, or even knows anything about, Dagon the Philistine fish god (if it actually ever existed). Rood also says that the commercialism of Christmas is reason not to celebrate it on December 25, which again shows faulty logic. That's like saying that since July 4 is commercialized, everyone should celebrate Independence Day on some other date. . To Rood, the particular days and times mean far more than the beliefs, practices and faith of the people.
**Rood promotes highly speculative and unfounded ideas, from his date-setting, to his predictions of events of the "tribulation," to his archaeological "discoveries." Contrary to Rood, discoveries of Noah's ark are anecdotal and unproven, the altar of the golden calf does not exist, and the location of Moses' rock and Sinai cannot be confirmed, Wyatt's theories of the ark of the covenant are spurious and no one has ever produced it. It is ironic and revealing that in a day when there are huge numbers of confirmed archaeological finds which confirm Bible events, Rood picks only speculative "finds" which lack convincing evidence.
Martin, Rood, Wierwille of TWI and others have written hundreds of pages about the date of Jesus' birth. Yet, each part of their case is based on speculation, not on facts. The Bible does not explicitly state that the star was a conjunction of Jupiter, or that ancient astronomers recorded its appearance, nor the amount of time between Gabriel's announcement and John's conception, nor the exact length of Mary's pregnancy; nor does it state that the moon and stars alluded to in Revelation 12:1 refer specifically to the time of evening on Tishri 1 between 6:18 and 7:39 p.m. To define things that the Bible does not define is speculation, no matter how logical it sounds.
**Rood's speculation about end time political events has made him a darling of the Prophecy Club and Christians who accept conspiracy theories and paranoia. The Prophecy Club promotes tapes by people who assert US government conspiracy (including complicity in 9/11 terrorism), Bible codes, "idolatry" pervading the Christian Church at large, war on Israel, America as "Mystery Babylon," collapse of world economy, One World Government, a political Antichrist, King James version of the Bible only, God speaking audibly to them, and UFOs' part in coming world events. In this milieu, speculation without evidence is rewarded (and even encouraged, since Prophecy Club fans view evidence against their speculation as extra reason to assume conspiracy). Rood has an ongoing relationship with Prophecy Club, having served as one of its speakers and appeared on panels ironically called "intelligence briefings." The Club sells some of Roods tapes including "How Hanukkah Portrays the Rise and Fall of the Antichrist."
**Rood teaches legalism, demanding that all Christians "keep the Torah." According to him, it is essential that Christians keep the Sabbath and observe O.T. festivals (following his calendar), use O.T. purification rites, etc. To him, it is an abomination to God when Christians do not observe them completely and accurately.
Rood says the "old lie" is that we never achieve perfection: "Do you get frustrated with your efforts and fall back into the old lie that has been told over and over: 'You can never achieve perfection on this earth....'" ("So They Will Be Called Oaks of Righteousness," www.6001.com/Godsword). When Rood asserts that humans can achieve perfection by keeping Torah, he completely misses the words of the apostles who said, "Why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved," (Acts 15:10).
Rood's six point statement of faith never mentions Jesus Christ, grace or faith, but mentions commands, obedience and legalism twice each:
"1. GOD is.
2. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
3. They that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled to the point of their hunger.
4. You will be given only as much truth as you will obey.
5. Obedience to the commands of GOD can never be referred to as Legalism.
6. Legalism can only be in reference to strict adherence to the doctrines and commands of men."
The emphasis throughout is on people's own works and obedience, not on God's grace and mercy. Numbers five and six implicitly acknowledge that he has often been accused of legalism. By asserting that legalism is strict adherence to the commands of men, Rood is actually saying that God requires strict adherence to all God's commands, which is plainly legalism even though Rood doesn't admit it.
When Rood addresses the subject of requiring obedience to Old Testament commands in Mystery of Iniquity, he phrases it in such a way that it may appear to be a loving option rather than a legalistic requirement:
"Many times I have been asked, 'Are Christians required to keep these assemblies?' ...Are we looking to do the bare minimums of obedience, or do we desire to aggressively obey out of a heart of love? Does the question reveal a heart that is still at enmity against the law of God?... We who are Jews by nature know.... No one is justified because one keeps the feasts. But do we live in opposition to the Torah because the grace of God covers our sin?" (Mystery of Iniquity, Chapter 8)
He tries to make it sound less legalistic by emphasizing that Christians will do it if they love God. But he repeatedly says that Christians who do not celebrate the Feasts of Leviticus 23 "sin," transgress" are "in opposition" and "enmity" against the "law," and must instead "aggressively obey." Although he frames his answer in a way that sounds less like law, he plainly thinks it is a legalistic requirement, not an option which Christians may choose to do or not do. This is completely different from presenting opportunities to express love which are not required by law.
It is disturbing that the Statement of Faith never mentions central New Testament teachings, such as creation, the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ, the personality of the Holy Spirit, faith, salvation in Jesus Christ, salvation by grace through faith instead of works, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, life everlasting, etc.
Rood claims that worship on Sunday is an act of idolatry because in the ancient world the first day of the week was reserved for worship of the sun god and fertility gods. He claims that the true date of Christ's resurrection seldom falls on a Sunday, and that December 25 is not Jesus' birthday, but the birthday of the sun god. Rood denounces celebration of Christmas and Easter as "Satanic" holy days, as the links on his web site make apparent. Chapter 8 of Rood's book Mystery of Iniquity is devoted to this topic.
Rood also requires his followers to follow a "clean" (kosher) diet, and practice fasting.
Since Rood requires obedience to all commands of God, does not center on the grace of Jesus Christ and neglects several central NT teachings, he is radically different from Messianic Jews, who accept the grace of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and believe they are saved by faith without works or the observing of the law. While some may choose to keep elements of Torah prescriptions and Jewish traditions, they do not require them to be carried out as Rood does.
Rood's web site links to an article "The Maiden Moon" by Bruce Brill (www.angelfire.com/nm/hebrewcalendar/paper.htm) on which Rood's email and physical addresses are listed as contacts. This emphasizes the legalism attached to the issue of calendars, citing "...the gravity of celebrating of holidays on the celestially correct day...." In other words, Sabbaths and festivals are profaned by those who celebrate them on technically inaccurate times.
**Rood's speculation has led to false predictions. No cataclysmic events followed his prediction that September 11, 1999 was to be the start of the seventh millennium. Rood also published this prediction on his www.6001.com web site in September, 2002: "... the warning that went forth from Zion concerning the nuclear attack on Israel. Israel has been given the OK to pre-empt Iraq. The brimstone is about to hit the fan.... The repercussions in the US will create pandemonium." Israel did not attack Iraq, Iraq fell to US and coalition forces in 2003, and no pandemonium ensued in America.
Rood said that after Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon went up to the temple mount September 28, 2000, "I expected it to escalate into a full-blown nuclear confrontation in the ensuing weeks," (Mystery of Iniquity, Chapter 8).These kinds of reckless predictions based on his speculation are typical, and result in a roller coaster of fears and disappointments in his followers.
The Doomsday List cites other false dates and false prophecies Rood has made: See also The Rapture Ready Web site
** Rood attacks pre-tribulation millennialism and devotes much of Mystery of Iniquity to condemning it as "false teaching." "...Jesus prophesied of the secret pre-tribulation rapture heresy and warned us of the 'false prophets' that would be teaching this very doctrine" (P. 42) He believes that when the world plunges in war and turmoil, Christians who believe in the pre-trib rapture will feel betrayed. While many of his Biblical attacks on the pre-trib rapture make a lot of sense, his alternative is not credible either.
**Rood has not denounced the teachings and beliefs he held when he was a follower of The Way International (TWI). His biography claims that he is an "ordained nondenominational Christian minister," but does not state that it is The Way Int. which ordained him. By implying that this ordination gives him credibility, and that the ordaining body is credible, he misrepresents his background. TWI taught many non-Christian teachings, including obedience to universal laws (the "laws" of prosperity, believing, etc), that Jesus Christ was a perfect man but not human and divine, that the Holy Spirit is not a personal being, that the filling of the Holy Spirit just amounts to people regaining their own spirit which was lost at the Fall, that many verses of the Bible are untrustworthy because they were altered hundreds of years after they were written, and so forth.
Rood's move to Two Harbors disturbed the community. Some of his followers refer to "the miracle" when Rood was driving truck through the Two Harbors area on Christmas 1995, stopped to worship at a nearby church, and was invited to a resident's home. At the time he was going through a divorce from his wife Sarah. He moved to Two Harbors soon after that and lived in a variety of places, from others' property to an RV. He moved into a vacant building for little or no rent in 1997 and dubbed it the headquarters of Early Church Communications, and for a time lived behind the building in an RV.
Rood promoted his seminars held in a hotel and held studies in a community center. Richard and Linda Fike moved there in May 1998. Later Rood's daughter Leigh (who had lived in California with her mother and her three sisters) moved to Two Harbors to be with him after high school, where she met and married Eric Fransen. Rood persuaded about ten people to move there to be near him, although they all moved out (except for Rood's daughter Leigh and her husband) before long, once they found that the jobs and ministries that Rood promised never developed. Rood remarried Judith Dithers.
Early Church Communications seemed to virtually shut down in 2003. The only address at which Rood is now doing business in Two Harbors is a P.O. Box at the Post Office. The business phone number is answered by Rood's son-in-law. Fike, who once ran it, moved out of Two Harbors, too. He apparently had some disagreements with Rood, including a disagreement with another leader in the group, John Coughlin, at a Feast held at Grantsburg, Wisconsin, on the issue of eating hot dogs (some seem to be more legalistic about eating kosher than others).
Two Harbors has been disturbed by apparent personality changes in those who followed Rood. One outstanding characteristic is fear, which is mainly due to Rood's continual predictions of the catastrophe which will come to America any day.
CONTINUING A CULT
Michael John Rood was a follower, evangelist, teacher and high level leader in the cult The Way International for over 15 years, beginning in 1972.. Many people who were involved in TWI at that time remember him because he was heavily involved and held highly visible leadership positions.
Two articles from the Washington Post mention and quote Rood. One article describes a TWI meeting in which the leader introduces "'The Rev. Mr. Michael Rood,' The Way's Washington area director-- 'limb coordinator' in Way parlance-- and the honored guest at this twig. A nine-year veteran of the Way, Rood, 29, still displays vestiges of his years as a Marine Corps sergeant." ("Giving Thanks for Array of Blessings," Washington Post, Oct. 13, 1981, p.A11, by Sandra Boodman)
This indicates that Rood began his involvement in TWI when he was only 20, was ordained in TWI and was a high level leader. "Limb coordinators" were in charge of a state (half a state if TWI had many followers there, or more than one state if there were few). Only about 15 leaders at TWI headquarters were above the limb coordinator level. In order to be ordained and a limb leader in TWI, Rood would have had to serve one or more one-year terms as a TWI recruiter ("WOW Ambassador") and graduated from Way Corps training, which included two years working menial jobs at TWI campuses while taking unaccredited courses. The Way Corps and college offered no accredited courses or degrees (in contrast to most religious colleges and seminaries and programs leading to ordination which do include accredited degrees). Rood also claims to have been involved in Capitol Hill Christian Fellowship, a TWI-related group.
The Post article goes on to quote Rood, "'You can't trust anyone these days,' he says in his flat, twangy Grand Rapids, Mich., voice, 'You can only trust God and his word. All the negatives, fears, questions about life. Insecurity complexes-- all that goes' if you believe in The Way, Rood says."
Another article by Boodman, ""'The Way' Recruiters Are Active in D.C., Tidewater," appeared in the same issue of the Post, p. A03. It mentioned firearms training which TWI required Corps trainees to take. Rood explained TWI's rationale: "'It was just a hunter's safety course,' said The Way's Washington area director Michael Rood, a former Marine Corps marksman. 'We teach people how to floss their teeth, do jet-style packing and handle guns.'"
Rood claims he was a leader in Capitol Hill Christian Fellowship, but doesn't say that it was a TWI-related group.
Rood still maintains relationships with other ex-followers of TWI (almost everyone who was in TWI when Rood was has left to form or join splinter groups, which are substantially the same as TWI in teachings and practice). They include Robert Wadsworth who worked with Rood to correct the Hebrew calendar, Bo Reahard, who maintains a Biblical Astronomy web site, Jamie Louis who books some of Rood's tours, and Richard Fike who works closely with Rood. Rood has spoken to gatherings of TWI splinter groups such as Christian Educational Services. He has also attended meetings of splinter groups such as those by Dale Sides of Liberating Ministries for Christ. Rood continues to maintain connections with them because they still have much in common.
Michael John Rood has continued many of the themes and practices which made TWI a cult. Both TWI and Rood:
a) disparage the Christian Church as full of deception and pagan practices;
b) consider themselves to be the one source of truth, the revealer of the unknown Mystery and the way out of "pagan" Christianity;
c) follow the teachings of one Man who can lead them out of deception,
d) warned that America would be attacked and destroyed by Communist powers,
e) promote highly speculative, unfounded and inaccurate theories,
f) devote attention to minute detail on areas of "research" that have essentially little significance,
g) criticize celebration of Christmas (TWI replaced it with "Happy Household Holidays),
h) use similar terminology, such as when Rood refers to believers receiving "the gift of holy spirit," (Mystery of Iniquity, p. 54) meaning that they receive the human spirit which Adam, lost at the fall, not "the Holy Spirit" as evangelical Christianity teaches,
i) promote the "Lamsa Bible" written by George Lamsa, which claims to the translated from the Aramaic and therefore more accurate than translations from the Greek. Lamsa actually rejects most central Christian beliefs (his doctrine is similar to the Unity School of Christianity where he worked for many years) and his translation is deeply flawed in many ways ("George M. Lamsa-- Christian Scholar or Cultic Torchbearer?" Christian Research Journal, by John Juedes on
Rood's claim to have identified the exact day of Jesus' birth while defaming the celebration of December 25 is also something TWI claimed to do. TWI's book, The Promised Seed, also identified Tishri 1, 3 BC, between 6:18 and 7:39 P.M. as the date and time of Jesus' birth. (Although Rood says that was Sept 23, while TWI says it was Wed. Sept. 11, because Rood claims to use a "corrected" Hebrew calendar.)
Rood is different from TWI in his legalistic requirement that Christians keep the Torah and observe the Saturday Sabbath and Hebrew festivals. (Although TWI did emphasize obeying certain universal laws, such as believing and tithing.) On the surface, Rood seems to contradict TWI teaching by emphasizing Hebrew religion, while TWI showed some anti-Semitic characteristics such as denying the WWII holocaust.
However, TWI distinguished between Judeans (those truly of Abramic descent and religion who lived in Israel at the time of Christ) and Jews (those who now claim to be Jews but in fact are not true descendants). TWI blindly followed the assertions in the book The Thirteenth Tribe by Arthur Koestler which claimed that the religion of the Hebrews (Judeans) became more corrupt in the centuries after Jesus Christ was born and in essence ceased to exist as a race and as a religion. Jews today, they asserted, are actually descendants of the Khazars, an Asiatic (from the area of Russia) tribe which converted to Judean religion in the seventh or eight century A.D. and combined the Khazar and Hebrew languages to make Yiddish. As such, modern Jews have no right to the land in Palestine. ("Jew and Judean," in Jesus Christ our Passover, V.P. Wierwille, pp. 435-440)
This unsubstantiated theory fits well with British Israelism, popular in the early 1900s, which claimed that the British were the true descendants of Israel. This has the same effect of dismissing the modern Jewish race and faith.
Rood may maintain the same distinction between Jews and Judeans. He may also hold British Israelist beliefs, since he claims that his name "Rood," is from England and means "cross," (which is true) while also claiming that he is a Jew.
Rood also differs from TWI in that he denounces its theory of seven administrations, which is a repackaging of E.W. Bullinger's ultradispensationalism which asserts that baptism should not be practiced by Christians, and that only Paul's seven epistles are authoritative for Christians today. This is to be expected since Rood requires Christians to keep the Torah. Rood clearly is attacking , TWI/ultradispensational beliefs in Mystery of Iniquity, pp 57, 61, 64-66), yet he, never mentions TWI by name.
Michael John Rood is clearly not a reputable Christian minister and Messianic rabbi as he claims to be, nor is he a reliable source for accurate Bible teaching.. His speculative predictions about end time events, archaeology and other topics have led, and will continue to lead, to more disturbance in the minds of those who accept his theories. His adherence to teachings and practice learned in a cult, and his legalism draw people away from the grace of Jesus Christ which the New Testament teaches. People would be wise to neither accept Rood's teachings nor support his ministry.
All Scriptures from the KJB
Copyright . All articles are the sole property of SeekGod.ca and Vicky Dillen
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Ella's view:
I pray this article will help those of you who believe in the false teaching of Michael Rood to know that there are many false prophets out to gain influence over you through money and their lies.
God warns us and tell the Jews and all of us in His word how to detect and to know a false prophet in Deuteronomy chapters 13, and in chapter 18-19.
We MUST know the difference, if what a person who claims to be speaking God's word. If what he or she says DOSE NOT LINE UP WITH THE WORD OFGOD IS ALL THINGS, PLEASE TURN A DEAF EAR. and DO NOT receive it. Many will be lost in the great day of the coming of Christ because of listening and believing the lies of false teachers and prphets, ONLY BECAUSE THEY DO NOT KNOW THE WORD OF GOD FOR THEMSELVES.
Why would you stand in judgment of a "brother" without investigating the matter wholly and personally beforehand?
Do you know anything of this man you quoted as if he is an expert? I know you also quoted the Bible, but you start from a position of not understanding the comments that were made in the article being discussed.
I have listened to some of Michael Rood's teachings. Before you posted the article by the man who obviously has a problem, I had read some of his comments online. I still respect Michael Rood's ministry.
The initial post was by someone who has been exposed to the teachings of the author quoted and who apparently is on the mailing list of the author's ministry. The letter posted was apparently addressed to followers of that ministry, people who would know the subject matter without having to lay the foundation again.
You, Ms. Ella, according to your own comment have not been exposed to the teachings of this man of God. I imagine, based on your initial comments, when you read the initial post you felt as if you were coming in on the middle of a conversation. If you have not heard Michael Rood's teachings, which are based on Scripture and Jewish tradition, it is like you have missed half the conversation.
I would suggest at the very minimum that you go to Michael Rood's website (michaelroodministries) and compare his Statement of Faith/Beliefs found on the page "What we believe", to those you posted about him and see if they are the same words. You will find out that they are not. The statement you posted says that Michael Rood's Statement of Faith does not mention Jesus once. In fact, he mentions Yahshua, the Hebrew name for Jesus, 11 times in his Statement of Faith. This one fact alone should cause you to doubt this man's opinion. The Statement of Faith on the website is a 16 point statement, not 6 as posted by your expert.
The article posted was not predicting a date that Jesus would return or of the rapture. He does not present himself as a prophet and in fact stated in the article that he would not state something as coming from God unless God instructed him to do so.
If you want to know what he teaches you can find that on his website. From the page "What We Believe" click the link on the left "Rood Teachings". At the bottom of that page that is a paragraph titled "Shavua Tov Commentary Archive". At the end of that paragraph click "Click here for previous Torah Teachings." There is a list of teachings on the first five books of the Bible that can be downloaded as a pdf document.
Only God has ALL the Truth...if someone says they do, they are a liar or ignorant (meaning ignoring the truth). Also, if we are honest with ourselves we must admit that there is something in the belief system of each and every one of us that is wrong or false. I don't know what it is that I believe that is false, but by God's grace as I grow and mature through study and seeking His face, He will cause my thoughts and beliefs to align with His Truth.
May we hate the things that He hates so that we will love the things that He loves.
Peace!
Debbie
gracegrace
"I'm just a nobody trying to tell anybody about Somebody who loves everybody." :hearts:
2 Peter 1:2 "Grace and Peace by multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord."
I would like to say that I think you are sincere in what you believe however, if you are believing in the teaches of a false teachers, it is my and all belivers responsibility to make you aware of this. Somethimes we find oursleves blinded by our faith in the desire to belive in the wrong things.
I love that song "I'm just a nobody, trying to tell everybody, about somebody who can save anybody! I like the version by the Williams Brothers..:applause:
Now Back to Rood....
Jesus and Paul and the other apostles gives us many warning about being sucuced by false teachers and false doctrine of such, and exhort us to watch over our souls. Second John tells us not to even receive false teachers or their material into our hme or bid them God's speed, anyone who comes to us with another doctrine other than that of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, it is not necessary that I listen to what Rood has to say, because just from reading what he has written, as a matur eChristian, I am made awre that what he says is mixed wiuth half truths which makes evereything he has to say a lie. No different than when satan tempted Jesus. Yes, satan quoted scriptures, but what satan said was not correct and it was out of context.
So what doctrine is Rood teahing? My other question to you since you believe in Rood's teachings: What is Rood teaching you and the others who follow him about Jesus Christ, His borth, His ministry, His death and burial, and His resurrection. After all if he is not teaching you anything about Jesus Christ then, I declare Rood as a false teacher, who is only out for money... Because knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior is the only thing that will matter when that great day of the Lord's return.
I would that you and all others be very careful about following a man or a woman who does not teach you in the doctrine of Jesus Christ, and who spends more time teaching about nonessentials unrelated to your salvation. Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY, the TRUTH and the LIGHT and LIFE! There is no other way by which you, me or anyone can be saved and have eternal life.
Knowing Jesus Christ is the ONLY way into God's kingdom (heaven) nothing else matters. I can only give out the warning to you and others about false teachers, and God will do the rest. But I have done my job, which is all that He has required of me to tell you the truth. And there is nothing that can come up against the truth except the truth its self... its your choice to reject or receive. Sorry, but Rood doesn't not teach God's truth. And I don't need to hear him to know this, just as a person doesn't need to try drugs to know they are not good for you... BTW, His statement of faith is twisted and says nothing about faith and believe in Jesus Christ as God Himself. jumps all over the place...I'm just saying.
We are told in God's word to be aware of false teachers who are full of pride and greed and teahcing their own doctrine leading you away from the faith that is found ONLY in Jesus Christ. And Yes, I indeed, I can and must judge, this is the Christians responsibility to righteously judge right from wrong, good and evil, truth and a lie. And I will judge Rood and others who are not teaching God's truth about Jesus Christ and who profess and or confesss to being a minister of the Lord... if it doesn't line up with God word, for sure, I will judge. I have no problems with judging according to the word of God.
My prblem is how can Rood teach you something he knows nothing about?
Hope you and others will read these article and see for yourselves if Rood lines up the characteristics as outlined in these article. Most likely he will...
What is a False Teacher?
5 Characteristics of False Teachers
By John MacArthur
When I sat down and just started writing out Characteristics of False Teachers, these are the things that showed up on my list: Pride, Selfishness, Deception, Irreverence, and Destruction. Those would be probably the First Five Features of False Teachers that would be on my list of the, say, a DOZEN or so. Here are the First 5 Characteristics of a False Teacher:
1 - False Teachers are Proud - PRIDE
They are concerned for their own Popularity. They are concerned for their own Fame. They are concerned for their own Notoriety. They are concerned for their own Prestige. They�re concerned to See themselves and Hear themselves in the Public Eye. They want Large Crowds, as it were, to bow down in great homage to them. They�re Characterized by Pride and they will do anything to gain the ground they need to gain for the welfare of their own Personal Ego, including any amount of Compromise necessary.
2 - False Teachers are Characterized by Selfishness - SELFISHNESS
They tend to be Self-Centered. They are concerned for their own Comfort. They are concerned for their own Popularity. They are concerned for their own Prosperity. In the end, it�s all about Money, Fame, and Prestige and Notoriety equals an increased Bank Account. They are in it for the Money and the Personal material benefits that they can gain as they endeavor to feed their Selfish Desires.
3 - They are Characterized by Deception - DECEPTION
They usually can weave a very sophisticated web of Deception in their Teaching because they tend to be Articulate, if they�re going to be Successful, and they endeavor to engage other people to aid them in their deceitful enterprise which gives it the, sort of, facade of credibility.
4 - They�re Irreverent - IRREVERENT
If there�s anything that sort of dominates in my thinking about False Teachers, it is their Irreverence. They have absolutely no regard for God. The fact that they would go against God, that they would elevate themselves the way they do, that they would Pervert the Truth indicates their utter Irreverence. They have little, if any, regard for God, His Word, His Truth, His Glory, His Honor�
5 - They are Spiritually Destructive - DESTRUCTIVE
They seek to Use People; they seek to Abuse People. They seek to Lead People into Error, which destroys them�into Sin, which Pollutes Them.
So, as you look at False Teachers�
With regard to the WORLD, they are Proud and they seek Fame and Popularity.
With regard to THEMSELVES, they are Self-centered, Selfish, Self-aggrandizing, Self-gratifying.
With regard to the NATURE OF THEIR MINISTRY, they are Dishonest and Deceptive and Lack Integrity.
With regard to God, they are utterly Irreverent; in fact, they are Blasphemous. And,
With regard to the PEOPLE THAT THEY INFLUENCE, they are Spiritually Destructive.
So, their Relationship to the WORLD, their Relationship to the MINISTRY, their relationship to THEMSELVES, their Relationship to GOD, their Relationship to THEIR PEOPLE all reflects the DEVIATION OF THEIR HEARTS.
What Are The Characteristics of a True Minister?
On the other hand, if you were to write a list of Characteristics of the True Minister, a True Pastor, a True Shepherd, a True Preacher, a Faithful Pastor�you would start by saying he is Humble and then you probably would say he is Lovingly Sacrificial, instead of Selfish. He is Honest and has Integrity, rather than Deceptive. And, he is Reverent and Worships and Honors God, rather than being Irreverent. And, he is Spiritually Strengthening and Edifying. You would be right. Remember now, Paul is writing, in defining his own Attitudes here, against the background of these False Teachers whose Attitudes should have become obvious to the people in Corinth. A Faithful Pastor is Humble, Unselfish, Honest, Reverent, and Spiritually Edifying, just the opposite of False Teachers.
EXCERPTS FROM� "CONCERNS OF A TRUE PASTOR: HUMILITY AND SELFLESSNESS"
COPYRIGHTT � BY JOHN F MACARTHUR, JR / GTY.org � 1998 / GRACE TO YOU MINISTRIES
Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups - Revised
Janja Lalich, Ph.D. & Michael D. Langone, Ph.D.
Concerted efforts at influence and control lie at the core of cultic groups, programs, and relationships. Many members, former members, and supporters of cults are not fully aware of the extent to which members may have been manipulated, exploited, even abused. The following list of social-structural, social-psychological, and interpersonal behavioral patterns commonly found in cultic environments may be helpful in assessing a particular group or relationship.
Compare these patterns to the situation you were in (or in which you, a family member, or friend is currently involved). This list may help you determine if there is cause for concern. Bear in mind that this list is not meant to be a �cult scale� or a definitive checklist to determine if a specific group is a cult. This is not so much a diagnostic instrument as it is an analytical tool.
(1)‪ The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.
(2)‪ Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
(3)‪ Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
(4)‪ The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry�or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).
(5)‪ The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar�or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).
(6)‪ The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.
(7)‪ The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).
(8)‪ The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).
(9)‪ The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt iin order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.
‪ (10) Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.
‪ (11) The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
(12) ‪ The group is preoccupied with making money.
(13) ‪ Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.
‪ (14) Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.
(15)‪ The most loyal members (the �true believers�) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.
This checklist will be published in the new book, Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias (Berkeley: Bay Tree Publishing, 2006). It was adapted from a checklist originally developed by Michael Langone.
Resources
Langone, Michael, Ph.D.: "Definitional Ambiguity"
Langone, Michael, Ph.D.: "On Using the Term "Cult"
I pray these articles will help someone and open all blinded eyes into God's truths in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. May God be true and every man a liar... Amen! Amen!:glow:
Where on earth have you been? Yes, I finally learned how to copy and pastre and cut and paste, haven't got down how to transfer photos yet, but I'm working on it. lol
I've missed you. Well, I haven't been on here much in a long time. I just pop in every so often.
We miss you over at the Elect, and every so often they ask about you. You should pop in and surprise them. GK is still acting out, being crazzzeee!:dancingp:
Hi Miss Ella...and everyone else :) You mentioned that you thought Michael Rood was a false teacher because he doesn't teach Jesus - so I just wanted to share with you this part o Michael Rood's statement of faith. Maybe he doesn't use the same name, Jesus - but he does teach Yahshua, our Messiah!! And he also doesn't teach legalism, he teaches loving obedience to our Father, YHWH.
From Michaelroodministries.com:
We believe that YHWH has bound himself to the Children of Israel through His covenant promises. The Torah contains the records of these covenants. We believe that one cannot benefit from these covenant promises without being �grafted in� to the root of Israel. We believe that we become a member of the household and a citizen of the commonwealth of Israel through faith in Yahshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ). We believe that Yahshua the Messiah came to restore the Children of Israel back to YHWH, to the Torah, and in the end, to the Land of Promise.
We believe that Yahshua of Nazareth is the only begotten Son of the one true God, was born of a virgin, was anointed with the fullness of the Holy Spirit as the promised Messiah of Israel, died in place of all who break the covenant, was raised from the dead after three days and three nights in the grave, and received the Divine authority to judge and rule over heaven and earth.
We believe that Yahshua paid the debt so that it would be possible for us to enter again into the covenant thus fulfilling Isaiah�s prophetic promise of the �Renewed Covenant�. We believe that Yahshua came not to destroy the Torah but to give it meaning and substance. Yahshua is our only Rabbi � teaching us Torah through His words, actions and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We believe that Yahshua is the Torah become flesh and dwelling among us as the light of the world.
We believe that all believers in Yahshua are called to become the body of Messiah through the keeping of the Torah. We believe that when the Spirit of the Holy One fulfills the Renewed Covenant promise, the Torah will again be written on the hearts of all believers restoring the image of YHWH in man and in the world.
We believe that neither fear of hell nor hope of salvation is the proper motivation for obeying the Torah, but rather, love for our Creator is the sole reason we keep the Torah. We believe that those who keep either the rules of man-made religion or the ordinances in the Torah in order to escape hell or to gain heaven are �under the law�. Those who keep Torah out of genuine love for YHWH without thought of reward or punishment are living out the true spirit of the Torah.
We believe that the Torah is a gift of grace to every believer. We believe that those who love Yahshua will manifest his nature and keep YHWH�S commandments joyfully and will not find them to be grievous. Thus obedience to the Torah is the fruit of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.
We believe that the Torah was neither destroyed, nor annulled, nor contradicted by the life, teaching, ministry, death or resurrection of the Messiah. Rather, the Torah contains clear and detailed revelations about the Messiah�s life, ministry, sacrifice, and return. We believe that the Gospels record the teachings of Yahshua and detail the conflicts that ensued as he lived the Torah in a society dominated by a man-made religious system that contradicted the instructions in the Torah.
We believe that YHWH has called us to restore the teaching and practice of Torah among believers in Yahshua Messiah and that they may again embody the image of Elohim in the world and become a light of hope for the nations.
