Dr. Michael Brown had a recent episode on his show where he stated that he is not a member of NAR even though he has been mentioned as a leader in NAR. For those who don’t know, NAR stands for the New Apostolic Reformation. Dr. Brown has stated previously that NAR is not biblical and he doesn’t subscribe to their ideology, and I agree. For more information, you can check out The Line of Fire episode that was broadcast on September 14, 2022. Having said that, I find myself in a similar situation where I feel the need to clarify.
I grew up in church, the son of a preacher, and I even went to Bible college for a short while myself. I have always been involved in church functions and activities in just about every area you can think of, with the exception of being a senior pastor. I know Christian doctrine well. I’ve taught and preached on some doctrines, and even got into apologetics and taught that for a while.
Apologetics has grown because of the recent deconstruction movement that has crept into the church. But before that, I witnessed a rapid decline in church discipline. I have way too many examples that I could share, so I’ll just summarize by saying this. I saw many people in leadership or teaching positions who were actively and knowingly living in sin, yet nothing was done about it. And because of it, the congregations started to resemble that kind of leadership. Is this really the body of Christ?
I started doing some searching. I was digging into God’s Word to find what a true believer was supposed to look like. Jesus said that not everyone who called Him Lord would enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 7:21) That’s a problem. He said the day would come when the true worshippers would worship God is spirit and in truth. (John 4:23) Who are the true worshippers? He quoted Isaiah when He said that the people honor God with their lips but their hearts are far from Him. (Mark 7:6) That’s how Sunday worship started to feel. It’s all rote repetition. But the kicker is from the parable of the wedding feast.
I’ve preached on the parable of the 10 virgins before. It’s clear that half of them are left behind when the bridegroom returns. What usually gets overlooked is that all ten represent believers who are waiting for His return, and half don’t make it. Now, look at the parable of the wedding feast. Everyone there made it to the feast. But the King notices a man who didn’t have wedding garments and He kicked him out into utter darkness. Here is a man who was waiting and made it inside, but was still rejected by the King. Who are the true believers?
Well, this is getting too long so I’ll cut to the chase. My journey led me to the Hebrew Roots Movement. At its core, the HRM believes that the WHOLE Bible is still applicable to our lives today. Once people discovered that I was in the HRM, I was deemed a heretic. To my recollection, not a single person came to ask me anything personally. (One person did contact me about not being in church for a while, but that’s a different story.) Everything they knew about me at this point was what they heard from someone else. That’s the very definition of gossip and doesn’t follow biblical church disciple, but I digress. I started hearing things that were being said of me, and I was unsettled because the vast majority were false. Yet no one contacted me to find out the truth. So, I decided to play their role. What if I were in a cult? What if I was believing heresy? I would certainly want to know the truth. So I started watching and reading critiques of the HRM to see the other side of the coin, so to speak. It’s not much better on this side.
I have listened to or read several podcasts, radio shows, and articles from various ministries trying to refute, condemn, and/or warn others about the Hebrew Roots Movement. Having spent all of that time listening to what they had to say, I have come to the conclusion that I am NOT in the HRM. More on that in a minute, but I wanted to give the proper recognition to the people, shows, and ministries who all have something to say about the HRM. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, and I’m sure I’ve seen and heard others, but this is the list I can remember.
Pastor Steven Anderson, Tempe AZ
Got Questions (dot) org
CrossTalk Radio
Answers in Genesis
Mike Winger
Dr. Michael Brown
Andrew Schumacher, The Beginning of Wisdom
Todd Friel, Wretched Radio
Brian Moonan
R.L. Solberg, Defending the Biblical Roots of Christianity
Apologia Studios / Cultish
Oscar Navarro, Living Waters (interviewing R.L. Solberg)
I would like to say that I was enlightened by a different perspective on the issue, but they all have one glaring flaw in common. They all looked to the extreme groups in the HRM to try and understand what their beliefs are. Dr. Michael Brown, who is a Jew, would be an exception because he usually deals with the HRM through questions that come into his radio show. Andrew Schumacher does admit that there are a variety of sects in the HRM and they don’t all believe the same things, and possibly Mike Winger, too (it’s been a while since I watched his videos). The point is, almost all of these guys lump all beliefs together and then condemn the movement as a whole. Is that the biblical approach?
Jesus said that we will be judged with the same measure that we use to judge. So I’m going to apply that here. Since these guys used extreme positions to judge the HRM, I’m going to use the extreme groups to judge Christianity. And I’ll use the definition of Christianity that Gallop uses, which includes Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Christianity believes that Jesus is the brother of Satan and it also believes that Jesus is the archangel, Michael. They also believe that Mary is the holy mother and can forgive sins just as Jesus can. Christianity also teaches that we should protest the funerals of US soldiers because they serve a godless nation. We should also go to pride parades and condemn them to hell because Jesus won’t forgive their wickedness. On the other hand, God will forgive you no matter what you’ve done and continue to do because He loves you just the way you are. We can all find our own way to God.
I could go on, but you get the point. When you just look at the extremes of any group, you can condemn a lot of things. But does that discount the group just because of the foolishness of some? Should all of Christianity be condemned because some who claim to be Christians are teaching heretical things?
In the New Covenant, Jeremiah (31:29-30) says, “In those days they will no longer say: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are blunted.’ 30 Rather each will die for his own iniquity: if anyone eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be blunted.” In other words, the sins of our fathers will not condemn the children, but rather each person will be judged on their own merits. If Christians claim to be in the New Covenant, then why don’t they live accordingly? I mean, we should all be judged individually, yet these guys are all condemning the HRM collectively. Likewise, the Bible says multiple times that we should judge justly and fairly. Unequal weights and measures are an abomination to YHWH. (Prov. 20:10) Why didn’t any of these critiques follow that biblical model?
So, I find myself in a conundrum. According to what these guys say about the HRM, I’m not in that group. I don’t agree with most of what they say the HRM believes. And on the other hand, these guys profess Christ but don’t seem to follow everything that Christ taught. I don’t want to be guilty by association, so should I avoid their group as well? I’m being a bit tongue-in-cheek, but what I want to express mostly about these critiques is that they are hypocritical and biased. They would never critique Christianity in the same manner. And I find that somewhat more disgusting than disappointing.
Here’s the deal. There are many sects of Christianity just like there were and are many sects of Judaism. Christianity used to be a sect of Judaism. Luke records in Acts that they were called the sect of The Way. (Acts 24:14) They were also called the sect of the Nazarenes and Paul was named as one of the ringleaders. (Acts 24:5) Eventually, they broke off from Judaism, and Christianity started splitting into its various sects. I consider myself a Christian because that means ‘Christ-like’. And I belong to the sect of Christianity that resembles the sect of The Way. As Paul said in Acts 24:14, “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way (which they call a sect), I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything written in the Torah and the Prophets.”
I wish more would join me, but I’ll just have to paraphrase the words of Joshua. You must choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. As for me, I will follow YHWH and His Messiah and Son, Yeshua (Jesus).
