To John and the Doves,
"Pastor" Bob has libelled me , falsely accusing me of being part of an organization that "ran afoul with the law" and fined $170,000+ for issuing degrees without being licensed by the state of Texas. This is a WRONG. I have never been part of any organization that was fined. In 1998, one Texas seminary was indeed charged and fined over $170K for issuing degrees without a license ($5,000 per degree x 34 degrees). But in 2007, the Texas State Supreme Court voted 8-0 to overturn the conviction, saying the state had no right to regulate religious schools, and they returned the money to the seminary. As a result, any seminary can issue any degree they like without having the approval of the state beforehand. But Bob doesn't tell you about that Supreme Court decision. He left that out. You can read about it at http://caselaw.findlaw.com/tx-supreme-court/1038957.html
So Bob was wrong about that, but he's been wrong about a lot and he also falsely accused me of numerous other things in his post. However, let me say that even though I was not associated with the seminary that went through that ordeal (nor did I ever teach at a different institution that went through something similar), my sympathies are with them, and I do not consider them bad people who "ran afoul with the law". THE LAW WAS WRONG, NOT THE SEMINARY! And I say shame on "Pastor" Bob for siding with the state's attempt to regulate religion and to the obvious opposition to religious freedom that he is displaying by characterizing what they went through as a bad thing and by forming an opinion that presumes the state has a right to regulate religion and thereby persecute the brethren. We should never allow that.
This isn't the only false allegation "Pastor" Bob has made against me. He also either accused me of teaching things I don't teach or tried to associate me, through techniques that will mislead the reader, with ideas I don't believe and haven't taught. His venom was so long winded, I probably can't address every line of it. But let me address a few of the ones that are easiest to prove.
He alleged, "Jovial teaches a Kabbalistic Trinity" which he defines as "a Kabbalistic trinity consists of the Father, the Son, and the Mother Spirit!" This is easy for me to disprove from the doves archives. In September of 2001, Diane Talsma raised the issue on the forum of the Trinity as taught by James Trimm quoting his HRV intro, and the gender of the Spirit. I responded with a post from Sept 24, 2001 where I explained why I disagreed with Trimm's analysis that the Holy Spirit is the "Mother" and explained why linguistic gender does not necessarily imply physical gender by showing examples of feminine words used for human men, and why the pronounal basis for his "proof" did not imply in Hebrew the same thing it might in English. I see no reason for describing the Trinity differently than it has been described by Christians for ages.
I also do not embrace the concept of the "Tree of Life" or the "10 Sefirot". Bob changed the traditional name of this from the "10 sefirot" to the "10 creative forces", which is not a term I have heard anyone use before, and that change has the effect of misleading the reader, because I have taught on "The Creative Forces", but it was not about the 10 Sefirot, although by changing the name, it is easy for the reader to get the false misimpression that this is what my teaching was about when it was not. I find that teaching to have too little foundation to accept it as some sort of truth.
I have never had any ministry association with Michael Rood. I was formerly a member of the INBD, and during that time, voted with the majority to remove James Trimm from office for misconduct. I can't exactly be held liable for misconduct I expressed my disapproval of in the past. I am no longer part of that organization. But Bob leaves ALL of that stuff out, and tries to claim I am presently part of Trimm's organization when I am not.
Bob accused me of believing in Kabbalah based on the Zohar. Yet in September of 2014, when 2 people on the doves site promoted a news story that suggested there was a prophecy in the Zohar about to be fulfilled, I pointed out that (1) the story was wrong and (2) pointed out how the Zohar was wrong in predicted a prophecy during the 900-1000 AD time period. Thus, I publicly said prior to Bob's accusations that the Zohar was wrong about something. In another post a few weeks ago, I discussed how the Zohar was wrong in predicting the return of the Messiah in the 13th century.
What Bob has done is grab some of the oddest teachings in Judaism and accused me of them, without ever quoting something I've said to prove it. That's because there's not something I've said that will prove it and as I said before, my Sept 2001 post has info in the archives to prove I don't believe some of what I was accused of. He has accused me of believing in things I don't believe in and being associated with things I am not associated with. It's maddening that something so untrue could even happen!!!
There were so many mischaracterizations I would probably have to write a volume to address them all. But this sums up the biggest ones well enough to show that Bob simply was telling you one false piece of information after another, and nothing he said can be considered believable and if you hear him say something about me, his track record of getting one thing after another wrong about me to make me look bad tells you enough to presume it false upon hearing it. He made so many accusations that are documented to be to the contrary, that he could not possibly have even CARED about whether he was telling the truth. He would have checked with me if he had.
But he attacked me, Messianic Judaism, and has a history of attacking many denominations, including accusing the entire Charismatic movement of being a Jesuit plot on 5/17/2015 . If he is not badmouthing me, he is badmouthing someone most weeks, often with info he can't substantiate. Seems he has appointed himself the accuser of the brethren.
Bob was wrong about me again and again and again in the various things he wrote about me. He said many things that are wrong and libelous and he owes me an apology and I am going to call on him to MAN UP and issue the retraction falsehoods like this deserve.
I hate sending a note like this, but I hate that people think I am guilty of something I haven't done. I hate negativity, but sometimes it needs to be said. This is one of those times.
Joe