Definition of False Teacher: One who presumes to teach in the Name of the Lord when God has not sent him.

Brian Samtur - Serving Mammon in the Name of Yeshua (Jesus)

And Caught by His Own Spam Filter

We first heard from Brian Samtur after e-mailing him our exposure of Maria Merola, one of his Messianic associates. He then began sending us his smarmy newsletters, to which we responded on three occasions, the Lord exposing the disgusting hypocrisy and idolatry of his so-called godly ministry.

Here we post our responses, though none of Brian’s newsletters, which are available through http://torahwalk.net (if he hasn’t gone out of business yet).

Victor sent Brian the following note on July 30, 2010:

Shalom, Brian!

We have recently been receiving your mail. I have some questions for you, not in strife, but in sincere request for your answers. I hope you won’t be offended or even skeptical, but I hope you will be honest and straightforward, an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile, as was John the Immerser who spoke some strong words to the multitudes coming to him (Luke 3:7), and as Yeshua HaMashiach did to many (Matthew 23).

One, in the messages you have been sending us, you are presumably speaking to those who believe. Am I right? See the following examples:

“Simply because you are my child and I am your Abba . 1 John 3:1”

“And I rejoice over you with singing . Zephaniah 3:17”

“I will never stop doing good to you . Jeremiah 32:40”

“For you are my treasured possession . Exodus 19:5”

“I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Y’shua .John 17:23”

On the other hand, you quote verses that can apply to those of the world as well:

“And to tell you that I am not counting your sins . 2 Corinthians 5:18-19,” the full Scripture quoted being:

“And all things are of God, Who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; whereas God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and putting the word of reconciliation in us” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19 MKJV).

Are you trying to speak to believers and market your music, or are you speaking to both believer and unbeliever?

Two, you say to only “hang out” with those who “really want to please” God (according to 1 Timothy 6:3-5). How can you tell who these are? You say that those who are “always caught up in theological disputes” are the ones from whom believers should withdraw. What about Jesus and His ministry, wherein He was in constant “theological disputation” with the religious, who crucified Him because they couldn’t have their way? What about Paul, who was also put away for the same reason?

Three, according to the nature and spirit of the materials you send, I would gather that you would have something ranging anywhere from difficulty with, to abhorrence for, the material on our site and for the things we have to say to people and the way we say them. Am I right? If so, please explain the substance of this document to us: Does God Speak Only Gentle Words?

Four, did you read our correspondence with Maria Merola and the Grays? If so, what do you think?

That’s it for now, Brian; thank you for your attention.

Victor

When receiving another mass e-mail, but no reply from Brian, Victor and Paul wrote him again on August 9:

Brian,

Can you not answer our questions, or do you not want to go there, knowing that your answers will expose you? But you are already exposed before the Lord. Your controversy-less, warm and fuzzy Messianic faith is a despicable farce to Him. Here is what He says to you:

Matthew 23:25-36 MKJV
(25) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of extortion and excess.
(26) Blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of them may be clean also.
(27) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outside, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
(28) Even so you also appear righteous to men outwardly, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
(29) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous,
(30) and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
(31) Therefore you are witnesses to yourselves, that you are the sons of those who killed the prophets;
(32) and you fill up the measure of your fathers.
(33) Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
(34) Therefore, behold, I send prophets and wise men and scribes to you. And you will kill and crucify some of them. And some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city;
(35) so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Berachiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.
(36) Truly I say to you, All these things shall come on this generation.

Here is a Scripture we won’t find in your “From Scripture with Love” missives:

“Cursed be he who does the work of the LORD negligently; and cursed be he who keeps back his sword from blood” (Jeremiah 48:10 HNV).

The curse of God is on you and your phony religious front of imitation love and grace. Without a love of the truth, your grace is iniquity, and your love is enmity with God. You are in all wickedness, Brian, and no amount of whitewash can hide that from the Light and Fire of God.

Victor Hafichuk
Paul Cohen

Having still received no reply from Brian, but more mass e-mails, Victor and Paul responded to one of his messages on November 25, 2010:

Brian,

In your “devotionals,” you have the motto, “We’re gonna walk the walk.” Now you send out this “SOS Urgent Torahwalk” prayer request. Is it a request for prayer, or is it a request for money? Money, no doubt, because almost immediately, you say, “I am writing today because we are currently facing some immediate SOS financial challenges.” And then you say, “If our devotional has been a blessing for you... Please send a tax deductible offering made payable to: From Scripture With Love Inc as soon as possible to: Brian Samtur From Scripture With Love Inc P O Box 9395 Silver Spring ,Maryland, 20916 Todah Rabah, Thank you so very much.”

Tell me this, Brian: Do you find anywhere in the Scriptures where Yeshua asked people for money? Can you possibly imagine Him, or any of His apostles and disciples, sending out a message to the multitudes like “SOS URGENT PRAYER REQUEST SOS” in bold red caps, requesting funds for themselves?

Furthermore, there you are, begging for financial aid, but it is a plea titled (I would say “disguised” as) a prayer request! Is it not shameful to be doing these things in His Name? In the “prayer request,” the closest and only time you come to suggesting prayer is when you tie it in with sending money (an “offering”): “If you would prayerfully help for such a time as this with an offering, it would mean so much to us.”

Aren’t you the one that not long ago promised everyone they could finance themselves, their churches, and their ministries by some kind of financial opportunity you were offering them that would eliminate campaigning for funds or asking anyone for money?:

“PROVISION IS NOW AVAILABLE for the financial needs of your family, congregation and ministry- in your SPARE TIME without leaving home and without interfering with what you do now. Listen to Brian Samtur’s ANSWERED PRAYERS CONFERENCE CALL 'BUILDING THE ARK & FILLING THE STOREHOUSE'”

So what happened? Why isn’t that scheme working for you?

Now you come to collect for your “freely-given,” pious devotionals: “If our devotional has been a blessing for you… Please send a tax deductible offering….”

You are one confounded fellow, and that is because you worship mammon, not Messiah Yeshua. You promote “worship material” for money to finance what, your “ministry”?

Did Jesus/Yeshua sell the Gospel in any form to finance Himself so that He could help others? Did He ask men for provision so He might provide for them? Do you not see your blatant contradiction? Have you not red the Scripture?:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God [not men]. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7 MKJV).

Several decades ago, Messiah Yeshua (I then knew Him only as the Lord Jesus Christ, and I still know Him by that Name) counseled me to never ask men for anything. He told me that as long as I took care of His interests, He would take care of mine. I have not asked men for money since, and He has been faithful to keep His promise to me far beyond what I imagined.

There is reward with God. He is faithful to the faithful, but He also shows Himself froward to the froward, as He now does with you.

You use Hebrew names for our Creator, Lord, and Savior. You pepper your literature with Hebrew terms and use Jewish practices and customs, appearing to men to be holy. You circulate Scripture verses, yet you don’t know them in reality or their Author. Do you indeed “walk like Y’shua walked”? Are you really “gonna walk the walk”? You aren’t doing it. Your work is not the work of YHWH. It is the works of men you perform, Brian:

“As for the doings of men, by the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the ways of the violent” (Psalms 17:4 JPS).

Victor Hafichuk
Paul Cohen

Our message was rejected by the server as spam because of the format of Brian's e-mail, included in the reply. Paul wrote to Brian:

Interesting, Brian, that your server rejected your own material in our e-mail as spam (otherwise there was only our unspamlike text). What does that say to you?

Brian never replied and took us off his mailing list.

False teachers always get caught in their own traps and snared by their own devices and ways.

“A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul” (Proverbs 18:7 MKJV).

“Let their table become a snare before them; and to those at ease a trap” (Psalms 69:22 MKJV).

“Keep me from the traps which they have laid for me, and the snares of the workers of evil. Let the wicked fall into their own nets together, while I escape” (Psalms 141:9-10 MKJV).