August 17, 2007

Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc.
Attn: Don Veinot

P.O. Box 446
Wonder Lake, IL 60097-0446

Dear Mr. Veinot:

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

My name is Wesley Strackbein, and I serve as the editor of the Vision Forum Ministries website as well as a contributing writer to various publications related to our work.

I want to thank you in advance for taking time to carefully review this letter. It is my hope that the Lord will use this communication for the glory of God — not only by laying the foundation for brotherly love to exist between our ministries, but also so that everyone concerned can be preserved from the damage that results when Christians knowingly or unwittingly sow seeds of discord by bringing a false witness against their brothers.

At present, it appears as if you are escalating a campaign of defamation against our ministry and that you are using this campaign to raise funds for your efforts with Midwest Christian Outreach.[i] Further, clear evidence points to the fact that, in your advancement of this mission, you have joined hands with a lawless couple who have become notorious for their prolonged campaign of gossip, lies, cruelty, and deceptions targeted against a number of churches, pastors, ministries, and individuals — chief among them being Doug Phillips and Vision Forum. It is also apparent that, in mounting your personal campaign, you have bypassed the most basic courtesies of journalistic integrity. More importantly, you have disregarded the biblically mandated duties required of Christians before bringing serious accusations against their brothers to the general public.

The outrageous charges you are openly propagating and the improper tactics which you have employed warrant a public response. Your wrongful accusations, tactics, and activities must be clearly addressed; and given my role with Vision Forum, it falls upon me to publish a rebuttal to your misguided actions against our ministry.

Before proceeding with this, however, it is my hope that the Lord will work mightily in your heart so that a drawn-out public response can be avoided. I speak for all of us at Vision Forum Ministries when I say that we want nothing more than genuine Christian peace and brotherly love to exist between our respective ministries.

The purpose of this letter is to open the door for precisely this outcome. Specifically, we want to give you an opportunity to help us to understand you better. It is very important that we accurately represent your actions, alliances, and writings so that we do not mischaracterize you in any private or public response which we write. In fact, it is my sincere hope that you will reconsider your tactics, alliances, and your conclusions so that a war of words can be avoided altogether, and we can instead walk away respecting one another, calling each other “brother.”

Toward this end, we want to believe the very best about you and give you the benefit of the doubt concerning matters which are deeply troubling to us and which, in all candor, call into question the credibility and integrity of your ministry.

We recognize the potential for misunderstanding and confusion which exists in all communications as well as the reality that all of us are both human and sinners prone to make errors of judgment. We also realize that unscrupulous individuals may have taken advantage of your good intentions or even sought to curry favor with you by manipulating you into believing that their cause is your cause. Furthermore, we realize that it is possible that you are genuinely unfamiliar with biblical requirements for bringing public accusations against brothers or promoting unsubstantiated gossip and misrepresentations through your writings and website.

All of this and more is possible, which is why we want to give you the opportunity to provide real and meaningful answers to questions which we believe go straight to the heart of issues of integrity. From the outset, let me be clear that we believe that Christians can disagree on a vast array of theological and practical issues and remain brothers, friends, and yoke-fellows before the Lord. On the other hand, we do not believe that this spirit of equanimity is possible if Christians resort to libel and internet assassinations against other Christians, or if they continue to do so, once having been confronted for such behavior.

TWO ISSUES: Your Misrepresentations and Alliance with Renegades

Now is the time to set matters straight. Toward this end, there are two primary issues which I must bring to your attention, as well as several specific questions pertaining to these issues.

As your brother in Christ, I am requesting that you take this matter seriously by honestly answering the questions and by taking appropriate actions to make things right with God and your fellow man.

Issue #1: You Have Broken the Ninth Commandment and Have Lovingly Been Called to Repentance by Dr. Brian Abshire, Pastor of Highlands Presbyterian Church.

Several weeks ago, we were contacted by Dr. Brian Abshire who has not only provided us with his detailed response to your public attacks against Doug Phillips, but has indicated that he spoke with you on the phone, during which time you expressed a willingness to reconsider your actions against Mr. Phillips and our ministry.

Dr. Abshire’s response to your writings critical of our work made a number of well established points. Specifically, Dr. Abshire conclusively demonstrated that you have acted in an unbrotherly and unbiblical manner towards fellow Christians, that you have borne false witness against us, and that the scope of this false witness is significant.

Dr. Abshire rightly observed that: “We do not believe what you say we believe, we do not teach what you say we teach and the proof is in the very essay you used to criticize us.”

Dr. Abshire correctly proved that you have made numerous accusations without attribution, and that you have demonstrated a pattern of sloppy research. Further, you have declared as “false teachers” and “cultic” those who ascribe to long-held orthodox Christian doctrine, justifying your criticism of our views on sloppy hermeneutics advanced by radical feminists and others who have rejected the historic Christian faith. Moreover, you have accused brothers of positions that they have taken great pains to repudiate, cherry-picking quotes from articles to falsely accuse them — while ignoring key points in the very same articles that refute the very points you attempt to establish.

Dr. Abshire also correctly observed that you have completely failed to contact us in any meaningful or honest way before publishing your calumnies. In sum, you have broken the Ninth Commandment by bringing a false witness against men you do not know and you have never properly contacted, and you appear to have built your case against them based on unsubstantiated gossip.

We not only agree with Dr. Abshire’s excellent analysis of the issues and his refutation of your essay and correction of your behavior towards us, but we believe that he was biblically grounded to inquire of you: “Will you repent of the false accusations or maintain them?”

Our question to you follows his probing appeal: In light of Dr. Abshire’s serious but gracious correction to your wrongful behavior, is it your intention to stand by your actions, or are you willing to deescalate the problem and chart a fundamentally new course?

Issue #2: You Have Publicly Aligned Yourself with and Drawn Support from Individuals Who Have Been Excommunicated for Ongoing Unrepentant Sins and Who Have Demonstrated a Pattern of Continued Sinful and Lawless Activities Since their Excommunication, as Affirmed by Several Jurisdictional Entities

Beyond your misrepresentations of the teachings of Doug Phillips and Vision Forum lies another serious issue: your active association with individuals whose pattern of egregious, sinful behavior is far-reaching, well-documented, and confirmed by the testimony of several distinct church bodies as well as a presiding Justice of a State Supreme Court.[ii]

Perhaps you are ignorant of this record — in your zeal to attack the credibility of Doug Phillips and Vision Forum, you failed to carefully investigate the background of those with whom you have yoked yourself in spreading accusations against our ministry.

Since their excommunication in the beginning of 2005, Mark and Jennifer Epstein have been on a two-and-half-year campaign of vengeance and division. They have not only brought injury to the hundreds of individuals against whom they have directed their poisoned pen and unlawful behavior, but against many others as well.

These are the individuals with whom you have publicly aligned yourself and upon whose credible witness you are in part basing your own vendetta against Brian Abshire, Doug Phillips, biblical patriarchy, and Vision Forum Ministries. While such ignorance, if founded, is inexcusable on your part, it could explain how you were led astray to conspire with these renegades; and so, for the good of the order, I will summarize for you their sordid record of wrongs.

The following is only a partial summary list of facts concerning the misbehavior of this embittered couple. The Epsteins (Jennifer and/or Mark) have:

1. Been excommunicated and adjudged to be treated as “heathen and publican” with the unanimous affirmation of a confessional church for ongoing (sometimes public, but always) serious sins, including habitual lying, revilings, and cruelty on the part of both husband and wife[iii] directly related to Mrs. Epstein’s past adultery with a Muslim which produced a child out of wedlock;

2. Been reproved and admonished by multiple ministries, churches, and ministers for their unrepentant sins, spirit of vengeance, deceptions, etc.;[iv]
3. Been formally banned as a vendor from participation in conferences with FEAST (Family Educators of South East Texas), a regional home school organization, because of “unethical practices” including “deception” toward this group in the years 2005-2006;[v]
4. Worked with “Christian” White Separatists to advance their agenda of gossip and lies against men and ministries;[vi]
5. Been upbraided by a State Supreme Court Justice after it was discovered that a member of his staff (subsequently fired) worked with Jennifer Epstein to unlawfully use government equipment to disseminate lies and to disrupt business and ministry relations — activity which the Justice characterized as “vile schemes.”[vii]
6. Been exposed for their efforts in a conspiracy to destroy the good name of Christian leaders that has involved using the cover of proxy servers,[viii] writing under numerous anonymous and pseudonymous names,[ix] launching websites which perpetrated frauds,[x] and even conspiring to spy on the homes of pastors like R.C. Sproul, Sr. and to interview neighbors under false pretences for the purpose of gathering damaging information to be used in public smear campaigns;[xi]
7. Publicly (through the Internet and written correspondences they have widely distributed) called no less than two hundred men and women to repentance before their personal tribunal of justice. To accomplish these ends, they have trafficked in unrelenting gossip, have deliberately posted pictures of the Sproul family designed to humiliate them,[xii] and have become a clearinghouse for gossip for anonymous internet assassins with an axe to grind. They have not only demanded the repentance of R. C. Sproul, Sr.[xiii] and Doug Phillips, but of entire congregations, of multiple ministers of the Gospel, and of no fewer than ten members from their former local church whom they have charged with wrongs against them; and have called no less than three Christian ministries to repentance;[xiv]
8. Filed false charges before a government agency against an innocent physician who voted for their excommunication. The charges related to revelations about Mark Epstein’s status as a drunkard undergoing treatment for alcohol poisoning, the specifics of which were completely unknown to the physician prior to the filing of Epstein’s false charges;[xv]
9. Posted articles on the Internet (the same week that your comments were posted on their other site) which threatened to reveal allegedly embarrassing secrets about the daughter of a Christian pastor on her wedding day in order to disrupt the marriage of the newlyweds;[xvi]
10. Been complicit in e-mailing numerous vindictive and false charges about Doug Phillips to home school leaders, government officials, and friends and business associates of Vision Forum as part of a coordinated campaign to besmirch Doug Phillips’ name and unlawfully interfere with business and ministry interests of which he is a part;[xvii]
11. Mass-disseminated numerous outrageous and calumnious articles, including one which accused godly missionaries of complicity in the murder of Christians;[xviii]
12. Have posted offensive and inappropriate photo-shopped images of Doug and Beall Phillips on the Internet as part of their smear campaign;[xix]
13. Have relentlessly ridiculed, mocked, and borne false witness against the women of Boerne Christian Assembly, both individually and collectively.[xx]
14. Have engaged in blackmail;[xxi]
15. Have conspired to secretly tape record conversations with the individuals they seek to defame;
16. Have (between the two of them) operated, founded, or helped to establish no less than five attack-sites against Doug Phillips which have collectively published tens of thousands of words and untold hundreds of lies, while “exposing,” harassing, and defaming Christian ministers;[xxii]
17. Staged publicity stunts (using your materials), for which Jennifer Epstein was cited by police for criminal behavior.[xxiii]

What you must understand is this: the evidence proving Mark and Jennifer’s complicity in unlawful and potentially criminal activity is voluminous, and we are personally in possession of hundreds of pages which document their role in a far-flung internet conspiracy to discredit Reformed ministers and ministries. One such letter, written by “Appellate Attorney,” a man later revealed to be David Linton — Mark and Jennifer Epstein’s co-conspirator at Ministry Watchman — advised another operative on how to spy on the home of R.C. Sproul, Sr.:

[G]et pictures of the headquarters and the mansions....The mansions might even be better than wasting time [meeting] with [Tim] Dick and [John] Duncan. You could, for example, after taking enough pictures, ring the doorbell of a neighbor, introduce yourself as a reporter, say you’re researching the adjacent property for a possible story and would appreciate their help on or off the record.[xxiv]

The above directions were given as part of a months-long conspiracy to publicly discredit the Sproul family and Ligonier Ministries — a conspiracy in which Mark and Jennifer played a central role.

(Mr. Veinot, given the fact that you have now published your own piece on the Ministry Watchman conspiracy website, you have thus connected yourself with the conspirators behind the above mentioned plots to harm Christian ministries. You are working with people who hide behind anonymity to defame others and who have plotted to deceive and spy on Christian leaders. Absent some very clear explanation for your behavior or willingness to take immediate appropriate actions, you are now implicated with them.)

In light of all the above, it is my view that any reasonable Christian would acknowledge that your decision to associate your efforts with Jennifer and Mark Epstein is a grave mistake that seriously jeopardizes any good standing you have as a Christian leader and a spokesman for the cause of Christ.

UNDENIABLE EVIDENCE: Your Alliance with Notorious Internet Assassins and Church Excommunicants is Irrefutable

Sadly, the public record clearly demonstrates that, in furtherance of publishing attacks on Vision Forum Ministries, you are: (a) working in close alliance with the Mark and Jennifer Epstein family; (b) that you are using them as a source of information and counsel; (c) assisting them and empowering them in the advancement of their agenda to publicly discredit others; and (d) aiding and abetting them with their various publicity stunts.

The following facts are incontrovertible:

1. You gave a pre-publication copy of your diatribe article against our ministry to Jennifer Epstein to distribute. This was used by Mrs. Epstein as part of an unlawful publicity stunt in which she disrupted a Christian home school book fair and used deception with leadership of the group to facilitate her campaign of hatred against Doug Phillips. Your article was an integral part of this campaign (tactics of which included stalking the Phillips family and videotaping the Phillips children). Significantly, Mrs. Epstein publicly claimed that she had been working with you directly and that you had given her permission to use your article as part of her effort at this book fair.[xxv]

2. For her defiant and unlawful behavior at this home school book fair, Mrs. Epstein was cited by the police with a criminal trespass warning.[xxvi]
3. You have posted your calumnious articles on Ministry Watchman, a website conceived, built, maintained, and promoted with the active help of Jennifer Epstein.[xxvii] This website was conceived as part of a conspiracy by Jennifer and several other individuals who continue to hide behind pseudonyms with the goal of discrediting the reputations of such pastors as R.C. Sproul, Sr. and Jr. and Doug Phillips.[xxviii]
4. Your private letters to Mark and Jennifer Epstein boasting about your attacks on Doug Phillips and Vision Forum have been published on their websites.[xxix]
5. Your letters appealing for more finances have appeared on one of the Epstein websites.[xxx]
6. The Epsteins have written extensively about their communications and working relationship with you.[xxxi]
7. You have permitted comments by the Epsteins on your own website.[xxxii]

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Your Opportunity to Set the Record Straight

Earlier in this letter, I asked for your response to Dr. Abshire’s thorough refutation of your published misrepresentations and wrongful behavior. The following questions are equally important as they address substantive concerns related to your credibility, ethics, and personal doctrine. I believe that these are reasonable under the circumstances. I also want to make sure that I faithfully represent the facts in any further action for which I am responsible:

a. Preliminary Questions Regarding Your Alliances with Lawless Individuals

1. The facts indicate that, at minimum, you have been aware of the Epsteins’ status as excommunicants and that you are familiar with at least two of their websites, if not more. They also reveal that you are in communication with the Epsteins’ small group of Internet malcontents (some of which may be Mrs. Epstein under one of her multiple Internet personalities), corresponding with them and using their gossip to justify your own unwillingness to act in a scholarly and brotherly way. Can you explain why MCOI, a ministry which alleges to be concerned with cults, is teaming up with unscrupulous individuals who have been censured or admonished by multiple local churches?
2. Why is MCOI, a ministry which alleges to be concerned with protecting the church from dangerous practices, working with the Epsteins’ Ministry Watchman, a site dedicated to attacking ministries while hiding behind the cover of anonymity and pseudononymous monikers? Do you approve of anonymous attacks against pastors and ministries? Do you agree with their tactics against the Sproul family? Besides your work with Jennifer Epstein, have you been in contact with any of the other ring leaders of this conspiracy?
3. Why have you conspired to build your attack campaign against Vision Forum by consorting with a woman who was identified as an Internet assassin and a ringleader of “vile schemes” by one State Supreme Court Justice?
4. Why have you given credibility to the testimony of a troubled family whose members post inappropriate pictures and comments on the Internet, but you would not even contact the local church that lovingly disciplined Mark and Jennifer Epstein nor attempt to make a professional and meaningful contact with the man and the ministry who you have publicly sought to discredit?

b. Questions Pertaining to an Apparent Lack of Integrity on Your Part Regarding Your Responsibilities toward the Local Church, Pastors, and Brothers at Vision Forum Ministries

1. What was your biblical basis for disregarding the discipline of the local church and neglecting to inquire into the nature of Mark and Jennifer Epstein’s discipline?
2. Why did you decline to call the leaders of Boerne Christian Assembly before soliciting the aid of a couple adjudged to be treated as “heathen and publicans” to further your public campaign accusing a Christian leader and his ministry of being cult-like?
3. Is it true that you were complicit in the Arlington Home School Book Fair publicity stunt (for which Mrs. Epstein was cited with a criminal trespass warning) by giving her permission to distribute your article at the event?
4. Why is it cult-like, in your opinion, to hold to historical Reformation views on the family (i.e., the general view of biblical patriarchy for which we join Calvin, Luther, and other historical leaders in espousing), but not cult-like to actively consort with individuals who have been asked to leave numerous churches for their rebellious behavior and who have been clearly identified as renegades to the Christian faith?
5. Do you intend to continue to work with Jennifer Epstein, her husband, or fellow conspirators, notwithstanding the concerns raised in this letter?

c. Questions Pertaining to Your E-mail and Subsequent Published Comments

BACKGROUND: In January, you asked us for our doctrinal statement. We gave it to you. The next we heard from you was in the article you authored and gave to Jennifer Epstein to distribute. It was because of your published writings that it was brought to our attention that you claimed to have sent us an email with some basic questions concerning our doctrinal positions. We have no record of ever having received such an e-mail. We receive thousands of e-mails, and it is possible that the error is on our end, but we have checked our files and have no record of your alleged letter to us. Even if we had received the rather non-descript email which you claim to have sent, such a non-descript, unexplained email into a general inbox does not constitute a meaningful contact sufficient to claim that you made efforts to speak to us before launching your unfounded attacks. Nor does the substance of your brief e-mail have anything to do with the subsequent falsehoods you have published about us.

This entire episode has the appearance of being a tactic designed to offer you plausible deniability to cover your unwillingness to research the position of men whose character you were preparing to formally discredit. Your subsequent published comments indicating that our non-responsiveness to the e-mail (which we have no record of having received) is evidence of wrongdoing on our part is extraordinarily unfair. Finally, when we did get word of your questions, we took the time to send you a response.

You never acknowledged our response to you. You did, however, write to Jennifer Epstein, who published your comment the same week the Epsteins published (on one of the other Epstein websites) an attempt to harass a local pastor with charges of moral impropriety concerning his daughter on her wedding day. Rather than acknowledging error and humbly admitting your sin, you openly mocked us and appeared to rejoice that we were “feeling the heat.”

One week after being exhorted by Dr. Abshire to contact us, you left a message with a general customer service representative with Vision Forum, Inc. You did not state the purpose of your call, beyond asking to speak with Mr. Phillips. Within one hour of your call, you received a call from our office indicating that I was drafting this letter to you and that you would receive it shortly.

Thursday, you posted additional comments concerning Dr. Abshire and related matters. You did not, however, indicate any evidence of sorrow for wrong. There was no repentance. There was no attempt to correct the egregious errors brought to your attention by Dr. Abshire weeks before. Nor did you even try to offer a single substantive response to his arguments. To the contrary, you used the blog to indicate that you would not be responding for the present to the confrontation. You next decided to further entrench your attack by erecting an enormous strawman as a diversion from the real issues brought to your attention. At about the same time you launched your article, Jennifer Epstein launched a very similar article.

I would be grateful for your honest answers to the following questions:

1. Can you explain why you refused to meaningfully contact us before launching a campaign against us? Can you further explain why you did not clearly identify your purpose for writing us in your brief initial e-mail to our general inbox — thereby breaking basic protocols of journalistic integrity? Or why you have misled people into believing that you did make a reasonable attempt to contact us?
2. Can you explain why you sent comments to the Epsteins, later published on their blog, rejoicing that we were “feeling the heat”?
3. Can you explain why you failed to publicly correct your insinuations that we have dangerous doctrinal beliefs as they connect to five questions you posed to us by letter, even after we emphatically answered those questions by written letter to you? Further, can you explain why you challenged our credibility based on an alleged unwillingness to respond to your inquiry concerning these five doctrinal questions you posed to us, notwithstanding the fact that you made no effort to confirm that we received this e-mail (which, in point of fact, we have no record of receiving)?
4. The same week that your fundraising appeal for MCOI was posted on one Epstein site, another Epstein site posted an article threatening to release alleged immoral conduct committed by a young woman in the San Antonio community. This threat was issued against this young bride-to-be on her wedding day as an attempt to disrupt her marriage. The bride is the daughter of “Little Bear” Wheeler, a respected leader in the home school community in America. This threat was made in response to the fact that Mark and Jennifer’s eldest daughter, Natasha — a girl living in immorality and given to disruptive behavior — was not “invited” to the wedding. Were you aware of this threat, and do you support the Epsteins’ actions?
5. You and Jennifer Epstein launched separate blog posts concerning Brian Abshire at approximately the same time on August 16.[xxxiii] This points to a close working relationship with Mrs. Epstein. My question is this: Did Jennifer Epstein offer you any aid (by way of background research, commentary, writing or any other assistance) for your recent post on Dr. Abshire, Vision Forum, and biblical patriarchy?
6. Have you forwarded Mr. Abshire’s personal correspondence to you to any member of the Epstein family?
7. After reading your August 16 article on your blog, am I correct in my understanding that you have answered Dr. Abshire’s charge to you (“defend your position or repent”), not through repentance, but by further entrenchment of your position?

d. Questions Concerning Your Personal Doctrine and Accountability

1. Can you direct me to (a) a doctrinal statement which accurately represents an overview of your theological worldview; and (b) the name and contact information of the local church of which you are a member and personally accountable?
2. Like the Reformers, Vision Forum Ministries advocates the importance of a loving, Christ-like headship of husbands and a family model based on the historic understanding of hierarchy, not egalitarianism. Christian feminists reject the doctrine of male headship and hierarchy. Most espouse an understanding of family relationships based on egalitarianism, and what they describe as the doctrine of “mutual submission” derived from Ephesians 5:21. Do you find yourself more in agreement with the former or the latter perspective?
3. Do you believe that church discipline is the sign of a cult? If not, what is your biblical basis for disregarding the church discipline of the Epsteins? Do you intend to continue to disregard this discipline by further enabling this couple in their rebellion and using them to advance your own efforts, or are you willing to humbly change direction?
4. Are you willing to forward to me the name and addresses of the Board Members of your 501(c)3 ministry, along with the same for any advisory board members to which your ministry is accountable?
5. Is it your intention to continue to insinuate that Dr. Abshire, Doug Phillips, Vision Forum Ministries (individually, or collectively) or other proponents of biblical patriarchy are cult-leaders, cultish, cult-like, or anything that smacks of such name calling?
6. Do you agree that if you have sewn discord or borne false witness in any way, that you have a duty to repent and make restitution for your sin?

CONCLUSION

a. May the Lord Bring Peace

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. (Romans 12:18)

For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. (1 Peter 3:10-11)

The Body of Christ has real enemies — false teachers who deny the Trinity, who teach that man evolved from monkeys, or who reduce the infallible, inerrant, Word of God to a book of sentiments.

Dr. Brian Abshire should not be viewed as your enemy and neither should Doug Phillips. Both share a similar view of biblical patriarchy — a view championed for centuries by orthodox leaders of the Reformed Christian faith. Large numbers of pastors, theologians, and Christians throughout church history have advocated biblical principles of loving, sacrificial, patriarchal leadership — as both Dr. Abshire and Mr. Phillips affirm — and these men should not be viewed as perverters of the Bible’s long-established doctrines.

Put another way: Those who will not accept the redefining of the proper roles of men and women as outlined in Ephesians 5 — as popularized by modern liberal theologians who have caved into egalitarian and feminist dogma (as Dr. Abshire capably demonstrated in his letter to you) — should not be labeled “cultists.” You do not have to agree with these men who oppose the feminist agenda, but you are forbidden from bringing a false witness against them or seeking to destroy their reputations through gross misrepresentation. You are also forbidden from joining hands with evildoers to divide brethren.

Your unsubstantiated accusations of “cult-like” behavior and “a new form of paganism” lodged against Doug Phillips and Vision Forum are evidence of the worst form of hyperbole and sensationalism, and these actions fundamentally challenge the integrity of your ministry and the men and woman associated with it.

After speaking with Mr. Abshire, it is our understanding that in his follow-up communication with you he made a statement, which I believe, represents sound counsel:

Please, I beg you as your brother, use your gifts, talents and abilities to focus on the real enemies of Christ, whether they be heretics outside, or slanderers inside.

b. Cultivating Trust through Honorable Behavior

We hope for nothing less than peace within the Body of Christ and peace with you consistent with the Word of God. Before we take any independent action, we hope to see that you share the same goal and that you will work toward acting honorably through contrition and brokenness before God.

Regrettably, our experience with you thus far has shown this: that you are a man who prejudges others without exhausting much effort in contacting them and who consistently gives the most egregious and unreasonable interpretation to the words of those you are attacking. Moreover, our observations have led us to this clear conclusion: that you have built a campaign against us based upon unverified gossip, poor scholarship, aligning yourself with notorious liars and ex-communicants to further your practice of misrepresentation.

Mr. Veinot, if you had simply employed basic journalistic integrity, we could have avoided much of this current conflict. Given the weight of your accusations against us, this is the least you could have done as our brother in the Lord.

But you still have the opportunity to pursue the honorable path: I want to assure you that you can demonstrate to us and the world that you are a man of integrity by responding honestly to our questions, by taking appropriate action for those ways in which you caused division by bringing a false witness, and by following the words of Lord Jesus Christ who commands each of us when confronted to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11).

c. Ongoing Accusations and Division

At this point, you have already made your case public against Vision Forum Ministries and our president, Doug Phillips. Despite being confronted more than two weeks ago by Dr. Abshire, you have not removed your calumnious article from your website, corrected your errors, or approached us to apologize for this wrongful behavior. In so far as you have control over what is on the Internet and what is being distributed, you are actively engaged in breaking the Ninth Commandment.

The fact that you responded to Dr. Abshire on August 16^th with a diversionary strawman suggests to us that you have no present intention to change your direction, apologize, or correct your errors. In your blog post of August 16, 2007, “Examining the Premises of the Patriarchal Promises,” you chose to quote from a private correspondence prior to it being made public by the author, and you completely dismissed the weighty matters of his appeal. You continue to act in a way that is uncharitable and unbecoming of a Christian.

In light of your ongoing inaction to correct the errors you have perpetrated and your unabated antagonism, we can only assume that you: (1) are committed to your past course of action; and (2) are continuing to work closely with lawless individuals unanimously adjudged by the voting members of BCA to be treated as heathen and publicans.

So I ask you this question now: Are we correct in our understanding of your current posture? Are you continuing to position yourself as one who opposes the work and ministry of Vision Forum, Doug Phillips, and the body of Boerne Christian Assembly? Or, do you recognize your wrongdoing, and are you willing to pursue an appropriate course of action consistent with genuine repentance?

d. An Opportunity to Promote Peace and Act Honorably

You have an opportunity to contact me immediately and clear the air. It is our desire to determine if you have any intention to repent for actions which we have outlined, to seek the face of God, to fundamentally change your direction, and to make things right. I also want to give you an opportunity to correct errors in our research or understanding of the facts as we have represented them.

This letter is an attempt to restore peace. It is an olive branch extended so that you can help us to know you better. We are giving you an opportunity to consider your actions and to squarely address the serious concerns that Dr. Abshire and I have brought to your attention. It is our sincere hope to see things deescalate — that you would see the error of your accusations and the hurt that you have caused and be compelled before the Lord to endeavor to set matters aright. But that would require solid evidence of a change in direction on your part.

If it is not your intent to remove your misrepresentations, acknowledge your wrongdoing and fundamentally change your direction, then Vision Forum must consider an appropriate response. I pray for true restoration in accord with this charge:

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled (Hebrews 12:14-15).

Thank you in advance for your immediate attention to this letter. I am formally requesting that you call me directly upon receipt of this letter to let me know your intentions. My cell number (which I request you keep confidential) is ------------.

Sincerely in Christ,
Wesley Strackbein
Managing Editor, Vision Forum Ministries

[i] Comment posted on Jen’s Gems July 24th, 2007 in her post: “Thanks to Doug Phillips, Cult-Watch Journal Experiences a First.”

[ii] See: http://www.visionforum.com/about/issues/ep/linton.aspx.

[iii] For Boerne Christian Assembly’s summary on the Mark and Jennifer Epstein’s excommunication, visit: http://www.boernechristianassembly.org/elders.html.

[iv] The Epsteins have been confronted by multiple churches for their rebellious behavior before the Lord, including: (1) BCA, a Reformed Baptist congregation; (2) Faith Presbyterian, a PCA congregation; and (3) Living Waters Fellowship, a charismatic, Dispensational independent fellowship. Not only has Boerne Christian Assembly censured the Epsteins, but the elders of Faith PCA asked them to leave their congregation. Faith PCA’s elders formally admonished the Epsteins to express “true repentance with broken spirits and contrite hearts, including recognition that matters rightly belonging in the Church should not be aired in public via the Internet.” See http://www.boernechristianassembly.org/faith.html for Faith PCA’s comments. Further, the pastors of Living Waters Fellowship have publicly called the Epsteins to task for the “inaccuracies and misleading information” which they have propagated, urging Mark and Jennifer to “reexamine their behavior in the light of God’s Word” See LWF statement: http://www.lwfchurch.org/statement.html. Note: The week that your comments were posted on one of the Epsteins’ websites, another Epstein website was used to threaten one of the pastors of the Living Waters Fellowship by publicly exposing an alleged indiscretion committed by his daughter. The threat was posted on the wedding day of this pastor’s Christian daughter.

[v] Gavino and Ruth Perez, leaders of FEAST (a San Antonio home school organization), have noted that Jennifer Epstein engaged in “unethical practices...toward [their] organization during the years of 2005 – 2006”; that “Jennifer’s deceptive character was not unknown to [them] when we heard about the attacks on Doug [Phillips].” To read Gavino and Ruth Perez’s full statement, see: http://www.visionforum.com/about/issues/ep/feast.aspx.

[vi] See Matt Chancey’s “The Unmasking of Mrs. Binoculars, Parts II and III” (on www.mrsbinoculars.com) for a detailed report on the Epsteins’ connections with White Separatist bigot, Harry Seabrook of Little Geneva.com.

[vii] For a summary of Justice Tom Parker’s perspective on Jennifer Epstein’s activities (of which his former employee, David Linton, played a central role), see: http://www.visionforum.com/about/issues/ep/linton.aspx.

[viii] From the beginning, the Epstein/Ministry Watchman Conspiracy was rooted in deception and cover-up. An October 14 letter from “Frank Vance” of Ministry Watchman to another co-conspirator provides one example of this: “If you’re not already set up to proxy please do so. It’s likely that Watchman will be sued and it’s therefore critical that we cover our tracks. That means always accessing Watchman via proxy server. It also means setting up a separate email account (I recommend gmail) again via proxy, and only access via proxy every single time.”

[ix] In this October 14 e-mail, “Frank Vance” explains that those who offer commentary to Ministry Watchman should do so anonymously even as they maintain another real identity on their regular blog: “Come up with a pseudonym soon...Covering tracks will...mean that contributors [to Ministry Watchman] can’t sound too much like bloggers whose writing style is already too well known, such as yours for example.”

[x] For details on frauds carried out on Ministry Watchman, read “Mrs. Binoculars Meets Danny Boy” and “Ministry Watchman Panics When Fraud Exposed” on www.mrsbinoculars.com.

[xi] See David Linton’s comments as quoted in the body of this letter.

[xii] On September 29, 2006, Jennifer Epstein posted an article on jensgems.blogspot.com entitled “The Heir to Ligonier?” which featured an unflattering image of R.C. Sproul, Sr.‘s grandson, Ryan Dick, who was apparently drinking alcohol.

[xiii] In her November 30, 2006 jensgems.blogspot.com post, Jennifer Epstein called R.C. Sproul, Sr. to repent for Ligonier’s “deed after deed of darkness.”

[xiv] A partial list of individuals against whom the Epsteins have used their Internet postings and widely distributed letters to condemn and then demand repentance include: Bob and Debbie Sarratt, Richard and Reba Short, Rick and Joni Huber, Mo and Amelia Gill, Doug and Beall Phillips, R.C. Sproul, Jr., R.C. Sproul, Sr.; and the entire congregation of the Boerne Christian Assembly. In addition, they have brought railing accusations against Richard “Little Bear” Wheeler and the elders of Living Waters Fellowship, and the elders of Faith PCA; and the leaders of Ligioner Ministries, such as Tim Dick. In some cases, Jennifer Epstein has specifically demanded that the repentance be “oral and in writing” and “approved by me” (i.e., Jennifer Epstein). For example, the Epsteins wrote and widely distributed a lengthy document throughout the San Antonio community and beyond in which they privately charged, tried, and convicted numerous specific individuals for wrongs committed against them. Their “trial” document lists specific counts of sin against the Epsteins (specifically, Jennifer), and hands down a verdict calling for immediate repentance to her. This document was Jennifer’s response to the church’s admonition to them. It served as the Epsteins’ answer to the Matthew 18 counsel of the local church that they turn from sin. Their excommunication occurred with the unanimous affirmation of the body only after this Epstein attack on the local church had been mass-distributed, and it was clear that “they would not hear the church.”

[xv] This year, Mark Epstein filed a professional ethics complaint at Wilford Hall Medical Center against a physician who served in leadership of Boerne Christian Assembly and who played a leading role in the oversight and admonishment of the Epsteins for their unrepentant sins. The physician did not treat Mark Epstein nor was he aware of either Mr. Epstein’s alcohol abuse or his hospitalizations for alcohol poisoning and attempted suicide. Nevertheless, he was targeted by Mr. Epstein who filed charges against him in an attempt to tarnish his professional career.

[xvi] On July 28, 2007, the Epstein family posted the following comment on their www.swordpentrumpet.com website: “I’m told the ‘rest of the story’ will be appearing on Mark Epstein’s blog in the very near future, including some details concerning indiscretions on the part of the bride-to-be. For her sake, I sure hope her past doesn’t force her betrothed to ditch her at the altar — or even before she puts on her wedding dress. On the other hand, it certainly would be poetic justice if he did, considering the damage Adolf and Little Benito have visited on the Epstein’s children.”

[xvii] On November 27, 2006, Ministry Watchman published the Epsteins’ first public article attacking Doug Phillips, entitled “Doug Phillips, Vision Forum Family Man Sabotages Marriage,” The article not only posted on Ministry Watchman, but it was e-mailed to a number of key Vision Forum supporters from an e-mail account named “vfnews@gmail.com,” so as to feign a broadcast by Vision Forum itself. “Frank Vance” gloated about this underhanded tactic, writing to a fellow operative: “[It has] [b]een a very busy day for us [at Ministry Watchmen], and no doubt not such a happy day for Doug Phillips. Keep this confidential but someone today sent over 600 emails to key Vision Forum/Phillips supporters with a link to the article.” Several other articles were e-mailed to these same addresses. Further, on April 23, 2007, Mark and Jennifer Epstein e-mailed thousands of home school leaders across America with an article seeking to discredit Doug Phillips.

[xviii] Under cover of anonymity, and using a return address that deliberately misled readers into believing that the email had been generated from Vision Forum, Jennifer Epstein and other Ministry Watchman co-conspirators mass-mailed a series of vicious articles, including one accusing Brad Phillips, a Christian missionary to the Sudan and brother to Doug Phillips, of complicity in the murder of Sudanese believers. On December 28, 2006, this article — alleging that Brad Phillips had caused the “horrific” death of “hundreds of Christians” — was posted on the Ministry Watchman website.

In one of the e-mail transmissions, Jennifer and her conspirators made the mistake of accidentally failing to blind carbon copy their recipient list. This was God’s providence revealing their sin (“Be sure your sin will find you out” Numbers 32:23). This mistake, along with Jennifer Epstein’s correspondence showing up on government property contributed to the apprehension and dismissal of one of Jennifer Epstein’s co-conspirators who was fired for misappropriation of government property in furtherance of unlawful acts.

The capacity of this couple to falsely accuse others seems to know no bounds. After the conspirators assassinated Brad Phillips’ character by e-mail, Mark Epstein published an article on his blog making the fantastical suggestion that the U.S. government was engaged in a cover-up to hide the very alleged acts of negligent homicide which the Ministry Watchman cabal had previously fabricated. In his article, “Questions and Lies,” published on January 2, 2007 on www.ultimatetruth.wordpress.com, Mark wrote, “If the US Government refused to acknowledge the truth concerning Arafat’s documented murderous behavior, thereby allowing the media to spin him as a peacemaker (let’s not forget his Nobel Peace Prize), then what makes anyone think the US Government is going to share information with the local Virginia authorities about a small time Christian ministry leader’s [Brad Phillips’] alleged criminal activity – particularly if the information was inadvertently obtained during the course of a classified operation?”

[xix] A suggestive, highly-offensive, photo-shopped picture of Beall Phillips was posted on the Epstein website www.swordpentrumpet.com on May 21, 2007.

[xx] Jennifer Epstein has repeatedly published mocking and patently false comments about Beall Phillips and other specific women at Boerne Christian Assembly, as well as the ladies of the congregation as a whole. She has repeatedly mocked their minds and openly lied about their rights and roles at BCA. Not mentioned by Jennifer Epstein is the reason for her hatred of them. It was the women of BCA who stood in front of the congregation and admonished her to repent. These women withstood her to her face before the church assembled and rebuked her for her lies and sinful practices, comprehensively refuting the stories she concocted to cover the long record of public and private sin for which she was being admonished. Far from being the mindless automatons of the Epstein blog war, the women of BCA brought testimonies, documentation, and wise counsel before the entire local church showing the fantastical nature of Mrs. Epstein’s dishonest claims and penchant for habitual lying. Since then, Mrs. Epstein has been on a rampage of vengeance against them. Mark Epstein has also lashed out at the women of Boerne Christian Assembly. On August 2, 2007, he falsely claimed on his wife’s wordpress blog that one member of BCA “shoved” their handicapped daughter.

[xxi] In a letter dated May 22, 2006, Mark Epstein threatened Doug Phillips with these words: “Doug, allow me to make it perfectly clear that this issue of excommunication is not going to go quietly away...[Y]ou [have] opened the door for public discussion of your behavior...If I do not hear from you by then, I will assume that you desire I take this issue elsewhere...[Y]ou stand to lose far more than I do....Doug, you know it only takes the touch of a button to find yourself in a similarly embarrassing situation as R.C. Sproul, Jr. Ask your IT folks how easy it is to reduce the ... correspondence between us to Adobe [Acrobat] files, and then ask yourself if you want Jennifer’s letter of May 2005 seen side-by-side with your response...”

[xxii] 1) www.Swordpentrumpet.com; 2)www.jensgems.wordpress.com; 3)www.jensgems.blogspot.com; 4)www.ultimatetruth.wordpress.com; 5) www.ministrywatchman.com

[xxiii] Jennifer Epstein was cited with a criminal trespass warning by police for disruptions she caused at Arlington Home School Book Fair.

[xxiv] Letter from “Appellate Attorney” (later discovered as David Linton) to fellow Ministry Watchman operatives.

[xxv] In a May 14,2007 blogpost post, Jennifer stated: “An independent Christian journal that focuses primarily on writing about cults has written an article about Doug Phillips and Vision Forum. They were kind enough to give me permission to pass out copies of this article at the convention. (When this article is officially released by the publisher, I will let everyone know.)”

[xxvi] Ibid. Jennifer states: “So, in the end, we were issued a criminal trespassing warning.”

[xxvii] July 5, 2007 post on www.ministrywatchman.com: “The following article has been republished here with the permission of the author, Don Veinot. The original article appears on the Midwest Christian Outreach Blog.”

[xxviii] For more background on Ministry Watchman, see: “Look Who’s Coming To Dinner: Tracing Jennifer and Mark Epstein’s Strange Romance With Kinism” on www.mrsbinoculars.com.

[xxix] Comment posted on Jen’s Gems July 24th, 2007 in her post “Thanks to Doug Phillips, Cult-Watch Journal Experiences a First.”

[xxx] Ibid.

[xxxi] Jennifer states several times on her blog that she is communicating with you. There are comments that either express or intimate the same on the Epstein family’s other blogsites.

[xxxii] Jennifer has posted several comments on your blog post from July 5, 2007 post “Doug Phillips — New Paganism?” http://midwestoutreach.org/blogs/41/doug-phillips-%e2%80%93-new-paganism#comments

[xxxiii] In the comments section to your August 16, 2007 post, Jennifer claims: “‘Coincidentally,’ I posted on this very subject today.” This strains the credulity of any reader familiar with this issue.