Are Ministry Watchman and Jennifer Epstein guilty of massive fraud on the public? Has the Internet community been manipulated and played for fools by a woman working behind the scenes for months to weave a web of deception capable of entrapping both friends and foe in a vendetta of vengeance?
Mounting information and evidence points to the fact that Jennifer Epstein (with her husband) is at least one of the key individuals who launched the anonymous MinistryWatchman.Com. It also points to the fact that she currently plays a key role in its present mission and the actual management of the site. If true, this means Jennifer Epstein used Ministry Watchman to perpetrate a massive hoax on the public - a deception motivated by bitterness, driven by lies, and aimed at the destruction of a church leader and his wife.
Now Matt Chancey asks: Is Jennifer Epstein Mrs. Binoculars? You look at the evidence and decide.
The Unmasking of Mrs. Binoculars: Part I1 By Matthew Chancey
December 16, 2006
They claimed to be a news source. They claimed to be fair-minded reporters in search of the objective truth. They claimed to be vanguards for justice against all forms of ecclesiastical tyranny. They claimed to be defending an innocent, vulnerable woman. They claimed that this poor, vulnerable woman had to remain anonymous in order to protect herself while she disclosed her tragic story of abuse.
They claimed that their story was the result of careful research and honest investigation. They claimed to have interviewed members of the very church which perpetrated the unspeakable crimes against the innocent woman. In fact, they boldly claimed that (in the personal desire for charity and fairness) they had gone to the very man whose character they were about to assassinate and had given him an opportunity to read the article and answer their charges prior to posting it on the Internet and e-mailing it to hundreds of people around the country.
In the days that followed, each of these claims proved to be deceptions, half-truths, or outright lies.
Yet the lies only got bigger.
But before I say any more, stop and look at the picture below.
This is a picture of the Ministry Watchman banner superimposed over a picture of Jennifer Epstein, which is available through her own website. Compare the banner with the picture of Jennifer Epstein. Do you think there is a connection?
The picture of Mrs. Epstein and the picture of the Ministry Watchman banner have not been altered or manipulated, except to superimpose one over the other. (If you doubt this, all you need to do is look at the original pictures on the websites of Ministry Watchman and Jennifer Epstein.)
More on the picture issue a bit later.
Anonymous Internet Terrorists Target Doug and Beall Phillips If you had been watching the web carefully regarding this subject, you knew something was coming. Jennifer Epstein was getting a fair amount of exposure through sites like the Kinist portal, Little Geneva, which portrayed her as a great hero. People were urged to go both to Jennifer Epstein’s website and a new site called “Ministry Watchman.”
Then other clues began to drop. Intimations of fresh attacks to expose other ecclesiastical tyrants (like R.C. Sproul!?!) began to surface. Less than three weeks before Watchman published the first article against Doug Phillips, they hinted of a coming exposé of Doug that would make Ligonier Ministries’ “sins pale by comparison.”2 Around that same time, Jennifer Epstein herself made several blog posts portending of things to come. In one post, she wrote of another evil ecclesiastical tyrant she knew well who was going to “have to take a fall.”3
Then the bomb hit.
I was one of the people who got hit by the bomb.
Carefully timed to launch when Doug and Beall Phillips were out of town, away from their e-mails and on a Faith and Freedom Tour (a matter of public record from the VF website), and broadcast on a day commonly known to be one of the top business days of the year for companies like Vision Forum, the blogosphere assassins struck.
In one day, hundreds — perhaps thousands? — of people around the country received an anonymous e-mail that specifically targeted the friends, business associates, church associates, and supporters of Vision Forum.
The e-mail talked about a pendulum and explained that Phillips had swung into a dark and dangerous end. The e-mail also treated them to a website and an epic saga that accused Phillips of destroying families. The title of the article was anything but subtle: “Doug Phillips, Vision Forum Family Man Sabotages Marriage.” Written by the psuedononymous “Mr. Charles Fisher” about a poor abused family (the also psuedononymous “Jacksons” were later revealed to be Jennifer and Mark Epstein), the lengthy document presented a bogus but highly demeaning inside look into the life of Beall Phillips. It also portrayed Doug Phillips as an abusive “cult” leader and tyrant.
What’s more, there were no corroborating witnesses. No names. No churches listed to which the authors were accountable. And, of course, there was no personal information from which one could check the background and integrity of these authors (though, in the days to come, scads of personal pieces of information on Doug and Beall Phillips were twisted and placed on the Internet).
Eight days later, Ministry Watchman posted another article by e-mail, entitled, “Doug Phillips Makes Family 'Pay' — Excommunicates Without Due Process.” It, like the first, was shocking because it presented a very unflattering picture of Doug and Beall. It stood in sharp contrast to the testimony known of them by longtime friends like myself, colleagues, local church members, and others who know them well.
In the end, the articles and the credibility of the Epsteins began to implode. Both Vision Forum and Boerne Christian Assembly issued statements which repudiated the Epstein's thesis and reinforced suspicions that they were, in fact, “habitual liars.”4 Key information came out about the threats from the Epsteins, including accusations of attempted murder in their marriage as well as extortion threats made by Jennifer and Mark toward the Phillips family.
BCA even indicated that another pastor who had worked with the Epsteins had strongly urged Doug to get a court restraining order to protect him from an act of physical violence from either Jennifer or Mark. Next, Jennifer Epstein’s ongoing sins related to her adultery surfaced after Jennifer posted a document that referenced the adultery. It then came to light that her adultery resulted in the procreation of a child in between her own children with Mark, and that he and Jennifer fought over this issue for years without resolution. It was also revealed that there were repeated examples of cruelty and strife which the couple apparently committed towards each other.
Full Disclosure To begin with, I need to make a comment about my own story.
I am father to seven children and husband to Jennie. My wife manages a web site called ladiesagainstfeminism.com. I am not now, nor have I ever been part of any other website addressing the Jennifer Epstein/Ministry Watchmen scandal. In fact, though I have observed their behavior carefully over the past couple of weeks and put together some thorough online research, I have not publicly commented on this subject at all until now. I do not work for Vision Forum, nor have I ever worked for Vision Forum, except that six years ago my wife served as a consultant on a project with them. I have no financial interest in the success of this company, though I do have a deep appreciation for Doug and Beall and for their ministry.
Both Jennie and I think enough of the man and the ministry being slandered that we have, over the years, donated both our time and our money to the Gospel work they advance. I have known Doug Phillips for close to twelve years (in fact he played the violin at my wedding in 1996), and I have observed him in good times and bad—enough to speak forcefully to his character and in opposition to the cleverly devised and carefully constructed Internet assassination attempt of Jennifer Epstein. Today, however, it is my purpose to raise serious questions about what may well be a significant fraud which has been perpetrated on many unsuspecting Christians.
The Goals of This Article As I have studied the Ministry Watchman reign of terror and watched them bring my friend and his wife as the latest victims before their own Madame guillotine of the Internet, a plausible theory has emerged, a theory I believe is strongly supported by evidence. The purpose of Part I of this article is not to outline all the evidence regarding the activities of Ministry Watchman which can be brought to support my thesis — a good bit of this will be detailed in Part II (along with a chronology of key events I have identified) — but to ask probing questions for the reader to consider — questions which point to several key elements of my investigation. I will then offer preliminary evidence and observations I have regarding these facts, followed by a list of nine serious implications which must be considered if my theory is in fact correct.
My Questions Consider the following questions:
What if the architect behind Ministry Watchman is not “Frank Vance,” but Jennifer Epstein? What if Jennifer Epstein is the real brains (and possibly the muscle) behind the entire plan to create Ministry Watchman? What if she is the one who actually approached “Frank Vance” with the plan to have one central hub to expose pastors and other ministry leaders deemed by Jennifer and “Frank” to be tyrannical? What if Ministry Watchman is essentially a carefully devised, strategic initiative by Jennifer Epstein and several other mostly anonymous Internet assassins to give herself a bully pulpit to bully Beall Phillips along with other men and women of Boerne Christian Assembly, her former church? Most importantly, what if Ministry Watchman is an elaborate scheme to give Jennifer Epstein a permanent platform to try and destroy Doug Phillips?
What if Jennifer was able to work her way into the confidence of these bloggers by revealing reams of “dirt,” horror stories, reliance on alleged damaging documents that would allow the growing league of Internet assassins their very own hat trick? Following this track—if this was indeed Jennifer’s approach—she would have in all likelihood conveniently omitted remarkably damaging and highly prejudicial information on the outrageous behavior of her own family.
In all candor, I doubt that “Frank Vance” had the slightest clue who the real Jennifer Epstein really was. When telling her own story, Jennifer would have conveniently omitted details about her own family that would seriously discredit her attacks.
Following this line of questioning, where does that leave Frank Vance? This is what I propose: To Frank, Jennifer Epstein was viewed as a resourceful and potent ally. She had proven herself. She had shed blood on Vance’s behalf as part of his goal to bring down Ligonier Ministries. As to Phillips, he was obviously guilty by association. In fact, he was guilty until proven innocent. Wasn’t Phillips a homeschool leader aristocrat? Wasn’t he friends with that Sproul guy? Aren’t all such vermin worthy of Internet capital punishment before the revolutionary tribunal in this modern rendition of the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror? Who wouldn’t want to help a defenseless victim of an ecclesiastical tyrant?
So when Jennifer made up the story5 about Phillips working with Ligonier in a lawsuit against Vance, it created a natural bond between Epstein and Vance. It was the tie that bound them together in a common cause.
If Vance would have simply called the folks at Boerne Christian Assembly to check Jennifer’s references, he would have saved himself a lot of grief. Of course, recall that “Frank Vance” is a pseudonym anyway.
One blog commentator has written this: “Ministry watchman is no more. They are not a watchman of anything. They are now merely an extension of the Epstein household.”6 What if this is literally true? To put it plainly, is Jennifer responsible for where the site is hosted?
At this point, there is little doubt in the mind of reasonable and astute observers of the Ministry Watchman scandal that a large percentage of postings at Ministry Watchman are generated by Jennifer through one of her numerous pseudonyms, whereby she leaks “inside information,”openly mocks Beall Phillips and others, and has lengthy online conversations with herself using alternate pseudonyms. To borrow a term employed by one commentator: What if Jennifer Epstein really does play the role of “minister of propaganda” for Ministry Watchman?7
Finally, what if Jennifer Epstein is the “fair-minded and reliable” pseudononymous reporter, Charles Fisher? In other words, what if Jennifer Epstein pretended to be a reporter so she could feign that a credible person was writing a story in her defense?
Preliminary Evidence and Observations While there is much evidence to weigh in this whole sordid saga, here are a few initial points in summary.8 The first piece of evidence I have uncovered is this: Beginning more than a year ago, Mark and Jennifer Epstein started leaving their tracks all over the Internet. Starting with a website called swordpentrumpet.com, Mark and Jennifer began their war of acrimonious mockery against Doug Phillips and Vision Forum. (Records of many of their carefully deleted postings are still available through Google caché service.) From comparisons of Doug to Nazism, to insider stories only available to those whom the Phillips family have shown hospitality by opening their home to them, Mark and Jennifer have established a clear pattern as conniving Internet assassins who will use whatever resources are available to them to destroy those they hate.
The tracks continue through various blogs started by Mark and Jennifer. They are present as online dialogue on the commentary pages hosted by some of the tribal bloggers behind the 2006 Reign of Terror. Through these tracks left by the Epsteins, one can observe their writing styles, method of argument, use of syntax, humor, invective, moral posturing, etc. My own analysis leads me to believe that Jennifer Epstein is Charles Fisher. Or at minimum, that she wrote the majority of the story for some guy hiding behind the name Charles Fisher in order to create a sense of plausible deniability for the fact that Jennifer is the architect of a massive fraud .
The second telling piece of evidence came from a study of Jennifer and Mark’s posts on various websites in light of the unfolding timeline of events pertaining to the public campaign to “expose ecclesiastical tyrants.” What I have found is this: There are clear correlations between the establishment of Ministry Watchmen and coordinated efforts between Jennifer Epstein and Frank Vance.9
The third piece of evidence was staring all of us in the face. I want to thank Michael Metzler for (inadvertently perhaps) posing the question.10 Just who is the woman behind the binoculars on the Ministry Watchman masthead?
Mrs. Binoculars Revealed? As I have studied the timeline and the online documentation, I have become increasingly convinced that Jennifer Epstein never imagined that others would oppose her so vigorously, challenge her arguments, and shatter her credibility. It is likely that she never even intended for her name to go public. She hoped to hide under numerous pseudonyms and to seed the Internet with character questions about Doug Phillips while hiding under a shield of anonymity and protected by an army of strategic relations. In my view, she hoped to build enough alliances behind the scenes in advance of launching her article that she could rightly expect a strategic chorus of “amens” from the blogosphere.
But something went terribly wrong. Here is my theory: In her self-congratulation and pride, Jennifer Epstein got sloppy.
Really, really sloppy…
She got so sloppy that she allowed a picture of herself to be used on the masthead of Ministry Watchman.
If this theory is correct, perhaps at the time she launched the site with Frank Vance, Jennifer simply assumed that she could do all her character assassination under the cover of anonymity. Perhaps it was a little inside joke to herself — a joke that she thought no one would get. But for whatever reason, Ministry Watchman used a picture of a woman on the cover that looks remarkably like Jennifer Epstein.
I have consulted with a number of people who know more than a little about face recognition analysis. The consensus is this: It is not a 100% sure thing. But whoever the person is holding the binoculars seems to have the same hair style, the same nose and face shape as Jennifer Epstein. Prima Facie (no pun intended) — Mrs. Binoculars appears to be Jennifer Epstein.
Look at the picture again. Here is another image superimposed against the Watchman banner:
Coincidence?
Just How Bad is This Revelation? It’s really, really bad for the rest of the team at Ministry Watchman (namely Frank Vance), but it is even worse for Jennifer Epstein.
If Jennifer Epstein has been caught holding the binoculars, it means that some of the following nine preliminary conclusions are probably true11:
Jennifer Epstein IS Ministry Watchman: If she is Mrs. Binoculars, then she has been involved in Ministry Watchman from the get-go. She was part of the conception, design, and planning for the site. The masthead itself points to Jennifer’s perception of herself (also revealed through JensGems.blogspot.com) as a prophet for exposing people Jennifer doesn’t like, a.k.a. “tyrants.” If she is Mrs. Binoculars, then she has her fingers in the whole process at Ministry Watchman. She was clearly part of the design, and it appears that she writes the articles and controls the comments to suit her agenda. If she is Mrs. Binoculars, she is also Ministry Watchman.
The Premise of Ministry Watchman is a Sham: If Jennifer is Mrs. Binoculars, then the entire premise of Ministry Watchman is a sham. They are not fair-minded third party observers in pursuit of truth. Their claim that they have “no axe to grind” is a lie. Ministry Watchman was founded by vicious and embittered excommunicants seeking to destroy the personal lives, reputations, and businesses of people who held them to account for the sort of lies and deceit which has for the last month become the modus operandi of Ministry Watchman.12 It also means that Ministry Watchman is a complete fraud. It is not a site where ministers are held accountable; it is a site where a vengeful woman can pretend that others are defending her. To quote a line I read on Michael Metzler’s blog: Ministry Watchman “is simply an extension of the Epstein household.”13 It means that “Frank Vance” bought Jennifer Epstein’s story, hook, line, and sinker. It means that he agreed to secretly partner with her and to give her extensive control over her part of the site. It means that even after she was exposed as a fraud, he was duty bound to keep their dirty little secret, lest he himself be exposed. Lest Jennifer Epstein turn on him as well, perhaps even revealing his true identity—and therefore opening the door for the very lawsuits these “Christian” people seem to fear so very much.
Jennifer Epstein is an Internet Assassin and a Master of Disinformation and Propaganda. She is Hardly a Poor, Vulnerable Woman in Need of Protection by Ministry Watchman: If Jennifer Epstein is Mrs. Binoculars, then it follows that she not only covered up her role assisting in the launch of the website and the authorship of the story, but she actively used false pretenses to conspire with others to harm Vision Forum’s business, to libel the Phillips family, and to disparage the men and women of Boerne Christian Assembly. Furthermore, it would mean that Jennifer Epstein has not only lied about the presentation of Ministry Watchman as a third-party arbiter, lacking conflict of interest, but she has lied about her own familiarity with the substance of information which goes up. Jennifer Epstein is intimately informed of all data, approved all articles, likely wrote most, if not every, word of the first two articles on Doug Phillips herself. She cannot feign that these stories are journalistic reports by Charles Fisher—Ministry Watchman and Jennifer Epstein have been caught in another blatant lie. Also, even a simple analysis of the dialogue on JensGems.blogspot.com as well as Ministry Watchman points to Jennifer (Mark has his own pattern as well) as the author of dozens of calculated Ministry Watchman posts in which she sometimes hides behind anonymity, and at other times holds conversations with herself using various pseudonyms. These posts are used to leak “inside information” on Beall Phillips and others (information on their homes, cell phones, etc.), to raise questions which she will then answer herself, to congratulate herself, to express anger at her opponents, and to manipulate the unsuspecting into believing that there is momentum building behind her diatribe.
The Reason for Jennifer Epstein’s Anonymity in the First Article Was Not to Protect Her from More “Ecclesiastical Abuse,” but Was a Cover to Further Insulate Herself from Exposure as the Architect Behind Ministry Watchman. If Jennifer is Mrs. Binoculars, it means that Ministry Watchman’s claim that “the Jacksons” needed to remain anonymous for “Mary’s” protection as an innocent victim was a lie and a fraud on the public perpetrated to deceive readers and manipulate their emotions. Rather than being defenseless, this would point to a highly capable Machiavellian who orchestrated an elaborate cover-up to hide the fact that she was behind the launching of Ministry Watchmen to use it as her own tool for personal vengeance.
Jennifer Epstein and Ministry Watchman Engaged in a Massive Cover-Up about the Epstein’s Own Shocking Conflicts of Interest: Not covered in the Ministry Watchman article was any of the following information: (1) Jennifer Epstein has been working behind the scenes through her own blogs as a self-proclaimed watchman of ecclesiastical tyranny, notwithstanding the fact that she was excommunicated for habitual lying; (2) Jennifer Epstein committed adultery, had a child out of wedlock, and refused to get rid of the bed of adultery despite her husband’s requests; (3) Jennifer Epstein has serious and significant issues with her own daughter, a fact that was emphasized through her daughter’s use of the F-word on the Internet and other damaging information on her daughter’s blog; Nor was it mentioned that Jennifer Epstein removed the link to her daughter’s website when she was outed as the real “Mrs. Jackson,” so her hypocrisy with a rebellious daughter would not be made public. (4) Jennifer Epstein is a self-proclaimed teacher of women, as well as a speaker and teacher in the homeschooling community. She personally profits from this activity, and her homeschool business has competed for sales as a vendor against companies like Vision Forum at homeschool, conferences, etc. Of course, the biggest cover-up is that Jennifer probably controls the moderation of the articles and commentary. If she is Mrs. Binoculars, then it also means that Jennifer Epstein is the witness, lawyer, judge, and jury for all the information produced, presented, and spun.
Every Element of the Epstein/Fisher Story is Suspect: Given the revelations of duplicity, deception, and fraud at Ministry Watchman, all previous work—especially all research linked to Jennifer Epstein—must be brought under rigorous scrutiny. She was excommunicated with complete unanimity of the families of a local church for being an unrepentant and habitual liar. She engaged in e-mail deception; she lied about going to Doug Phillips and giving him an opportunity to respond; she lied about her role in the article; she claimed to have multiple witnesses—but only presented herself and her husband (whom she constantly belittled and treated as a cuckold) as a witness; She covered up her adultery that had produced a child, an issue which was a continued source of cruelty on her part and anger on the part of her husband up until the excommunication—to name a few. Rather than being a source of information, Ministry Watchman is nothing more than the gossip rag of an embittered excommunicant. From a credibility standard, the site is a laughingstock.
There Should be Some Formal Investigation of Possible Criminal Behavior by Jennifer Epstein and Her Co-Conspirators: In addition to very real unlawful activity pertaining to libel, defamation, and slander, as well as the general fraud perpetrated by Ministry Watchman, there are other considerations. If Jennifer Epstein is Mrs. Binoculars, it means that she has disseminated false information by e-mail, under false pretenses, and that she is responsible for scamming the public into believing they were getting factual information about Vision Forum, when in reality they were receiving libel designed to discourage business and harm reputations. In other words: using false pretenses, Jennifer Epstein actively attempted to damage the business of Doug Phillips and Vision Forum. There is also evidence which suggests Jennifer Epstein and her co-conspirators14 unlawfully obtained e-mail addresses of a number of Vision Forum’s key supporters and business associates. An investigation should take place to see if they were unlawfully misappropriated and if their behavior constitutes tortuous interference with Vision Forum contracts, or if they have committed any other tort relating to their deliberate attempt to sabotage Vision Forum. (Honestly, I don’t know the laws regarding e-mail fraud, but I suspect that it is illegal to target an individual and a company by contacting their customer base under various false pretenses, to doctor evidence against them, and to libel them.)
Frank Vance and the Other Co-Conspirators at Ministry Watchman are Fundamentally Compromised: If Jennifer Epstein is Mrs. Binoculars, it means the “Frank Vance” and the other Internet assassins connected with Ministry Watchman are compromised. Even in the wake of damning evidence, they cannot repudiate or completely distance themselves from Epstein without great personal risk to themselves. Under my theory, they now know that she has nothing to lose. She is quite capable of working against them just as enthusiastically as she used them to advance her private agenda. She can blow their cover and expose them to personal legal liability, scandal, and church discipline. Jennifer Epstein has their number—literally. Even in the doubtful circumstance that she does not know their real names and addresses, Mrs. Binoculars does have the necessary tracking information to rout out every member of the sleeper cell she helped to activate.
The Behavior of Jennifer Epstein Has Validated at Least Some of the Very Charges for Which She Was Excommunicated (Charges Confirmed by the Boerne Christian Assembly Documents—i.e., Habitual Dishonesty and Cruelty): If Jennifer Epstein is Mrs. Binoculars, then many of the BCA charges have been firmly validated. At this point, there is no excuse for anyone to set aside the biblical injunctions against dialoguing with Jennifer and Mark Epstein. The presumption that the church ruled correctly has been reinforced. Mark and Jennifer have demonstrated themselves to be unrepentant liars. The rightness of the excommunication is no longer a mere presumption. We don’t really need the reams of documents held by Boerne Christian Assembly demonstrating their due process, biblical procedure, and spirit of charity. In my own mind, I have personally been convinced by the post-excommunication behavior of the Epsteins that BCA was on target. Jennifer’s online personalities show her to be cruel, belittling, and mocking to women she does not like, and her actions and words point to dishonesty. If Jennifer is Mrs. Binoculars, then nothing more needs to be said to the public at large.
Mrs. Binoculars Revealed? Who is Mrs. Binoculars? Take one more look at the picture below. You decide.
I believe it is Jennifer Epstein. I think there is enough prima facie evidence from the MW banner itself to make the case.
Add to this the fact that for months prior to the release of the psuedononymous Ministry Watchman article libeling Doug and Beall Phillips, Jennifer Epstein presented herself to the Internet world as an unbiased, fair-minded, investigative shock-reporter for righteousness. Before there was a Ministry Watchman, Jennifer Epstein claimed to be a ministry watchman for Jesus.
Of course, her only concern was for truth. Jennifer, “The Watchman,” and self-described teacher of younger women explained that it grieved her to see other teachers with children whose lives were in disarray. How hypocritical of these teachers, Jennifer told us. They should care for their children and stop teaching others, we were told. And it was her job to personally ferret out every inconsistency and potentially embarrassing and incriminating piece of evidence. It was her job to place them on the worldwide web as a service to the whole Christian community and as a gentle reminder that men like R.C. Sproul, Sr. are in great sin and must submit to Jennifer Epstein’s personal demands for repentance.
Of course, she hated to expose these tyrants, she said. It was a dirty job that involved setting up spy rings and e-mail and telephone tools for entrapment, reconnaissance, etc.—but, well, somebody had to do it. It might as well be Jennifer herself—a humble, obedient, uncompromised servant of the Lord.
The fact that Jennifer was excommunicated for cruelty, dishonesty, and a host of other matters were conveniently left out. The fact that she and her husband never got past her adultery and procreation of a child with a Muslim—the spiritual and cultural enemy of her Messianic Jewish husband—this never came out. The fact that Jennifer’s own daughter had run away from home, returned, and later left the home, and has evidenced tragic, serious spiritual challenges, no doubt encouraged by both parents—this was not mentioned either. This would complicate matters.
Yes, I believe that Jennifer Epstein is precisely the type of person who would launch a Ministry Watchman website and put herself in the very picture on the banner.
Conclusion Both Mark and Jennifer Epstein have been admonished by Boerne Christian Assembly to repent of their sins and humble themselves before Christ. This is the only hope for them. God’s Word makes this plain: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).
Now would be a good time for Jennifer Epstein and those involved with Ministry Watchman to come clean. Open repentance is the only way that those involved will escape God’s ultimate judgment as well as the civil sanctions that could be rightly brought to bear against them if they are caught red-handed as slanderers.
Mrs. Binoculars and company have acted with calculating resolve in their attempts to discredit and destroy Ligonier Ministries, Vision Forum, Doug Phillips, his family, and his church family. But their ruse won’t last forever. Either they will repent, or they should expect to be exposed. They may think they see a great deal through their “binoculars,” but God sees all, and their sin will find them out (Numbers 32:33).
In the meantime, I am grieved for the women of the Boerne Christian Assembly who have been treated with contempt by Jennifer Epstein and for the leaders of the flock and men of the congregation who have been so viciously slandered.
I hurt especially for my friend, Doug, and even more for his dear wife, Beall. Given Jennifer Epstein’s recent attack on my own wife, I can at least partially relate to what the Phillips have been going through.
One reason I have decided to spend considerable time on this subject is that we are living in the very infantile stages of the Internet. Protocols are being established in how information is transmitted and viewed via the worldwide web.
In these early stages of the Internet, it is important for Christians to apply biblical standards of confrontation. It is lamentable that so little church discipline is practiced today that many Christians don’t understand the difference between gossip and biblical confrontation and accountability.
In closing, I would commend readers to Boerne Christian Assembly’s statement, which outlines the biblical approach to unrepentant, non-restored excommunicants like Mark and Jennifer Epstein. The Word of God quoted below is deafening on the subject.
How Should the Church Respond to the Couple: In order to preserve the flock of God from damage caused by railers, extortioners, disorderly, disobedient, unruly, unrepentant and dishonest individuals, as well as to encourage such individuals to flee to Christ while there is yet time, the Bible offers the following directives:
Romans 16:17-18: Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
I Corinthians 5:11-13: But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person
II Thessalonians 3:6-7: Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;
II Thessalonians 3:14: And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
Psalms 101:5: Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
Proverbs 22:10: Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.
2 As noted by “Watchman” on November 10, 2006 under the “With Apologies to Don Kistler(But He Doesn’t Want One)” comment thread.
3 As noted in Jennifer’s November 4 blog post, “Tearing Down Christian Idols: Thoughts on the Current Christian Hypocrites.” www.jensgems.blogspot.com. See also her blog on the following day entitled, “Righteous Ruling.”
5My private research has revealed beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was no contact between Phillips or any member of the Vision Forum staff with the Ligonier staff concerning the lawsuit against Frank Vance, Jennifer Epstein, or anything related to the Ligonier controversy. In reality, there has been very little contact between the two staffs whatsoever. Doug Phillips once shared a podium with R.C. Sproul, Sr, but that's essentially it. Yet, according to Ministry Watchman, Doug offered legal counsel to Ligonier during their lawsuit against Frank Vance. But Phillips never offered legal counsel, spiritual counsel, friendship counsel, business counsel, pizza-ordering counsel, or dog training advice. This charge was a lie concocted in the mind of Jennifer Epstein based on her conspiratorial fantasies. And, in my view, it was yet another calculated and convenient ploy of the excommunicated Epstein to manipulate her co-conspirators. See Vision Forum’s Board of Directors November 28 letter to BCA for more on this issue.
8 These are summary conclusions, based on my examination of a great deal of evidence, some of the particulars of which I will outline in Part II of this article.
9 The clever strategy and public relations campaign of Jennifer Epstein and her husband Mark, as well as the chronology of events leading up to Ministry Watchmen will be the subject of my next article.
11 Please note: none of these are intended to be legal conclusions — I am not a lawyer — but they are, I think, common sense conclusions and reasonable deductions from the available information and facts.
12 In Bob Sarratt’s November 30, 2006 letter on behalf of the BCA Session, he explains in detail the Epstein’s vicious and vindictive behavior which they displayed both during and after their communication. See: www.boernechristianassembly.org for more details.
13 In his December 8, blog post, entitled, “Bringing an Ugly Ship to Shore,” Michael Metzler cites this line which was originally posted on StillFedUp.blogspot.com earlier that day by “Fallacy Slayer.” Metzler himself observed, “If the Watchman had dealt with this story in a truth seeking and judicial fashion, we could have landed this ugly ship to shore one way or the other while maintaining integrity and the ability to “watch” other issues and personalities….Unfortunately, we have fresh evidence here about the motives and methods of Ministry Watchman that do cast some interesting light on some of those question marks still lingering over Frank Vance’s pursuit of Ligonier Ministries.”
14 There are other miscreants involved in this smear campaign, some major league and some minor league. I’ve seen their fingerprints in my investigation, and they may discover that they hitched their wagon to the wrong set of horses by linking arms with Jennifer Epstein and Ministry Watchman.
available through her own website. Compare the banner with the picture of Jennifer Epstein. Do you think there is a connection?
assassination under the cover of anonymity. Perhaps it was a little inside joke to herself — a joke that she thought no one would get. But for whatever reason, Ministry Watchman used a picture of a woman on the cover that looks remarkably like Jennifer Epstein.
