FBI Gets Involved After Prominent Seattle Pastor Faces Death Threats for Running a ‘Jew-lover church’
Russell B. Johnson is the lead pastor of The Pursuit NW, a Washington-based multi-site church with locations across Seattle and its suburbs. A dynamic speaker who founded Pursuit in 2014, starting out in a barn with no heat or plumbing, he has grown the ministry into three campuses, two elementary schools, and a soon-to-be-launched ministry college.
Johnson rose to prominence and the public eye in 2020, after he faced legal threats and prosecution for refusing to close his church doors during the ‘pandemic’ or abide by COVID protocols, including threats of 90 days in jail and fines of $10,000 a day.
Earlier this month, his church was thrust into the spotlight after congregation member Christopher “LeBron” Castleberry, 28, was shot outside the church while attending a youth BBQ event with his wife and young son, in a targeted assassination.
On Saturday, September 6, he revealed that he had received credible threats against his life, sharing a statement with his congregation, saying in part:
“(When I first started the church) I made the conscious decision regardless of how big we grow, I would continue to publicly speak out on things that are important to God, important to the Bible, and should be important to us. We’ve taken public stands on behalf of the right to worship, when the government attempted to shut down churches during the COVID era.
We publicly celebrated when Roe v. Wade got overturned as one of the crowning achievements of the pro-life movement. We’ve been unafraid to be politically engaged because I think God cares about nations and governments. I’ve been unashamed to boldly communicate the sexual ethic of scripture and call people to moral fidelity….We’ve pushed back against governmental overreach. We have talked about the holy nature of the nuclear family and the importance of moms and dads in the list. It goes on and on.
But maybe the thing that I’m most proud of recently is that in a place like Seattle, our church has taken an unapologetic stand on behalf of our Jewish brothers and sisters and their right to peacefully exist without terroristic threats from their neighbors or anti-Semitism from their college campus professors.”
Noting that he had shared the stage with noted Israel enthusiast John Hagee and has plans to preach at his church soon, he revealed that as a result of this support for Israel, he has received threats on his life.
“The decision to stand up and speak out has not been without cost. A little over two weeks ago, I started to receive threatening text messages on my phone from an unknown number. And those texts accused me of running a, quote, “Jew-lover church” filled with “race mixing people.” And that I should be very careful in the days ahead.
And although getting threats isn’t anything new, I could tell that this time it was different. I was informed that there was now a quote, “target on my back.” And someday I would “pay the price” and “finally be shut up for good.”
He continues:
“And last Sunday, someone set out to make good on those threats. On the afternoon of Sunday the 24th, the FBI received a phone call on their federal tip line from an individual who made both a credible and detailed death threat against my wife and I. The individual said that they were in the area, that they had a weapon, they knew where we were, they were headed in our direction, they knew my address, the routes that I take, the clothes that I wear.
They had detailed and verified information. Federal agents contacted local law enforcement and local law enforcement proceeded to contact us. Upon receiving this information, Marija, myself and the kids had to immediately evacuate from our house, get somewhere safe and try to figure out a game plan on what to do next. As of today, we are still not back in our home.
I was advised that I shouldn’t preach on this Sunday or in the Sundays that are ahead until the smoke clears, until the perpetrators are caught, until things could be somehow rightly adjusted based on the threat level and the information that law enforcement had received.”
Russell assured the congregation that their church is safe: “To date, there have been no threats against our church, our staff, or our people. Marija and I have been the sole subject of these threats.”
Despite their belief that the church and those attending will be free from harm, they have “taken extraordinary steps this week to exponentially increase the security presence at all Pursuit campuses and Pursuit events,” including “additional officers, increased patrol cars, enhanced security cameras, and improved mechanisms and procedures.”
I want you to hear me loud and clear this morning. Your family will be safe at Pursuit. Your kids will be safe at Pursuit and your friends will be safe at Pursuit”
Russell concluded by promising his congregation that he would not back down and that the threats would not silence him or the work he has done in supporting Israel, saying, “I’m proud to run a Jew Lover Church and I’m proud to be surrounded by race mixing people.”
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They are not our brothers and sisters. The Israel of God is the church made up of every tribe tongue and nation. A son of Abraham is one who has faith in Christ. Jews who reject Christ their father is not Abraham but Satan, they are of synagogue of Satan. They are bout our brothers and sisters, our brothers and sisters are those who are on in Christ, not a bloodline that hates Jesus. Dispensationalism which is new and not part of the Bible nor historic Christianity is a plague.
The Bible does not call Jews the synagogue of Satan. It calls fake Jews the synagogue of Satan. And Jesus did not say that the Devil is the father of all Jews. He said that to the scribes and pharisees He was addressing, with the clear meaning being that was who they were serving. Scripture also specifically says that we are grafted into the vine, not that we replace the vine.
It is true that those who are unbelivers are not our brothers and sisters in Christ, but I don’t believe that’s what pastor Johnson meant. I believe he was referring to them simply as fellow human beings not deserving of all the terrorist attacks. Could be wrong, but that’s what I believe he meant, in context.
You don’t have to agree, but you do need to quit misrepresenting the scripture.
Fake Jews are Jews who are not Christians, as Paul says “We are the true Jews who are circumcized not in the flesh but in the Spirit” (Romans 2:29) and therefore “The Synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not” (Revelation 2:9, 3:9) means any and every Synagogue; its means non-Christians who claim to be Jews.
No, he is addressing the issue of circumcision, countering the arguments of the Judaizers who claimed gentile believers needed to be circumcised. He is saying that gentile believers do not need to be circumcised. Jewish believers would’ve already been circumcised, which makes that question moot where Jews are concerned.
Back up to verses 9 and 10 … “9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.”
If he’s saying there are no longer any Jews, then what’s the point of making that distinction … ??
Scripture is clear, the Synagogue of Satan is those who claim to be JEWS, but are not. To claim it applies to any and all Synagogues is a giant leap of logic. Nowhere does the scripture imply that it applies to all synagogues.
The fact is that all unbelievers, those who live enslaved and in service to the flesh, are doing the bidding of the Deceiver. Yes they do serve Satan, whether they realize it or not, but that applies to all unbelievers, not just unbelieving Jews.
The church replaced Israel because there cannot even be a remnant of a false religion. Israel was cut off from Abraham and the Gentiles were grafted into Abraham in their place. We were grafted into Abraham not “Israel.” Israel was cut off from Abraham and the church replaced it (was grafted in its place) as the new Israel, the one and only “Israel of God.”
Not quite. What you don’t understand is that the Gospel always has been. By faith Abraham was saved. The ceremonial law all pointed directly to Jesus, and His fulfillment of that law. It wasn’t the animal sacrifice that saved them. It was Jesus, stretching back through time, overcoming the flesh. See Galatians 3
See, the church always has been. There is nothing to replace. From a theological perspective, as it pertains to modern Judaism, it’s basically a new religion. So we did not replace it.
But as I said to anon, I also say to you, unbelieving Jews are in the same camp as any and all unbelievers. They are no different. Theologically, they’re simply unbelievers. Nothing more. Nothing less. So you need to ask yourself why you are showing partiality (which is a sin), by singling them out and treating them worse, or as being worse, than you would any other unbelievers.
Nobody was saved under the Old Testament. They could not be saved until Jesus preached the gospel in the descent to hades. Abraham just was given a chance to hear that due to faith, but Abraham was not actually saved yet.
See, salvation has always been by faith. It was by faith that they did what God told them to do. That’s what you have to understand. All the way back to creation and the fall. By faith, Abraham believed God. And Jesus justified that faith.
That vine is the church. It always has been.
Jews and others who reject Jesus, the scripture says are under the law, and by the law are condemned. But the scripture also says that the descendants of Jacob are worthy of honor.
“1I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,a my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” – Romans 9:1-5
He then goes on to explain how gentiles are grafted in, and who inherits the promise. Closing the chapter …
“30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. ”
In other words, it has always been by faith. Since the beginning. Faith is not just doing what God says to do. It’s also knowing that He will do what He has said that He will do.
What did Jesus say?
“I am the vine” …. John 15
What vine? The same vine we’re grafted into. The same vine that has always been.
How does John begin his Gospel? In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God … and the word became flesh and dwelt among us …
That vine …
The grafting analogy of Paul uses an olive tree not a grape vine. Learn to read properly. And as John the Baptist said “the axe is laid to the root of the trees and every tree that will not bear fruit is to be hewn down.” And “God can raise children to Abraham from these stones.” God hewed down the trunk that was Israel and grafted the Gentiles in its place onto the stump that is Abraham. And no, nobody in the Old Testamemt was ever “in Christ.” That is for Christians only. The olive tree existed in the Old Teatament but not the vine. We are both the olive tree and the branches of the vine. The Jews have no part in either. Old Testament Israel was on the olive tree, but has been cut off from it. But it was never on the vine, as that is for us alone.
The Word always existed but not the body. The vine is the body. Nobody in the Old Testament was in the body of Christ, as Christ did not have a body until the Incarnation.
The Gospel is all about the flesh versus the spirit. All the way back to creation. That’s what it’s about.
To live in service to the flesh is to live in sin. And that includes fleshly lineage. (which applies to Jews and Gentiles) So Paul is talking about inheritance of the promise by lineage of the spirit. Not of the flesh. And he’s making clear what’s most important.
This also means that the obsession of some, not only with the Jews, but with any fleshly lineage, is also to serve the flesh, and is contrary to the spirit. It is contrary to the Gospel. If you are going to say that the fleshly lineage of the Jews is not of eternal significance. That’s ok, you’re right about that. But neither is your fleshly lineage. Neither is mine. Neither is anybody’s. You can’t have it both ways. So quit serving the flesh.
Jew making false threats against themselves as usual. Notice he claims the person making the threat called the FBI themselves and made the threat to the FBI. Sure, Jew.
Based on some of the comments I’ve read here, and elsewhere, it wouldn’t surprise me at all for a rabid, deranged, individual obsessed with the Jews, to be a prime candidate for world’s dumbest criminals. That rabid obsession can make you real stupid, real quick.
Or pastor Johnson could’ve just misspoke …
It wouldn’t surpeise me if Pastor Cohen is the very man who called himself in to the FBI for threatening himself and his wife.
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