Statement of Purpose
The purest water is found at the source of the river or stream at the top of the mountain. God’s word is also the purest the closer it is to the source. According to the testimony of the scriptures, God spoke his word to mankind throughout the ages. Since the Word of God was given to humanity it has traveled down the mountain through numerous generations, cultures, religious systems, translators and interpretations. From the Mountain Ministry seeks to help the people of God find their way back to the top of the mountain where they may again drink of the pure water of the Word free from all the man-made defilement that has polluted the word over the course of time.
Through the study of archeology, anthropology, history, literature, linguistics, as well as other related disciplines we seek to study and teach the word of God, as much as is possible, in its original context. Through the employment and application of sound principles of biblical scholarship and integrity we hope to provide foundations for the development of a genuine biblical faith.
From the Mountain Ministry seeks to provide like-minded believers a place and opportunity to grow in and express their faith in YHWH the God of Israel. Believers are encouraged to demonstrate their love for YHWH through regular fellowship, study, worship, prayer, and obedience to the word of God. From the Mountain Ministry seeks to teach and encourage believers in a Torah observant life. Our liturgical year begins with the declaration of the “aviv” barley and the sighting of the new moon in the land of Israel. Our months begin with the sighting of the first sliver of the new moon in the land of Israel. Our Sabbath begins each week at sundown Friday evening and concludes at sundown on Saturday evening. Our Sabbath worship follows the pattern established in Acts 2:42, which includes teaching, prayer and breaking bread (fellowship). For the sake of good order and unity with our Jewish brethren we follow the standard Yearly Torah Cycle in our weekly Sabbath gathering. We recognize the Tanakh (the Hebrew Scriptures) as authoritative scriptures and foundational documents of our faith. The Apostolic writings (or New Testament) are likewise valued and understood to be a testimony of the faith of the first and early followers of Yeshua of Nazareth as the Messiah. We believe the word of God to be inspired and living. We believe the Bible to be the testimony to the inspired and living word of God. We also celebrate the cycle of Biblical Feasts as found in the Book of Leviticus (Chapter 23), beginning with Sabbath, Pesach (Passover), Hag HaMatzot (the Feast of Unleavened Bread), Bichorim (Firstfruits), Hag Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks), Yom Teruah (Day of Blowing), Yom Kippurim (Day of Coverings-Atonement), Hag HaSukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) and Bayyom HaShemini ‘Atseret (The Eighth Day Assembly).
Following the Biblical pattern, From the Mountain Ministry is administrated by a Board of Elders. From the Mountain Ministry provides for the educational and spiritual needs of its members. We have several qualified teaching elders, who have received formal training and secondary degrees from academically accredited seminaries. These elders teach at the weekly Sabbath gathering, teach a multi-generational Hebrew class, and provide for the development and production of other educational and spiritual resources. These teaching elders have been authorized by the Board to provide the congregation with such services as weddings, counseling, visitation to the sick, and funerals. Matters of congregational discipline are handled in accordance with the teachings of Yeshua the Messiah as found Matthew 18.
Our history as a people dates back thousands of years, and may be traced through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants, who have lived in covenant with the Sovereign Creator of the Universe for thousands of years. Through embracing the covenants made with Abraham (the land covenant and the covenant of circumcision), and the Mosaic Covenant made with our ancestors at Mount Sinai and the wilderness of Moab, we seek to fulfill the calling placed upon us as the children of Israel to restore the Image of God in the world through obedience to the Torah. We sadly acknowledge that our ancestors repeatedly tested God and broke the covenant. But the Sovereign One, blessed be He, promised that he would once again re-establish His reign on earth through His chosen servant The Messiah. We believe that Yeshua of Nazareth is that chosen servant and anointed Messiah. Like many of our ancestors we embrace the life and teachings of our Rabbi Yeshua of Nazareth to be consistent with and a true expression of the covenant life. We believe Yeshua of Nazareth to be the “Son of God” and “The Messiah,” but we do not believe Yeshua to be God. We believe that through the outpouring of the Spirit, we are the many member body of Messiah presently working to restore the reign of YHWH on earth. We also believe that at the appointed time, Yeshua the Messiah will return to complete the establishment of YHWH’s reign and kingdom on earth and will restore the throne of his father David and re-unite and re-establish the kingdom of Israel.
Statement of Faith
We believe that there is only one God, YHWH who created everything that is seen and unseen.
We believe that God is the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe.
We believe that God specifically created humanity (male and female, Jewish and non-Jewish) to be His image in the world.
We believe that all humanity (Jewish and non-Jewish) is equally loved by God and equally important to God.
We believe that all humanity (Jewish and non-Jewish) is called to embody the image of God in the world through obedience to the revealed will of God.
We believe that each person is created with the freedom and ability to obey or disobey, to do good or to do evil. We believe that each person is responsible for the consequences of their choices.
We believe that the poor choices and disobedience of humanity have corrupted the image of God in the world.
We believe that God chose Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants—the people of Israel—to restore the image of God.
We believe that God gave his revealed instructions—the Torah—to the people of Israel.
We believe that by keeping the Torah the people of Israel embody and restore the image of God in the world.
We believe that when the image of God is restored in the world, that the reign or kingdom of the Sovereign God will be restored, that justice and mercy will be restored, humanity will be restored, and that all the earth will be restored.
We believe that Yeshua of Nazareth was chosen, anointed with the Spirit of God, and sent to the people of Israel, to teach us, by his word and example, how to fulfill this sacred calling.
We believe Yeshua of Nazareth to be the Messiah.
We believe Yeshua of Nazareth to be the “Son of God,” but not God.
We believe that by his life, ministry, death and resurrection, Yeshua has shown us the way of salvation.
We believe that by love and faith we become members of the corporate “body of Messiah,”
We believe that by faith we may so identify with Yeshua that we may “die to self” in order to “live for God.”
We believe that we are baptized into Yeshua’s death and are therefore baptized into his resurrection life.
We believe that Yeshua the Messiah has freed us from the power of sin and the fear of death—freeing us to keep the revealed will of God.
We believe that to be a member of the corporate body of Messiah is to be led by the same Spirit of God that animated and empowered Yeshua in perfect righteousness.
We believe that we have been called to continue Yeshua the Messiah’s ministry of reconciliation and restoration.
We believe that through the Spirit of God working in the lives of his people that the reign or Kingdom of God will be restored.
We believe that the scriptures are a written testimony to the living word of God.
We believe that the Torah is the revealed will of God for his people.
We believe that the whole Torah is summarized in the Ten Commandments
We believe that the Ten Commandments are summarized in the two great commandments to love God and to love one’s neighbor.
We believe that these two great commandments are summarized in the verse; Hear, O Israel, YHWH is our God, YHWH is One.
BROTHER GLENN MCWILLIAMS
Brother Glenn McWilliams has been studying and teaching the Word of God for over thirty years. Glenn began studying and teaching the Bible while still in high school. It was during that time that Glenn felt called to dedicate his life to the pursuit of understanding the word of God. Glenn graduated with a B.A. in Religious Studies, and Sociology from La Roche College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Glenn received his Masters of Divinity Degree from The Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg Pennsylvania and was ordained as a pastor in Lutheran Church of America where he served for twenty years. As Brother Glenn continued to climb toward the source of the word, he realized that many of the traditions, practices, and theological foundations of the Christian Church were not rooted in the scriptures but in paganism, ignorance, misunderstanding, mistranslations, and the traditions of men. As the search toward the source of the word continued, the word of God became increasingly clearer. In 2002 Brother Glenn left the Christian Church and began teaching the scriptures, as much a possible, free from the traditions and theological pollution that have been mixed with the word of God over the ages. FROM THE MOUNTAIN MINISTRY is the fruit of Brother Glenn’s love for the pure word of God.
BROTHER BRIAN PLESCHER
Personal and Ministry Highlights
Brian L. Plescher and his wife, Kathy, and their four girls, are originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan. In addition to his seminary studies, Brian has served various churches in central Texas as a speaker and as an ordained minister. In 2004, Brian resigned his position as a regional manager in a customer service business to follow God’s call to serve as missionaries in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On the mission field, Brian completed a pastoral internship at the United Community Church, which is an English-speaking, international, multi-denominational congregation. After his internship, he worked with the poor in the slums and shantytowns that surround the capital city of Buenos Aires where he also formed his own non-profit organization called Dando Vida.
Academic Background and Training
Being convinced of Brian’s call to pastoral and academic ministry, they returned to the United States, and Brian received his Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2011 where he was awarded the Martin G. Miller Scholarship. He was privileged to study under the esteemed Dr. John J. Ahn (Ph.D., Yale University). His areas of research included Hebrew and Greek exegesis, Hebrew Bible text criticism, and wisdom literature. He received a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.A. in English from Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1989 where he received the O.K. Bouwsma Award in Philosophy.
Spiritual Journey and Current Projects
Over the last several years, Brian has been convinced that Christianity is irrevocably compromised by the assimilation of various cultural and religious practices, which began with the rise of the Constantinian Church and its appropriation of “holy” days such as Christmas and Easter. After considerable research, he and his family have left the Christian faith and are now part of the large, diverse, and growing Messianic movement.
He is collaborating on a team-based project researching and presenting on the origins of the Hebrew Bible, a multi-disc video series which will be released later this year. He is also working on presenting a paper for the Society of Biblical Literature/American Academy of Religion Conference in Chicago 2012 on the missional hermeneutics of the Torah.
Brian is also a member of the Board of Directors and a teacher at From the Mountain Ministries. He and his family currently enjoy studying the Torah every Shabbat (Sabbath) with “From the Mountain Ministries Fellowship” in Grand Haven, Michigan.
Brandon Cilla grew up in Muskegon, MI and attended Reeths-Puffer High School as well as Muskegon Community College earning an A.A.S. During his residence in Muskegon, he attended church with great enthusiasm and participation in the youth group, praise band, and dramas. With a passion for learning, he studied as much of the Bible as he could. However, it was not until much later in the summer of 2002 that he personally experienced the love of the Father through His Son Yeshua the Messiah. For the first time Brandon knew that, he was loved, and from that point on his passion for God, and for apologetics, led him to reach people as much as he could with the love of God, as he understood it.
After a divine appointment with Glenn McWilliams in the parking lot of the Maranatha Conference Center in 2002 Brandon’s journey into the Torah lifestyle began. He came to the home of Glenn McWilliams for a bible study on the Torah. That week’s Torah portion was Kodeshim. That was Brandon’s first exposure to the Torah. Though, he did not fellowship with the group for a long period of time, he did prayerfully search out many of the topics that were being discussed on his own. He contacted Zola Levitt Ministries, and Jews for Jesus concerning the topics of Sabbath, kosher, and holidays. They gave him the usual Christian response about how the Torah has been done away with for believers. However, Brandon did not give up searching for truth, though, he did not necessarily immediately join the Messianic fellowship that met in Glenn’s home.
Upon another divine appointment in August of 2003, Brandon met Glenn and his family at his place of work, and was invited to come over again for Sabbath fellowship. In November of 2003 he began to attend the fellow, asking questions, challenging, and prayerfully searching the answers. In December 2003, Brandon committed his life to following God in his prescribed path of Torah. From that point on, his position at the church as a youth leader, and as the youth leader for a Middle School campus ministry, would eventually be endangered.
For four months the pastors, elders, deacons and family challenged his convictions, though he was not as strong in defending his convictions, he remained firm. After the ultimatum of repenting and staying with church or following the teachings of the Torah Keepers group, Brandon opted for the later.
Prior to Brandon’s leaving of his church congregation of over 20 years, he was under the tutelage and mentorship of Glenn McWilliams. Even to the point of being called a “Sabbath son” by the family. Under the mentorship of Glenn, over the years Brandon has acquired various analytical, and research skills, and a sizable library of resources (mostly from Glenn’s recommendation of materials). He continues to learn and will eventually master Biblical Hebrew. He is also in the process of studying numerous Semitic languages (but not limited to): Akkadian; Ugaritic; Aramaic as well as other forms of Hebrew such as; Rabbinic/Mishanic, Mediaeval, and Modern/Israeli. Brandon is also learning Koine Greek.
His primary field of interest is in Biblical and Modern Languages and Linguistics, but has other interest in Biblical and Theological Studies, and Ancient Near Eastern Studies:
Biblical and Modern Languages; research into Biblical Studies including (but not limited to): History Archeology, Textual Criticism, Source Criticism, Linguistics; Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) studies, including but not limited to: Language, Literature, and Linguistics; ANE thought, religion, society and culture; Development of Hebrew language; Studying with aim for fluency in Hebrew (Biblical, Classical, Rabbinic/Mishnaic, Modern/Israeli), Koine Greek, Aramaic. He also hopes to study and attain a goal of fluency in Akkadian, Latin, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Bosnian.
In addition to the above, he also has a healthy interest in psychology, sociology, counseling, and Comparative studies with purposeful application.
Though pursing a B.A. in Accounting/Human Resource Management, he has currently left off that path for an unspecified time to follow YHWH’s calling on his life to work and pursue his passion for the Bible, YHWH, and the body of Messiah.
Brandon is also a member of the Board of Directors and a co-teacher at From the Mountain Ministries.
Brandon is also a co-researcher with Brian Plescher and Glenn McWilliams on the current Bible Project at From the Mountain Ministries.
FROM THE MOUNTAIN MINISTRY is a Michigan Non-Profit whose office is located at
FROM THE MOUNTAIN MINISTRY
Brother Glenn McWilliams
524 Westwind Drive
Muskegon Michigan 49445
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mark Lewis
Glenn Klopfer
Brian Plescher
Stephanie Lewis
Brandon Cilla
Glenn McWilliams