It is important for you to know that your family’s spiritual journey is respected; we are all lifelong learners. There are a few doctrinal mountains on which I am prepared to die for the truth. Some of these are:

• The Creator of all things in heaven and earth YHWH Elohim (LORD God) is One, expressed in divine unity as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We do not argue over pronunciation(s) of His Name or titles. (Genesis 1, Deuteronomy 6:4, Luke 3:22, Hebrews 13:8)
• The virgin birth and deity of Jesus Christ/Yahshua the Messiah; His Hebrew identity and name and its transliterations reveal the Person by whom we are redeemed and with whom we have relationship as His followers and His Bride (Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 2, John 1)
• The full sacrifice for sin was made at the cross, by which we are saved by grace through faith, … not of works lest any man should boast. We must come to His cross, repent of our sin, and follow Him to be saved. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 10:9-17, Acts 2:38-42)
• The written Word of God in its original languages is trustworthy from Genesis through Revelation, interpreting itself with studious attention to exegesis and hermeneutic principles, and is timelessly relevant to our guidance in doctrine and instruction in righteousness. (Deuteronomy 6, 28, Matthew 5:17-20, II Timothy 2:15 and 3:16)

These are foundational apostolic doctrines which Jude, the brother of Jesus, admonishes us to contend for earnestly- basic salvation doctrines. (Jude 1:3) The apostle James, another brother of Jesus who presided over the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, instructed the earliest believers coming into faith in Messiah that they could follow minimal requirements to promote fellowship, but continue to attend weekly synagogue meetings on Sabbath where they would gradually learn the God-given Torah (instructions) over time, learn to live by the Spirit, and grow in sanctification. Uniformity was not expected or encouraged. Paul regularly reminded all believers in Messiah that the Pharisaical oral law/traditions of man were not required for salvation. The Jerusalem Council trumps the Nicaean Council and all later deviations from “the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3)