A Note Re: Darin Hufford

By David Yeubanks of truthforfree.com

Dear friends:

I really hate to feel like I need to offer a disclaimer regarding Darin's teachings but I am doing so because I have received some criticism and caution from a few readers who are concerned that Darin does not present a balanced perspective of the love of God and some have even voiced stronger criticisms of other facets of his doctrine. Questioning doctrinal purity in light of the teaching of Scripture is a fair challenge and I welcome the opinions and concern of anyone who has such to share. It is for this very reason that I offer this response and I welcome any further inquiries or comments to this regard. The name of this site is Truth For Free and that name would be without value if it were that I was not willing to examine potential errors with various facets of teaching that are presented on this site by various authors. Thank you to those of you have been concerned enough to write and raise legitimate questions and try to find some resolve and clarity before outright slandering a brother in Christ. For the record, I do accept Darin as my brother in Christ and I hope to offer some thoughts I have regarding the questions some have raised because I think there has possibly been some misunderstanding concerning some things Darin has said in his messages or perhaps a little too much has been made of certain details of doctrine Darin may have missed the mark on. If anyone feels I am in error about this, I invite you to write and kindly share your thoughts or, even better, write Darin himself. This disclaimer is not intended to make excuses for Darin, but to emphasize the love of Christ and proper perception in matters like this where some confusion or misunderstanding is or may be present.

As I have always stated on this site, no one's revelation is of any secret interpretation and all things should be weighed in accord with the teaching of Scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit. I am no different. Darin is no different. You are no different. The intent of this website is not to issue commands for how to live, but to share the testimony of a number of brothers and sisters in Christ who are walking the walk of faith outside the walls of traditional organized religion and endeavoring to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit in their daily lives. It should be expected that we will not all perfectly agree on everything and we may even miss the mark at times. Discernment should work through love so that we endeavor to see others through the eyes of Jesus and make godly decisions as to whether we personally conclude that a person is simply weak in their understanding, or deliberately deceiving other people, or that it is us who is weak (or maybe even deceived) in our understanding and the Lord may require a challenge, humility and change in us.

Darin classifies himself as a "heart preacher" and admits that his preaching sometimes offends those who are more religiously motivated (i.e. who thinks in terms of church program and logic). I will admit that I am not necessarily keene on this kind of blanket assesment of people because a person simply challenging whether something is biblical is not always evidence of a "religious" attitude; however, I think Darin's intent is to simply suggest that the mind of the Spirit of God often offends the mind of flesh and therefore we need to be spiritually-minded not just solemnly making judgments according to our individual understanding of Scripture, which may or may not be flawed at times.

I do not for one second believe that Darin means to distort any Scripture passage, though I will admit that Scripture reference is perhaps not a strongpoint of his messages. He sometimes says things that provoke the spirit in a right way (getting the thought and intent right to draw attention to closer relationship with Christ who is the Truth), but can sound technically inaccurate at times when his words are paired literally along side some Scriptures. Darin makes one distinction appropriately clear (in my opinion) that I think too many others miss - and that is that he understands that the Truth is not simply some "thing" (i.e. the text in a book), but CHRIST JESUS IS THE TRUTH! That is the essence that Darin seeks to exalt and it's another reason why I say that those who have (spiritual) ears to hear this will.


I perceive some of the misunderstandings that some people have made of Darin's message this way: Have you ever had a friend who was trying to tell you something but the words didn't come out just right, though because you understood the heart of where they were coming from, and what they were trying to say, it made perfect sense? Then you know those friends you have who KNOW what you're trying to explain to them (and you know they KNOW) but they are tripping up on your presentation and instead of just receiving from you, they pick apart your technical phrasing of everything. I think that's probably part of what's going on with some who have been critical of Darin's words. As I said before, I am not intending to make excuses for Darin in cases where he may have actually stumbled in some point, but I do believe that what I have just shared is at least perhaps part of what's going on. Head thinkers often struggle with heart movers.

Jesus Himself often expounded on "the heart" of the Law and this irritated the Pharisees who were technical experts in the letter. They wrongly presumed that Jesus was violating the Law, when He was actually representing the whole intent of the Law by addressing the heart of it. I believe this is Darin's attempt also and he admits to being inspired by how Jesus focused on the heart issues rather than the letter. I think there is a balance though and perhaps there are some things Darin could improve on in his presentation to avoid unnecessary (i.e. spiritually unproductive) criticism because sometimes criticisms are justified, especially if the "heart" in conveyance is not in good alignment with what the Scripture teaches in proper context. Jesus also cited the Law in perfect literary context at other times and generally clarified for His followers how the heart lines up with what the letter intended to convey. Because of this fact, I think it's probably not the best approach to say one is a "heart preacher" as though that detail excuses them from being accurate in their context and presentation (not that I believe that Darin is looking for excuses at all). Perhaps this is an area that Darin is growing in or that he may be need to be further challenged in. I personally don't think Darin is "out there" in his logic on matters of truth, but I will agree that he may not always present things in a perfectly biblically astute manner and I think this is where his critics end up having a problem with him. Oddly enough, I don't know anyone who is "perfectly" biblically astute (certainly not me), but it's true that some are stronger in this area than others. Just another reason why God has fashioned us all as a body so that each one contributes what God has given them ability for. Darin would probably fail as a professional theologian (hehe)... or at least drive one nuts. ;) But I like that Darin goes for the heart juggler on things. Truly a great many of church-attending folks think so heavily in traditional ways and according to carnal wisdom that is actually more out of harmony with Scripture than even they realize that it takes something that offends their religious concepts (their brain) to shake them into a realization of the Truth (that is realized in the heart).

Darin focuses on the walk of faith and a deep love relationship with the Lord and offers his words in the scape of "for those who have ears to hear." Those who approach his words from this standpoint I don't think will have any problem. Some think Darin does not hold the Scriptures in high esteem but I do not believe this is true. For the record Darin believes the Scriptures are wholly inspired by God and agrees fully with 2 Timothy 3:13-17 and I hope that I have fairly conveyed what I believe is the real issue here with the few who have had a real problem with aspects of his teaching.

One other concern I have heard voiced is that Darin presents too much of a "buddy-buddy" view of God and gives no regard for the "fear of the Lord." I understand this concern; however, in Darin's defense I will say that religion has largely taught people to fear God in an unhealthy and unbiblical way and to approach Him with works in an attempt to achieve His favor. Darin's intent is to remove the barriers to relationship with God that many religious teachers have created with their man-made concepts. His heart is that people find God fully, without fear of approaching Him because He truly does love us without reservation. If a person is actively engaged in a true and intimate relationship with the Father, he/she will develop a healthy fear of the Lord that is not marked by anything similar to the fear of man but is wholly motivates through love.

There are a few concepts Darin has that are perhaps a little more liberal (for lack of a better word) than I am comfortable with as well and there are a few minor points he makes that, if I wanted to pick the brother apart, I could probably detail many slip-ups and misunderstandings he still appears to have. But what would be the point of all that? Love? I don't think so. I'm sure Darin (or anyone else for that matter) could do the same thing with me concerning some things because I don't suppose I know it all either. When I listened to Darin's messages, my heart locked into what he was attempting to convey and though my mind recognized some minor discrepencies with his doctrinal opinions, the Spirit of the Lord used his words to encourage me. It is my opinion that the audio messages available for download from this site are also geared more towards brothers and sisters in Christ who are still members of traditional churches and locked in that ritual. People who have been out of that environment for a number of years may not find much "meat" in Darin's messages because it reiterates things that have probably already been learned through the very experience of learning to walk with God day by day without the crutch of the religious system. Having said that, I don't wish to imply that this is an exclusive target for his ministry either because, as I shared before, God deeply encouraged me through some things he shared. There are plenty of "out of church" folks, who still fail to catch the basic truths of what this walk with God is all about and many of these people only end up trying to duplicate "church" as they have presumed it on a smaller scale with their home meetings, less-formal gatherings, post-modernist church projects and house churches. The concepts Darin conveys will no doubt be perceived as "radical" to many who find their sustenance artificially from the institutional church program (which can be engaged just as strongly in concept as literality).

For the record, as many "critics" as I've run into who have expressed problems they perceived with Darin Hufford's doctrinal viewpoints, I have also heard from those whom God has deeply touched through his messages. And if I had to judge between the two (at this point), I can tell you honestly that the attitude of those who were touched was far more humble and Christlike than any of those who sought to criticize his message as well as me for sharing it from this site.

One last time I will say, Darin's message is for those who have ears to hear WHAT THE SPIRIT is saying. It may also be wise (in this author's opinion) to filter the afore mentioned kinds of concerns (re: details of doctrine) through grace, understanding that Darin is, in some respects, "new" in His walk outside of the organized church system ("new" doesn't mean that he is ignorant about how to walk in intimate relationship with Christ without the trappings of religion). The fact that he may not have been outside the church system for long also doesn't mean anyone else who has is better or smarter than he is, but we all have weaknesses and need the grace (and space) to grow in truth. In fact, most of us are pretty immature when compared with the example of Jesus. I love Darin's heart and believe he nails many very important - even vital - things right on the head and some of those "offensive" concepts he preaches are only regarded as offensive because the religious and fleshly mind resists the wisdom of God. This man is a dear brother in Christ, not a "Jim Jones" or a heretic. ;) If anyone else has concerns about Darin's messages (or any other author represented on this site - INCLUDING ME), please feel free to write me and I will examine them. You may also wish to forward your questions to Darin himsef by clicking here.

May the Lord bless you as you diligently seek Him!

In His grip,
David Yeubanks


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