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Rood has continued many of the themes and practices which made TWI theologically a cult of Christianity.

“Michael John Rood is an ordained nondenominational Christian minister and Messianic rabbi,” according to a brochure Rood produced to promote his seminars which have been held around the United States

Unfortunately, Michael John Rood and his teachings are not credible or accurate. Rood is not trained, certified or recognized as a Rabbi, and his “ordination” by a cult called The Way International (TWI) required only minor instruction in an unaccredited TWI program. His central teachings depart radically from the evangelical Christian faith, and several of his teachings and practices are typical among cults rather than among Christians or Messianic Jews (that is, Jews who have accepted Yeshua [Jesus Christ] as Lord and Savior). Furthermore, many of his teachings and practices are drawn from a cult called The Way International which was incorporated in 1954 and widely denounced by Christian leaders and TWI’s ex-followers alike. About 95% of TWI’s followers have left TWI after seeing its severe errors, and many ex-leaders of TWI have founded a variety of splinter groups or ministries, just as Rood has.

Michael John Rood has continued many of the themes and practices which made TWI a cult. Both TWI and Rood:

disparage the Christian Church as full of deception and pagan practices;
consider themselves to be the one source of truth, the revealer of the unknown Mystery and the way out of “pagan” Christianity;

follow the teachings of one Man who can lead them out of deception,
warned that America would be attacked and destroyed by Communist powers,

promote highly speculative, unfounded and inaccurate theories,
devote attention to minute detail on areas of “research” that have essentially little significance,

criticize celebration of Christmas (TWI replaced it with “Happy Household Holidays),

use similar terminology, such as when Rood refers to believers receiving “the gift of holy spirit,” (Mystery of Iniquity, p. 54) meaning that they receive the human spirit which Adam, lost at the fall, not “the Holy Spirit” as evangelical Christianity teaches,

promote the “Lamsa Bible” written by George Lamsa, which claims to the translated from the Aramaic and therefore more accurate than translations from the Greek.

Lamsa actually rejects most central Christian beliefs (his doctrine is similar to the Unity School of Christianity where he worked for many years) and his translation is deeply flawed in many ways (”George M. Lamsa— Christian Scholar or Cultic Torchbearer?” Christian Research Journal, by John Juedes on Rood’s claim to have identified the exact day of Jesus’ birth while defaming the celebration of December 25 is also something TWI claimed to do. TWI’s book, The Promised Seed, also identified Tishri 1, 3 BC, between 6:18 and 7:39 P.M. as the date and time of Jesus’ birth. (Although Rood says that was Sept 23, while TWI says it was Wed. Sept. 11, because Rood claims to use a “corrected” Hebrew calendar.)

Rood is different from TWI in his legalistic requirement that Christians keep the Torah and observe the Saturday Sabbath and Hebrew festivals. (Although TWI did emphasize obeying certain universal laws, such as believing and tithing.) On the surface, Rood seems to contradict TWI teaching by emphasizing Hebrew religion, while TWI showed some anti-Semitic characteristics such as denying the WWII holocaust.

- Source: Michael Rood, Doomsday Prophetoffsite Last accessed, May 4, 2008. Formatted for clarity.

Rood’s teachings are unbiblical to such an extend that he can not be considered to be a Christian.