June 26, 2026 (Tehachapi, CA) While Jeff Kaplan was being paid as a full-time pastor, he has secretly been running multiple businesses from his church office.
For years, Jeff Kaplan used Shepherd of the Hills’ resources, including his office, church computers, internet, and utilities, to run a for-profit business called “JZK International.”
California Secretary of State records confirm the business was registered to his name and address. Public record.
Jeff spent the vast majority of his days running the business, answering customer questions, responding to reviews, running ads, updating product listings, and wiring money to China. For years.
I warned him against a decision I knew would cause his business to fail. He ignored me.
As predicted, his business crumbled. He was stuck with dead inventory in a Maryland warehouse, being charged thousands per month with almost no sales.
I stepped in. I leveraged my business contacts and negotiated to bail him out. He later admitted I “saved his bacon.”
His reward to me? Stealing from my family, lying about me, filing false police reports in retaliation, and cooperating with online trolls against me and my family.
After his business collapsed, Jeff admitted to his wife, his daughter, his son, and me that he had been “abandoning his ministry,” that running this business caused him to “ignore his calling,” and that he “had learned his lesson.”
That admission was never shared with the elders. Never shared with the congregation.
When I asked him to confess publicly, he refused.
Why was this wrong?
He continued to accept a full-time pastor’s salary while secretly working part-time for years, all while using church resources to run a personal business from his office that had nothing to do with ministry.
From morning to night, most days, he did nothing but run his business, attend online seminars, and even go to Amazon business conferences.
All of this, while receiving a salary so high it has caused financial struggles in the church, while running side businesses on church time and resources, is the same thing as theft.
Especially when you then beg those same people to bail you out and call it “love offerings”.
Even the “elders” do not know about this.
Accepting a full-time salary while secretly working part-time, using church resources for personal profit, and exploiting the congregation for commercial gain, all while preaching about integrity and sacrifice, is disqualifying.
And he knows it.
That is why he never told the congregation. That is why he never told the elders.
Jeff Kaplan is not a pastor who made a mistake. He is a man who has been living a double life for years.
First, it was real estate.
Then, it was JZK International.
Next, it was crypto.
Now it’s “Strength for Today with Dr. J.”
Tomorrow, it will be something else.
When will Jeff Kaplan pay back the years of stolen funds he knowingly and wrongfully accepted?
(and still currently is)
“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.” – Proverbs 10:9