Testimonies

I was raised in a very conservative Southern Baptist home in eastern Kentucky. At a very young age I had a passion for studying my Bible, and constantly asked questions.  My parents really tried to answer my questions but the one question they could never answer to my satisfaction is “why do we not keep the Sabbath?” Their answers never gave me peace so I continued to ask every minister who would listen.  Eventually I married an ordained minister with the Christian Church (Church of Christ).  My husband and I had 5 children and adopted 8 children with special needs.  After 17 years of marriage he left me for another woman.  The shock for me was more than being left with 13 children to raise, the shock was more because I couldn't fathom that a married man could even consider looking at another woman, much less commit adultery. Through all the pain in my life and the changes in my life the One constant has been Yeshua.

About 10 years ago the question of keeping the 7th day as Sabbath had never been answered for me.  I had heard all the answers of "historical tradition" and "Paul says the law was done away with", but there was never a peace in my spirit about those answers. So I made a decision to consciously put aside all the doctrine teachings I had been taught and start at the beginning of the Bible, praying for wisdom and understanding, and find my answer. I learned about fringes on your prayer shawl and writing His words on the doorpost of your house and on your arm to remind you of His Torah. Over and over I read these commandments are "forever".  At this point I had to have a prayer shawl!

The day my prayer shawl arrived in the mail my granddaughter was sitting at the table being tutored by her teacher.  I opened the box and the tutor gasped and said, "that's a prayer shawl!"  It turns out she was a Jewish woman whose first language is Hebrew. She put me in touch with a retired rabbi who had taught New Testament theology at a Hebrew university in Ohio.  The rabbi taught Biblical Hebrew classes in his home.  My church had "Life Groups" and I asked my group if anyone was interested in learning Hebrew. One woman said yes, my friend Sheryl, (another new tribe member) and we began taking Biblical Hebrew.  That was the beginning of a journey orchestrated by the Creator that has brought me a love for Yeshua that I can't even describe.  The question that has been on my heart since childhood has been answered for me, I keep the Sabbath.  The rabbi no longer teaches class but a few weeks ago while searching for a group to celebrate Sukkot with this year, I found a link to Holy Language Institute and joined immediately.

When I look back over my life and see how the puzzle pieces have been put together, I realize if I obey His Word and listen to His Voice, He will put the right people in my path at the right time, and if I earnestly seek for Him to put the desires in my heart, He will be faithful to put a fire in my passion and the tools needed to fuel that fire in my path. What a MIGHTY God we serve!

Hello, I'm Lenora, not Jewish that I know about. I'm a believer in Yeshua, and because I love Him, I try to follow the Torah. The Feast days are a part of that. I'm a single Mom of one incredible young man. He is more into being Messianic than I am. lol

Around 5 years ago I was looking up something for my son on YouTube. (They have a lot of awesome educational lessons on YouTube) I not only found Izzy but I found many other teachers as well. They were telling me the same thing.

I always thought there was something pagan about the Holidays. We always said we were following the Bible. Then why not follow the Feast days too and the instructions in the Torah? I was so struck by how pagan everything was/is. Part of the church doesn't want to hear it and just wants to carry on. And some of those say "oh, you have turned Jewish on us" or " you need to get saved, you're  getting too legalistic" etc. The other part of the church just does not know.

As I was finding out about what the Feasts entail, I was trying to learn Hebrew. I enjoyed the lessons over the Aleph Bet, so much I bought the DVD set. I'm an artist and I have included Hebrew in my pottery. I was told, because I had a stroke at an early age, not to worry about learning another language. That it would be too frustrating for me. Just stick with the English. After I found Izzy on YouTube, I decided that I could learn another language if I could listen to the lessons as many times as I needed.  Even though I'm in my 50's now, I thought, I have time to learn Hebrew. I'm a visual person, so that Hebrew is pictorial even drew me closer to wanting to know Hebrew.  And it keeps my mind active which is a good thing.

I know it was important for my son and for me too, to get involved with a community. We had driven by Remnant of Israel several times and one Sunday we noticed they were having a "garage sale, so we stopped. I bought something; we talked to them, found out dates and times. We joined the Remnant family and  learned a lot from the people of Remnant. Around 6 months ago or so, Remnant split apart. Rabbi retired, some people stayed and they have a new non-Jewish rabbi now. Others, along with my son and I moved to another community at L'Chaim. I still go to Remnant for personal lessons in Hebrew. Izzy's Biblical Hebrew lessons have really helped to learn Hebrew as well as to understand the Scriptures better. Hebrew for me will be an ongoing process of challenging learning.

I can honestly say that I personally did not choose to become a servant of Elohim! I was born to it from the womb. Hashem has made me! I know no other desire stronger!

The Jewish Yeshua was revealed to me three years ago. Izzy once said he refers to the image of Jesus that most preachers teach, as the Malibu Jesus. That is exactly the image I was taught. 22 yrs of  Four Square and Assemblies teachings (Mother) and  Southern Baptist teachings (Father). Along with a Grandfather who was a wandering Preacher, of whom we could never quite pin down. My belief from the writings and books I inherited from him, is he was raised as a 7th Day Adventist. But, I may be totally wrong on that point. It was no wonder I was confused.  

The scriptures where only cracked 6 of those years. Every book about scriptures that I could come across except the scriptures themselves was read the other 16 years. I only fasted once every 10 years, prayed a full organized prayer only 5 times in 20 years except grace at meals. After that, 15 years of wandering from one place to another, somehow knowing what I was taught was a lie. I was, in my view, a Christian Mutt with fleas! Some main things I was taught did not make sense until you add the things in the Old Testament. Which I was taught no longer applied. No one could satisfy me with a legit answer to why we now had Two Testaments. An Old and a New instead of just Scriptures. And what really was the good news? Several wishy washy answers but again none that are concrete until you add the things in the Old Testament.

 But, now I see what we, as Adam or humanity had done. And I now see it for what it was; sin, disobedience and bondage. I now know that it is first the Salvation through Yeshua then, out of love for the Father, the Torah. Believing the truth, I had woken up from a fog and had to relearn what I should have known before. I have become a totally different man, I now know those questions. The great mystery that Paul speaks of in Ephesians 5:32 by which is again being revealed today, the answers of what The Good News is (It is all about the reconciliation of all Israel's Tribes with all the covenants including the covenant of Adam (both male and female)), I know what the meaning of the one new man i.e. humanity or simply put, the one new Adam. I know that the great mystery, the good news and the one new Adam are a part of each and are of one purpose that God had foresaw and set in motion from before creation.

But, now let us start at the beginning.

I have tried to keep this Testimony short but, it seems there is too much to say. It is not about me, but about our Elohim! If I write all the things in my life, we would really have a very, very long book about me not what great works Abba has done. So if I leave out all the nasty, gory and interesting things most put in their testimony, well, just forgive me and assume it happened. Because, it probably did, but only to his glory!

I was born in Wichita Kansas in 1963. Crippled with a degenerative bone disease. Then operated on at the age of 2 years with a surgery technique never done before to correct this. After years of recovery and leg braces to twist my legs into a more proper position, I was able to do what the doctors at birth said I would never be able to do, "Walk, Run and Jump." But, at a cost with pain. Alone most of my life because of my situation. A child who was alone with a family surrounding me. I never had the chance to learn any social skills! I still find that I stray toward observing people on the sidelines more out of habit than desire. Let me emphasize, I have no desire to be alone. Yet, it still seems at times I'm alone among people. I express myself best on paper, than in a conversation. Although, I have learned how to express myself verbally. I still prefer writing.

At the age of three I was placed out in the yard to play. My sister told me a story once, I was sitting in the front yard in a body cast playing with toys when a drunken neighbor backed up his car and went right over me. And the car would of killed me yet there was not a scratch on me and I was still playing as if nothing had happened when he drove off. My sister thought I was sitting in a hole in the yard. But my father had tilled and planted that grass and knowing him, there was no hole. Several strange things have happened since, some had happened so much that it had become commonplace with me by the time I was a Teenager. Shadows and objects moving as a child and as a teen. Things had seemed to continually happen to me as if I was a target to be killed and yet always I survived because of what I now know the protection of Elohim. I do not take that lightly, for I know my life is YHWH's. I was mangled, hit, ran over, punctured, fallen off a 40ft ladder, twice! Slipped on a steep slippery roof 60ft up and missed being impaled by 6ft spikes in the ground when there was no way not to be. I walked away untouched. Thrown out of a car when I was hit by another car, Approached by and spoken to and once violently attacked by demons and pushed to insanity. Violently attacked and/or raped. All this seemed to be an attempt to kill me in body and/or in spirit. These all failed because of the protection of Elohim, because I was born for Him. I am in pain because of all of these things. Yet I accept it as my share of the burden. This, although at times it has been close to unbearable, is not beyond what I can bear and now is a reminder of what Elohim has done for me. There were times I have seen things that can only be called miracles. These things I also do not take lightly because, they have shown me our God's true nature. There were times I had been so depressed and alone and even for a time not in my right mind. There was a time I was locked away in prison because of my sin, pride, desire, depression and I broke man’s law. There are times I do not want to remember. But, I do and they are things I will never forget. Some are the results of my doing. Most from the results of others. The things I had done in myself, I was not proud of. I Hate and despise violence. Yet, I found out that if I am left alone to my own self and pride, I can create violence without knowing it. That is too my shame! Without trying, enemies have surfaced and have tried to destroy me any way they can. They hate me without even knowing me or my true heart. Yet I am still here! Because of my reverence and literally calling out to God with true repentance, God had the forbearance and actually pursued and desired to forgive my sins and pride. I survive with my mind and body in tact nevertheless, because of this!

I am not the wisest, yet I have learned great wisdom through my life that is priceless. All to the glory of YHWH the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and me. At times, I fall into great depths that make me feel abandoned and alone and yet I could not and will not blame God nor curse Him! My heart is always with him. My thoughts and true desires always come back to him.

I am now Attending Shabbat’s at Messiah's Branch Mission church, the ministry of Pastor Dan Catlin, his wife Linda, and his whole family. They adopted me into their family and I have been blessed for it. This ministry is in one of the worst parts of town. But because of its fruits, you would never know it. This is a truly blessed Yeshua based ministry for the daytime shelter and feeding of every one with a need from the homeless to the working poor. The ministry serves more than to our city, but we have had people from all around come to us for help because they heard we genuinely care and supply the needs that agencies with millions of dollars cannot or will not. In fact those very agencies with those millions refer those in need to Messiah’s Mission Church, which has no money or budget but, rely on donations from the body. This though has been very thin. Yet we are able to supply them or at worst pray there needs in. This ministry should not exist by man's standards. And financially it should not but, it does only through Elohim. 

 Many people around me have said or think, I am nothing, I am an outcast without redemption! Without reproach! All this was because of my past. But, I say "I feel sorry for you!" You judge without knowledge and the knowledge you do have is flawed! So I bless them. I know they will be judged and I would desire them to live and not go to a second death! 

 I can also say this: I, now, am a true believer and follower of Yeshua my Messiah, who came as the sacrificial lamb for the sins of all in whom the Father calls. All so we may become a part of Israel's covenant, not as strangers but as adopted children into Israel to be in all ways Israel. 

Yeshua had seen that I was dead and called me from the sleep of death to serve YHWH my God. Yeshua has shown us from His example that His Torah is a light burden to fulfill and we too can commune with YHWH without a veil, and complete Torah without effort because we love the Father. This, by the help of the Spirit of God that was breathed into us at creation. 

So, If He does nothing more for me or if others think I am no longer worthy and if the world turns away from me and curses me, and though I am cast into the pit of deepest sorrows, I will always say and do what my God commands of me and the Instructions He has given me in His Torah. Because, for me, I will serve EL ELYON forever! I was born to it from the womb. A servant of YHWH, who is grafted into Israel through Yeshua HaMashiach, who is obedient to the Spirit of God. I know no greater desire within me!"

I will encourage you in this last thing; Fear and love Yeshua the son! In doing so you do the same for YHWH El Elyon, Love everyone, reverence your life it is a gift so you can serve the only God, of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and you!

Blessings and Shalom

I first got interested in the Jewish culture a few years ago when I started studying prophecy. I came to a deeper understanding that the Bible was a Jewish book open to all who follow Yeshua.

Two years ago our daughter and her husband invited us to go on a trip to Israel with them. The day before we left for Israel my cousin just so happened to be traveling through our state and stopped for a visit. He is much older than I and knows much about our family heritage. He said our grandfather was Jewish. What!!....I'm Jewish??!! Our grandfather came to this country in 1910 when he was 19 years old. They were German, but when Catherine the Great opened the borders they moved to Russia. There they endured much hardship and two of his brothers were shot and killed. My grandfather had his papers forged by a Jewish man and he was able to come to America. I had always known about this story but never knew the "Jewish" part of the story. Now it all makes sense.

Israel was so amazing that we went again last year and will be going for the third time in 2018, of course bringing others along. I thought learning a few Hebrew words would be cool but Holy Language Institute has turned out to be SO much more. It's a journey to Yeshua! Izzy is delightful and easy to listen to, so much insight into the scriptures and the meaning of the Hebrew Alephbet. I'm hooked and super excited about everything I'm learning.

I am a Coptic Orthodox Christian from Egypt.

My story starts when I was 17.  I didn’t know the Lord in spite of being a regular church-goer. 

I went once to one of the monasteries in Egypt, for fun, during the summer vacation. There was a little pond in that monastery. I and a friend of mine sat by to enjoy the clear night in the middle of the desert. 

While chatting there, we met a monk who appeared coming out of nowhere. He started talking to us about the Love of God towards us. Then he went his way to disappear in the pitch black desert.

From that day on, my life has completely changed. I began to read the Bible and praying to the Lord to manifest Himself to me. “I believe your Word God, I believe that you took care of Abraham.” I prayed. 

“Lead me and make me yield to you exactly as Abraham did” I pleaded.

Days pass by and I came to North America as an immigrant, to a place I never expected myself to be at. I moved from a place to another unknowing where shall I be settled, that was for almost 6 years. 

All of the sudden, the gates of knowledge were widely opened. Back when I was in Egypt the mere mention that you love Israel could jeopardize your life. Learning Hebrew would always raise the suspicion around you of espionage. In mean time, I was reading my Bible, especially the letters of St. Paul, he was saying something different. 

I kept searching. 

I listened to a video posted by Universal Torah Network (Belonging to The Temple Institute) and one of the lecturers was discussing St. Paul's saying:" What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God."  Another lady who was talking about the nuisances those are lost in the English translations. So I decided to study Hebrew to try to know what the oracles of God are. 

I tried many websites (I am visual), till I came across your Website. It really exceeded my expectation; most importantly it is Yeshua Centered. Great teachings and committed teachers, plenty of resources and you feel like in the midst of brothers.

My main goal of studying any language (Hebrew included I also study some other ancient languages: Koine Greek, Latin, Coptic. I am just trying Syriac now beside some other live Languages: Arabic, my native language, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish) is the Word and how it is related to my life. 

Finally I came across a book called "Analytical Key to the Old Testament” combined with Brown, Driver, and Briggs Lexicon and that was it, I now study the Word of God right from the beginning with no problem at all. 

I wish I have known your website long time ago but I believe that there is a time for everything.

Finally, thank you all Holy Language Institute Family and keep doing the great job for the Glory of Yahweh the Father in Yeshua His Son by Ruach HaKodesh.

I grew up following Jesus, but not learning about Yeshua until a few years ago.  Both of my parents were Catholic until I was about three years old. My grandmother on my father’s side is Jewish but nothing was taught.  My grandmother was a very quiet sweet woman.  My Dad’s father was a proud Italian and Catholic and so Catholicism was taught.  My mom was also  raised in a Catholic home.  My mom’s youngest sister invited my parents, who were separated at the time, to an Assemblies of God church with her, where they were both saved.  My dad attended bible college there and I attended private school K-12 there.  While there he studied under a messianic pastor and he discovered the importance of our Jewish heritage. I remember a few things about Passover and Jewish traditions as a little girl but not much.  

A few years ago Abba began speaking to me about shifting my path out of the non-denom church I was at working in youth ministry, to the messianic path He wanted me to take. I was so fearful of the unknown and the thought of learning about my Jewish roots and Hebrew overwhelmed me!  He gave me a constant vision of 2 paths: one was bright and it symbolized the church path I had been on. The other path was the messianic path. It was a path less traveled, dark and a bit scary but in the vision He would speak I can either continue on the wide bright path I’m on without Him, or the scarier path He asked me to take and He would be with me. He wanted me to shift. I was very reluctant, being comfy and happy at my church, but over the months I was miserable. One day standing at the fridge eating my feelings I said “what am I doing? Jesus is not in the fridge!” Just then I heard a voice speak clearly “if you do not obey My calendar and follow my signs you will miss what I have for you”. I was filled with a holy fear and fearfully asked, “You have a calendar???”  There was no answer, but the presence of Adonai was so thick. I looked up online and saw God’s calendar!!  And a lot of Hebrew! I sat down and studied for days. During that time I had a sudden urge to learn Hebrew for myself.  To not study and take someone else’s word anymore about the Word, but to study it and know the truth for myself. I wanted to speak it, read it, know it.

Through a series of Divine appointments, Abba directed me to a messianic congregation in Atlanta where I took a Hebrew class but it wasn’t enough.  I was starving for more. I found Holy Language Institute on YouTube and took advantage of all the free materials that Izzy posted. I listened at work all day and again at home. I thought the free materials were great but I can’t believe the treasure trove of blessing behind the subscription doors of HLI and the amount of work Izzy has put into the teaching and materials that I was missing out on. I wish I had known then what I know now. 

That was about two years ago. I’m now Izzy’s assistant at Holy Language Institute and I LOVE it!  The teachers, the materials, the Holy Language Tribe is amazing!  No matter what level you are at, there is something for everyone!  I personally love the studies on Hebrew prayer and Izzy’s teaching on the Lord’s prayer. I love the Hebrew audio bible!  The Heritage Library is unreal…I could go on forever!

Outside of studying Hebrew and being part of Holy Language Institute, I work full time for a civilian owned company doing interiors for the US federal government.  I also lead the Young Adult ministry at my messianic congregation and partner in another ministry teaching messianic foundations to people in the church who are interested in learning more about the Jewishness of Jesus and Jewish roots of the Christian faith.  I’ll travel to speak when asked.  My hobby is photography, weight training at my gym, hiking and traveling!

I accepted the Lord Jesus as my Savior at the age of 17 ½. Two days before going to the Army, 28 June 1983, at my best friend's house with his dad who was a Pentecostal minister.  I went to Baptist churches initially, Charismatic Christian non-denominational, and Pentecostal churches for 31 years. Attended "Bible College" for three years.

The Holy Spirit started convicting me about the Sabbath and Christmas season and decorations.

I ran into a brother who he gave me the book Lost in Translation: Rediscovering the Hebrew Roots of our Faith and it changed my Theology 180 degrees!

Without knowing anything of the celebrations or feasts, my first visit to a Messianic congregation was Yom Kippur last year (2014) and not knowing anything about it I went fasting. Elohim has taught me so much this last year that I want to start 5776 diving into Hebrew Language lessons to learn exponentially more. I AM VERY EXCITED TO START!!!

I was blessed to be born into a God-fearing family, with parents who weren't afraid to question the place they were in and were always ready to move with the Holy Spirit. I barely remember when they felt convicted to start keeping the Shabbat and set us on the road we're on.

When I was a fairly young girl, my older brother tried to teach me a bit of Biblical Hebrew during my home¬schooling. It was a difficult task, since I was more likely to run around and play games then sit still and listen. In fact, I probably would have only wanted to sit still if there was a book to read... in English. To sum it up: My introduction to Hebrew was short and unproductive.

God was at work in me and I always enjoyed our faith as a kid. It was fun. We could rest on a whole day. There were neat holidays that we kept with our congregation, and loads of the people we knew had oodles of little kids. Gradually, the enjoyment of our faith deepened into a deep love for Messiah and for the Holy Word of God. It would be impossible to say when it became my own faith, as it happened little by little over a period of many years, but I can point to last year as an influential year in the journey.

The year of 2014/2015 my father took a sabbatical, allowing us to go to Israel for a few months during the fall. While we were in Israel, I felt that even as God had to renew his promises with both Isaac and Jacob, I also needed to join myself to God separately from my parents. Even though I had been growing in my faith for quite a while, it was in Israel that I really took the phrase: "God doesn't have grandchildren," into my own hands and asked to be His child.

Simultaneously, I was falling in love with the land of Israel and began to understand what it means to bless Israel (something I'm still learning!). Staying in the land also gave me the opportunity to hear the modern Hebrew language and to kindle a love for the sound of the words.

After that time in Israel, Abba arranged for me to go to Missouri for a two month Hebrew ulpan.

While my brother had first planted the seeds of Hebrew in my mind and heart, it was this ulpan that truly fanned that passion into flame. It was modern Hebrew, of course, a bit different from the Hebrew in the Bible. That's why I'm grateful for Izzy. 

I'm excited to be learning from the course, as well as getting my hands dirty by helping out with the shipping side of the institute. I'm even more thrilled to be learning the language and reading the Hebrew with the love of my life. 

It is a beautiful language and I encourage everyone attempting to learn it to continue on. Learning another language can be difficult and frustrating, but that first dream in Hebrew, the first time you talk in your sleep in that language... it's extremely rewarding! Even more amazing is that first verse you understand without help. To all pushing themselves and trying to learn, "kol ha kavod."

The biggest thing I’ve learned so far since I’ve started with Holy Language is Hebrew is backwards from English like I was taught. I’ve had trouble with mild dyslexia all my life. Nothing major, just flipping numbers backwards, or thinking I’ve said one thing, but it was the total opposite. I always figured I was just tired or something. 

I’ve very recently realized that I need to learn Hebrew, and I’ve only done a couple of Izzy’s lessons, but it struck me that Hebrew is written opposite from the way I’ve been raised to think and read. I was just sitting there in front of my computer the other day and stopped the video. The Holy Spirit put a sense that dyslexia was never the issue for me. I’ve been doing things so backwards from the way our Father designed for us. It was like I knew for the first time my struggles are because I’m not lining up with Him and I don’t know His ways and culture and language. I’ve been surrounded and taught a foreign culture and language. I realize that there is endless depth for understanding and learning, because we are missing out on G-d’s culture. It’s more than just a language barrier.

I’m very excited to learn more and live as He designed. Thank you Izzy and your team, for doing these teachings and making them easy to access from anywhere!

The Lord led me to Hebrew. My husband was very ill, I remember being overwhelmed. I was telling the Lord I did not think I could go on without my Husband Gil. The Lord began to impress upon me that there were things He had in store for me to do and go. He brought up Israel and told me to begin to prepare for the journey. In January of that new year I began my search for classes to learn the language of Israel. I stumbled upon a young man named Izzy Avraham, out of Canada and his online classes were free. I began my Hebrew journey and took the first lesson on the Aleph. I was hooked on Hebrew at that moments in time. I told my pastor of the adventure I was about to undertake, because she had encouraged us that if the Lord was calling us to go, then we had a responsibility to learn about the culture and to learn the language. The next thing I know the Pastor send one of the elders to ask me to lead a home group in the study of Hebrew. Oh my, I thought, I had just begun the study and all I knew was the aleph, so I quickly declined and told them next year would be a better time to lead a group in the study of Hebrew. That evening the Lord began to impress upon me that He wanted me to teach Hebrew, he said teach as you go, so I called the elder back and my journey began. I stayed just one letter ahead of them.

Six ladies signed up that first class. I remember i got alone with the Lord and prayed over the ladies before the class had begun, and I asked the Lord to minister to these ladies, and that each of them would have an encounter with Him. I said Lord each time believers had an up close and personal encounter term with You their lives were changed forever. He even gave them new names. Redirection of their destiny. So Lord would You give each of my ladies a brand new name, a Hebrew name that will speak into their future. And He was faithful, He gave each of my ladies a new name. By the time I got to the seventh letter, my life was changed forever. I was like a dried up old sponge who could not soak up enough of pure and wonderful wisdom with each letter having a message. And the reality of what had been lost was overwhelming at times. I knew then that I wanted to keep the Shabbat and learn of the feasts.

Izzy my teacher, I will be forever greatful for your heart to share and to teach, I simply taught what my teacher taught. The word got out about the Hebrew study home group and I began to receive calls from people outside of the church. In all I had 32 students. And all were hooked on Hebrew!

I was raised in a Christian home but did not have a personal relationship with YESHUA until later in life. Like most, I only knew “about” Him but did not “know” HIM. In 2005, my husband left me for his boss’ daughter who was half my age and nine months pregnant. Six weeks later I was in a terrible accident. I was in the hospital for two years, had several surgeries, 25 nerve blocks for pain, a year of physical therapy. (This story is literally in a book that has not been published yet, and too long to share now). YESHUA showed up personally in my hospital room, when I had nobody else and nothing. I lost everything, my job, my vehicle, my apartment, my income, my insurance, EVERYTHING. BLESSED BE HIS HOLY NAME!!! My “burning bush” experience. I will forever praise HIM for every scar. In fact, I have three crosses on my right forearm, hand, and wrist from the wrist-jack fixator, which I will treasure forever.

YESHUA showed up PERSONALLY and became my “EVERYTHING” from that moment on. He literally sent “angels unawares” to take care of me. They took me to hospitals, specialists, physical therapists, pain management physicians, etc. HE supernaturally healed me and became my Provider, Best Friend, Comforter, Savior, Deliverer, Teacher, Protector, Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Husband, MY EVERYTHING. (I must get this book published ASAP to share with the world because it is UNBELIEVABLE, BUT TRUE!). Praise, worship, spiritual warfare and intercession became my reason for being. I knew I was created to be a “hidden intercessor, prayer warrior and a watchman on the wall” in HIS army.

About three years ago, a stranger gave me a Paul Wilbur DVD titled: A Night of Extravagant Worship. I was just getting back on my feet, living and breathing in The Book of Psalms. That was my personal HIDING PLACE. I did not have internet at the time, only a small TV and DVD player that someone gave me. I was blown away. I felt like the HOLY SPIRIT moved in with me and was teaching me how to WORSHIP and PRAISE YESHUA in a way I never knew. I watched it every single day and prayed. I was beyond blessed. Then HE began pouring HIS WORD into my spirit and I became sort of a “scribe”. Before I knew it, HE had given me a 22 page prayer with ONLY HIS WORD. I called it “AD-NAI’s HEART Prayer.

At the time, I was also asking HIM to do the same for me as HE did for Ruth and Naomi. I prayed and prayed. Then HE supernaturally put my ‘BOAZ” in my life, and we became prayer warriors together. Our dates were spent in HIS WORD, praying HIS prayer HE gave me and watching Bible stories on DVD.  We got married on 4/15/13. I became the “most blessed and highly favored woman in the universe” because HE put a truly “godly” man, with an excellent spirit like Daniel, in my life. HE has blessed us every single day since. We are not wealthy financially, but in ways that money could never buy, BLESSED BE HIS NAME!!! The supernatural has become our new natural and the impossible is possible.   

On 8/24/15, I was on YOUTUBE pulling up my favorite worship music, getting ready to praise HIM, and I saw a video with Izzy from the Holy Language Institute. I had to check it out. I KNEW THAT I KNEW THAT the precious HOLY SPIRIT led me there, I was blessed beyond measure. Izzy was teaching how to read and sing THE L-RD’S PRAYER in Hebrew. It was the HEBREW FOR DUMMIES class I was searching for. I felt like HE just reached down from Heaven and handed me a SURPRISE GIFT! I KNEW that this was what I had been searching for, but didn’t know where to go. I had to contact his website immediately, I was so excited and thankful.

I apologize for the “novel” but I wanted you ALL to see how SUPERNATURAL AND AWESOME G-D IS!!! The supernatural has truly become my new natural and the impossible is possible. If HE will do it for me, HE will do it for anybody. I just thank HIM every day I’m not burning in hell right now, which is what I deserve! TO GOD BE THE GLORY, GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE, IS DOING AND WILL DO, IN THE MIGHTY NAME OF YESHUA HA’MASHIACH!!! GLORY TO HIS NAME! I JUST WANT TO TELL THE WORLD THAT G-D LOVES US, G-D IS REAL AND NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE. HE IS THE ONLY TRUE AND LIVING G-D OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND ISRAEL! THE ONLY G-D! SHEMA YISRAEL! OD AVEENU CHAI! AM ISRAEL CHAI! I pray my testimony is an encouragement to whomever reads it. AM ISRAEL CHAI!! OD AVEENU CHAI!! I will continue to pray without ceasing for Israel and HIS CHOSEN ONES everywhere! HOSHIANA YESHUA!!

My name is David Michael, and my Dad was an evangelist, teacher, and missionary who ministered on four continents for 64 years of ministry, leading many thousands of people to salvation, and ministering to people groups ranging from Native Americans to Australian Aboriginal groups, people in Africa, Central America, Europe, and beyond. In my childhood, we traveled with Dad, living in a very small travel trailer, holding meetings in churches all throughout the USA and western Canada, and I received my schooling during many of these years by means of correspondence course.  Our home was marked both by glorious, supernatural events, and by hours of studious reading and memorization in the Word.  I learned the Greek alphabet at age twelve (at Dad's insistence) and then when I was fifteen, he began teaching us the Hebrew alphabet.  (Years later, I got my degree in Biblical Literature from Azusa Pacific University; I had hoped to have a Hebrew major or minor, but they only offered Hebrew as a part of a major in Biblical Literature). 

Speaking personally about the way in which matters concerning Israel came about:  The call to intercede for Israel, pray for Israel, teach on the necessity of RIGHTLY being aligned with Israel, and even more importantly, the necessity to rightly align with the HEART of GOD and with His Purposes concerning Israel, came when I was 19 years old, and in my freshman year at a University in the Midwest, and I was contemplating participating in a study program that was coming up in the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in that school. 

So there I was at age 19, planning to go to Israel for this semester's worth of study, and it seemed only right to have a time of prayer for my upcoming journey.  The interesting backdrop to this miraculous story is how insulated I was in a certain sense --- protected from any knowledge of anti-Jewish teaching on one hand, and yet on the other hand, fully exposed to a whole variety of things in the church world. You could say that, if anything,  I was overexposed -- not underexposed --to the things that exist in what is called Christianity.  And so I went to the little prayer chapel that had benches or seats for a maximum of 12 people, a little dark room where one could pray in private, and began to pray for my upcoming trip to Israel, which I felt was the proper and necessary thing to do... you know.... just pray a general prayer for safety and guidance and blessing on my first trip overseas.  I didn't have a specific idea of what to pray or how to pray, and imagined that a 20 minute prayer or a half hour prayer would cover everything.  So in I went to that little room, about to experience a real life-changer!

I began to pray for the trip, to make sure I was in the will of the Lord and all systems would be "go", and the next thing I knew, I started praying for Israel as a nation, as  people. A dambreak of groanings, weeping, sobbing, crying, erupted like a torrent out of me, from deep within. I sobbed and prayed and prayed and sobbed, and cried like people do at the funeral of a loved one, with GUTWRENCHING cries that wouldn't turn off, so it just kept exploding out of my inner being. I was praying in tongues for most of it, interrupted with gasps and sobs; and I don't recall what if anything I said in English, except "O God! Save Israel! Save Your people! Save Your nation! Help them! HELP THEM!!"  It was a Holy-Spirit-birthed groaning and yearning and concern, and fierce defensive intercession and pleading, IMPLORING---- and I felt drenched in a love for the people of Israel that was flowing out with the full force like when a fire hydrant gets knocked over by a big truck, and the water spurts out with a force that no one can contain or stop.

After maybe two hours of this, I felt silly---- like "Why am I doing this? There's no need to cry like THIS!  Israel isn't in any danger of anything at the moment, and this deep grief and supplication isn't necessary. I don't even know why I'm doing what I'm doing."  So I figured that by now I must have "prayed through" (to use that old Pentecostal jargon) and I should be free to go; maybe get a bite to eat or socialize with other students, or whatever.  So I got up in a vain attempt to get to the door of that little dark room, and I don't know if I even got so far as to where I could get my hand on the handle to open the door, when I collapsed, falling back down on my knees on the floor, in a pain like someone had shot me with an arrow through the gut, and I began to sob and wail louder and more intensely, and cried and wept harder, and basically crawled back up to the front where there was kind of a very small altar or bench, and I continued to sob my life out.  Izzy, it was perhaps 4 or 5 hours that I was in there, in that condition, and --- mercifully--- not one other person came in, so I had my private INFUSION of the BURDEN OF THE LORD, my private HEART TRANSPLANT, where a bit of His heart got transplanted into mine....... and then when the weeping and intercession lifted, and I knew I was free to go, I got up, stunned and amazed, and not really sure what had happened, but I can absolutely swear to you that it did NOT come

A.   out of my intellect.

B.   out of my having gone to Israel, and experiencing some radical transformation in the Land (as others have) since I hadn't gone yet.  I was about to go, and while there, I did have radical further transformation, reading all the prophets and most of the Bible in ten weeks while there, with a voracious appetite for the Word.

C.  out of my knowledge of history; because up till this time, history was a VERY disliked subject, since I had horrible history teachers. Awful. So bad, they would GUARANTEE that their students would hate history and have an aversion to it all their lives long!

D.  out of my religious upbringing or doctrinal knowledge. I grew up mostly in the Foursquare Gospel Church, and we had a very favourable view of Israel and the Jewish people, and I never even KNEW that there was such a thing a 'christian anti-semitism', because I was poor in history as I mentioned, and plus, I never encountered even ONE Christian in my upbringing who had negative things to say about Israel. No, not even one. So this point is important----- bear with me, and I will elaborate about point D, which is vital:

While being "electrocuted" in that little prayer chapel, and trying once or twice to end the prayer session and leave, but finding my knees wouldn't cooperate, and I had no strength to walk out, and was being flooded with grief and concern and burden to pray that was IRRRRRRRRRRRESISTABLE.........  my mind balked a couple of times or more, as if to say:

"There is no REASON to be carrying on like this. Israel is going to be saved. The Bible says so.  Israel's Messiah, the Lord Jesus, is going to return, rescue the whole nation from their adversaries, and He will sit on the Throne of David and rule over Israel and all the nations of the world FOREVER----- so it is all going to be well.  Israel will be OK. God has said so. He has promised their future destiny and glory, and nothing can change it, since "SCRIPTURE CANNOT BE BROKEN", and so there is no reasonable cause for me to get all wrought up like this! If everything is going to be OK in the end, why is this agonizing prayer even needed?"

You see? I was merely repeating the sum of the 'doctrine' about Israel that we had absorbed in my Pentecostal background, in this case Foursquare...... and it is a good, benign, doctrine concerning the Jewish people .... no problem there ----- it is Israel-affirming and Biblically-sound.  All well and good. But that's not the point!  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   The point is that the heart of the Father was pierced over the ages with what has been done by satanic forces using human vehicles (and in some case, using PROFESSED Christians whom Yeshua the King and Messiah of Israel had given His life to redeem!!!!) and it is these crimes of history that I only had a small knowledge of; so I believe that the Holy Spirit was implanting IN MY HEART SOME OF HIS OWN PASSIONATE YEARNINGS.... and so this intense meltdown and weeping and so forth, which did NOT come through rational channels, human channels, natural knowledge, etc, was a God-birthed burden and calling. It was therefore in that sense much more  "rational"  than any other kind of professed rationality;  because it totally makes sense in light of the wounding of God's heart, and the way the Holy Spirit has been grieved, and the way that ADONI-YESHUA our great High Priest has experienced such sorrows at having to watch the murderous hordes who have opposed God's plan for the world, by bloodying up the house of Jacob, century after century. No wonder HE was called the "man of sorrows" who is "acquainted with grief". One is tempted to personalize the grief of Jerusalem as recorded in Lamentations, and apply it solely to the Rejected King, as if it were HE who asked the haunting, piercing, heart-stabbing question:

"Is it NOTHING to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see if there be ANY SORROW LIKE UNTO MY SORROW!!!!!!!!!!!"

The reason I go into this in depth is that when replacement theology proponents, or anti-Jewish quacks, or anti-Israel lunatics try to tell me that I am deceived, or that I am influenced by some man's teaching, and that's why I am so "imbalanced" or off-base concerning the Jewish nation, I don't pay them one millionth of a second of my attention.  THEY WEREN'T THERE in that chapel when the Lord had it out with me.  I am a man who at age nineteen experienced what could nearly be termed a Near-Death-Encounter, which I survived, and have lived to tell of it.  I lived alright... and I lived CHANGED.

So then going to Israel for 2 and 1/2 moths, of a summer semester's credit, and having all the things added to me that happened there (we were at the very tail end of Israeli archaeologist Benyamin Mazar's final excavations in the Jewish Quarter, which not until the Six Day War was an area that Israel was able to excavate and examine) I came back to the US and began to minister in churches the following illustration:

All my life I was in church, and in the Word, and had the gifts of the Holy Spirit active in my life since adolescence.  I was knowledgeable.  I could take anyone, and say, "Come and go with me to my Father's house". Then we would go in the door, and always turn ONE direction only... it doesn't matter if we say left or right, that's not important, but let's say we always turned left. The House was like a huge ranch style house.... vast in length. Had many rooms. Beautiful rooms, beautiful dining areas, places to relax; books, much beauty, and many lovely things that would make one feel delightfully "at home".  But then, one day........

.........  one day, as I went in through the door, it was as if the Father said, "Have you seen the rest of the house?" and pulled a curtain and I looked and saw that this long ranch-style house went AS FAR and as full and lengthy to the right as it did to the left. I had only been familiar with the part of the house that I knew... and was shocked at all the treasures and delights and blessings and wonders that were on the other side, in that other direction........ and wondered how on earth I could have thought I knew my Father's house well, when I had never even BEEN in the other half of it!!!!!   It was a brain-jarring revelation.  Well, you figured it out---- the life-changing event in the little prayer chapel is when the Lord began to pull the curtain back.... and the months that followed would be the time that I began to discover the matters concerning Israel and the Judaic heritage and destiny; and I began to explore what is rightfully HIS, and is rightfully OURS, because it is a part of our "family heritage", and thus I came to understand that there is no reason to not visit that part of His home...... since equal riches He has designed into both directions of His dwelling.  It is not two houses; it is one home, and it has two directions or two components.

So, over the years since that time,  I have taught in Bible schools and churches in England, Canada, Armenia, Scotland, Australia,  and all over the USA, ministering often on Intercession for Israel, demolishing replacement theology and calling it what it is (a crime against God and against the truth of His Word).  I also minister on a local Native Reservation which is --- beautifully --- aligned with the Messianic fellowships in our area; plus minister in churches as a guest speaker. With all my heart I endeavor to demonstrate to needy people the understanding and compassion that our Master instructs us to exemplify, and to give them nurturing and an unconditional love, warmth, affection, care, understanding, and powerful PRAYER for their situations, relying on the Lord to the best of my ability.  I wish that I'd had the right people there in my own life when I was struggling.... but in the church, we often are FRIGHTENINGLY and shockingly like that poor woman who nearly bled to death, going to doctor after doctor for twelve long hemorrhaging years, and though they only made her worse, and couldn't cure her, they DID keep her money you can be sure of that, Izzy! No reluctance there! My point is that we can take our dilemmas to 'doctors' of the law, or doctors of the church, or doctors of the prevailing church culture and philosophy, and can grow worse, and feel like we're bleeding our lives away------ and until God's ministers model after Yeshua in whom ALL THE KNOWLEDGE OF SCRIPTURE was manifest, and in whom ALL THE POWER OF THE ALMIGHTY SPIRIT OF GOD was manifest, and in whom ALL THE LOVE OF THE AGES was embodied and revealed and manifest, those who are bleeding are only going to bleed worse. Those who are sick are only going to grow more sickly.  This whole dilemma isn't going to improve unless we look to Yeshua, the inspiration for all ministry.  Love God (1st commandment) Love people (2nd commandment) and we can't go wrong with that.... even if our knowledge is admittedly spotty. Knowledge puffs up, but Love builds up.  Not hard to make a choice THERE, eh? Choosing the latter is the only sane choice; get the love in place, and then build up the knowledge on top of it.

Which brings me to my passion (and to a quick look at the Messianic Movement)  My passion is to see the Glory of the God of Israel (the God and Father of our Lord and Messiah Yeshua) set before the nations, in an earth shaking, nation-reaping, final ingathering,  and in a world-affecting way.  It is about the sovereign purposes of GOD for the world, and the soon-coming ESTABLISHMENT of His Son (Psalm 2) THE KING (Psalm 2) HIS MESSIAH (Psalm 2) installed as the ruler of Israel and all nations (Psalm 2), seated and set upon His holy hill of Zion (Psalm 2) by Divine DECREE (Psalm 2).  That is what burns in my heart. 

So, like you Izzy,  I am IN the Messianic movement, and have been for years, and yet am not OF it -- and haven't been for years.  Let me explain. I see the Messianic movement to be a part of (BUT NOT EVEN REMOTELY THE TOTALITY OF) the purposes of God for the world, the Church, and the nations. It is a vital part. Especially for Christians, they MUST let the curtain (should I say "VEIL"?) be torn back, and explore the length of the God's Household in that specific direction. It is vital, It is necessary. But it cannot stand on its own. More important to God's purposes, I think, than even the vital springing up of congregations of Hebrew-oriented Christians, which is a work of the Holy Spirit, and is timely, and is NEEDED, and I affirm and embrace this end-of-the age gift heartily------   but even more important a detail is going to be the TOTAL destruction of the Constantinian defilement...... and the Lord will accomplish this in a manner more dramatic than the break-up of the Soviet Union; more spectacular than the tearing down of the Berlin Wall; more dramatic than Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves, followed by the backlash and fight against it known as the Civil War; and it will be a historical intervention of Almighty God as drastic as the establishment of Israel May 14th, 1948, BY THE HAND OF GOD! The fall of all this Defilement which was brought about by "the mystery of Iniquity" is well-foretold in the Word, for God had a plan for the final Redemption well in place before the foundation of the world, we can be sure of it. It is our joy to be living at this time, when we can have a part in the great end-time harvest.  Our children as well have a vital role in the work.  God has abundantly blessed me with four children. Today, all four of my children:  Shoshana, Rachel, Judah Israel, and Joel are serving the Lord in a whole variety of ministries and callings, and I am the richest father, that I have ever known.  

Final thought on the Messianic movement:  As you must know, the movement is rife with problems, beset with divisions, disagreements, and in some cases, assailed by very unscriptural, very unanointed, utterly unhelpful, very counterproductive trends and assertions and detours and the likes.  Because of this (REPROACH) many people who would otherwise gravitate towards Hebrew roots and Messianic fellowships, stay a safe distance away...... because it's just too risky to get embroiled in the worst of the nuttiness that has popped up in some circles.  To these dear, sensitive souls, I always say:

Yes, there's some crazy trends out there, alright.  And there is an abundance of IMBALANCE and controversies.  That's true, sure enough. But there's also imbalance to the MAX in the Gentile Church.  Church splits, heresies, angers, jealousies, fraud, monetary greed, manipulation, error, divisions, paganistic beliefs, crazy trends of every kind .... and thus it has been for centuries. The Messianic movement is young and adolescing; give them time to grow and BALANCE OUT......  their contribution is vital, and you NEED it.  It's the traditional church (whose ghastly imbalances you can somehow stomach, though GOD certainly cannot) whose "deplorable behavior" you'd have a hard time justifying.  Shall we throw in the Inquisition? Tolerating and supporting slavery? Refusing to send out missionaries, due to our own self-preoccupation with ourselves and our comforts? Centuries of anti-Jewish teaching? Blood crimes? Sectarian wars? Papacy? Religious Supremism? Manifest Destiny? British-Israelism? Shall I stop now, or do y'all feel that judging the Messianic movement on their cases of quackery and error and imbalance is SMALL POTATOES compared to your OWN history?

So my hope and my strong belief is that the LORD, the Captain of the Host, the Almighty Sovereign God, will bring all things together in a mighty way, so that the End-Time Harvesters, the ELEVENTH HOUR LABOURERS IN HIS VINEYARD shall come  to fruition in a way, by His hand, by His doing, in a manner so that the beautiful, glorious King in His beauty, the KING and REDEEMER of Zion, the Redeemer Who shall soon-and-very-soon come to Zion, shall be glorified. "He shall see of the travail of His soul.... and SHALL BE SATISFIED."

Much love and grace and blessing abound to you and to your lovely family, Izzy!  Shalom, your loyal brother and friend David.

Hello tribe.  I’ve been lurking for quite a while and finally took the plunge to join. I would like to share the Reader's Digest version of my life from a spiritual perspective.

In high school, I had a friend who was into metaphysics.  She gave me a book to read.  It was about a college professor who was seeking “enlightenment” through drugs and psychedelic mushrooms.   I closed the book and immediately became an atheist.  I have always valued my mind and logic and if this is what a person does who seeks “enlightenment” I wanted no part of it.

My theology became those who believed in a god were insecure.  They were just looking for an explanation of how they got here and where they were going to go when they died.  I never believed in evolution because you can’t get something from nothing, but I was able to accept the fact that I didn’t know how I got here and I might find out at some point in time.

I had studied many religions in college, they were all pretty foolish.  Because I was forced to go to church as a kid in High School, I knew a lot so when I went to college, my friends thought I was a Christian because of what I knew.  They never caught it when I said, “your god” during our many conversations.

I ended up buying a $7 Bible with money I didn’t even have in my checkbook.  After my roommate went to bed, I turned on the desk lamp and started reading in John per all of my friends' recommendations.  That first night, G-d spoke to me in my spirit.  He said, “I just might be real.”  I literally shook my head to clear my mind.  It kind of freaked me out.  I turned off my desk lamp and went to bed.  The next night, I continued where I left off and then I heard G-d again.  He said, “I am real.”  I immediately believed and I believed all of it:  Heaven, Hell, Father, Son, etc..

I started going to a Southern Baptist church; was later baptized and had an amazing walk.  For 25+ years I remained in what I call “Baptistish” congregations.  I had been a Sunday School teacher, a deacon and an elder but was frequently disillusioned by the teachings and the leadership.

During my time in the Baptistish world, I had some exposure to Jews for Jesus, Passover, etc..  One thing I seemed to always know is that when a Jew accepts Messiah Yeshua, he / she doesn't become a Christian.  Jews don’t convert from anything to anything.  They just accept the promises that HaShem gave them from the beginning.

About 8 years ago, I was planning a move to a new city and found out that there was a Messianic congregation there.  I emailed them wanting to know more about the congregation. I got an amazing reply, “Oh, you will be here during Simchat Torah where we celebrate G-d giving us the Torah.”  That totally blew my mind.  I had been taught all these years how we are done with the Law and we are no longer under the Law and all of that western church thinking.  But I immediately understood that indeed HaShem giving us Torah was one of the greatest acts of grace He had shown mankind.

I began attending that congregation and have been blessed ever since.  I became one of the most involved people there.  I would come early to set up the sound.  My wife and I learned Davidic dance then we learned Hebrew then we started reading from the Torah scroll.  I learned to blow the shofar.  I became the Cantor.  If Shaul was the Jew of Jews, I became the most Jewish Gentile around.

I grappled with where I fit in as a Gentile among the Jews in our congregation, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was not a Jew.  Many would come and go from our congregation and many thought they became Jews by believing Yeshua and following Torah.  I was sharing with a Jewish friend who loves my walk and heart and I shared with her the story of the Syrophoenician / Canaanite woman whose daughter was demon possessed.  Yeshua answered the Canaanite woman's request for a miracle by saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" and "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”  But she said, “Yea Master, for even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”  This was it!  I told my friend, “I am a dog feeding on the glorious crumbs from the Master’s table.”  Yes, this a low position, but it is an amazing place to be.

This is my place in Messianic Judaism.  I am not to supplant a single Jew.  I am to serve them.  I don’t need to look for status and acceptance in this movement, I need to be the example to cause even the believing Jews in my congregation to become jealous for HaShem.  Though I am more Torah observant than most, I share my views in grace and mercy.  I want to make them become jealous for Torah, not shame them into following it.

I have joined the tribe because I want to know more.  I want to learn Hebrew beyond my 3rd grade level.  I envy the Jews who were raised in this tradition because it is so rich, every step of it.  Yet I bring the gifts G-d granted me and seek to bless all I can with those gifts.  Hebrew is crazy amazing.  Each letter has a meaning.  Each word paints a picture that can't be defined by the Webster's Dictionary as the West would want it.  I tell people, Judaism is an Eastern religion.  That causes some confused looks. 

One of my favorite verses is, John 17:3  "And this is everlasting life, that they should know You, the only true Elohim, and יהושע Messiah whom You have sent."  Eternal life begins now!

At the urging of my father, I joined a church as a child of twelve or thirteen.  Eventually, I came to make a commitment to the Lord for myself, but it was very superficial.

After marriage, my husband and I began to seek the Lord on a more consistent basis. We grew spiritually and encouraged our children in the Word of God.  We have five grown children and eight grandchildren.

Around 2012, I heard a message about the pagan roots of Christmas. That started a journey.  We researched what we heard and that led to more discoveries about our Christian faith.

Eventually, we learned that the Almighty's commandments were still valid today - all of them. Of course, this led to worshiping and resting on the Sabbath day and this led to celebrating the holy days of Leviticus 23.

All of this piqued my interest in Hebrew, the language of the Torah. I completed Zola Levitt's Introduction to Hebrew and another basic Hebrew book.  I found "Hebrew Quest" on HRN's website sometime ago.

I finally decided to take the plunge and see if I could further my study of Hebrew through all that is offered through Holy Language's website. I am glad I did. I am taking advantage of the wealth of information and opportunity that is offered. I am seventy-one years of age, so this is good for my brain.  I give thanks to our Father for this opportunity to learn the language of the Bible at this time in my life.

My Journey following Yeshua began around the age of 19. I was raised with a slight understanding of who Messiah was and to "pray the sinner’s prayer" but my relationship with Him was not much deeper than that. I always thought as long as I believed that was all that was asked of me, soon to find out that according to Bro. James, even devils believe! At 19 a series of dark experiences led me to a showdown, I needed to know who and what I believe and follow and I needed to sell out completely to it. It didn't take long for Yeshua to reveal himself to me and call me to Himself. The same Scripture that put me to sleep, immediately was quickened and became very alive to me. It became my bread. The Lord began clearing up many questions I had regarding different church types and denominations, and why there were so many, and showed me it is all a result of man made tradition and doctrines that have separated believers into so many isms and left off the foundations the disciples and apostles laid, and that the final say in any matter was the Scriptures.

He also ingrained in me a lesson in the reality that Yeshua is just as alive today as He has ever been, and He is not a Messiah of history, but of current, the I AM not the I WAS!.. He brought me to ministries that were used of God to restore the moving and working of the Spirit in the body of Messiah, lifting God up out of history and showing to the world more than a doctrine, but the living power of the Spirit. Giving me a strong foundation of Hebrews 13:8 and a restoration of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. One ministry in particular gave me a very strong base of a "back to the scriptures" mentality, which has also carried over into learning the original tongue.

I began to study Hebrew not long after simply feeling a strong compulsion to, the deeper you get into the scriptures and study them, it becomes clear how much has been lost in the Romanization of the Christian church and just how much pagan influence has been allowed in. I realized the Last supper was actually a Pesach Seder, the replacement of all the Holy Days with pagan "holidays" like Christmas and Easter, The fact that Yeshua and His disciples were very Jewish in life and in custom thrilled me. Stories in the gospels that were so "face value" became so much clearer with a messianic foundation, there is so much lost in the westernization of scripture it was incredible. In my quest to learn the language and study the scriptures in the original language the Lord led me direct to Izzy and HLI which has been an incredible help. I immediately felt a kindred spirit. So blessed when I can tune in to the daily portion readings. One time I was dealing with a heavy rejection, and the second I tuned in to the broadcast Izzy said, " In this walk sometimes you have to have tough skin" referencing rejection and opposition.. Thank you for being yielded to the Spirit! For anyone who wishes to learn to read the Hebrew language, Hebrew Quest is for you! and the team at HLI is your place..

Outside of studying the scriptures, I am a handyman for a local Property Management Company, and a Minister at a local Tabernacle, my hobbies include doing whatsoever the Master leads!

When I was saved years ago my very first prayer was that God would show me truth.

 With all that was being taught from all the denominations I wanted to be sure I was not being misled. It was not in a church that I was saved. I believe it was miraculous (it always is, but this is personal to me).

I was in my home one night, after many nights of anguish and reading the Bible, I finally gave up and said, "God if you're real please show me how to be saved." I went to sleep expectant, knowing that I truly meant what I said.

The next morning, kind of early, I got a knock on my door. It was a couple wanting to share the gospel with me. I was floored. And, haha, they were floored too when I asked them politely to come in. They knew that I had not been receptive in the past.

They said they felt led to stop at my house...and I knew they were! I could hardly wait for them to stop talking, because I knew when they started sharing God's love with me that there was no way I could refuse!!

I wish I could say that I had spent all those years since faithfully serving the Lord. But sadly, I fell into worldliness, broke Yeshua's heart, and wrecked my witness. I was diagnosed with cancer back in 2011 and was told that I only had a few months to a year at the most. If anything will shake you up it's being told that you have no hope and were going to die. Strangely (maybe not so strange) I did not fall apart, I felt that it was up to God whether I lived or died, not some white coat wearing doctor (however good they are).

When I was alone, I prayed that if it was His will, that I'd like to live and make something better of my life, not that it would make up for what was lost, but that I would not be ashamed at His coming. I'm so thankful for His tough love- affliction that brings repentance, t'shuvah! I've now been cancer free for about three years.

I had been praying for a while that Yeshua would help me find others who believe the Hebrew way. After leaving my church of about 20 years, I have been alone (but not without Yeshua) at home with my computer and watching Shabbat services and Hebraic Roots Network.

But before I left, I had found Holy Language and went through the free videos, that really sparked my interest, then afterwards I found the other sites. I confronted my pastor and it didn't go very well. It actually came out that they believed in replacement theology, you could call it RT Lite because you're told that they do not, but in their teachings it's obvious they do. Schizophrenic is the word! I love them and pray for them, please pray for them too please.

Elohim brought me along through a few different churches, many false teachings, and revealing things all along the way (I would have to change my thinking several times). He finally got it through my head that the faith is a Jewish faith and it's still the same.

I know I'm finally on the right track. I never want to go back and I will keep going forward to find my purpose in Yeshua. Don't look back! Being a part of the Holy Language Tribe has really given me a way to serve Adonia and "follow Yeshua in a Hebrew way" as the motto goes.

As far as hobbies and such, I have a lot. I knit, crochet, spin yarn on a spinning wheel, teaching myself guitar, and taking a family herbalist course (due to a lack of natural options in the hospitals here).

I used an herbal tea formula that has been passed down from Ojibwa Indians in Canada and it's working because I had to stop chemo and my doctor said keep on taking it. It should be no surprise that herbs can help our bodies...God created them for just that purpose.

My walk with Yeshua started with a “premonition” when I was in high school where I began having recurring dreams of being involved in a car wreck to which I repeatedly rationalized. Fast forward to my freshman year of college, I was driving from school to my home in Mobile, AL for our Spring Break when this fear really started to become overwhelming. I started crying and pleading with God that He would spare me, because I wanted to live a full life and have family someday. One week later, on April 1st, what I feared came to pass.

We were driving in my friend’s Explorer SUV when a gold van merged into our lane causing my friend who was driving to cut her wheel off the road to avoid hitting them. When she tried to regain control, the van clipped the back end of the SUV which caused us to flip four times and land upside down on the interstate going about 80 mph. I was in the passenger side seat, wearing no seatbelt, was ejected from the passenger side window, bounced off the pavement with my knees, and landed in the middle of the median that was about 40 yards from the car when it landed. This is what the police report stated as I was knocked unconscious and don’t remember much of it. Oh, and I was also on the phone with my mom while this happened. She heard everything. Somehow my phone managed to stay right beside me when I was found in the grass to which a paramedic was able to call my mother back and let me speak to her when I awoke. I had some minor injuries but did not suffer from any broken bones. About 3 months later during my recovery, the realization that my dream had happened and I somehow managed, by the Grace of Adonai, to survive this accident without any major injuries hit me like a ton of bricks. I shared my story with my mother when she started sobbing and then expressed to me that a week before I had the accident, she prayed to see a miracle one day.

Needless to say, this was a huge wake up call for us which in turn motivated us to start seeking God. We were involved in a small nondenominational church for a short period of time, but then God led us to a Messianic congregation. Learning Hebrew roots was very foreign to us and did not seem like the “typical” path to take.

That’s when I had another dream.

I remember it so vividly, and it has been stuck in my mind for years now. I’m just now understanding what it means, because at the time it did not make much sense.

I was walking up to a group of people trying to be involved in their conversation, but they kept on ignoring me. I remember walking away crying and feeling rejected when I walked up to a hillside with a fork in the road. The path to my left looked like the obvious way to go as it was paved, and the landscaping was quite pristine. To my right, however, the path looked as if it were under construction with caution tape. I began to take the left when I heard a voice to my right say “Christine, come this way.” I looked over and saw a man dressed in pure white with long white hair. His eyes looked like they were pure white, as well. I took the right without hesitation when all of a sudden the entire foundation lifted up off of the ground, then a huge tsunami wiped away everything underneath me. Then I woke up.

Since my accident and the revelation of following Yeshua, I have been on a journey of transformation. For now, I am learning to keep and observe Shabbat. I definitely don’t practice everything perfectly as I am still trying to grasp all of the information that He gives me, but I am beyond grateful for His mercy and grace. I will never understand it. I will never comprehend it fully, but I’ve learned that each day, each moment, truly is a precious gift. I hope that my story brings Him all of the glory that He so undoubtedly deserves!

My Yeshua journey began in the late 60s in Southern California. No, I wasn't a hippie surfer turned Jesus-Person (but praise Adonai for them!). I mean that's when I was born. I was actually never introduced to someone called Jesus until I was 18. I label the start of my journey much earlier, because as I get older and grow in Yeshua, I see that otherwise random events from long ago have great significance. In my case those events include two parents who liked but did not love each other (so their union was not destined for long term success) and a father who had substance addictions and may have had a mental disease; both of which in all likelihood made me prone to depression and a suicide attempt. Through it all, Adonai was moving and working in those often painful events. That's when a friend essentially said, "things don't seem to be working for you; let me introduce you to someone." 

Fortunately in those early years of my journey in Orange County I had the benefit of “pro-Israel” teaching, so struggling with Replacement issues was never a problem. I also knew early on that I just HAD to get to Israel but that would have to wait about 15 years. 

In the meantime the journey included finishing work on a master's degree in Health Administration, marrying a wonderful lady, Sarah, who puts up with me (it will 20 years later this year), having two boys who are now 12 and 14, and changing cities three times (from the SoCal beaches to the California Redwoods in 1999, to St. Louis in 2000, to Dallas in 2007 where we've been ever since). 

We live in McKinney which is about 35 miles northeast of Dallas; fortunately I can work from my home most the time. We have two boys Brendan 12 and Aidan 14. The younger one has Tourette's syndrome (but is doing great without medication). He brings me joy by his ability to be caring and compassionate despite the fact that his brain works differently. The older one is fiercely independent and probably is an INTJ like I am. He brings me joy when he plays his fiddle and when shows glimpses of become a man after Adonai’s heart. We have our struggles as a family but that too is part of the journey.

My dream to get to Israel finally came true in 2010 and that's where the Yeshua journey starts to get exciting (for me anyway!). As another ministry likes to say, I believe that’s truly when “I met Messiah”.  I'm one of those who would describe my faith and reading the Bible before going to Israel as if it were occurring on a 10 inch black-and-white TV. After Israel, it's like everything comes alive and you're living in a 60 inch high definition screen (I suppose nowadays it would be "4K"!). You don't just read words on a page that happened a long time ago in a land, far, far away. A trip completely engages your Biblical senses; you are IN the stories, not just reading about them. If you've never been, what's keeping you from going? You might see if Adonai wants you to be there; He may have a surprise or two waiting for you! Anyhow, this is when I first had an interest to learn Hebrew.

Since then I've been wholly interested in our most Jewish Messiah: His Land, His Torah, His 2nd Temple era life, His Judaism (and by extension the Judaism of today) and most definitely, His Language. I was looking into different things when I found one of Izzy’s teaser videos on YouTube. I was pretty much hooked on the Holy Language approach from the start.  I want to study all of these things with the hopes of introducing others to Yeshua, getting them excited about His Hebrew world and someday maybe organizing an Israel trip. I'm trying to do my homework so that when His time is right I will be found a ready and faithful servant. I praise Adonai for the leadership and all the volunteers at Holy Language who make it happen!

Our first Israel trip in 2010 was a large bus tour of about 150 people and come to find, someone I knew from high school in Redondo Beach, CA was our tour guide (and she is also one of the most sought-after Israeli guides for US VIPs but that's her story not mine!).  After this, my wife and I were blessed enough to be invited in 2013 to a work/study tour of 15. In addition to seeing the sights and going a bit deeper then we could on a large tour, we have the privilege of doing a number of projects that hopefully blessed Israel and her people: serving dinner to holocaust survivors, giving a preschool for disadvantaged kids in Or Akiva an "extreme makeover", refurbishing bomb shelters in Kiryat Shemona in the north, and partnering with a messianic organization in Sderot, (the closest Israeli city to Gaza's terror rockets).  We’re still pretty insulated from such problems here in the west. It’s amazing to me how Israelis live with this daily and yet as a nation they are still so incredibly innovative (a snore cancelling microphone? That’s just awesomeness!)

Anyway, back in the States, prior to moving to Dallas we generally attended Calvary Chapel type non-denominational fellowships. In McKinney we attend a small Baptist church - which is hard to find in Dallas (the "small" part, not the "Baptist" part – everything’s bigger in Texas).  I play guitar and mandolin, occasionally lead worship, and am also the church's finance minister. In my spare-time I like to watch the reruns of the Periscope sessions (since I rarely seem to be available for the original). I love all the Periscopes, but in particular, if you haven’t seen and heard Elihana lead worship, you’re truly missing out!

A verse that has always spoken to me is 1 Corinthians 4:2 – “it is required of stewards that they be found faithful”. I try to live my live faithfully and strive to be a worthy servant of Yeshua. For me this includes remaining (at least for this present season) in a traditional Sunday worship/denominational church setting. I did seriously contemplate moving my family to a Messianic Congregation, but the more I learn about Yeshua and the Hebrew Roots of our faith, the more I’m convinced the “Sunday church” population is actually a mission field of sorts; that's where He wants me serving. I love seeing folks connecting the dots who had never before given a second thought to the Jewishness of Yeshua. I’m convinced our Adonai is doing a mighty work in our day and is using Holy Language to further that work. I praise Him for all of you who are a part of it!

This is a highlight of my Yeshua journey so far. More to come!

I am probably the queen of baptisms. In my teen years, my brother-in-love invested his prayer life and spiritual walk into sharing the gospel of Jesus with me in every way possible. He loved washing and shining cars, so every weekend he would take my car, wash and wax it, and bring it back. When I got in it to go somewhere, I would find scriptures everywhere — in the ashtray, glove compartment, anywhere there was an opening there was a scripture. I grew to expect this. I was young, enjoying life, and blew it off.

He was relentless in ensuring that I needed a relationship with God through Jesus, His Son. So eventually I gave in to Joe (my brother-in-love, not Jesus) and prayed with him. Next step he says, baptism. OK, I say, and I get baptized. Of course, I wasn’t serious — just getting Joe off my back. So months go by and he realizes this and informs me that I am not living a life that pleases God. So I pray again and get baptized again. This happened several times during my teenage life — hence the “queen of baptisms.”

I am certainly not proud of this record, but it served God’s purpose. By age 23, on July 4th, 1976, sitting outside on a wooden swing, the Spirit of God gently nudged me and I knew immediately what I had to do. Sitting there all alone, I asked God to forgive me of my sins, wash me in the blood of Jesus, and allow me to have a relationship with God the Father. I was born again. Praise God! Needless to say, I am very grateful for the fruitful and relentless seeds Joe sowed in the soil of my heart. He is enjoying his rest with the Lord now. I’ll be seeing you, Joe.

Fourteen years ago, God gifted me with an unbelievable hunger for His Word. I took several training classes with Precepts International and became a Bible study leader. In 2009, God led my husband and me to Israel. It was the first of nine trips so far. On that first trip, God gave me a passion for His people and the Hebrew language. I knew that I had to learn Hebrew and understand the Jewish culture — and so my journey began. I have taken two Biblical Hebrew and two Conversational Hebrew courses, but still I find I have so much more to learn. I can read Hebrew and pronounce the words but don’t understand a lot of what I’m reading.

In October of last year, I was able to be in Israel for a month with a friend of mine. We were on tour with Skip Moen and his group, then caught up with Ron Cantor and his group, then she and I stayed eight days in the Old City of Jerusalem. What an amazing time!

I found HolyLanguage.com while searching the web for the translation of a verse in the Bible and immediately joined the club. Since becoming a member of the Holy Language Tribe, I am taking advantage of every opportunity they offer — which are many. I am enjoying Izzy’s “Verses” and some much-needed Hebrew Grammar from Derek. I am very grateful to all of you who volunteer your time for us. I give thanks to God for you all — for your ministry and faithfulness. I pray that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ would bless you all far above all you could ask or think.

Shalom! I'm Chana. I'm a wife to one and Ima to three, soon to be four, little arrows that my husband and I are raising up for the Lord's glory!

I've always known about God. I was raised in a Catholic home, attended a Catholic school from k-12, and even spent two years at a Catholic college! But it wasn't until after having my first child and realizing that I knew of God, but didn't have a relationship with Him, that I began to make some serious changes.

I started looking for a Bible teaching church and ended up at a Fundamental Baptist church. It was there that I truly began to understand what Yeshua did for me, and I accepted Him as my Savior.

While attending our small Baptist church I was reading and studying my Bible daily. I also read a bunch of blogs looking to learn from other believers who have been on this journey longer than I. One day I came across some ladies sharing about how the Torah is still relevant for our lives today. Of course this was foreign to me and as I sought to disprove them I began to see they were right! Shortly after that we began keeping Shabbat and the other Feast

Connecting with the Lord in this way, created a burning desire to learn lashon hakodesh {the Holy Language} in order to dive deeper in our relationship with Yeshua.

Some of the people we've connected with on our journey were also learning Hebrew. Everyone was learning from different places, but some friends recommended Holy Language Institute. Once we checked it out, we really liked being able to learn at our own pace, and how simple it was to follow along. Learning a new language is a challenge but the way it is presented really makes it simple to get the hang of it.

We're really enjoying learning together as a family, and finding deeper meaning to the Scriptures through lashon hakodesh!

Many blessings to you all,

Chana B

Thank you for allowing me to share more of my story. To be honest, I've never shared this much about my journey. I have traveled alone for so long that I'm surprised when someone asks me to share more details. In synagogue I'm very careful about not oversharing and when I'm in a messianic or christian environment I am also careful. Too many negative reactions. However, here I feel comfortable opening up a little more. So here goes...

From childhood I always had a sense of G-d and I lived in mostly Catholic communities so I knew about Jesus and always was drawn to him. I watched every nun and priest movie as well as the Biblical epics of the late 50s and 60s. I was fascinated and wanted to become a nun because they got to marry Jesus. Not a popular idea in my home! Growing up we were very secular celebrated Christian holidays with Christian friends and Jewish ones with Jewish friends.

In my mid-twenties during the “Jesus movement” I began to learn more about Jesus and I followed a Christian path. I attended all types of churches. Charismatic, Catholic, Baptist, Non-denominational, Assemblies of God and so on. I learned a lot! As I studied however, I was always confused about teachings that seemed out of sync with what scriptures said. In the Tanakh, HaShem, through Moses gave us a constitution so that we can establish a nation. In His instructions he uses words like: for all generations, perpetually, you shall teach your children etc. He didn’t say until Mashiach comes and then you can stop. It always seemed to me that Jesus followed all of Torah—so well in fact that he made the Sanhedrin angry. Let’s face it, many in the Sanhedrin cared more about the rules and less about the heart of Torah. It’s not an either or situation it’s a balance.  That’s what Yeshua demonstrated for us— a balanced Torah life.

I also wondered about time. How could Christians know anything about the signs of the times if they didn’t follow the right calendar? As time went on I found these questions to be quite irritating. I also began to feel resentful about cherry picking Torah. The Old Testament was presented as having mostly historical value but not relevant to us today as “Jesus did away with all of that”.  Yet everyone is on board with tithing and calling G-d into remembrance of his own promises to his people when they would like to appropriate the blessing as being their own. What was up with that? 

Pesach transitioned into the last supper and suddenly it’s called communion— which has nothing to do with the breaking of bread and drinking of wine on Shabbat or holidays that is part of Jewish life.  I also wasn’t on board with the “too bad the Jews missed the boat” doctrine and that they must convert to be saved from hell. The tail does not wag the dog.

My prayers seemed to be answered when I discovered the Messianic movement. This was a perfect blend of both faiths! But here too, I became disillusioned as I realized that it was mostly church like. The purpose of the Messianic movement (IMO) is to live as Yeshua and his disciples lived and in doing so we become a bridge to teach the Christian community about their rich heritage in Torah. And of course for traditional Jews, we fill in the gap by showing them who Messiah is. In reality there have been 2 congregations where I experienced this wonderful balance. Unfortunately, one is too far away and the other the Rabbi is almost 90 and retired.

For the most part in Messianic Judaism, I found men who called themselves Rabbi who had no knowledge of Hebrew or Torah except for what they could get from Rabbi Google or what they kinda sorta remembered from Hebrew school or Bar Mitzvah studies. I also experienced a lot of bashing of Rabbinic teachings, yet the Talmudic and Kabbalistic teachings were shared to explain Torah portions— which IMO was very ambiguous. Do the rabbinic teachings carry value or not? They say no and then quote the teachings. Again..What's up with that? The Jews don’t see Messianic Synagogues as much more than a church who loves Israel. 

On the Christian side, I have seen very little desire in wanting to understand and learn liturgy or traditions (outside of flag waving and messianic dance) I find that most who attend like many of the happy Jewish traditions but are not so happy with the more serious ones which call on them to take actions they rather not take like fasting, or giving up holidays with pagan roots. 

In some congregations, I have also experienced the pull toward making everything less Jewish. Less Torah, more dancing. It appears to me that folks are more interested in cultural part of the Jewish life. Once again I felt disappointed. I decided to just return to traditional Judaism and begin to learn (in my late 40s) . I wanted to try to understand why Yeshua was not accepted as the Messiah. What were the arguments that the anti-missionaries used—were they valid? And…if he was of no consequence, why is there discussion about him in the Talmud? Why was he worth discussion? I always felt that he got bad deal.  Were the rabbis just digging in their heels and so the community follows suit for the next 2000 years?

I thought that at the very least I would learn the traditions and commandments as Yeshua would have experienced them (or pretty close—much has changed since 70CE).  It is here that my heart was filled with awe and reverence for G-d, for my people, for Israel and Torah. For all the souls that fought the enemies of Israel from ancient times to modern. HaShem allowed me to see the wisdom of the Rabbis in creating rules to protect and preserve Torah. That our traditions are mostly teaching tools.  Ensuring the survival of the Jewish people was their purpose. I learned about my responsibility to my fellow man, about kindness and charity and thinking outside myself—less me and more concern for the greater good. Now, I don’t believe that we need to become orthodox or live like the Chassidim to follow G-d. But I do believe that we should show respect. The sages were and continue to be the warriors against assimilation—without them where would we be?

I saw that as Jews we operated as a community and not so much as individuals. In the church Yeshua is more of a personal experience and relationship vs a community experience. We tend to think of our own salvation vs collective. Our actions both positive and negative affect the world whether we recognize it or not. In Judaism, we believe that we already have G-d;s blessings and are here to repair our corner of the world and return to HaShem. Heaven is a given, not a goal. In the church, folks are trying to acquire blessings and get into heaven acting as if they are always outside trying to get in.  G-d always seems angry vs. Yeshua who is kind and gentle. Yeshua is a close friend who is sometimes treated as a buddy or pal-not receiving the respect that he should have. Why would anyone follow a G-d who is angry and trying to withhold blessing and a mamby pamby Messiah?  Very confusing to me.

We of course did not speak of Yeshua in shul. But Mashiach was there in our hope and anticipation that he will come. In our striving to live a Torah life so the he would come quickly and that the geulah will end. It was hard to not talk about him and to hold back from blurting out that if they accepted Yeshua then their hope would be fulfilled. I was always concerned that if I was found out, I would no longer be welcome. 

I knew I had to pull away because I loved the synagogue so much and had amazing teachers that I knew if I continued, I would eventually leave him behind. I experienced tremendous joy and sadness in the orthodox community (as I did with the Christian community and the messianic community). Each group is so very busy defending their point of view and way of life that I believe that Messiah could potentially come and go without anyone noticing.  I firmly believe that each group plays an important role in Messiah’s return—but until he comes we should learn, be respectful and work in unity. We don’t have to agree on every point.

Today, I live a Conservative Jewish lifestyle. On occasion I’ll go to a church or messianic synagogue mostly because I have friends there. I study at home. I am attempting to learn Hebrew so that I can understand scriptures better. I invite friends for Shabbat meals. I try to cook traditional Sephardi dishes as my family is from Spain and Italy—I myself was born in Argentina. Sometimes I simply share about the history of the food and how the recipe traveled from country to country.  I try to be like Abraham and Sarah our beloved parents—and offer hospitality, a great meal, a joyful time and earn my right to share about Yeshua, Torah and Israel. Sometimes we sing songs, sometimes its just saying a traditional blessing before and after the food or discussion about upcoming holy days and what they mean and whether Yeshua would have celebrated them. The topic and flow depends on the spiritual hunger that my guests have. Some like light spiritual fare and others want something more meaty.

What I’m not so sure about is what a messianic lifestyle should really be like. I’m not so sure about what non-Jews should or shouldn’t do. IMO whatever Yeshua did is what I should be doing. Keeping kosher observing holidays etc. I'm not clear if that holds true for non-Jews. Very confusing to me. It’s just not as clear as it is in traditional synagogues where it’s all been mapped out for us. Everyone knows and understands the rules—when you break them you pretty much know what you are doing. Messianic synagogues don’t seem to agree on what a Messianic Lifestyle should look like. Too much is open to interpretation. I acknowledge that I have a lot of gaps in this area.

My deepest desire and prayer are that as a messianic Jew I live a life that draws people to Yeshua by living a lifestyle that sparks interest and conversation on both sides. In telling more of my personal journey it is my deepest wish that I have not hurt anyone's feelings. What I shared here with everyone is my personal perceptions and experiences—I recognize that I used broad generalizations that do not apply to everyone. Someone else may have a totally different experience. I’m still trying to figure things out.