Even though this website has an “About me” page, I thought it would be nice to share a little something about me.
If you prefer to watch a video, sorry-I am not doing one today.
I was raised in a reform Jewish house, where I was pretty much the only one of my two parents and two sisters (one three years older, one 8 years younger) who cared about being Jewish. I did get B’rit Milah (circumcision) at 8 days old, and I am a Bar Mitzvah. But after that, I pretty much didn’t do much. I attended Saturday Shabbat services, now and then, but for the most part, after I reached 16, I was working all weekend slinging hash at a local fast food hamburger joint.
After high school I went to Temple University (Philadelphia) and was in an officer program with the United States Marine Corps, so when I graduated (with a Ba in History), I was commissioned a Lieutenant. I served 3 1/2 years active duty (1976-1980, so I wasn’t in any wars) and also later did a year in the Reserves. I finished as a First Lieutenant.
I entered the business world, in the financial arena working for Lehman Brothers in their Commercial Paper Division, right there on Wall Street. I stayed in finances for the next 12 years, working my way up from a clerical position to an officer position with a major New York bank, earning an MBA along the way.
I also married, and had two children, but the marriage was a bad one. I quit Wall Street (we were living in Pennsylvania and the 2 hour commute in each direction wasn’t helping anything) and tried my own water system sales, but that led to a bankruptcy, and the marriage finally came to an end in 1993. I spent the next 20 years visiting my children in New York (she moved in with her mother) and suffered hateful and spiteful attacks from the “ex”, which she infused into my children, conditioning them until they finally rejected me, completely.
Of course, this was a very bad time in my life, and God was kind enough to send mature Christians to show me how faith can overcome sadness.
You have to understand- being Jewish, the last thing we want any part of is Jesus, a Jew who rejected Judaism and created his own religion, which for millennia has hated, tortured and killed Jews if they refused to convert.
During this time, God sent friends from work who were mature enough to know they should introduce me to the real Messiah, which helped me to realize the lies I had been raised with.
In 1997 I met my wife, Donna, through a blind date, and we will be celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary in a few days, celebrating it as we always do- on a cruise ship.
I was in Sales when Donna and I started to date, and I spent 15 years in Sales, eventually quitting that job, going to school to learn computer repair and ended up getting an MCSE certification from Microsoft, spending the last 8 years as an IT professional.
I retired at the end of 2016, and haven’t regretted it for a nanosecond, since.
Back to me and God….
It was 1997 when I decided I would make up my mind about God and whether Jesus (I didn’t know his true name at that time) is the Messiah, or not. I knew that when sad, if you smiled, you actually became happier, so I thought it might work the same with God and Jesus- maybe if I prayed like I believed, I would eventually believe.
Well, it worked! I became more comfortable in praying, and I even found a Messianic Jewish synagogue where I attended Shabbat services, and learned the truth about Yeshua, the real, Jewish Messiah who didn’t reject Judaism or create Christianity. The more I learned, the more serious I got about learning more, and after about three months of doing that, I went for prayer and anointing one night, and I felt the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) enter my body.
I haven’t been the same since.
However, I have to confess that any changes God has made in me took a long time, and I am still a work in progress. I like to say that I used to be a sinner who didn’t care, but now I am a sinner who repents.
Over the past 25 years or so since I was “saved”, I have worked towards becoming more knowledgeable about the Bible, and have earned a Certificate of Messianic Studies from the Messianic Bible Institute. I continued to worship at the synagogue in Philadelphia where I first leaned about the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, for about 17 years. During that time I was in charge of a few different ministries, served on the Council, and was the assistant to the Rabbi. I also led services, and when our Rabbi left to start his own missionary work, I acted in his place for about 18 months, until we were able to hire a new Rabbi.
Donna and I moved to Melbourne, Florida in 2013, and I was worshipping with a Hebraic Roots church here. After a year or so with them, I was asked to serve on their Board of Directors and ended up leading services with the Senior Pastor. However, this church dissolved, and for about 8 years now I have my own ministry, Messianicmoment.com.
I have written 5 books (available through this website or through Amazon), and also started my own YouTube channel, as well as a Facebook page and discussion group, called “Just God’s Word”. I have about 280 or so subscribers.
If you are still with me this far, I appreciate your interest. I will end with these few remaining, but important facts:
- This ministry will never ask for money;
- This is not a missionary ministry- it is a teaching ministry; and
- I will never tell anyone what they must believe, only what I believe, and why.
The purpose of this ministry is to give you what you need to know in order to make an informed decision about where you will spend eternity.
And if I can save even one soul then I have fulfilled my purpose.
Well, folks- thanks, again, for supporting this ministry. If you haven’t subscribed, please consider doing so, and when I post messages (usually Tuesday and Thursday) please share them with everyone you know, believer or not. Hey, look- you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.
I will be taking a break for the next two weeks, while in the Caribbean, so I look forward to seeing you all again later this month.
Until then, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
