Author: Steven R. Bruck

Complacency is a Killer

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We have all heard that passage from Romans 6:23, you know… the one that says, “The wages of sin is death.”

And that’s true, but sin isn’t the only thing that threatens your salvation.

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How many times have you tried to explain to someone that their actions are hurting them? Whether it be misuse of drugs, or an ill temper, or maybe ignoring the word of God? Or maybe, as in my case, my sense of humor.

And when you try to alert them that they are hurting themselves, they say, “I’m okay, it’s not a problem. Don’t worry about it.”

They’re complacent. They have an uncritical and unconcerned attitude about themselves.

Many people are like that, and my concern is for the ones who profess to worship God, who say they believe Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah, and yet they accept, complacently, their religion’s explanations for rejecting the way God says he wants us to live.

If you go through the entire New Covenant, from Matthew to Revelation, there really isn’t any place in there where God, himself, tells us what he wants us to do. Everything in there was told to us long ago in the Torah.

There is nothing new in the New Covenant, and the reason is that Yeshua came for the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 15:24), and since they already knew the Torah, it didn’t need to be repeated. What he did do was to teach us the deeper, spiritual meaning of the Torah.

Yet so many people rejected his teaching because they were complacent- in other words, they were comfy-cozy with the way they already lived. They didn’t want to learn anything different, or act differently, or make waves with the power elite (who saw Yeshua as a threat to their position) even if it might affect their salvation.

I have been saying for years that everyone needs to follow the Torah, whether you accept that Yeshua is the Messiah or not, because the Torah is God’s User Manual for Righteousness. Yeshua proved that by living it perfectly (something no other human can do) and, because he did, he was resurrected.

I think we can all agree that being resurrected to eternal life is definite proof that you were righteous in God’s eyes.

Christians have been taught for centuries that they can ignore the Torah because they have Yeshua, but Yeshua had the Torah! So, if someone wants to really follow in Yeshua’s footsteps, they need to follow the Torah. Duh!

In Romans 3, Shaul says that the Torah identifies sin, and later in Chapter 6 (as we stated above) he says the wages of sin is death. So, the Torah tells us what sin is and that when we sin we will die, so knowing what sin is we would (of course) want to avoid it.

Right?

So, think about this: Does it make sense that God gave Israel the Torah so they can avoid sin, which leads to death, then he sends the Messiah to Israel to tell them to ignore the Torah so they can all die?

And later, when the Gentiles were running the show, they told the (now called) Christians to ignore the way Yeshua lived, which was a Torah observant life, pretty much condemning them to death!

Really, when you think about it, would God send a Messiah to save the world by telling everyone they should ignore what God said to do? It don’t make no sense!

Christianity has made salvation sound like a “Come-As-You-Are” party, well… I don’t see that working out well for them at Judgement Day.

So, here’s the message: if your religion tells you that you do not have to obey the commandments in the Torah, and you’re fine with that because you don’t want to read for yourself what God says or be open to the idea that, since all Christian religions are man-made, that maybe what God says is more important, then I have to think that you are too complacent with your worship, and you might wanna consider that complacency is just as lethal as sin to your salvation.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

How You Worship Him Proves Nothing, But How You Pray Does.

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There are many forms of worship, all of which (supposedly) are to demonstrate the level of our faithfulness.

But worship doesn’t prove anything.

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For most religions, worship is a systemic process: you do this, then you do that, and you finish with these. In many religions music and singing is a preliminary requirement, then there’s reading prayers from a prayer book, but in the long run, worship can often become static.

As God says in Isaiah 29:13 and Ezekiel 33:31, we can end up just paying lip service to God because (as with human beings) when we do the same thing, over and over, it becomes rote.

I don’t think God wants rote, repetitive prayer; I believe God much prefers heartfelt prayer. And you can’t really pray from your heart when you are repeating a prayer from a prayer book, which everyone else is saying and which was written by someone else. Yeah, it probably was heartfelt from the author, but it ain’t your words, it ain’t your heart that is being opened, and I can’t see it being really effective.

In Matthew 6: 9-13, Yeshua tells us how to pray, but the words are not something he means for us to repeat, verbatim. Those words are OK, sure, but the prayer is not just a prayer- it is the template for ALL prayer!

It starts with honoring God and recognizing his power, then it goes to asking only for what we need today, representing our trust and faith in God to always provide for us. The scary part of this prayer is next, because we authorize God to not forgive us unless we forgive others; finally, we ask for divine protection and end, again, honoring God.

So, if we forget those exact words, but use the same process in every prayer we submit to the Lord- honor him, recognize his authority, ask only for today, convict ourselves to forgive others, request protection from evil, and end as we started by honoring God, then that prayer will have to come from the heart.

There are certain things I ask every morning when I pray (specifically for forgiveness), and although I often use the same words, they are never parroted (meaning just repeated without understanding). I try to ask for the same things in a different way, just to ensure that I am not being repetitive and offering static prayers instead of heartfelt ones.

In fact, there are some mornings where I ask God to forgive me for not praying, because I can feel, in my soul, that my prayers are not heartfelt, that I am not in the “mood” for real prayer.

Yes, I know that when we feel that way it is imperative that we DO pray, for there is nothing that makes one feel better than a heartfelt, humble prayer to God. And as David says in Psalm 51, God will never turn away from a contrite spirit and a broken heart.

And when I pray correctly, I know my prayers are heard because I get that feeling, that tingle, that sense of touch that tells me God is placing his hand on my shoulder.

If you’ve ever felt that then you know what I am talking about- it’s life-changing!

So, worship along with others, sing, repeat the same prayers when they are required, such as the Kiddish over the wine and bread, and the prayers for reading from the Torah, etc.- there’s nothing wrong with traditional, required prayers for a certain activity.

But when it is time for you to pray to God, I believe the most powerful prayers are the ones that come from your heart, and not from a book.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers, Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Hit Me Back and We’re Even

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When I was a child, if someone was hit by another person, they would make up for it by saying “Hit me back, and then we’re even”. The return hit wasn’t ever hard or even mean, it was simply to get revenge for the wrong done, thereby making things right between them.

But that is a worldly way of handling things, and God-fearing people should be above that.

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We show ourselves to be God-fearing by the way we act, or more correctly, by the way we react.

The world is a place where people seek revenge. Oh, yeah, they may call it justice, but the truth is that it is mostly revenge. You hurt me, and now I will hurt you…so there!

If you scroll through the popular streaming channels, like Netflix, Hulu, Prime or Paramount, I’ll bet if you count you will find only four types of movies: drama, romance, comedy, and an awful lot of vengeance movies.

And I have to confess, I do like the idea of getting that slammer in on someone who is being a real jerk, insulting them to the level where it pulls the rug out from under them and leaves them so embarrassed they are unable to respond. Oh yeah- that feels so good.

But does it really? Will I really feel proud of myself by acting at their level? I am pretty sure that I will still feel whatever pain they caused, but now I’ll also be embarrassed that I was as foolish and immature as they were.

And worse than that, I know that I will have disappointed God.

However, don’t get me wrong: I am not saying you shouldn’t defend yourself. No way! Hey, if someone wants to hurt me, and I can’t talk my way out of it, well…I am not a violent person, but I know how to be. The idea of turning the other cheek is only a metaphor.

The way to handle being insulted or hurt, in order to show that we are God-fearing, is to not reply with the same action or hurtful words, but to forgive and move on. In fact, we are expected to forgive: Yeshua tells us in Matthew 6:14 when we forgive, we will be forgiven.

The next thing he says isn’t so easy to hear, in Matthew 6:15, when we are told if we do not forgive, then we will not be forgiven.

So, the best way to handle being hurt is to not repay the hurt, but to show forgiveness. I know it’s hard to do that, especially when the hurt is significant, but it is essential to your salvation to forgive.

Proverbs 20:22 tells us not to return evil for evil, and what helps me to forgive that “unforgiveable” sin is to remember this: forgiving someone who sins against me doesn’t make them right with God, but it does make me right with God. And I also feel better knowing that come Judgement Day I will be in good standing, while they will have to answer for their actions.

Look, if someone has been exceptionally cruel to you and you find it hard to even think about forgiving them, consider what they will have to go through when they face God; if that doesn’t make you feel just a little bit sorry for them, then you need to work on your own spiritual maturity.

Thank you for being here and please don’t forget to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Use It or Lose It

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You know the problem with having large muscles? You have to continue to work them in order for them to maintain their strength and tone.

Not surprisingly, the same is true with your salvation.

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At the first, you accept Yeshua is the Messiah God promised to send, you confess your sins and repent, faithfully asking that by means of Yeshua’s sacrifice, you be forgiven.

Ta Dah! You’re now saved, meaning that your sins have been forgiven, you are clean as new fallen snow, and from this moment on, for the rest of your life, you to work at staying this way.

Huh? Waddaya mean, “stay this way”? I am forgiven, I am saved- there’s nothin’ else I need to do.

Well, that’s what most Christians are told, but the truth is different. The sins that were forgiven were the ones you already committed, but now you have to remain sinless.

The big lie (among many others) that Christianity has been teaching is that once saved, always saved (known as the OSAS lie), but if you sin, you are not going to be allowed into God’s presence.

Don’t take my word for it, let’s see what God says about this.

In Ezekiel 33:12-16, God tells us that those who are righteous, but turn from that lifestyle and commit crimes (i.e., sin), their righteous past will not save them. Conversely, the sinner who turns from his sinfulness and acts righteously will be saved; his sinful past will not be held against him. And God repeats this in that same chapter, later on in verses 18 through 23.

There’s one thing we can know for certain: when God says something twice, he really means it!

So, when you are saved, you must continue to live in a manner that keeps that salvation intact. Oh, yeah, it’s true that no one can take our salvation away from us, but what should scare the heck out of all of us is the fact is that we can throw it away!

So, the idea that you must use it or lose it means you need to know what God wants from you and to live that way, which is generally not the way most Christian religions tell you to live. The sad fact is that most Christian religions will tell you you don’t need to do most anything that God says he wants you to do, because that is all “Jewish stuff”.

Well, guess what? That “Jewish stuff” is what Yeshua did, and the idea that he did away with it all is so ridiculous, I am constantly amazed that anyone with any knowledge of the Bible would ever think that could be true. I mean, really? The Son of God, the Messiah, sent to die for people so their sins could be forgiven, having done that no longer requires us to be lawful or righteous, but rather to ignore his father’s commandments, to reject the rules and regulations God commanded us to obey, and to replace every one of the Holy Days he ordered us to celebrate with some man-made holiday.

And once we receive forgiveness, we don’t have to repent any more, we don’t have to change how we live or do anything different?

C’mon, now, does that really make sense?

This is what you need to do to avoid losing the salvation you received: you must truly repent of what you have done in the past (and you better really mean it- God isn’t stupid, you know- he knows your heart and mind), ask forgiveness and do t’shuvah (turn from sin) for the rest of your life, for every sin you will commit.

That’s right! The hard truth of it all is that salvation isn’t a “once-and-done” thing, it is a muscle you have to continually work out, constantly keep in shape, and never allow to depreciate through lack of use.

I pray every morning, and ask God to forgive me for whatever sins I have or may have committed. I figure I may not know what I have done, but God does, so I better ask for forgiveness just to cover my tuchas.

Here is your daily exercise- read the Bible (and I mean the entire Bible), learn what God wants from you and reject any religion that tells you you don’t have to obey God.

The Christian church teaches that you only have to obey the “Law of Christ”, which has to be the way he lived, right? Well, we know that he lived according to the Torah, otherwise his sacrifice would not have been accepted, so the “Law of Christ” IS the Torah!

I know, what a bummer! Well, it’s your salvation, use it or lose it… it’s up to you.

Thank you for being here, and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Obedience to the Torah Will Save You

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know- Shaul says in Ephesians 2:8 that no one is saved by works, it is a gift from God and not from works.

But when explains what he means, he doesn’t trash the Torah.

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First off, you need to know this: to properly understand the Bible, you cannot take a sentence or a few words from here and there, but must always use the tool called “Circles of Context”. That means you interpret the words in the sentence using the culturally accepted meaning of those words, at the time they were being written. Then, you review the sentence within the paragraph, the paragraph within the letter, and take into consideration who wrote the letter, to whom, and for what reason.

Now, Ephesians was written to the people living in…(wait for it)… Ephesus. We know from reading all the Epistles that Ephesus was a constant problem for the young believing congregations there, who faced pressure from without, and from within. So, the main reason Shaul wrote to them was to get them back on track, and the way to do that was to reignite their passionate faith in Yeshua, while also reducing the pressure they felt from the Legalists, who throughout Asia were telling these neophyte, Gentile believers they had to undergo circumcision or they wouldn’t really be saved.

What Shaul goes on to say, after saying that salvation is not from works, is that it is from faith so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:9). He was pointing out that it is through Messiah Yeshua, and only through Yeshua, that these Gentiles were now able to be included in receiving salvation, previously only available to the Jews.

But he doesn’t trash the Torah, he is reinitiating faith in Yeshua, which is the beginning of obedience to Torah.

When James suggested those 4 initial requirements for new believers to obey right away (Acts 15), he said that the Gentiles would eventually learn the law of Moses (i.e., Torah obedience) as they continued to attend Shabbat services.

You know, I’m glad that James never lived to see what happened with his suggestion, because by the end of the first century the (now) Gentile leadership of what had been a Jewish movement changed their Sabbath day, and never studied the Torah. In fact, they have rejected it to this very day.

Nowhere in the entire New Covenant does any apostle or disciple who knew and worked with Messiah Yeshua deny the value or worth of the Torah, or tell people that obedience to the Torah is wrong. No one ever said that works are useless. Never!

Most of the Epistles were directed at maintaining faith in God and Yeshua; all they said was that they cannot depend on works, alone, to gain salvation.

The Torah is God’s User Manual for Righteousness, and you have to ask yourself this question: if the Torah isn’t what God wants us to do, then why give it to us?

I’ll tell you why: just before he gave us the Torah, God told Moses that he chose the Jewish people to be his nation of priests (Ex. 19:6). Now, when someone becomes a priest, he learns how to worship God, right? He has to know the proper prayers, rites, rituals, celebrations, and history; in other words, he needs to know pretty much everything that God expects of people so that he can teach others what God wants from them.

Because God chose us to be his priests, then gave us the Torah, I think it is obvious that God wanted us to learn the Torah so that as his priests, we would bring Torah to the world.

Despite what your religion may have told you, the Torah IS the way God wants EVERYONE to live!

This is the absolute truth about the Torah: if anyone lives in 100% obedience to the Torah, 100% of the time, they will be righteous in God’s eyes, and as such they will be resurrected to eternal life in God’s presence. Like the title of today’s message says, Yes!- obedience to the Torah WILL save you!

How can I say that when Christianity has been saying for two millennia that you can’t be saved by the Torah? Easily! You see, it has already been done, and the guy who did it was raised up to heaven.

I think you know who that guy is.

The problem we humans have, and the only reason people say you can’t be saved by the Torah, is because our sinful nature doesn’t allow us to be 100% obedient, 100% of the time. That is why God sent the Messiah- so when we screw up, as we all do, we have a means to be forgiven.

I know this message is something that would make most any Christian think, “Nah! That can’t be- everyone I ever heard, loved, trusted, or knew has told me that all I need to do is to believe in Jesus and love others, and I go to heaven.” Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?

Well, sinners love others, and every demon in Hell believes Jesus is the Messiah, so nu? do you think they are saved?

No?

Then maybe you haven’t been told the whole story. Maybe, just maybe, you need to follow some rules about how to worship God and how to treat each other that your religion hasn’t filled you in on.

And you know what? That’s why God gave us the Torah, because it tells us how HE wants us to do those things. And if you have faith in Yeshua, and trust that what God says is always for your benefit, then that faith and trust should motivate you to obey what God says you should do.

Hey, look…I’m not here to tell you what to believe or what you must do, that’s up to you. All I am saying is that you can choose to obey what a religion says to do, which is probably going to involve rejecting God, or you can choose to reject what a religion says to do, and obey God.

When you think about it, that choice is pretty much a no-brainer, isn’t it?

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Face It- They’re Probably Not There

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We all are constantly bombarded with the Pollyanna fairy tale that all our loved ones are waiting for us in heaven, and that when we die they will all come to greet us.

Well, I have a Spoiler Alert for you!

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First off, the Bible doesn’t say we go to heaven- that is some man-made fantasy. What the Bible does tell us is that we will be on a new earth, where there will be peace, we will each have our own land, fruit trees, vineyards, etc. and we will be in the presence of the Almighty, forever.

Alright, yeah, that sounds like heaven, but there are no clouds, we aren’t in the sky, and no one gets wings (sorry, Clarence).

So, what’s the truth about salvation, about the afterlife in God’s presence? How many actually get there? Can we count on everyone we know and love being there, waiting open-armed to greet us?

Let’s see what the Messiah tells us; in Matthew 7:13-14, Yeshua says this:

Go in through the narrow gate;
for the gate that leads to destruction is wide and the road broad, and many travel it;  
but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Hmmmm….that doesn’t sound very promising, does it?

The truth about the afterlife is that most likely everyone you think is waiting for you won’t be there, and if you do see most everyone you expected to be there waiting for you, you’re probably not in the place you thought you would be.

The reason I am being such a Debbie Downer here is because I want you to be in the right place- I want you to be in God’s presence, joyful and secure for all eternity. But if I propagate the Christian lies that faith is all you need because Jesus did away with the law, and if you are a good person and love others you will be in heaven with all your loved ones, well, then I would be a false teacher.

And given that God holds teachers to a much higher standard (James 3:1), I choose to burst bubbles than to blow bigger ones, and later find myself walking through a wide gate with many others on the same road.

Nope- not for me!

So, please consider that if it was easy to be saved, everyone would do it, but the Messiah, who knows what he is talking about, is telling us it is exactly the opposite!

It goes along with that old saw: if it is worth having, it is worth working for, which means if being obedient to God is hard for you to do, then you are probably on the right track.

On the other hand, if doing what you believe is obedient to God is no sweat, you’re most likely on the wrong road.

This has been a hard word to hear, and even harder to accept, but it is the truth. And if you choose to believe that fairy tale about angels, wings, harps, and that all your loved ones are waiting for you, yadda-yadda-yadda, then you are lying to yourself, to your children, and to anyone and everyone you share that lie with.

Thank you for being here, and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey! After all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Jeremiah 12:14 God’s Warning to the Gentiles

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In this chapter, God is telling Jeremiah about the destruction he has caused on his inheritance, Israel, because of their evil ways, that devastation being the result of God allowing the surrounding armies to attack them successfully.

But he also warns those armies about what will happen to them.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

It is sometimes hard to understand how God will use the enemies of Israel as his rod of discipline, but then turn against those enemies and destroy them! He does say, at times, that although he did have them perform his discipline, they went further than he allowed, and as such, their zeal in destroying for the sake of destroying would lead to their own destruction.

Yeah, I know- I don’t really get it, either, but then again, it’s God. God can do what he wants, and he doesn’t need our understanding or our permission, just our trust in the fact that what he does is always for the best of all in the end.

So, let’s see what the warning is:

“Here is what Adonai says: “As for all my evil neighbors who encroach on the heritage I gave to my people Isra’el as their possession, I will uproot them from their own land, and I will uproot Y’hudah from among them. Then, after I have uprooted them, I will take pity on them again and bring them back, each one to his inheritance, each one to his own land. Then, if they will carefully learn my people’s ways, swearing by my name, ‘As Adonai lives,’ just as they taught my people to swear by Ba‘al, they will be built up among my people.  But if they refuse to listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” says Adonai.”

Since this is Jeremiah, we can safely assume that the “evil neighbor” is Babylon. And the inheritance God is mentioning is clearly the land of Israel (not the current small percentage we have today, but the full amount of land God promised to give to us).

Now, I am going to interpret this passage in a more modern context: Babylon represents Christianity, and the inheritance is not the land, but the Torah. The encroachment is not a military attack but the way the nations of the world (through the UN) have constantly come against Israel and supported their enemies.

As for Christianity, it has always reduced the importance of Jews through their overt antisemitic actions, such as the Crusades, the Inquisition, and more subtle antisemitism, such as in modern times when the “Church” turned a blind eye to the Holocaust.

So, the rest of God’s warning is that for encroaching on his people (by supporting their enemies) and on their inheritance (meaning the rejection of Torah by Christianity), they will themselves be uprooted.

And we have seen some of that happen- Egypt was the world power, but after enslaving us they were destroyed; Spain used to be a world power, but after the Inquisition they have been reduced to a non-power; England screwed us over when they gave us Israel, but then they started to lose their world power through the loss of their colonies, and the “church” has been separated into dozens of separate religions, none of which work with the other.

And through all of this, for nearly 6,000 years, the Jews have remained steadfast because we have the Torah.

As for bringing us back from where we were sent in punishment, we have seen this happen as the State of Israel has flourished, and is now a world-leader in technology, agriculture, and science.

Not only that, but since its inception, 25% of all Nobel prizes awarded went to Jews. To put this in perspective, there are only about 2 of us for every 1,000 people in the world.

Ya tink maybe God meant what he said when he told Abraham his descendants would be a blessing to the world??

OK, back to Jeremiah- the last part of God’s warning, and this is the one you really need to hear, is that after God separates his people from their enemies, and both are back in their own country, if the enemies (i.e., nations of the world) do not learn the Torah, then they will eventually and finally be uprooted and destroyed.

In other words, if Christians do not stop telling Jews to ignore the Torah (equivalent to God’s saying “swear by Ba’al”) but rather learn to obey God’s Torah (i.e., swear by Adonai), they will be destroyed in the Acharit haYamim (End Days).

I could explain this in more detail, but I think that statement is enough to make someone who really believes in God to stop and think. If you believe that God means what he says, then you had better consider that ignoring anything God says to do is just rejecting God.

And that includes encroaching on his inheritance, which means anyone who supports the enemies of Israel, which today are the UN, Hamas and all the other terrorists, anything that is termed “Palestinian”, and the restriction of Israel’s right to recover its’ hostages and take back Gaza, then your eternal future is looking really bleak.

By the way, in case you didn’t know, Gaza originally belonged to Israel, but in 1994 they stupidly gave to the Arabs as a peace offering, and instead of working with us they have allowed it to become the center of anti-Israeli terrorist activities.

So, God warns the Gentiles in the world who have proven they are enemies to the Jews that they must come around to either obeying God (and not a religion) through obedience to his Torah, or they will eventually be destroyed.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

(Only three more days until we can have a real sandwich again!)

Being Forgiven Doesn’t Mean You’re Not in Trouble

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You know what the biggest problem we have is when we’re trying to see things from God’s perspective?

It’s that we are a finite being, but he is not.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

When we talk about forgiveness, there is the forgiveness we give to and receive from other human beings, and then there is the forgiveness we receive from God. But human forgiveness is only good for now, meaning while I am alive. However, God’s forgiveness isn’t relevant to my life here on earth, but is totally tied into my life after death.

And despite being forgiven by either humans or God, there is no chance of not having to suffer the consequences of what I did to need forgiveness.

Let’s say I rob someone, and when the police catch me, the person I robbed refuses to press charges and I go free. It seems that I got off the hook, but in truth God knows what I did, and the consequence of that sin will follow me the rest of my life, unless and until I repent of it, and ask forgiveness- not from the person I robbed (which I should do, anyway), but from God.

Here’s what crazy… if the person I robbed files charges and I go to jail, I suffer here and now for my sins, but if I repent and ask God for forgiveness, my eternity will be pleasant. But, on the other side of this equation, if the person I robbed doesn’t forgive me, their eternity may be threatened!

And for people who think that someone doesn’t deserve to be forgiven, God says (in Ezekiel 18:23) that he doesn’t want anyone to die (meaning on an eternal level), but rather that they turn from their sinful ways so they can live (again, referring to an eternal level). So, if God wants to forgive everyone, who are we to judge whether or not they deserve it?

Here is something else I think many people do not understand: forgiving someone doesn’t make them right with God- no! Their relationship with God is between them and God. Forgiving someone makes YOU right with God! We are not commanded to ask for forgiveness, but when I read Matthew 6:14-15, it seems pretty obvious to me that we are, at least, expected to forgive others…unconditionally.

For the record, that verse goes like this:

 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  
But if you do not forgive others their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins.

So, forgiveness doesn’t get anyone off the hook while they are alive, but it can make eternity a lot easier to take. And I am not talking about the bad guy, I am talking about the one who was sinned against.

So, if you sin, you need to repent and ask forgiveness from God, first and foremost, and then you should also ask forgiveness from the one you sinned against. Not so much to save your own skin, but to give them the chance to save theirs.

Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Normal or Natural?

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There is a difference between what is normal, meaning a condition defined by a society, and what is natural, meaning a condition that occurs within nature.

The problems arise when we confuse what is only naturally occurring as being normal.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Let me explain…

Disease is something that occurs naturally within living entities, and although we consider it normal for a person to get sick, it is not really a normal condition, is it?

What I mean is that we all will get sick occasionally during our lifetime, but being sick is not our normal state of being. It is a naturally occurring event in our lives, but being sick is not being normal.

Here I go into what many will consider to be a bigoted and homophobic statement, but it is actually only a scientific fact: the LGBTQ+ (did I get all the letters?) community are people who are not normal.

How can I say that? Easily- normal means the standard, or majority condition. In homo sapiens, what is normal is to be male or female, to be one of a race that is found throughout the world (White, Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, East Indian, Aboriginal, etc.) and to act in a manner acceptable under the laws of that government.

However, in the United States, a Gallup poll in 2023 found that 7.6% of adults identify as LGBTQ+. Less than 10% of the population is not a normal condition, BUT homosexuality IS a natural condition found in our species.

The Bible tells us as far back as before the Flood, there was homosexual activity. In fact, it was rampant, so we could say that in those days, it was normal. But today it is not normal, but it is something that occurs naturally.

Homosexuality occurs naturally, but that does not mean it is normal. It is a sexual abnormality, and whether it be a uncommon hormonal condition, or a psychological condition, or (as I believe) a combination of both, it isn’t normal within human societies across the world.

It is a naturally occurring condition, but those who live that lifestyle cannot claim that they’re normal within human society, although they can say that within the LGBTQ+ society, they are normal.

How’s that for a confusing set of statements?

Here’s something even worse: sin is normal.

Using my definition that normal is what the majority within a society or species do, sin is everywhere. And not only is sin normal, it is natural: in Judaism, we say that everyone is born with the Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination), and we don’t develop the Yetzer Tov (Good Inclination) until we are old enough to study Torah (Christianity calls it Original Sin).

Yeshua (Jesus) tells us that the path to salvation is through a narrow gate, and along a road less travelled (Matthew 7:13-14), and I, for one, believe what he says.

There are those within Judaism and Christianity who travel that road less travelled because we claim to be saved by means of Yeshua’s sacrifice AND we try to be Torah observant, As such, we are not normal, which is a statement that the vast majority of people in the world would agree with, unconditionally.

And that’s OK with me! I prefer to be abnormal if it means living as best as I can in accordance with the Torah and accepting that Yeshua IS the Messiah God promised to send, a condition known as Messianic Judaism. And, being a Messianic Jewish man, I am not considered to be Jewish by Jews, and by most Christians I am not considered to be truly saved because I do all that “Jewish stuff”.

So, are you normal or naturally occurring? You can be both, you know, if you are a human being who “identifies” as just male or female, and live within the standards of the society in which you belong. But what about your spiritual condition? If you are normal, then I believe (given what I see in the world) that you are probably an unrepentant sinner. To be normal in our society, you must ignore the Torah, you do whatever you want to do and tell everyone that because God is forgiving that he will forgive you, and you claim that because you are a “good person” you will go to heaven.

My…my…my… are you ever in for an unpleasant surprise!

You see, what is normal for human beings is abnormal for God, because (as I mentioned earlier) we are all born sinners, and understanding that this condition is normal within humans, but only natural from God’s view, we need to overcome our normality to be abnormal. We must be repentant and try to live as God said to in the Torah, instead of putting our trust in human beliefs or religious rhetoric.

Joshua told the people that he and his house will obey the Lord (Joshua 24:15), so to paraphrase his sentiments, I say that I prefer to be abnormal in human society but normal as far as God is concerned.

What’s your choice?

Thank you for being here, and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

No One Saves You But You

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During the nearly 8 years since I started this ministry, on rare occasions I have said this, but this time I think it will really be as I say:

This might be the shortest message I have ever given!

If you prefer to watch a video (a short one, that is), click on this link: Watch the (short) video.

We have all heard that if you call on the name of the Lord, you will be saved. We have also heard that faith is all we need to be saved. And we’ve heard that Jesus died for our sins, and through his death we can have life, eternal.

Oh! And let’s not forget the big one, really popular during the “I Found It” campaign in the 70’s…. Jesus saves!

But none of those are true, really, because the only one who can save you is…YOU!

I get it! Yeah, Yeshua (Jesus) died as the substitution for bringing an animal to the temple in Jerusalem, which (after being destroyed) could no longer provide us the means for forgiveness, and without forgiveness of sin, there can be no salvation.

But that’s the point!

You need to be forgiven (free of sin) in order to enter into God’s presence, which is what being “saved” means, and despite all the suffering Yeshua went through, and despite God’s willingness- in truth, desire- to forgive us (Ezekiel 18:23), it really boils down to how you live that will be the ultimate reason you are saved.

You can call on God’s name all day long, you can profess faith in Yeshua, you can do tzedakah (charity), and you can even donate time at a local hospital, but if you do not truly and faithfully to t’shuvah (turning from sin), then you are the one thing standing between salvation and damnation.

God provided a means for sin to be forgiven through the sacrificial system, which Yeshua made possible after the temple was destroyed, but it is you, and you, alone, who must live in accordance with God’s commandments to receive that forgiveness. That means not living as some religion tells you, but how God says he wants you to live.

And you find those instructions in the Torah.

For the record, Christianity has been teaching for the past two millennia that the Torah is just for Jews, and that good Christians only have to do as Jesus did, well… Jesus did the Torah!

And because he did, his sacrifice was acceptable.

So, be the cause of your salvation- read the Torah, live it as best as you can, and when you screw-up (as we all do), you THEN have God’s desire to forgive you and Yeshua’s shed blood to cleanse you, so that you can be saved.

But it all starts and ends with you: accepting Yeshua as the Messiah, doing T’shuvah, and living and worshipping as God said to do.

Thank you for being here, and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!