Author: Steven R. Bruck

After Someone Dies, You Have No Second Chance

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You might be thinking I worded the title incorrectly, and that it should read “After Someone Dies, They Have No Second Chance”.

And if you do, then you are going to be surprised, because the title is accurate!

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

You see, I am not talking about the person who has died no longer being able to ask for forgiveness or save themselves; rather, I am aiming this message to the surviving friends and family, who now have no second chance to make amends with, forgive, or help the dead person.

How many people have you met who have regrets that they never revived a friendship, or made up for mistakes, or reunited with someone because that person has died?

How many people carry the emotional baggage of missed opportunities to make right something that was wrong between themself and someone else?

Yes, this is all about you, and about me, and about anyone who is still alive and has some issue with someone else. We have only as long as we are both alive to resolve the issue, and even if that other person has no desire, whatsoever, to resolve anything with you, you still need to make the attempt.

Remember: we are not told we must ask for forgiveness; we are told we must forgive (Matthew 6:14-15), and if you haven’t forgiven someone, and told them that you forgive them, then you have missed a chance to please God.

Oh, yeah, so long as you forgive them in your heart, that is what God wants, but why not go one step further and tell the person? Maybe you will revive a friendship, or make a new one? At the very least, you will provide them with an example of how to live a godly life.

I know people who had issues with their parents, friends, or siblings who never reconciled, or even tried, and now the other person is dead. They might never be rid of the feeling of guilt and loss, having now to live the rest of their lives asking themselves,

“How hard would it have been, really, to call?”

So, if you have an unresolved issue with anyone, try to resolve it. It is more important that you try than that you succeed, and if you do get shut down, what have you lost?

Nothing.

But…what if you resolve that issue and can now reconnect with someone, maybe reestablish or create a new friendship? Isn’t that worth the effort?

Please make the attempt to tie up whatever loose ends of your relationships that may exist and do it now.

You never know when that window of opportunity will suddenly, and eternally, slam shut on you.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know. Subscribe to my website and my YouTube channel, as well. Buy my books and join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (but please make sure you agree to the rules, or I can’t let you in).

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

Shaul Used Two Drashim from Yeshua as the Basis for his Ministry.

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I am just back from 3 days in the hospital for back surgery, and am not allowed to shower until this afternoon, so I am not doing a video today because I look really scrubby.

If you ask me, one of the most misunderstood things in the New Covenant are the Epistles Shaul (Paul) wrote to the congregations he had formed throughout Asia.

The early Gentile leaders of Believers in Yeshua, after all the Apostles had died, so misused and misinterpreted these letters that they formed a totally different form of worship than the one Yeshua lived.

I want to share my understanding of Shaul’s ministry and how he used two of the drashim (parables) from Yeshua’s teachings to be able to bring pagans into a righteous lifestyle.

First off, we need to remember that the Gentiles were practicing the Roman religion, which was a hedonistic, drunkard, and sexually perverse lifestyle. In other words, it was a lot of fun, and to ask someone to give that up, all at once, would only result in most of those who were initially interested apostatizing.

This is what the parable of the Sower of the Seed tells us- some will hear the word and accept it, but the weeds will grow around the young growth and choke it. Shaul knew this and that is why he never forced a total conversion to Judaism (which was the religion they would be learning as they followed Yeshua’s teachings). In fact, that is why he was so angry with the Believing Jews in Galatia, who were undermining his work there by forcing the neophyte, Gentile Believers to undergo B’rit Milah (circumcision) in order to be saved.

Shaul also knew the parable of the enemy who sewed tares in the field of wheat. The tares were not recognizable as tares until they had grown so much that they were now interlaced with the wheat, and the owner of the field said to let them grow because tearing them out would also tear out the wheat. He said they would be separated at the harvest.

Shaul was following that idea, but instead of bad seed in a good field, he was planting good seed in a bad field, and hoped that by not making it so obvious (by requiring total conversion to Torah obedience), the good seed would grow in the tares and when the harvest came (Judgement Day), the good seed would be separated and survive.

The Elders in Jerusalem confirmed and supported this program of ministry in their letter (Acts 15) to these new Gentile Believers because they said all the new Believers had to do, NOW, was obey those 4 commands (three about not eating unclean food, and no more fornicating). What most Christians never were taught (and people never read the Bible to verify what they are told) was that James also said these new Believers will eventually learn what the Torah says at Shabbat services.

In other words, let them start slowly and adjust at their own pace to this paradigm shift in lifestyle, or we will lose them to the “weeds” of their past life.

So, Shaul went throughout Asia, telling both Jews and Gentiles about Messiah Yeshua, but he did not require the Gentiles to convert to Judaism. He required the basics- love God and love each other, which Yeshua said were the two most important commandments in the Torah.

For the record: modern Christian teaching says these are the only commandments Christians have to obey, which is wrong. Yeshua never said these were the only commandments, just that they are the most important.

Can you see now how Shaul, using the parables of seeds being sewn in the field, designed a program for missionary work that used the wisdom of those drashim to create a gradual integration from a pagan lifestyle to a righteous one?

And this is why Christianity has gone so far off course from what Yeshua taught- they just didn’t get it, and decided since they don’t have to become Jews overnight, they can change what they want to. They started with the 4th Commandment, changing the Shabbat, then rejected the Holy Days in Leviticus 23, ignored the requirements for food in Leviticus 11, and by the Third Century had created a totally man-made religion that has nothing whatsoever to do with God’s word or Yeshua’s teachings, other than to love one another.

And I can tell you this, for certain: loving one another isn’t enough.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know. Subscribe to this website and my YouTube channel, buy my books (if you like what you get here, you will like my books), and join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (but please make sure you click that you agree to the rules, or you can’t come in).

And remember that I always welcome your comments.

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

Repetition Isn’t Respect

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I haven’t been very dutiful in my posting the last couple of weeks, and I probably won’t post again for another week or two. I am getting surgery on my back to fuse my L5 vertebrae to L4 since the L5 is shifting. I have been dealing (painfully) with sciatica for two years now, and this is the third time I go “under the knife”. God willing, this will be the fix. I know I can count on your prayers for me, and I thank you for them.

OK- now down to business…

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

How often have you heard people say “Father God” or “Lord” about a thousand times while praying?

Do you know someone who, when just talking with you, has to acknowledge God in some way, in nearly every other sentence? They talk like this:

“As I was walking home the other day, praise the Lord, I saw my friend who by God’s Grace I have known for a long time. And she has been in good health, thanks to God, my savior, for a while now, and praise the Lord that she yadda, yadda, yadda….”

Look- I am not trying to insult or berate anyone, but really? Can’t you finish a complete thought without having to praise or recognize God in some way?

Here’s why I am writing about what could be just a pet peeve of mine: I believe that automatic and repetitive reference to God becomes empty praise.

What I am saying is that when we say the same thing, over and over, it becomes standard practice, essentially rote repetition, and after a very short time it will become the way we talk, but it will have no essence.

When people continually refer to God in their speech or prayer and do it so often that it becomes a pattern, the heartfelt desire to honor God is no longer why they do it- it now just habit.

When we do or say things so often that we don’t even think about it, it means nothing anymore.

I rarely refer to God in my everyday speech or when I pray after I have already addressed him at the start. I don’t continually interject “Father God” or “Lord” or any direct reference to God- I really think he knows who I’m talking to. And, despite his age, I don’t think he has a problem with short-term memory, so I don’t feel the need to constantly remind him who I am talking to.

My concern, again, is that people who constantly refer to God in one way or another as part of their prayer or speech patterns become inured to why we refer to God in the first place, which is to honor him in all we say and do.

So, if you are feeling that I am picking on you, it is probably because you are one of those who constantly refer to God in your speech and prayer. If so, I am sorry if you feel insulted, but I really think you should consider that by referring to God in every other sentence you have reduced consciously honoring him to nothing more than mindless conditioning.

And I can be fairly certain that the people you are talking to, especially people who aren’t as “spiritually invested” as you are, believe it is fake spirituality and not a real love for God.

You know? Sometimes I think the Lord is sitting on his throne, hearing people refer to him over and over again, and is saying to himself:


“Just talk to me- I already know who I am.”

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know. Subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (please make sure you click that you agree to the rules, or I can’t let you in), and buy my books. If you like what you get here, you will like my books, as well.

And remember that I always welcome your comments.

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

How to be Satisfied.

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This is going to be a real easy lesson today, but as with many things that seem easy, to actually be able to utilize this in your life is not easy.

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

So, the secret to happiness, how to be satisfied in all that you do (as Shaul said he was in Philippians 4:12) and have peace throughout your life is this:

Satisfaction doesn’t come from getting what you want; it comes from being content with what you have.

That’s it. Simple, right?

The difficulty is actually being content with what we have.

I am not saying that one should not have ambition- to me, a life without ambition is a boring life. We should try to better our situation, be a better provider to our family, continue to study and learn about everything that interests us, and never, ever stop trying to better ourselves.

And always try to be more of what God wants us to be- not what some religion says you should be, but what God says to be (and you find that ONLY in the first 5 books of the Bible. If you want to say Yeshua / Jesus taught us how to be, he taught from those 5 books).

For me, I really have learned pretty much to be satisfied. For example, I can log onto Amazon and buy only what I really need to get. (Oy! The Acid Test of satisfaction!)

Do I want more? Honestly? No, not really. I have a wonderful marriage to a wonderful woman, I have a house that is paid for, I am (for the most part) healthy, I have friends I have known from childhood that I am still constantly in touch with, my ministry (this ministry) is growing, and even though I would prefer more people buy the books I have written, I have come to accept that what I spout here is never going to be popular.

Why not? Am I being pessimistic? No, I am being realistic- the megachurches and large synagogues and popular online ministries are popular because they tell people all the wonderful things that God will do for them.

Not me- I tell people all the things God wants us to do for him BEFORE he will give us all that nice stuff.

People don’t want to hear about what they have to do to get something: they love to hear about what they will get for doing nothing.

Well…das ist alles! Short, sweet, to the point: it’s OK to try to get more, but not to the point where wanting more takes away from being satisfied with what you have.

If you can teach yourself to appreciate what you have, and especially to thank God for all he has done for you, then you will always be satisfied.

That’s it for this week, so please remember to subscribe, share these messages, buy my books, join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (you need to accept the rules to get in), and please don’t hesitate to give me feedback.

Until next time, l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!

Oh, I almost forgot- this Monday is Purim…Chag Sameach!

How To Fix Our Society

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

Have any of you noticed I haven’t been around for a while? Donna and I spent the beginning of February celebrating our 25th anniversary with friends who live outside of London, and when we came back, we had many things to do, so I haven’t been posting regularly most of this month. I hope to get back into my usual routine soon but have a back operation to undergo in a few weeks, which will probably put me out of commission for 6 months or more. I am sharing this with you because I get most of my inspiration when I am riding my bicycle, which I won’t be able to do for anywhere from 4-6 months. So, since I believe that many of the messages I receive are from God, I am sure that if he has something he wants me to write about, he will get that message to me, somehow.

I am still able to ride my bicycle, and today’s message came to me the other day during my ride.

So many socio-political problems today are based on race and religion. It seems that if anyone says anything about a person, it becomes a racial issue, especially if the people involved are of different races.

The world is racist because we have been conditioned to identify by race: for example, here in the USA people say they are a Russian-American (my grandparents came over from Russia), or a Chinese-American, or an African-American, or an Italian -American, or a whatever-American.

By identifying this way, they are (by definition) being a racist.

There is nothing wrong, at all, with being proud of one’s cultural background, but we need to stop identifying by where our ancestors lived. They lived there, we didn’t.

My grandparents, as I mentioned, were from Russia- both sides- but I am not really Russian. I was born in America, and so I am an American. If I want to be proud of my cultural ancestry, then I can say I am an American with Russian ancestry.

But I am, first and foremost, an American.

From a spiritual viewpoint, if someone asked me if I was saved or not, why would I tell them I am an unsaved person who is now saved? Doesn’t it make sense to ignore what I was and be concerned only with what I am? What does it matter that I was once unsaved- we all were! What is important is what I am, now.

As someone who speaks about God, I could be taken as a racist, since the Bible can be seen as a racist document. Really- we aren’t supposed to mix different cloths, to associate with certain people, to marry outside of our own religion: all of these are certainly identifiable as a bigoted (racist) attitude.

So, nu? What am I trying to say?

Simply this: we need to stop identifying by race or religion or political affiliation, and simply see each other as God sees us- not for what we are, but for who we are.

Race, ancestry, political idealisms, religion- these are things that identify what we are, and as such do not always define who we are.

If we can teach our children to identify with everyone else by their similarities instead of their differences, we will create a society that is closer to what God wants than what we have now.

Try to see people for who they are; ignore their skin color, their ancestry, even their religion, and make whatever judgement about them you need to based on their personality and the way they treat others.

I believe if we can do this, we will be living a lot closer to the way God wants us to live.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know to help this ministry grow. Subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, buy my books, and join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (please make sure you click that you agree to the rules, or I can’t let you in).

And remember that I always welcome your comments.

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