In the Gospel of John, verse 14:13, Yeshua said (CJB), “If you ask me for something in my name, I will do it.”

Those of you who follow this ministry know that I believe the Gospel of John is a false one, and this one verse is further proof of that because I really do not believe Yeshua would tell us to pray to him, or that he will answer prayers instead of God.

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There are a few slight differences in how this one verse is stated, depending on which Bible version you are using, but the point remains that Yeshua, according to whoever wrote this gospel, is saying that when we pray to him, he will make sure we get what we ask for.

In some versions he says when we pray in his name, he will make sure we get it, or when we pray in his name, to glorify the Father he will make sure we get it. But in the end, he is saying that he will answer our prayer.

You may not agree with me, but that sure sounds like he is saying he will handle it, God doesn’t have to get involved. And, again, you may not agree with me, but that doesn’t sound like a son who really wants to glorify his father, but it does sound like a son who wants to take things away from his father. In fact, it reminds me of when Absalom told the people that they won’t get justice from the king, but if he was king he would make sure they did. (2 Samuel 15)

Another thing about this particular verse is that it is not stated in any other gospel. One of the many reasons I do not believe John is a valid gospel is because Yeshua says so many things that are not in the other gospels, failing a necessary tool of Bible interpretation, which is that everything in the Bible must be hermeneutically validated by the same statement or condition found elsewhere in the Bible.

I have, in the past, written how we do not need to invoke the name of Yeshua every time we pray to God. For instance, if we are offering a prayer of thanks, we aren’t asking for anything, so we don’t need to invoke the power of Yeshua’s name. If we are just talking with God, and not really asking for anything specifically, we don’t need to invoke the power of his name.

I used to believe that we should ask in Yeshua’s name whenever we pray to God for something, especially something important. And I have always stated we do not pray to Yeshua, directly, but to God, only referring to Yeshua as our Intercessor.

But that has always confused me a bit, because God knows my heart, he knows my mind, and he knows that I accepted Yeshua as my Messiah nearly 30 years ago, so why do I have to refer to Yeshua when I pray? Doesn’t God know this? Isn’t Yeshua there as my Intercessor anyway?

I mean, if I do not ask for something in Yeshua’s name, does he tell God to reject my prayer?

Is this some sort of spiritual “Simon Says”? ….

“In Yeshua’s name raise your right hand.” (my right hand is raised)
“In Yeshua’s name, lower your right hand.” (my right hand is lowered)
“In Yeshua’s name, raise your left hand.”( my left hand is raised)
“Lower your left hand.” (I lower my left hand)
“Ah-hah!! I didn’t say ‘In Yeshua’s name’- your prayers are rejected!”

My introduction to Messianic Judaism, where I was saved and served in many positions, even as Rabbi-Pro-Tem for 18 months or so, was at a Messianic synagogue in Philadelphia. The rabbi there was raised in an Orthodox Jewish household, and even went to a seminary school (he called it “Cemetery School”). It was there that I was taught Yeshua is God (we used to say, “Yeshua hu Adonai”), and that we must pray in his name.

It is almost three decades later, and after having studied the Bible every day and in this ministry (which is about 8 years old now) issuing messages from (what I believe) are inspirations from God, written 5 books, and answered hundreds of tough questions from people all across the world, I have come to some conclusions that go against what I was originally taught.

The first realization is that Yeshua is not God, but he was created from God (not from a man), and being filled with the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) from birth, he was able to demonstrate that he is the Messiah; and, as the Messiah, his sacrificial death is available as a sin sacrifice for everyone.

I also have come to believe, after years of thinking it over, is what I am about to tell you right now: I do not believe that we ever need to pray in Yeshua’s name, for anything.

And that is not just because the only place he says to do that is in John’s Gospel, which I reject as valid, but because it makes no sense, whatsoever, when we read the Bible.

Throughout the Bible, God is clear that he is the one, and only, God, and that praying to anyone or anything other than him is idolatry. Yeshua always prayed to God, and always gave the credit for everything he did to God, so why would he suddenly say that we need to refer to him if we want to receive something in prayer?

And not just refer to him, but he said that by referring to his name, he will make sure we get it!

He isn’t saying he will intercede for us; what he is saying is that he will give it to us, essentially taking God out of the picture. Again, I am sorry, but that doesn’t sound at all like the obedient son who lives to glorify his father.

No. It sounds to me like someone who is trying to take over his father’s business.

So, starting today, this very minute (because already this morning I still prayed in Yeshua’s name- conditioning is very hard to get over), I will no longer invoke Yeshua’s name when asking God for forgiveness or anything. I trust God to know my heart and mind, to know that I am a true believer in his Messiah, Yeshua, to now that I am always trying to live in accordance with his instructions in the Torah, to know that I am a member of Yeshua’s flock, and I trust that Yeshua will, and is, always interceding for me in every prayer I make to God because I am one of his flock.

I really don’t think I need to remind either of them of that fact.

And one other thing, which I hope you will agree with: Yeshua never wanted anyone to put him in God’s place.

Well, this is certainly an eye-opener, if not for you, it is for me. I have wondered and battled with myself over this question for years, and I already felt secure that John’s gospel is a false one, but now I also feel secure that we never had to invoke Yeshua’s name in order for a prayer to be heard or answered, which is essentially what John says Yeshua said we have to do.

Look, I am not saying that everything in John’s gospel is bad, only that it is not a “real” gospel. It falls more in line with the Epistles; writings that are not God-breathed scripture, but from men who had an intimate relationship and knowledge of God. And as such, whatever is said in those letters must be in agreement with the rest of the entire Bible, hermeneutically validated that it is in line with everything God said.

If you want to continue to pray in Yeshua’s name, I don’t believe that is a sin, and I also don’t believe there is anything really wrong with that. What I do believe is wrong s to think if you don’t pray in his name, your prayers will be rejected. So, pray in his name, or don’t pray in his name, but always pray to God, and try to live in accordance with how God said to live, not some religion, and as Yeshua lived.

I truly believe and trust that God knows who is a real Believer and who is not, and will always act accordingly with their prayers.

If you are told the Bible says something that cannot be found in at least one other place in the Bible, then it can’t be a valid interpretation.

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 today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

The Torah is the scroll containing the first five books of the Bible, and most Christians, and even most Jews, know it as “the Law”.

But the word “Torah” means learning, or teaching, and even though The Torah has laws, it is really God’s “User Manual for Righteousness”.

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Let’s start off by trying to agree on something: when we disobey God, that is a sin. So far, so good? OK, then the next thing to agree on is that sin is “lawlessness”.

Are we also okay with that? Good, because now we are all in agreement with the Bible because the apostle John tells us in 1 John 3:4 (NIV):

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

So, sin is not obeying the law, but what law was John talking about? Well, truth is, at that time there was only one law- the Torah.

So, nu? Where are we?

Christianity has taught you that Yeshua (Jesus) did away with the law, which if that is true, means that the son of God told you to ignore his father and live a life of sin.

That doesn’t really make sense, does it? The Messiah, son of God, was sent by God to be a means for us to be forgiven of sin, so what he does is teach everyone to sin.

What is that, some sort of job security?

Yes, it makes absolutely no sense, so what did the early Christian leaders do? To make it seem sensible, Christianity has come up with the idea of moral and ceremonial laws, and that even though they say Yeshua did away with the law, now they don’t mean ALL the law, just the ceremonial ones.

Which, of course, begs the question: who decides which is ceremonial and which is moral?

Isn’t God moral? If he is, then he wouldn’t tell us to do anything that wasn’t morally correct…. right? Well, God told us how to worship him (Leviticus 23), what social and familial relationships are righteous and which are sinful (Leviticus 18), which foods are best for us and which we should avoid (Leviticus 11), and many other ways to live a righteous and worshipful life throughout those first five books.

Now ask yourself this: if God is moral, and everything he tells us to do is morally correct, then although people try to separate moral from ceremonial, isn’t it all moral, anyway?

Of course it is! Whatever God tells you to do is not just righteous but morally correct, and anything God says you should do that you refuse to do, is a sin, which is lawlessness, and the wages of sin is…death! (Romans 6:23)

The choice is yours. I have given you biblically correct information so that you can make an informed and biblically correct decision; you can continue to follow some man-made religion (for the record, every single Christian religion is man-made) or you can decide to follow God.

I can tell you, and I am sure you will agree, that to reject God is not a good idea, yet remarkably enough, that is what Christianity tells you to do.

In nearly every respect it rejects God: it doesn’t celebrate the Sabbath when God said to, it doesn’t honor any of his Holy Days, it eats all the foods God said not to, it teaches that Yeshua did way with his father’s commandments, and there are some forms of Christianity where the people pray to statues and their houses of worship are full of graven images, and …well, you get the idea.

Follow a Christian “torah”, or follow the Torah that God gave to all humanity so that they know what is right and what is wrong. The choice is yours, but let me give you one more thing to consider….

When you face God at Judgement Day, which we all will do, he might ask you why you lived the way you did, and when you tell him, “I was just doing what they told me to do.”, I can’t speak for the Big Guy upstairs, but I think he will respond with something to the effect of:

“I know you did what they told you to do, but it is what I say that counts!”

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!

I know this sounds impossible, right? I mean, how can a prayer straight from the son of God deny us salvation?

Well, I’ll show you how!

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Let’s take a look at the prayer; it’s in Matthew 6:9-13 (CJB):

Our Father in heaven! May your Name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come,
 your will be done on earth as in heaven. Give us the food we need today.
 Forgive us what we have done wrong, as we too have forgiven those who have wronged us.
And do not lead us into hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.
For kingship, power and glory are yours forever. Amen.’

Let’s concentrate on that line in the middle, you know, the one that says God should forgive us as we forgive others. What is that verse really saying?

It’s saying that if we do not forgive others, then God should not forgive us!

And that interpretation is confirmed by verse 14 when Yeshua says:

For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;  but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours.

So, if you are not willing to forgive those who sin against you, then God will not forgive you.

And Yeshua further confirms this in the parable about the man who was forgiven a great debt he owed, but refused to forgive a small debt owed to him (Matthew 18:21-35) .

Now, you may say, “Yo, Bro! Wait a minute! This was before Yeshua shed his blood for us, by which we are forgiven! We’re golden.”

I have to disagree. Yeshua said if we do not forgive, then God won’t forgive us. There’s no escape clause, no “But what if..?”, no option other than we forgive or we aren’t forgiven.

Now can you see why I say that the Lord’s Prayer can actually deny your salvation?

Sure, Christianity makes a big deal out of love thy neighbor, but it seems to me Yeshua is making a bigger deal out of forgive those who sin against you. And I can see why- doesn’t Yeshua tell us in Luke 6:32-36 that even sinners love those who love them? And aren’t we hurt by those who love us, and don’t we hurt those we love? It’s part of the human experience, which doesn’t always stop us from loving each other.

But when it comes to forgiving those who hurt us, that seems to be much harder to do, doesn’t it? Even those we love!

C’mon, be honest- how many times have you felt that someone just doesn’t deserve to be forgiven? The fact is we don’t have the right or the option to make that call- that call is up to God. What we are told is our responsibility is to forgive that person, no matter what our emotions tell us.

And when we forgive someone, don’t think that it makes them right with God, because it doesn’t- it makes YOU right with God!

This is the truth about forgiveness: it doesn’t do anything at all for the one we forgive, but it does a lot for us, in that it makes us right with God and it is the ONLY way to make the hurt go away.

The take-away from today’s message is simple…forgive others so that you will be forgiven and to make the hurt go away.

And here is a tip that helps me to forgive others: I imagine that person standing before God at Judgement Day, and if they haven’t done t’shuvah (repentance), when I think of what they will have to endure for all eternity, well…all I can feel is pity for them, and that feeling of pity is what helps me to forgive them. Maybe it will help you, too?

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!

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!

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!

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.

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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!)