Over the course of the last 16 years I have seen a myriad of individuals toss Jesus “Under The Bus!”

You see, a movement to return to the “Hebrew Root” of the Bible has exploded across the globe. Within this movement hundreds of former Christians cozied up to the Jewish absolute that Jesus was not the son of God and that the New Testament is a Quasi Catholic/Christian retelling of the plight of ancient Israel’s failures. These so called failures caused GOD to raise up a church people to do a better job…(in its basic form) The disciples and Paul (Who wrote most of the New Testament) dropped to their knees vowing allegiance to Jesus Christ (Middle name unknown). From their enlightenment a church was born, full of Western Christians in the first century! I, myself have several acquaintances who deny the death on the cross, resurrection story! Others, like me, returned/restored the identity of Jesus, the Jew finding a world of information within the “Root Movement” which caused a paradigm shift that further solidified the cross event and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ or Mochiach (Messiah)

Truth be told I can’t breathe at times because of the mountain of information contained with in the biblical account that most in the denominational world, the non-denominational world and everything in between have never seen. Of course, many in the Jewish world have said, “They have done it again, taken our history and made it Christian in order to justify the J-Man!”

The difference for me is that sixteen years later I have thrown the religious control mechanisms under the bus! I started looking into the academic, historical, and archaeological information our digital age offers. I am now able to use data, provided by the insatiable appetite of academia to seek out historical records and documented works addressing the culture, the languages and the ancient legal systems that give a greater insight into the empires that gave to us, our beginnings. The stories in the Bible to me are more real than ever before. I consider the writings in Genesis thru the book of Revelation the single most amazing miracle that continues to move through the pages of history!

About my use of the words, ‘Control Mechanisms’ I was driving professor John Walton of Wheaton College to the airport for his departure trip back home. I asked the following question: ‘So John, do you believe Jesus was the son of GOD?’ He quickly replied, “Jeff, I am not a theologian, I am a linguist who studies several ancient languages. You would better be served by asking a theologian, like my son those questions.” He chose not to address his personal beliefs. After all, I invited him to share forty years of research based on his Lost World Series and several other books. This brief conversation was a turning point for me. John Walton was free from doctrinal confinement often associated with denominational translations!

I begun the process of discarding the religious demarcations that one must align with to belong to a Sunday church or a Messianic gathering. I found greater comfort in being a citizen who studies the ancient cultures represented in the biblical account as opposed to being Hebrew or Christian. The Hebrew Root movement opened a door that helped me to eventually flee their new religion (which was different in every group that I experienced)…..Whew, glad that’s over!

In summary, giving Jesus back his Jewish identity, Hebrew culture and historic, legal, accomplishment has made the rebirth of Israel a miracle of miracles that I am able to understand better. Watching the land of Israel thrive and the protection given to her survival in spite of whatever difficulties exist there (And they are many) the Bible promised it would happen and Jesus guaranteed it to occur! What is even more amazing to me is that all of the above exploded my desire to keep learning the back stories that are not part of the church experience! I realize now that you have to give those stories back to the writers and those who cataloged what we call the WORD OF GOD!. The trick is learning the ancient evidence that addresses the language, the culture and the world that gave to us………the promise!