Testimonial -How I learned about what the historical Yeshua (hebrew: Yehoshua) taught and how I started to follow him.

Hello!

This is my testimonial and is also about how to follow the first century historical Ribi Yehoshua - the Messiah - of Nazareth.

For you of my readers who aren't Christians I want to recommend some articles that I have written, which likely will be more relevant to you. If you are a Muslim, I recommend you to study this blog of mine: About Muhammed; if you are a Jew, I recommend you to study this blog of mine: Logic and Torah; if you are an atheist or agnostic, I recommend you to read this article: Proof of an Intelligent Creator and His Will of mankind. If you are a theist of another view than the above, I recommend you to study this link: Which religion is the correct one.

You are all of course welcome to read about how I learned to relate to the Creator. Here follows my testimonial:


My name is Anders Branderud

I was born in 1984 in Stockholm and have lived here all of my life. I enjoy the surroundings where we live; there is a lot of nature. The nature I have enjoyed for a long time; lakes, forests, oceans, beautiful sunsets and the chirping of birds.



When I am out and talking a walk, for example along a lake, which I think is a fantastic experience; then I am often thankful to the Creator of this universe – that I have reached the point in my walk where I am today. When I am out walking in the nature it is hard to not believe that the fantastic view is the result of a Creator; that everything would be the result of a chance I consider as a very illogical alternative (based on the proof above).

I grew up with a religious faith. My faith in g*od disappeared when I was about ten years old. When I was about 12 years old I became friend with a nice person who was Christian. I followed him regularly on computer game-LAN in the Pentecostal Church. I can't remember that I had any faith in g*od or any interest in Christianity.

In high school - when I was about 15 years old - I got to know a Christian girl and she and some other friends of mine invited me to a Christian ski camp. A time after that I fell in love with a Christian girl and we became a couple. She had a faith that meant much for her. One of the reasons that I wanted to become a Christian was that she was a Christian. After the decision to become a Christian my Christian faith grew stronger and stronger and my choice to continue to practice Christianity was my own.

Eternity.

What happens after death?. I have thought much about this question during my life - from when I was ten years old, but probably much earlier than that. For some time I believed that there was nothing that happened after death; but I didn't want it to be in that way. I have had several nightmares, for example nightmares about that I died. Now I know what happens after death. (If you want to know what the Jewish Bible (which Christians calls the “OT”) and the Mashiakh (“Messiah”) taught about eternal life, then please read this article (Link).)

My time as a Christian was filled with many emotions. I had many strong emotional experiences. The faith that I had in 'Jesus' and my love to god became stronger and stronger. I visited Church regularly, I prayed a lot and I studied the Christian "NT" much. During one semester -when I was about 17 years old - I sat much inside of my room with a locked door and listened to Christian preachings. I had a strong faith that the Christian "NT" was the word of g*od. I had heard many intellectual arguments that sounded reasonable. Howeverr, I hadn’t put any effort to verify their claimed arguments of why the “NT is credible”.  During a period my faith grew less intensive, but later on I started to visit Church regularly again, at least twice a week; and I decided to attend a Christian Bible school belonging to "Word of Life", included in the Christian faith movement, in order to study the Christian Scriptures.
In the spring of 2006 I attended a camp with Södermalmskyrkan (‘Södermalmschurch’), which I attended regularly during that time. I had a great interest for the Christian scriptures; and some studies in the Christian translation of Tan"kh – the Bible as Jews defines it – made me think about whether is okay to eat pork or not. That evening I didn't eat bacon. I later on discussed the issue with at least one Christian leader; and I put trust in his answer and what I had heard before about the issue and went back to my old ways.

In the autumn of 2006 I found a Christian organization called "The Messianic Association Shalom." They taught me that Christians shall follow some of the directives of the Torâh. During my studies I found some arguments, e.g. that it says in the Tana"kh that the directives of Torah are eternal. I stopped eating pork and shellfish; I avoided working on Shabât and on the Jewish khagim (translation: pilgrimages to Yerushalayim). I was very thankful to the Creator of the universe that I had found this information. My argumentation of that Christians shall follow some of the directives of the Torâh created a conflict with the Christian leaders of the Word of Life Christian Bible school. They called me to a meeting and after that I stated that I won't change my mind, they told me that I have to quit. It was in the spring of 2007 and I was very happy that I didn't have to attend that school any more since there were so much I didn't agree with.

In the spring of 2007 I started to study the Tana"kh ("which Christians call the "OT") in Hebrew. My longing to live in Israel grew stronger and stronger, as did the time I spent thinking and praying for the Jews. I read much about Israel and I studied Israeli newspapers on the internet. It was in the talkbalk of an article in an Israeli newspaper that I in 2007-05 found the website of Netzarim.

This website captured my attention directly! I learned a lot information about Ribi [a title similar to "rabbi"] Yәhoshua –ha-Mashiakh (“the Messiah”) and studied prophecies about ha-Mashiakh. I learned from studying the Tan''kh that the historical Mashiakh (Messiah) and his followers are prophesied - see for example Yeshayahu [“Isaiah”] 9:5-6 (in Hebrew according to etymology and cantillation of the Jewish Bible) - to observe the directives of the Torah (“books of Moses”) and teach others to do the same.

I then realized that I in order to follow the prophesied Mashiakh must observe the directives of Torah non-selectively to my utmost. Having a desire to follow the Creator -described in the Jewish Bible - and to follow the authentic Mashiakh I undertook this task. I have been doing this for more than 3,5 years and it has been immensely meaningful to follow the Creator.

The historical Ribi Yehoshua taught: “Request first the Realm and His tzedaqah and all these things shall be given to you.”

Being a Christian I had used Christian glasses and interpreted in a Christian way. When understanding that Ribi Yehoshua was a Torah-observant Jewish leader, I understood that I must use Torah-glasses; and using these glasses I then understood this and other teachings of Ribi Yehoshua in the way that they should be understood.

Just like Ribi Yehoshua, I want to do my utmost to practice the directives of Torâh. I am a human loved by the Creator and just like all other humans I have my weaknesses. I know that it isn't impossible to do the utmost of my ability to follow the directives of the Torâh. The Creator require of us in His Torah, that we should do our best to strive to be perfect – to do our best to keep the directives of the Torah non-selectively. When we do this He promises in His loving kindness to give His forgiveness for our shortcomings (Proof from the Tan''kh and the teachings of Ribi Yehoshua - the Messiah - of these statements in this article (Link)).

As I said in the beginning of this presentation, I am very thankful to the Creator for that He has taken me to the point where I am today. I do my best to keep the directives of Torah non-selectively to the utmost of my ability. I hope that you also will join me in this task! If you want to do this, please contact me and I can support and guide you; and also have a  tepilah ("prayer") and Torah-study group either in real life or through Skype, depending on where you live.