My name is Bruce Barham. I am a follower of Yahshua the Messiah, commonly known by his Traditional Christian - and unfortunately false name, "Jesus". I am convinced, for reasons I will discuss on this web site, that Yahshua is the promised Anointed One (Messiah) of The One and Only Yahweh Elohim (LORD God). That alone is a cause for endless and often heated discussion; however, my objective in this site is not to debate the issue since there are many other sites devoted to that purpose. My primary objective is to present the Torah (teachings, instructions) of - and about - the Messiah I follow, adore, and revere as the chosen unique agent of YHVH (LORD) to rule in His Kingdom in the world to come from his literal, Davidic throne in Jerusalem. My other major purpose is to promote the TRUE meaning of the shema (Deut. 6:4). It is for this reason I formed the SHeMA (Scriptural Hebraic Messianic Alliance) Bulletin Board in response to the counterfeit Messianic movement, which teaches repackaged Traditional Christian doctrines. This web site also does not hesitate to oppose counter missionaries who mercilessly attack the reliability of the New Testament with the hopes of ridding the world of it and the Messiah presented therein.
I have no desire to promote myself; therefore, until recently all material on this web site was published anonymously. Oddly, I noticed certain individuals who are unfamiliar with the term "humility" were using my anonymous approach as a basis for slanderous suggestions targeting me and the Torah of Messiah web site. ?? Apparently the prideful practice of self-glorification has become so widely accepted and common that those of us who wish to not promote "self" are looked upon with suspicion. This is particularly true within the religious kingdoms of Christianity's and counterfeit Messianism's upper crust elite who look down their pompous noses in disgust at anyone who does not possess a wall full of Seminary degrees (though I am a degreed Aerospace Engineer). One wonders how they actually view the carpenter, tentmaker, and fishermen who represent the most important characters of the New Testament and whose teachings they should be following? Oh well, to silence such critics I unenthusiastically gave my name above. As least by doing so I eliminate one of the many malicious attempts to attack the message myself and others present.
The material on this web site is not "my" teachings, though it does represent my own personal opinions. In truth, the information here constitutes the belief of many others for whom I have evolved into somewhat of a reluctant spokesman, though many of them are probably better spokesmen than I. I do not claim to be a "leader" nor do I seek a following. My intent is to simply serve the Eternal G-d (YHVH) to the best of my ability. Those seeking a leader should look elsewhere, specifically to Yahshua the Messiah, whom YHVH chose as our leader. I believe it to be unwise to replace God's choice with one of our own.
In 2001 I decided to publicly promote what I had grown after years of personal study to passionately believe regarding the many serious false teachings within Traditional Christianity and "counterfeit" Messianic/Netzarim Judaism, most specifically their promotion of a false G-d and false Messiah (the antichrist or "replacement Messiah"). Since then I have seen my suspicions of widespread dissatisfaction and concern among Christians confirmed as substantial numbers of Christians and counterfeit Messianics choose to become EX-Christians and EX-counterfeits, then grow to develop into monotheistic Messianic followers of Messiah Yahshua and worshippers of the ONE and ONLY true Creator God. They, along with other truth seekers, find the material on this and other SHeMA affiliated sites to be the Truth they have sought. Christian and counterfeit Messianic leaders hope to keep this growing end-time awakening concealed; however, they are finding that to be an increasingly difficult task as more and more are "coming out of Babylon" as they become aware of the horribly unscriptural foundations of Traditional, Constantinian Christianity - foundations which grossly misrepresent the teachings of the New Testament and the Messiah introduced within its pages.
Please understand that I do NOT intend my discussions to imply condemnation of any individuals that may participate in the worship practices I believe to be unscriptural. I know of many VERY sincere and loving people that belong to Catholic, Baptist, church of Christ, Christianized Messianic, Judaic, Evangelical, and many other "Biblical" faiths. Of course, I define "loving" as loving God and His Word above all else, and those with this form of love generally are sincere in their efforts to live in a manner pleasing to YHVH (God).
One MUST understand that just because an organization may appear "caring" or "devoted" does not mean its teachings are from God. I firmly and consistently promote the necessity of ALWAYS searching FOR YOURSELF for truth and not allowing anyone else to tell you what it is, despite how truthful you may judge them to be. Unfortunately, since it requires commitment to study, very few do this. Instead, they choose a particular flavor of religion based upon their own personal desires instead of its adherence to Scripture and rarely search to discover if their religious choice is the TRUE faith. The deception capability of Satan is far stronger than anyone can imagine. Satan is the ultimate terrorists, the ultimate politician, the ultimate pastor, and the ultimate "loving, caring" person. If you fail to recognize the fact that Satan is far more cunning, intelligent, and capable of trickery that you can imagine, you WILL ultimately find yourself his victim on the day when the True God judges you.
There is one - and ONLY one - way to determine if your faith is true to Scripture. That way is to read the Scripture - NOT just the New Testament, as most Christian leaders will advise. FIRST read the Tanakh (Old Testament). If you do not first understand the foundational Hebraic principles of the Tanakh (Tah-NOCK, or Old Testament), you will not possibly understand the New Testament Scripture.
What society defines as "loving" is often Scriptural wickedness. Some of the most sincere and godly people I have ever known belong to religious organizations that I am convinced promote enormous error; however, individuals may likely not fall under the wrath that their leaders will. I feel very strongly that ALL mankind will ultimately be judged separate from any particular group they may belong to. There is no theological "entrance exam" to get into the coming Kingdom, though there are some basics one must understand. I do feel there may be limits to the groups one can associate with; however, truly loving, searching, and sincere people generally do not belong to such groups, and MANY attend churches they have serious concerns about but feel they have no other optional groups with which they can worship. Therefore I want it to be clear that my opposition is against a SYSTEM that I am absolutely convinced promotes horribly false doctrines - doctrines that are often in direct conflict with the true faith. If sincere individuals are ignorant of the errors yet truly love God and their fellow man, I do not consider them necessarily "lost". However, since true love of God is manifested in a continued, NEVER ending effort to seek truth, it is my hope they will consider my message.
There most certainly ARE limits to God's grace which is extended to those participating in false or idolatrous worship; however, it is not my place or intent to determine those limits. My purpose is to define truth to the best of my ability and leave it to God to judge those that may choose to reject what Scriptures clearly teach.
I realize many will harshly judge me as being "condemning", "intolerant", or - the favorite of those opposing me - "unloving". It is impossible to properly explain the anguish I feel at having to proclaim what I know will be bitterly opposed by the vast majority of Traditional Christians. Showing how the majority of Christians and Christianized Messianics are tragic victims of the grandest deception of all time and being dangerously misled is NOT a pleasant task. Accusations of being "judgmental", "unloving", and "heretic" are inevitable. Though Scripture very clearly states virtually the entire world will follow the Satan empowered Beast in the end times, all Christians seem to feel the "other guys" are the ones being deceived. Those that feel they can never fall victim to spiritual deception, prove through their over confidence that they already have!
If you read Scripture you will find that, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, all spokesmen for the One Holy Creator were burdened with painful reaction to their message. There is virtually no example in Scripture of a prophet being "warmly received" by the majority of the population. Perhaps if more Christians read from the Prophetic writings, there would not be such widespread abandonment of truth within Traditional Christianity. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Hosea, Ezekiel, etc. were often despised and considered "divisive", or "hurtful". Many of them were killed for their testimony. They were ALWAYS hated by those they sought to bring back to the Eternal YHVH. Indeed, rejection, persecution, and hate are normal reactions to those that share the actual Truth of God. Their message is my message, "Repent, and return to the One True Elohim (God)!" And to shut down those that may wish to promote the lie that I consider myself to be a prophet, let me state categorically that I do NOT! I am just a guy searching for truth who happens to passionately advance what I find.
Ultimately, my service is to the Almighty; therefore, I am forced to endure the slander and rage of those that do not like what I feel must be proclaimed. I am truly pained at the realization you may find my message repulsive, harsh, or divisive. I pray you will realize I am only doing what YHVH very clearly instructs me to do through His teachings, and that you will recognize there is a vast difference between hating error and hating individuals. I very much HATE false, demonic teachings; however, it is because I LOVE my fellowman, my Messiah, and YHVH that I so zealously combat the plague of Traditional Christian false teachings and the System from which they originate. Sadly, the all to common reaction to my message is instant condemnation, ridicule, and rejection instead of study of what I can (and have) overwhelmingly prove is truth. I have an Almighty Creator that I wish to serve; therefore, I will, knowing that service will cause me to be hated by the vast majority of people.
The following two primary issues will be addressed in detail and constitute the bulk of my message:
I will present evidence, which if sincerely weighted against all evidence, will prove Yahshua is not - nor was he ever prophesied to be - YHVH, the Creator God. I feel this would be an obvious Scriptural observation if not for the tremendously powerful and mind-numbing effect of tradition and the willingness of so many to accept "mystery" and "mysticism" arguments which are impossible to prove and that I consider dangerously false.
I feel the false teaching that Yahshua (Jesus) is Elohim (God) may be "the mother of all errors" from which many other false teachings within Traditional Christianity ultimately originate. Furthermore, I am absolutely convinced my opinions are overwhelmingly supported from the Holy Scriptures even though I once zealously held to the Traditional Christian positions.
I sincerely pray all Truth seekers will go to ONLY the Scriptures and not allow unsubstantiated Trinity "mysteries" or (even worse) counterfeit Messianic Kabbalistic mysticism's "Ein Sof " and "Ten Sefirot" to cloud their mental faculties. Frankly, I am convinced that if you will simply allow your God given COMMON SENSE and reasoning ability guide you in your studies, you will see how VERY CLEAR the truth is! It is this approach - COMMON SENSE - that I repeatedly stress within the writings of this site, often to the point of appearing sarcastic. However, the sarcasm is simply a natural result of my effort to show facts that truly are so obvious that to reject them defies "common sense." My common sense approach is the direct opposite of the "embrace of mystery," which is the traditional Christian and counterfeit Messianic method. I will leave to you to use your own God-given common sense to decide which is a more reasonable approach.
...and all the people answered with one voice, and said, "All the words which the LORD (YHVH) hath said will we do."
I feel the misunderstanding regarding the REQUIREMENT to make every effort to keep Torah follows closely - or may even exceed - the error of the divinity of Messiah as a foundational area of false teachings within Traditional Christianity, which has bred innumerable other errors.
Jeremiah 31:31-33 mentions a new covenant. It says nothing of a new Torah! Furthermore, this Torah (the Hebrew in vs. 33 is Torah) is to be written on our hearts. Conversely, Christian leaders teach that this Torah, which YHVH said through Jeremiah will be written on our hearts, has been abolished! I often wonder if this false teaching may be even more destructive than the belief that the Messiah is Elohim (God), since failure to recognize it contributes to the false God invented by Christianity. Yet the belief that Yahshua is Elohim also contributes to the rejection of Torah by the Church since they grossly distort and even ignore Yahshua's teachings on the subject. There are strong reasons for choosing either one as the most potentially damning foundational false doctrine within Christianity and the basis for a religion I have grown to believe is largely a false religion invented by man, and which may be THE primary means through which Satan will deceive the world into ultimately worshipping him. The extent to which false teachings have multiplied as a result of these two basic deceptions of Satan is incalculable.
Additionally, effort will be spent discussing other important topics to varying depths:
I believe the Holy Scriptures - and the Holy Scriptures alone - is the ultimate treasure trove of eternal truths. Though I recognize inspiration in other writings - such as the Talmud of Judaism and the New Testament - I firmly consider the ONLY pure and infallible source of truth to be those writings that were considered so by Yahshua and all his followers - the Tanakh (Older Testament). I do, very firmly consider the New Testament to be extremely reliable and inspired, but it is most definitely NOT "perfect" as many deceivers claim. Please refer to the article "What is True Scripture" for my reasons. I respect all sincere men and women yet follow none except the One YHVH Elohim that created and sustains us in this present evil world and the One He Anointed as our beloved King, Torah teacher, and Master. I lay no claim to wisdom other than that presented in the Eternal and Perfect Word of YHVH, nor do I claim perfect understanding of YHVH's teachings and feel anyone that does is a fool of fools. I consider myself to be a lowly sinner totally dependent upon the gracious love of our merciful YHVH Elohim and the substitutionary death of the One He anointed and sanctioned to accomplish the noblest and most difficult of all tasks - tasks which he partially performed and will complete when he returns in the glory of His Father to punish the lawless (willful violators of Torah) and all enemies of His brethren.
It is to them I dedicate this site and extend my praise. May this meager effort on my part bring glory and honor to the Master and Creator of all things and the One he anointed as King over His creation. May we with joy unimaginable hear Him say, "Well done my good and faithful servant". May our MANY human imperfections and transgressions be forgiven.
In Yahshua's name I dedicate this Torah of Messiah to the Living Elohim we love but who first loved us and His faithful witness and Son Yahshua the Messiah who is worthy of all honor, praise, and glory. Amen.