About

A Little Bit About Me

Hi, I’m Jonathan.  I’m a college student studying a master’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering at Missouri S&T.  Nothing fancy — just someone who has a desire to exhort and encourage my fellow believers. 

When not at S&T, I live on our family’s country homestead — “Green Acres” — in Nunnelly, Tennessee, along with my mom, dad, and younger brother.  I enjoy working with Dad on the farm, singing and playing music with my family, songwriting, making maple syrup in the winter, 3D printing (my geeky hobby), kayaking, and getting out in the outdoors.  A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few snapshots of life at Green Acres:

A Little Bit About What I Believe

Disclaimer:  The following is not intended to limit what I believe to a few bullet points but is simply meant to cover some highlights so you can better understand where I’m coming from.  🙂

First of all, I believe I was created by an amazing and intelligent Designer — Yahweh, the God of the Bible (Gen 1,2, Ps 146:5,6).  I believe the earth was created perfect, that man’s sin is what caused suffering and death to enter into the world (Gen 3), and that Yahweh gave us the instructions of life in His perfect Law.

Secondly, I believe I have sinned — broken Yahweh’s Law (1 John 3:4) — and thus deserve death and separation from Yahweh (Rom 3:23, 6:23a).

The good news:  Yahweh gave His only Son Yahshua (Jesus) to die on a cross, paying the penalty for our sins so that I — we —  might inherit eternal life (John 3:16, Rom 6:23).  I believe this gift of forgiveness is available to all who repent of their sins and put their trust in Yahshua for salvation.

Additionally, I believe Yahweh’s Law as given in the Old Testament and expounded upon in the New Testament is applicable to our lives as Christians today (Matthew 5:17-19) — not for obtaining forgiveness of sins, but as the way to abundant life through obedience to Him.  Psalm 19 tells us that the Law of Yahweh is perfect, sweeter than honey, and more precious than gold.

For more detail on these subjects, I encourage you to read the two pamphlets found on the Resources page.

Why “Yahweh” and “Yahshua” instead of “God,” “LORD,” and “Jesus?”

One thing you will notice on this blog is that I will often use “Yahweh” and “Yahshua” when referring to God and Jesus.  Why is this?

First of all, I want to mention that although I prefer to use “Yahweh” and “Yahshua,” I am personally not offended by the terms God, Lord, and Jesus — I use them myself sometimes. 

Yahweh Wants us to Remember and Praise His Name

In Exodus 3:15, Yahweh tells Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial name to all generations.”  Psalm 148:13 says, “Let them praise the name of Yahweh, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven.”  (NASB, Hebrew translations added.) 

Before we go further, I want to clarify something:  While we know for certain that the Father’s name consists of the Hebrew consonants “YHWH,” there are differing viewpoints on what the correct vowel pronunciations are.  I respect each view and am not dogmatic about the pronunciation, but for the sake of consistency, I will use “Yahweh” when referring to the Father’s name.

You may be wondering why “Yahweh,” if it is the Father’s proper name, is not found in your Bible…or is it?  Actually, every time you see “LORD” (all-caps) in your Bible, the original text contained the Father’s name, “Yahweh.”  This occurs over 6,000 times in the Old Testament!  The translator notes of many Bible translations will explain this, and it is easy to verify by looking up the Hebrew for “LORD” (all-caps) in a Strong’s concordance.  As mentioned earlier, the exact pronunciation is a little unclear, so you may often see me use “YHWH” in blog posts to accommodate differing points of view.  You may also see “Yah,” which is simply an abbreviation for “Yahweh.”  Occasionally, you may see “Elohim,” which is the Hebrew equivalent of the English title, “God.”

Formal Name vs. Title

When referring to certain people, it is common to use terms such as “president,” “king,” etc.  Although these titles are usually fine for identification purposes, they are not as specific, nor do they carry the same weight, as an actual name.  If I were to mention “George W. Bush” or “King Solomon,” you would have a much clearer picture of who I’m talking about than if I used a generic title.

The same applies with Yahweh.  Terms like “Lord,” “God,” “Almighty,” and “Creator,” referring to Yahweh, are all true and accurate — Yahweh is indeed all of these things.  However, these are simply titles, and using Yahweh’s name goes farther in expressing exactly which “God” we’re talking about.  When faced with the “coexist, many ways lead to God” deception of our day, I want there to be no question that by “God,” I do not mean Allah, Buddha, or any other than Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The name “Yahweh” literally means “to be,” “existent,” or “eternal.”  What a fitting name for the Creator of the universe! 

In the case of the Messiah, a formal name is, in fact, used — “Jesus.”  The name Jesus is the result of the transliteration of the Hebrew name “Yahushua” (short form “Yahshua”) into Greek, Latin, and finally English.  “Yahshua” literally means “Yah saves” or “Yah is salvation.”  Although I do not have any problem with saying “Jesus,” I prefer to use “Yahshua” because of its rich meaning, found intrinsically in the Hebrew form.

Psalm 96:2 — “Sing to Yahweh, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.” (NASB, Hebrew translation added.)