My Name is Jared Springs...
I had the everyday, front pew, strict parents that everybody in church envied. When I was seven, my parents got divorced, so my dad packed up my siblings and I and moved back to his parents’ house. During the time we lived with my grandparents, my granny showed me a different path to God besides church. She backed it up by living it in her everyday routine. I followed her example of reading scripture for hours on a daily basis.
When my dad remarried, I kept the different path because it had been set in my heart. I was still so young I didn’t fully understand why church didn’t feel real. I kept reading and reading and was doing what scripture said while not giving in to peer pressure until one summer before high school, I slowly walked away from my daily readings and became worldly. After high school, I always had a bible but only went to church when I was invited.
Sitting in a bar one night, beer in hand, this cute bartender wouldn't give me the time of day. Then a dufus of a guy asked her out, and she said yes. That was it. I was done. I was tired of trying to dig my way out of a boring life and getting nowhere, tired of not trying and still sitting at the bottom of a hole with no real reason to shovel my way out. I went home, started reading my Bible, and slowly crawled my way out of that hole. One night, I'm reading, and I had a feeling there was more to the story, so I asked YAHWEH (God) to show me. Waited a minute, nothing, so I read it again, then asked again, but this time a little louder. I repeated that process about 30 times, each time asking louder and louder till I was screaming at the top of my lungs with excitement and anticipation of a fuller meaning of the bible. BOOM!!! It happened; YAHWEH (God) gave me a revelation, and life has never been the same.
I read the bible so many times before I was redeemed (saved) that I knew it from an intellectual view but not a divine experience. I say I'm redeemed (saved) now because I couldn’t save myself enough times for it to stick, but when I fully accepted the sacrifice on the torture stake (cross) by The Messiah, my life was changed forever, and I will never go back to living worldly. I may not read or study as much as I should sometimes, and I might slip here and there, but like King David, I repent immediately, and like Nehemiah, I show works of repentance, so like Paul, I will not run in vain.
After becoming redeemed (saved) I studied and studied and studied with a lot of reading scripture in between. I did that for about 12 years. Through my meticulous, in-depth, one-word studies for about 12 years, I began to notice flaws in the King James Bible. Dissecting every single word in every single verse, I could see something was wrong. I started praying to God to show me the truth. I even wrote a note on a sheet of paper and tacked it by the front door, next to my keys, to remind me to pray for the truth at least 3 times a day while I was out and about.
I kept reading and studying, and after 3 months, God led me to the truth. It hit me so hard that I was in a spiritual coma for 3 days. What was I gonna do with all the studies and knowledge and memorization of the king james bible? Not only was I gonna have to find another set of scripture to read and study from, but also relearn the truth!! I had nothing to lean on, nothing to go to, nothing to study or read. That was such a part of my everyday life, how was I gonna live without it? I had nothing to do. I was scared. I was lonely. And that’s why the truth knocked me out. On the fourth day, I realized God showed me the truth because He has a plan, and I just have to stay faithful to Him and everything will work out. I started thinking about how scripture says that God reveals Himself through nature and that I didn’t need scripture to learn from. Yes, scripture is a luxury but not a necessity to learn from God. HE is everywhere if you’re looking for HIM. That gave me the strength to get up off my knees and start looking for another set of scripture. Not only did I find it, but in between, I was thinking about how scripture is from a Hebrew culture and way of thinking. God led me to a website that not only has a Hebrew/English bible but also teaches the importance of Hebrew names and their culture and how that helps to understand scripture the way it’s supposed to be understood. The difference is astounding. With about 25 years of studying, YAHWEH (GOD) led me to start this website so I can teach others how to study for the truth.
I try my best not to condemn or judge others. When I do, I apologize immediately. The bible says "let no man condemn you..." and "judge righteously", and "who are you, a servant of YAHWEH (God) to tell another servant of YAHWEH what to do?", and "do what is right in your own eyes" and "be fully convinced in your own mind". All in all, we are to tell others the truth in love and peace, without trying to convince or change their minds about anything.
I try my best to only say what the bible says so it's not "my interpretation." Of course, no matter what anybody says, someone will always disagree or condemn, or judge. As long as it's a mature, respectful and honorable conversation, I will participate. A mature, respectful and honorable conversation is when both sides answer all questions so the conversation can "edify" and "sharpen" each other, no matter how much the disagreement continues. If all honesty is being applied, both sides will learn something from each other, and a strong bond might come from it. Sometimes, it takes a little explaining to see that the other person actually agrees with you, but in a different way than what you are saying or thinking. It's a different way, a different viewpoint, but with the same conclusion. If a conversation is not mature, respectful, and honorable, I will point that out, and if it continues, I will walk away from it. I will not answer or look at anything past that point because they are not willing to have a mature conversation. After some time has passed, we can try again.
The bible says, "Let them alone, the blind will lead the blind and they both will fall in a ditch."