Get to Know Me Better

Many of you have written asking me to share more about my background ❤️ and the experiences that have shaped who I am and how I read and teach the Bible. (If you missed Part 1, you can find it here). This makes perfect sense because the more you know about the teacher, the deeper your connection and understanding of what they are teaching can go.

I was born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Back then, way before the flood, it was part of the USSR. Remember those days? 😎

The Lord called me to Himself at the age of seventeen. I speak Russian, Hebrew, and English.

I am married to the most wonderful human being on God’s green earth, and her name is ❤️ Netalyah and I am not just saying it; some of you have met her in person and can attest that I have not been smoking anything to impair my judgment. 💯 Together, we have seven children (we were both married before) and two granddaughters, whom we dearly love.

I am persuaded that our magnificent God has called us to help believers, especially Christian leaders in the non-Western world, encounter Scripture within its original Jewish context, culture, and language until they, too, can hear the soft sound of sandaled feet.

My favorite verse in the Bible (I know, I know… I should not have one; they are all important) is this: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).

I have another set of 10 quotes 📌 to share with you (part 1 has the first set of ten). Here they are:

1. “If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it; write it in the sand near the water’s edge.” (Napoleon Hill)
2. “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” (Martin Luther King Jr.)
3. “The thing I hate about an argument is that it always interrupts a discussion.” (G.K. Chesterton)
4. “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)
5. “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” (Dr. Seuss)
6. “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
7. “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did.” (Mark Twain)
8. “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” (Zig Ziglar)
9. “No tree can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.” (C.G. Jung)
10. “Nothing will change if nothing will change.” (Anonymous)