ABOUT US...

Hello!  My name is Larry Acheson, and I am a truth seeker.  My wife, June, and I live in the Dallas, Texas area.  We began our quest for truth as "Truth Seekers" in 1985, and in 2006 I decided to put up a website revealing some of what we have found along our "Wilderness Journey."  We condemn no one, as we are not the ones to judge (John 5:22-23); nevertheless, we believe Yahweh, through His Word, reveals to us the type of lifestyle He wants His people to live. We either choose to obey His instructions or we choose to do things our way. June and I strive for the former. His Word promises blessings for those who obey (not necessarily in this life), and curses for those who do not.

 

 SUMMARY OF OUR BELIEFS

Truth Seekers is a small family of believers searching for the truths of Scripture. We usually meet in our modest home for worship and Bible study. All of noble intent are welcome to join us. We can be reached at seekutruth at aol.com.

W

e view ourselves as repentant sinners who need Yahweh's Spirit to strengthen and guide us, as well as His mercy (as demonstrated by His Son Yeshua) to forgive us of our sins.  We believe in salvation through faith in the Messiah; we, imperfections and all, are forging ahead as we put our trust in Yahweh's grace as we, in turn, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Master and Savior Yeshua the Messiah (2 Peter 3:18).  We strive to exhibit our love of Yahweh and His Son through obedience to His Torah (the Law of Moses), just as Yeshua and the early apostles taught (Acts 26:20, 1 Peter 2:21-22). All these things we practice because of our love of Yahweh, not to earn salvation or elevate ourselves above others. We do not consider our beliefs as listed below to be "in stone," as we strive to be open to constructive criticism and correction, while exhibiting support for scholarly inquiry, with the respectful sharing of ideas and viewpoints.

Here's a brief summary listing of our beliefs. It is by no means complete, but it hopefully gives you a general overview of where we stand:

Introduction:

We are truth seekers. We do not claim to have all the answers, and we consider it a blessing to learn from others as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Master and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah (2 Peter 3:18).

Creation vs. Evolution:

We believe in a literal six-day creation by an intelligent Creator.

The Creator:

We believe it is Yeshua, the firstborn of Creation (Colossians 1:15-21), who created the heavens and earth with the authority from His Father Yahweh. We believe He, as the Word of Yahweh, spoke His creation into existence (Gen chapter 1, John 1:1-3).

Yeshua's Pre-carnal Existence:

We believe Yeshua, in His pre-carnal form, appeared as an angel (Heb. malak) to various patriarchs and that He was and is identified as Yahweh (Gen ch. 18, 32:24-32).

We likewise believe it was Yeshua Himself who, in the form of an angel, spoke to Moses from the burning bush (Ex 3:2) and identified Himself as Yahweh (Ex 3:13-16). He is the same angel Who led the Israelites to the Promised Land (Ex 14:19), and Who spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai (Acts 7:38). I debated the topic of whether or not Yeshua had a pre-carnal existence in 2019. I am not at all gifted in debating, and often explain to others that I am a seeker, not a speaker; nevertheless, I took a stand supporting my conviction on this topic, and I am persuaded that the information I supplied in my presentation validates believing Yeshua had a pre-carnal existence. After the debate, I compiled my primary reasons for believing as I do into a 3-part study:  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Virgin Birth:

We believe Yeshua was born of a virgin and Yahweh is His Father (Isaiah 7:14, Matt 1:23).

We reject the trinity doctrine, which asserts that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are co-equal and that they have always existed from eternity. Instead, we believe Yeshua is the firstborn of Creation (Colossians 1:15-21) because He could not have existed before He was first born. Yeshua never claimed equality with His Father (John 14:28, Philippians 2:5-7). Moreover, He will one day turn His kingdom over to His Father and be subject to Him (I Cor 15:24-28), which would not be possible if they are eternally co-equal. Finally, Yeshua, as a flesh and blood mortal, had to suffer and die to make possible the redemption of mankind (Hebrews ch. 9). He was raised by His Father; if we believe He truly died, we are likewise compelled to believe He could not have raised Himself.

To Follow Yeshua:

It was Yeshua Who, in His pre-carnal form, gave the law to Moses, and this same Yeshua advises us in Matt 5:17-19 that He did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. He added that the law cannot be "done away" until all has been fulfilled. Per Yeshua, all will not be fulfilled until the Kingdom comes (Luke 22:14-16).

Savior of Mankind:

We believe Yeshua was without sin, and He taught His followers to likewise live obedient lives (Matt 5:17-19, Matt 19:17), yet He willingly offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice, shedding His blood for the remission of sins, giving us hope for eternal life with Him and His Father (Romans 5:8).

Death and Resurrection:

We believe Yeshua was nailed to a cross, that He died, but rose to life after three days and three nights in the tomb (Matt 28:5-7; 1 Cor. 15:12-28).

Yeshua will return and raise up those who are and were faithful to Him. Those who remain faithful to the end will be blessed with eternal life (John 6:40, Rev 21:1-7).

Torah Obedience:

The law can best be summarized by stating that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves and that we are to love Yahweh our Elohim with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our minds and with all our strength (Mark 12:30-31). The greatest way of exhibiting our love for Yahweh is to obey Him (1 Samuel 15:22).

The Torah was given to mankind as a gift to guide us through life. It was not "done away." I gave a video presentation on this topic in 2006, but here's a general study touching on some specifics. Those portions of Torah not reserved specifically to the priesthood still apply to us today.

The Ten Commandments:

Of the Ten Commandments, only the fourth commandment is commonly taught by mainstream Christianity as no longer being in effect. This commandment instructs us to work six days, but rest on the seventh day, which is called the weekly Sabbath. We believe the continuously-repeating weekly Sabbath was made for the benefit of all mankind, and is a blessing that was never "done away" or "set aside." Nor has it been "lost."

The weekly Sabbath is about rest from our labors as per how Yahweh defines rest, not us. Whereas we are permitted to prepare food, including cooking or warming it up on holy day Sabbaths, (Ex 12:16), food preparation is not sanctioned by Yahweh on the weekly Sabbath (Ex 16:23-25). This command applied to the children of Israel during and after their 40-year wilderness journey. It is nowhere treated as having only been an expectation for a limited period of time, nor are there approved Scriptural examples of anyone violating this precept. While we do not claim to be shining examples of pure Sabbath observance, we nevertheless regard this particular command as the most commonly ignored by those professing to be Sabbathkeepers. We address this topic more fully in our study "Food Preparation: On the Sabbath?".

The Holy Days:

In addition to the weekly Sabbath, Torah lists seven additional holy days (special Sabbaths) that, apart from those portions pertaining to the priesthood, should be memorialized by Yahweh's children. Only Yahweh can declare a day to be holy, and only Yahweh declare them to be otherwise. Since He has not indicated any changes to His holy days, and since they are days of rest and holy convocation, we are persuaded that we should memorialize those days as such. Here are the seven holy days, as found in Leviticus chapter 23, as well as Numbers chapters 28-29:

1. The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Abib 15).

2.The last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Abib 21).

3. Pentecost (Fifty days following Abib 15).

4. The Feast of Trumpets (Tishri 1).

5. The Day of Atonement (Tishri 10).

6. The first day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Tishri 15).

7. The Last Great Day (Tishri 22).

We also memorialize the Passover by removing leavening from our home and celebrating our future deliverance after sunset ends the day of Abib 14 and Abib 15 begins.

The Calendar:

We believe the Scriptural year begins on or after the vernal equinox with the sighting of the first waxing crescent moon after sunset (preferably as sighted over Israel). Here's the link to our study outlining why we begin Scriptural months with the sighting of the waxing crescent moon instead of the conjunction of the moon.

We composed two separate studies detailing why we believe the Scriptural year begins on or after the vernal equinox: Balancing the Calendar, and Balancing the Calendar II.

The Creator's Name:

The Almighty wants His children to call upon Him with the name He gave to Himself, not one invented by mankind.

Although we respect various understandings of how the Almighty's name is pronounced, we are personally persuaded that it's pronounced Yahweh. This name was called upon by the righteous patriarchs of Old, as well as by unregenerate heathens (Ex. 32:1-5).

Regrettably, "GOD" is the name of a heathen idol whose worship is condemned by Yahweh.  Part 1 of my five-part PowerPoint presentation on this topic can be accessed here.

The name of Yahweh's Son is Yeshua. While we are persuaded that His name is pronounced Yeshua, we make no claim about being 100% correct. Variations of His name we've seen are Yahshua, Yahushua, Yehoshua.  We respect other pronunciations with the presumption that each of us is doing our best to pronounce it correctly and reverently. While we also respect the pronunciation "Jesus," we are nevertheless persuaded that it is a poor transliteration of yet another poor transliteration (i.e., the Greek form Iesous).

Geography:

We believe the earth is round. While we understand that conspiracies abound on many levels and many topics, especially in the realm of politics, we do not believe the universal understanding of a round (globe) earth is one of them, nor are we persuaded that the available photos and videos taken from outer space have been "faked" or otherwise manufactured. We are waiting for documented photos validating the flat earth theory (we've seen scores of artists' depictions of what a flat earth "must" look like, but nothing qualifying as actual photographs). Third-century BCE mathematician/geographer Eratosthenes, using "arc measurement," not only made the determination that the earth is round, but he came within 500 miles of being correct about the measurement of its circumference (he came up with 24,390 miles, but according to satellite measurements, it's actually 24,855 miles). I appreciate the August 2022 video recording of "Dude Perfect" going to space in a Blue Origin rocket. If any flat earth proponents have alternate videos of individuals riding in a rocket and viewing a flat earth, I would love to see them.

There is also Scriptural evidence that Earth is a round globe. When I shared with a flat earth proponent named Richard that Isaiah 40:22's mention of "the circle of the earth" proves that it's round, he agreed, but only in the sense that it is flat and round as a pancake! A friend of ours named Kathy later pointed out that the Septuagint version of Zechariah 1:10-11 also validates our planet as being a round globe. Here's how Zechariah 1:10-11 reads in the King James Version's English translation from the Hebrew Masoretic Text (Yahweh's name restored to the text):

10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said to me, These are they whom Yahweh hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.
11 And they answered the angel of Yahweh that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

Here's how this same verse reads in the English translation of the Septuagint:

10 And the man that stood between the mountains answered, and said, These are they whom Yahweh hath sent forth to go round the earth.
11 And they answered the angel of Yahweh that stood between the mountains, and said, We have gone round all the earth, and, behold, all the earth is inhabited, and is at rest.

The Greek word translated "round" is periodeusai, which is derived from the Greek word periodos. Periodos carries the meaning of "a going around, circuit, cycle." Moreover, another closely related Greek word is periferia, which means "circumference, outer surface, line around a circular body." The translation of the Tanakh from Hebrew to Greek was carried out in the first century BCE. Regardless of whether or not anyone regards the Septuagint as inspired, the fact remains that the Hebrew scholars who translated the book of Zechariah from Hebrew to Greek over 2,000 years ago understood that the earth is a round globe. The combined evidence from history, Scripture and reality validates believing that the earth is round.

Finally, my late uncle was a flight captain for United Airlines; he once shared that he applied to NASA for the space program, but was rejected due to a family history of diabetes, even though he himself was not diabetic (his father and his brother, i.e., my dad, were both diabetic). He was very disappointed, yet he moved on to a successful career in the flight industry. I only mention this because he most certainly would not have pursued a career in space travel if he believed the earth is flat; moreover, I have never once heard of a single airline pilot "confessing" that the earth is actually flat. In this age of the internet when secrets are more and more difficult to suppress, I would certainly expect to read about at least one pilot's admission that the earth is actually flat. But in spite of my continued Google searches, all I find are pilots' affirmations that the earth is spherical. Here's another one. I continue to await photos of a flat earth; thus far, all I've ever been able to find are artists' conceptions. I would also be interested in seeing what the alleged flat earth's underside looks like.

 

The above summary of our beliefs is not complete; here's a link offering additional information about our beliefs: 

Truth Seekers:  More About Us . . .