Our Story
28 And we know that all matters work together for good to those who love Elohim, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
I grew up in a middle class southern household in Augusta, Georgia. My parents were both Christians, who faithfully attended the same Baptist church for almost 50 years! My parents were very good to my brother and me! They gave us both what we needed to be successful in this life! My mother is retired now, but she was an outstanding school teacher, who was old school all the way! She still helps many people, especially older people, who are home bound or just experiencing hard times! My father was a real "Field and Stream" man! Hunting and fishing were his great passions! He helped me over the years numerous times, when I really needed it! When my brother and I were both young, my parents ensured that we both attended Sunday school and church every Sunday, unless we were out of town! At nine years old I attended our church's annual two week revival! It was at that time that I first felt the Ruach HaQodesh convicting my heart! Of course at that time I didn't know anything about Hebrew or the Ruach HaQodesh, but I did know that I was feeling extreme pressure, while sitting on my pew! The visiting evangelist, who was preaching that revival, was Adrian Rogers! Adrian Rodgers became a very well known Baptist preacher! He was broadcast nationally on television for many years! Ironically, the sermon that night was titled "Armageddon"! That sermon was the first teaching on the end times that I had ever heard! Whenever a visiting preacher came to the church for a revival, it was a tradition for the children to get the autograph of the visiting preacher in their Bibles, after the service! The children would line up for the visiting preacher to sign his autograph and write a Bible verse inside their Bibles! When Adrian Rodgers signed my Bible, he wrote Romans 8:28!
Romans 8: 28
28And we know that all matters work together for good to those who love Elohim, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Little did I know back then, but that verse was to become my life's verse! It has been a constant source of hope and comfort to me from that day forward!
As a young adult, I was very naive about people and the ways of this world! As many people do, I married the first girl, who came along! As a young person I was good by the standards of society! I taught Sunday school in the Youth Department for several years, but never could figure out why those kids weren't more excited about the Scriptures and their promises! After three years of marriage, my wife decided that I wasn't what she wanted! She left along with our six month old daughter, Leslie! That was heart breaking for me! When my wife left, I was crushed! I did the only thing that I knew to do! I searched the Scriptures for answers! It was then that I read the Scriptures from cover to cover for the very first time! During that first crisis and every crisis, since then, I have survived by consuming the Scriptures! Now the Scriptures are my food and my water everyday! I study and meditate on the Scriptures everyday for my very own personal survival! All my dreams and desires hang on Yahuah's promises! Yahuah's Word has sustained me all my life! The immediate aftermath of that marriage was an extremely difficult time for me and my family! I give Yahuah all the credit for carrying me through the grieving process, even though I didn't even know Yahuah's name back then! After a while, I married an unusually strong and virtuous young woman named Vicki Lynn Barnes! Vicki and I have been married for 23 years! We are alike in a lot of ways! We are both extremely family oriented! We love each other and we love our children! We even love the same movies! Vicki is a very rare commodity in today's world because in the end she follows her husband no matter what! That characteristic has proven to be very important, when we finally decided to follow Yahuah's ways and not the ways of this world, no matter what! Vicki nurtures the whole family each and everyday! I know that Yahuah hand picked Vicki for us because of her strength, toughness, and determination! Yahuah knew that our family would need a woman like that in order to fulfill our destiny! Vicki and I have three children! Kasey is twenty years old and she's our oldest daughter! Kasey epitomizes the daughter that I always saw in my dreams! She is beautiful inside and out! She's very creative, very insightful, and very kind to everyone no matter what their abilities or disabilities! Kasey is a stellar student, an obedient daughter, and she has always been extremely virtuous! Christian is fifteen and he's my first born son! Christian was named in honor of the promise that I made to Yahuah, when I asked Yahuah for a son!
Of course, when I prayed Hannah's prayer, I didn't even know, who Hannah was, or the name of the mighty one that I was created to serve! Christian is a wonderful son in everyway! He was created, after my own image, but only better! Christian has a very quiet nature and he's very practical! He has the wisdom of a wise old man, but he has a warrior's spirit, which manifests itself on the baseball field! Christian never quits on the baseball field and will never quit on Yahuah, no matter what! Our youngest son Chad is fourteen! Chad is the most amicable of all our children! He has a very kind and compassionate heart! Chad has great compassion for people, who are suffering with diseases, especially children! Chad loves his family very much and is often brought to tears, when saying his goodbyes! Chad is very tough and gets the most out of every minute of every day! He absolutely loves the outdoors! Chad never goes anywhere without making new friends and he's always willing to help with a project! Tools, clothes, and shoes, especially tennis shoes and boots, are Chad's favorite material things! The makeup of our family would not be complete without a discussion about Leslie! Leslie is twenty-five and my daughter from my first marriage! Leslie and I were both born on November 15th in the same hospital twenty five years apart! Leslie is a very kind and very gentle person on the one hand, but she has no trouble taking charge in critical situations! I guess that's why Leslie is such a good nurse in the Heart Intensive Care unit at the local hospital! Leslie is a great story teller, she has boundless enthusiasm, and she is always ready for an adventure!
Our lives made a quantum change, when Chad contracted Juvenile Diabetes, when he was two years old! Chad almost died, when the doctors misdiagnosed his disease twice before finally recognizing the problem weeks later! Since that time Chad and the whole family have been profoundly affected by Chad's continuous struggle with that disease! A few years later Christian was diagnosed with Perthes Disease, which causes the femur bones to disintegrate in the hip sockets! Last year Kasey was diagnosed with a thyroid and a heart condition, which has caused Kasey to experience dizziness, numbness, and weight loss! We are fighting that battle right now! In January of 2006 I was working in New Mexico and living alone in an apartment, far away from my family and my familiar Georgia surroundings! A few months earlier I was laid off from a job that I had held for 24 years because of company downsizing!
While I was working in New Mexico, my father was very, very sick at home in Augusta, Georgia! My life seemed to be overflowing with problems and I was sixteen hundred miles from home! But I remembered Romans 8:28 and I meditated on it often, while there! Just in time Yahuah brought me back home to work at the same place where I had worked for the previous 24 years! The day, after I got home, my father went back into the hospital for the last time! He died a few days later with my family and my mother present in the room! I closed his eyes for the last time! I started this book, while I was alone in New Mexico! Looking back Yahuah must have known that I needed solitude and undivided time to start Let My People Go!
In a very strange way the pressures of Chad's Diabetes, Christian's Perthes Disease, Kasey's condition, and all the other struggles have been the catalysts that have provoked me to zealously search the Scriptures for answers and hope! I understand a little bit about how Jacob must have felt, when He was questioned by the Pharaoh of Mitsrayim, after Jacob was reunited with Joseph!
Genesis 47
7And Yoseph brought in his father Ya'aqob and set him before Pharaoh. And Ya'aqob blessed Pharaoh. 8And Pharaoh said to Ya'aqob, "How old are you?" 9And Ya'aqob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my sojournings are one hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojournings."
I started searching for answers about my sons' diseases first, but I found out so much more! I did not understand it back then, but my real destiny hangs on the knowledge that I have learned about Yahuah! The insight and understanding that Yahuah's Ruach HaQodesh has given me has far surpassed my wildest imaginations! Yahuah's Scriptures are becoming more and more clear to me everyday! Yahuah's Ruach HaQodesh teaches me the right Way to go and has given me a love for the people of Israel! About eight years ago this love surfaced and led me to investigate the Hebrew roots of the Scriptures! For several years I financially supported The Wings of Eagles, which is an organization that airlifts Jews out of Russia to the State of Israel! I also supported several settlements in the State of Israel as well as other ministries there as well!
At that time we were going to a full gospel church, which stressed, "Healing is for today!" There were many very sincere Christians at that church, who we still love, but there were many red flags that we saw as time went by! The pastor held a strange, almost mesmerizing, hold over the sheep! The pastor was very charismatic and a great communicator! She used the power of words to lead a large group of people in a certain direction, which she always determined, of course! That church was a "feel good kind of place" with a lot of dancing and celebration! However, over time I discovered that deception, secrecy, and control reigned supreme there!
Revelation 2
20"But I hold against you that you allow that woman Izebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and lead My servants astray to commit whoring and to eat food offered to idols. 21"And I gave her time to repent of her whoring, and she did not repent. 22"See, I am throwing her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction, unless they repent of their works.
After a while I no longer felt comfortable in that church! I left and started attending a very small Messianic congregation! I was at a crossroad and Vicki had to determine, if she would follow my lead! I did not pressure Vicki at all, but Kasey and Vicki studied on their own and convinced themselves that I was indeed telling the truth! When they determined to follow me, they didn't realize it then, but they were about to go further and further against the grain of popular opinion as we traveled on our spiritual journey! It was at that time that Vicki and the rest of the family stopped celebrating Christmas, Easter, and all the rest of the contaminated Christian holidays! Vicki, who had been a huge Christmas person all her life, took both of our artificial trees, her wooden reindeer, all her lights, and all the other trappings and put them at the road for the garbage collector! Wow, I was so proud of Vicki and Kasey that day! That had to be Yahuah, who caused such a huge change in Vicki! Like I said, Vicki's one in a million! Initially, I felt like that Messianic congregation must be where we belonged, but as I kept studying and learning, I knew that something was still missing!
I knew that somehow there was so much more! While that Messianic congregation did celebrate the Shabbat and the Festivals, they didn't use the real names of Yahuah and Yahushua at all! That puzzled me greatly!
I noticed that Messianic Judaism had its own gaggle of man-made traditions, which many times over-shadowed the real Commandments of Yahuah! All the people in our congregation observed Yahuah's Festivals, but had no problem with celebrating the pagan Festivals of Christmas, Easter, etc. too! That inconsistency vexed me! At that time I read The Two Babylons, Fossilized Customs, and Come Out of Her My People for the very first time! I was reading everything that I could get my hands on about the origins of paganism and the history of the Christian church! At that time I came to the shocking realization of what apostasy was all about and how sinister its deception is! The pieces were coming together for me and my eyes were wide open! I was upset, terrified, and broken hearted because of the depth of the deception that has snared so many millions of well meaning people over so many generations! I'm sorry, but I have stop right here just a minute and be painfully honest! If you are a preacher serving as a shepherd over any congregation of sheep and you've been exposed to the truth about Christmas, Easter, and the set apart names of Yahuah and Yahushua, then you should be very ashamed and sorry for your participation in apostasy against Yahuah! Not only have you and your family lived the lies yourself, but you have led innocent sheep under your care deeper and deeper into apostasy against Yahuah and Yahushua! If you can't teach the undiluted truth where you are, then leave that profession and get another job to make a living! But it's not over until it's over! Repent while there's still time to repent and walk in Yahuah's ways! If you continue to refuse to repent, then you and your family are really no different that the prophets of Baal! Like them you will face total destruction in the Lake of Fire, if you do not change! It's still not too late! After a couple of years with that Messianic group, I could no longer tolerate the observance of the unless traditions of men, while many weightier Commandments of Yahuah were being ignored! No one, but me saw any harm in observing the pagan holidays along with Yahuah's festivals or the harm in suppressing Yahuah's name! I had to leave those sheep, but we had no place to go! So what should we do? Our family had decided once and for all to follow Yahuah and Yahushua, even if no one else did! Of course we know that right now there are tens of thousands of overcomers all over the earth, who have similar stories! We are very thankful that Yahuah has been so merciful to us! Yahuah called us to follow Him and we have answered His call! However, we have found the Way of Yahushua to be very, very narrow and very hard pressed!
Yahushua's Way is hard pressed and full of tribulations, rejections, sorrows, and afflictions! Very few people choose to travel that Way!
Matthew 7
13"Enter in through the narrow gate! Because the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter in through it. 14"Because the gate is narrow and the way is hard pressed which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
At this time we have our own family Shabbat times and our own Festival times! Vicki and I teach Yahuah's ways to our children everyday as we encounter the problems that arise that day! We have recently learned of a few other families in our area, who also serve Yahuah with their whole heart! HalleluYah! HalleluYah! HalleluYah! I have been asking Yahuah for some like minded friends!
During our spiritual journey, we made stops in the Baptist and the Full Gospel denominations of Christianity! Then we made a stop in Messianic Judaism, but we knew in our hearts that something was still missing! At each one of those stops, we met many kind individuals, who were doing what they truly believed was right at the time! At each stop we noticed that more and more people got off the narrow Way of Yahushua! We have felt more and more alone as we have continued along on our journey! The good news is that as we have traveled the way of Yahuah, we have fallen more and more in love with Yahuah and Yahushua! Now we want Yahuah's plans and desires to be completely fulfilled in our lives as well as in the lives of all Yahuah's overcomers, Israel! Doesn't Yahuah, who fashioned our hearts and minds have the capability of experiencing feelings and desires? Doesn't Yahuah feel joy, happiness, and gratification? Well, of course Yahuah can, and to degrees that we cannot even imagine! My heart's desire is that my family would exceed Yahuah's own expectations and desires for us, if that's possible! We would like to totally fulfill Yahuah's desires for our family and gratify His heart beyond measure!
By the way, Yahuah miraculously healed Christian of Perthes Disease, while we were in Dr. Bailey's office at the University Hospital in Augusta! Christian had been in traction for three months and was missing the 1st grade! I had prayed in my prayer room that even though I didn't understand why Christian had to have the disease, I understood that Christian belonged to Yahuah! Christian's father submitted to Yahuah's will that night! Whatever was to be Yahuah's will, I knew that I could accept it because I knew in my heart that Yahuah truly loved Christian even more than I did!
A few days later, I literally carried Christian as usual up to the ninth floor of the hospital for his scheduled appointment! The nurses took Christian back for X-rays as usual, but this time it took about 45 minutes for them to come back, when normally an X-ray took about 20 minutes! When they did come back, Dr. Bailey asked Christian, "Are you going to play baseball this summer?" Christian looked perplexed and said, "No sir, I can't!" Dr. Bailey asked Christian, "Why can't you play?" Christian looked confused and said, "Because of my hip!" Then Dr. Bailey said to Christian, "What if I said that you can play baseball, if you promise me that you will hit a .400 batting average!" Dr. Bailey told us that miraculously there was absolutely no sign of Perthes disease in Christian's hips and femur bones, which they verified by taking two sets of x-rays! Christian walked out of the hospital on his own two legs that day and has been playing baseball and hitting .400 ever since! Chad still has Juvenile Diabetes for the moment because Yahuah is still using the pressure of that struggle to accomplish His purposes in all of our lives! But I have asked Yahuah to let me see with my own two eyes, when He heals Chad from that disease! HalleluYah! HalleluYah! HalleluYah!
Well, that's the quick version of the Bragg's spiritual journey to this point! Even though I am not a polished writer, as you can certainly see, I was convicted that I must write Let My People Go for Yahuah's overcomers, Israel! I believe in the end the right people will read Let My People Go and Yahuah's purposes will be accomplished in their lives as well! HalleluYah! HalleluYah! HalleluYah! The Bragg family's message to all of Israel, is to finish this race of patient endurance well! WE love you very, very much!
