Ken Gilbert
I was born a Jew. My maternal grandfather loved the God of the Tanach. He taught me about God and His love for His people as a living example of Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Although he died when I was still a child, his teaching made a huge impression on me; one I have carried with me to this day. As an adult, I heard my believing friends say that Jesus was the Messiah. My first reaction was No, He couldn't be! If He was, my grandfather would have told me.' So, after hearing this a number of times, I decided I would prove He was not the Messiah; and to do that I had to read the Tanach and, God forgive me', the New Testament. I started in Genesis, and by the time I got to the end of Deuteronomy I finally understood what it meant to be Jewish. Go figure! To make a long story short, I then had to study the prophets and the prophecies of the Messiah, read the New Testament gospels to learn what it said about Jesus, and then start comparing the prophecies with the stated fulfillments. After six months, I was sitting with my friends in their church (Valley) one Sunday, not paying attention to the sermon, thinking about all I had read in scripture, and just casually said to Jesus You are the One, aren't you?' The veil was immediately lifted from my heart and from my eyes, and I saw Him clearly. This was December 1990, and for the next five years I did not open up any other book but His. I devoured the Old and New Testaments like a man without food or drink for his whole life.
Since then I have been predominantly involved in men's and teaching ministries at Valley. I have been leading a early morning men's bible study since 1997; I have been leading a series of Sunday evening bible studies in Christian faith doctrines and bible prophecy since 2004; and I have been leading a Sunday morning young adult class on knowing the Son, His life and works, since 2005.
Ken Gilbert
ken@kengilbert.com
Some papers I've written, in case you're interested
Topical essays:
Essays addressing the key prophetic message in specific books of Scripture: