“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 55: 6-7

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His Name is Yahweh: A True Story

In 1998, Yahweh started me on the path that would result in the book His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition. It began as a gentle knowing and picked up a head of steam over time.

In 2000, I knew that I was supposed to write the book, but before Yahweh would allow me to begin, He wanted me to understand that being chosen to write it was a blessing to me. I wrote about that part of the process in The Trilogy.

I’m Not a Preacher

In 2000, I was a chaired professor at the University of Virginia teaching strategy and leadership. At that point, I had been a chaired professor for 8 years. One day in 2000, Yahweh told me that He wanted me to leave UVA. He didn’t tell me why, and He allowed me to choose the date. I decided to leave in May 2004. I gave my dean a 4-year notice, and turned my attention toward the book.

That gave me 4 years to complete the project. It was more than enough time. When I started doing the research for the book, Yahweh led me down many paths to bring me up to speed on issues that are only tangentially related to His Name. I learned a lot, wrote about the things I discovered, and included them in the manuscript for the book. Eventually, I edited out the tangential things, but I still have that material. I’m beginning to use some of it now. For example, see the SnyderTalk editorials below:

In 2002, I was hesitating about retiring from UVA. The day before I was supposed to make my retirement date official, Yahweh came to me in a dream and made it clear to me that I was going to retire, just like I had told the dean 2 years earlier. I wrote about that dream in “Yahweh is About to Shake Our Nation”. If you haven’t read that SnyderTalk editorial, you should read it.

Yahweh’s Model is Not the Conventional Model

By the time I retired in May 2004, the book was written, and I was making presentations about the book’s content to groups ranging in size from just a few people to hundreds of people. In 2005, Yahweh made clear to me that my model was not going to be the conventional Christian publishing and teaching model.

As a business professor, I had written many books, but they were strategy and leadership books. They were nothing like His Name is Yahweh. Book publishers came to me and asked me to write books for them. To publish His Name is Yahweh, I needed a literary agent.

Finding a literary agent may sound easy, but it’s not, especially if you are a business professor writing a book about Yahweh. Thankfully, a literary agent read my manuscript and liked it. Her daughter-in-law was Jewish, and the agent felt led to represent me.

After months of trying to find a publisher, my agent was not successful in placing the book. I asked her if she had any close personal friends in Christian publishing houses who would be willing to read the manuscript and tell her candidly what the problem was. She said she did. The man who read the manuscript for her told her 2 things:

“The author needs a platform,” he said. For instance, Joel Osteen has a platform. He can write books about getting rich as fast as you can and living your best life now and publish them in a heartbeat, because he has a big audience. It boils down numbers, dollar and cents. It has almost nothing to do with content. It’s about making money. His Name is Yahweh wouldn’t work with that model. I am not picking on Joel Osteen. He is one of the many people in the preaching business who have profited handsomely using the conventional “Christian” publishing and teaching model. I put quotation marks around Christian for a reason.
The man told my agent that His Name is Yahweh is well-researched, well-written, and theologically sound but that it was too controversial. It was the KISS principle at work: Keep It Simple Stupid. Telling Christians that the Messiah’s Name is Yahweh, that His Name was never Jesus, and that we have salvation in the Name Yahweh confuses people who listen to their pastors preaching sermons about Jesus. It’s best not to confuse the flock with things that they don’t know already. I wish I was kidding, but I’m not. That’s how “Christian” publishing houses see the world. Again, I put quotation marks around Christian for a reason.

Yahweh Doesn’t Need Christian Publishing Houses

I needed to publish His Name is Yahweh myself, so I did. In 2007, I created a website called His Name is Yahweh. That website has gotten a lot of attention around the world, and it’s not being blocked in countries like China and Iran. My information about Yahweh is getting to believers in those countries right now.

Shortly after I started the His Name Yahweh website, I got an email from a group of preachers in Nigeria. They were not missionaries. They were Nigerian preachers who had read the book His Name is Yahweh. They wanted my permission to copy the book and share it with their congregations. I gave them permission and told them that I would post a PDF version of the book on the His Name is Yahweh website. That would enable their congregations to read it on the internet, too. Click here to see the PDF version of His Name is Yahweh. It’s free.

There is no telling how many people have read His Name is Yahweh. I know that it’s well over a million people. It passed that hurdle a long time ago.

People can read His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition in many ways:

They can buy the book in paperback or eBook. Personally, I prefer a physical book that I can hold in my hands, but that’s just me. Some people like eBooks. I don’t.
They can read photocopies of the book without paying a royalty to me, but someone has to pay for the copying.
They can read the book on the internet for free.

The manuscript is the same no matter which way people choose to read the book. As I said, there is no telling how many people have read the book.

I mentioned the pastors in Nigeria, but I have given permission to pastors in other countries as well. For example, I know that the book is being downloaded and used by pastors in Indonesia, China, Malaysia, and Iran to name just a few countries.

If you go to the His Name is Yahweh website, you will see that I have given permission to copy and share the book without even asking for my permission. It saves time, energy, and money to do it that way, but it also means that I don’t have an accurate count of the number of people who have read the book. My web hosting company can tell me how many times the manuscript has been downloaded, but I don’t pay attention to that anymore. That’s not my concern. That’s Yahweh’s job.

Nigeria is a Special Blessing to Me

Yesterday, a friend posted something on Facebook that caught my attention. It was a song titled “Yahweh”. As quickly as I saw it, Yahweh showed me that I had played a part in it.

I did some research and discovered that the songwriter and the people singing the song are from Nigeria. Yahweh showed me that they got that information from my book. He wanted me to know that I’m touching more lives than I realize. I am very happy about it. Below is a YouTube video of the song. I hope you like it as much as I do.

It’s Yahweh, Not My Way

Nothing I’ve done so far has been consistent with conventional Christian publishing and teaching models, but it’s working according to Yahweh’s plan and His model. Yahweh doesn’t want me keeping score, but He does want me to know that I’m not wasting my time. People who are supposed to get the message will get it, and they are getting it right now all over the world.

I played my part. The preachers in Nigeria played their parts. The person in Nigeria who wrote that song played his part. The singers and musicians from Nigeria played their parts. I’m sure there are many others involved as well. All of us working together under Yahweh’s guidance are getting the job done. We don’t need to be anxious about anything. All we need to do is follow the leading of Yahweh’s Spirit.

Christians in Nigeria are being persecuted relentlessly by radical Islamists. Many of them are being murdered, but look at the joy on the faces of the people singing that song. You wouldn’t know that they are being persecuted. Joel Osteen’s message would not resonate with them. Again, I’m not picking on Osteen. I’m just using him as an example.

The Faith of Abraham

Yahweh told Abraham to leave his country and go to the Promised Land. Abraham didn’t have any idea where he was heading. He just did what Yahweh told him to do. I call that “the faith of Abraham”. See The Trilogy.

When Abraham got to the Promised Land, Yahweh told him to walk around the land and to get familiar with it. He didn’t have to do anything in particular except to follow Yahweh’s instructions.

That’s what all of us must do. Anything else is disobedience. Thankfully, Yahweh’s yoke is easy:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 28-30)

Yahweh meant what He said. Following the leading of His Spirit is a lot of fun.

Thankfully, Yahweh is leading me to Jerusalem. I can hardly wait to set up residence there. I already have a good idea what I need to do when I get there. For the time being, I’m just familiarizing myself with the place and telling people what I discover. I’ll do that until Yahweh gives me specific instructions.

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“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

John 17: 22-24