Brady Stephenson is a columnist for Verse By Verse Ministry, bringing an unique perspective on Jewish tradition, teaching and language to his writing on Scripture. Brady is saved by grace through faith and has been blessed beyond measure by his God and Savior. In 1996, shortly after the miracle of the birth of his daughter, Brady set sail on a "ship of faith" and began the journey of a life in Christ. He served as deacon and teacher at Harvest Fellowship Community Church (a non-denominational church) in San Antonio and led the church's college-aged Bible study group for a number of years.
The wind of the Spirit propelled and directed Brady's ship of faith for almost a decade before leaving him seemingly adrift and stranded in a sea of decisions regarding family, work, and ministry. With the faithful support of his bride, Amy, Brady cried out to the Lord in the words of King David from Psalm 51:10-12: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." Together they prayed for direction and strength for days... weeks... months... a year...
At the end of a year, God answered with a mighty breath of His Spirit and directed Brady's ship of faith with renewed vigor into a sea of study of the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith. It was at this time that Brady became aware of the Hebrew name of Jesus: Yeshua, the Hebrew word that means "salvation". Since then, Brady has become an ardent student of the earliest teachings of the Christian faith and daily seeks to walk in the footsteps of His Savior. Brady founded the Psalm 119:18.org ministry to share what he has learned (and continues to learn) from his voyage.
Brady's love for God's word's has led him to adopt a Jewish tradition in his writing. Since the Ten Commandments prohibited taking the Lord's name in vain, Brady avoids any possibility his writing might treat God's name or title as commonplace rather than holy. Therefore as a reminder that God's name should never be diminished in any way, Brady avoids spelling out God's name or title. Instead, Brady has adopted the traditional Jewish practice of removing vowels from any reference to His name (e.g., "G-d").
He can be reached through the Contact Us page on this site.
