Staff Testimonies
FFOZ, dedicated to proclaiming the Torah and its way of life, fully centered on Messiah, to today's people of God.
Seth Dralle
Seth is an event coordinator and administrative assistant for First Fruits of Zion. He also contributes to First Fruits of Zion’s monthly eRosh.
Like most people, my spiritual journey began as a child, though not in a conventional way. My parents never took me to church, since they did not ascribe to any particular denomination. In a way, I am grateful for this. Why this unconventional upbringing in the Bible belt of Illinois? My parents desired their children to look at the information and draw their own conclusions on religion and faith. This upbringing encouraged ethics and free inquiry. Honest questions were never suppressed in the interest of creed or dogma. I strongly feel that God used my lack of church background to bring me to a stronger conviction later in life. My parents gave me the freedom to come to my own convictions, while still raising me with a high ethical standard.
But since this was the Bible belt, where religion is an unavoidable issue it was an inevitable topic of discussion, even with my young friends. I still remember the first time I was asked if I had been saved. Not understanding Christian lingo, I simply said, “Yes,” in order to not be the odd one out. When I later went to vacation Bible school programs with my friends, I discovered what “being saved” actually meant.
Vacation Bible school was about the only church environment I was exposed to as a young child. It was the first time I heard stories about Jesus, the Apostles, Moses and King David. The Bible seemed so foreign to me. The books, chapters and verses overwhelmed my seven-year-old mind, yet I was still intrigued by it. The basic concepts of right and wrong I had learned from my parents were reinforced at VBS. “Being bad” was called “sin,” a new word to add to my vocabulary, along with other new concepts like “heaven,” “hell,” “parable,” “righteousness,” “holiness,” “Jesus died for my sins” and “the cross.” Who knew that a country Bible Church could cram so much theology and worldview into one week? What I learned there would literally take me several years to process and determine if I really thought it was true.
My friends continued to influence my spiritual life into the awkward years of junior high and high school. In seventh grade, I began to regularly attend a Church of Christ, where I began to see the impact of community and its role in spiritual growth. I was not yet a confessing believer, but I did want to learn the Bible. The minister began a class with a few guys from the youth group, and we studied Christian worldview books from authors like James Sire and Francis Schaeffer. He became a great mentor for me, and we still keep in touch today. These studies compared the belief system of Christianity with that of other religions and philosophies. This was great for me as a seeker. I was able to look at atheism, nihilism, Hinduism, pantheism, Mormonism and Islam and compare their belief systems to that of the Judeo-Christian worldview. This gave me clarity on a variety of issues.
During that time I devoured Scripture. For example, the youth group did itself in the church did a two-year study of the Gospels, and friends from the group got together just to read through other parts of the Bible. After all this study and counting the cost, I decided to become a disciple of Jesus. On October 5, 1997, I surrendered myself to the watery grave of immersion.
As a new believer, along with my friends who had rededicated themselves to Jesus, I reached a new height in my walk at Camp Wabashi, where I learned the importance of the spiritual disciplines: worship, prayer, devotional reading, fasting, meditation on God’s Word, and accountability. While many camps may focus on activities and entertainment, I were blessed to have a camp with godly counselors and a serious curriculum, in addition to the fun. It’s amazing how just three weeks out of my life had such a weighty impact on my faith.
Because of my habitual Bible reading and zeal to follow Jesus, I began to ask some pretty tough questions about certain things in the Bible and practices in the church. Thankfully, my mentor always gave me honest answers, sometimes even concurring with my questions, “Yeah, I’ve wondered about that a lot too, I honestly don’t know.” Others were not as gracious as him, “The church just doesn’t do that stuff. That’s just how it is.”
Many of my questions came from the Old Testament and from the book of Acts. I saw the Sabbath as playing an important role in both. Other things just didn’t line up for me. Why do we go to church on Sunday? Why do we take communion? Why do we give more to the church than to the poor? Why don’t we celebrate Passover?
At first, I was placated by the pat answers. I figured, “Hey, they’ve read the Bible more and have been a believer longer than I. They must be right.” But after a while, this assumption couldn’t assuage my questions. I needed answers.
Near the end of high school, I began to consider my choices for college. Since my mentor had such a great impact on me, and because I loved to study the Bible, seminary seemed like an obvious choice. Ever since I was immersed, my heart was set on becoming a preaching minister. I looked at various schools and landed on Lincoln Christian College in Lincoln, IL. This was the seminary both my mentor and my youth pastor had attended, and they encouraged me to try it.
Let me back up and fill in some more details from high school. I was a good kid who loved Jesus, but I also had a wild side. My friends and I were into Christian punk rock and heavy metal; skateboards, loud guitars, bright colored dyed hair, and piercings. And if we had been older, tattoos would have been next. Ironically, it was through investigating Christian tattooing that my friends and I first made contact with the Hebrew Roots movement. The Hebrew language is a big part of Christian tattooing. Hebrew is cool, exotic looking, biblical and a way to witness to other tattooed individuals. (Remember: this was in my pre-Torah days; it’s not something I recommend today!) Through this infatuation with “all things Hebraic” I began to seek out messianic worship music, Hebrew lexicons, books on Judaism and the Hebraic roots of the Christian faith. If you can picture a blue-haired kid with pierced ears, wearing a P.O.D. shirt (a Christian hard rock band), baggy jeans with a studded belt, buying a Marty Goetz CD at a Christian bookstore, you’ve pretty much got it.
My love of Hebrew, combined with my questions from Scripture, led me to search for a messianic congregation to get some answers. Thankfully, I found one, and I was officially introduced to the world of Torah study and lifestyle. Once a few problematic passages from Jesus and Paul were clarified, the separation I once felt existed in the Bible disappeared. My worldview shifted, and the Bible opened up to me in new ways. Even my perception of Jesus deepened. He became more real to me—not just as my Savior, but now also my Jewish rabbi who trekked through the fields of Galilee teaching men and women about the Kingdom of Heaven.
First Fruits of Zion’s material was literally my first introduction to Torah: a friend and I showed up for the congregation’s Thursday night HaYesod study. I still remember the looks on peoples’ faces when we showed up, me with purple hair and the my friend with black hair and a face full of piercings. The pastor was friendly, however, and despite our appearance he graciously answered our questions. We later began an introductory Torah study for us on Wednesday nights. When the first HaYesod class had finished, another group of us new disciples took the course.
At the same time, I started Bible college and was learning a wealth of information there. Again, just like my parents, my mentor at Church of Christ, and my new messianic pastor, I was able to ask honest questions without being silenced. This atmosphere of learning gave me the opportunity to really examine and scrutinize my newfound Torah beliefs. I received very little resistance, perhaps a little bit of apathy, but mostly curiosity from friends and professors. I became known as the “OT” guy and the one to whom everyone brought their questions.
I have avoided using names, but I will mention one person who was with me throughout this exciting journey: my wife Amy. Amy and I were high school sweethearts. After high school, we ended up going to Bible college together, since we were committed to go into ministry together.
What attracted me most to Amy was the encouragement and graciousness she gave me. However, our transition to Torah was not the smoothest. I began grabbing hold of Torah during a summer break when she stayed with her mom in Michigan. When I start talking to her about dietary laws and Sabbath observance on the phone, she thought I had lost it.
“This isn’t a cult is it?”
When she returned from Michigan and we started college, she was a little more understanding, yet still skeptical of my Torah convictions. At first, she grilled professors in order to refute these ridiculous claims I was making. With all due respect to my professors, their answers did more to convince her of Torah’s relevance than not. She was then able to make an informed decision for Torah, and it has been the rule of our lives ever since.
Now, God has brought us through Bible college and seminary, and we are both privileged to serve in ministry together with First Fruits of Zion. Walking together with Yeshua in Torah has been a tremendous blessing to our lives. We have recently relocated to the new office headquarters in Missouri and are thankful for the opportunity to serve here.
Looking back, it is fascinating to see how a healthy dose of skepticism and the graciousness of my teachers have shaped who I am today. It is humbling to reflect upon all the ways in which God has orchestrated my life’s experiences.
Thank you, Abba, for all the blessings you have bestowed upon my life!
Seth lives in Missouri with his wife Amy. Seth is currently a student at Lincoln Christian Seminary and is working towards a Masters of Divinity with a focus in Church History and Historical Theology.
