About My Story

This isn't really my story. It's His.

Every page of this memoir traces a line back to the cross, to what Jesus Christ did for me when I couldn't do anything for myself. The boy raised in the commune, the soldier who struggled in Israel, the broken man on that Jerusalem balcony, the father now warning of coming darkness. None of it makes sense without Him.

I didn't write this book to celebrate my journey. I wrote it because Christ wouldn't let me stay silent about what He's done and what He's shown me.

The Story Behind the Story

For years, I thought I was building an identity. First as a commune kid who knew the Bible better than most adults, then as a warrior serving in the Israeli Defense Forces, then as a bodyguard protecting the famous and powerful. Each version of "Jonathan" felt solid until it crumbled. And each time it crumbled, I was left with the same question: Who am I when everything I've built is gone?

The answer came slowly, painfully, through depression and suicidal thoughts and the patient work of a Christian counselor who kept pointing me back to Scripture. I am who Christ says I am. Not who I achieve, not who I defend, not who I pretend to be.

That realization didn't come as a flash of light. It came as the slow dawn after a very long night.

Why I Had to Write This

I wrote American Israeli Christian Jew because Christ gave me a story that needs telling, especially now:

For Christians who love Israel but don't see the danger accelerating around us. This is a warning from someone who has studied genocide patterns for thirty years and works in security.

For veterans processing failure and disillusionment. You are not disqualified. Christ uses broken soldiers. I know because I am one.

For anyone raised in religious extremism. You can leave the abuse without leaving God. The commune collapsed, but Christ never did.

For parents raising children in this moment. We need to see clearly what's coming and prepare our kids with both truth and hope.

But more than any of these, I wrote it to give glory to God. To show what happens when Christ takes a fragmented, traumatized, victim-minded man and slowly rebuilds him on the only foundation that holds: the finished work of Jesus.

What This Book Really Is

This memoir is my testimony. Not testimony in the sense of "look what I did," but in the biblical sense: bearing witness to what Christ has done.

Part One shows how religious systems can wound you, but God's truth stands even when His people fail.

Part Two shows how pursuing identity apart from Christ, even in noble causes like serving Israel, leaves you empty and suicidal.

Part Three shows how Christ rebuilds what sin and trauma destroy, then uses your scars for His purposes.

The thread connecting all three parts isn't me. It's Him. It's sanctification, that slow, painful, beautiful work where God conforms you more and more to the image of His Son.

What I Hope You'll Take From These Pages

My prayer is that readers will see past Jonathan Burch and see Jesus Christ.

If you're broken, I want you to see that Christ doesn't waste your brokenness. He uses it to reveal His strength.

If you're confused about identity, I want you to see that you are who He says you are, not what culture or trauma or failure says.

If you're facing danger and others won't listen, I want you to see that truth-telling is an act of love, even when it costs you.

If you're tired of pretending, I want you to see that honesty before God is the first step toward healing.

The Only Name That Holds

I spent years trying on identities: Commune Kid. Jew. Christian. Israeli. Soldier. Bodyguard. American. Each one felt true until it didn't.

The only identity that survived every collapse was this: Child of God, purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit day by day.

That's the real story. Not what I've done, but what He's done. Not where I've been, but where He's brought me. Not who I tried to become, but who I am in Him.

This memoir is my witness to that truth.

"He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure."
—Psalm 40:2