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Introduction

I am Mark S. Railey, Academic Dean of Heartland Biblical Leadership Seminary—a private, non-accredited institution devoted exclusively to equipping the clergy of the Rural Shepherds Network. I am also the founder of the Torah Pursuant Method, a covenantal framework for discipleship that seeks to weave the enduring wisdom of Torah with the life and teachings of Yeshua the Messiah.
 

My academic journey includes an Advanced Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. ad eundem from Lyell College. I am currently completing a second Ph.D. (ABD) at Heartland, with a forthcoming dissertation entitled The Torah Pursuant Method: The Commands of Yeshua, scheduled for publication in Fall 2025.

My calling is to train pastors, rabbis, and spiritual leaders around the world in Torah-centered discipleship—honoring both Jewish roots and Christian fulfillment. Rooted in Scripture, shaped by sacred history, and compelled by a divine calling, my mission is to raise faithful shepherds for a fragmented world. At the heart of this work lies the Torah Pursuant Method, where the ancient paths converge with the present age, and the voice of Yeshua is heard anew through the lens of covenant.

On Controversy and the Nature of Truth

I do not chase truth as a conquest to be won, but receive it as a memory long planted in the soul. Truth, for me, is not discovered—it is remembered, like a forgotten melody that stirs to life when the Spirit breathes upon the heart.

Science, history, and theology are not rivals but differing dialects—each attempting, in its own tongue, to articulate the harmony of the sacred. In their convergence, I find peace.

In the quiet moments—whether building a fence, pressing piano keys, studying Scripture, or shaping a manuscript—I encounter the Divine. For me, the sacred is not in the performance, but in the process. The journey itself is the sanctuary. I walk not to arrive, but to remember where we have already been. And in that remembrance, I draw near to the Father.

What Kind of Jew Am I?

I live in the sacred tension between traditions—in the Excluded Middle, where neither label fully defines, yet both profoundly shape who I am. I am not conventionally Jewish, nor traditionally Christian. My journey has been formed by both, and fulfilled in neither alone.

My father was a Southern Baptist pastor. My mother and extended family found spiritual shelter in a Reform synagogue during the stillness of the COVID years. My wife and I—partners for over three decades since dancing together in an Israeli folk troupe at B'nai B’rith Hillel—now find our spiritual rhythm more Jewish than Christian, though both melodies still sing within us.

Though credentialed by Baptists, Anglicans, and the Rural Shepherds Network, I have also pursued rabbinic study under a Yeshua-believing Orthodox Chassidic (Breslev) rabbi. I do not pledge allegiance to any single denomination or tradition. I am ever a student, ever a teacher—always learning, always offering.

I no longer attend synagogue or church. I believe the Kingdom of God is not confined to walls, but revealed in small gatherings—around shared meals, in open homes, and in moments of genuine fellowship, both in person and in the digital sphere.

I am the founder of Wes Smith—a Facebook presence rooted in the land and spirit of WEStern Arkansas, Fort SMITH.

Welcome to Torah Pursuant.