Marching Forth!

 After Jesus spoke the parable of a sower, He explained how blessed His disciples were to have such revelation from the living God while the unbelieving remained ignorant in Matthew 13:16-17 :  " But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;  17   for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it ."   Those who believed Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God could listen to and understand Him, but those who did not believe He was God made flesh remained in darkness.  Jesus again and again repeated His claims of being one with God, that He was equal with God and told Thomas, " He that has seen Me has seen the Father " ( John 14:9 ).  The scribes and rulers who did not believe He was the Christ narrowed their eyes and repeatedly asked in their interactions with Jesus, "Now who do you make yourself to be?"   Tho...

Teaching the Bible is different than teaching other subjects because the aim is different.  God's will is not merely to educate or improve mankind but to transform hearers into the people He created and designed us to be.  Knowledge alone is incapable of doing what only God can do in a heart that believes and trusts Him.  It is possible, as Paul said, to be " ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth " ( 2 Timothy 3:7 ).  In the Bible Knowledge Commentary Adam Clarke is credited with this quote, " There are many professors of Christianity still who answer the above description. They hear, repeatedly hear, it may be, good sermons; but, as they seldom meditate on what they hear, they derive little profit from the ordinances of God. They have no more grace now than they had several years ago, though hearing all the while, and perhaps not wickedly departing from the Lord. They do not meditate, they do not think, they do not reduce what they hear...

When the Chargers went to the Super Bowl in 1994, I was very excited to watch my team on the biggest stage the NFL could offer.  What began as a dream come true ended up the things of nightmares when the team folded like a beach towel and the poor start made catching up impossible.  I remember being so disheartened by the halftime score I decided it would be more fun to play football with friends in the yard rather than subject myself to additional disappointment of watching the beat-down continue.   Being a die-hard Charger fan (and thus a glutton for punishment) I watched the whole thing.  Though I have had access to the game and highlights, re-watching that game does not interest me.  Had the Chargers come out on top, however, it would be a different story. During a gridiron season, "watching tape" is a huge part of scheming for future opponents and personal improvement by learning from your own mistakes to avoid repeating them.  The camera does not...

There are many verses often quoted from scripture, and the lesser known verses around them can add much to our understanding.  What a profitable practice it is to open your Bible, turn to a quotation from the scripture and read the verses before and after it.  Take  Isaiah 55:9-11 as an example:  " For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways,  a nd My thoughts than your thoughts.  10  "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, a nd do not return there,  b ut water the earth,  a nd make it bring forth and bud,  t hat it may give seed to the sower  a nd bread to the eater,  11  so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; i t shall not return to Me void,  b ut it shall accomplish what I please,  a nd it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it ."  God through the prophet used falling rain and snow as an illustration:  as rain falling f...