My Teachers for the Summer

I’ve signed up for my summer classes which focus on the Sermon on the Mount. My teachers for the summer include John Stott, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, James Montgomery Boice, John MacArthur, and Chuck Swindol. I’m so excited because I get to sit at the feet of these great expositors. O, I forgot to add Bill Hybels and Mike Cope. Yes, these are my teachers. They come from around the world – from the Westminister Chapel in London and the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and the Grace Community Church in Sun Valley California and the First Evangelical Free Church in Fullerton California and the Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago – they come from different places and different traditions. I like it like that. They feed me well. They are brilliant, godly, and gifted expositors. My greatest teacher is Jesus. I love to imagine that I’m sitting on the mount listening to Jesus’ sermon. I pray, ““Lord, help me understand” and the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of my heart. Then, I see the others on the mount – my teachers. They are sitting closer to Jesus. Yes, Stott, Lloyd-Jones, Boice, Swindol and MacArthur are high on the mount in the front of the crowd near Jesus and his apostles. I can’t resist asking them questions about what Jesus said. They have more insight because they are closer to the Savior and they have been sitting on the mount longer than me. One by one they speak and I listen. They all have good things to say and they help me understand. Then I pray again “Lord, make it real to me too. Help me apply it to my life.” And he does. He helps me understand as I go about my daily routine. Jesus’ words resonate at strange times - when I’m playing with my children or talking to my wife or taking a walk or playing my guitar or visiting the sick. A scripture, a story, a thought, a memory, or an image will come to my mind and I will have an “Ah-Ha Experience” which I believe is the Holy Spirit’s work. This process goes on all week until I’m full. Then, when I’m full, I am ready to share what I’ve learned with others. The whole process is exciting, consuming and I love every part of it.