This is Brian.
His friend, fellow podrishioner, and BEMA guest, Jim Feicht, introduced Brian to Marty’s teachings in 2013. As he listened to Marty, he was the same as Saul, whose scales fell from his eyes in the book of Acts.
“Can’t say I heard any voices or saw any bright lights, but pretty sure lots of scales fell from my eyes and heart.”
For the first time in forty years, he was a “card-carrying participant” of his faith, beliefs, and actions. As he listened to BEMA, he studied and prayed. His appetite continually grew. The more he devoured the Word, the more he hungered for the Word. He transitioned from doing the right things he was “supposed to do” to doing things as an outpouring of being wholly invested in the languages and cultures of the authors and audiences of the Bible.
Over the course of three years, Brian watched his life change. The more he learned the Text in context, owned its teachings, and viscerally followed them, he discovered he had been focused on knowing the Bible, and not on living out the teachings of the Bible.
He was confronted with the question, “Am I going to actually follow, and would it matter?”
As his actions aligned with what he was learning, his opportunities to live out what he was learning presented themselves. He slowly began to feel a tug and a passion to bring the changes he was experiencing to others. He suggested to his pastor that he might start a small group within the church to discuss the eastern perspective, context, and the Hebrew mindset. He started going through the Text from front to back with a group of six to eight people for two years, and they have now finished the Old Testament. This summer, Brian and his family moved 60 miles away from their group and their church, but they still drive back every Monday to facilitate their group of “Texters.”
Having moved to a new home and a new church, Brian again went to his pastor with fear and trepidation and offered to start a group that might discuss the Text in context, through an eastern perspective and a Hebrew mindset. His pastor agreed he could start a group and see who was interested. Continuing to use BEMA as a launching point for his group materials, research, and questions, he is now a tour guide for a whole new group of people who are experiencing the Text in context for the first time.
Now with BEMA as his vehicle and Marty as his mentor, Brian gets to bless so many new people in the same way Jim blessed Brian six years ago with a different way of looking at the Text through the eyes of context.