In love with the Word

David and Ruth live in Shrewsbury, England and have been Christians for many years. Their love for the Bible was instilled in them from their childhoods. I wondered then, why did they start to use the Word Online material? They explained, “We have been blessed by Martin Charlesworth’s preaching over many years and when we heard of his vision to create this material, we wanted to be a part of it”. 

They have listened to The Life of Jesus and The Spreading Flame (over 230 episodes in all) and are looking forward to hearing Romans. They listen to the podcasts separately everyday and Ruth explained that she downloads a whole series and then sets it to go on to the next episode at the end of each completed one. Having saved the first series of The Life of Jesus to use nearer to Christmas, they are now working their way through all the material again. They are pleased to have the time to do this in their retirement.

David and Ruth have particularly appreciated the bigger picture provided by the Life of Jesus material. David noted the clear strategy Jesus had all the way through His ministry. He said, “Often passages are read in isolation yet through Word Online you are able to trace Jesus’ life all the way through to Jerusalem. Nothing was haphazard in Jesus’ ministry.” He particularly noted how Jesus prayed before each momentous step he took. Ruth added, “It helped me to see the building controversy with the Jewish Ruling Council through the Gospels.” Both agreed that the recap at the beginning of each episode was important for context. The reflections used at the end of each episode have helped to bring the message home, or as David put it, “‘Not just to inform but reform’ the listener.” 

David and Ruth have recommended the material to many friends and are amazed that not more people are using it! We discussed the aim - to make the material available to those in countries where there is not the wealth of Bible study material that is in the West. However, sadly, we recognised how much this rich treasure is taken for granted in the West and not fully used! David commented,  “Knowing the Bible, helps us to know what are God’s standards for living - even in the 21st century.”