Open Your Bibles: In the fall semester of my first year at Seminary I was able to take New Testament I by Dr. John Taylor. It was probably one of the bigger classes with about 50 something students but still I didn’t know anyone. I sat in the back with the rest of the “younger guys” in the classroom. There were probably 5 girls there I think and the rest were a mix of guys. Some of them were in suits, some looked like my dad, and others seemed as though they were straight out of college. I remember one day in class the guy behind me wore sandals and would always prop his feet on the back of my chair legs and it was game over for me (but that’s another story). Anyways, so this one day Dr. Taylor…actually I think this was the first day of class…he tells us to all stand up. I had no clue what he was doing…I seriously thought we were going to pledge allegiance to the flag or something. But he goes, “Alright, grab your bibles” and out of nowhere he starts reading. The thing is that he never told us where he was so I’m looking around going “uhh…what’s going on?” He pauses and says, “Alright, when you know where I’m reading from go ahead and read along and then you can sit down…but until then, stay standing”. Mad chaos breaks out in the room…you see dudes just start sweating and flipping like all over the place. I felt bad for the people who didn’t bring their bibles. I pick up words like “Jesus” and “grace” and go “Alright, well at least it’s New Testament”. Couple minutes later the first guy sits down. Panic. It’s that feeling when you’re taking a test and the first guy gets up and turns in your paper and all of the sudden it’s like a competition. Few minutes pass and several other sits down. I catch more words like “slave” and “sin” and by the grace of God I flip to where he was at after a few more minutes. After 10 minutes Dr. Taylor stops and looks up and there’s like 1/3 of the class still searching their bibles for this passage. He had gone through like 4-5 chapters by this time and I won’t forget what he said. “This is your Bible. You should know this like it’s the only thing there is. You’re going to be pastors and teachers and you should be ashamed of yourselves.” I remember from that day on I made it a commitment to really know my stuff. I mean, we’re told to read our bibles and whatever but to really know it is something totally different. And there’s something I’ve realized throughout the years…those men and women who really have an impact on culture and transform this world for Christ…they really really really know their stuff. And they don’t just know their scripture but they want to know it. Does that make sense? Like it’s not a chore for them…they actually incorporate it in their every day conversations and lives. It’s the whole “I have stored up your word in my heart…teach me your statues…in the way of your testimonies I delight”
