A neighbor’s comment that she was confused by so many different churches teaching so many different things has haunted me for several years. I was determined to write down what I believed was truth and send it to her. But each time I tried, it became muddied by various denominational issues and conflicts. I began to see that for someone seeking truth, it must be a very confusing jungle of information.
One night as I was still praying along this line, I was reminded of the dilemma of shopping for jeans. Now, when I say “jeans”, I know immediately what I mean. They must be boot cut, they must have a certain color of stitching, they must be tight fitting and cover my tummy bulge. But if you talk to another person, they might tell you that “jeans” were baggy with cuffs at the bottom and stitched with that horrible white stitching. Ugh! That’s not jeans (I would protest)! Now, as I continue to ponder this, I decided to write down exactly what made jeans jeans. Is there anything that we could all agree on?
Pockets, or not pockets? Zipper, snaps or buttons? Skinny, baggy, stove-pipe, bell-bottomed, belt loops or none? The only thing that I could come up with was that all, or at least most of us, would agree upon is that they should be made of denim fabric.
And, that seems to be the dilemma. I need to determine what is the fabric that makes up our essential belief. What is the denim fabric? Every church is different just like jeans. How do we find the truth?
As I continued to pray, I was reminded of a visiting evangelist who had challenged me with his message. He said, “Most of you have never actually studied the life of Jesus. You don’t know what He taught, what was important to Him, what He believed. Yet, you call yourselves followers of Jesus.”
Then I knew that God was leading me to find out for myself, afresh and anew, who Jesus was and is today. I had to admit that much of my study of Jesus’ life was from my childhood and needed to be re-examined. I have spent my life teaching individual sections and events in His life, but never looked at His life as a complete story.
After much prayer, I felt that God was asking me to begin a systematic study of the 4 eyewitness accounts that we have of Jesus’ life (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and collate them into chronological order so that I could see them side-by-side. Now, scholars have already done that, so I started with their work called the Harmony of the Gospels.
I felt that God was leading me to not only study this material, but to write down my findings in workbook style in order to pass on my understanding primarily for my grandchildren.
The result of that study is found here. This study covers every verse found in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John plus additional supplemental verses.
During this two-year study, I feel that I have been renewed and refreshed by Jesus’ NEW WAY of doing life. I felt the burden of confusion fall away. I tried to write as God directed me and let Him correct and amend the work by His gentle nudges. I know that it is not complete and never will be. I will continue to understand more and more, but I feel led to share it with you. If God touches you, grows you or blesses you, then I am grateful. But first and foremost this work was for my own benefit and to give me absolute assurance of God’s plan for my life.
I have designed it as a 15-20 minutes study each day where you can explore God’s Word and see for yourself what it says. In this format, it will take 1 year to complete. But feel free to use the study in any way that benefits you.
In His service and in His arms,
Dale Weatherford
Let's Begin!