So I am not called simply to tell people that God is compassionate and loving.

I'm called to say show him an action, the kind of God who when he recognizes sinners instead of sending them all to hell comes and hangs on a cross to say if you believe in me

I'll forgive you What does it mean to become a disciple of

Jesus? Bible teacher Ray van der Laenis here to help us discover our calling as

Christ followers. Welcome to Focus on the Family.

With Jim Daly, I'm John Fuller.

John, I'm sure anyone who's familiar with Ray Vanderlon,

affectionately called RVL around Focus on the Family,

so we'll probably use RVM throughout the program today.

But man we certainly appreciate his gift of teaching. You know you can tell a

teacher when you meet a teacher. We probably had some along the way, even elementary school,

high school, the people that love to teach and they hone the craft and they learn how to

communicate in story and they draw you in. That is a good teacher and certainly

RViel is a wonderful teacher. He is an ancient Jewish cultural expert. I know he's not going to admit to that but he is and I love

the way he teaches the biblical context for us as Christians to better

understand what is being said in scripture and the

Eastern style context the Jewish thinking behind those scriptures so I'm

excited for everybody to hear this program today and also for the resource that we have worked with

RVL on, this great study series. We'll talk more about that throughout the program.

Yeah, RVL discipleshiphip, the study, is a terrific online resource that we want our

listeners and viewers to know about.

It is rich in what you're talking about, Jim, Ray's insights and he's poured so much into this resource.

...