by James M. Phillops
October 12,2004
Thank you for visiting the “Discover the Word” site. The website DiscovertheWord.com has been the brain child of Bro. Kevin Pirnie.
For over 30 yrs. I have been answering Bible questions over ham and CB radio. Kevin used to listen to me as I answered questions live on ham radio. Kevin asked quite a few questions and was one of my favorite students over the radio waves. After several years Kevin called me on the phone and asked me if he could copy all of the writings that I had done and he said that he wanted to put them up on a web site so that others could have access to them. I told Kevin that was fine with me , because the writings were just sitting on my book shelves gathering dust. I never imagined that it would go this far. More than half a million people have been to this site and looked at and listened to the lessons that are available here. God has so greatly blessed Bro. Kevin’s efforts. I have continued to teach each week and add lessons to the web site. Most of the time over a thousand people a day come to the site to study God’s Word.
I thank all of you for prayers over the past years that I have had cancer. The radiation treatments and chemo therapy treatments , and then finally surgery to try to remove the cancer was really a hard trial. As I have continued to teach all through this God has always been there to hold me up even when I could hardly stand on my own. I would go to church many times not really able to teach and the lesson would turn out fantastic. It was not because of me it was God taking over. To Him be the glory. Thank all of you again for your prayers . I cannot say that too much. I would not be here today if it were not for your prayers.
Many years ago I gave my life to God and I have gone through many trials but God has always been there to bring me through but many times not unscarred. Even Jesus today has scars that He will carry into eternity.
I believe that I have had some of the greatest teachers that have lived in the last 500 years or even more. They were my tutors in God’s Word. Dr. H. T. Hubbard was like a father to me most of my adult life. We almost lived in the same house . We visited each other weekly for many years. Bro. Hubbard taught me 6 yrs of Hebrew in class and 9yrs of Greek in class. Dr. Carl E. Farrar was one of my favorite teachers . Many of the books that I have in my library were given to me by Bro. Farrar. He was one of the most well read people in the world that I have ever known. He was a goldmine of information and a close personal friend. I think of him everyday and the lessons he drilled into me , and I have never run out of soap, or things and avenues to study. Bro. Roy M. Reed was a brilliant man , a scientific theologian, and a great preacher and leader of men and a good friend also. Bro. D.S. Madden and I traveled all over the middle east together and I loved every minute of it . He preached for me and I preached for him many times . I loved him dearly. I used to say that Bro. Madden had more horse sense than a whole herd of wild mustangs, and I meant it. Bro. Madden made a great impact on my life , then and now. Bro. Neal Morley was always my favorite missionary, and a great Christian leader. That man knows how to build churches for the Lord. I could go on forever but I will say this that Dr. Martin Canavan was the class act of them all. That man had real class and he was an outstanding teacher and my personal friend. Many of these great teachers sermons you can hear on the sermon of the week program. Some of the sermons that I have of these great preachers no one else has because I taped them in class room settings where they were really turned loose to be themselves and teach God’s Word in a relaxed setting. Some of these sermons were recorded over the state of California at seminars and extension seminary classes. Bro. I. K. Cross has several messages on sermon of the week. He is a great historian and we studied history together as we worked together at CMBI. I was a student at CMBI a student teacher and the professor of advanced Greek and Hebrew for several years. It was one of the greatest pleasures in my life to have studied with all the men and boys that I studied with and taught at that great school. I have never stopped being a student and I have learned more since I graduated than I did back then. All of my studies just gave me a license to learn. Bro. Farrar used to say, “ There is a time element to learning all we do here is to teach you how to learn. When you graduate with a doctorate all we will have taught you is how to learn. That’s all just a license to learn.” And I must say with Bro. Farrar ,” After you learn all the basics and the Bible languages, plus a few more to read the old commentaries , You have just then got a license to learn. That’s all just a license to learn.
Well I’ve tried to put a lot of years of love in this short message to those who have visited this site. Keep on being students of God’s Word . It will change your life, and that’s what it is all about, constantly transforming our lives to fit into God’s eternal purpose. If God is calling you to teach , do it. If He is calling you to serve as a janitor , do it. If He is calling you to preach , do it. Do it with all your might , for we do it for the King of the universe and our Glorious Savior . Who saved us by grace and mercy. I never saw a man that could make a man feel lower than Bro. Madden could make you feel when he was preaching, or make God bigger and higher than he did . He put a lot of distance between God and man . But in the end he would place God and man together . By God’s grace and love we are made joint heirs with Christ ,by Christ’s merits only.
The last few years I have been privileged to teach and work with such great men as Dr. Roger Spradlin and Dr. Phil Neighbors. I have learned a great deal from them and I have had a wonderful place to teach God’s Glorious Word. I am very thankful to work in such a great church and labor with such dedicated men as these.
Hi Jim . I looked for the teachings on the Sons of Solomon but was not able to navigate you site. I will listen for you on 3913 73. K7wes