I have been pondering the idea of how much teaching is out there in the airwaves. Podcasts, videos, pulpits, conferences, books. It is actually quite overwhelming how much information we have access to. People can literally find whatever they are looking for in the realm of information.

In an Information Age, we are in an information war, not just in the world, but in the church. Because of this the question becomes, do we need another orator? Do we need another church? Do we need another group singing with us? And what will distinguish the genuine, the authentic from the counterfeit?

As we have information in abundance, the Jews had rabbi’s in abundance. Rabbi’s would walk the streets, the countryside with their disciples and they would train them in their teachings. This looked different than we have but it was the same concept.

Therefore in Acts 4:13-14 when it says, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.”

Peter and John were talmid (disciples) of Rabbi Jesus. “In rabbinic culture, a disciple’s whole aim was to become saturated with his rav — to speak his rulings, carry his cadence, embody his authority, so much so that the sages said a good talmid should be “covered in the dust of his rabbi.” When you heard a disciple teach, you could often tell whose school he came from — his content and manner betrayed his master.”

What is going to distinguish the disciples of Christ in a world of a lot of information? The answer is the presence of God and the dust of Jesus on us. Information is great, but presence teaches what podcasts can’t. There are people who will be known for the presence of God and that only comes from time spent with God. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org