by John Hartshorn | Sep 28, 2015 | Articles, What Do You Think?
The Primary Objective Judging motives is a slippery slope. It can be an exhausting workout of an exercise in futility. Nonetheless, the reason behind an action taken can be significant. That was a recent consideration on a passage that is familiar to many. Both Matthew, (22:34 -40) and Mark (12:28-31) record the question posed by the lawyer (scribe) who ask Jesus “Teacher, what is the great commandment in the Law?” (What commandment is the foremost of all?). The passages infer, or state, that the Pharisees had been questioning Jesus. It could be another instance where the motive was “trap the teacher”. We can be critical of the Pharisees, but then emulate them when we come across His truth running contrary to our desires. Another option for the intent could be the frustration of trying to obey all the laws/commandments. Maybe if it could be narrowed to “the main thing”. One could then infer the others to be of less importance, maybe even “cultural”. Or possibly the very lucid thought of wanting to understand the primary objective, and be clear on the criteria for obtaining that objective, could at the heart of the question. As noted, knowing the true motive is speculation, but considering such possibilities can lead to some fruitful introspection, being that we could find ourselves having any one of those motives. For the purpose of this brief discussion, let us consider the third intent. Consider the initial imperative in Jesus’ response as recorded in Mathew’s account – “You shall love”. God both desires and requires our love, and all that we give to that love with what...
by Ed Allen | Sep 21, 2015 | Articles, What Do You Think?
Ezekiel 3: 16 At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 18 “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 “Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. 20 “Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 “However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.” (Observation) Ezekiel is commissioned by God to warn “the house of Israel,” Whenever God directs him, that the wicked man “will die in his inequity” if he does not turn from it. Likewise a righteous man will die in his sin if he “turns away from his righteousness.” Further God warns Ezekiel that if he fails to warn them as commanded...
by Sean Moorhead | Sep 14, 2015 | Articles, Testimonies
“[W]e are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Cor 10:5c I believe that the basics of the Christian life – basic blocking and tackling – happens between our ears (in our minds). Every sin either starts with a thought or consists of a thought, so how we handle our thoughts is critical. Sometimes I feel like I have a random thought generator in my head. There is stuff that God hears and I hear that I would never share with any human being (except perhaps an accountability brother). Talking with guys, I believe a lot of men have the same experience. Where do these thoughts come from? I’m not exactly sure, but it is usually safe to assume that such thoughts come from the world, the flesh, or the devil, or some collusive combination. What do we do with those thoughts? My current Paul (Christian mentor) says we need to change the channel of our minds. But how actually do we do that? From martial arts, I’ve taught myself to think in terms of “the instant of the thought.” Some martial arts teach actions at the instant of the punch, the instant of the grab, or the instant of the kick. We train to respond immediately and reflexively in those instances. I believe as intentional Christians, we ought to train ourselves to respond immediately and reflexively at the instant of a thought. I see this modeled by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In Matthew chapter 4 and Luke chapter 4 Jesus faced temptation by the master deceiver and master accuser. Jesus responded in the same manner...
by Walt Henrichsen | Sep 7, 2015 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no phobia in love; but perfect love casteth out phobia: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1John 4:17-18 God does not want you to fear Him is a lie. As you know, there can be no accountability without phobia. Men do not want to fear God because they wish to avoid being accountable to God; they want to believe that grace eliminates accountability. To convince themselves they quote this verse from the apostle John’s first epistle. If you are convinced that this passage teaches that God does not want you to fear Him, why did Jesus teach, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell?”(Note1) It seems you will have to conclude that John corrected a misperception Jesus had, or that the Savior was talking about a different dispensation of time, which no longer applies in this dispensation of grace – and this in turn means that the content of all four gospels is suspect. The context of 1John 4 deals with Judgment. To the degree that we love God perfectly, we have nothing to fear when He judges us. The passage does not teach that God’s perfect love for us removes our need to fear Him, but rather our perfect love of Him casts out fear. If you do not fear...
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