by Walt Henrichsen | Dec 7, 2015 | Articles, People Not Listening
“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Revelation 3:11 Four times in Revelation Jesus said He would “come quickly,” this verse and three times in Revelation 22:7, 12, and 20. One of the tensions most difficult for me to maintain in my life is gratitude to God for His goodness, on the one hand, and my longing to be with Him in heaven, on the other. By any standard of comparison, I am a rich man. Not just the affluence of our environment, but more profoundly things such as my health, a wonderful family, my friends in Christ, the privilege of ministering in His Name – all of these fill me with gratitude. Still, I find I am so very eager for His coming. Partly it is because of the incredible hurt and lostness I see everywhere I look; and partly it is the depth of my own depravity. As I may have shared with you before, I am sickened by the fact that I am more easily influenced by circumstances than the presence of God in my life. I have walked with Jesus for more than 60 years, and had hoped that there would be some abatement in the perniciousness of sin. But I am chagrined to confess that such is not the case, at least in my life. Thus I find it hard to be grateful for a life so disappointing to the One I love the most. Despair is the absence of gratitude. It is hard to maintain balance between the discouragement I feel over the depravity...
by Walt Henrichsen | Nov 2, 2015 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:34-35 Let us once again review the three most common Greek words for love: Agape – This word is the least used of the three in Greek literature and the most used in Biblical literature. It is as though the New Testament writers took an obscure Greek word and gave it a biblical definition. Agape seeks the best interest of others rather than self. On occasion, but not always, it requires self-sacrifice. It is an attribute that God uses to define Himself: “God is love.”1 God requires that the believer agape all people, including his enemies. Eros – This word is the most used of the three in Greek literature and is absent in Biblical literature. It seeks to use others for the benefit of self. It is a consuming, almost irrational passion that satisfies human appetites. It is antithetical to everything the Bible teaches. Phileo – This word is common in both Greek and Biblical literature and has the idea of treating others as your own family, brotherly love. Thus the city of Philadelphia. Agape seeks what is best for others and requires exercising the will. I may not feel like seeking another’s best, but I exercise my will in the direction of doing it. Eros seeks what is best for self and requires surrendering the will to passion. Agape is...
by Walt Henrichsen | Oct 5, 2015 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 There is perpetual tension between viewing Scripture objectively, on the one hand, and acknowledging its authority, on the other. Those who believe the Bible agree that it is the inspired Word of God, and that we are obliged to obey it. But authority is restrictive; I want to do what I want. Therefore we are more prone to manipulate Scripture than any other literature. For example, there is no necessity to manipulate the intent of the information in the morning newspaper, simply because we are not under its authority. This is the reason liberal commentators on the Bible are often more accurate than conservative commentators. Liberals don’t view Scripture as authoritative, don’t feel obligated to obey it, and therefore tend to be more objective in their interpretation. Dependence, surrender, neutrality, an eagerness to obey God, no vested interest in the outcome, not trying to build anything – these are key to knowing God and His ways. The urge to manipulate authority is great, and the more absolute the authority, the greater the urge to manipulate. CLICK HERE for more articles by this...
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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