by Skip Tschantz | Oct 26, 2026 | Articles, Testimonies
As followers of Jesus, we are His ambassadors charged with the responsibility of representing Him to those with whom we come into contact and especially those within our sphere of influence. “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20a). What a marvelous privilege this is that Jesus would choose the likes of us to continue with the sharing of the “message of reconciliation” to a world in desperate need of being reconciled to God. And not only a privilege but an awesome responsibility. A responsibility that we should not take lightly. The apostle Peter offers some insights into how we can prepare ourselves to carry out this calling. In chapter 3 of his first epistle the practical apostle lays it out in a way that forces one to think in terms of application. Chapter 3 and verse15: “But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence…” What does it say, what does it mean and what does it mean to me is an excellent way to read Scripture. Let’s look at some ways that we might apply these challenges to our individual lives. “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts” To sanctify is to set apart as holy. We are not only to set Christ apart as holy; He is holy whether we set him apart as such or not, but we are to set Him apart as Lord. Jesus must not only be my Savior, although He is that, but...
by Joe Bradley | Oct 13, 2026 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Simon Peter knew fishing. It was his trade, expertise, and his comfort zone. When Jesus approached him in Luke 5, Peter had already spent a long exhausting night doing everything he knew to do – and caught nothing. Jesus told him, “…Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch” (v 4). Humanly speaking, the timing was inconvenient, the conditions were wrong, and His request made little practical sense. And Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Your bidding I will let down the nets” (v5). Obedience beyond understanding The miracle did not happen when Peter understood; it happened when Peter obeyed. When he acted on Jesus’ word, the same nets that were empty hours before suddenly contained a great quantity of fish – so many that the nets began to break and both boats started to sink. Peter’s response was not pride in a successful catch but humility and brokenness; he fell at Jesus’ feet and confessed, “…depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (v8). Obedience to Christ’s word reveals both His power and our true condition. When Peter followed Jesus’ command “because He said so,” he discovered that Jesus was not just a wise teacher but the Lord over creation, over his profession, and over his future. Catching fish to catching people In that moment of awe and conviction, Jesus did not shame Peter; He reoriented Peter’s entire life. Jesus said, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men” (v10).The same obedience that led Peter to push...
by Tommy Walker | Sep 29, 2026 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. And the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up” (Jonah 1:1-4). Jonah is most associated with the whale, or huge fish, depending on your translation. We can have a tendency to see the whale as a disciplinary measure toward Jonah. I would argue the whale is actual a sign of God’s mercy. The account of Jonah starts very simple: God told Jonah to “Go to Nineveh” and “cry out against it.” God told Jonah exactly where to go and what to do. Despite direct contact from the Almighty Himself, Jonah decided to go in the opposite direction, instead boarding a ship headed to Tarshish. That was not the correct response. God sent a storm that almost breaks up the ship. After some frantic actions, it is determined Jonah is the problem –he ends up in the sea. Jonah finds himself alone, presumably with no life jacket or other means of floatation. All seems desperate, bleak, and hopeless. Jonah disobeyed God and suffered the consequences of his wrong action in what...
by Chris Martin | Sep 15, 2026 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3). All men desire peace in their lives. The world defines peace as the absence of calamity and turmoil. However, as we look at the Scriptures, there is a different type of peace that the Lord offers the Christian. For the sake of this article, we will label these two different types of peace as WORDLY PEACE and BIBLICAL PEACE Jesus references this BIBLICAL PEACE, in John 14:27 and provides us some descriptors of this BIBLICAL PEACE when he says “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” In this verse Jesus explicitly states that his BIBLICAL peace is different than WORDLY PEACE and he teaches us that His peace offers untroubled hearts and fearless hearts. Do life circumstances leave you experiencing fear and with a troubled heart? If this is our experience, then we are not living in the BIBLICAL PEACE that He offers to the Christian. A legitimate question then becomes “How do I grab hold of, or experience, this BIBLICAL PEACE that God offers us?” We find answers in Isaiah 26:3. Isaiah 26:3 begins with a promise that “You (God) will keep him (man) in perfect peace.” What a wonderful promise of God! God himself will KEEP ME IN PERFECT PEACE! But as with all promises in Scripture, God gives man His promises so that HE can get man to do what HE...
by Mitch Hershey | Sep 1, 2026 | Articles, Mentors Corner
The Bible has much to say about fearing God. In fact, the command to fear God is mentioned over 100 times throughout Scripture. But what does the Bible say about fearing man? “And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). In 1 Samuel 15, we see an example of what happens when we fear man instead of God. In the beginning of the chapter, God gives King Saul clear instructions to “strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have” (v3). Saul was not to spare anyone or anything – no person, no animal. Saul and the army of Israel do in fact defeat Amalek, but they took King Agag alive rather than killing him and they took the best of the sheep, oxen, fattened calves, and lambs. In v. 11, God speaks to Samuel and says that he regrets making Saul king because “he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” When Samuel confronts Saul the next day, Saul speaks first and says that he has performed the commandment of the Lord. When Samuel questions him, Saul defends his actions by saying that it was so they could offer sacrifices to God. Samuel reiterates the clear command that God gave to Saul – destroy everything. Once again, Saul then defends his actions as to why he did not obey God’s instructions. Samuel’s words to Saul after that are convicting: “Has the Lord as much delight...
by Jim Gustafson | Aug 16, 2026 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life “(John 6:63). God has structured our existence with two lives: 1) the one that finds our hope in what we see, feel and experience in this lifetime and 2) the life of the Spirit, one characterized by a hope in the unseen. The first is a temporary hope because all that is seen eventually vanishes or rots away. As a result, it is a hope that cannot be fulfilled. Ironically, it is embraced and encouraged by the world and claims to reward those that seek it. It has an end. It is dead (spiritually). It leads to death (physically). It is used by Satan to entice us and to deceive us. It seems right but does not satisfy—It leaves us always wanting more. “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). In the end, this temporal life disappoints. It is empty, void of any legitimate hope and meaningful purpose. Ecclesiastes describes it as vanity, it is like a wasteland. It promises much, but delivers only enough to keep you pursuing. Solomon presents a stark commentary on the realities of the hope in the temporal life, after having missed the life in the Spirit. It is stark because man has sought to make the life of the temporal something it was never meant to be. It seems that hope in the temporal is ultimately so full of despair, its purpose is to guide us...
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