by Jim Gustafson | May 9, 2023 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Listening seems to be a simple enough concept. We have ears to facilitate one of our senses — we use them regularly. We know all about it. Hear and respond with our mouth. It is important in our everyday activity. We converse with others and realize that without hearing our ability to communicate is severely diminished. So it is with God. But the scripture takes us to a different understanding. James writes, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak” (James 1:19). God said, “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him.” (Luke 9:35). The relationship with God is rooted in listening to Him through His Word. Listening is a significant concept in the scriptures. As a verb, “hearing” or “listening” appears over 1600 times in the Bible! It means to receive or hear and understand a reported noise. It implies a silence and stillness in order to hear. It has a responsibility component, implying obedience to what is understood. So, how to listen? The Psalmist writes: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10). Listening is the quiet, still activity of intent fully slowing ourselves down, closing off the outside distractions and pressures and being still before God and His word and then applying. The culture values business, action and running. But listening requires silence and stillness. How? It must be intentful. Jesus went to a quiet place to pray and listen in the morning to get perspective. He provides the example worth emulating. Men in the marketplace, caught up in the pace of life, in order to survive the chaos and gain the perspective only the...
by Lee Yih | Apr 24, 2023 | Articles
I just had an unusual Bible Study in Romans Chapter 16. Normally, when I think of Romans 16, in my mind, it is a “Flyover” Chapter. By that I mean, it is something that is skipped, or at least on a relative basis, something that I do not put the same emphasis on as I have on the other, more theological portions of Romans. I have taught the Book of Romans many times in my 50 years of being a Christian, and truth be told, I have never given much shrift to Chapter 16, until recently. I ask myself, what is there in Romans 16 worth spending time on? In a recent study in Romans, I tried something different with this chapter by having the guys put together and present a 10-minute talk from any portion in Chapter 16 that they found worth discussing. The topics they uncovered were eye-opening. These included things like “How to handle people who cause dissension in our churches” (vs. 17-19), what it means that they will soon crush Satan under their feet (vs. 20), what it means to be “established” by God and the reference to “My Gospel” (vs. 25) and the meaning of “obedience of faith” in vs. 26. But the most profound lesson was gained by thinking about all the names mentioned in the first part of the chapter. Thirty-five persons are named in this conclusion. There were nine persons with Paul in Corinth when he wrote – eight men and one woman, Phoebe, and twenty-four persons at Rome who were greeted – seventeen men and seven women. Besides these, there were...
by Bill McCurine | Apr 11, 2023 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“I and the Father are One.” John 10:30 (ESV) God is three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They are One. God exists in the perfect unity of One. There is never conflict between the three Persons of the Godhead. God is always in perfect harmony with Himself. He is always in perfect unity with Himself. So, after the crucifixion, God raised Jesus from the dead. This was the action of one God in three persons. Concerning the Father’s role in the resurrection, the Bible teaches: “the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” (Ephesians 1:19–21) Concerning Jesus’s role in His own resurrection, Jesus declared: “For this reason, the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18) Concerning the Holy Spirit’s role in the resurrection, Paul wrote: “The Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your...
by Craig McAndrews | Mar 28, 2023 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Psalm 73:28 I never put much thought into the impact of nearness until recently. Over the past six months, my wife and I have transitioned into the empty-nester phase of life as our youngest son went off to college. The early part of the transition was fun and exciting as we started to have a bit more time for the two of us. There were fewer activities to navigate, less managing curfews, and a dramatically lower grocery bill. However, as time has passed, we have wrestled with our sons being away. We miss them and often look for ways to get together. There is something about having them near that brings a sense of peace and comfort. These words describe a similar sense we may experience when God is near, however, in Psalm 73:28 the topic of nearness goes deeper and should more profoundly impact how we respond. In Psalm 73:28, Asaph writes, “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may tell of all his works.” I can’t think of many Christians who would disagree with the idea that having God near is a good thing. However, in this verse, we read about a deeper level of dependence and a compelling call to action as the output of the nearness of God. The nearness of God brings about a deeper dependence on Him as we make Him our refuge. The word refuge is more than just a place of escape. The King James translation uses the word, “trust” which means a literal shelter or a...
by Mitch Hershey | Mar 13, 2023 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Recently my kids discovered a caterpillar on a bush outside of our house. They are at ages where curiosity is abounding and so we brought it inside and borrowed an insect net from some friends. Soon after, the caterpillar spun its chrysalis for its transition to a butterfly. We did some searching on the internet and found out that the chrysalis stage typically lasts for 11-12 days. Unfortunately for the kids, this meant that we were going to be on vacation when the butterfly emerged, so we took the insect net to a friend’s house and had them send some pictures and videos of the butterfly. Soon after we arrived home from vacation, we found several more caterpillars on the bush and ended up with 13 caterpillars, some of which we “blessed” other families with by giving the caterpillars away so they could have the opportunity to watch this amazing process. We ended up with 7 of our own, and over the last few days we have watched them closely as they have matured into butterflies and completed the biological process of metamorphosis. It has been a truly fun experience to watch my kids’ excitement, and it also reminds me of the metamorphosis that occurs in the life of the believer. Just as caterpillars transform into butterflies, so too do we as believers undergo a transformation at salvation when the Holy Spirit dwells within us. We are born again into a new life. Nicodemus wrestled with this idea in John 3 when Jesus tells him that “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus...
by Jim Gustafson | Nov 23, 2022 | Articles, Mentors Corner
The men referenced in Matthew 7:21-24 had selected too wide a path to enter the Kingdom. The path is narrow to enter; too wide a path leads to destruction (v13). They seemed to think that their chosen path was narrow enough, but Jesus said, “I never knew you, depart from me you evil doers.” (v23) What a terrifying thought. To make a choice so important as what it means to follow God, to expect to be approved by the Judge Jesus Christ, to expect an eternity in Heaven and then be rejected by God. To their horror, they had misconstrued the expectation, misjudged the target or worse, they willfully followed Him on their own terms, resulting in payment of an unimaginable, devastating price. He termed their path as one of “lawlessness” (v23). According to the apostle John in 1 John 3:4, lawlessness is defined as sin or work of iniquity. It is the defection from God’s law, His standard and command on how we are to do things. God’s law means He gets to choose the path-what it looks like, how narrow or wide we walk in it and what is the expectation for obedience. At the least, it seems that despite the fact that God had seemingly used these men for His purposes, and had even performed miracles through them, they wanted to relate to God on their own terms, not His. Those men misjudged His Word or willfully disobeyed and drew a path too wide, to their demise. So, how narrow of a path is needed? We need not figure that out. The pressure is off because...
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