by Jerry Bangert | Jun 15, 2020 | Articles, Mentors Corner
The Books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon comprise the Hebrew wisdom literature and form a unit. As such, they offer deep insights into the biblically legitimate ways to understand both life and the Author of life. This series will examine each book in successive order. PROVERBS Proverbs frames life in terms of wisdom and knowledge, exhorting us to “Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:5-7). Wisdom is personified as being with God at creation (Proverbs 8), and in Christ “…are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:3). (I will be using knowledge and wisdom interchangeably, though there are nuances of difference.) Clearly wisdom and knowledge are important to God. However, they can easily be misused for both are seductresses. This is not because of a failing in them but in us. Reason is necessary for the apprehension of knowledge. Ever since Eden and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, man’s reason has tempted him to treat knowledge as an end in itself. When we use our reason to do so, we are seduced into inventing idols of our own imaginations. And those idols lead men into sin, error, pride and presumption. Granted, there are many secondary reasons for the acquisition of knowledge, but we do well to remember that God accepts nothing that is not done for...
by Jerry Bangert | Jun 8, 2020 | Articles, Mentors Corner
The Books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon comprise the Hebrew wisdom literature and form a unit. As such, they offer deep insights into the biblically legitimate ways to understand both life and the Author of life. This series will examine each book in successive order. PSALMS The Psalms cause us to think of life as a poem, a poem which tells a story. Ephesians 2:10 seizes on this thought, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” The Greek word for “workmanship” is “poiema,” from which the English word poem comes. His story is my story, as His works are my works. Earnestly seeking His works keeps us on the straight and narrow. When, one day, this world is in the distant past, we will look back and see the poem that God was writing in our lives. I believe this is what Revelation 2:17 refers to, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.” Each who belongs to Christ is a unique poem written to and for the Lover of his soul. Just as there are many psalms, so there are many stories. The psalms vary, as our stories vary, and each is precious to Christ. After all, it is only through His death that our story is made possible. Our lives are adding up to something of...
by Jerry Bangert | Jun 1, 2020 | Articles, Mentors Corner
The Books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon The Books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon comprise the Hebrew wisdom literature and form a unit. As such, they offer deep insights into the biblically legitimate ways to understand both life and the Author of life. This series will examine each book in successive order. JOB The book of Job views life as suffering. All suffer, though in varying degrees. What is the origin and source of pain? People everywhere instinctively associate it with sin, which accords with God’s purposes since He linked sin to pain in the curses of Genesis 3. Sin and pain do not have a one to one correspondence; but by decree God connects the two in our minds and sometimes in our experience. Why would He do that? God’s purposes toward His elect are redemptive rather than punitive. Pain and suffering are not expressions of His wrath. Rather, they are the loving and gracious inventions of God, whose purpose it is to alert us to the presence and danger of sin. Suffering is one of those rare direct conduits to the soul that bypasses reason and goes directly to the soul itself. Suffering is not an intellectual exercise. All of our being is enveloped in a black shroud, all peace is banished, and sense of well-being lost, while the soul endures its dark night. One must be convicted of sin, not pain. But if it is the soul itself that pain targets, what is its intended effect? Pain compels questions and the first question is usually, “What did I...
by Jim Gustafson | May 18, 2020 | Articles, Mentors Corner
David, from Psalm 27: “When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear; thou war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident.” — Vs 2-3. How to get this kind of perspective? We don’t know much about David’s enemies, but he had plenty. He may have been in war in the spiritual realm, maybe health, financial and relational challenges. We do know the opposition was colluding, surrounding him, intent on taking him down. The perspective of the natural man is that he needs to take on his enemies, up his game, do more and do it better, somehow muster up some courage even though it be hopeless. Or maybe the trouble is too overwhelming, he is alone and strategizing on how to fold his tent and save face. Any man would be void of confidence, filled with dread and fear, plotting his defenses and getting ready to deal with the shame of defeat. Then David makes an extraordinary statement: “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.” — V 4 In the middle of facing all his encroaching enemies, certain failure and impending threat of death, David boils it down to one desire: dwell in the presence of God and meditate! What kind of man thinks like this?! The outcome is found in...
by Bob Foster | May 4, 2020 | Articles, Downloads
“Remember the morning watch.” Students like Hooper and Thornton found their days “loaded” with studies, lectures, games and bull sessions. Enthusiasm and activity were the order of the day. These dedicated men soon discovered a flaw in their spiritual armor-a small crack which if not soon closed, would bring disaster. They sought an answer and came up with a scheme they called the morning watch-a plan to spend the first minutes of a new day alone with God, praying and reading the Bible. The morning watch sealed the crack. It enshrined a truth so often obscured by the pressure of ceaseless activity that it needs daily rediscovery: To know God, it is necessary to spend consistent time with Him. The idea caught fire. “A remarkable period of religious blessing” followed, and culminated in the departure of the Cambridge Seven, a band of prominent athletes and men of wealth and education, for missionary service. They gave up everything to go out to China for Christ. But these men found that getting out of bed in time for the morning watch was as difficult as it was vital. Thornton was determined to turn indolence into discipline. He invented an automatic, foolproof cure for laziness. It was a contraption set up by his bed: “The vibration of an alarm clock set fishing tackle in motion, and the sheets, clipped to the line, moved swiftly into the air off the sleeper’s body.” Thornton wanted to get up to meet his God! The intimacy of communion with Christ must be recaptured in the morning quiet time. Call it what you want – the quiet...
by Nigel Pink | Apr 20, 2020 | Articles, Testimonies
Throughout history, from the shut gates of Eden to the present, there has been disease. Disease literally means discomfiture, and each bacterium and virus, God-made and God-given, is divinely designed to discomfort men and women at ease with themselves. God says through his prophet, Amos: When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? (Amos 3:6b) And through Isaiah: I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things. God uses many agents; he uses wind, rain and fire. He ignites volcanoes and shakes the foundations of mountains with earthquake. He commands disaster and calamity. To think otherwise, can only mean one of two things; either God is not omnipotent or that he is indifferent. Both positions would require us to find an alternative object for worship. With the former, we would necessarily seek the higher power; and for the latter, there can be no use for a careless deity. That is all very well, but to what purpose is this suffering? Unless we trust God there can be no good purpose. We must know: The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. (Psalm 145:17) Unless we trust God to act in our best interests, hardship is the product of an indifferent cosmos. It can only have meaning if God purposively directs the hardship: …do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves… (Proverbs 3:11-12) Any agent, however unpleasant, painful or inconvenient is visited on us by God, not randomly or cruelly but restoratively and redemptively. Regretfully for humankind, correction can only be achieved by agents...
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