by Ed Allen | Mar 27, 2017 | Articles, What Do You Think?
Mark 5: 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat. Observation Jesus heals the child of the synagogue ruler even though she is dead or at least thought to be dead by the time He arrives. Those present are astonished, but Jesus gives orders “not to let anyone know about this.” Interpretation I suggest to you that Jesus tells the witnesses of this healing (as He also did after some other miracles recorded in the gospels) because His time had “not yet fully come.” Jesus would become the savior of His people, even all people, not by popular demand to “make Him king,” but by dying on the cross in payment for their sins. That crucifixion would soon come to pass, but His time had “not yet fully come.” Cross-reference John 6:14 Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they...
by Walt Henrichsen | Mar 13, 2017 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’” Luke 8:25 “And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.” Mark 6:5-6 Jesus did not lack ability to heal. Rather, the whole of the New Testament teaches that in order for a person to receive what God offers, he must have faith. Jesus offered to His generation physical healing, evidenced by the whole of the narrative of His life. The lack was on the part of the people who demonstrated an absence of faith. To our generation He offers eternal life, but in order for us to receive it, we must believe. “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” John 11:26 Of those Jesus healed in His public ministry, Scripture records only a few (like the demon possessed man in Mark 5) who wanted more of Jesus than just temporal healing. When you seek from the Savior eternal life, are you in reality seeking it in hopes of obtaining temporal gain? God, who knows your motives, will not grant eternal life as a means of acquiring temporal benefit. Faith is critically important, but it must be faith properly directed. For more articles by...
by Walt Henrichsen | Feb 20, 2017 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” Genesis 45:5 God providentially first had Joseph sold as a slave to Egypt and then placed Joseph as leader of Egypt “next to Pharaoh.” When Joseph’s extended family moved to Egypt and his brothers realized that he now had the power to execute vengeance, Joseph quieted their hearts, reminding them that God had orchestrated the whole saga. God revealed to Joseph’s great grandfather Abraham: “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.” Genesis 15:13 We have no reason to believe that Joseph was aware of this prophecy given to Abraham. God effected Israel’s deliverance through the last plague in which He passed over God’s people as he killed the first-born in Egypt. Israel celebrates the Feast of the Passover as the time when God’s wrath passed over them and delivered them from their oppressors. In other words, God orchestrated events, beginning with the selling of Joseph, to communicate to His people that they were to look to Him for deliverance. Salvation is another word for deliverance, and God says that only He can save. He made Israel slaves so that they would understand this. If you don’t see yourself as a slave in need of deliverance, you may not sense your need for God. For more articles by...
by Gayle Jackson | Feb 6, 2017 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Why does one keep on with trying to walk with Jesus and His commands and Jesus thinking and not just return to the world and its thinking (I.e. homosexuality issue, integrity, fornication, etc.)? The thinking is, I am going to Heaven and it looks like there is no downside to indulgences on my part, Christ work has saved me and He isn’t going to take it back. Christ loves me no matter what. Why not just live my life in harmony with the people around me? Why be an odd ball and think like those bunch of hypocrites of believers. There is an argument that goes, abortion sometime is required, and fornication is fun, why not eat drink and be merry for tomorrow I die…As an old saying goes, “get all you can, can all you get and poison all the rest” Verses for thoughts: Luk 9:23 And he said unto all, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 9:24 whosoever would save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. Luk 9:25 For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose or forfeit his own self? Luk 9:26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in his own glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels. Notice the “Action” phrases Take up Follow me Save his...
by Ed Allen | Jan 16, 2017 | Articles, What Do You Think?
John 6: 26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” 28 Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”30 So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? (Observation) The passage follows Jesus’ feeding 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. When Jesus left by boat, the crowd followed him Capernaum where He tells them to work not for “food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.” Ready to do the “works of God” they ask what it is. Jesus answers that it is to believe in Him. They respond by asking for a sign. (Interpretation) I suggest to you that the reasoning of the crowd following Jesus for food is little different from the reasoning of those who have not yet believed in Jesus today. They accept the idea of attaining to “eternal life” by working for it, but when Jesus says that they only have to believe in Him, they ask (as if feeding 5000 wasn’t enough) for proof. So, then...
by Walt Henrichsen | Dec 12, 2016 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.” Joshua 9:14 The sins of the Hebrews are almost too numerous to number. To catalogue them would force us to look closely at our own lives. Most of the sins and problems in the OT have their genesis in the words, they “asked not counsel of the Lord.” God either repeatedly reminds them of this failure, or the situation obviously reveals it. In this example, Joshua makes a treaty with the Gibeonites without asking the Lord. Counsel was readily available to God’s Old Testament people, through the prophets, using the Urim and Thummim, or simply inquiring of the Lord. Rarely did they ask, and often, when the prophets told them what God wanted, they refused to listen. When the prophet Micah warned Ahab king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat king of Judah against going to war, they ignored him and went to battle anyway. Most decisions people make and later regret involve not seeking counsel. A businessman once remarked, “The best bargain in the marketplace is the counsel of experts.” People do not want to be opposed; they wish to be affirmed. Fearful that they may be opposed rather than affirmed, they do not ask. The issue is not determining the will of God, but rather seeking His will. To properly seek the will of God you must, in a spirit of neutrality, come before God with an open hand, broken spirit, and contrite heart. After seeking the Face of God, ask the counsel of proven men who love you and watch for...
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