by Walt Henrichsen | Jan 4, 2016 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” Exodus 14:14 When Israel reached the Red Sea, the Egyptian army approached their rear to recapture them and return them to a life of slavery. To quiet their hearts, Moses gave this instruction; they were to remain passive and God would deliver them without their needing to fight. Years later, after King Solomon replaced his father as king of Israel, he did four things to “secure the kingdom in Solomon’s hands:”1 First, he had Adonijah killed, who had endeavored to establish himself as king prior to Solomon. Second, he had Joab, the commander of the Lord’s army killed. Third, he removed Abiathar as high priest, replacing him with Zadok, Solomon’s personal choice. Fourth, he ensured that Shimei died, who had belittled King David. Throughout Solomon’s reign it appears that he looked more to his own interests, rather than passively following the advice of Moses on the Exodus. In both the illustration of the Exodus and Solomon, it appears that their strategies worked, and Scripture does not comment on which of the two He favored. During the time when Joshua led Israel, God rebuked the people because “…the men…asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.”2 I can find no evidence that Solomon ever “sought counsel of the Lord.” Assuming that you “seek counsel of the Lord,” you still have to decide when God wants you to passively wait on Him and when He expects you to actively do what seems best to you. It may be that God is intentionally ambiguous to keep you perpetually dependent...
by Gayle Jackson | Dec 28, 2015 | Articles, Mentors Corner
What will we be held accountable for in Heaven? Some today say “nothing” but this thinking is not found in the bible. I think our first response would be our adherence to His teaching in the Bible. But I must say the largest percentage of the men I know live “somewhat” of a form of a moral life but not necessarily obedient to the Scripture. Their view of God as a nice, sugar daddy, understanding figure is in question. They basically have accepted Christ but live on the fringe of the Christian Word. They somewhat buy in to this proposition of no accountability with God. In obeying the Word, a tricky part of adhering to the Word is your handling of the positive commands of God. Notice 2 things about the positive commands 1. There are no metrics to these commands. Only God can keep score. 2. We get to define how these commands are to be applied in our environment/culture. Good news: you get to decide what the application of these commands looks like. Bad news: you get to explain your decision on application to God. But what I have observed as the greatest short fall in today’s man is his lack of vision or development of his Giftedness for his place and work in the kingdom of God on earth. God has given us our giftedness to live a life for Him in our times. Our giftedness may help us in business and society and school but it appears to me that God gave the gifts to us mainly to be used in the kingdom of God....
by Rob Amerine | Dec 21, 2015 | Articles, Testimonies
One morning over a year ago God provided a ministry opportunity at a local coffee shop. At the time I had been displaced from my home and in the throes of a very challenging and painful family situation. I was angry and financially wiped out. Feeling overwhelmed about the decisions I had made to this point and the consequences that it meant for my family I was broken and had cried out that morning for direction and mercy from the Lord. Just hours later I found myself in a conversation with a guy older than me who had moved to town weeks earlier and said he had come to the Lord a few years ago. In our first meeting when I asked why he moved here he said outright “I’m just looking to be discipled”. I was pretty taken back by this and knowing my current situation I was thinking that this guy needed someone older who had it more together and could invest the time and energy he needed. We traded contact information and I just went about my day trying to manage my emotions and pains the best I could. I ran into him again and again that week at the same coffee shop so we ended up having a few more conversations that quickly turned to spiritual matters. From what he shared he had a solid understanding of the gospel but really wanted to know how to study the bible. He had a very likable personality and seemed to know a lot of people. I soon found out that he was basically homeless but was finding...
by Ed Allen | Dec 14, 2015 | Articles, What Do You Think?
1 Corinthians 15: 1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. (Observation) The gospel by which a man is saved, which Paul preached, which the Corinthians believed, was in accordance with the Scriptures. The death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ was witnessed by many, including Paul. (Interpretation) The truth of the Old testament prophesies about Jesus and the truth of the words of Jesus Christ about Himself are demonstrated in His death burial and resurrection. I submit to you that the passage also demonstrates the ability of Jesus to keep His promise “…that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (Cross-reference) John 14: 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through...
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 Skip Tschantz | Nov 30, 2015 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Responding to Society Titus 3:1-8 Part 1 – Identifying the Issue This short study on responding to our society may leave us with some challenging questions about our personal application. Certainly it begs the questions: “what about all the garbage that is going on in our society?” Aren’t we to take a stand against the moral decline, the political direction that we may not like and a whole host of other issues? Aren’t we to try our best to change society to reflect Biblical standards? What does a Biblical response look like? What kind of an obligation do we have to our children and grandchildren? These are serious if not daunting questions for the follower of Christ. No one can tell you what your application should look like in the area of stewardship or even the positive commands. The challenge is left up to each one of us to determine how God would have us respond. However, we can gain some valuable insight from Scripture to help us navigate this critical issue. To do this we will look at the epistle of Titus. Titus was ministering on the island of Crete where there were a number of pockets of believers scattered around the various cities of this island. This was an area that was as pagan and godless at we could possibly imagine and the purpose of Paul’s letter to Titus was to give him instruction on how to instruct the various churches in the area of Godly behavior. The epistle basically breaks down into three sections. Godliness in the church – Chapter 1 Godliness in the home –...
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