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...
by Ed Allen | Sep 27, 2022 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“And he (the angel) said to me (John), ‘Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy’” (Revelation 11:11). Jesus said in response, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.” (Revelation 22:12). “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.” “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, ‘Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them” (Revelation 14:9-13). Observations We carry our temporal character into eternity, whether good or bad. Our character is not “transformed” at the entering into...
by Ed Allen | Aug 29, 2022 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Text: 1 John 1, 3, 4; Matthew 18; Romans 5 1 John 4:19-21: “We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.” (Observation): We are commanded to love our brother. One cannot love God and hate his brother. (Interpretation): I suggest to you that the word brother in the passage means a fellow adoptee into the family of God, by faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, a fellow Christian. Therefore, the conclusion is that hatred for someone who has the Spirit of God in them precludes the possibility that the hater could love God. Further, it is by God’s love that He sacrificed Jesus to pay for our sins. Therefore, the statement: We love because God loved us first, as it says in Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Consider Matthew 18:15-17: “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church,...
by Chris Martin | Aug 9, 2022 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Evangelism comes naturally to some. They count it as a spiritual gift. For the rest of us it can feel like a challenge or even a grind as we flop around like a fish out of water, not knowing what to do or how to do it. We may not recognize the opportunities in front of us to be undertaken, regretfully seeing many of these opportunities in the rear-view mirror. Jesus commands us to “go make disciples” prior to his accession into the heavenlies (Matthew 28:18-20). Therefore, it is the responsibility of all men to be involved in evangelism, sharing the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ– regardless of spiritual giftedness. The obedient man of God is involved in evangelism. To say otherwise runs counter to Biblical teaching. It would suggest that a man does not need to be merciful, does not need to serve, has no need to be generous–simply because he does not identify any of these as his spiritual gift. Certainly, a lack of giftedness in a particular arena is not an adequate justification in neglecting obedience to those things to which God has commanded. Evangelism is for every one of us–not because God needs us. He alone builds His Church. He gave us evangelism because we need it. The man of God who understands this attempts to weave evangelism into the fabric of his day. Having a mind for evangelism helps a man daily “regard no man according to the flesh” (II Corinthians 5:16) and helps him maintain an eternal perspective throughout his day. “While we look not at the things which are seen, but...
by Joe Bradley | Jul 18, 2022 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Life is a journey! It’s often a series of walks through valleys, climbing peaks, descending back into the valley and then repeating. It’s been said that life is a marathon, not a race. There are several significant life events (this list not exhaustive) that illustrate the challenge of the marathon…here are four: Death of a loved one Major illness or injury Job loss Relocation Have you experienced one of these “life events” recently? Perhaps a series of them within a short period of time? Are you at a point in your life where it seems to be one “hit” after another? Well, don’t feel like you own the exclusive rights. None are exempt! Are you on the top of the mountain? Remember that it takes less time (usually) to descend back down into the valley than it did to ascend up. God has a plan for each and every one of us. But know that He is Sovereign — and He is Good — ALWAYS! We can look at these “life events” from either a temporal or an eternal perspective. The temporal perspective: Life is a bowl of lemons – even when I make lemonade, it is still at best, bittersweet. I fight and fight and fight and still don’t seem to be making much progress. My efforts aren’t enough. I manage sometimes to get to the top of the hill but unsure...
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