by Trevor McDowell | Jul 11, 2022 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Lately, I have been spending time in Daniel chapter 9. This chapter has Daniel offering one of the great prayers in the Bible. And as an example to us, here we see how a man of God prayed to the Lord. We are told in this chapter that Daniel realizes that the 70 years of Babylonian captivity are about up, and the Jews would be returning to Jerusalem soon. Daniel decides to pray to God about this. It is interesting that instead of praying for God to send them back to Jerusalem, out from under their pain of their circumstances and into freedom, this is a prayer of repentance! As I reflect on the life of Daniel, he seems to be one of the few Old Testament characters that lives a consistently righteous life with no major screw ups. Many great men of the Bible had great flaws, which can be comforting for us that have flaws, but Daniel operated with wisdom and an unwavering desire to follow God throughout his life. Under great pressure and persecution, he never seemed to waver in his commitment to God no matter what the circumstance. However, in the opening of his prayer he confesses his sins and the sins of Israel. In verse 5 he says, “we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from your commandments and ordinances.” I would have thought it would be appropriate for Daniel to observe that Israel had served its due sentence and it was now time for God to return them to Jerusalem. But instead, Daniel repents for the Nation, including...
by Mitch Hershey | Jun 13, 2022 | Articles, Mentors Corner
It seems to me that obedience has become a four letter word, both outside and inside the church. Outside the church, every person is free to decide what they should obey. “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6). Without a normative absolute truth for all, obedience looks different for each person. Inside the church, where the Bible gives us absolute truth for all, obedience has become synonymous with legalism. When (or if) we hear someone speak on obedience, it is common to declare that a works-based righteousness is being taught, rather than a doctrine of grace. As I consider what the Bible has to say about obedience, a few thoughts come to mind. Obedience does not save me, but I cannot be saved without obedience. The following statements have been tremendously helpful in helping me to see the importance of obedience while understanding that it is not what saves me. The ground of my salvation is God’s grace freely given to me through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. The condition of my salvation is faith in Jesus Christ and declaring him as my savior. The evidence of my salvation is obedience to His commands. These statements need to be understood in the correct order (ground → condition → evidence). I am saved by grace alone, through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9), not by anything I do. And yet obedience is an integral part of that equation because when we declare Christ, the Holy Spirit resides in us and we are a new creation! (2 Corinthians 5:17) As a new creation, our lives should bear godly...
by Ed Allen | May 17, 2022 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Matthew 10: 26“Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31“So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. (Observation): The disciples are told not to fear those who hate them, but to fear God, to whom His disciples are valuable. (Interpretation): There is no fear of loss if the thing that could be lost is of little or no value to the one who possesses it. On the other hand, the fear of loss is great when the possession is of great value. The love of God even extends to the individual hairs on a believer’s head. Compared to that, why should the disciples fear “those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul?” The one who loves God fears separation from Him, for the Love of God is eternal and immeasurably more valuable than a temporary earthly body made of flesh and blood. (Cross-reference): Philippians 1: 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Psalm 111: 9 He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever;...
by Jerry Bangert | Dec 28, 2021 | Articles, Mentors Corner
In the Fall and subsequent redemption of man by the blood of Jesus Christ, the glory of God is maximized, in that His Son now takes center stage to a watching universe. But redemption is in response to our sin, and because God hates sin, it must be expunged from us. The Roman Catholic Church teaches the concept of Purgatory, a place after death and before heaven in which one’s sins are purged before entering eternity. The concept of purging our sins seems biblical but the time and place for this is extra-biblical. The time and place for the purging of our sins is not after death and in Purgatory but now and on earth. Our fallen world is the best of all possible worlds, not to maximize human happiness, but to purge us of our sins. Recall Revelation 22:11: “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.” Something important is permanently fixed in us at the time of our death. If this does not strike terror in us, then we have not understood. If this is the God-ordained purpose for our lives on earth, the question then is, am I taking full advantage of it? Do I have the same sense of urgency and single-mindedness about the purgation of my sins as I do for—well, you fill in the blank? Only the Holy Spirit can kill my sin, but He does so for the obedient, who consciously strive...
by Jerry Bangert | Dec 13, 2021 | Articles, Mentors Corner
The world is collectively waging war against God. We neither like the way He made us nor the way He made the world. We feel driven to correct His many mistakes. The rebellion is on, for none can deny the suffering and inequities of life. How can this world be the work of a loving, omnipotent God? In 1710, the renowned Enlightenment figure Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz opined in his Theodicy that our world was not only the handiwork of God, but the “best of all possible worlds.” He was a serious and brilliant Christian, having invented calculus contemporaneously but independently of Newton. Some believe that he was the last “universal genius,” possessing all the knowledge in the world. But few have shared his opinion. In fact, Voltaire, shocked by the 1755 great earthquake of Lisbon that killed 60,000 people, disagreed so vehemently that in Candide, he placed this quote in the mouth of a fool. Most today would agree with Voltaire. But might Leibnitz be right? Recall a point made by C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain that if God is all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful, then how can He fail to produce a perfect creation? Even the introduction of sin into the world should be unable to disrupt His plans. He said this despite having survived the horrors of the trenches of World War I. But even if we concede this powerful and difficult to refute point, still ours does not feel like the best world possible. We must be missing something. I suggest that something is purpose. To answer the question of whether this is the best...
by Bill McCurine | Nov 29, 2021 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Mother Theresa once said: “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” In the words of Sylvia Plath, an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer, “the loneliness of the soul in its appalling self-consciousness is horrible and overpowering.” Many people experience loneliness. Sometimes that loneliness is overpowering. Who understands? Our Lord understands because He, too, experienced deep, soul-shaking loneliness. Author Dan Brown said: “the worst kind of loneliness in the world is the isolation that comes from being misunderstood.” Few people understood the ministry of Jesus Christ during His lifetime. Probably the only ones who had some understanding of His purpose were his mother, his father, John the Baptist and his relatives Zacharias and Elizabeth (the aged parents of John the Baptist). But Zacharias, Elizabeth, Joseph, and John the Baptist were all dead by the time Jesus began His public ministry. His community did not understand Him. Most of the Jewish leaders, who should have rejoiced at His arrival, considered him a bastard. They said to Jesus, we “were not born of sexual immorality.” John 8:41 By such hateful words they were saying that Jesus was either a bastard or He was the product of sexual immorality. The temple guards hunted him down at night like a common criminal. The Sanhedrin was so eager to condemn Him to death that they procured knowingly false witnesses to testify against Him. Finally, when Jesus boldly announced that He is the Messiah, the high priest tore his robes in fury and pronounced the death sentence. Pontius Pilate did not understand Him, considering Jesus as just a pitiful itinerant...
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