by Nigel Pink | Nov 13, 2020 | Articles, Mentors Corner
As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. (2 Corinthians 7:9) Paul is telling the church of Corinth and everyone subsequently, a very important truth; that the Christian faith is not a feel-good religion. Indeed, sorrow is central to Jesus’ teaching: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5:4) Mourning precedes assuagement, the fullness of which is deferred to the eternal state. The word in Greek that is translated ‘mourn’ is πενθέω penteo ‘to lament’, or ‘grieve as for the dead’ and is apposite because all must die to self to gain Christ; that is the ‘godly grief’ of which Paul speaks. Elsewhere in Scripture, remorse and contrition are recognized as essential emotions in approaching God, David realizes that no sacrifice can be holy or honorable unless it proceeds from heartfelt remorse. …a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:17) Jesus contrasted the stance in prayer of the haughty Pharisee and humble Tax Collector who: …standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ (Luke 18:13) Only the Tax Collector will be made righteous before God, and that because of sorrowful humility. It is essential that all who would hope for forgiveness realize they stand as the Tax Collector, an object of wrath. Tears cannot soften the heart of God; seven times Jesus informs his disciples that the unrighteous will bewail their fate (eg. Matthew 8:12). Mercy...
by Justin Bradford | Oct 29, 2020 | Articles, Mentors Corner
2 Corinthians 13:11 “Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” Romans 15:5 “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,” Mind (phroneō) – to be of the same mind, i.e. to agree together, cherish the same views, be harmonious Here we have two of many examples in the Bible where we are commanded to be like-minded with other believers. I ask myself in today’s world with all the differing opinions and thoughts, how do we do this? This is a huge problem if we think this means we need everyone to think and act exactly like us. Paul says to imitate him as he imitates Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1) and that he and the other apostles have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). The only way we can agree, cherish the same views and be harmonious is by imitating Paul as he imitates Christ. The same mind we seek is Christ’s, rather than convincing others to agree with our thoughts and opinions. I next ask myself what are some practical things that lead me to think I am seeking after the mind of Christ? What are key things to look for in like-minded brothers and sisters? This probably isn’t an all-inclusive list but i think it’s a good starting point. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is from God and is authoritative in my life. 1 John 1:1-4, 2:24, 4:5-6 The interpretation of scripture is on...
by Ron Hocutt | Oct 16, 2020 | Articles, Mentors Corner
As Christians, we are called to live and minister in a fallen world while not becoming a part of it. That anyone succeeds at this is a miracle. The world around us is so “real,” our needs so strong, and the promise for which we labor so ill-defined, that to walk the narrow path that leads to salvation is impossible. Thankfully we are reminded that what is impossible with men is possible with God. To succeed in this journey, He gives us three imperatives: Remember. Watch. Hope. Make no mistake, each of these is a command by itself, but they do not stand alone. The life well lived in Christ requires all three, because each of them speaks to a different part of our life. They are three legs of a stool supporting the sanctified life by directing us how to live and relate to the past, the present, and the future. The command to remember speaks to the past as in Ephesians 2:11-12, “Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision ….. remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” We remember so that we never go back. Once you set your shoulder to the plow, there can be no retreat, and remembering where you came from is the key to knowing where you are going. We are commanded to watch in the present. Watch not just for his coming (Mark 13:35), but also...
by Jim Gustafson | Oct 1, 2020 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” – Romans 8:25 Hope is the unseen benefit we long for. It drives us. We walk by faith because of it. Hope is powerful—it defines our realities. They may be unrealistic, indescribable and unobtainable. But nevertheless, our actions in faith are a function of our hope. Most of us likely eat, work, exercise, spend our money, worship, love and rest because of it. You define a man’s hope, you can predict his actions. And conversely, you can see a man’s hope by his behaviors. The thing we hope for is a noun, as in the Blessed Hope. But it is also a verb as in our verse: “We hope for what we do not see.” What we hope in determines what we hope for. I.e. we hope in God of the scriptures because of the goodness and integrity of His character and the promises He holds for us. He then defines in our lives what we hope for. We hope for the return of Christ, a new body, salvation, heaven. These things were defined in us as our hope in Him was developed, i.e., as our minds are renewed toward a deeper understanding of God, so our eternal hope is developed. For what do we wait? We wait for that which we hope. We wait because we hope. And the object or power of our wait determines the validity of our waiting. Waiting can be a challenge. It requires patience and trust in the things we don’t see or control. But it...
by Nigel Pink | Sep 17, 2020 | Articles, Mentors Corner
One of the great spiritual deceptions is that there is a neutral position or state in which the disciple of Christ can idle. When back-sliding Israel became idolatrous, they swung from worshiping God to bowing to idols. Many in the Church today, think this example no longer applies; apostates do not erect a statue to Baal or Molech, yet think that ‘time away from the Lord’ is not an evil; however, Jesus’ teaching is crystal and warns that a person cannot serve two masters: ‘Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money…’ (Matthew 6:24) The word translated ‘money’ is a Greek transliteration from the Aramaic, μαμωνᾶς mamonas, and it means any ‘treasure’ in which we place trust; therefore, the nature of the idol is not the issue; idolatry is turning away from God. We either serve God or we oppose Him; rebellion knows no middle way – as described in another of Jesus’ teaching: ‘Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.’ (ibid 7:13-14) Again, this is starkly binary. Thus, the disciple is either ignorant of Scripture or self-deluded if he believes that he may please himself with impunity. There is no activity or lack thereof, that is spiritually neutral. We cannot think that there is ‘down-time’ in God’s economy. We either...
by Ron Hocutt | Sep 3, 2020 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Psalms 77:19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. One of the first questions a young child learns to ask is “Why?” They ask it repeatedly and relentlessly, eager to learn about the world around them. Even as adults, it is the question we all want to know. About everything. Always. Why did this happen? Why did you say that? Why am I being taxed like this? And on and on and on until we die. But even then, we ask it – why am I dying now? And we reserve special questions for when we’re actually dead. “When I get to see God, I’m going to ask him why….” While meditating on the nature of curiosity the other day I was struck with how dangerous a question it is. As a young child, we ask it primarily to explore and learn about the world around us. As we grow older however, the motivation for the question changes. We begin to ask it to understand and manipulate the motivations of others “…but mom, why can’t I have a cookie?”. Eventually we no longer ask it seeking understanding of God’s universe at all, but rather control. Understanding something is the first step to controlling it, and the question “why? is the key to understanding. How is this dangerous? Chiefly for two reasons: it assumes we are equal with God in understanding His infinite ways and demonstrates a subtle attempt to control His providence. Job spends chapter after chapter establishing his innocence but also seeking to understand why tribulation...
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