by Walt Henrichsen | Dec 18, 2017 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“…when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8 People argue that some of the biblical commands are cultural; they apply to the culture of that day, but not to ours. If this is true, then you must answer two questions: 1) Who decides which commandments are cultural and which are not? Warning: your answer will always be subjective, and ultimately based on today’s culture rather than the culture of the Bible. 2) If the commandments are cultural, then are not the promises also cultural? Logically, you cannot conclude one group is cultural and the other not. And if the promises are cultural, you lose all hope of heaven. Commandments are by their nature clear and concise; you find them in the imperative voice. There is no ambiguity in “do not steal,” and “husbands, love your wives.” You may disagree on what loving your wife looks like, but the command is not ambiguous. Doctrine may be ambiguous, but commands are not. Most men love competition and hate confrontation. For this reason they are willing to surrender to the argument of their wives that commandments like head covering in 1 Corinthians 11 are cultural. Christians are far more influenced by their culture than they are by Scripture. Jesus said, “He who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me.”1 If you do not have a heart to obey all that God commands, you forfeit a biblical hope of heaven. Obviously, not all who have assurance of salvation go to heaven. Remember, there is no necessary relationship between God using a...
by Walt Henrichsen | Nov 20, 2017 | Articles, Mentors Corner
In Romans 5:1‐11 the Apostle asks and answers the question, “Why does God treat His friends like they are His enemies?” He answers by noting that life is filled with tribulation, which God brings into our lives to purify our hope. All tribulation and opposition in life come from God. There are only two people in the universe that can hurt you, God and you. You hurt yourself when you sin. Otherwise, all pain, hurt, opposition, persecution, etc. originates with God. This, the Bible calls testing. James 1:12‐15 teaches that the difference between a temptation and a test is the believer’s response to it. God tests, and when we fail the test by sinning, it is a temptation. God never tests for the purpose of making people sin. People sin because they refuse to respond correctly to God’s tests. It seems that there are three fundamental areas in which God tests: 1) ‐ By asking you to do what you do not want to do, illustrated by God asking Jonah to preach to Nineveh. 2) ‐ By not letting you do what you want to do, illustrated by circumstances preventing you from completing your plans. 3) ‐ By taking from you something that you consider precious, illustrated by God taking away your health, your spouse, your child, etc. God tests His people, but is adamant in His insistence that we not test Him. Hebrews 3:8‐12 reminds the reader that at Kadesh‐Barnea God tested Israel by asking them to fight the giants. Israel tested God by refusing to fight. God had Israel’s best interest in mind when He asked Israel...
by Ron Hocutt | Nov 6, 2017 | Articles, Mentors Corner
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. I became aware recently of a beautiful real-world example of the promise in 1 Cor 10-13 and am relaying this with permission as I thought it a rare glimpse into the true day-to-day struggles, trials, and temptations we must overcome if we are to be true obedient disciples of Jesus Christ. The scenario went like this: “ …I was purchasing something online from a vendor and using PayPal to pay for it. They asked me to select the “Friends and Family” button on PayPal so they wouldn’t get charged a fee for the transaction. “ What would you do? This may seem like a simple thing not worthy of God’s attention, but with obedience, the devil is in the details, literally. I think the most common reaction among Christians and non-Christians alike would be to just select the “Friends and Family” button to avoid any conflict. If the Spirit tweaked our conscience, we might justify it as a good thing by feeling we’d done the person a favor by saving them the money. This person, however, felt differently. A man with a pretty clear sense of his own depravity, he was aware of his desire to simply do as they asked, but also aware that this would be a lie and therefore an abomination to God. Not...
by Walt Henrichsen | Oct 23, 2017 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.” Deuteronomy 5:27 When God gave His Law to Israel on Mt. Sinai, all the people heard God give the Ten Commandments. They then asked Moses to receive the rest of the Law and function as a mediator between them and God. They discovered that it was terrifying to hear God speak. The generation that began the Exodus exercised the option of accepting God’s Word through another rather than hear Him themselves. Today God’s people hear Him speak, by necessity, through God’s representatives who recorded His Word in Scripture. Are you grateful for this, or would you rather be a Moses, Jeremiah, or Apostle Paul? I confess that I am grateful that I don’t hear God directly, for if I did and heard Him say something seemingly different from what the Bible teaches (as did Paul when he said the New Testament saints don’t have to keep the Old Testament Law), I would have to stand without the affirmation of the Body of Christ. How could I know that I was not like so many kooks and heretics before me who said they heard God speak and then led people astray? Knowing my propensity for self-delusion, I would rather take my risk with Scripture than with a direct word from God. For more articles by Walt...
by Craig McAndrews | Oct 2, 2017 | Articles, Mentors Corner
In a world filled with multi-tasking, speedy technology, on-demand entertainment, and social media, it is easy to understand how we get distracted. I have been disappointed at times when I realize how much of my attention the computer, or some other electronic device has captured eaten up my time. What about you, when was the last time you sat still, by yourself, with zero stimulation—all in an effort to quiet your soul? My guess is that it has been awhile. In fact, if you are under the age of thirty, you may never have done anything like that. For anyone pursuing a deeper relationship with God and a closeness to Jesus, the idea of distraction can be depressing. It is challenging enough to handle the day-to-day work that comes our way, but we also live in a culture that rewards busyness over quiet reflection. What we need is a supernatural time management program, but, until that gets discovered, we can look to the Bible for three key thoughts on dealing with distraction. Purpose—The apostle Paul provides perspective on biblical purpose in Colossians 1:28 when he writes, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.” He makes it clear that this is what he works for; to proclaim Jesus to people and challenge them to grow in God’s word. We have a charge to the do the same thing and a clearly stated purpose plays a major role in keeping us “on task”. Do you have clarity on your purpose? Priorities—Having a clear focus on...
by Walt Henrichsen | Sep 4, 2017 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“…He saved them for His name’s sake, that He might make His mighty power to be known…And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy…They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel…They forgot God who saved them, who performed great deeds in Egypt…So He raised His hand in oath to make them fall in the wilderness.” Psalm 106:8, 10, 13, 21, 26 You would think that when God delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage that He would have led them to happier circumstances. In reality the opposite seems to have been the case: They ate bland “manna,” experienced thirst, were led on long marches, and were given a set of harsh expectations from God (in the form of the Law) that they did not have to obey when in Egypt. How does this happen? It seems that the pattern is consistently the same: You cry to God in your need. He delivers you, and with His deliverance He establishes certain expectations. You, in turn, develop your own expectations of God. When these two sets of expectations clash, you are tempted to take things into your own hands, exacerbating the problem. Our immutable God does not change. When He delivers His people from the shackles of sin He does not guarantee happier circumstances. Often His people appear to experience a harsher life than before their conversion. This is, of course, not always the case. Many testify with the Psalmist, “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.”1 But our...
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