by Gayle Jackson | Nov 14, 2016 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect, but I am pressing on, if I may lay hold of that for which I also was taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Php 3:13 My brothers, I do not count myself to have taken possession, but one thing I do, forgetting the things behind and reaching forward to the things before, Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment, It is God’s plan that we should all die. We have a turn on earth and what we do with it will determine how we live in eternity. This is taught by Jesus and the Apostles. From the Bible we can conclude that our life objective is not the cleaning up of our society. Historically, that pursuit or objective seems to always get off course and with our proposed “reforms”, society will dislike us more. Just think of Ecclesiastes and Solomon’s conclusion of all his efforts in the world. Do you think you are really smarter than the wisest man? Ecc 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. Ecc 12:13-14 This is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. (14) For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good, or...
by Micah Olson | Oct 17, 2016 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Treasures In Heaven Part 4—How Do You See Treasure Clearly? Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 Part 1 – What Is Your Treasure? Part 2 – Where Is Your Treasure? Part 3 – How Do You Store Up Treasure? Part 4 – How Do You See Treasure Clearly? Question: How do you form an accurate filter system? In Matthew 6:19-23, Jesus connects storing up treasures in heaven with having a clear eye. The eye is the lamp of the body, and if our eye is clear we will be full of light. It is only if our eye is clear that we will understand the reality that treasures in heaven are more important than treasures on earth, and only if our eye is clear will we understand how to live our life in such a way that is pleasing to God and leads to treasures in heaven. So let’s take a step backwards and ask, “How do we make our eye clear?” How do we ensure that our view of reality is accurate? Jesus addresses this question a number of ways in the gospels, and the answer always comes back to obedience. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. John...
by Micah Olson | Sep 5, 2016 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Treasures In Heaven Part 1- What Is Your Treasure? Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 Part 1 – What Is Your Treasure? Part 2 – Where Is Your Treasure? Part 3 – How Do You Store Up Treasure? Part 4 – How Do You See Treasure Clearly? Question: What does Christ mean by treasure? In order to think about Matthew 6:19-21 clearly, it is helpful to make a distinction between possessions and treasures. The Greek word translated “treasure” is thesauros which means “the place in which good and precious things are collected and laid up.” I think the best definition for treasure, in the context of Matthew 6:19-21, is: “something that is very special, important, or valuable.” See Note 1 In the context of this article, I define the word “possession” to mean any form of worldly belongings or assets. All men, in some form or another, have worldly possessions. Whether it is your savings account, your 401K, your house, the clothes on your back, or a little food that you have saved for your next meal, no man is completely without worldly possessions. To review…a treasure is something that is very important to you, and a possession is just something that belongs to you. You have many possessions, but not all of your possessions are treasures. My sock...
by Skip Tschantz | Aug 8, 2016 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Responding to Society Keeping the Mission in Focus Being mindful of our mission Titus 3:8: This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. What is Paul referring to that is good and profitable for all men? Lets look at 2 Corinthians 5 where we see an outline of our mission. 2 Cor 5:18-21 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Our mission is not to impact our culture by changing their moral values, or by legislative or judicial process. Our mission is to be an ambassador through whom God can reconcile men and women to Himself. The Bible doesn’t mandate that we are to impact our culture so that it becomes Christianized. To embrace this view will blur our priorities and weaken our allegiance. Our priority is the gospel and our allegiance is to Jesus Christ and to Him alone. Our calling is not to change society...
by Craig McAndrews | Jul 25, 2016 | Articles, Mentors Corner
In Luke 14:25-35 Jesus makes it clear that it costs to follow Him and in concise language He spells out the details on what the cost will be. The words He uses in this teaching really got my attention and challenged me to think about paying the price. His statements are direct and very absolute. Consider verse 26, where He says, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple”, or when He says in verse 27, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Statements like “hate his own father and mother”, “carry your own cross”, and “cannot be my disciple” provide little room for interpretation. Studying these verses has challenged me to ask two very specific questions of myself and I wanted to share them with you as you seek to know our savior more deeply: Question 1: What has following Jesus cost you in your life? Question 2: When have you been uncomfortable or inconvenienced for the sake of Jesus? Are these questions tough to answer? I know when I first started thinking through these questions, I really wondered if following Jesus had cost me anything. In the Luke verses He tells us that being His disciple can cost us relationships, a lot of inconvenient living, our resources of time or money, and even all our possessions. Had I given up any of those things for the sake of Jesus? Fortunately, as I prayerfully thought...
by Gayle Jackson | Jun 13, 2016 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Joh_1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Joh_1:14 And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth. Words are important to our being. Matthew 12: 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 38 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” We think with words, therefore a sloppy vocabulary yields a sloppy mind. A vocabulary full of what we call curse words or slang will yield that kind of thinking. This generation loves the “f:” word. That will be a dominate influence in their thinking. We can’t believe that there is no impact from a bad, poor, dirty, etc. vocabulary. We think with words. Ergo, a society with a small vocabulary have a limited opportunity to develop. I have been told that those who study the “lost” tribes in the jungle, find the people with a small anemic vocabulary have a very underdeveloped culture. Think of the inner city’s vocabulary and look at the product. Just think of hip hop verses classical music and their impact of society. Evidence says we are better off with a strong good vocabulary in our culture. But all tribes of people have a word for God. The key to speed reading is your vocabulary. If you have a weak vocabulary, you are constantly struggling with...
Recent Comments