by Scott Bangert | Mar 11, 2024 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Part 2 of 3: The Mind and Heart Influenced Delayed Gratification James 5:7-8 “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.” James commends an unnatural habit to us: waiting for what we want. This is an example of what psychologists call delayed gratification. Delayed gratification is the ability to resist an impulse for immediate reward to receive a more favorable reward later. This is very difficult for most of us. This is the reason why my kids have a hard time waiting until Christmas morning to open their presents (ok, I have a hard time waiting too). Given a choice, we would rather have a reward now rather than later. Psychologists call this delay discounting. The farther away a reward is, the less value it has to us. Hence, the saying, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” It is better to take what you can get now than to risk trying for more in the uncertain future. Psychologists almost universally agree that delayed gratification is a key characteristic of successful people. As the English proverb says, “good things come to those who wait.” Psychologists also believe that while there are some innate differences in our tendencies toward delayed gratification, our ability to practice delayed gratification can be heavily shaped by our environment. It is a skill that can and should be learned. What is concerning...
by Scott Bangert | Feb 27, 2024 | Articles, Mentors Corner
The influence of social media and smart phones in our lives is top of mind for all of us. Scott Bangert walks us through this relevant and concerning topic in 3 successive articles, commencing with today’s introduction. You’ll want to read and reflect on this helpful and thorough approach and then tune into articles 2 and 3 coming up in the following weeks. Scott provides some in-depth thinking on the subject and covers areas such as addiction, concentration, sleep, predators, etc. for your consideration. Part 1 of 3: The Mind and Heart Ensnared Solomon says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” While I believe he is correct, I have to admit to some wavering doubts when I think about how much life has changed since the first iPhone was released in 2007. I have friends who frequently talk about throwing their phone in a lake, and while I can understand their perspective, I can’t say that I can personally relate. I love my phone. I would part from it only for an upgrade. I definitely did not associate phones with anxiety and fear. That completely changed when my children started asking for phones of their own. When I was a kid, one of the biggest dangers I was warned about was guns, and my parents made me take a gun safety class before being allowed to handle one. Today, our kids face a different danger: we have to decide when to give our kids smart phones or allow them on social media. This certainly seems like a much less consequential decision, but despite their innocent appearance, I think...
by Ron Hocutt | Jan 15, 2024 | Articles, Mentors Corner
I was recently the recipient of an incredibly painful truth about myself. Specifically, God showed me with stark clarity how much I crave the approval of men rather than Him. The way He revealed it to me left no room for argument; I was guilty as charged. It was then, however, that I felt the desperation that comes with increased knowledge of ourselves. How was I to do anything about this? It’s not as if I could simply will myself to be better – self reformation is always doomed to failure. This sort of sin in particular is difficult to overcome as it is a hidden sin of the heart rather than one of action. I was fearful that there was nothing I could do or stop doing to change anything. For half an hour I sat and prayed, completely undone by this revelation of my own dark soul. I had always known I had this tendency, but I worked hard to convince myself it wasn’t severe. It’s as if my entire walk with Christ led up to this moment of realization, and I had nowhere to go. It was at that moment, however, that the Spirit reached down into my heart and pulled out a memory verse I had learned years before from Psalm 51: (5) Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. (6) Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. (7) Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter...
by Bill McCurine | Jan 2, 2024 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1:20-23). The Incarnation was one of God’s greatest miracles. It makes no sense except for the grace of our omnipotent and loving God. Jesus came at a terrible time. The Roman Empire, the greatest power on earth at the time, occupied Israel. Oppressed Israel was a small, insignificant nation without a military. Jesus came in weakness, not in power. He came alone as a baby, the most vulnerable and helpless. Jesus was born to poor, insignificant parents. Moreover, Jesus’s parents were betrothed but not yet married, ensuring that he and they would live under a cloud of gossip and social disapproval all His earthly life. Jesus came in humility, not in grandeur. The source of all splendor was born in a manger with farm animals. Angels announced His birth, but the world was ignorant of His birth except for a few shepherds and wise men from the East. When the wise men told the Jewish leaders of his birth, the Jerusalem leaders were too preoccupied with their worldly...
by Jerry Bangert | Dec 18, 2023 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Matthew 9:6, “’But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—then He said to the paralytic, ‘Get up, pick up your bed and go home.’” It has been said that Christ came to change the world. If this is so, then He paid a needlessly high price. And His followers, no price at all. This would almost certainly be true if grace and forgiveness were the same thing. To see this important difference consider another Gospel. Suppose that, instead of being born into obscurity and poverty, Christ entered this world through a wealthy and influential Jewish family, having access to and credibility with the Jewish elite. At the right time He would go to them and demonstrate His miraculous powers, proclaiming Himself to be Messiah and enlisting their aid to bring His kingdom to Israel and the world. He would then go to the Roman occupiers and demand they leave His kingdom. Any resistance on their part would be met with the power of legions of angels called down by Christ. He doesn’t go to the cross. How quickly the Lord could have ushered in His glorious kingdom! And what of the sin of His people, both Jew and Gentile? He has “authority on earth to forgive sins.” It would have been so easy. But there are at least four flies in this fragrant but flawed ointment. First, the righteous anger of God has not been propitiated, nor His justice satisfied. Second, His people, though forgiven remain slaves to sin and subject to death. Third, Satan has certain claims on...
by Jim Gustafson | Dec 5, 2023 | Articles, Mentors Corner
We look forward with eagerness of our inheritance as believers in Jesus Christ. It is the ultimate hope that we will spend our eternity in heaven, out of this world and with the Savior. Any temporal inheritance, riches or reward pales in comparison. We obtain this inheritance only by the gift of the perfect sacrifice by Jesus for our past and future sins as propitiation for God’s required justice. It is this promise that leads us to dependence on Him as none of us can obtain the inheritance by any self-effort or merit. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). As we contemplate what lies ahead in wonder and anticipation, it would stand to reason that this knowledge should impact our behavior today. Gratefulness for His gift of mercy and grace, fear toward His holiness, majesty and power and urgency in response in obedience to One so faithful and loving in providing hope for us, would be logical responses to what He has done on our behalf. That is why we relate to one another in love: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1John 4:7). It is our common inheritance! Have you considered that God is looking forward to His inheritance? His inheritance is us, the saints! Consider: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of...
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