Thought Provoking…
Category: discipleship
“Mentor Like Jesus” by Regi Campbell (Review)
I ordered my copy of Mentor Like Jesus
The author, Regi Campbell writes with a simplistic and straight forward fashion. In essence the book is his story on how he fell into group mentoring, the lessons he learned along the way, and how similar it really was to how Jesus mentored the disciples. The book also has a co-author named Richard Chancy who had been through one of Regi’s mentoring groups. At the end of each chapter Richard shares the perspective of the guys who were being mentored.
Overall I really liked this book. Some of the principles were common, but others stood out as brilliant insights into the world of mentoring. Probably the biggest key I took away was that mentoring in group dynamic can be beneficial to those being mentored as well as to the one mentoring.
If you are looking for a good book on mentorship, this book is for you. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to begin a mentor group. The retail price is $16.99 (Hardcover), I got my copy for just under $12 at Amazon.com. I gave it five stars.
- 3 Things I Learned from My Mentor
- Lead Like Ike (Review)
- 7 Leadership Lessons from the Life of Alfred the Great
- 7 Steps of a Unified Group
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Wandering in the Dessert (Review)
Wanderin’ in the Desert
My daughter, though she was able to retain a lot of information from the program, was impressed on a different level. The program was fast paced enough to keep her attention all the way through. She really enjoyed the songs making me play them over and over for her. After the program I asked her several questions and she responded pretty well.
Overall I was highly impressed with the 3rd disc as I have been with the whole series to date. The only draw back was that in between segments it shows a little boy (puppet) talking a little disrespectfully to his mother who is silent and off camera. I discussed this with my daughter as an example of behavior that I expect her not to emulate. Beyond that the whole production is pretty amazing. I would highly recommend it to parents and grandparents to watch and review with their children. I can see it being a great resource for bible lessons! I give it four stars.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a DVD of this program free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their Tyndale Blog Network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
The Prayer of the Lord By R.C. Sproul (Review)
The Prayer of the Lord
The Prayer of the Lord
If you are looking for a great book that teaches about the nature of prayer with the scriptures as its source, this book is for you. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in developing their prayer life. The retail price is $15.00 (Hardcover), and is available at a discount at steep discount at Amazon.com for $10.20. I gave it five stars.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Reformation Trust Publishers as part of their Blog for a Free Book Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
1 Kings 4
Chapter 4 of 1 Kings contains the account of how Solomon organized and ruled the kingdom of Israel. Sometimes it is easy to get bogged down in a list of names, but names are an important indicator that these events really took place. This story seems like it’s getting better and better to be Solomon and some might be tempted to think that the editor of 1 Kings took a little liscence in painting the story, but the names assure us that these are real historical events.
A few things jump out at me as I read this text.
1. It apperars from how Solomon organized his leaders that he was possibly receiving advice from his Egyptian father-in-law. David and Saul had been kings focused on war and no real organization had been developed. Solomon is now administering a peaceful kingdom and has a chance to streamline the leadership and make things more effective.
2. The sons of Nathan. Some commentators are quick to acknowledge the rewarding of power and position here to the prophet Nathan’s sons. Yet, Narhan the prophet is not the only Nathan with access to the royal court. Indeed, Solomon had a brother named Nathan and given the proximity to the royal court it is likely that these two sons of Nathan were actially Solomons nephews (2 Samuel 5:14).
3. All the realestate (or almost all as opinions vary) promised to Abraham’s descendents is governed by Solomon (compare Genesis 15:18 & Joshua 1:4 with 1 Kings 4:21).
Things are looking good for Solomon. The empire he rules is wealthy, the land is at peace, and people from around the known world are seeking his wisdom. All this because Solomon is following his father’s advice and seeking God.
The story doesn’t end there…
1 Kings 3
Chapter 3 begins with Solomon’s marriage to Pharoh’s daughter. This is most likely to strengthen ties between the two countries and encourage trade across the known world.
Solomon will later get into trouble later for marrying foreign wives. But a distiction mist be made here. Israelites were only forbiden to marry women from the land of Canaan (Exodus 34:16, Deuteronomy 7:3). They were free to marry foreign women given that the women would renounce the gods of their nation and worship God alone (this is the case with Rahab and Ruth who are both foreign women who married Israelites and are the direct ancestors of Solomon). Later when Solomon is married to women who do lead him towards idol worship, there is a distinction made between the Pharoh’s daughter and the other women (1 Kings 11:1-2).
At this point Solomon is honoring the pact he made with his father and seeking the blessing of God. He offers sacrifices and has a dream where God offers Him basically anything. Solomon humbly asks for wisdom. The great thing about asking for wisdom is that true wisdom ultimately comes from walking with God.
God answers Solomon’s request and gives him riches, fame, and peace as well. This is kind of similar to what Jesus said in the New Testament, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and then all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Solomon is off to a good start. His wisdom is confirmed as he arbitrates matters between two women.
Application: are you seeking God? Sometimes we are tempted to ask, beg and plead for small and temporary things. We imagine we have life figured out if we can just get that promotion, more money, etc. Stop and take time to really meet with God today. It’s okay to mention that you have needs, but seek to know Him. Ask Him what you really need.
What are your thoughts on chapter 3?
Last words and First steps (1 Kings 2)
The first part of chapter two holds the last words of David. His statements to Solomon can be broken up into 2 parts. First he is told to trust God, second he is told to clean house of those likely to cause a rebellion.
There is little doubt that these words or thoughts were new to Solomon. How great it is that David now only needs to remind Solomon of what he must already know. David has no new words to offer here, only reminders of lessons that have already been taught.
Application: Don’t wait till your deathbed to let your children (or those who count on you) know what is really important. Live it, speak it and let them know what’s important now. May your last words merely be reminders of wisdom that was already taught. Don’t wait to share the most important things in life.
Through the rest of the chapter Solomon consolidates his power. His brother makes a subtle attempt to regain power by asking to mary David’s nurse. Though David never slept with her, she would have been considered part of the former kings harem. According to some Ancient Near Eastern customs, taking a former kings harem would be a show of legitimate power.
Bathsheba isn’t aware that she is being used by Adonijah but Solomon sees right through the plan and has him killed. Solomon then removes Abithar the priest from his position of power and thus fulfills Gods promise that Eki’s line would be removed from the priesthood (2:27).
Application: God keeps his promises, but he uses people. God’s word never fails. It may take time before we see the end of a matter, but we can rest assured that God already sees the end from the beginning.
Fear God and Keep His Commandment (Ecclesiastes 12)
So now we come to the final chapter. Solomon has taken us on a journey. He has pointed out the vanity of pursuing many things singularly to the neglect of others. He has shown us the profit for work seldom actually satisfies. He has told us that we long for eternity but live a few short years. He has exhausted reason on why its better to be still born than to be under the oppression of others. Finally we are ready for the answer. And what is the answer?
Fear God and keep his commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13). This is what it means to be human. This is how to live a fulfilled life. This is how you keep yourself from destroying yourself. An old Hymn writer put it this way, “Trust and Obey, for their is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” It wasn’t our first thought. It didn’t come to us naturally. We enjoyed small pleasures so much we thought we would pursue pleasure but it never satisfied. Then we sought wisdom, but that increased our grief. Then we thought if we could just own stuff, but then we realized we have to give it away when we die. So we moved on to being better at something than others, but then we realized we were letting life pass us by.
Application: Fear God and keep his commandments. Have you tried it? It really does bring a peace and happiness that outlasts the current situation. You were made to know God. Are you trusting him and obeying his council in your life today?
The Stone the Builder’s Rejected (Sermon Brief)
Pastor was out of town on Sunday and I had a chance to fill the pulpit and preach in his absence. As soon as I have access to the video file we will figure a way to get it up here. In the meantime here is copy of my sermon brief. If you are unfamiliar with a sermon brief, it is a strange creature that is more or less a cross between an outline and a manuscript. Sometimes I use sermon briefs to make sure I have a grasp on the context and message of a passage. You can also get a PDF of the Sermon Brief by clicking here: The Stone the Builders Rejected
Introduction:
The setting for this parable takes place in the larger context of the Jesus’ preaching and teaching ministry in the temple the week of his crucifixion. In the previous chapter Jesus cleansed the temple of money changers. This action immediately draws the attention of “the elders, chief priests and the scribes” often a designation for the ruling body known as the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin sends a delegation to ask Jesus, “under what authority are you doing these things” (Luke 20:2)? Jesus in return asks them about the baptism of John and where he got his authority. The refusal of the scribes and chief priests to acknowledge that John was acting as an agent of God ensures that they would not recognize his authority as their master.
Jesus then picks up with the parable of the wicked tenants in which the central issue is authority. The question arises in this parable, who has the authority? Is it the tenants or is it the land owner? The obvious answer is the land owner and the implications are clear for all who are involved.
The Son the Tenants Rejected
Many of Jesus’ parables are set in the agricultural context of Palestine. Farmers generally filled one of three stations; Landowners, tenants, and day laborers. The difference between tenant farmers and day laborers, “Tenant farmers leased the land and sharecropped with the owner, while poorer people hired out as day laborers” (Brisco, 219).
The parable begins with a wealthy land owner who builds and cultivates a vineyard. Historically the vine has been a symbol for the nation of Israel. Indeed the temple in Jerusalem, where the whole dialogue was taking place between Jesus and his questioners, had a large golden grape vine displayed in a prominent location. Many wealthy families contributed great deals of money to add a grape or a cluster of grapes to the vine. Perhaps some of the men who stood there questioning Jesus had given money to purchase their own grape or cluster to add to the vine.
The scene of a wealthy land owner extending the use of his property to tenants and leaving for an extended period of time was common. “The upper Jordan Valley, the western and northern shores of the Sea of Galilee, and even a considerable portion of Galilee itself, contained vast estates owned by foreigners, men who lived far away from their holdings” (Hendrickson, 891). The financial aspect of the relationship between the land owner and tenants would settled at harvest time when a percentage or set amount of the vineyards fruit would be given to the land owner as payment (Straus, 472).
The land owner had a right to expect a portion of fruit “when the time came” (Luke 20:10). However the tenants beat the servant sent to receive the fruit and they sent him away “empty handed” (Luke 20:10). There is no indication as to why the tenants treated the servants so harshly other than, “they simply rejected the messengers” (Morris, 311).
At this point in the parable the tenants are in violation of a contract and have added insult to injury by mistreating three servants who have come on the landowner’s behalf. The master has every right to send a hit squad after the tenants. As the land owner he is operating out of a position of power, yet the tenants seem to think they can gain power over the master.
The sending of the son by the master is an exercise in self control and patience beyond the scope of expectation. The sending of the son causes the landowner to appear extremely kind and generous. “Rich or poor, all hearers at this point would agree that the land owner is in the right, and that he was benevolent-indeed, strikingly, foolishly benevolent” (Keener, 244).
When they see the son coming they plot to kill the son. The tenants murder the son, perhaps thinking they will gain the rights to the property (Luke 20:14). One commentator writes, “according to a then existing law, under certain conditions if the owner died, leaving no heir, whoever were the first to claim the estate, particularly the occupants, were allowed to have it” (Hendrickson, 892). The Talmud notes, “Tenants were known to claim possession of land they worked for absentee landlords” (Morris, 311-312). They simply presumed that either the landowner was dead or that with all the trouble they had caused, he would not press the issue. The covetousness and lust for full possession of the land that has lead the tenants to mistreat the servants of the master comes to its climax in the murder of the heir. This is an insult to the master that cannot be overlooked.
At this point the story escalates as Luke records that the people respond in terror, recognizing the aim of Christ’s parable. The team sent forth from the Sanhedrin is amazed at the notion that the tenants will have to pay for what they have done to the master’s son. They are quick to understand that this parable has been told against them and they are represented by the wicked tenants in this parable. The notion that these religious men who have labored for the betterment of national Israel would be punished for their rebellion against God must have been a foreign concept to them.
The tenant’s motive for mistreatment and murder in the parable seems to be the prospect of gaining the property rights to the vineyard (Luke 20:14). In a sense they wanted sole control over who enjoyed the pleasures of the vine. Before this passage when Jesus cleanses out the temple he quotes a passage from Isaiah that mentions the prospect of the temple becoming a house of prayer for people from all nations (Luke 19:46, Isaiah 56:7). After the parable Jesus makes a symbolic switch from talking in terms of the vine (national Israel) to the corner stone or foundation of a great building which is associated with church (Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, I Peter 2:6-7).
Just as the wealthy land owner is patient to send messenger after messenger to receive the fruit of the vineyard so God had been patient with the leaders of Israel. However, just as the wicked tenant reign of terror will be brought to an end by a vengeful father, so to was nation of Israel’s leadership expelled from their position a few decades later in 70 A.D. when Rome sacked Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed. Israel ceased to exist and the vineyard had been handed over to a new group of tenants called the apostles.
The Stone the Builders Rejected
Jesus craftily turns the symbolism from a vine representing a national Israel to a stone representing the true temple of God. Jesus changes the picture from a vineyard to a cornerstone. He reminds the Sanhedrin that not only does he have the right as the founder but he also has the right of a judge. ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? (18) Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him” (Luke 20:17-18).
It is not the value to be places on the stone that is in mind, but the destructive nature of the stone against flesh and blood. To fall on the stone or have the stone fall one in either case means destruction. People may reject and oppose Jesus but it is they, not he, who will suffer. The second part of the saying will refer to the future judgment. IT will be their attitude to Jesus that will mean the final destruction of the people of his day. The imagery here is derived from Isaiah 8:14 (Morris, 313).
The stone is also a stone of judgment. It is not susceptible to destruction by its enemies. All efforts against the stone shatter to pieces. Furthermore, it falls in judgment on those who reject it. The verb rendered crush means primarily to winnow, but early versions support the RSV translation (Tolbert, 154).
Conclusion:
The theme for Luke 20:9-19 is the authority of Christ to save Israel and the whole world. The parable enters in context of the inability of the scribes and chief priests to recognize the authority of Christ. In the parable the vineyard will be taken away from the wicked tenants, who killed the son and given to other tenants. This represents Christ taking the light away from the nation Israel and temple worship and expanding it to the living temple of believers who place their faith in Christ.
Hear today the word’s of Christ. Have you rejected the son? God has a right to your life. Are you glorifying God in your existence or have you rejected the authority of God in your life?
Bibliography
I took the liberty of Hyper-linking to all the books in my Bibliography. I linked to the newest editions of the books while leaving the reference information from the older versions (The page numbers in the new editions are likely to be different because of updated content and more/ less comments throughout the book).
Brisco, Thomas V. Holman Bible Atlas
(affiliate link). Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1998.
Carson, D. A., Douglas J. Moo, and Leon Morris. Introduction to the New Testament
(affiliate link). Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992.
Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary
(affiliate link): The Gospel of Luke. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987.
Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
(affiliate link). DownersGrove: Inter Varsity Press, 1993.
Lea, Thomas D., The New Testament: Its Background and Message (affiliate link)
, Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1996).
Morris, C. Leon., ed, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Luke
(affiliate link), vol.3, Revised Ed., Luke, by Leon Morris. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.
Diversify your Investments and Give Generously (Ecclesiastes 11)
Ecclesiastes 11
Solomon tells us to cast our bread upon the water. He is not stating that we should literally go throw bread out at the lake, but rather this is probably a shipping term. In Solomon’s day comerce would take grain and goods from one country to anther via the shipping lanes (on the water). Yet, they didn’t have weather tracking systems and sometimes ships would go to sea never to be heard from again. But, often ships would make it to port. Sell the grain and goods and bring home a hefty profit. Solomon says it is better to go ahead and invest in many places than place all your eggs in one basket (so to speak). You don’t know where the hurricane will strike, the oil leak will emerge, or the demand for 8-tracks will hit rock bottom. However, one thing is sure. If you stare at the sky and try to calculate the weather and never invest, you won’t receive a profit (11:4). Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. So invest in lots of places and spread out the risk.
I think the application here is for more than how you are going to manage your retirement portfolio. Sometimes we can be paralised by the obstacles ahead of us. Your sitting there staring at the sky looking for the right conditions. You don’t know the future. The only way to live life is to take some calculated risk. Things will not always work out according to your plan. Better to attempt something great rather than use the excuse that you were just waiting for the right moment and it never came.
Make investments where it really counts. Be generous in your relationships. Give to others. Be a good friend, a good spouse, a good parent, open your home to others, show grace, forgive, look for opportunities to share Jesus. Don’t be disappointed if you are not immediately met with success in these areas of your life. Cast your bread on the water. Live soberly knowing that one day we will all give an account to God (Ecclesiastes11:9).
The Hill House 