Privilege & Perseverance Now Online

Click on the link at the top of the page to access recordings and handouts from the class I’m currently teaching, called Privilege & Perseverance: A Study of the Book of Hebrews.

 

Challenges of Discipleship Back Online

A while back, the company that had been hosting the audio files for the Challenges of Discipleship page decided that they would no longer provide this service for free. They also decided that they wouldn’t inform non-paying users. So sometime early in the summer, the recordings on that page simply quit working. Sorry if you tried to listen. And thanks to the one who let me know that the site wasn’t working.

As of today, the Challenges of Discipleship audio is back on line. If you’re interested, just click on the link at the top of the page.

Also, coming soon… I’ll be posting audio from my new class on the book of Hebrews, called Privilege & Perseverance. Stay tuned.

 

Bonaire Scenery

Here are a few photos I took on my two visits to Bonaire in the Southern Caribbean. The underwater photos were taken by Lynne Bentsen. Click here to view the whole album.

 

On the Fifth Day…

Two guesses where this picture was taken…

“Near Tucson” would be a pretty good guess, but this photo was taken on a tiny tropical island in the southern Caribbean, an island called Bonaire. For me, it gives new meaning to the phrase desert island.

I’m here in Bonaire to fill the pulpit at International Bible Church, where Totoram Baran is the pastor, while he takes a well-deserved holiday in the USA. Community Bible Church supports Pastor Baran as one of our missionaries, and for two years in a row, we’ve sent a short term team to serve here during the summer. I get to preach twice. I’ve divided my Romans 12:1-2 sermon (which I’ve been posting here in short segments) into two parts, one of which I gave last Sunday, and the second this coming Sunday.

Pray for International Bible Church. It’s a very small congregation, but they are developing a heart for spreading the gospel in this end of the earth.

Bonaire’s economy is entirely supported by the fact that it is one of the best places in the world for scuba diving. So this year, while I’m here, I decided to take the three-day course and get my open water certification. The underwater wildlife is AMAZING! That’s the reason for the title of this post, because it was on the fifth day that God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures.” Man do the waters teem! The other day, while snorkeling no more than 100 yards from the beach, I got to see a baracuda about half my size swimming slowly alongside a giant school of little silvery fish (like the school of fish in Finding Nemo that makes all the interesting shapes). All of a sudden, the baracuda turned and zipped through the crowd, grabbing one of the little fish for supper. WOW! I swam along next to this giant fish for about twenty minutes.

 

A New Mind

“…be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

The key to developing the character of Christ is developing the mind of Christ. The word renewing here indicates a complete overhaul, a whole new way of seeing everything. Jesus says it like this in John 8:31-32: “If you abide in my words, you are my disciples indeed. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

All of the world’s schemes are based on false and incomplete conceptions of reality. But Jesus is omniscient and the perception of reality he imparts is the Truth itself. 2 Corinthians 10:5 puts it this way: “We are destroying speculations and every loft thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”

Now allow me to make a few observations about the transformation produced by renewing of the mind:
First, the goal is not orthodoxy alone, though it certainly includes orthodoxy. The renewing of the mind is not just the development of correct doctrine, it is about a mind occupied with the person of God himself—a personal knowledge of God, not an academic knowledge of God.

Second, the goal is not orthopraxy alone. The renewing of the mind is not just about replacing sinful behavior with righteous behavior, though it certainly includes that. The goal is personal knowledge of God—to see Christ as he is and to be like him.

Third, I make myself available for the renewing of the mind by bathing my mind in Scripture. I cannot possible be familiar enough with my Bible. In this present life, the only infallible revelation of God, the place where I can see him as he is, is the Bible.

Fourth, our life in Christ is a life we live together in the body of Christ, so a mind in renewal is a mind guided by good mentors—people who see Christ better than I do and can show me the lay of the land.

Finally, the renewed mind develops a comprehensively Christian perspective. In other words, it takes every thought captive. Whatever the subject, the renewed mind perceives it with Christian eyes.