Mentors who are worth learning from and following in the footsteps of

"Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you.  Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith."

- Hebrews 13:7 (New Living Translation)

    Mentor's and leaders that I look up to who have influenced, and continue to influence, my life up till this day are:

        - Pastor Wayne Cordeiro of New Hope Oahu

        - Pastor Mike Kai of Hope Chapel West Oahu

        - Author Phillip Yancey

        - Communicator John C. Maxwell

        - Missionary and Evangelist Brother Yun

    These are also followers of Christ who have endured, asked and faced the hard questions, suffered, but whose lives have produced fruit and continue to be perfected by the master craftsman.

    Now I may not be able to physically spend time with the "courageous 5", whom I look up to, but I know that I can learn from them by reading their books, listening to the sermons and speeches, and taking from their lives lessons learned, living now as they do.

    Looking at myself now, I know and feel so far from the attainments and integrity of these mentors that I want to be like, even more so because I have allowed myself to live in a way that is not pleasing to God for so long.  So I have this festering virus that I have to allow God to heal in my life.  How do I become a person even remotely close to the heart, love, and integrity of these men?

"No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead," (Philippians 3:13 NLT)  

    Despite my past feeling like such a hindrance in moving forward, I know I must build myself up through God's word, just as the Apostle Paul did so many years ago.  By the grace of God, he absorbs our past - as far as God is concerned, though consequences of our past may still be things that we will still have to humbly go through and press into God as well.

    One thing that stands out about all of these men, one common denominator, though they all have many good characteristics and habits, is their love, obedience, and their devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.

    My heart goes out to the families affected by the horrendous shooting that killed 6 people at the Sikh Temple in Winsconsin by Wade Michael Page.  I was thinking to myself, if this man, who is reportedly a neo-nazi and has links to white supremacist groups, can be moved to action of such hate and violence by filling his life with the very action he put out.  Then perhaps the opposite can be done for me, for others, who choose to allow God's Word to fill them up with encouragement and love, and for a future and a hope.

    What my mentor's and the shooter of the Sikh Temple filled themselves up with, that's what has become of their lives as a result of those choices.  For Pastor's Wayne Cordeiro and Mike Kai, for Author's and Leader's Phillip Yancey, John C. Maxwell, and Brother Yun (Liu Zhenying), their lives have been and are ones of close fellowship with God, of leadership and responsibility, and of growth.  Unfortunately for the lives of those taken senselessly by Wade Michael Page, he allowed himself to fill himself up with hate, anger, and thinking himself better than other races that he ended the lives of 6 Sikh worshipers before his life ended.

    What you choose to fill your life with, you will become and produce.  I desire to walk in the footsteps of my mentor's who follow Christ, to be filled with "...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

    What fills your life, your time, and your thoughts?  That's who you will become tomorrow.

    

Am I close enough to hear God?

Am I close enough to hear God?

^”The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.”

- 2 Chronicles 33:10

                Manasseh, King Manasseh, was leading the people of God to sin.  He had them build and sacrifice on the alters of other god’s, even sacrificing his son on them.  God’s anger was rising, and through the prophets, he spoke of events that would soon come that would eventually lead to Manasseh being taken as a prisoner.

                But before the Assyrian army came, God once again spoke to King Manasseh and his people. ..”but they paid no attention,” the bible says.  God was reaching out for their hearts, for their attention, so that they could repent, be made right in His sight – reconciled, and call out to the Lord.

                It’s easy for me to point and say, “Yeah…duh?! He deserved what he got, they got!”  But it’s always easy to point and say what was right and what was wrong in retrospect.  What’s difficult is turning what should have been an easy given answer and response, on their part, and turning that onto myself.  And that would be, “Is God speaking to me, to my fiancé?  And if He is, am I paying attention?”  Am I positioned to hear God?  Or am I like Manasseh, stuck in my ways, stuck in sin and being swept by the currents of my own desires and selfishness, that I cannot hear…that I am paying no attention to the God who is trying to get my attention before I am swept away by the consequences of my sin.

                I’m not perfect, and as most people say, “No one is.”  But that is not an excuse for me to be ignorant, lazy, or both in being receptive to God’s love.  Because that was what God was trying to do with Manasseh and his people.  He was trying to love them.  Yes, God was angry at their sins, but I believe that he was even angrier knowing what would befall him and the Israelites if they did not turn to God, did not hear His warnings and change their ways.

                The best thing for me to do is to daily come before the Lord and pay attention.  To leave my heart and mind open to Him, that he can prune, change, and grow me from the inside out, before trouble comes (because times of trouble will always come).  The question is whether I have my rock, a solid foundation and place of refuge to go when such times do come.  The more frequent my “check-ups” are with God, the healthier, the closer my heart will be to the Lord.

Ask yourself:

                Are my thoughts going astray?  Are the things on my mind pleasing to God, or are they displeasing?  Do they make me want to be closer to God, or shame me and want to hide?

                Ask yourself these things, and be honest with yourself, be honest with God.  Speak with Him and allow Him to make the necessary corrections and heart adjustments so that we may be close and I am positioned to receive not just his love and blessings, but his strength and protection through troubled times.

Be close to God.