August Blog 2013 The Divine Mentors

TheDivine Mentors    by Wayne Cordeiro , 2007      Four Stars

1. Opening Thoughts2.  Table of Contents3.   Further Reviews and Summaries4. Quotes from the Book

1.  Opening Thoughts

Sheryl Giesbrecht, ICM’s Executive Director, challenged me to read this book. I tend to shy away from a lot of self help books that promise the world if you only do this or that.  But some years ago I hear Cordeiro speak at Willow Creek’s Global Leadership Summit.  He struck me as a leader who is brutally honest and transparent.  Also my own reading and study has been focused on how we learn.  The key is engaging information in order to make it “my” knowledge.  Without some form of engagement information is just information: he has not vitality.  Over the years devotions have been a part of my spiritual walk.  Their impact is real and their guidance impeccable.  Without devotions I am a ship drifting in a sea of indecision and wrong decisions. 

Cordeiro divides his book into three main parts:

  Part One: The Voice That Brings Life

  Part Two: How to Listen for God’s Voice

  Part Three: How Sweet That Voice

While there are many books given to the “deep” things of God few have come out with the simple and profound truth that knowledge about God does not automatically lead to a life lived for God.  Personal engagement with God’s word that leads to action is critical to moving forward in the Christian life.  The Divine Mentors helps us understand the importance of this.  Knowing what to do within the confines of God’s principles requires an ability to hear from God.  Cordeiro made it clear and simple: hearing the voice of the Lord is the highest priority in our walk with God.  I am going to see how I can get this book for our campuses in Africa, it is that God.  Do not be put off by the slow start or the plodding as real truth and application are easily picked up along the way.  Phil

 2.  Table of Contents

PROLOGUE
INTRODUCTION

PART ONE: The Voice That Brings Life

1. Sacred Enclosures
2. You Don't Have What It Takes
3. The Self-Feeding Program
4. A Place of Refreshment

PART TWO: How to Listen for God's Voice

5. One Thing for Martha
6. Five Things for Life
7. SOAP
8. Fresh Bread

PART THREE: How Sweet That Voice!

9. Oak All the Way to the Core
10. Where the Rubber Meets the Road
11. Delighting in God's Word
12. The University of the Holy Spirit 

A Final Word: The Presence of God
Appendix: Frequently Asked Questions
Journal
Endnotes

3.  Further Reviews and Summaries

a. In a nutshell, The Divine Mentor (Bethany House, 2007), is designed to encourage people to study the Bible for themselves. However the author, Wayne Cordeiro, does this in creative ways. He speaks about Biblical characters as his friends and mentors Read More

b. From Wayne Cordeiro: In The Divine Mentor, you will discover how to enjoy a dynamic, vital, and intimate relationship with God as you learn to hear Him speak daily through the Bible. You'll embark on an adventure that will introduce you to His handpicked mentors, men and women who may save your health, your marriage, your ministry, and your future.  Visit the Website

c. Wayne Cordiero’s book The Divine Mentor is a book that will challenge and encourage you to study the Bible in a way that allows the Holy Spirit to speak to you on a regular basis.  Read More

 4.  Quotes from the Book

When you miss your devotions one day, you notice. When you miss them two days, your spouse and kids notice. And when you miss them three days, the world notices.

The two pains have names. They are Discipline and Regret

If you can figure out how to learn from the bad as well as from the good, you’ll learn twice as much in life.’’

If Consequences has a back-end price, Wisdom has a front-end price. It requires discipline, obedience, consistency, and above all else, time.

Neglecting devotions will cause you more problems, more quickly, than just about anything you can name. Spending unrushed time alone with God in His Word releases a fountain of refreshment from the very core of your soul.

Encouragement turns into hope when His instructions find our ready acceptance and application.

Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.

Spending unrushed time alone with God in His Word releases a fountain of refreshment from the very core of your being.

Gather it daily until how you live begins to match what you believe.

all listening to those whom God is using in the Bible to instruct us. Everyone’s reading for twenty minutes and then journaling for twenty minutes, so it’s quiet. You always do your reading and journaling in the quiet, so, in effect, during that part of the time you’re still shut in alone with the Lord.

Only in the last twenty minutes does anyone in the room talk. (For the other forty minutes, the voices come out of the Word.) Then you have the reward of sharing what you heard from God and discovering what He’s shown the others in your group.