Recommended Reading - Wayne Cordeiro's "The Divine Mentor"

This marks the first of a new series of posts I've wanted to add here for a long time. True, for those of you who aren't really part of the Christian faith or science buffs, most of these reviews probably won't do much for you other than give you an idea of what the inside of my head looks like. But for those of you who are looking for something to help deepen your faith and are as overwhelmed as I am by the sheer volume of written material out there, maybe this will give you something to start with.

I'm a strong believer that godly wisdom is absolutely necessary for anyone to live. Regardless of how old or young you are in Christ, without wisdom you will always be at the mercy of whatever Satan throws your way. That's why I constantly am seeking for ways to learn more about who God is and how the world works. Books by godly men and women are one source that we of the modern church rely on heavily today, oftentimes even more than we read the Bible itself. So perhaps it is ironic that the first book I'm recommending on my blog has as its subject matter how to make daily devotions in the Word our main source for wisdom.

In The Divine Mentor, Pastor Wayne Cordeiro gets very honest about how in his own life written commentaries and books "about" the Bible were not enough to help him stand under the pressures he felt during the early years of his career. Even though this man studied faithfully, served faithfully, and prayed faithfully for his congregation, he was still approaching burnout at a very high speed. All of his knowledge and all his godly living did nothing to stop this trend, and he was at a loss to explain why. At the very end of his endurance, the one thing that kept him from chucking away ministry all together was a daily time of study in the Word of God.

To Pastor Wayne, the Bible is not just some book that you have to read to be a "good Christian". Its not something you need to memorize facts about or learn to quote from word-perfect. Its God's gift for us to learn from the people who have gone before us, full of their stories, thoughts, experiences and wisdom. Its the only literature with His personal guarantee to have the power to actually change our lives. And its the only book on earth that He has said He will meet us within if we want to have a relationship with Him. Which leads Pastor Wayne to ask the very good question, why is it that so many Christians today fail to read the Bible itself but instead rely on books about the Bible for their spiritual growth?

One very good answer he gives is the disturbing trend of the number of Christians today who do not know how to feed themselves. Pastor Wayne gives the example of a child of 1 that you might feed with a spoon. Is it reasonable for that same child at 21 to expect his parents to continue to feed him baby food with a spoon? That food in child-size quantities is nowhere near enough to sustain his adult body, and he has already gained the ability to feed himself years ago. So the healthiest thing a parent could do for that 21-year-old would be to insist on him feeding himself on solid food that would sustain him. In the same way many of us in the American church have allowed ourselves to rely on being "spoon-fed" the Word by our pastors or favorite teachers. We have not learned the discipline of feeding ourselves with the raw nutrients of the naked Word itself, and so many of us find ourselves spiritually starving. When life gets rough and we don't have the strength to deal with it, we move on to the next teacher, the next church, and repeat the whole failing process again until we drain our ministry leaders dry. Its a trap that all of us fall into, regardless of our number of years with Christ.

Therefore the most important thing we as Christians can do to keep our spiritual bodies and churches strong is to feed ourselves from the actual Source. At the end of the book Pastor Wayne includes a method for devotional study called SOAP that has worked very well for him and many others. But regardless of the method you might choose, he emphasizes that its the consistent daily interaction with God's Word that is the beginning of wisdom for a walk that doesn't just survive, but thrives.

I highly recommend this book for anyone serious about sticking with the Faith. Even as a 20+ year-old Christian I've found plenty of things to encourage me to get back into the Word for myself, and I'm currently using the SOAP method for my own devotions. If you've been in church any length of time, you've probably heard similar topics before, but may not of considered the true role Scripture plays in our daily lives. Reconsider the truth of the familiar with Wayne Cordeiro's honest look at the importance of Scripture in his own walk with God.

Related Links: TheDivineMentor.com