Bent Oak Church

Naaman came expecting healing. A man of his reputation was used to getting what he want. And Naaman came prepared to pay for it. What he didn't expect was the disrespect of Elisha sending a messenger with simple orders. Naaman was offended. It took a servant to finally help him realize Elisha had given him good news. 

Having stood before kings, rulers, and officials Elisha next found himself in the company of two everyday women, both facing personal needs. Their situation left them confused about God's intentions but in their moment of fear, they turned to God. They feared him and clung to him. They are models for us of what to do with our own questions, doubts, and fears. 

The coalition of kings that marched on Moab was convinced that God was on their side. When things went wrong they decided to test that theory. They found Elisha and asked for God's opinion. What they heard was what they wanted to hear. It wasn't until their mission failed that they were forced to ask if they really understood what God was doing. It is a question for all of us as well.

In chapter 1, Ahaziah refused to submit to the authority of God. He chose pride and arrogance, but those aren't the only ways of rejecting the authority of God. In chapter two we see how others responded to God's voice through His prophet with skepticism and mockery. It is a warning to all of us to take the words of God seriously. For those who listen and respond humbly, there is the promise of life, living water, healing. 

Ahaziah was more than just the king of Israel, he is a representative of every human attempt to control and manipulate by power. But the futile repetition of his actions reveals the truth of human pride, it goes nowhere. There is no real human progress, not in the things which matter most. Instead, it is the single man willing to humbly submit to God the breaks the cycle of human pride. 

Having learned about the 5 masculine instincts, you might be wondering, what comes next? What should I do with what I've learned?We'll take a closer look at Paul's advice to Timothy about how to watch your life and doctrine closely. We'll see how the Christian gospel offers a different path to character and why character is best infused into our life by the power of the gospel. 

Shakespeare recorded man's fifth stage as a retreat. He uses the phrase, the world now too wide. He captured what is a natural instinct for so many men, apathy. The longer we live the more we realize how little control we have. The world feels increasingly complicated and ourselves increasingly less capable of fixing it. We naturally begin to disengage and retreat into hobbies and comfort. Doubt and sin are certainly risks to faith, but rarely do we recognize the risk of apathy. Through the story of Abraham, we'll look at the instinct of apathy and how God tested Abraham to keep him engaged with his faith.

​Shakespeare described this fourth stage as the professionals. The man now dresses the part, cuts his beard, and says what is expected. By this point in his life, he has achieved some success and with it a reputation, a reputation he cares more and more about protecting.That instinct is central to the lives of both Saul and David as they struggle to live into the expectations of their throne while remaining honest and true before their God. It is a question of integrity and their ability to confess.We'll see how this instinct is at work in men today and how we keep it from leading us to the same ruin.

We live in an age of anger and outrage. It's never been easier to be stressed out and short-tempered. But Scripture calls us to be patient, putting off anger. Scripture calls us to be kind to one another. Brad takes a look at Paul's advice in Ephesians 4 and why kindness is central to being a follower of Christ. 

Ambition is certainly not a sin. It has helped many achieve great things. But left unchecked, it has a tendency to become obsessive and controlling. Ambition consumes us and causes us to lose perspective on others, on God, and on ourselves. As we continue our look at the 5 instincts, we observe how ambition worked in the life of Moses, for good and bad. We also learn how sabbath rest can help us keep ambition in its proper place.