Dr. Wayne Cordeiro - The Divine Mentor: Growing Your Faith as You Sit at the Feet of the Savior

The Divine Mentor is one of the best books on Bible study that Ive ever read. Wayne Cordeiro describes reading the Bible as a way to sit at the feet of the many characters and heroes of the Bible as they teach you. What a concept.... I highly recommend this book, especially if youre interested in finding an easy way to start a dialogue with God.

Karen Wolff,Christian-
Books-for-Women.com

Cordeiro convincingly presents the case for being in Gods Word on a daily basis to reap a closer walk with God.... This well-written book about developing a daily devotional time provides clear discussion and interesting anecdotes that encourage one to start reading the Bible every day.

Church Libraries

Wayne Cordeiro knows a secretfor real intimacy with God, consistent daily devotions are not optional. In The Divine Mentor, he not only explains the need for, and importance of, devotions but also provides a sensible plan based on Scripture reading and journaling.

Charisma

Books by

Wayne Cordeiro

FROM BETHANY HOUSE PUBLISHERS

The Divine Mentor
Leading on Empty

2007 by Wayne Cordeiro

Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com

Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com

Ebook edition created 2010

Ebook corrections 04.14.2016 (VBN), 01.11.2017

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-58558-828-2

Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
(www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations labeled NIV 1984 are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations identified NKJV are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled Message are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Lookout Design, Inc.

This book is dedicated to someone
who saved my life: Jeremiah.

In a world where emergent and entrepreneurial leaders are seeking best practices and innovative strategies, there is a call to return to the Word of God as our base camp.

For years I held the tendency to leave the fountain of Living Water and hew for myself cisterns that I filled with contemporary and missional ideas, but they leaked. Jeremiah encouraged me to talk with divine mentors on a daily basis, and that has changed my life radically.

I also commend others who have instilled in me a love for Gods Word: Joe Wittwer, Pastor of Life Center in Spokane, Washington, and Dale Coffing of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who encouraged me to put into print this simple system, which, if you will read on, will radically change your life as well.

CONTENTS

4. A Place of Refreshment

8. Fresh Bread

12. The University of the Holy Spirit

S moke billowed on the horizon. Smoke where there should be no smokeat least, not a towering column like this one.

It couldnt be good.

Terrorists. What else could it be?

As we approached we could see a few flames licking at piles of rubble. Yet where there had been homes, streets, playgrounds, gardens... there was nothing at all. Smoke, ruin, ashes. Nothing more.

Shocked into immobility, we could do nothing but gape. Where were the homes? Where were the women and children?

We poured over the edge of the embankmentsome sliding, some jumping, some running headlong, falling, getting up, and falling again. Each man ran to the area where his home had been, hoping against hope to see someone moving in the wreckage: a beloved face, a form staggering out of the devastation. But there was no one. And no sound but the dry crackle of flames, fanned by a lonely desert wind.

Where were the bodies? We saw none. The terrorists must have kidnapped every woman and child in the village!

We wept without shame. Some cursed; some called out names in their anguish. Muttering among themselves, clusters began to gather, glancing at one another, nodding, fingering their weapons. It was like the moment before a violent thunderstorm, when the air becomes taut and stifling.

Thats when he collapsed on his knees and convulsed in agony. Its not as though his loved ones had been spared.

We couldnt help but watch. And as he poured out his sorrow, pleading for help and hope and direction, his body language began to change. Tension seemed to drain away from his shoulders. His hands unclenched, and he lifted his head as he prayed. Finally rising again to his feet, he wiped away his tears, squared his shoulders, and spoke with a steady voice.

Say what you will, something happened by that rock on the edge of total devastation. In those few moments, he had found strength, confidence, and fresh resolve. God must have given him a plan too, because it wasnt long before we set off like the wind on the trail of the invaders.

In that moment, we could believe again. And rising among us was the confidence that we would recover from the ashes of Ziklag all we had lost... and maybe even more.

M y best friends are in the Bible. Let me introduce you to one of my closest: David.

The two of you have already met? You did recognize him, didnt you? You probably know him better as King David, but when this incident took place, he still had a long road ahead before he would take the throne of ancient Israel.

And that brings me to something truly remarkable.

David has been gone from this earth for more than three millennia. Yet he and I still meet weekly. He still teaches, he still speaks, he still encourages and trains.

By walking with David amid the smoldering ruins of Ziklag, I find help and strength for challenges that come my own way.

And hes not alonehes among a choice community of top-flight instructors! Over the years I have sailed with Noah; I have trekked with Moses. Entering the world of the Bible to learn from my friends and heroes changes me.

Jeremiah saved my life. Nehemiah buoyed my faltering ministry. Through his struggles with riches and greed, Solomon tutored me to be a person of excellence without opulence.

I have often heard young leaders decrying the scarcity of mentors. But we have been looking in the wrong places, for the greatest mentors will not be found among those currently on earth. They await us from another gallery.