Growing in the wisdom of God requires multiple dimensions of deep training at the heart level which can, at times, be unsettling if we do not understand where it is heading. Sam analyzes the greatest Old Testament picture of wisdom in the person and writings of King Solomon and how we can learn from his model.
The Bible teaches that strongholds are to be demolished or destroyed while thoughts are to be taken captive and made to be obedient. Jonathan defines compares each of these and the resulting peace and contentment that comes with obedience.
The call of Jesus to follow into glorious abundant life is a call to deny and renounce self-centered living. Sam discusses how Adam and Eve moved from God-centered freedom in the Garden of Eden into Self-centered slaves and how the gospel provdes a Spirit-empowered revolution back to God-centered freedom.
Sam discusses the death of Lazarus, asking: WHY did Jesus weep? Perhaps one of the reasons Jesus “often withdrew to lonely places” to pray was because he was overwhelmed by the pain and sorrow of those he was around; those like Mary mourning for her brother. What if we, too, were to use the pain of trials and suffering as motivation for prayer and ministry for others?