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Pastor Dave Henion
Pastor Dave grew up in northern New Jersey in a very diverse cultural area. He attended Central College in Pella, Iowa received a BA in sociology and psychology. He was an offensive guard for their NCAA Div III National Championship team in 1974. In speaking for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he sensed a call to full time ministry. Meeting is future wife Sandy at Central, went to Michigan to finish her college while Dave started Western Seminary in Holland, Michigan. Dave married Sandy in 77 and completed his Masters of Divinity degree in 78. Pastor Dave’s first church was in Fort Lee, New Jersey, home of the George Washington Bridge. Their three children were born there and he also served as a Police and Fire Chaplain for the city. In February 1991, they came to Wichita to start Harvest Community Church. In 2006, he received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Covenant Theological (Presbyterian) Seminary in St Louis. During that year he gained a daughter-in-law with now 2 grandsons of 3 years and 6 months old. Besides Pastoring at HCC for the past 20 years, he has been Director of the SCSD & WPD Police Chaplains for 11.
Religion
2010-12-01 10:56:00
Why did Jesus rebuke Peter?
Answer: The verse in question is part of a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. He had begun to bring together His group of disciples in Luke 5 with the call to Peter to leave his fishing nets and start “catching men.” {5:10} The next chapters are devoted to Christ calling His disciples, teaching and healing so the disciples have a first hand view of what their master did. But then in chapter 9, Jesus commissions them with His healing power and authority. {9:1} They come back with exciting accounts of what took place and the crowds knew it too. {9:10-11} The crowds around Jesus grew to 5,000 and were even skipping their own hunger needs to listen to Jesus. At the end of the day, they needed sustenance and instead of sending them home empty as the disciples suggested, Jesus feeds them with limited resources, fives loaves and two fish, satisfying their hunger along with food left over.{9:12-17} But Jesus knew the hearts of people {John 2:23-24}. Crowd enthusiasm brings fickleness that would follow for a while but not last past their emotions.{John 6:66} But now it was time to begin to really invest His disciples with some of the secrets of the Kingdom that they would carry to the world after He left. This is why He is alone with them for prayer. He also wants to see what the disciples were picking up from the crowds in their thinking about Him {Luke 9:18-19} and also what the disciples were thinking.{vs 20a} When Peter makes the proclamation that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah, Deliverer), Jesus immediately puts Peter and the disciples under orders not to proclaim it.{20b} At least for now! The Savior does this because He knew that “His time had not yet come” {John 7:30} and the crowd wanted Him to be the national deliverer and overthrow the Roman occupation. Even His disciples thought that as revealed during the dark days after His death.{Luke 24:21} This is why Jesus comes on so strong. Both the disciples and the crowds were looking in the wrong direction, being earthly minded and not thinking of the eternal significance Jesus was bringing of save the whole world from sin. {John 3:16-18} It is not until afterwards we see the eyewitness writers (disciples) explain their misunderstanding with words after He rose from the dead. {John 2:21-22} As Jesus’ disciples, we can easily fall into the same tap that our first century brothers fell into when understanding the will of God. Their expectation and hope was Christ conquering Roman and restoring Israel as a nation. Instead it was for Christ to die on the cross and rise from the dead for our eternal life. Today, some see Jesus coming in their life is to make them happy but God’s will is to first make us “holy” {1 Peter 1:16} and “conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.” {Romans 8:29} This brings eternal joy! But I have seen it where the Bible tells us plainly but people envision something at times, even opposite. I had an incident when a man left his wife and children for a woman he fell in love. I told him that he was having an affair and breaking the 7th commandment. He said; “It’s not like that! God had brought this person into my life. I am so happy! God wants me happy!” I told him, “God didn’t do that because God calls it adultery. He does not go against His own will!” How easy my friend had deluded and confused the truth with his own desires and happiness. Selfishness! That is an extreme case but it makes the point. It is easy for us to hear what we want to hear and make Jesus be what we want Him to support our desires. The sad thing is we have fashioned Him into our image and liking rather the true Christ who only saves us from ourselves. May we always desire to listen and hear what our Lord truly says to us and be open to His changing work through the Holy Spirit every day! In Christ, Pastor Dave.
 
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