When I was growing up I craved mentors, Guys who could guide me up to the next level, to be honest I found that I outgrew a few which is still a cause of great upset to me which also serves to spur me on to be a great mentor for the generation below me.
Indeed a lot of my mentoring came from guys I had never met, Frank Dimazio, Robert Clinton who through their books enabled me to grasp principles and explore truths in the bible that equipped and enabled me to discover the call on my life. Their wisdom helped me in my study of the bible and disciplined me in prayer and character building.
Later on other guys appeared, Andy Stanley, Erwin McManus and Mark Batterson in recent years have ‘mentored’ me along with many others
While only a few years ago that mentoring took place when new books came out now it is much more accessible. Through blogs and social media such as facebook and twitter we have almost instant access to our mentors. We can also interact with them like never before.
We also have access to our peers too, As someone who operates in the second chair I have gone out of my way to identify people in similar situations all be it further down the road and looked to make contact with them, as the bible says Iron sharpens iron.
The fact is we are living in unprecedented times when this is now available excites me that the convergence of ideas and talent can help us move forward in our journey of discovery. Yes I know that God dictates our pace just as I realise that a million mentors cannot replace the instruction we have through the Lord, But mentoring is a biblical principle and one that can only help us grow and mature. I love the fact we can spur one another on to great works!
Nothing though beats personal mentoring so I am most excited about the great guys and girls emerging from Bethel City church, we have some great people who I am sure will go on to do bigger and better things than I could ever imagine
