Teaching to Transform is excited to be on the cutting edge of what God is doing! Dr Harlan Betz is committed to sharing the love of God personally, teaching the Word of God accurately, and presenting the gospel of Christ clearly. We believe that God’s Word is inspired and inerrant and accurate and authoritative. Our podcast, Wisdom from Above, is designed to go beyond the reasoning of man to the revelation of God! We do this by observing, interpreting, and applying the truths of the Word of God to our daily lives. This Wisdom from Above podcast can reach anyone anywhere in the world that has wifi, and it can can impact anyone in the world that has an understanding of the English language or a way to translate the English into their own heart language. Wisdom from Above has reached into over 40 countries… with most being from the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, and Haiti. There are over 100 episodes of the Wisdom from Above podcast available right now. We welcome you to join us in this passionate quest for truth!
Population: 10 million people
Language: Creole and French
Religion: 80% Roman Catholic
Size: Area of New Hampshire
National Religion: Voodoo
80% living under the poverty line
54% live in abject poverty
Average Income $2/day
Poorest Country in the Western hemisphere
90% of all schools are private
50% of children do not attend
20% of Haitians attend high school
60% of Haitians read & write
Many Haitian pastors have no formal theological training and receive no salary. They must work outside the church
or do subsistence farming.
We are in the midst of a battle… a spiritual battle for the mind. Satan is trying to reach our minds though the world. God is trying to reach our minds through the Word. Satan’s method is deceit and his target is the mind. Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers (2 Cor 4:3-4). Satan distracts the minds of believers (2 Cor 11:2-3). On the other hand, God wants to renew our minds though the influence and power of the Word (Mt 4:4; Rom 12:1-2).
What are you feeding your mind? Are you feeding your mind on the world… with positions God has not given, possessions God has not provided, and pleasures God has not sanctioned. Or are you feeding your mind on the Word of God… the inspired, inerrant, sacred Word of God.
We can set our affections on things here on earth… on things temporal and sensual; or we can set our affection on things above… on things eternal and spiritual. One of the keys to setting our affection on things above is setting our minds on the Word of God!
Jesus commands us to abide in the Word. Let’s feed on our minds on the Word of God… then we will know the truth. As Sir Winston Churchill said, "Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but there it is." God's Word is truth!
God wants the Word to dwell in us richly in all wisdom. John R. Mott was right when he wrote: “To do God’s work we must have God’s power. To have God’s power we must know God’s will. To know God’s will we must study God’s Word!” The Word of God can be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path?
Samuel Chadwick rightly points out, "No man is uneducated who knows the Bible and no one is wise who is ignorant of its teachings." It is possible to be worldly wise and still be foolish. It is through time invested in the word of God that we gain the wisdom that is from above!
Time invested in God’s word leads to true wisdom. Time invested in God’s Word leads to changed lives. Time invested in God’s Word produces fruit and glorifies God. T. B. Matson was right on target when he said; “The Christians who have turned the world upside down have been men and women with a vision in their hearts and the Bible in their hands.”
If we want to be victorious in this spiritual battle for the mind, we must give a very high priority to time invested in the Word of God! We can be victorious in the spiritual battle for the mind… if we personally regularly invest time reading, studying, and applying the Word of God to our lives!
Just as the womb is not a permanent residence, but simply a few months preparation for life on this planet. Even so life on this planet is not a permanent residence, but simply a short time of preparation for all of eternity. And then it is either eternal joy in the presence of God or eternal sorrow separated from God.
There is a tombstone in an old British cemetery that read as follows:
Pause my friend, as you walk by, as you are now so once was I,
As I am now so you shall be, prepare my friend to follow me.
I’m told that a young boy, upon reading these words on that tombstone, picked up a white chalk rock and wrote these words under that poem on the tombstone: To follow you is not my intent, until I know which way you went!
That is pretty good thinking on that young boy’s part. The person who prepares for this life but not for the next life is wise for a moment, but a fool forever!
Now don’t miss this truth. You cannot prevent death, but you can prepare for it. You prepare for it by placing your faith in Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but has everlasting life!
Dr. Harlan Betz
#WisdomFromAbove