epistoli: training

Showing posts with label training. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Training One Another For God's Service

Exodus 35:30-35:

³⁰Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

³¹And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all ^[a]craftsmanship;

³²^[b]to make designs for working in gold and in silver and in ^[c]bronze,

³³and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood, so as to perform in every inventive work.

³⁴He also has put in his heart to teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.

³⁵He has filled them with ^[d]skill to perform every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer, in ^[e]blue and in purple and in scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as performers of every work and makers of designs.

Footnotes:

Exodus 35:31 Or work
Exodus 35:32 Lit devise devices
Exodus 35:32 Or copper
Exodus 35:35 Lit wisdom of heart
Exodus 35:35 Or violet

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Thoughts on the Passage

What we have here is an excellent example of how God works with man and then brother works with brother to accomplish the work of the Lord.

First, Moses shares with Israel the encouraging news that God called Bezalel to design the gold, silver, and bronze aspects of the Tabernacle. God called him by name. He filled him with His Own Spirit. He gave him the necessary wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and the skills he needed in his craftsmanship. That’s complete work on God’s part. Everything Bezalel needed was provided by God. We can be assured that when God calls us, especially by name, He will provide us with everything we need to do the job He intends for us to do.

To me, this passage reinforces the thinking that a) skill in secular employment is God’s gift and comes from above (as Matthew Henry points out), and b) secular skills can be used in God’s work.

Second, God gave Bezalel one more thing – his heart’s desire to teach others what he knows, so they can help in the work or continue the work after he is gone. In so doing, God’s Tabernacle was to be completed. Similarly, today, as we teach those that God has given us what He has taught us, the work of His Kingdom and can continue, and one day, be completed.

If Moses were to be the General Contractor for this project, because of the importance of all the work in precious metals, the stonework, and the wood carvings involved, Bezalel could well be thought of us the Senior Foreman or perhaps the tradesperson with the highest journeyman’s ticket.

Bezalel was indeed appointed by God to be a Working Foreman – that is, not only did he plan the work and designs, and teach others, but in verse 33 we are told he did this so he too could perform in these areas. If we are to lead God’s workers, we are to get our hands dirty and share in the labor involved.

Everyone working on the Tabernacle had been stirred by God to approach the work with a willing heart. That made the work easier. The positive attitudes of all contributed to a more jovial atmosphere on the work site. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our workplaces were all filled with men and women who had been stirred by God to do their work with a willing heart? More specifically, would it not be great if all our church or mission staff actually satisfied this description of the desired workplace?

Matthew Henry points out that when God makes these appointments, it minimizes the strife that normally occurs, and it increases the support given by others to the individual appointed.

So, what has God called you to, by name? Is He stirring your heart to do it? How are you responding? Are you prepared to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty? Will you teach others what God has blessed you with?

If this short blog has made you think about something differently today, will you share that with me? I'd love to hear about it. Or if you disagree with my thoughts, please share yours.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

We All Finish, but Where & How Is The Issue

Sacred Grit: Faith To Push Through When You Feel Like Giving Up

John D. Duncan, Austin Brothers Publishing, Fort Worth, Texas, USA, 2015

This is John Duncan’s second book in his “Sacred” trilogy. In the first one, Sacred Space, he shared with us how to find a) the silence we need in order to survive in this crazy world, b) the speech that we need to be able to converse with God, and c) the ear we must cultivate to hear God.

In Sacred Grit, he takes us to a training ground for the Christian life. If we’re going to finish well, we must be trained to expect and overcome three things. Like a soldier in on the front lines, we have to face and deal with “sacred fear”. Like an athlete in the arena we have to prepare to withstand “sacred agony”. And like a farmer in the field of life, we have to welcome “sacred sweat” if we are to bear fruit. It is only then that the “sacred grit” we seek and so dearly need to survive the Christian life can see us through to the end, having achieved all that we were meant to accomplish.

Participants to a recent trip to Israel were told that if we were to survive the trip, most of which took place in the country’s desert, we had to train quit hard long before we even hopped on the plane to get there. He had to overcome the fear of being in the Middle East, get in the physical condition needed to handle the heat and terrain, including the climbing of mountains and cliffs, and to bring the proper clothing because we would indeed be sweating. We were more ready for our trip than John Wayne was for filming the movie, True Grit. And the rewards were extraordinary – visually, socially, mentally, and above all, spiritually. That’s what Sacred Grit does for the Christian who wants to live a victorious and meaningful life.

Like the book’s cover picture and the picture of a single poppy growing out of the rocks that I took in the Negev desert of Israel, the Christian is capable of breaking through the hard rock challenges of life – physical, social, mental, and spiritual -- and indeed “finishing well” and “winning the race of life” for his Lord. With “sacred grit” he/she has the potential of becoming, or doing, something beautiful for others, and even for him/herself to marvel at, through the grace of God.

Duncan helps us turn our fear into courage, our failures into successes, and our faith into one that produces fruit. For those who think that Duncan would never understand the darkness they live in, he has this to say: “ . . . even in darkness you have potential to do your very best work in the eyes of God, especially if you open your eyes to God’s vision.”

His first two books together show us how getting “sacred space” and embracing “sacred grit” helps us pursue holiness, please God more, and draw us closer to Christ as we learn to trust Him more.

Duncan is brutally honest with his readers. As much as he’d like to tell us that the Christian life “is as easy as sipping lemonade on the front porch”, he must tell us that it works us hard inside and out, and it works stuff out of us. He says it wearies us on some days and pushes us to our limits on others. Finally, it will ‘grace’ us but not before it causes us to sweat.

And I love one of his key conclusions with respect to the hard labor that’s required of us. He says that while we are definitely not alone, for God is with us, we will often very much feel alone out there under the hot sun in the middle of the field. This isn’t your typical feel good book. It wasn’t meant to be. It was intended to show you why you can’t make it without resilience and how to get it.

Already I’ve been able to help a dear friend and myself with one of the author’s quotes I liked very much. John writes, “Your greatest ministry will take place alone, away from the eyes of watchers, and only in the eyes of God who, for all practical purposes, is the One who matters anyway.” If one truly accepts that, he/she is well on their way to significance.

The way the world is going today, if there are two things we need – they’re “sacred space” to get our bearings and “sacred grit” to get to our destination.

-- Ken B. Godevenos, Accord Resolution Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario. 15/11/21

- - 30 - -

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting. And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column. Ken.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Saturday, August 01, 2015

It Was Like Being Right There for Three Years

-->

The Training Of The Twelve (book review)

[While many of my other reviews are on books that have been offered to me, this one I searched out and bought myself. But when it comes to writing a review, I do my best to treat both types equally.]

It has been a good many years since I read a book on the life of Jesus Christ that has impacted me in the way that Alexander Balmain [A.B.] Bruce’s did recently. The second edition that I read is published by ReadaClassic.com and weighs in at 398 large pages. My research indicates that the original version (not too much different) was written in 1877. When I was discussing it with my pastor, he indicated that “it’s a classic” in the Christian literature world. The write-ups I read indicated it was the number two bestseller surpassed only by the Bible itself, in this category. Let me tell you why.

The book should be read with Bible in hand. Not only does Bruce hold your attention, but also writes a great devotional guide on all of Christ’s dealings while He was here physically on earth among us.

The author is not afraid to pose challenges to what Jesus said and to consider them fully and fairly before he offers his rationale for what he believes. I found myself convinced almost every single time. For example he wonders whether Jesus was “indulging in exaggeration” when He told Peter that “Unless I wash your feet, you can have no part of me”?

There are thirty-one chapters covering, in a fairly chronological order, the lessons that Jesus taught His disciples as He moved around from place to place with them. Bruce also looks at the lesson or event from the perspective of each of the four gospel writers – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – where applicable.

The appendices are very helpful for those wanting to study the material over and over again after they first read the book. There’s an index of Scripture references for easy finding of key ideas by subject, as well as three others for the Greek, Latin, and German, respectively, words and phrases used in the text. Another great feature of the book is that reference notes are provided in large numbers in brackets and then explained at the end of each chapter.

The book is laden with quotable quotes. Here are but a few of the shorter ones:

On healing: “For surely He who so cared for men’s bodies would care yet more for their souls.”
On the Holy Spirit: “ . . . sanctification is a slow, tedious work, not a momentary act . . . the Spirit is given gradually and in limited measure, not at once and without measure.”
On religious liberty: “For it is a solemn crisis in any man’s life when he first departs in the most minute particulars from the religious opinions and practices of his age.”
On Judas and some of those who profess to know Christ: “Graceless men may for a season be employed as agents in promoting the work of grace in the hearts of others.”
On the Lord’s table: “Christians eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man at all times, not merely at communion times, simply by believing in Him.”
On ‘calling’: “He (Christ) sought disciples God-given, God-drawn, God-taught, knowing that such alone would continue in His word.”
On Satan’s goal: “For the whole aim of Satanic policy is to get self-interest recognized as the chief end of man.”
On His Church: “The agreement He requires of His disciples is not entire unanimity in opinion, but consent of mind and heart in the ends they aim at, and in unselfish devotion to these things.” And, “He did not wish His church to consist of a collection of clubs having no intercommunion with each other, any more than He desired it to be a monster hotel, receiving and harboring all comers, no questions being asked.”
On self-sacrifice: “For no man is at liberty to choose whether he shall be a good Christian or an indifferent one, or is excused from practicing certain virtues merely because they are difficult.” And, “Where a testament is, here must also be the death of the testator.”
On love: “While imposing sacrifices, love, by way of compensation, makes them easy.” And, “Love made her (Mary who anointed Him in Bethany) original in thought and conduct.”
On obedience: “A master is pleased when a pupil understands his lesson, but a lord is pleased only when his servants do his bidding.”
On loss: “Sorrow is healed by weeping: the sympathy which melts the heart at the same time comforts it.”
On leadership: “The main business, even of the chief under-shepherds, is not to make others follow Christ, but to follow Him themselves.”

I was particularly impressed with how A. B. Bruce explained the end times as well as the failure of the disciples to remain faithful at the time of Christ’s arrest and crucifixion. You’ll be most pleasantly surprised. And I was amazed at how similar our times are right now in terms of what the twelve disciples were up against in their day.

This book is a must read for any true believer, especially those that would teach the Word of God. Next to the Bible, it is the most comprehensive analysis of what of Jesus said on earth. From where I stand after thoroughly studying this classic, it may well have been titled, “The Training Of The Thirteenth” – that 13^th been each and every one of us who dares call themselves a Christian.

-- Ken B. Godevenos, http://www.accordconsulting.com, Toronto, Ontario. 15/08/01

-->

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.