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Collecting Tools
Quantity
& Quality
Some Have a
Limited Supply of Tools
Those who are dedicated fix-it people will
use what they have.
- Screwdriver, pliers and a hammer fixes anything.
- Lack of the right tool does not stop them.
- Piece of wire, a dime, even a Lego.
Some Have a Complete Assortment of Tools
Wrenches of
every size in standard and metric.
Drill bits
from a hair’s thickness up to the size of a small tree in perfect ascending order.
Saws for
every purpose.
Everything
clean, shiny and state of the art.
But they never build
or fix anything!
Hermeneutics
Some years
ago I taught a course in Hermeneutics. I decided the best way to get the students to learn
the principles of Hermeneutics was to get them to actually interpret scripture passages.
One woman
was not happy about that. She informed me that she had never had to do anything like this
in “Christian”classes before.
- She was just a tool collector.
- Some people gather tools.
- Some people use the tools they have.
Our Spiritual Tools
If spiritual
resources determined our spiritual progress, the United States would have won the entire
planet to Christ by now.
- Soul winning
- Bible study
- Parenting
- Teaching
- Counseling
- Prayer
We Are Very Well Equipped
We have
every high-tech piece of artillery imaginable to man.
- 10 days to a more powerful prayer life.
- 6 steps to healing your marriage.
- 18 programs for reading the Bible in one year.
- 12 best soul-winning techniques.
- 7 ways to study the Bible
- 9 tips to feeling born-again again.
- Memorize Proverbs while you shower.
We Have to Use Our Tools
A tool is
not a tool until it is used.
A truth is
not a truth until you put it to work in your life.
Doers -
James 1:22
A
Doer’s few battered, worn, blunt and stained tools are always at work fixing or
building something.
It is not
their collection of tools making them successful—it is their desire to HELP!
Women — More Spiritually Active Than Men
A good
screwdriver will fix anything.
- Little boys are the same way.
Collectors
They will
talk to people and tell them of God’s love. Then they will tell the person, “Let
me know if there is anything I can do for you.”
Then the
person has the nerve to actually tell them what they need.
But when the
collector is told of the need, he leaves a tool - a card, a pamphlet or a tract.
The Secret
of Service is to Serve
Romans
12:6-8 1998 Version
If your gift
is Prophecy - edify, exhort, or comfort someone today.
If your gift
is Serving - serve someone today.
If your gift
is Teaching - teach someone something today.
If your gift
is Exhortation - exhort someone today.
If your gift
is Giving - get out your cheque book and your pen today.
If your gift
is Leading - give someone guidance today.
If your gift
is Mercy - be merciful to someone today.
Our Examples
Acts 3:1-11
1
Corinthians 2:1-4
How many
more tools do we need?
How many
more banquets of truth do we need to consume before we are sufficiently filled and ready
for work?
How many
tools do we have to collect before we got out on the job?
If our
neighbor can fix a VCR with a pop-cycle stick and a paper clip, we should be able to pound
a few nails at the side of our Savior.
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