Archive for the ‘By Bill Winn’ Category
The Life, Death, and Ascension of Jesus
Filed under: Ascension, Ascension of Jesus, By Bill Winn, Christian Living, The Plan of Adoption, Trinity | Tags: Adoption, Ascension, Ascension of Jesus, Ascension Sunday, Christian Living, God Father Son and Spirit, God Likes You, God the Trinity, Gospel, Incarnation, Jesus, Lord Jesus, Love, Purpose, resurrection of Jesus, Thanksgiving, The Father, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity, Worship
Comments (3) 
Nothing is more central to the Christian message than the news that Jesus has brought humanity into objective union with the Trinity. The Father, Son, and Spirit, before creation, determined that the life they share in unfettered mutual other-centeredness, would be shared with you, and with me, and with the entire human race. How raucous should be the celebration of our Inclusion!!
I recall 9 years ago coming to terms with my wrong-headed theology. I was ashamed of things I had believed and preached. Reading, like a man stranded on a desert island with only a library of Trinitarian thought to pass the time, I hungrily consumed every book I could get my hands on that focused on the Triune nature of God as the starting point for its theology.
I read new books and old books. I began to see the importance of the Life, Death, and Ascension of Jesus in a new light. I let go of Penal Substitutionary Atonement theory. I no longer saw God the Father as killing Jesus so he wouldn’t have to kill me. I began to scream at Western Evangelical Christian radio and TV. I soon just turned it off! “Jesus is not the only one who loves me!” I thought. “The Father and the Holy Spirit love me too!” You see inside the life, death, and ascension of Jesus, or what we call his finished work, the dream of the Father to have mankind in union with the God-head was accomplished.
Do you see it? Do you see the startling beauty of the purpose and plan of God for humanity? The life, death, and ascension of Jesus are towering over historical humanity from the very beginning beckoning us to wake up and see the beauty of our inclusion into the life of God. We are called to live in it, love in it, laugh and play in it. We are summoned to belief so we might taste and see that the Lord is good. So good in fact that there is nothing you can do to change God’s disposition toward you. There is nothing you can do to make the Father, Son, and Spirit love you more or less. God already loves you with 100% of His being! All that you needed to fit and be adopted into the life of God has already been accomplished in the life, death, and ascension of Jesus…
Well I hope I have not agitated anyone too much. I intentionally left out the word resurrection simply to make the point that we ought to be equally alarmed when we hear people talk about the “life, death, and resurrection of Jesus”. We must never forget how important to us is His Ascension. In fact this blog post was written as an exercise on how sometimes we emphasize the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to such a degree that we forget about the importance of the ascension of Jesus. This Sunday is Ascension Sunday, when we celebrate with special emphasis, the Ascension of our Lord Jesus. In the Ascension you and I and all of humanity have been seated with Jesus at the right hand of the Father. In the Ascension we have all gone home! We are with the Triune God both here in our present condition and at the same time seated at the throne of God. We need not divide Jesus to such an extent that we focus on one part of him or his ministry to the detriment of others but this year during Ascension week let us be especially thankful that Jesus has brought us all home in his ongoing Incarnation!
~Bill Winn
Do you love me?
Filed under: By Bill Winn | Tags: Adoption, Christian Living, disciples, Jesus, Love, Resurrection
Comments (4) It was a bit cooler than normal on the sea of Tiberius. It was calm enough, but a light breeze blew out of the North, and there was a chill in the air. And that wasn’t the only chill. The boys and I were out fishing because we needed some food and we were also hoping to catch enough fish to sell. I have a family and so do some of the others but what really had us chilled was all that had taken place over the last couple of weeks. You see following Jesus has been the most astounding journey any of us have ever taken. We’ve seen things you would not believe! We have seen Jesus put the religious rulers in their place, we’ve seen him heal the blind, and raise the dead. But something has changed .A few days ago Jesus was crucified. He told it would happen, I tried to stop the soldiers from arresting him but Jesus called me Satan and went with them willingly. I suppose what has shamed me the most is that I betrayed him three times, just like he predicted I would.
None of us are sure how it happened or what it means really, but Jesus is alive! He is alive! You might think I’m crazy, but I saw him beaten, I saw him crucified, and I was there when they laid him in the tomb. But he is alive; somehow, the grave could not keep him! Somehow he is here. Oh, yes! We have seen him… and you know what? He is still human. You see the morning after we’d fished all night (and caught nothing) we came near the shore and there he was cooking his breakfast. He told us where to cast the net and we caught a mess of fish like you’ve never seen. The haul was too heavy to pull into the boat. We ate breakfast and laughed together and then Jesus suggested we go for a walk.
Walks usually meant one thing… important conversations. We knew Jesus was going to tell us something that we really needed to hear but I had no idea how important this walk, with Jesus, would be for me.
Jesus looked at me and asked, “Peter, do you love me?” I replied “yes”, and Jesus said, “Feed my lambs” Then Jesus asked me again, “Peter, do you love me?” Again, I answered, “Yes” and Jesus said, “Tend my sheep.” So again, a third time, Jesus asked, “Peter do you love me?” I was a bit hurt but managed, “Yes Lord, you know everything. You know I love you.” So Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
Well what you might not know is that in our language Jesus asked, “Peter do you agape me?” I responded, “I philo you.” A second time Jesus asked, “Do you agape me?” A second time I replied, “I philo you.” Then, the third time Jesus asked me, “Peter do you philo me?” That’s when I said, “Yes Lord you know everything, you know I philo you.”
Tim Brassell’s Smallmouth Bass
You see agape love is love that is pure and complete that comes from the Father and I did not have the capacity to love like the Father so I just said I philo you, which means “I love you with a brotherly love”. We did this same back and forth twice until Jesus, knowing all along that I was not capable of agape love asked, “Peter do you philo me?” and I said, “Yes Lord you know everything, you know I philo you.”
Despite my limited love for him do you know what Jesus said to me each time I confessed my incapacity for agape love? Each time he said, “Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep.”
What I learned that day is that no matter what we bring to the table Jesus can use it, multiply it, and that Jesus does not want to do his ministry without us no matter our limitations or hang-ups.
That morning I couldn’t help remembering the little boy, who gave up his lunch, so that Jesus could take two small fish and five pieces of bread and use it feed 5000 people.
I’ll venture a guess that what you have to offer the Lord is a bit more than a few fish and loaves but even if that’s all you have jump in, participate, and be amazed at the wonderful miracles Jesus will do through you!
~Pete
The Death of Us All
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Happy Easter! ~Bill Winn (click the image for a larger view)
Graciously drawn for me by Miss Alex Minor, art student at VCU
50 Whats?
Filed under: By Bill Winn, Christian Living, Gospel, Love, Relationships, Trinity, Worship | Tags: 50 Shades, 50 Shades of Grey, Bill Winn, Classic Rock, E.L. James, El James, God the Trinity, Gospel, human relationships, Led Zeppelin, Love, Marriage, Pastor Bill Winn, Relationships, sex
Comments (8) 50 Whats?
Nope not light bulbs… Shades of Grey. So right now there is a pile of media attention being doled out over the recent book by E.L. James that is now on the big screen. So what’s the big deal? Why the outcry? I don’t know and I don’t really care. I haven’t read the book and won’t see the movie. (my personal choice) So this blog will not be about whether or not the book or movie is appropriate or whether or not our readers should entertain their minds with 50 Shades of Grey. We at Trinity and Humanity blog do indeed trust that our readers are mature enough to make such decisions on their own. Still, E.L. James is the target of a good bit of criticism from both Christians and non-Christians alike.
As I stated earlier, I am not qualified to talk about the book so I won’t. What I can speak to is the conversation that has been pushed to the fore as a result of James’ literary work. The conversation is about sex… *gasp*! Yes, sex. Hmmm… makes us uncomfortable sometimes doesn’t it. Why? What is it about us, especially Christians, that gets a bit nervous inside when we hear the word sex?
Let’s start here… in John 1:3 we read that nothing was made that was made that was not made by Jesus. God created everything! Did God give us sex? Yep, and thank you Jesus! Sex is good. Sex is wonderful. Sex is intended by God to be enjoyed in the specific context of marriage and in that context it is awesome! Regular other-centered sex between a husband and wife is even thought to reduce the risk of heart disease and to produce all sorts of other health benefits.
Faith Winn: Future Rocker!
So here is the question: Why doesn’t the Church talk about sex MORE? I once had a conversation with a group of buddies where we were discussing the merits (or lack thereof) of classic Rock-n-Roll music. You see, as a guitarist, I really appreciate the skill of people like Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, EVH, and other lead guitarists from the classic rock era. So I play a fair amount of Pink Floyd, Led Zep, and Van Halen, as best I can, on the guitar. As you may know many of those songs are about sex. So for me, a married man, I can appreciate those songs in the context of my marriage to the most amazing woman on the planet!
At last, here is the final question and point. If God created mountains, babies, blue skies, rain, and flowers… and the Church has no problem writing songs about those topics and if God also created sex, why does the Church ignore it in our music and entertainment? Also if the Church is going to ignore one of the most wonderful gifts we’ve been given by the blessed Trinity, why as Christians are we so shocked that people will go elsewhere to talk about it.
A final challenge to Christian musicians: If it’s not career suicide, do us a favor and write us a good Rock-n-Roll song about sex within the context of a mutually other-centered marriage. Until then watch your ears… Led Zeppelin is on loud at my house and I am not ashamed!
~Bill Winn
Life After Life
Filed under: Bible, By Bill Winn, Church, Gospel, Love, Perichoresis, Prayer, Relationships | Tags: AL, death, funerals, Jesus, Life after death, memorials
Comments (5) I have a very close friend. His name is Albert DeStephanis but most of us just call him Al or, a lot of the time, Big Al. At church he had his own special greeting. It usually didn’t matter what was going on when he walked through the door someone would call out, “Big Al!”. In 2011 Al had some heart trouble and doctors gave Al a new lease on life with a new technology called an LVAD or Left Ventricular Assist Device. It’s a heart pump.
In 2011 Al went into the hospital for a bypass and, after the surgery, had two massive heart events. Al slipped away twice that night and the doctors and nurses at St. Mary’s in Richmond fought hard all night long and brought Al back. A few days later, after Al had his new heart pump installed, he said to me, “You know I died twice during all this right?” Then, very contemplatively, Al said, “Someday, when I die for real I don’t think I’ll be that worried about it because I’ll just say been there, done that.”
Big Al Sept. 30, 1939 -eternity!
I recall being very impressed with Al’s attitude about the episode. And so as time went on Al recovered and went back to a fairly normal life. He attended his grandchildren’s swim meets and came to church on a regular basis. Al is the rare type of person who, when you meet them, you wish you’d known them your whole life. He is as kind and gentle a man as you could ever meet. I simply adore him!
So last week Big Al transitioned from this life into the next. He passed into what C.S. Lewis called the full Weight of Glory and now knows Jesus more intimately than any of us here. In fact it was just yesterday that a large number of people attended his memorial service.
Paul the apostle says death is swallowed up in victory and defeated. Athanasius says, “Jesus it is Who has destroyed death and freely graced us all with incorruption…”
Death is not a reality. How can anything that has been defeated and destroyed by Jesus be a reality? Indeed death is not real- life is real. Jesus is life and Jesus is real. Jesus has given us new life and new birth through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension. We are seated with Him- in Him- at the right hand of the Father in the communion of the Holy Spirit.
There is no life after death. Did I shock you? Keep reading. There is no life after death because; how can there be anything after something that is not real? We may as well ask whether there is life after magic Pegasus unicorns. Death is not real so there can’t possibly be life after death.
There is only Life after Life. The life that was given to Al was the very life that originates in, flows from, and is the life of the Father, Son, and Spirit. The life that Al was given in 1939 was the very life of the eternal Triune God. That life has no end!
We may not see Al the way we used to, we may not actually see him walk into the room, but Al is very much alive… in fact I would posit that Al is more alive than he has ever been!
A prayer: Father, we grieve the loved ones who have gone to Glory. We sense separation but know it is not real. Comfort us Holy Spirit. Teach us to honor our grieving, to know that grief is evidence of love and that deep grief is evidence of even deeper love. Show us the beauty of our tears and the joys that await us when we, someday, catch up with our loved ones who have passed into the full weight of glory. Jesus, thank you for including humanity in the life you share with your Father from eternity. Amen
~Bill Winn
The Sacred Ministry of Cleaning Out the Porta-Potties
Filed under: Bible, By Bill Winn | Tags: Christian, engineer, farmers, firefighters, Jesus, mechanics, plumbing, police, sacred, secular, St. Augustine, Welding
Comments (9) Well you have heard it I am sure. I have personally heard it dozens of times usually in testimonials and from Christians who are in some type of vocational ministry. The comments usually go something like this, “I spent 25 years in a secular job but now I’m working for the Lord.” Or maybe it is a question to pastors and ministry types, “What was your secular job before you went into full time ministry?” Sometimes we divide entertainment into categories like sacred/ secular. We call some music sacred and some secular. (Okay full disclosure: as I write this I am listening to my Pink Floyd channel on Pandora®) There is only one source of creativity in the Cosmos- The Triune God. We might spoil our music with rotten lyrics but as adults we should be able to eat the meat and spit out the bones without relying on divisions and religiosity.
Well here’s the straight dope on these sorts of statements and questions- they come from the lie of separation. The lie that we are separated from God began in the Garden with Adam and Eve but the Greeks intellectualized it and then the Christians incorporated it into their teachings through people like St. Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas. The idea of being separated from God is fallen. You cannot possibly be separated from God… you have no power to be here… without a connection to a Sustainer you would simply cease to exist. Paul told a whole crowd on non-Christians that they live and move and have their being in Jesus and that Jesus gives life and breath and all things to all mortals. If you plan to die someday then Paul is referring to you!
Additionally in the first words of his gospel John, the beloved disciple, said that Jesus made everything and that nothing exists apart from what Jesus created.
One particular year at Higher Ground Summer Camp the Porta-Potty company forgot about us and we had a rather smelly camp by the end of the week because these 12 portable bathrooms on site were not cleaned and with 135 campers and 75 staff well… you get the idea. It was unpleasant to say the least. Well the following year I served as Chaplain and during the final message of the week I kept referring to the sacred ministry of sucking out the porta-potties and each time the teens would giggle. Of course that was the partly the point of it all to keep their interest and make it fun.
Well in conclusion I asked the campers in the Chapel a series of questions: “How many think Jesus created you?” Every hand went up. Then I asked, “How many believe Jesus created you with a need to go to the restroom?” Every hand went up. Then the final query: “How many of you believe that Jesus provides for all of your needs?” Every hand went up and many many lights went on. I could see on their young faces that they’d made the connection.
Now the man who drove the sewage truck and cleaned out the port-potties would likely not tell you that when he was 16 he had a vision from the Lord that his calling would be to clean out portable bathrooms. You see it does not matter why he is doing the job but while he is doing it he is participating in Jesus’ provision for his beloved humanity.
There is no secular only sacred. All is sacred. Yes admittedly we sometimes spoil the things Jesus made. Child abuse is certainly wrong but it is merely a spoiling of something God made that is very good- the relationship between a parent and child. C.S.Lewis wrote, “Goodness is, so to speak itself: badness is only spoiled goodness. And there must be something good first before it can be spoiled.” Do you see it? What you do every day is important in fact as important as what preachers do on Sunday mornings. (maybe more)
Could we travel safely to visit family or help a widow in need without reliable transportation? Thank you mechanics. Could we set bones and administer treatments without doctors and nusrses? Thank you medical professionals. Could we cross vast expanses without bridges? Thank you welders, masons, and construction engineers. Could we enjoy relationships over nice meals out without restaurants? Thank you chefs, wait-staff, and managers. Thank you farmers, receptionists, firefighters, police, and military. Thank you janitors, teachers, and factory workers. You get the idea. Let us put an end to the snobbery of sacred/ secular and recognize that Jesus is Emmanuel and he is with us no matter what our occupation.
~Bill Winn
Priming the Pump
Filed under: Bible, By Bill Winn, Church, Evangelism, Gospel, Love | Tags: Church, Grace, Jesus, living water, Love, Preaching, prime, tickle
Comments (6) Lately I have read a great deal of commentary on the “ear Tickling” of Trinitarian/ Inclusion theology. Anecdotal as it may be, the observation of snipes at preaching that leaves a church-goer happy has brought me to this blog posting. I once heard a story of a man who was sitting in church to see his niece get baptized. During the main sermon the preacher was holding forth about the evils of this behavior and the pitfalls of the other behavior and condemning all who engaged in said behaviors. During the sermon this man’s father passed him a note that read, “How do you feel?” The man scribbled a response, “I came to get a drink of Living Water
Out of the believer’s heart shall flow…
and instead got a butt whipping!”
Some might suggest that when we hear a message at church we should expect to be convicted and corrected. Maybe some of us expect to be whipped verbally and spiritually for our past weeks transgressions. Perhaps there is a place for us to be corrected but I would suggest that the arena for such pastoral care is in private so that none are shamed. The Father, Son, and Spirit don’t do shame!
Jesus said that out of the believer’s heart would flow rivers of living waters. Well who is the Living Water? Of course Jesus is the Living Water. I believe messages at church should be the best place in the world to hear the good news of the Father’s relentless love for all of humanity. If we show up at church we should plant our feet and expect to hear the gospel. The word itself means good news.
My Grandfather had an old manually operated well pump on his farm in North Carolina and by the time I came along it was not used much because the technology of the day had replaced it with an automatic electric pump. The old pump did work and my Grandfather used it from time to time to water the dogs or flowers and such. In order to get the water to come out one had to first pour a bucket of water down the top of the pump. This was what Grandpa called priming the pump.
If we wanted to get water from that particular well we had to pour the contents of the old wooden bucket down the top of that pump to start the water flowing. When we drew all the water we needed the last thing we’d do is fill up the bucket and leave it for the next time the pump was to be used.
I submit that the preaching we hear in church should serve as a prime of the pump so-to-speak. Good news should be poured out into us so much so that we get “primed” for the Living Water to spill out all over our world.
Paul the Apostle warned of times when people would not yearn for sound doctrine but would have itching ears and would wander away to myths.
So let me suggest that preaching that beats us over the head about our every shortcoming is not sound doctrine and the god who is a disapproving judge is a myth.
The message of the Church is that you belong to the Father, Son, and Spirit. You always have, you always will, the Father loves you, and likes you. You are his beloved child. So let us not tickle each other’s ears with any other nonsense.
Did God forsake Jesus?
Filed under: By Bill Winn | Tags: abandoned, Bill Winn, Christ, Church, Cross, eli eli, father, father's day, forsaken, Holiness, holy, Jesus, Love, relationship, Separation, Sin, with
Comments (4) Did God ever Forsake Jesus? Consider these words of Jesus on the Cross, “Eli Eli lama sabachthani?” These words translated are “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” Did God the Father abandon or forsake Jesus on the Cross? Did the Eternal Father of the Eternal Son really pronounce him accursed? Is it possible that the same Father who declared, “This is my beloved Son in whom my soul delights.” really turned his back on Jesus so that he suffered alone and isolated in his hour of greatest need? Much has been written about this subject so let me throw in on the matter. Let’s look at what the Bible has to say and let our minds be conformed to the mind of Christ .
If we begin with the character and nature of God we will see a clear answer to this question.
Is it possible that the Father forsook Jesus?
In John 1:1 we read; “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word was with God.” The Greek word for with in this passage indicates a face-to-face, personal, and intimate relationship. Jesus and his Father have eternally been in this intimate face-to-face relationship in the communion of the Holy Spirit. There has never been a time when the Father, Son, and Spirit have not been in intimate loving relationship. The Triune God exists as relationship and is Love. The Father, Son, and Spirit know no other way to be toward one another than to be as Love.
On the Cross Jesus is executing a rabbinic exercise where the teacher begins to quote a Psalm and the congregants there finish it. Jesus is quoting Psalm 22 which begins “My God my God why have you forsaken me?” The Psalm does not end in defeat it ends in victory. The point made by Jesus is victory not defeat or having been forsaken.
Also who is Jesus’ God? What God does Jesus worship? Well Jesus does not have a God he is God with the Father and the Spirit so just on that point alone the idea that Jesus is literally telling us that the Father has forsaken him cannot be accurate. In I Corinthians 12:3 Paul says, “Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says, ‘Let Jesus be cursed!” I would hazard a guess that God the Father speaks by the Spirit. It is not the Father who put Jesus to death on the Cross… it was us. (Heb. 12:3) Consider II Corinthians 5:19 “…that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself…” The word for in there really means in. In John 14:20 Jesus says, “In that day you will know that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you.” Jesus and the Father mutually indwell one another and the Holy Spirit is facilitating this relationship at all times.
Some argue that because Jesus took on our sin God the Father had to turn his back on him because God cannot have any part with sin. Let us never forget that Jesus is God- co-equal with the Father and the Spirit. If God can have no fellowship with sin how did Jesus eat with sinners, become human, and finally take on all of our sin!
Also ponder this… there is a politician I know of that is on his third marriage. When he married wife number one he said, “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.” Then he cheated on wife number one with the woman who would become wife number two. When he married wife number two he said, “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.” Then he cheated on wife number two with the woman who would become wife number three. When he married wife number three he said, “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.” Well neither wife number two nor three have any basis on which to believe him because of what he has actually done. He has proven that he will in fact leave and forsake. So if the Eternal Father of Jesus would leave and forsake him in his hour of greatest need how can we ever believe that he will never leave nor forsake us?
Let me say with clarity and determination… God the Father most certainly did not forsake Jesus on the Cross and Jesus did not say that he did. This Father’s Day as we celebrate all that is good about our dads let us put away in our hearts, minds, and in our Faith the blasphemous notion that Jesus’ Father ever turned his back on him and let us celebrate that he will never turn his back on us!
~ Bill Winn
The Happiness Recipe
Filed under: Bible, By Bill Winn, Scripture Paraphrases, Sermons | Tags: beatitudes, blessed, disciples, God, happiness, happy, hunger, Jesus, joy, kingdom of god, meek, mourn, peacemakers, pure in heart, Richmond Grace Fellowship, Sermon on the Mount
Comments (4) Jesus once sat down on a mountain side in Galilee and taught a multitude of his students about being blessed. The event is recorded in Matthew 5 and we have come to call it The Sermon on the Mount. Imagine how incredible it must have been to sit and listen to Jesus talk about being happy. You see so often religion makes us wary of being happy. Religion almost creates an atmosphere of guilt over pleasure and happiness. Jesus wants us to be happy in fact I can prove it…The heading over the first dozen verses in Matthew 5 in my Bible reads, “The Beatitudes”. Well, I have a confession to make. For many years as a teen and young adult I never knew what the word beatitude meant. It comes from the Latin beatitudinem and just means happiness. It is not in the original text but is simply a heading to help the reader better understand the context and meaning of what follows. I’d give the translators a C- for this one. Why didn’t they just put “Happiness” so we’d understand?
Two sources of my happiness!
In Matthew 5:1-12 Jesus gives a list of behaviors wherein he says, “Blessed are …” The word for blessed that we have, from the most reliable manuscripts, is a Greek word that just means the same- happy!
So think about these verses in the light of happiness. Happy are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God. Being poor in spirit simply means fully relying on God and this is how we see and experience the Kingdom of God.
Happy are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Well of course when we mourn the Holy Spirit comforts and works in and around us to restore our joy.
So you see The Beatitudes are not a formula to get in with God or make you right with him. The Beatitudes are simply a recipe for being happy.
How cool is that and why in the wide world of sports don’t the translators come up with something better than “The Beatitudes”? Why not put a new more easily understood heading over this part of the Sermon on the Mount like… The Happiness Recipe.
Train Up A Child…
Filed under: Bible, By Bill Winn, Children's Ministry, Christian Living, Church, Gospel, Ministry, Relationships | Tags: antiques, Child Rearing, gifts, Proverbs 22:6, talents, tools, train up a child
Comments (4) From a youth I have had a keen appreciation for antiques… sort of. Let me explain. While I do appreciate fine antique furniture and ornate wrought iron gates it is the tools used to create them that have always intrigued me. I have a growing collection of antique tools that I love to use. I am not one to buy an old tool and put away only to look at it or show it off to visitors- I put them to use. From my anvil that was made in England in the 1830’s to old chisels and hand planes (some of which were made before the Revolutionary War) I use them to do the tasks
for which they were intended.
One of the first rules of hand tools or any tool for that matter is to use it for its intended purpose. I once saw someone take a finely honed 19th century Lakeside chisel and scrape a sticker off a metal lunch pail. YIKES!
In Proverbs 22:6 we are told to “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Wow, those words can either be an encouragement to parents or worrisome. It mostly depends on how you read it.
Well without boring the reader with the grammars and morphologies of ancient languages let me just tell you that the original text would read more like… “Train up a child the way he/she is bent and they will not depart from it even in old age.”
So the writer of the wisdom in Proverbs 22:6 is basically admonishing parents to look for where the child is naturally gifted and then to encourage and assist them in exploring that gift.
Think of another type of tool, a bow, if one wishes to launch an arrow with a bow one must draw the bow the way it is “bent”. If one were to draw the bow a different way from how it is bent the bow will perform poorly and may even break.
Our children are certainly not tools that we use but they, like a finely set Isaac Field smoothing plane, must be carefully observed and encouraged to do what they were created to do.
Some children love mathematics, some love animals, some love to act and entertain, some are gifted musically. Whatever gifts the Father, Son, and Spirit have given your kids encourage them, in any way possible, to chase their passions and even when they are old they will not depart from it.
Now where did I put that Stanley no. 48 tongue and groove plane Davina got me…