Chapter 7
What Voluntary Associations
Should Achieve
This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes
gave Ezra the priest,
the scribe, expert in the words of the commandments of the LORD,
and of His statutes to Israel:
Artaxerxes,
king of kings,
To
Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven:
Perfect
peace, and so forth.
I issue a decree that all those of the
people of Israel
and the priests and Levites in my realm,
who volunteer to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you.
And whereas you are being sent by the king
and his seven counselors
to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem,
with regard to the Law of your God which is in your hand;
and whereas you are to carry
the silver and gold
which the king and his counselors have
freely offered to the God of Israel,
whose dwelling is in Jerusalem;
and whereas all the silver and
gold that you may find
in all the province of Babylon,
along with the freewill offering of the
people and the priests,
are to be freely offered for the house of their God in Jerusalem —
now therefore, be careful to buy with this
money bulls, rams, and lambs,
with their grain offerings and their drink
offerings,
and offer them on the altar of the house of
your God in Jerusalem.
And whatever seems good to you and your
brethren to do with the rest
of the silver and the gold, do it according
to the will of your God.
Also the articles that are given to you for
the service of the house of your God,
deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem.
And whatever more may be needed for the
house of your God,
which you may have occasion to provide, pay for it from the king’s treasury.
And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, issue a decree to all the
treasurers
who are in the region beyond
the River,
that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of
the Law of the God of heaven,
may require of you, let it be done
diligently,
up to one hundred talents of silver, one
hundred kors of wheat,
one hundred baths of wine, one hundred baths
of oil,
and salt without prescribed limit.
Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven,
let it diligently be done for the house of
the God of heaven.
For why should there be wrath against the
realm of the king and his sons?
Also we inform you that it shall not be
lawful to impose tax, tribute,
or custom on any of the priests, Levites,
singers, gatekeepers,
Nethinim, or servants of this house of God.
And you,
Ezra, according to your God-given wisdom,
set magistrates and judges
who may judge all the people who are in the region beyond the River,
all such as know the laws of your God; and
teach those who do not know them.
Whoever will not observe the law of your God
and the law of the king,
let judgment be executed speedily on him,
whether it be death, or
banishment, or confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.
Blessed be the LORD God of our
fathers,
who has put such a thing as this in
the king’s heart,
to beautify the house of the LORD which is
in Jerusalem,
and has extended mercy to me before the king
and his counselors,
and
before all the king’s mighty princes.
So I was encouraged, as the hand of the LORD
my God was upon me;
and I gathered leading men of Israel
to go up with me.
— Ezra 7:11-28 (NKJV)
Can you imagine a volunteer project with the kind of earthly
support that the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem had as described in Ezra 7:11-28? Remember
that all the earthly support had its roots firmly based in heavenly favor. Keep
this example in mind when you consider what voluntary associations can do to
assist in creating a 2,000 percent nation. God can provide all the volunteers
and resources needed to accomplish any of His purposes. Yet without someone
leading a voluntary association to serve one of His purposes, great benefits on
Earth and in heaven may not develop.
Voluntary associations provide
many wonderful opportunities for God to test the hearts of His people. Those
who are selfish either won’t become involved or will drain the organization’s
time, patience, and resources just to serve their own narrow interests.
Patience will often be tested while volunteering, helping to teach the importance
of waiting on the Lord. Through any difficulties, some will learn to serve more
selflessly, emulating our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ.
Voluntary associations also offer
great opportunities to engage in purposes that uplift the soul. No amount of
success at most kinds of work can equal the joy of bringing a smile to a
hurting person’s face.
Voluntary associations also
provide great latitude for applying the spiritual gifts that God has provided
to His people. Some believers will also be delighted to discover spiritual
gifts that they didn’t know they had until serving in a voluntary association.
Finally, extraordinarily fruitful
voluntary associations provide opportunities to attract the attention of people
who are looking to fill a spiritual void in their lives. These works are
today’s equivalent of Jesus’ amazing works in healing lepers, raising the dead,
turning water into wine, and feeding thousands with but a little food. If those
who participate in and observe the supernaturally aided results properly give
God the glory, even more interest will be generated in the Gospel. As a result,
some souls may be saved that might not have been.
While there are virtually
unlimited ways that voluntary associations can help to establish a 2,000
percent nation, I would like to focus on just two of the more important ways in
this chapter:
1. Equip youngsters with advanced
improvement skills and encouragement for lifelong accomplishments.
2. Create Christian associations
for serving the whole nation and communities within it by providing
complementary Godly benefit breakthroughs.
We begin by considering how to
better equip youngsters.
Equip Youngsters
with Advanced Improvement Skills and Encouragement
for Lifelong Accomplishments
And Saul said to David,
“You are not able to go against this
Philistine to fight with him;
for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”
— 1 Samuel 17:33
(NKJV)
It’s easy to underestimate what young people can accomplish
with God’s help. Just as Saul believed that Goliath would easily destroy David
while David was quite confident that God would bring him the victory, God may
nurture great faith in preparing a young person to do amazing things, the fruit
of which may continue forever. With such believers in place, God will have many
opportunities to produce great blessings that will add to His glory.
Most voluntary youth associations
are involved in building knowledge and skills to some extent. Rather than be
satisfied with teaching youngsters only at the simplest level, why not offer
advanced knowledge and skill development opportunities to those who are excited
by opportunities to accomplish more, as David was in meeting Goliath’s
challenge while the whole army shrank back in fear?
While many youth organizations
have charters that are totally secular, the awesomeness of developing and
implementing complementary breakthrough solutions will undoubtedly attract
interest among volunteers and youngsters in understanding how such methods
originated. After finding that these ways of doing so much more are a gift from
God, at least some volunteers and youngsters are going to be drawn closer to
the Lord. Naturally, if the organization’s purpose includes serving the Lord,
such information can be shared from the beginning of a volunteer’s and
youngster’s involvement.
In equipping youngsters, it’s
important to take seriously their potential to make complementary breakthroughs
with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, young people may be annoyed by
what they perceive as dismissive attitudes and accomplish far less than their
potential in serving the Lord.
Naturally, limited knowledge and
analytical skills may reduce what youngsters can perceive and evaluate. As a
result, it will be important for volunteers with more knowledge and experience
to serve in encouraging ways as research supporters. A good analogy is to the
role that the chair of a doctoral student’s committee plays in providing
structure, encouraging feedback, and offering sound advice on how to accomplish
a student’s goals while leaving the student in charge of making choices.
To make such assistance easier to
provide, voluntary youth organizations would do well to provide templates that
show how to assist youngsters in accomplishing a variety of breakthrough goals
by using complementary solutions. In many cases, video-based tutorials in how
to use the templates will greatly increase the frequency and accuracy of their
use. I also encourage creating videos about youngsters and volunteers who
succeeded in creating exponential benefit breakthroughs by using multiple
complementary solutions.
If in doubt about what to focus
on while assisting youngsters to make a breakthrough, I suggest emphasizing
encouragement over skill development. The combination of understanding what is
possible and generating interest in doing more will be sufficient to draw
almost any youngster into developing more than adequate skills over a lifetime.
Choosing the right subjects can
add a lot of interest and increase what is learned. If possible, work on what
excites an individual youngster rather than giving a standard assignment to
each youngster. If asked for suggestions, encourage youngsters to solve
frustrating problems in their own lives, in their own families, and for people
they care about.
In some cases, permission to add
such programs must be obtained at the international or national level of a
voluntary youth organization before anything can begin. When that’s the case, I
suggest that at first you simply seek an opportunity to conduct a limited
experiment. Most organizations are fairly open to granting such waivers. Many
are also very reluctant to make any major permanent changes. Gently probe,
don’t push, when such reluctance is the case.
In other cases, no special
permission may be needed. Find a local unit that needs volunteers and become
one. When that’s the case, after you have had some success ask for
opportunities to share your experiences with others in the organization and be
prepared to help any interested leaders.
If many voluntary youth
organizations can become active in these ways, the likelihood will greatly
increase for most youngsters to have these learning opportunities. Praise God
for this way of serving youngsters!
Let’s look next at creating
Christian associations for serving the whole nation and communities within it
with complementary Godly benefit breakthroughs.
Create Christian Associations for
Serving
the Whole Nation and Communities within
It
with Complementary Godly Benefit Breakthroughs
“For behold, I create new heavens and a
new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever in what
I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The voice of weeping shall no longer be
heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.”
— Isaiah 65:17-19 (NKJV)
In some countries, many existing voluntary associations
either avoid any connection to faith or have an overt orientation to a non-Christian
religion. As a consequence, Christians may find themselves with limited choices
of organizations to join for serving God’s purposes beyond what churches and
various public ministries do.
My suggestion for Christians is
simple: Add Christian versions of any voluntary associations that do
constructive work. In some cases, it may be possible to establish such groups
as units within existing voluntary associations. Because Christian organization
members will then have opportunities to meet with both Christians and non-Christians
during different aspects of what a voluntary association does, such a
relationship can be quite helpful for spiritual fruit through witnessing.
Because some people may
misperceive such new Christian organizations as being in opposition to what
secular and non-Christian organizations do, Christians should explain that
their new voluntary associations are simply ways to enlist God’s supernatural
power in support of His purposes. When God then furthers what the Christian
voluntary associations accomplish in remarkable ways, He provides another means
to glorify Himself by demonstrating that He exists and is active in the world.
What other kinds of Christian
voluntary associations should be established? Rely on Bible study, prayer, and
listening to the Holy Spirit to direct you beyond paralleling what already
exists in secular and non-Christian voluntary associations.
If you would like a bit more
guidance than that, you might begin by studying, praying about, and thinking
about spiritual gifts and spiritual fruit. Then, look around to find
opportunities to apply spiritual gifts in fruitful activities such as
witnessing, encouraging sanctification, and increasing focus on God.
While I don’t want to presume to
steer you toward a specific opportunity, let me describe a new type of
Christian voluntary association that I would personally like to join. Perhaps
this example will help to understand more inspiration from the Holy Spirit.
Currently, there’s a lot of
division in society between those who primarily rely on the Bible to determine
God’s truth and those who focus, instead, on the latest scientific knowledge
and theories. Sharing thoughts from the two perspectives is a little like two
people trying to converse who don’t share a common language. If you bring together
people from the two perspectives, you may generate more heat than light for
those involved.
I would like to be part of a
Christian voluntary association that seeks independent evidence of what the
Bible says based solely on human research and thinking, whether the disciplines
involved are science, history, archeology, or any other secular field. My
purpose in wanting to be involved relates, in part, to the Holy Spirit
directing me to help create Investigation Centers where people seeking more
evidence of the Gospel’s truth could find additional objective sources to
answer their questions and to satisfy any concerns they have. After being
involved with such an association, I would certainly learn a lot more about
what sources should go into the Investigation Centers.
Another part of me is attracted
to the opportunity of having more discussions with those who are interested in
expanding their understanding of the Bible by drawing on more perspectives. For
instance, medical descriptions of what happens to a dead person and to someone
with leprosy have made my study of Jesus’ miracles much more profound and have
deepened my faith. I’m sure many people know or could direct me to such
practical details about famous Bible passages that would enormously increase my
appreciation for the kingdom
of God.
In providing this example, I
deliberately chose something that’s well beyond what most churches could hope
to accomplish solely through their resources. I certainly thank and appreciate
all the gifted Bible teachers who have taken the time to learn fact-based
details that add color and meaning to Scripture. It is my sincere appreciation
for how valuable such teachings have been that make me want to know more.
In the context of creating a
2,000 percent nation, there’s also the obvious opportunity of selecting
purposes for new Christian voluntary associations that focus on places and
aspects of life where a nation isn’t being very fruitful in terms of the
spiritual, moral, health, emotional, and physical dimensions described in
Chapter 1.
I also see such new Christian
voluntary associations as being especially productive places to combine Bible
study, prayer, and focusing on the Holy Spirit’s directions with practical
methods for defining and implementing complementary benefit breakthroughs in
these same aspects of national, regional, and local fruitfulness. To date, my
impression is that pursuit of the two types of knowledge has been kept separate
by many people. Since all these sources are God inspired, I believe that’s a
missed opportunity to be more fruitful.
One of the great benefits for
those involved with such associations will be adding fruitful fellowship
opportunities to what their current church- and ministry-related activities
provide. If you are like me, I’m sure you have had many occasions where you
would have liked to discuss with fellow believers important issues about work
or your personal life that are well beyond the direct knowledge and experience
of your pastors and fellow congregants.
In addition, the accomplishments
of such associations will be a great beacon drawing the attention of those who
would like to see proof of God’s existence and goodness before committing their
lives to serve Jesus as their Lord. Imagine how much more of this kind of appeal
would be present in a nation that is filled with hundreds of thousands of such
Christian voluntary associations accomplishing works that could only be
possible due to God’s grace and whose participants freely and happily give God
the glory for what has occurred.
Having raised the idea of
combining more kinds of knowledge to become more fruitful, it is fortunate that
our next discussion, found in Chapter 8, focuses on ways that foundations can
encourage advanced learning about making complementary benefit breakthroughs
for Godly purposes.
Copyright
© 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 by Donald W. Mitchell.
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Scripture
quotations marked (NKJV)
are taken
from the New King James Version.
Copyright
© 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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