THRESHING FLOOR D.I.Y STYLE: A NEW APPROACH FOR A NEW GENERATION; From Harvest To Seed

The journey and life of a Christian begins the moment they invite Jesus Christ into their lives (John 1:12-13; Romans 10:1-13). It does not matter whether one is rich or poor, great or small, educated or uneducated, African or European, American or Asian, of Jewish or Arabic descent – all are brought to the same size at the door called salvation. When someone comes to the Lord, according to the Bible, they are simply ‘harvest’, and the chaff must be removed by way of ‘threshing’ to reveal the precious seed (see Matthew 3:11-12; Matthew 9:35-38). Most Christians will be familiar with the scripture in John 3:16, where Jesus says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. I highlight the word ‘whosoever’. You see, salvation is a leveller! At this entrance to the Christian world, everyone, irrespective of race, colour, creed, tribe, nationality, rank etc., is reduced to a WHOSOEVER. Indeed, God is a universal God. Fairness in the Kingdom of God starts right there. For God so loved the world! Many people gave their lives to Jesus willingly and with much excitement and glee, but fainted somewhere along the way or got frustrated and gave up. Some soldiered on in perseverance and pain. They endure rather than enjoy the journey. Fellow Christians get in the way. The world around you gets in the way of your Christian values and beliefs. You find yourself struggling to remain afloat. Even your own flesh gets in the way. Your character does not match your anointing. You do things you do not like to do, and you say things you regret (see Romans 7:14-25). You get angry and moody. You pretend. You exaggerate. You agonise in silence. Your thoughts go wild at times, and only you know it. You have skeletons in the cupboard, past and present. You want to serve God, but you know you have faults. If this sounds familiar, then you need this book. You need to learn to live a “threshed Christian Life”, going on the threshing floor regularly. Threshing is a process by which you, yourself, go before God and be real. ‘Terrible’ things may be said about you or done to you. How do you react/respond? Many Christians are too uncomfortable, too proud, or perhaps too shy to approach someone else for counselling. They would rather ‘die’ in their situation, and withdraw from the Church and other Christians. Alternatively, they stay put, but seriously wounded and hurt by fellow believer; whether leaders or not, they limp along and remain in the Church. They become religious. It is hoped that through this book, both the wounded and those who wound others can have their Spiritual balance restored as they study the Bible in the privacy of their homes and get threshed by the Word of God. This book offers relatively innovative way of looking at the subject of Christian Counselling; namely Do It Yourself (D.I.Y). Using the Bible as the best tool, it offers a threshing floor-based approach to Spiritual renewal and re-generation, whereby one approaches another only in the event of the failure of the D.I.Y. process. The book simplifies the concept of the ‘threshing floor’, by making reference to a sub-urban apartment building, town-house or mansion with nine floors, each of them being a ‘Threshing Floor’ level. The D.I.Y approach allows a wounded or wounding Christian to get ‘self-threshed’ on different theoretical ‘floors’ in the ‘House of the Lord’ (Psalm 23:6). Touching on various character and behavioural attributes, the Bible is clinically explored to bring out scriptures that are analysed to facilitate recovery for the wounded Christians, as well as repentance and regeneration for those who wound or hurt others. Inside the house, each of the ‘threshing floors’ is offered as a place of true reflection, repentance and renewal which mainly benefits the particular believer, and eventually benefits the Church or the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:12; 27). The book draws from practical day-to-day examples that would be common knowledge to many, irrespective of race, colour, creed, nationality or upbringing. Picture this household process which happens on a daily basis – whether it is the Queen’s or King’s palace or the servant’s quarters, the ‘White House’ or the ‘Black House’, owner-occupied or rented accommodation, employee or employer’s house etc etc – dishes are dishes. Cutlery is cutlery. Whether you use a dish-washer or kitchen sink, wash basin or river bed – the end result is the same – to be used again, dishes have to be washed! I propose in this book that to function properly, one day at a time, a Christian has to go through the threshing floor. Consider the following phrase from a ‘Periwinkle’ poem I learnt at primary school: Millionaires, presidents and even kings, Can’t get along without everyday things! If you were a President, King or millionaire, You would use a comb to comb you hair! You would need a toothbrush to clean your teeth, And a soap to wash your face! Millionaires, presidents and even kings, Can’t get along without everyday things! And so the poem went on. The same rings true for us ordinary folk. The ‘everyday things’ are similar to threshing. In them king and subjects find common ground. Through these things we all become ‘whosoevers’. Irrespective of class or wealth, you need to comb your own hair, clean your face, and brush your teeth. In the Christian context, I argue in this book, that is the necessity for the Threshing Floor. It’s an everyday ‘thing’, and we can’t get along without it. This book is for all serious Christians right across the board. It’s an everyday kind of book for every born again child of God. Oh Lord, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses…! Child of God, the Christian Highway is worth it, be threshed, and enjoy the journey!