CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION:ENTER THE NEW 'D.I.Y'APPROACH

The purpose of this book is to provide a practical way for Christiansto voluntarily put themselves prostrate on the 'threshing floor' ofGod's word, and overcome the usual pitfalls that cause them to strayaway from the path of the Lord. Through this model of threshingfloor, the chaff that is in us all is removed to leave the seed, whichwill be used by God in different ways. From harvest to seed.From the threshing floor to the silo. From the silo to usefulnessin different ways. From the silo to service. The argument that isoffered in this book is that all Christian believers should be threshedfor service in the House of God. Drawing from practical examplesof daily life, the book offers a 'Do It Yourself' (D.I.Y) model forSpiritual refinement, cleansing, purification, revival, renewal,restoration, and useful, satisfying, daily Christian living.

The book develops the concept of 'Threshing floor' by simplifyingit with reference to the idea of the 'House of God' (Psalm 23:6)and the Christian as the New Testament 'temple' (1 Corinthians6:19-20). It is further simplified by making reference to a typicalsub-urban mansion or town-house with nine floors or levels, each ofthem being a 'Threshing Floor' level. The ground floor is Level zero('0'), or simply 'G', followed by floors or levels one (1) up to eight(8). Touching on various character and behavioural attributes, theBible is explored to clinically bring out passages of scripture that areanalysed to facilitate recovery for the wounded Christians, as wellas repentance and regeneration for those who wound or hurt others.Using the traditional view of the Threshing Floor as the 'theologicalor theoretical framework', the book draws from practical day-to-dayexamples that would be common knowledge to many, irrespective ofrace, colour, creed, nationality or upbringing.

As such, this book aims to contribute to teachings, ideas andadvice offered through books, pulpits, seminars, and otherrelevant literature, by suggesting a 'D.I.Y' approach to ChristianCounselling. More specifically, the book explores the possibilityof revealing, for each individual Christian, the 'danger signals' intheir character, language or behaviour that may have a negativeimpact on other believers. The 'threshing floor' is offered as a placeof true reflection, repentance and renewal which mainly benefitsthe particular believer, and eventually benefits the community ofbelievers generally referred to as the Church, or the body of Christ(I Corinthians 12:12; 27).

It is perhaps fair to say that this book explores a relativelyinnovative but practical approach to Christian Counselling. I amaware that there is a lot of useful literature in respect of ChristianCounselling as a general topic. There is no attempt made in thisbook to review that literature. The general presumption is thatone needs counselling, therefore one seeks help from another. Thenew approach offered in this book proposes to have a different andrelatively innovative way of looking at the subject; namely Do ItYourself (D.I.Y). Using the Bible as the best tool, this book offersa threshing floor-based approach to Spiritual renewal and re-generation whereby one approaches someone else only in the eventof the failure of the D.I.Y. process.

Many Christians are too uncomfortable (or is it too proud?) orperhaps too shy to approach someone else for counselling. So theyquietly backslide, they 'die' in their situation and withdraw fromthe Church and other Christians. Or at best they stay put, but badlywounded and hurt, they limp along and remain in the Church. Deeplywounded by fellow believers, whether leaders or not. They becomereligious. It is hoped that through this book, both the wounded andthose who wound others can have their Spiritual balance restored asthey study the Bible in the privacy of their homes and get threshed bythe Word of God.

When someone comes to the Lord, according to the Bible, theyare 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). Applying the idea of the 'threshing floor', theD.I.Y approach to Spiritual renewal offered in this book allows awounded or wounding Christian to get 'self-threshed' on differenttheoretical or hypothetical 'floors' in the 'House of the Lord' (Psalm23:6).

From my humble literature search, I concluded that little or nothinghas been written by British or European Christian authors on thesubject of the threshing floor. The same rings true for Africa andother parts of the Christian world outside of the USA. It is hopedthat this book will initiate discussion and reflection on this veryimportant subject of the threshing floor, at least in the UK and inAfrica. It will be a further contribution of this book if it encouragesor challenges other writers in UK and Africa to contribute by alsowriting on the same subject.

Introducing 'Whosoever'

The journey and life of a Christian begins the moment they inviteJesus Christ into their lives (John 1:12-13; Romans 10:1-13). It doesnot matter whether one is rich or poor, great or small, educated oruneducated, African or European, American or Asian, of Jewishor Arabic descent—all are brought to the same size at the doorcalled salvation. Most Christians will be familiar with the scripturein John 3:16, where Jesus...