Th.2.19.15...Being a Godly MENTOR...Train...part 1

In our scriptural study on How to be a Godly MENTOR, we’ve seen the vital importance of being a godly Model; a good Encourager, and a Noble prayer warrior. Today we want to introduce a new and crucial topic, starting with the letter T. Let’s start with a turning point in a war story to illustrate it.

Valley Forge, the winter of 1778. Many men there were young, poorly clad, poorly fed, sick and untrained for war. Small pox and other diseases in that unsanitary camp killed 3,000 of the 12,000 men. Another 2,000 left because they were so sick.  Morale was at an all time low. 

What was it that turned things around so that they ended up winning the war against the greatest superpower army on earth? Earthly speaking, it was the arrival of a volunteer from Prussia named, Major General Freidrich von Steuben. “He immediately commenced designing a training program for the army. Though he spoke no English, von Steuben began his program in March with the aid of interpreters. Beginning with a "model company" of 100 chosen men, von Steuben instructed them in drill, maneuver, and a simplified manual of arms. These 100 men were in turn sent out to other units to repeat the process and so on until the entire army was trained. In addition, von Steuben introduced a system of progressive training for recruits which educated them in the basics of soldiering.”

You saw the key T word I bolded, didn’t you? Training. Training turned things around then and as it does now. I’ve seen the power of training when I’ve watched my son and his team wrestle. Their veteran coach is somewhat of a legend on the Southside. With his devotion and high standards of daily training, he has taken many teens to state championships. The kids that go to his school aren’t superior in size and strength. So what’s the secret? It’s superior training. It’s not just the will to win, it’s the training to win. In football, great locker room motivational speeches are no substitute for training. Nor are Sunday morning sermons, vital as they may be.

An army needs to be trained. So does the army of God. When we train men to use the powerful weapons of the sword of the Spirit and the spear of the Spirit (the word of God and prayer) great victories can be won. I came across an excellent illustration of this in an unlikely place in scripture. If you thumb through the first 9 chapters of 1 Chronicles, you’ll see that the book begins by tracing the genealogies of the people of God from Adam through David. Establishing their roots for inheritance of the land was important after they came back to the land from the Babylonian exile. But that’s not important to most of us, so those chapters can be a bit dull to many. (All Scripture is inspired of God, but not all of it is as inspiring:) Yet in the midst of those genealogies, there is a great gem regarding training for victory in war. Let’s glean from it to help us succeed in battle today. Read 1 Chronicles 5:18-20.

It says that these men “were trained for battle.” God expects us to do our part and train. Thus, Paul told Timothy, “train yourself to be godly.” 1 Tim.4:7. Train! They were trained and learned how to handle shield and sword. They were also helped in fighting because they cried out to the Lord during the battle. God answered their prayers because they trusted in him! Wow! This is so crucial, for our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of wickedness. So how can we best train new recruits as they join us? We certainly need to train protégés in warfare prayer and in the use of the sword of the Spirit. But they also need to be trained in how to use the shield of faith- such as crying out in  faith to the Lord during the battle. As we saw, God answered those trained warriors “because they trusted in him.” They need to learn to pray in faith. The evidence of your daily A=Attack prayers are a great example (Model) for them to follow. It shows that you are Noble in battle. That’s powerful!

1.- Share one thing that impresses you from what we've covered today.

I liked the way that von Stueben focused on training 100 men who would in turn train 100 men. He didn’t do it 1 on 1. You are likewise being trained to train others, in the more effective way of a group training a group- team coaching of proteges.

2.-Write out on your MP3 card, “Train yourself to be godly.” 1 Tim.4:7. (Sometimes the verse is long, this one is short:) Paul had given Timothy the training procedures, but it was up to Timothy to put it into practice. 

We are going to provide G.R.E.A.T. Training for protégés. You are well versed in these G.R.E.A.T. practices, so you can help them. Plus, you have Modeled these so well. Have you ever looked up the motto verse that is on the upper left corner of our GREAT scoreboard? "Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so  that everyone may see your progress." 1 Tim.5:15. (Did Timothy's church have a GREAT scoreboard?:) You're prgress is evident. You're setting a GREAT example for our incoming proteges to follow. I'm right proud of you!  

G? How many individuals or groups did you get to share and enrich from your MP3 card? 

R? If you're going through the ringer, always feel free to give a brother a call.

we are here to help one another. Don't go it alone.

E? I'm in a generous mood. So start also giving yourself points for the brothers you also wrote words of encouragement under their comments. So if you made 2 phone calls and also posted a note of encouragement under a man's comments, please record it after the letter E this way- 2/1 (for 2 calls and 1 blog note). You deserve credit for being so encouraging!

Also if you called up a team member and happened to share your thoughts from your MP3 card, give yourself credit for both G (Sharing God's word from your MP3 card) and E (for the Encouragement call.)

A= Attacked in warfare prayer? Our passage in 1 Chron.5:20 is a great encouragement for us to pray. “They cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers because they trusted in him.”

T? Simply put up a number representing the number of individuals or or groups you reached out to. From here on out, please feel free to post any stories from your sharing mini-movies or your own seed sowing in the lives of unbelievers.

Announcements
Happy birthday to Antonio today!

It seems that Alpha has been dominating the boards. So to hopefully make it more enjoyable for everyone, let's switch it up for a while. I want to honor the top 3 scorers- Congrats to Jack-12 points! Sam-8 points, and Ismael- 8 points!

A reminder when it comes to scoring, the Y in the God's word column stands for Yes, that you blogged and that's also worth 1 point. If I ever mess up on the math, please feel free to give me a holler. Of course I can only credit you for what you post before 3AM, so git er dun by then. Thanx!

	1 Tim.4:15	G=God's Word	Right Wrongs	Encouragement	A= Attack Prayers	T	Totals
		For Tues.2.17.15
	Alpha Force
	Fire Team 1
1	Jack Rogers U.2	Y 6		4	1		12
2	Roger Vinlasaca U.2	Y 2		1	1		5
	Fire Team 2
	Mike Pagan U.2	Y 1		1	1		4
	George Rabiela	Y 2		3	1		7
	Fire Team 3
	Sam Vargas U.2	Y 3		3	1		8
	Gary Remson U.2	Y 1		1	1		4
	Fire Team 4
	Robert Roman U.1	Y 2		1	1		5
	Vince Diaz U.1	Y 1		2	1		5
	Delta Force
	Fire Team 1
	Alvin James U.2	Y1		1	1		4
	Kentrayle Adams U.1	Y	1	2	1		5
	Fire Team 2
	Dave Heidekruger U.2	Y 1		2	1		5
	Israel Fuentes U.2	Y 1	1	1	1		5
	Fire Team 3
	Daniel Contreras U.1	Y		1	1		3
	Antonio Palomar	Y1		1	1		4
	Fire Team 4
	Eddie Morales U.2	Y	1	3	1		6
	Ismael Andrade U.2	Y1	1	4	1		8