Video Transcript: Why is Study So Important?

Why is study so important?

Min 100

Video Transcript

Hi I'm Henry Reyenga. Welcome back to the Connections Class. Let's just put this on the table. Why is study so important? I mean this is a commitment. This is a sacrifice. This is something that you have to stick with. If you haven't been in school for a long time now, you're in school again. Maybe you've never been to college maybe you've been to college, but you failed and now here you're trying it again. Maybe you live in some place in the world and English is not your first language and English is your second language and it is difficult, and you are asking yourself I feel, I sense, I know the calling of God. Do I even have to study and do all this work anyway. So today we're going to look at the question why study is so important. 

Well first of all let's just get the danger of study out on the table. No that no matter how much you study, how much you learn, it is all about Jesus. It is about your relationship, your connection with Jesus Christ, the filling of the Holy Spirit, loving God the father, son, the Holy Spirit. It is about God. It's about a relationship with God. There have been many in the history of time who have studied, and it did not turn about, turn into study with God, relationship with God, it became just a religious activity and the more you knew the more religious you became.

John 5:38-40 talks about this. ...nor does his work dwell in you, for you not believe the one he sent. He's talking to the religious leaders of his day. You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

How sad is it for you to do all this study and you think it's about you? You're trying to impress God. You're trying to impress your neighbors, your family, no, no, no, this is about a relationship with Jesus Christ, so all the study is about that. So, there's the danger. You know I have seen in my life as a Christian leader many who have gone to seminary, and it ruined them, it hurt them, it destroyed them. I remember when they first entered Seminary, they were some of the neatest people and even appeared to me like they had a beautiful relationship with Christ. Then they got into study, and they asked this question and there was that question and then when you study ministry you study some difficult things you get introduced to things that that maybe raise some doubts and the reason these things are trained to you or given to you is because as a Christian leader you don't want to just be dogmatic and not knowing even the doubts that are placed against Christianity. You’ll want to know what they are; you’ll want to be trained well and you will get that training at Christian Leaders Institute. But what I have seen is so much study and then what happened is people become like the answer, a man or a woman, they think they know it all and they lose their way cause the Devil puffs up their brain. I have seen people who become ultra-critical, critical of other Christians, because they're not studying like you're studying. You know, I've seen people who get caught up in the knowledge instead of their relationships. So, I want you to know as your study begins all of it is about Jesus never lose that connection, never lose that desire to pray, never lose that desire to honor the Lord, never lose that touch of salvation that was touched in your life that changed you, that is why you are here. The danger of study is that you can get distracted.

Now, having said all that study is very important for your confidence and competence with the gospel. Well, why do you say that President Reyenga? Well, let's just go over why study so important. First of all, it is a New Testament directive take your study seriously.

2 Timothy 1:13 What you've heard from keep me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 

Now in those days that study was directly connected to somebody like the apostle Paul and so Timothy is paying attention and notice keep as the pattern of sound teaching.

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. You do wanna be the one who handles the word of truth in a God glorifying accurate way. 

So, it is a New Testament directive, but there is more. Qualified teachers are important. The principle of professors who teach students is established in scripture. 

2 Timothy 2:2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.  

That's right! When you take these classes, you become qualified to teach and to lead others.

You know I remember the 1990s, early 1990s, the call on the Lord was strong. I needed to raise up bi-vocational leaders. Leaders that weren't necessarily going to seminary and going eight years to college and seminary. So, what I did for many years is just try to recruit somebody and I did and one by one by one, I worked with the Bible league which went all over the world. I would recruit leaders, but they did not have much training they weren't qualified leaders and what I found, one by one by one, is that the devil got in there and many times even blew up their very faith and here's the truth that I've learned. If you recruit someone maybe you feel called into ministry. So, you're called into ministry and then you’re put out to do ministry and because you're not qualified you haven't learned what you need to learn and are confident and incompetent and things go badly and the reason, they went badly is cause you basically did not know.  And some leader, let’s say I recruited you to do something, and you are not qualified so it be like me throwing you into battle there's a machine gun fire all around who won't even give you weapon that you used I just say hey we need another warm body in there we're just going to throw you into the line. 

OK, I have to confess to you that's what I knew to do in the 1990s. And you know what I saw?  I saw people persecuted becoming imbittered with the gospel and if they did not leave church, they became cynical of ever doing anything amazing for the Lord. Their expectations were so lowered but what it really was is they were not qualified because no one taught them what they needed to be qualified. Why is this so important is because you're coming here to learn how to do battle for the Lord. Yes, it's a battle of love. Yes, it's a battle of the word of God where the word of God the double-edged sword is going forward. You will be used by the Lord for spiritual warfare. You'll be in the spiritual warfare, the saving of lives and this bootcamp so to speak, this training is very important. 

Why study? It brings competence. Ministry training is to be passed on. 

Romans 15:14 I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, competent in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 

So, the Holy Spirit brought about the scriptures, the scriptures had been passed down generation to generation, leaders take their turn to pass on the knowledge and the training to the next generation, and out of that whole process through the holy spirit preserved by the church, generation after generation confidence competence all of those things come and are passed down into the next generation. it's amazing to me that related to competence is confidence. Confidence comes with discernment in practice.

1 Timothy 4:78 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 

So, think about this, I'll tell you right now when I play golf and I have time to train, to practice, to learn, to watch a YouTube video about putting, all of those things I am more confident on the golf course. That’s how it is for ministry. As you read and discern from your reading and practice the things, you're going to learn at Christian Leaders Institute you become more confident so it's not just competence it's also confidence.  

Ministry training study is very important. Why is it so important? Well, here's another reason ministry intelligence. You know many people come in called to the ministry because a gift has been identified to them, but gifts must be informed with knowledge. 

1 Corinthians 14:19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others then 10,000 words in a tongue. 

Now this is not about speaking in tongues or not speaking in tongues and that whole discussion. The apostle Paul saying, hey look, gifts are there, and they are wonderful, and these gifts are often the bedrock of how you are going to perform your ministry duties but you're here to study is because you want those gifts to be leveraged in the most profound and impacting ways, so ministry intelligence is extremely important. 

Here's another area that I just can’t stress enough that study training is so important because it takes you out of your own frame of reference. You are exposed to different situations and these different situations need different approaches. 

2 Timothy 2:25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth. 

Now, that passage is talking about that different situations need different approaches. When do you gently instruct and when do you point blank speak a word? Different situations. You know, when I first started in ministry, I was happy I had college and seminary, because when I was called in my teenage years, before I went to college and seminary, before I got training, I would sort of wing it based upon my own experience. And I found in some cases it was very effective especially if someone matched my own frame of reference, but it wasn't long before I realized that there was a large amount of people, I absolutely had no idea what to do and I had all these situations and as I studied, I started learning.

Okay, I remember what my professor said. I remember one of my professors old Miriam Snapper and he had no hair, and he would take me out to coffee sometimes and then he'd put his, you know, hand on through his ... of his head, you know, on top of his head and it was so neat, and he would just share with me, and he was the Pastoral Care Professor. He would just share with me so many things I had not even heard of. I was naive to, but because I could study. It took me out of my own frame of reference. Why is the study so important? Here is something very important. The stakes are too high to wing it. Ministry is a sacred trust from God. 

1 Thessalonians 2:4 On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We're not trying to please men but God, who tests our heart. 

No phony baloney. Somehow despite the fact that we are all sinners and that you are a sinner. We read in John if a person says that they are without sin they lie and the truth is not in you, but when we said it first it also says we have one who is there and will forgive us. Now having said that as sinners we are called to take sin serious in our own life, but we are also called having been saved and redeemed by Christ and that sin placed on that cross and the Holy Spirit now sanctifying us into new life, so sin becomes less and less. 

We are called to minister to others and that’s a sacred trust. The stakes are very high. They are high because the sacred trust. But I am going to add one more thing. They’re high because we're dealing with Gods created the human beings. They are made in God's image. God loves them like he loves us and that despite our sin and struggles through the power of the Holy Spirit we are called to minister. So, if you are called to minister with the stakes is high are they by all means learn and grow. Now here’s the danger. Are the stakes too high and I should quit? No, the calling is the calling, the joy of the callings, enjoy the calling. I'm just saying the stakes are high. So, you want to study you, you want to prepare yourself the best you can. You want to be a person who learns as a curious mind who has a curious heart in the Lord. Who walks with God who realizes this is major heavy-duty stuff. 

The world is going down a bad path and yet God is going to save our little world. A people for himself and you and I get to be part of it. The stakes are high because this is the cosmic battle of all time and we’re in it. WOW!

You know, I think about my dad who’s 98 and while I am saying this presentation right now, he is still living, and he went through the whole World War 2 situation. The stakes were high. We’re in World War 2, spiritually speaking we’re in World War 3 and as wonderful I want to be well trained.

What we've seen when you study, and your heart is curious for Lord you even become more filled with the spirit. God works with you and changes you through training. 

2 Corinthians 3:5-6 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant- not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter kills but the spirit gives life. 

As you are becoming competent as you are studying the word of God opens up your heart and opens up your gifts and even more and more you become spirit filled with the Holy Spirit of God and that's my prayer as you study through Christian Leaders Institute that God will continue to fill you so that you will be more effective. Ministry training is wonderful it helps you stay on the narrow way. That’s right! Ministry training gives you a deeper understanding. 

Hebrews 2:1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 

One of the things I love about being a pastor and I loved him the fact, I mean I had bible studies to prepare for, I had sermons to write, I had books to read about the Lord. It was not my just my devotional connection to walk that was so precious to me. It was the books I read that kept me on the narrow way, that kept me preaching, and I learn insights that help my own walk. You know it’s said, many people have said, is the one who learns the most and changes the most by knowledge is the very teacher him or herself and that’s what I love about ministry training. 

You know, there are some students at Christian Leaders Institute of the thousands and thousands that have graduated here who say I am taking every single class I see offered and I'm not one of them. I said how come you're taking every class this person doesn't even care about a degree, this person doesn't care about an award, and I said, “Why do you do that?” and he said it keeps me close to the Lord. Wow. 

Doing this study helps you gain credibility. I didn't put this first, but I will tell you that if you complete this study people will look differently and you will change, and people go like well I changed because I rushed the classes as fast as possible. No, no, no, no. It's when you go through the classes carefully learning and you will change. These classes at Christian Leaders Institute will change you and the proof will be in the pudding. In other words, people will see a major change in you.  

1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. 

And you're going to find that, you are going to find that there’s changes that happen to you and you're the seed of your credibility, will be not just be that something, go to our international directory and look you up and see what classes you taken, the proof will be that you do come off as a different person. The proof in the pudding will be that you do have credibility, but it will be the insight of credibility that will also be recognized outside in, so why study to gain credibility? In that relates to the next area to actually be more effective. Tie into the legacy and keep the fire going. 

2 Timothy 1:15 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ...I mean this is like and ordination passage... For God do not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love of self-discipline.

Some of you are here because you're seeking ordination. What is ordination? The laying on of hands. Ordination is being called, being trained, being ordained, commended by other people and in that process, that study, the flame is getting bigger and bigger, the light is getting stronger and stronger, and you will be more effective. Now many of you come here and you're called as a bivocational leader. You're in the business community or you have a job. You're working but you have this intense calling for ministry. In CLI the classes are free so you can actually take the classes. Praise the Lord! You can take these classes, be more effective than ever in fanning into flame your gift that God has given to you. Really you will benefit by this learning. Live it as you learn it. 

Philippians 4:9 Whenever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. 

Why study? Because you yourself will gain. You know there is a critical passage in the New Testament when Jesus is sending out the leaders two by two and they go out and it's so interesting because they're being trained Jesus himself now they're being sent into villages after villages and they come back and they are so excited cause the training they received from the Lord and all of the instruction in now being sent and one of them said “and even demons submitted to us” and Jesus responds “Don't take joy that demons submit to you, take joy that your name is written in the book of life.” You know for all the ministry I've done there's something humbling about that. That it is not about building some Kingdom. This training is not because you want to have the biggest church in the world or that demons will submit to you. It is about you and your connection to God, and you will live it as you learn it. In the benefit and the joy of walking with the Lord forever in out of fullness of that relationship you ministered to others in taking joy not that someone followed you because you got this training but because this training has helped you, this training has benefited you, take joy that your name is written in the book of life. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in the practice put into practice in the God of peace will be with you. And what will happen then is fruit, fruit everywhere. And you will come back to know that the fruit was not caused by you and how smart you are, but it is the gospel. 

Colossians 1:4-6 Because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all the Saints the faith and love that spring from the hope that’s stored in you that’s stored up for you in heaven that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel, that has come to you all over the world. The gospel is bearing fruit and growing just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understand God’s grace of all its truth.

What is this is saying is that this is all about this amazing gospel enterprise that you are part of. As you study, as you grow, what you've heard, put to practice, what you live, the word will not return void. The light cannot be dimmed, the hope cannot be made depressed and you and me, we get to be part of proclaiming the gospel, living the gospel, studying and preparation for the gospel, for proclamation, for ordination, that our friends and family, our neighbors, will also heart he gospel and they will see it in us.

So why study? I can go on and on whether you are going to study just for your own enjoyment or if you’ve already been ordained somewhere and now you really want to study. Or you want to get ready for ordination we have an ordination here with the Christian Leaders Alliance. Where you study and then you become ordained as a deacon minister. You are going to find out about this and then you keep studying and there will be more rolls where you can be commissioned in to. There’s a training process that includes training in local and global ordaining. I don’t know why you are here. I know that study is important your unique situation is where God has you. 

2 Corinthians 10:18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.  

This whole process is about God preparing you. Whether is for ordination or not ordination God has a plan for you and that is why you are here. So, I am happy you are here. I am grateful that the Lord has brought you to Christian Leaders Institute. We are part of something so amazing. We are part of the Kingdom of God advancing. Each of you are here for a reason.

Why study? Because study through the power of the Holy Spirit will change your life and make you a fruitful minister of our Lord Jesus Christ so with open hearts and open minds and determination that cannot be put back go to it, enjoy the studies, be challenged. May God bless you and keep you in this training, this study journey.