Good day to all, we are making a summary today. We have been studying proactive learning in sermons and Q&A sessions for a total of 12 weeks. Unless you truly put it into practice, it's difficult to appreciate the subtleties.
When a person is born, the heart is on the left side. If the heart is on the right, the doctor will say that the child has a bad heart, understood? So what does the Bible say? The Bible mentions that the heart of a fool is on the left side. Since everyone is born with their heart on the left, does that mean everyone is foolish? The reason is simple: because you don't know anything when you are born; it's all learned later.
So who do you learn from later? Most children learn from bad influences. Have you noticed that even very young children know how to coerce their parents? If you ask them who they learned it from, they won't know. From a young age, they start coercing their parents for this and that, crying, yelling, kicking, and screaming, because people are naturally born with demons, unless they are particularly protected by God, which is another matter.
People are born foolish and will become like whomever they learn from. It's very difficult for children to become smart and wise. Even today, you still need to change yourself to become a wise person. Can everyone understand? That is to say, everyone is born foolish; what you learn later is the most important. But don't learn from demons; learn from God. To learn from God, how to live out God's image? Learning is essential for us throughout our lives.
I encourage everyone to reflect often every week or every day. Reflection is very useful. For example, some people always think that everything they do is right. Can that be right? Those things are what they think, not what they have learned. Isn't that tempting fate? What should you reflect on often? What am I doing? How am I doing? Some people think they are doing well. That sounds like a fool, why? Because they are not doing well. Even if you are doing quite well, there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Everyone needs to know that the Chinese Mingding Doctrine is not a static theology. Our God is unchanging, forever immutable. The process of knowing God is something we can't finish learning even with all the years of our lives. Can you finish learning all the knowledge in the world? If you can't finish learning all the knowledge in the world, how is it possible to finish learning about knowing God? We must strive for continuous growth throughout our lives.
If we don't know what reflection is in our lives, are we learning correctly? How well are we learning? How well are we doing? If today you do a job and it takes you an hour to complete one task, but someone else can do one in ten minutes, are you still competitive? Maybe you were more competitive ten years ago, but are you competitive today? No, you're not competitive. So I tell everyone that there is another parameter for doing things right: can you be more efficient?
Today, the environment and tools we face are constantly changing. Whether you're making a video, composing a song, or writing an essay, artificial intelligence can do it better than humans. Before the advent of artificial intelligence, it was all just fumbling around. Materials are also changing. The amount of knowledge is exploding, and you can't learn it all. So what should you do? Solve the problem of learning efficiency. Tools and materials are changing, so we need to understand all the tools. If you want to be a carpenter, just understanding the tools of carpentry is enough to keep you busy.
Tools are changing, and the effect of using different tools for work is different. Materials are changing, and using different materials for work again improves efficiency. Technology is changing, and your efficiency is constantly improving by using different materials for work. Processes are changing, and efficiency is constantly improving. Your skills are constantly improving, and you have learned new materials and new tools. So I ask you, should there be more things to reflect on?
If you take out your iPhone 4 today, it's a small iron lump with a three-inch screen. Back then, someone with an iPhone 4 was just cool. That was many years ago, but now it's embarrassing and ugly to play with it. Why? It has been upgraded. Alas, I lament that our reflection is far from enough.
In the learning process, is the learning method correct? You have to readjust. If the reflections you write are all slogans, isn't that tragic? Because slogans are useless. Doing practical things can make you smarter. If people don't become smarter, they will be left far behind by this world. So brothers and sisters, start readjusting today. This world is changing rapidly forward, and you haven't changed at all. Don't you think this is a very serious problem?
There are too many learning tools today, and too much content to learn. For example, if you want to go to university, the courseware of MIT and Stanford University is public, called open courseware. Wouldn't you learn by listening to them one by one on YouTube? But some people say that's not good. In fact, the content and learning tools are constantly developing rapidly, but our learning methods have not changed.
There are many foolish things inside a person. This Sunday, I am going to talk to everyone about Understanding Foolishness, Becoming a Wise Person, understanding what is called foolishness and what is also called foolishness, and then learning to be a wise person. So we have to look at ourselves every day to see where we are foolish. If a person is foolish but doesn't know that they are foolish, then they will continue to drag on, and sooner or later it will become a tragedy. Ask yourself what you have learned in the past year? What have you grown in the past year?
Some people have high degrees but have many learning problems and are not very wise. Why? The reason is simple because they are not learning things; they want to prove themselves to others. What happens after they finish proving themselves? After they finish proving themselves, they find that they have proven themselves to be fools. So the problem is that foolishness is very powerful.
Learning must be put on the track of our daily life. What I said may bring you a little touch. I hope that everyone can be a little touched. Then let's take the church as an example. There are many places in the church where you can learn and grow. If you feel that you really want to grow and learn, we have 003 ministry, 102 ministry, and 103 ministry. You can be a student. If you do well, you can also be a teaching assistant. Teaching assistants can teach others.
If you are a small group leader, you must train your leadership skills, train your ability to train people, and train your speaking skills. In fact, sometimes it is really a pity, and sometimes I feel very sad, why? I want to create a good learning atmosphere and learning environment for everyone, but not many people really use it well. Alas, I feel very emotional.
Some of our brothers and sisters become unemployed as they walk along. Age cannot go back. You can't say this year is 35, next year is 34, and the year after is 33. That's not how it works. This year is 30, next year will be 31, and the year after will be 32. If you are 35 years old looking for a job, why should people hire a 35-year-old to do the work of a 25-year-old? And not do it well. People will have an expectation, hoping that you have certain skills, but you are not young.
If you want to practice speaking, then the church is the best place to practice speaking. Does everyone know that the church is the best place to practice speaking? If you speak powerfully, even if there are not many gestures or the gestures are not enough, but what you say sounds decent, it is particularly impressive. But when you speak, oh, you sound like an elementary school student stumbling and dragging out the sound like reading a textbook. You have no confidence.
How well do we speak today? You have to examine yourself. It's not that the church needs you to do pastoral care; it's that you need to do pastoral care. It's not that the church needs people to do ministry. If no one does it, I will do it myself. It's that you really need ministry. Yesterday, a sister called me. I don't know when she was touched and talked to me about how to serve. In fact, I am very happy and even a little touched, why? Few people ask me about how to serve, really few.
The church is a place to train people to speak. When professionals speak, they have both content and good control of their voice. People feel very comfortable listening to them, and you will definitely be able to find a job. If you speak awkwardly, mumbling and not explaining clearly for a long time, isn't that ruining the learning environment we have worked so hard to create? This is my heartache.
When I was young, my family didn't have books. In that era, books were very sensitive. I found a book at the bottom of the box called Tui Bei Tu, which was a book of predictions about the future. I couldn't understand it either. Our family only had that thing, and there was no book to read. Alas, I often ran to my classmate's house. His father was a highly educated intellectual of that era. I liked to go to their house and occasionally borrow some books to read.
I borrowed a book of math problems from my classmate, and I copied almost half of it, because he lent it to me for two weeks, and after two weeks he would take it back. In fact, he would put it on the bookshelf and not read it. At that time, I copied almost half of it word by word, which really trained my character. Today, you don't need to copy anymore.
Later, when I worked, it was also very hard. I secretly learned behind people's backs, and sometimes I was so anxious that tears almost came out. There was nowhere to ask. I wanted to build a church, hoping to train everyone into a learning and wise person, which is really not easy. Sometimes I stole a little from the left and a little from the right. I learned everything secretly. My English was not good, my technical knowledge was not enough, and I didn't recognize many words, but that's how I came through.
Today, if you want to become smart, you must learn to speak, including when you make pastoral care phone calls. Some people have been wandering around the church for many years, but when they open their mouths, why do they still sound like a northeasterner with a thick accent? What do you do then? The old men and women in our village will say: Have you eaten? Yes, I have. Have you drunk? Yes, I have. Have you bought vegetables? Yes, I have. Is that called speaking? That's not called speaking; that's called bullshit.
Perhaps everyone will be inspired by what I said and make good use of such a good learning environment. If you encounter difficulties, we can also help you. If you want to ask learning questions, I would love to solve them for you personally. If people don't learn well, what will they do in the future? They can't do anything well. Learn to speak, learn to use your hands, and open your mind. Although sometimes I am unable, if I can do ten, I will never be lazy and do four or five, striving to push brothers and sisters to grow. Perhaps you are currently in a leadership position at work and don't have much time, but you still have to squeeze out time to learn.
It's important to learn what is proactively. Don't learn blindly. If you learn a bunch of things that have nothing to do with you, that's trouble. What should you learn? Learn what you need most. For example, if you are a student, quickly learn how to learn. Because learning how to learn is like sharpening a knife does not delay the work of chopping wood. If the method is correct and learning is on the right track, then you will save time.
Like one of the people in my pastoral care, some people may find it strange, Teacher, do you still have a pastoral care? Well, I also have a pastoral care. One of our sisters used to learn accounting, but later she learned to draw and do engineering. So I spent some time arranging how she should learn to draw? How to draw quickly? Using shortcut keys is very important. Although I can't draw well, I know the method. What is most needed for work is this.
Then she practiced, and her efficiency improved immediately. After the efficiency improves, don't you have more time? If you have more time, can't you serve God? If you spend more time watching Douyin, it's the same as not having more time. I hope that our pastors will continue to grow and solve people's learning problems in pastoral care.
Some people think: Teacher, how do you know so much? I don't stop learning. I'm still learning now. If you think about it, I've been learning for sixty years, so I must have learned more than someone who has been learning for thirty years. I'm not like Peter. Peter was fifty or sixty years old and still couldn't write. In thirty years, you can study at university six or seven times, and you can get three or four doctorates. Don't bother trying to figure out what people who don't know how to learn are saying. They can't possibly figure things out. I call them Peter, very getable.
Adam lived for nine hundred years and didn't know how many years of experience he had. Once, I went for a job interview, and he said, How many years of work experience do you have? Sometimes I still joke, I said, How do you calculate this work experience? He said, Hey, I asked you a question and you still ask me? I said, How to calculate this thing, we have to figure it out, right?
If a person has been working for ten years and hasn't done anything, do you say they have ten years of experience or zero years of experience? A cup of coffee in the morning and a cup of coffee in the afternoon, and then go home from work. A newspaper in the morning and a newspaper in the evening, and then watch Douyin at noon. How much work experience do you say they have? I said, Isn't this a very clear thing? How do you calculate it then?
As a result, he said, Then you tell me. I said, I have five thousand years of experience. He said, How do you have five thousand years of experience? Because I read the five thousand years of Chinese history. I know how to do things from five thousand years ago, and I can also do things from four thousand years ago, and three thousand years ago is also fine. Isn't that five thousand years of experience? Five thousand years ago, there was no software. Everyone laughed. I told a joke during the interview, and everyone laughed. Then he said, Let's get back to the topic. I said, I have this experience and that experience. I solved this problem and that problem. I got the job right away.
I am still still studying now. Serving you all, I have to learn. I really don't know how. If someone doesn't know how to learn, it's so difficult for me that I'm about to cry. Alas, even today I am still full of emotion. Learning is a key step for us to become smart and wise throughout our lives. You must clarify what to learn, then how to learn, and to what extent. Everyone, take note. This knowledge is vast.
What I learn is the skill I rely on for a living, so I must get it right. Therefore, I tell you that in the past ten years of building the church, I have learned too many things. When I built the church back then, I felt that being a pastor was too easy. I could do it part-time. I just had to give a sermon once a week. Later I found out that it was not that easy; the water is very deep. Now our church is opening to the deep-water area. What is the deep-water area? It is solving learning problems. Although this learning problem is a very hardcore problem, it will have a profound impact on everyone. I hope that brothers and sisters can live out God's image.
If this is not my skill that I rely on for a living, what do I do? To what extent should I learn? That is just skimming the surface and knowing superficially. You can't say that I don't know. I may pronounce that word wrong, but I know that word. That's the key. Don't put the cart before the horse and treat hobbies as skills you rely on for a living. For example, if I want to go to university, I must understand my skill—passing the university entrance exam. Then what I think about is what to learn, how to learn, and to what extent. These are very important.
What to do when you encounter difficulties? Today I will give you an idea, which is to take out what I have said in the past and listen to it again. If you encounter difficulties, there must be a demon behind that difficulty, and behind that demon must be your carnal desires and lusts, carnal feelings. What to do then? Rely on the Holy Spirit to put to death the evil deeds of the flesh and drive out the demons. If you try it, it will definitely work.
Learning this thing will definitely encounter difficulties, and it will definitely be uncomfortable. Today I am still in discomfort because there are still many brothers and sisters among us who do not know how to learn. I am constantly pondering and constantly thinking about doing experiments, and then how to solve it? Isn't this a process of proactive learning? How to be a person, how to do things, how to manage people, how to manage things? Alas, I tell you, there are so many projects in front of me.
When we encounter difficulties and feel uncomfortable, don't think that this is abnormal. This is very normal. What should we do then? Rely on the Spirit of God to put to death the evil deeds of the flesh. According to the saying in Ecclesiastes, the heart of a fool is on the left. So what do you say we should do if our hearts are on the left? Then break yourself through learning to the right. It is so difficult to break him over through learning, it must be uncomfortable. At that time, you will deal with him. This is very important.
What should you pay attention to when learning? First build a framework. Until today, many people read one word at a time and then form sentences, read one sentence at a time and then form paragraphs, read one paragraph at a time and then form chapters. Actually, it's not read like that. You should look at the theme of each chapter as soon as you come up and build a framework.
You don't need to read every word and every sentence. Just understand the framework and the meaning that the author wants to express. Anyone who writes a book is like this. The first chapter comes up with the first paragraph as a hat, maybe tell a story first, and then have a hat to bring out what he wants to say. After reading it, you will know what the chapter is about and what the chapter is about, forming an overview. The Beijing people say, Gai le mao er de, which means overview.
With a concept, you can enter the details of the next section when you are learning, and then delve into the third and fourth layers. You can sort it out very quickly, and you can definitely learn quickly. This is that you must build a framework. Some people often ask me on Sunday: What's the matter with a certain sentence in the Bible? Because he looks at the Bible in isolation and in a one-sided way, so sometimes I sigh, it's not that I want to argue with you, I really don't want to prove that I am right, but I really want to help you get out of this bad habit.
First tear down this old habit, and you must build a framework. For example, in the first chapter of Genesis, we are made in the image of God, and then we do what God does. Anyway, as far as I know, until today, it is the Chinese Mingding Doctrine that reads the first chapter of Genesis in this way. Others don't talk about it like that. You and I have the image of God. Isn't learning to be like God learning today?
If you open Deuteronomy and search for learning, even fearing God must be learned. The Chinese Mingding Doctrine is a theology of learning. Remove these foolish things and break our hearts from the left to the right. By nature, we are carnal people. Later, we want to be spiritual people. The hearts of spiritual people are on the right. You say you take an X-ray and it is still on the left. I am talking about the new person in the spirit.
Why do you say that the heart is on the left and the right? Because our value system is completely opposite? Today, brothers and sisters must know that the value system of the world and the value system of God are completely opposite. Becoming smart comes from learning. If you still have specific learning content, if you bring the problem to me, I will thank you, because my research has just begun. I don't know if I grasped it correctly or not. If I can use it on you, it is a great grace to me.
We have completed our proactive learning, including answering questions and listening to lectures, but the real proactive learning has just begun to be practiced. May God bless everyone. Next, we will begin our journey of proactive learning. God will definitely help us, Amen!