Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S2-E2 | Everyday Eurasia |  Antonie Holleman

Transcript

S2-E2 | Everyday Eurasia |  Antonie Holleman · Eurasia Region Podcast

• 0:22
  This first week of Season 2, they'll be joined by the Co
• 0:25
  Regional Education Coordinators for the Eurasia region.
• 0:28
  Today we will join Antoni Holloman.
• 0:30
  Antoni also serves as District Superintendent of the Benelux
• 0:34
  District, which includes Belgium, the Netherlands and
• 0:37
  Luxembourg, and as the Field Strategy Coordinator for the
• 0:40
  Northern Europe Field. We continue our previous podcast
• 0:44
  and I will read again the verses from One Timothy, chapter 1,
• 0:48
  verses 3 to 6. As I urge you upon my departure
• 0:54
  for Macedonia, remain on that Ephesus, so that you may
• 0:59
  instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to
• 1:04
  pay attention to myths and endless genealogies with which
• 1:09
  give rise to more speculation rather than furthering the
• 1:14
  administration of God which is by faith.
• 1:18
  But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a
• 1:23
  good conscience and a sincere faith.
• 1:27
  For some men straying from these things have turned aside to
• 1:32
  fruitless discussion. Paul states that the goal of
• 1:38
  right theology and teaching is love from a pure heart and a
• 1:42
  good conscience and a sincere heart.
• 1:46
  I'm reminded of the well known words of Paul in First
• 1:51
  Corinthians 13. If I have the gift of prophecy
• 1:57
  and know all the mysteries and all knowledge, but do not have
• 2:02
  love, I am nothing. In other words, our growth in
• 2:08
  understanding and knowledge is to increase our love and in and
• 2:16
  assist in acts of love. For instance, I may find the
• 2:23
  behaviour of a certain person inappropriate or it may even
• 2:28
  irritate me. But my attitude changes when I
• 2:34
  hear that this person deals with ADHD or autism.
• 2:41
  And when I gain knowledge about ADHD and autism, I will be able
• 2:47
  to understand the behavior of this person much better and it
• 2:52
  will change my attitude towards this person and help me to love
• 2:58
  this person in an informed way. More knowledge helps to love the
• 3:07
  person. The same is true when our
• 3:12
  theological knowledge increases. More knowledge of God's economy
• 3:19
  will result in being amazed about how God operates, how
• 3:25
  disgrace is focused on reaching the people, how through His
• 3:30
  Spirit, God is restoring and healing the wounded.
• 3:36
  This knowledge will increase our love for God, and as we get to
• 3:43
  know ourselves better and realize that we are as dependent
• 3:48
  on His grace and forgiveness as all other people, then our love
• 3:54
  for others will increase as well.
• 4:00
  More knowledge touches our heart and increases our love.
• 4:07
  The knowledge of the false teachers in the Church of
• 4:10
  Timothy resulted in just the opposite.
• 4:16
  It caused separation and division.
• 4:22
  Now what strikes me in the entire letter of Paul Timothy is
• 4:27
  that Timothy's main task in Ephesus is to be a teacher and a
• 4:33
  preacher. Yet when you look at the
• 4:36
  majority of the letter, it deals with relationships within the
• 4:42
  church, how men and women should behave, how Timothy needs to
• 4:48
  rebuke the people as if they are his own siblings.
• 4:53
  It deals with how widows need to be supported with the behaviour
• 4:59
  of slave towards their masters. And so knowing the task assigned
• 5:06
  to Timothy, you would expect a doctrinal letter explaining the
• 5:13
  right theology, the teaching. Yet when you read the letter, it
• 5:20
  is not a doctrinal letter, but as it is called, a pastoral
• 5:26
  letter. And this observation affirms
• 5:31
  what Paul said, that the goal of instruction is love, love from a
• 5:38
  pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
• 5:45
  The ultimate goal of theological education is love for God and
• 5:50
  people. For instance, when I study
• 5:54
  Scripture, I engage myself in various questions concerning the
• 6:00
  authorship of a certain letter, the composition, the date of a
• 6:05
  certain Bible book, and and various theories on how very or
• 6:11
  certain difficult passages should be read.
• 6:16
  I personally find these theories interesting, but also necessary
• 6:23
  for my understanding of the Scripture.
• 6:27
  Yet this is not the ultimate goal.
• 6:32
  The ultimate goal is that I increase in my understanding of
• 6:38
  God and how He has revealed Himself as Lord and Savior so
• 6:45
  that my love and my commitment to Him increases.
• 6:52
  And I must admit, the danger in when I study scripture is that
• 6:58
  the means become the end, where the end should always be love
• 7:06
  for God and people. Lord, help us to remain focused
• 7:13
  on you in all our studies. Help us in finding balance so
• 7:19
  that learning more about You means growing in our love for
• 7:25
  You and for Your people, the people around us.
• 7:30
  May we always be amazed about Your grace and love for us.
• 7:37
  Amen. Thank you for listening to the
• 7:39
  Everyday Eurasia podcast Inspiring Faith for Everyday.
• 7:43
  For more Everyday stories, subscribe on this podcast
• 7:46
  channel, follow our socials, Facebook and Instagram, or our
• 7:50
  newsletter snapshots. For our newsletter and further
• 7:53
  information about the Eurasia region, visit our website,
• 7:57
  eurasiaregion.org.