An introduction to the first term of the Kuling training

  Date:May 24 and 25, 1948Place:Customs Lane, Foochow

An outline of the lessons for the first term of the Kuling training

  1. Personal Life — Learning to be disciplined, restricted, and dealt with in one’s personal life.

  2. Listening — Learning to listen to others and learning to obey others absolutely.

  3. On Being an Authority — Learning to represent the authority of the Head, that is, to be an authority to others.

  4. Training in Gospel Preaching — Learning about the nature of the gospel and the techniques of preaching the gospel.

  5. Edification of Young Believers — Learning first to be edified and then learning to edify young believers.

  6. Spiritual Judgment — Learning to discern and judge in spirit the spiritual condition of others and to point out the way of deliverance.

  7. Working with One’s Own Hand — Not only giving oneself to prayer and the ministry of the word, but learning to do practical works and to handle practical affairs.

  8. Management of Church Affairs — With all the complexities associated with church management, one has to learn to properly handle various aspects of church affairs. For example, one has to know how to handle small matters, such as writing a letter of recommendation.

  9. Knowing Men — Learning to know men by the spiritual sense, not merely by the mind.

  10. Studying the Bible — Unlocking the ways and the keys to the study of the Bible, as well as the ways to receive light and spiritual supply from it.

  11. Serving God according to One’s Ministry — Learning to serve God according to one’s ministry.

  12. Receiving Revelation — Learning to receive revelation.

The above twelve items being divided into two categories:

  1. Being Trained — in daily living, in obedience, in guidance, in matters related to the church, in ministry, in business affairs, in revelation, in judgment, and in spiritual senses.

  2. Training Others — in the gospel, in taking care of new believers, and in the study of the Word.

Meeting in the principle of 1 Corinthians 14

  We meet according to the principle of 1 Corinthians 14, which is the principle of the prophets’ meeting. In the meeting of the church, a prophet should exercise discernment while others are prophesying, and all should learn from one another the proper way to prophesy. A prophet should not exercise just his personal ministry, but he should minister by coordinating with many others. A prophet should exercise his spiritual senses to discern whether or not a speaker is speaking God’s revelation. This is the way to have our teaching, and this is the way to have the church’s teaching.