CRUCIBLE sampler introduction

crucible CONTENTS of the Book by Phil Tutle

• Image vs. Character—David and Samuel
• Fear vs. Faith—David and Goliath
• Circumstances vs. Truth—David and Saul
• Despair vs. Resolve—David and the Amalekites
• Deception vs. Integrity—David and Bathsheba
• Arrogance vs. Humility—David and Nathan
• Entitlement vs. Sacrifice—David and Araunah
• Disappointment vs. Expectancy—David and Solomon

------------
“Nothing comes out of the crucible the same as it went in.”

CRUCIBLES changes everything.
Some substances are broken down by the fire of the crucible.
Others are refined. Some molecules bond there, while others are separated.
Impurities rise to the surface, where they can be skimmed off the top or left to reintegrate back into the substance when the crucible cools.
The crucible is a place where substances are refined and defined and changed.

King David’s life—the crucible moments that revealed or shaped who he was!

Dictionary definitions for a crucible, straight out of Merriam-Webster’s online:
1. a vessel of a very refractory material (as porcelain) used for melting and calcining a substance that requires a high degree of heat
2. a severe test
3. a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development

Refining PROCESS, the word has also come to mean “a severe test.”
That’s certainly an appropriate description of these moments in the life of David.
There were times when circumstances put intense pressure on him, and what was in his heart came to the surface. But if I had any doubts that this word was fitting for these critical moments in David’s life, the third definition relieved them completely: “a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development.” That’s exactly what David went through—and what all of us will go through too.

Proverbs 17:3 a profound statement about God’s methods:
“The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.”
The crucible moments of our lives can reveal what’s in our hearts and develop us into the people God wants us to be.
“the crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.”

------------
SERIES Crucible: The Choices That Change Your Life Forever.
------------

Ultimately, this isn’t a book about David; it’s about us.
It begins by exploring the question, How did God transform a young shepherd boy into the greatest King Israel ever had? It’s encouraging that He did, but it was an excruciatingly long process to take this shepherd with a tender heart toward God and make him into somebody with the wisdom, discernment, boldness, and faith to lead God’s people.


------------ MORE FROM THE BOOK BY PHIL TUTLE ... >>>>>>>>>>>>
How did that happen? How was he transformed and equipped to have a heart after God’s own heart? The reason these questions are important is not because we need to understand David but because we need to understand God. This isn’t just a history lesson. This is how God works in us. At any stage in our lives, He is preparing us for something.
I would love for it to be said of me one day that I have a heart after God’s own heart. Most men and women who follow Him would love to know that about themselves too. The same could be said of us not just as individuals but as families, churches, and other organizations. The way God works with individuals can also apply to groups. How do we collectively bring pleasure to God?
How do we connect with His heart in a way that develops His heart within us?
The answer, whether for individuals or groups, is the same: the crucible.

Mr. Gore was right. Nothing comes out of the crucible the same as it went in. The crucible reveals everything. In the crucible moments of our lives, character will be revealed. Sometimes it will be refined and even defined. Connections and bonds will be made. Impurities will rise to the top. We can skim them off the top and be done with them, or we can squander the opportunity and let them float right back into our character. But the opportunity for growth and development is always there. When the heat is on, some things happen that would not have been possible before.
It’s very likely that regardless of when you picked up this book, there’s something going on in your life that could be called a crucible. Maybe it’s a health crisis—for you personally or someone close to you. Maybe it’s a burden for a close friend or family member who doesn’t share your faith. Perhaps it’s an unwanted and unexpected career transition, a financial crunch, a faltering business, or a foreclosure. It could be a marriage crisis, a rebellious child, an unreasonable boss, a legal battle, or just about anything else. It may be self-inflicted or the result of someone else’s mistakes and selfishness. Or it could simply be part of living in a fallen world. There’s no shortage of challenges in this world to put intense pressure on our lives. We all go through crucibles, sometimes one after another after another for years.
The question isn’t whether we are going to experience the crucible. The question for each of us is how we are going to respond in the midst of it. Sometimes we ask God a lot of questions, usually beginning with the word why. We’re often

INTRODUCTION
Severe tests reveal who we are and shape who we are becoming.
tempted to think that somewhere we got off course, and perhaps that’s true on occasion. But more often, the reason—not the whole reason, but part of it—that God gives us is this: There’s no other way I can produce in your life what I know you need and what you ultimately want without this crucible. It isn’t a comfortable answer, but it’s definitely a biblical one. Severe tests reveal who we are and shape who we are becoming.
Interestingly, many military training programs around the world include a component that’s designed to put pressure on recruits and create a crucible experience. The final week in the U.S. Marine Corps basic training is actually called “the Crucible.” It’s a week of torture. Well, maybe it’s not torture—that’s probably only what some recruits call it as they are going through it. But it’s definitely grueling. It’s a rigorous, fifty-four-hour field experience that includes food- and sleep-deprivation, forty-eight miles of marching, simulated combat experience, and twenty-nine different “problem-solving exercises,” which is probably just a euphemism for crisis situations that require quick and creative thinking to get out of. There are obstacles, unexpected injuries (simulated), martial arts challenges, rushes up steep hills, and assault courses. Recruits must carry forty-five pounds of gear the entire way. And every member of the team must finish together; if one gets left behind, the whole team doesn’t pass.
On the final day, recruits persevere through a forced march up a steep hill at the end of the course. But when they reach the crest of the hill, their grueling test is over. The Marine Hymn plays, they get to feast on a meal that includes previously forbidden foods, and they graduate. At that point, they are called Marines. They will never want to endure that hardship again, but they do not regret it for a moment. They are forever changed.
That’s the Marine version of the crucible, and it’s not far removed from what many of us go through spiritually as God prepares us to be people after His own heart. We are forever changed—if we submit to God’s processes and respond well in the crucible moments of our lives.

------------
NOTE:
AN EFFECTIVELY RAN CHURCH SERIES / CAMPAIGN:

• Provides a full-bodied learning experience for your entire congregation.
• Increases church unity through a combined focus. The Church Campaign unites the adults, youth and children on one specific topic or biblical text for a focused period. There is unity of program, of thinking and of energy.
• Provides a project to which everyone can contribute! Church Campaigns have a place for all giftings to serve in.
• Focuses on a specific topic or biblical text, and each includes a variety of resources that can be used by church leaders every week — typically including sermon transcripts, sermon outlines, PowerPoint presentations, supplemental preaching illustrations, Bible studies, supplemental icebreakers and activities.
• Is typically developed by an expert on the subject.
• Allows you to stop, at least for the Church Campaign period, those activities and ministries that are not working. This valid pause may provide a time for all involved to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the ministry they are committed to.
• Requires team work to achieve the Church Campaign’s potential, thereby increasing this capacity in your church for future ministry.
• Increases church attendance.
• Activates your membership through a deepened spiritual commitment. Members are motivated to attend services, participate in the devotionals and join small groups.
• Is small group driven – thus leaving the church with a dynamic and expanded small group structure on which to build after the Church Campaign ends.
• Giving typically goes up.
• Leads to a changed focus from “us” to “others” and raises awareness of local and global community needs.
• Building on the sermons and Bible studies, the Church Campaigns are anticipated to lead to projects of good work.