Why??
Why Name it Threshing Floor Ministry??
In a hand-tool agrarian society grain that was harvested needed to be separated from the husk or chaff differently than the way it is done today. There was a floored area, raised on a hill; flat and hard, known as the threshing floor. The task was simple and ingenious. The harvesters would wait for the evening breezes and then toss the husk and grain into the air. The lighter husk and dirt would blow away with the wind and the heavier grain would fall to the floor where it could be collected and bagged.
If the grain was sentient, or self-aware, this process would be harrowing to say the least. Imagine the big bundles of grain buddies just lying there, suddenly thrown up high into the air and then falling to the ground, scattered.
Have you ever felt as if life tossed you into the air? Jesus is about the task of tossing our lives into the air to separate the chaff, our sin, our brokenness and woundedness, from the seeds of his grace and holiness. He wants to make us fully human which is spiritually alive and carrying his branding in our lives. The winnowing process, being tossed into the air to have the dirt and chaff separated is not easy because the wind of the Holy Spirit is cleansing our lives. The process of what theologians call Sanctification (literally being made into saints; into the image and character of Christ) can be tough.
These writings, books and devotions, are for people who want something more than ineffective platitudes and are not content with glib, easy answers to hard questions. This life is hard and it can hit us very hard. I can honestly say that I know what it is to hurt and hurt bad. My life has not been that of a poster-boy for the wealth and prosperity gospel (which is a heresy). I can hurt with you, cry with you and rejoice with you. I will not try to be God in your life. Simply, I am a fellow-sojourner.
