Ministers, ministerial wives and church office personnel from around the world are arriving at the home office area for the General Conference of Elders. International meetings will be held first, on Friday, moderated by Aaron Dean. I find it so interesting to hear about how God's absolutes are taught and observed in different languages and cultures.

Visitors to the home office will be able to see continuing construction on our new video recording studio. Interior walls are now being framed, the ventilation duct work installed, and the black, foam acoustical ceiling has been sprayed. Watch the short video of progress so far at: https://twitter.com/UCGmedia/status/991055523356332032. And, as you can see, the upstairs control room is taking shape.

Iron that Sharpens Iron

The home office is charged up, as elders and wives from all over the world are gathering this weekend in Cincinnati for the much-anticipated annual meeting of the General Conference of Elders (GCE). The conference theme this year is "Iron that Sharpens Iron," which is adapted from Proverbs 27:17: "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."

Many long hours have gone into planning and preparation along this theme. The action word from this verse is "sharpens." It suggests improving, perfecting and polishing. This represents the anticipated outcome from this weekend's sermons, seminars and plenary sessions that will further expound the meaning of this verse.

The subject of "sharpening" holds special meaning for me. Throughout my high school years, I worked in my father's custom cabinet shop. He was an artisan, artist, sculptor and woodworker who produced high quality creations for elite and wealthy clientele in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, area.

While I never inherited my father's artistic and wood-working gifts, I was certainly immersed in the work of the "Igor Kubik Construction" workshop. The experience taught me many lessons.

Allow me to share some details. My father worked with the highest-quality saws, planers, drills, chisels, routers and sanders. Vital among his tools were those that played a critical function: the ones that sharpened the woodworking tools. These were the various-shaped files and hones. Each day, work began with sharpening blades, bits and drills in preparation for the high-quality craftsmanship ahead. Every woodworking tool in his shop had a specific sharpening tool that enabled its high performance.

Perhaps you may not have thought of it, but precision sharpening is a demanding skill. While my Dad allowed me to sharpen the blade of a circular saw for rough cuts, only he would carefully sharpen the router bits that cut into the costly maple, oak and walnut boards. The expensive router carbide bits had to be perfectly balanced and ground to the exact same sharpness to cut properly. As I recall that precision today, I marvel.

The process of sharpening a carbide bit began with cleaning. You cannot sharpen something packed with dirt and grit. All debris inside a bit had to be cleansed with a solvent. The actual work of sharpening could only be done on clean metal.

Such is true in our journey to spiritual usefulness. As disciples of Jesus, we must begin from a clean starting position. Consider David's prayer of repentance, as he asked God: "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow... Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Psalms 51:7, 10).

The next step in sharpening a router bit was to take a hone (of about 600 grit) and rub it against the blade surfaces. You needed to apply lubricant on the hone before the rubbing started. It was not harsh rubbing; it was carefully sharpening the blade with the right amount of manual pressure. Gently the blade would be rubbed back and forth against the hone ten times. This would then be repeated in the exact same way with the other blade. The result was a perfectly balanced blade.

When I reflect on the application of sharpening in a spiritual sense, I am reminded that the most effective and directed sharpening came when the spiritual mentoring was gentle and thoughtful, with a lovely and lasting result in mind. As we know from the Bible, the presence and application of the Holy Spirit reduces friction. Such spiritual lubrication is not like the clanging of metal against metal, rather it is thoughtful teaching, perhaps with a bit of corrective abrasive heat, but simultaneously accompanied with the kindness of the oil of the Holy Spirit. That combination produces a beautiful outcome.

While there are different applications to sharpening another, here is one congregational challenge that we can all take up. The church in Jerusalem was thus challenged, which also applies to us today: "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Here, by our meeting with and "rubbing shoulders," so to speak, with others on the Sabbath, we have a direct part in positively helping to sharpen our brothers. Stirring one another up and encouraging one another is a key purpose of meeting together.

My wife Bev and I look to learn a lot and be sharpened ourselves from the coming conference, not only by what is taught, but by what is practiced as we live: "As iron sharpens iron, so people can improve each other" (Proverbs 27:18 New Century Version). Let us be sharpened so that we all will be ready to do the work of our living God!