The Evangel Dean Basic Training Resource Handbook

262 • T HE E VANGEL D EAN B ASIC T RAINING R ESOURCE H ANDBOOK

1. Elementary school graduate called to church plant

2. PF TUMI grad call to plant

3. Registered sex offender

B. Transcending wooden/knee jerk application of assessment tools: a corrective

1. Am I using the data received from the assessment tool as a prophetic lens (self-fulfilling prophecy) or a data gathering instrument? 2. How am I evaluating the candidate through these tools in terms of their future usefulness and deployability in kingdom service? 3. How can I tell that I am evaluating the data objectively, as well as in confidence and faith in the Lord’s ability to transform and transcend the past ?

V. The Need for Discernment and Discretion: A Plea for Godly Wisdom

John 7.24 – Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.

A. The power of discernment: exercising wisdom (beyond data management)

1. It involves the ability to select the proper course of action (Prov. 15.21; Phil. 1.9-10; cf. Prov. 3.21-23; 8.8-9; 10.21; 11.12; 18.1; 24.30; Hos. 14.9).

2. Discernment is able to distinguish good from evil (2 Sam. 14.17; Gen. 3.22; Job 6.30; 34.3-4; Isa. 7.15).

3. It allows us to distinguish the holy from common (Lev. 10.10; 11.47; Ezek. 22.26; 44.23).

4. The discernment of the Spirit enables us to see beyond outward appearances or past occurrences (Prov. 28.11; 1 Sam. 16.7; Isa. 11.3).