I WILL PARTICIPATE using my sp gifts
I would use my spiritual gifts if I knew what they were. It’s not just wondering what my gifts are – but what are spiritual gifts in general. In scripture they included signs and wonders. Are those gifts still around? If so, I want one. I wonder - do people really get healed anymore? Rise from the dead? Sell houses to help the poor? Speak in languages they never knew? Understand languages they have never heard? Heard any prophecy without error recently? Or – is everything we see today fake?
And, IF signs and wonders aren’t happening around us, are any of the other gifts like administration, teaching, helps and giving happening anymore – or are they all fake? Is our teaching any more Holy Spirit energized then the average instructor at UNM? Is our giving to charitable causes any more sacrificial then our neighbors? Could our service be done out of physical talents instead of supernaturally given gifts?
Which makes me wonder; do we confuse gifts and talents in order to say we have spiritual gifts today? In the Bible there seems to be a clear difference. Here are some differences from I Pet 4:10:
· Anyone can be talented, but only Believers in Christ have Spiritual gifts
· Talents you are born with, gifts begin when we are born again in Christ
· Energy for talents comes from within, gifted energy comes from God
· Talents are to win, gifts are to serve the church
· Talents bring glory to us, gifts bring glory to God
That helps, but I think there is a bigger difference here. I think that, if God wanted to show that gifts come from Him and not from us, that He would gift us in areas where He has NOT made us talented. I think the Bible gives us some examples of that:
· In Ac 4:13 the Pharisees are shocked at the teaching and boldness of a couple fishermen (Peter and John). Not their normal occupation.
· Moses the stutterer and fugitive became the spokesperson to lead Israel out of Egypt.
· Paul the Jewish rabbi became the apostle to the Gentiles.
· Nehemiah the wine taster became a builder and leader.
· Sampson the wimp tore down the city gates. OK, my assumption.
Some churches get too wrapped up in spiritual gifts, however, there are too many passages to simply ignore the topic (Rom 12:3-8, Eph 4:11-13, Heb 2:4, I Thess 5:19-22, I Cor 12, I Pet 4:10-1). Here then are my questions and thoughts.
1. Are all gifts still given today? God can do whatever He wants whenever He wants. There is a reason He is called the Holy Spirit, or Holy Wind. So, much of what I have seen may be fake, but that is NOT to say it all is fake. Plus, what have I seen in comparison to what is happening all over the world all the time? We may be missing it. Since Scripture has many passage about spiritual gifts, and they are never said to have stopped (no, not even in I Cor 13:8), there is no reason to assume they are over.
2. Why did He give me this gift? God gives us the gifts He wants to give in order to accomplish what He is doing. Sometimes languages, sometimes bringing the dead to life, sometimes selling a house in order to give more.
3. Do I have one gift for all time? It seems the OT builders were gifted by the Holy Spirit for that specific task. The same could be said of those inspired to write the bible. Tongues and miracles throughout scripture seem to be for a specific reason at a specific time. I suppose it depends on how long God needs you to do what you are doing
4. Can my talent my gift? God may gift us in our area of passion, but I believe usually NOT in our area of talent.
5. Can a spiritual gift test tell me what mine is? It seems to me that the body of Christ, (your local church) is best equipped to tell you if you are an ear or a foot. Some spiritual gifts tests use others to evaluate you – a cool idea. However, even then we aren’t instructed to look for our gifts, but to serve and our gifts will come to the forefront. But, for those type A among us who get their kicks out of taking assessments some can be found at http://www.oneishy.com/; http://www.allthetests.com/; and http://www.churchgrowth.org/.
These are my thoughts for now. Take me out for Starbucks and you may change my mind. Meanwhile lets get serving somewhere.
Dan
And, IF signs and wonders aren’t happening around us, are any of the other gifts like administration, teaching, helps and giving happening anymore – or are they all fake? Is our teaching any more Holy Spirit energized then the average instructor at UNM? Is our giving to charitable causes any more sacrificial then our neighbors? Could our service be done out of physical talents instead of supernaturally given gifts?
Which makes me wonder; do we confuse gifts and talents in order to say we have spiritual gifts today? In the Bible there seems to be a clear difference. Here are some differences from I Pet 4:10:
· Anyone can be talented, but only Believers in Christ have Spiritual gifts
· Talents you are born with, gifts begin when we are born again in Christ
· Energy for talents comes from within, gifted energy comes from God
· Talents are to win, gifts are to serve the church
· Talents bring glory to us, gifts bring glory to God
That helps, but I think there is a bigger difference here. I think that, if God wanted to show that gifts come from Him and not from us, that He would gift us in areas where He has NOT made us talented. I think the Bible gives us some examples of that:
· In Ac 4:13 the Pharisees are shocked at the teaching and boldness of a couple fishermen (Peter and John). Not their normal occupation.
· Moses the stutterer and fugitive became the spokesperson to lead Israel out of Egypt.
· Paul the Jewish rabbi became the apostle to the Gentiles.
· Nehemiah the wine taster became a builder and leader.
· Sampson the wimp tore down the city gates. OK, my assumption.
Some churches get too wrapped up in spiritual gifts, however, there are too many passages to simply ignore the topic (Rom 12:3-8, Eph 4:11-13, Heb 2:4, I Thess 5:19-22, I Cor 12, I Pet 4:10-1). Here then are my questions and thoughts.
1. Are all gifts still given today? God can do whatever He wants whenever He wants. There is a reason He is called the Holy Spirit, or Holy Wind. So, much of what I have seen may be fake, but that is NOT to say it all is fake. Plus, what have I seen in comparison to what is happening all over the world all the time? We may be missing it. Since Scripture has many passage about spiritual gifts, and they are never said to have stopped (no, not even in I Cor 13:8), there is no reason to assume they are over.
2. Why did He give me this gift? God gives us the gifts He wants to give in order to accomplish what He is doing. Sometimes languages, sometimes bringing the dead to life, sometimes selling a house in order to give more.
3. Do I have one gift for all time? It seems the OT builders were gifted by the Holy Spirit for that specific task. The same could be said of those inspired to write the bible. Tongues and miracles throughout scripture seem to be for a specific reason at a specific time. I suppose it depends on how long God needs you to do what you are doing
4. Can my talent my gift? God may gift us in our area of passion, but I believe usually NOT in our area of talent.
5. Can a spiritual gift test tell me what mine is? It seems to me that the body of Christ, (your local church) is best equipped to tell you if you are an ear or a foot. Some spiritual gifts tests use others to evaluate you – a cool idea. However, even then we aren’t instructed to look for our gifts, but to serve and our gifts will come to the forefront. But, for those type A among us who get their kicks out of taking assessments some can be found at http://www.oneishy.com/; http://www.allthetests.com/; and http://www.churchgrowth.org/.
These are my thoughts for now. Take me out for Starbucks and you may change my mind. Meanwhile lets get serving somewhere.
Dan
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