Heart Attitude 6b Using My Spiritual Gifts

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

Heart Attitude 6 Participate in Ministry

I WILL PARTICIPATE IN MINISTRY


I don’t like ministry – the word. It’s one of those Christian only words. What does it mean to “participate in ministry?” Do I have to preach? Change diapers in some church nursery? Wave my hands and sing? Become a missionary in Pakistan? Get plastic hair and ask for money on TV? Go with Rochelle to Haiti? Give 10%?

According to my online English dictionary, the word “ministry” means “the act of serving.” My Greek dictionary tells me the Biblical word translated minister, deacon, and serve are often the same root word. So, ministry is serving. Lets change this heart attitude.

I Will Serve Others. Much better. A simple Heart Attitude for a simple mind. You can serve here as well as in Haiti. You can serve with time as well as with money. You can serve with your actions before your sermons. You can serve in church, home, school, etc. But – if I live my life serving others, what’s left for me? Where is “freedom in Christ” if I’m serving others?

Galatians 5:13 says “You have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” We serve one another, not because we have to, not because it’s some church’s heart attitude, but because we want to. We use our freedom to figure out how to serve, and we have the freedom to enjoy serving each other. We’re free to fill a need, or serve where we are gifted, to use our talents. All of this we do because we want to serve others. But this brings up other questions.

How do I know what God wants me to do? What’s His will for where I should serve? Am I talented, or do I have a spiritual gift for fixing Fords? What’s the difference between a talent and a gift? We’ll tackle those questions next week. For now, feel free to serve.

Heart Attitude 5 Support my church family

I WILL SUPPORT MY CHURCH FAMILY
By praying, attending, inviting, and giving

Why should I support my church family? Church will go on just fine without my support. I know – it has in the past. Here’s the deal…

Prayer is a waste of time. Can’t God do whatever He wants anyway? Won’t He? What kind of a God am I praying to if He needs my advice? As for church…

Why attend - what good does it do me? The music is too mellow, the sermon I’ve heard before, and the youth get to the best bagels before I arrive. It’s frustrating. Invite others, well maybe if it was a Lobos game. And then there is…

…giving. Does God need my money? When did He go broke? Here’s what I do. I throw up my cash for the week. What God wants He takes. I get the rest.

Support comes from the Latin meaning both "sub" and "to carry" – giving the idea of carrying something by supporting it from below. Some definitions are: 1. To bear the weight of, especially from below. 2. To keep from falling, sinking, or slipping. 3. To provide for or maintain, a. To aid the cause, policy, or interests of:. b. To argue in favor of; advocate: 4. To endure; tolerate: 5. To act in a secondary or subordinate role

Supporting our local church is all of the above. Does God need our prayer or our money? Of course not. He could squish me whenever He wanted and take my money and my Jeep. Sad. Praying is for me – it brings my mind in tune with His. Giving is for me – it brings my heart in tune with His - “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” God expects us to support our church because He wants us to grow up. He wants us to become like Him.

As for inviting and attending church, those two areas are not primarily for me. The one clear passage about attending church says Heb 10:25 (NLT) And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Maybe attending church is more about encouraging others then getting the music and teaching I want. Maybe Christianity is more about becoming a self-feeding follower of Christ then being fed.

Heart Attitude No. 4 Clear Up Relationships

I WILL CLEAR UP RELATIONSHIPS

Lucy called Charlie Brown a Blockhead. Calvin’s babysitter is a Cretan. My old favorite was, “You’re a gravy-suckin’ pig.” Amazing how creative we can be when we can’t cuss.

Jesus said, “If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone you are in danger of the fires of hell.” Mt. 5:22 I’m doomed.

But hey, at least I’ve got you with me. I’m sure glad for those words “are in danger of.” Beats “will be going to….”

The rest of the passage, vs 23-24 tell us to go to the person who holds something against us and try to make things right. In other words, when we mess up we need to clean up. Otherwise HE may get involved. I’d rather keep HIM out of it.

What I don’t want to do is be guilty of one of those false apologies. You know, “It was stronger drink than I realized… I’m sorry you got bent out of shape when I slept with your best friend… I’ll start with a wimpy apology and then do another one if this one isn’t enough… FORGIVE ME!!”

Gary Chapman and Jennifer Thomas have a book out called “Five Languages of Apology.” Here are the five languages as I remember them (sorry if I mess them up a bit). 1. Express Regret, 2. Accept Responsibility, 3. Make Restitution, 4. Repent (ie change and don’t do it again), 5. Request forgiveness (but don’t demand it).

Cretan Cooley