WHAT ARE THE GIFTS PART THREE

As I continue to research the Spiritual Gifts, I realize one cannot all of a sudden pop up and profess that they have a gift. Granted you may have a rudimentary possibility of a gift but it must be developed with guidance from your pastors and group leaders far more versed in the gifts for them to be fully utilized or recognized. Mentoring here is the key. Of course if that is not a viable option, naturally research in books may be an alternative but not the best way.

The evaluation test I offered in part two will get you going but it is only a suggestion of where your gifts may be. I took the Wagner test and the one from the enclosed web site. This way You will know where to place your energy and time. Chances are , You may have scored high in several areas of gifts or only 1 or 2. That is fine as it means you can concentrate more of your time in those 1 or 2 areas. Here is one that might interest you.

This is Kari Jobe a worship leader that has become nationally known. Certainly has the worship gift don't you think?

Well, all know that the pastor of the church is gifted as a pastor for most churches. If they are not good at it they don't last. Then you have the gift of healing. Sorry but I have yet to see any one heal any one in modern times unless they are a Doctor. One of the lost miracles in time. However, there are many gifts that we as lay people can certainly become proficient in. Service comes to mind. This covers a large spectrum of services you can be a part of in any church. A position of a greeter and usher is the first person a new attendee sees as they enter the church. How well you welcome them and make them feel important is not an easy task. It takes some one with a deep feeling for their fellow persons. Naturally a person with a bad attitude and mad is not the first one you want to see as you enter the church. What really turns me of in a greeter is they stand there in a stoic pose and hand out fliers with out even a smile. Boy am I in a toxic church!

If the church has a snack bar or coffee shop you may serve snacks or coffee to the attendees. It is always great to see a smiling face brewing up some sweet smelling coffee or handing out snacks as well as a good conversation and welcoming you. Actually there are several areas in the service you can learn to be very proficient. Just depends on the size of the church. Me personally I love to meet new faces as a greeter. It is the best time to find new attendees before and after the services or celebrations.

One gift that probably might be upsetting to some believers is speaking in tongues and interpreting the tongues. For this to be valid one must be present to interpret what is being said. Usually it is in Latin or old Hebrew and influenced by the Holy Spirit, but I have experienced a few which only can be discerned as bable by most. However, we can only discern that they are speaking in a language that only they or the Holy Spirit can understand. Prayer leaders and discerning of the spirit. I have seen some that are quite perceptive of a persons coming forward for prayers and can give them a great deal of relief and peace. One or two have (that I studied) been able to perceive a crisis and bring it out that the one in distress has hidden for years in their sub conscious. Now that is some heavy stuff for a layperson. Certainly a real spiritual gift.

One gift is administration that is found in most that are highly organized and has a lot of attention to detail in running an operation. This is a behind the scenes type of person that keeps the church running like clockwork. My favorite is Evangelist. This can be a lay person or one in a high position in the church with a high degree of passion in spreading the word of God. One is driven with a high amount of energy and purpose in winning souls to Christ. Often gives a sermon in the absence of the pastor or leads a revival. A revival is some thing I miss as it is not found much in the churches any more that I visited. I can remember the Southern Baptist churches from years past this was a yearly staple at least twice a year and I dearly miss them.

There are more that I will cover at a later time. Believe me. There is so much more and it is an exciting journey to learn of these wonderful gifts that can help you in service to the Lord God almighty.

SOMEONE I WANT YOU TO MEET

DAVID JOHNDROW
http://fireandgrace.blogspot.com/

His name is David. I have never met him face to face but I know him. His stories will bring a chuckle to your mind. His thoughts are deeply faith based. His accomplishments are many in service to the Lord. His words can be inspiring to believers. His knowledge is one of the gifts from the Holy Spirit. A true believer in the works and miracles of the Lord.

Just by a random chance I happened to arrive on his site a while ago and I have visited frequently since then. We have exchanged emails discussing the bible and other issues. He encouraged me in researching the Spiritual Gifts. He encouraged me in not giving up in my desire to do evangelical work. I consider him a friend.

Larry

YOU ARE ALL SINNERS AND DAMNATION IS YOUR DESTINY

As a young child Living in Pensacola Florida way back then, I can remember the weekly Saturday drive to down town with my mom and dad to do our shopping and the ritual stop at Walgreens for a great milk shake or malt ( yes Walgreens did have a soda counter). On the corner of Palifox Street and Garden St. There was always an evangelist standing on the street corner preaching damnation to all sinners and we will burn in Hell if we didn't repent. Sometimes people would stop and listen but mostly most would ignor him in his sermon. As a young lad (about 5or 6),I would stand and listen for a bit waiting for the police officer to motion for pedestrains to walk across the street. It seemed like a real bleak picture he was painting. I asked my mom and dad what all this meant and why did God want to send every one to the "bad" word. Considering my age, I never really got an answer that I could comprehend except that was where bad people went when they died or little boys that did not mind their parents. That got my attention.

Over the years I thought about that but I never found that curse as I began reading the bible as an adult. I often wondered if that street evangelist won many over to Christ with those scary words. I read a statement from a book by evangelist Bill Bright (God has a wonderful plan for your life). I wonder if the street evangelist from so long ago started his preaching with that same statement if more would have stopped to listen?

God does have a wonderful plan for our lives. You can read it in the bible any place you look. God did not want us to believe any thing else but what He put down in words as the truth in prophesy, his love, and guidance. It was all meant to instill in us what the future holds for us if we only returned His love and worship Him as our creator. He even sacrificed His only son for our sins and set forth the new commandment through Jesus of love one another as we would love Him. To forgive others as He forgives us for our sins. To judge not others least we be judged. The prophesies that Jesus and his apostles spoke of and what is written in the Old and New Testament was put there for a reason. For us to know the truth and what awaits us as we become believers in Jesus and praise God.

In the prophesy of the end times you have Deuteronomy 18:17-19, Micah5:2, Psalm 41:9, Daniel12:4, John, Matthew, and Revelations. As you study these passages, You will come to realize that God has set forth a guide as what is to happen before the return of Jesus Christ to rule over the new Heaven and New Jerusalem. First though, Jesus will come to gather up His chruch and believers to save them from the tribulations that will be released on earth and the non believers.

Even in those times God shows his love by giving others the time to repent and accept Jesus as their Saviour. Sadly though many will reject His offer and fail to realize the grace they have refused. Still God will give out His love and offer more opportunities to repent before the second comming Of Jesus at the end of the tribulations. Far greater it is to be called up by Jesus during the rapture and miss the comming times.

Only then will we know the tremendous power and glory that The Lord will have in store for us. Read the Bible. It is all there waiting for you to discover. Then you can make the chioce. Do not delay, the time is short.

God does have a wonderful plan for our lives if we will only believe.

WHAT ARE THE GIFTS? PART TWO

Diving into part two on the gifts lets ask the question how do you know if you have any gifts? The best way to find out is take a survey. There are several surveys and test that will lead you in the right direction. A web site called Prime Time With God has a test that will get you started. Here is the website: http://www.churchgrowth.org/analysis/intro.php Another test is found in C. Peter Wagner's book called Discover your spiritual gifts. This one seems to list more gifts in the survey so you will have more to choose from. He list 27 gift categories in the survey. One gift he list is Voluntary Poverty. I can imagine the way things are going in the economic category, we might find many more people in involuntary poverty with out a choice

Let me make one thing perfectly clear. This is not a parlor game to gather up all the gifts. This is serious issues. Any one can profess to have the spiritual gifts and brag about it but do they truly have the gifts? Probably not or they have no humility. One should not exalt their selves as possessing gifts and then not know what the gifts are. The above mentioned test or surveys will give you an idea where your strong points are in the gifts list. You can use these surveys to determine where you want to experiment to see if you have the gift or gifts. Consider it a personality profile for spiritual gifts.

One may have a high score in leadership but a low score in pastoring. It means you are good at leading people or organizations in the church but you are not cut out to be a pastor of a church which is a very heavy responsibility. Another may score very high in Worship ( music) but score low in apostle. That means you would do well leading worship services ( music / singing) but may not cut it as a modern day apostle. The one thing you have to do is discuss these results with your pastor (if he is open to the gifts by the church members) or group leaders. If your church has no mentors in gifts it usually means the church has no interest in gifts at all which is sad.

Some gifts have more power ( for lack of a better word) such as healing, miracles, tongues, or discerning of spirits but all are equally important in the Body of Christ as a whole. This is a journey you should take with joy learning of where you fit in with the gifts. Don't be discouraged as it will take time to develop these gifts to their full potential. Asking for God's guidance will certainly lead you in the right direction through your journey. Should you feel uncomfortable in your testing a certain gift, that might be a cue that you are not led in that gift area. Try another one that gives you a better sense or feeling till you find the perfect fit.

The main goal of the gifts is to glorify God for what He has given us through the Holy Spirit. It is an integral part of Christianity that has only recently been rediscovered in serving the Body of Christ. Do not fear the gifts but embrace them with humility and reverence by letting the Lord lead you in their uses.

Later we will discuss more on the gifts and how they effect your faith.

BLINDED BY SCIENCE

What makes this male Wood Duck have the vibrant colors and why does it fly? Science will tell you it was an evolutionary process that took billions of years. We are told by scientist it probably evolved from a single cell protoplasm. The key word here is "it probably" as alluded by scientist. Regrettably, for some reason science cannot actually for a fact state this was a descendant of this or that dinosaur. Although DNA signatures are some what similar, there is no positive proof this happened. Just purely speculation. So how did this creature get it's signature coloring and possess the ability to fly?

Enter the Homo Sapiens (us). Science has not been able to actually link us to the Cave man species. They were still around when "Us" appeared on the earth about 10,000 years ago they think. Science is at odds as to where we came from and actually when. Our DNA is different from the Cave Man but yet somewhat similar. Not enough to link us to their pool of genes just like the Wood Duck cannot be linked to the dinosaurs as fact. Sadly early man did not have the capacity to record history yet so we have a lot of lost history and can only speculate there too since the book of Genesis was written a few thousand years later by Moses.

In Genesis, God created the heavens and earth. He created all living things in the sky and in the sea. He also created human beings in His image to go forth and multiply. When He created the Garden of Eden and all the creatures as well as the fruits and plants, He also created Adam from the soil of the earth in His image. Also Eve was created from Adams rib to be his companion to help in maintaining Eden and give companionship to Adam.

Now this is where we have some confusion in Genesis 1 and 2 depending on which Bible we read. Did God create man in his image for man to go fourth and multiply the species then he created the Garden of Eden and put Adam and Eve in this garden with all the resources for survival at their disposal including the tree which had the fruit of knowledge? Well we all know what happened after that. In Genesis chapters 3 and 4, the story continues but raises another question. It appears there were other humans in the world besides in Eden as I understand it.

This is the area that I will start speculation of what I understand of the scriptures in Genesis. Granted God created the heavens and earth along with man but in Eden He created an area which was self sustaining and created Adam and Eve as His chosen humans to live in Eden. This may well have been the beginning of the chosen ones ( Hebrews) that worshiped the one true God. There is no recorded history of what happened back then out side of the garden. It appeared Adam and Eve as well as their descendants lived lengthy lives as stated in Genesis chapter 5.

There has been scientific speculation that the earth was covered by a water barrier in the higher atmosphere in those day which protected harmful UV and other rays entering the atmosphere which might have provided longevity to life on earth. This theory is inconclusive as far as I know.

As we further look at science in dealing with the Bible we will consider the birth of Jesus Christ by the Virgin Mary. Science tells us that this is impossible or is it? Lets consider today we can have a woman become pregnant by artificial insemination by only planting the sperm of a male donor with out contact in a normal manner. If we can do that today, don't you think God that created the heavens, earth, and man would also be able to easily do that same task by only willing it? We are not dealing with myths here but the truth as it is stated in scriptures.

The Holy Spirit who baptises us with His spirit by the grace of God to believers who have been baptised by water. The effects and description of this action is varied and many. Some have only felt an inner peace like no other, others have passed out momentarily, some begin speaking in ancient tongues. Some just begin a new life with a whole new personality of grace and love. Our brain is a complex processing center in which we are currently only using a small fraction of it's real potential. It is like a computer but organic and alive with programs that allow us to function automatically. Some are blessed with the ability to use more of the brain capacity but it is still small in comparison to what it's total capacity is capable of. On our computers, when we install a new program we are told to reboot the computer to install the new program. I think this is sort of the way the Holy Spirit works in us through some of the actions mentioned above.

What I have discussed is only speculation of my inner thoughts and I don't think it was divinely inspired but it may have been. I don't know but I was compelled to discuss it.

I do strongly feel that the Bible can be considered as factual and truthful. The Bible does have nearly 1000 prophesies in which over 500 have already come true and more are actually happening in our life time. Scientist are discovering this to be factual. One must not consider it as myth by no means but the prophesy of past times which came to pass and future times that have yet to happen. With the batting average that the Bible has one cannot take it lightly at all. Don't let scientific theories blind you to the true facts. Believe and have faith in the Lord. Your future place in the Lords house depends on it.

WHAT ARE THE "GIFTS"

What are the gifts? How do we know if we have any? Who gets the "Gifts"? Why?

This is new territory for me and I am only beginning to understand their implications. Every one has talents or gifts of some sort to one degree or another. I will try to cover the spiritual gifts that are given by our Lord and there are many. Actually more than I can cover in a short article. The Apostle Paul covered the gifts in his letters to his followers and set a guideline of the processes. As we become Born Again believers, we all have the possibility of being given certain gifts to help in the service of the Lord. Some have the gift of a pastor and become ministers. Others have the gift of teaching, evangelism, healing, knowledge, leadership, missionary, prophesy, worship, and tongues. There are more too but am limited for space to list them all.

The knowledge of gifts have only recently began to flourish in the Churches over the last 30 years. I believe the beginnings can be traced back to 12/31/1900 when Charles Parhan laid his hands on Agness Ozman then she began speaking in tongues. For decades this practice was only found in the Pentecost movement but it has expanded to other faiths and has gained acceptance in all faiths over the years. Thus enter the Charismatic movement from 1960

Through God's grace the Holy spirit passes out the Gifts to all believers. Some may have 2 or more or only one. We are all baptised by water when we come into the faith but the Holy Spirit baptises us with his power to have the gifts but it is up to us to discover these wonderful gifts during our journey in faith. With this knowledge you too can begin your journey to learn of your gifts. Although for many years the churches has held a position that the gifts were only from the beginning of Christianity and for only the apostles, more are accepting the fact that all believers have the ability to possess the gifts as part of service to God.

How do you know if you have any gifts? Discuss this with your minister and group leaders, write down any unusual circumstances in your faith, ask and ask again, explore, pray, and be aware of your actions. Do you get passionate when talking about the scriptures and others are spellbound with your words? Do you hear a small voice telling you about some one you have never met? Do you feel compelled to pray for some one ill and they get better? If some one broke out in tongues do you understood what they were saying? Do you have a passion singing songs of faith? Do you sense an illness in a person even though they have not told you yet? Have you prayed with some one and led them to God? Do you teach a subject and inspire others with your words? Do you go out of your way to help others in need? These are just a few questions that will get you started in learning of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Why? The answer is obvious. It is one of the parts of serving the Lord and winning others to Christ. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. What will you be doing for the rest of your life on this earth? More to come. In my second part, I will dig deeper into what I feel or think about gifts. This may take some time as I have only begun to understand the ramifications of this issue on how it relates to us as humans spiritually, super naturally, and physiologically.

TONY STEWART WINS A CLIMATIC DAYTONA 400

Tony Stewart wins an action packed race in the final lap. Kyle Busch pulled ahead of Tony in the last two laps but Kyle was bumped and spun by Tony when he pulled down in front of him with a blocking strategy just yard from the finish line. Apparently Kyle did not know Tony was that far advanced in the right lane. All it took was a bump that put Kyle Busch into the wall and then a massive impact with the #9 car of Casey Kahne ramming him in the rear end followed by the #20 car of Joey Logano T- boning him. This one involved several cars as the climatic "big One".

All through the race, Stewart swapped the lead with Denny Hamlin and Kyle Bush but was always able to retake the lead. His pit stops were flawless and his pit crew got him out in first most of the night during the cautions which saw Mark Martin go out early in the race. One of the "big ones" took out about 10 cars with Jeff Gordon included but he was able to return with a twenty eighth place finish.

Jimmy Johnson finished second despite after a miscue in the pits and an ill handling car most of the race which only came into contention late in the race. Denny Hamlin finished third. Carl Edwards was fourth and Kurt Busch finished out the top five. Marcos Ambrose the rookie Aussie driver from Down Under finished sixth. All in all, this was one of the more exciting races of the year.

Although Kyle Busch had his bell rang three times in that final lap crash, he was able to get out of the car under his own power and walked back to the pits before the emergency crew forced him to go to the track hospital for a check up. I think with the way NASCAR designed this car, This crash is an excellent testamonial of the chances of a driver surviving a serious crash. With the car sliding across the finish line, he finished fourteenth.

This is Tony Stewart's third win of the season as a team owner of Stewart Haas Racing and is currently leading in the chase points. Lets hope this is a turn around for Tony on his race to a third championship.