Spiritual gifts and the body of Christ

I’ll try to keep this (3rd) entry of the day short... ha! ha!

In discussing the issue of spiritual gifts this past weekend, I was challenged to consider whether the gift of the Spirit was really the action/function (i.e. teaching, giving, etc.) or the resultant blessing of the body being edified through the gift.

Is that fuzzy? Let me re-cap a little and explain...

The Holy Spirit is the One who gives the gifts. He distributes them as He desires to whom He desires. This we all know, right?

One debate is whether the lists of the gifts in Scripture are complete or not. Another debate is whether or not we receive certain gifts and “that’s that” -- we have those pretty much for the remainder of our lives OR whether we receive a gift for a time (as the Lord deems necessary, fit or useful for His purpose(s)) and then, later, we “receive” other gifts.

Another debate is that we really don’t “receive” gifts, but that the Holy Spirit uses us in a time & place (as we are obedient) according to the need of the body at that time & place. Briefly (and certainly not well enough to give credence to this viewpoint), WE don’t have spiritual gifts, but rather the Holy Spirit uses us as we are obedient to go and serve and in that serving, through whatever means necessary to the body at the time, we edify the body.

Though I have misgivings about this perspective on the spiritual gifts, there is one emphasis that I find very Biblical and very invigorating as a child of God. The focus is on the BODY, not the individual believer. The motivation is on SERVING, not on finding my spiritual gift. The emphasis is on OBEDIENCE, not on self-fulfillment. That’s quite a turn-around from the “I’ve-got-to-find-my-spiritual-gift(s)-so-that-I-can-serve” mentality.

What’s my point? Go serve! In that serving you’ll find how God has made you and enabled you with abilities, talents, desires and gifts. And in that, you’ll discover how He wants to use you in His Kingdom work (not ONLY in the church meetings/ministries). Go serve!

Dr. Jim Cook, my homiletics professor, pastor and college president many years ago in Honolulu, Hawaii, told his “preacher boys” to serve whenever possible for that is the nature of our Savior Who “came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45). He taught us that no task was too low or demeaning for the servant of Christ.

So, go -- go serve!

Nickel Creek concert

Just a quick note....

Last night, Linda and I had the privilege of attending a concert put on by Nickel Creek (opened by Andrew Bird).

N.C. is incredible. What an amazing blend of 4 instruments and voices! Very enjoyable music, performance and people. Great harmonies!

I commented to Linda on the drive home, “Their music obviously belongs to a particular category of music, but it was impossible to tire of their style, instruments and voices. And with their incredible talent, they never let you get comfortable. Just when you begin to settle into a rhythm, zing, they throw a twist -- sometimes miniscule in size, but just enough to jar you back into giving full attention to their mastery of voice and music.”

I highly recommend attending Nickel Creek for listening pleasure -- but especially a concert if you have the privilege.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t been to a concert in the USA for 15 years, but I thought they put on one “heckuva” show!

San Jose, Christmas giving and more

We (Linda & I) were out of town last weekend, so posting to our blog is more difficult -- because time more than anything! Spent the weekend in Silicon Valley visiting old friends, supporters, supporting churches and even making some new friends! Fun but exhausting!

The Christmas season is in full swing and we’ve already been the recipients of many gifts! Read on to see how God uses His people in a variety of ways to bless and provide for folks like us who depend on His body for prayer, finances and special gifts.

Special friends/supporting couple from one of our smallest supporting churches purchased new computers for our Big House Ministries’ Team (that makes 3 laptops, folks!) What a fun blessing!

Another couple from a different church decided to bless us with a special gift of $2,000 towards our support needs!

And from Church on the Hill (formerly known as First Baptist -- San Jose)..,

We were privileged to speak for 10 minutes in the Junior High Sunday class, Senior High Sunday class and the Adult Bible Fellowship and then an interview time during the main worship service. Wow. What changes have taken place there! Praise the Lord for His continued work in that body of believers.

As well, at a special Christmas party with some older brothers and sisters in Christ, we were blessed with a suitcase-full (yes, we had to obtain another suitcase) of very lovely and useful gifts for our home in Slovakia! As well, some financial gifts were passed our way. And, of course, we had the opportunity to share stories from our time in Slovakia.

The best time, though, was sitting at a table, chatting with and fellowshipping with Randy & Linda Pyle (missionaries to Kosovo), Larry & Laura Wildemuth (missionary/chaplain in San Jose, CA) and Susan Ellis (missionary to Poland -- currently home on health leave -- please pray for total healing so she can return to her ministry in Poland).

Church on the Hill also provided us with new sheets, t-shirts, soap, shampoo, shaving cream, stationery, some office supplies, tupperware, and so much more. As well, they provided a mini-van for us to use for the weekend free of charge, took us to lunch at Sonoma Chicken Coop on Sunday afternoon and blessed us with tickets to their Christmas program on Sunday night!

When we left for San Jose on Friday morning,we each had a check-ins bag and a carry-on. When we returned home on Tuesday, we each had 2 check-in bags and 2 carry-ons. Thank the Lord for Southwest Airlines -- they allow 2 carry-ons!

The best part of the weekend was re-uniting with old friends, deepening relationships with new friends and hearing stories of God’s work and blessing across the world -- literally! To sum up those hours and hours of conversations would be virtually impossible and would cheapen the depth of the relationships. We wept with some who have lost family members and with others who are struggling with caring for aging family members and friends.

We rejoiced with others who shared incredible stories of personal turn-arounds and ministry blessings in San Jose, Europe, Asia and elsewhere. And we marveled as we listened to story after story of God’s provision for new friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, material/financial/prayer blessing and so much more.

One thing is for certain -- God is alive and well and working in and through the lives of His children to bring the Gospel to a needy world!

We want to offer a special thanks to Ray & Angela for housing us for the weekend -- in spite of their busy schedule! Thanks. You guys are great and the fellowship was stimulating and encouraging -- as always!