How do I know my spiritual gift?

This week, I have the blessing of preaching the portion of 1 Corinthians where Paul lays down some gifts that the Spirit gives His people for His work in His church. One of the challenges of this section of the letter is the reality that Paul never defines or describes what each of the gifts listed are. Paul never explains what the gift of wisdom or miracles or prophecy actually is. This means for the church today our focus must not be on the details of the gift itself, but on the use of the gift to build up the local church and drive the common good of the local body. This is Paul's point in this section of the letter and it must be our point also in preaching this section of the letter. Yes, we can read through other sections of Paul's writing and look in a deeper way at the book of Acts to see how the gifts were used. But the local church must not get so hung up on the details of the gift, but keep the focus on the use of the gift for the common good and building up the local body, the gift is present in. This begs the question to every believer, "how am I using my gift to build up my church family"? Before we answer that question it is helpful to know what our gift from the Spirit actually is. Remember the Bible is not exhaustive of all of the spiritual gifts that are given, the Bible, especially 1 Corinthians, are only a sampling of some of the gifts the Spirit can give to His children. 

Here are three questions that will help each of us discover and then use our gift from the Spirit. 

1)What do I love? 

If you have a passion or love for something or someone in particular, God has given you a driving force to serve and love Him. To love a group of people, a particular activity of the church, or a certain ministry, is a sign the Spirit wants you to get involved with said love. If you love something God loves, in a deeper, sacrificial, and truthful way, that is a sign for your gifted area. 

2)What am I good at?

God has created each one of us with abilities, talents, and skills. The Spirit in many ways will use the way God designed us and created us for a deeper more special and graceful way to use said skill or talents in the church. If we are good at something that many others are not, it could be a serious sign for where our spiritual gift lays. 

3)How can I build up my church for the common good?

If we can see clearly that there is an area that our local faith family is missing something or has a hole, we should get involved and see if we love it and are good at it. If we notice an opportunity for the building up of our church for good, God has probably given us a clear vision for a place we can serve and serve to discover whether we are gifted by the Spirit to be in that area. We can't know our gift by not doing anything. It is only through serving and building up our church, that we will truly discover what our spiritual gift is. 

Why do you do that????

I was recently asked, why am I posting a series of posts or tweets everyday about something from church history? Why are you doing that? Now, this is not exactly how they asked the question, but I understood what they were asking. So in case you are not familiar with that I am doing daily on my social media accounts let me bring you up to speed and then explain why.

October 31st 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the church door in Wittenburg Germany. After the completion of the NT, this is the most important date in the history of God's people. On this date, Luther changed the course of not only the history of the church, but in fact the entire history of the world. If Luther had not posted the 95 theses, stood his ground against the direction of the church, and called for reform, the Evangelical, Protestant, Missional church of today, would not exist. And in fact millions of people over the last 500 years would be headed towards hell. I would be hurtling towards my eternal fate of hell, if it was not for the stand of Luther. This is why this date is so critical to know, appreciate, and learn from. On October 31st 2016, the church celebrated the 499th Anniversary of that event. And on October 31st 2017, we as a church will celebrate the 500th Anniversary of this monumental and eternally significant event. In honor of this date, in the final year, leading up to this event, I am posting important facts, dates, people, places, and events that must also be remembered and known, on top of Luther's 95 theses posting. Every day, by a given number, I post something important from the last 2000 years of the church. So that is what I am doing from October 31st 2016 to October 31st 2017.

But why am I doing this?  The first reason I am doing this is to celebrate and honor this most critical of dates. Luther was a man of history. When he fought the church and brought reform, he used most importantly the Scriptures, but he also used the understanding that the church of history and the great church fathers, like Augustine and John Chrysostom brought. Luther understood what he was doing when he stood on his convictions. He got that he was bringing reform to his church, but also impacting the generations to come. So I want to honor this man and his courage by following his example and using history to teach and inspire the stand I take. I stand with Luther on his convictions, most of his beliefs, and his courage. So what better way to sand with Luther, than to point people to know what he knew and what has shaped us since.

The second reason I am posting a daily thought about church history, is to teach the church today about its history. If we do not know and learn from history, we are bound to repeat it. Too many Christians today could careless about the history of God's people, both in the Bible and since its completion. We need to be a people, in the church, who know our history well and learn from it. So I am using my influence, impact, and knowledge to teach people critical things about the history of us. If we do not know our history and what it taught us and how it has impacted us, not only are we bound to repeat the same mistakes, we are also bound to fall to heresy and head in the direction of death. So I am posting from history, to teach about history.

The third reason I am posting about the history of the people of God in the church is for myself. Posting everyday has taught me. I have learned and grown as I research and find important facts and truths to post. I have read on church fathers that I knew little about, so I can share the info. My understanding of the history of my people has grown and I knew this would happen. I have also become more grateful for the men, women, councils, and events that have shaped who I am and have become. Calvin, Augustine, Edwards, and Machen are men that have made me who I am. The Councils of Nicea and Orange have taught me what I know and hold to. I have become grateful for the history of me and how history has shaped me into who I am. Gratitude has become a result of my heart. And I have lastly grown theologically in my understanding of who God is, as I have seen more clearly this year how He has sovereign control in shaping my history over the last 2000 years. Without God's control in men like Patrick, John Owen, and R.C. Sproul, I would not be who I am, and God has controlled ever element of those men and in their influence on me. If it was not for Constantine's conversion, the sermon "Sinners in the hands of an angry God", or the Pentecostal movement, I would not hold to what I hold to. And I have seen more clearly than ever how God has shaped me through these events. So I have grown deeper in God, through these postings. So this last reason for posting is for me.

And these are just the top three reasons I post daily a thought about the history of God's people from the last 2000 years. The reasons and list could go on and on, such as; for the growth of a few people I love, for the benefit of other pastors, so my children can grow, so the world would see and hear truths, and on and on it goes....

I did it!

Have you ever drank out of a fire hydrant? You probably never have becasue if you did, you would not live to tell the story. Over the last 12 weeks, I have felt like I was drinking out of a fire hydrant. I was taking 2 classes on the Hebrew language. I felt like I was at the source of a great fountain with pure streaming water pouring into my being. I could not consume as fast and as much of the water of God's Word that was pouring at me. I was learning not only the alphabet, but also nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Right after I was challenged to have the vowel letters memorized, I was given passages to translate, verses to explain, and stories to apply (only given to me in the Hebrew language). Over the last 12 weeks I felt many times, totally overwhelmed. But God is gracious and gave me the strength and mind to withstand the pressure and amount of information that was being thrown my way. God's grace carried me through and as a result I have discovered a few amazing truths that I will carry with me the rest of my life.

1)The first truth that I now have, is a deeper love for God's Word. I am now able to drink right from the source of the Bible. I have a basic sense of what my Hebrew Bible says, and have the ability to pick it up and with my own mind, read it, and with the help of many tools, understand clearly what the Hebrew is saying. This has given me a deeper thirst and appreciation for God's Word. As a result of these 12 weeks of endurance, I now have a deeper affection for what I read, preach from, and apply to my life as the very Word of God.

2)The second truth I found important is the reality that drinking from a fire hydrant is a good thing. It is a challenge to consume all the knowledge and information that is thrown at a person this way. Drinking this amount of truth in a short period of time builds strength and character. I know what true perseverance looks like now and even feels like. I now what endurance builds up, and how to manage a busy time in my life. I also have a real understanding in what it means to be carried by the grace of God during a season. The last 12 weeks was a good thing for my walk with God. It has pushed me to a new height of faith and trust in Him.

3)The third truth I have discovered is a real appreciation for the wise men who know the Word deeper than I do. Too many times I have taken for granted the scholars and godly men who study, know, and teach the Word to others. But if they know in a deeper way, a broader way, and a application way the Bible better than I do, then I appreciate them better and will quietly listen when they teach me the Word. Sitting at the feet of a teacher of God's truth has become a deeper joy and I have grown in appreciation for the chances I get to do this.

So I did it. But more importantly God did it for me and in me. I have survived the journey of rigorous work in Hebrew. I hope and pray I remember the feeling of the last 12 weeks and carry those feelings into the future. I also hope and pray that what I have learned about the original language of the Old Testament carries over to a more fruitful ministry and life. And lastly, I hope ad prayer that sometime in the future I experiences the same exact feelings of these last 12 weeks, so I can once more grow in appreciation of God, affection for His Word, and gratitude for those who know more than I ever will.