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Service

“. . . whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  (Matt 20:26-8) Greatness in the kingdom of God is backwards from greatness in the world.  Jesus came to serve. He came to give His life a ransom for many.  To Jesus, the great ones are the servants.  Therefore, the spiritual gift of service is Christ-like and makes men and women great in…

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Prophecy

“The one who prophecies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues” (I Cor 14:5) This gift is mentioned in Romans 12, I Corinthians 12-14, and Ephesians 4. Most people associate prophecy with foretelling the future, and prophecy certainly can include that aspect.  But prophecy is bigger than foretelling the future.  New Testament prophets are a continuation of the Old Testament prophetic tradition but under a new covenant.  When you read Isaiah or Jeremiah, you read a lot of “Thus says the Lord,” and most of those statements have nothing to do with foretelling the future.  Sometimes a prophet…

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Spiritual Gifts: Introduction

In 1993 I sat in on a series of lectures by Russell Kelfer at Wayside Chapel in San Antonio, TX.  The topic of the lectures was the spiritual gifts, and in each lecture, Kelfer took one gift and expanded it in such a way as to give a picture of what that gift looked like and how to use it.  I did not get the lecture tapes, and I do not now remember any specific details of what Kelfer said, but I do recall the gist of the overall structure and the general idea.  I wish then to take his…

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A Right Emphasis on the Gifts

Earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. (I Cor 12:20) Think for a moment about physical handicaps.  I once had a friend who was a paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair.  The thing he wanted most to do was to walk.  When Jesus asks blind Bartimaeus what he wants, Bartimaeus says, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight” (Mk 10:51).  Even if you’ve never been blind or paralyzed, you understand the sentiment.        Paul likens spiritual gifts to parts of the body – hands, feet, eyes, ears — and that picture portrays the…

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Spiritual Gifts: Some Basics

All mammals are mammals, but not all mammals are the same.  Christianity is like this.  All Christians are Christians.  We all share a common faith and salvation.  We all have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7).  We all have been adopted into God’s family as children (Rom 8:15-17; Gal 3:26-29).  We all have been baptized in one Spirit into one body (I Cor 12:13).  We all, thus, have access to God’s Spirit, heart, and throne.  But we are not all the same. Paul says that we are a body with many members.  Some are hands, some…

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