I'm going to be blogging about spiritual gifts in preparation for a teaching series on this subject. I'll start with a working definition. This definition is fresh in that I made it up after doing my research, but it is subject to further insight.
Spiritual gift
A special ability, proficiency, or status that God providentially grants to particular individuals by the Spirit for the purpose of continuing Jesus' work of drawing unbelievers and building up believers.
By 'special ability' I refer to gifts largely disconnected from the person's previous experience. By 'proficiency' I mean the heightening or sanctification of a previously existing God-given talent. By 'status' I am including certain offices, institutions, and states of existence that are gifts of God to the church.
God gives these gifts providentially, by His wise choice, to particular people (not to everyone). Of course, the main recipients are Christians. That being said, there may be circumstances where a non-Christian individual is given a spiritual gift for a specific purpose.
The purpose of spiritual gifts is to continue the work of Jesus Christ. The church is the body of Christ on earth. Nearly all of the gifts were demonstrated in his 3+ years of ministry. There are 3 main ways that God uses spiritual gifts: 1) As a sign to unbelievers to confirm His presence 2) As a means to growing the body of Christ in maturity and 3) as a way of meeting basic human needs.
I think that this definition is broad enough to account for the biblical material and yet concise enough to be useful for discussion.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
300k
The Matthew Never Knew has recently passed 300,000 all-time hits
Did it take almost a decade? Yes
Were most of those me? Probably
This milestone will also serve as a transition point. I have tentatively decided to start blogging more often. Maybe not quite as often as I did from 2005-2008, but more than I did from 2011 till today (check the post amounts in the blog archives on the left). The posts will mostly be about theological things that I've been thinking, series' that I've been teaching, and excerpts from books/curriculum that I've been writing.
Did it take almost a decade? Yes
Were most of those me? Probably
This milestone will also serve as a transition point. I have tentatively decided to start blogging more often. Maybe not quite as often as I did from 2005-2008, but more than I did from 2011 till today (check the post amounts in the blog archives on the left). The posts will mostly be about theological things that I've been thinking, series' that I've been teaching, and excerpts from books/curriculum that I've been writing.
Saturday, November 09, 2013
BBC Blog-List Retiring
In 24 hours I am retiring the BBC Bloglist (located on right hand side of my blog). For many years it served as a hub for friends from Bethany Bible College (now Kingswood University), but most everyone has switched to facebook or simply stopped blogging. I am going to be re-focusing my own blog a bit and think it's time to make this move.
Just wanted to post this explanation in case anyone from BBC is still reading this and wonders why it is gone.
Just wanted to post this explanation in case anyone from BBC is still reading this and wonders why it is gone.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Broken Un-Promises
I've been thinking a lot lately about the promises of God. More specifically, I've been thinking about how loosely the concept is defined and how often the promises are broken (hint... a lot).
The problem seems to be that the Bible is not the encyclopedia that many people seem to want it to be. You can't go to the book of 2nd Promises and the chapter on 'promises having to do with my love life' and find the appropriate verse. The Bible is a narrative... a story. It contains all sorts of statements from God and a lot of them could potentially be taken as promises.
And this is why it becomes so important to understand what is and is not a promise... and whether or not there are different kinds of promises. Are proverbs promises? Are some (all?) promises conditional? Do earthy sounding promises always find their fulfillment on earth?
You see, if I think that Proverbs 22:6 guarantees that if I do my best at training my kids in God's way then they'll automatically (eventually) become believers... I might end up thinking God broke a promise. If I felt Jesus was going to come back in 1988 because that's a generation after Israel became a nation again, it may have left me lost in my faith. If I think that passages in Isaiah and James can be combined to make every sickness go away, it may leave me incredibly disappointed with God in a bed (or next to one) at a hospital or, worse, yet, a funeral home.
As a quick aside, there's also the issue of non-biblical 'promises' of God. If I really believe that God called me to plant a church in Kelowna, BC (Canada) and then it never happened or failed miserably... does that mean God failed?
Clearly this is a life-affecting issue. I perceive that there are many disappointed Christians (and ex-Christians) out there as a result of the apparently broken promises of God. The sad thing is, I think this disappointment is needless. I don't believe that God has ever broken a promise, but I also don't think He's made nearly as many as some people think. Proverbs are principles, not promises. Some prophecies were (and are) set in stone, but many of them were (and are) conditional. Jesus had a healing ministry, but healings are signs pointing to the ultimate message of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of our Savior. Miraculous healings are still possible, but were never meant to be the norm. In fact, it would be more accurate to think of Jesus' words 'in this world you will have trouble' as a promise than some of the more instantly gratifying verses that some suppose are promises.
My point is that it doesn't make much sense to be disappointed with God for not keeping promises that He never made, so we should make sure we think through these issues pretty carefully. It's not enough to just Google a list of Bible promises. It's not enough to just 'feel' God has promised you something. It could be that there are actually a small set of actual promises from God. They might not include things like ease and earthly happiness (they might even mean the opposite!), but you can bet they are eternally beautiful.
The problem seems to be that the Bible is not the encyclopedia that many people seem to want it to be. You can't go to the book of 2nd Promises and the chapter on 'promises having to do with my love life' and find the appropriate verse. The Bible is a narrative... a story. It contains all sorts of statements from God and a lot of them could potentially be taken as promises.
And this is why it becomes so important to understand what is and is not a promise... and whether or not there are different kinds of promises. Are proverbs promises? Are some (all?) promises conditional? Do earthy sounding promises always find their fulfillment on earth?
You see, if I think that Proverbs 22:6 guarantees that if I do my best at training my kids in God's way then they'll automatically (eventually) become believers... I might end up thinking God broke a promise. If I felt Jesus was going to come back in 1988 because that's a generation after Israel became a nation again, it may have left me lost in my faith. If I think that passages in Isaiah and James can be combined to make every sickness go away, it may leave me incredibly disappointed with God in a bed (or next to one) at a hospital or, worse, yet, a funeral home.
As a quick aside, there's also the issue of non-biblical 'promises' of God. If I really believe that God called me to plant a church in Kelowna, BC (Canada) and then it never happened or failed miserably... does that mean God failed?
Clearly this is a life-affecting issue. I perceive that there are many disappointed Christians (and ex-Christians) out there as a result of the apparently broken promises of God. The sad thing is, I think this disappointment is needless. I don't believe that God has ever broken a promise, but I also don't think He's made nearly as many as some people think. Proverbs are principles, not promises. Some prophecies were (and are) set in stone, but many of them were (and are) conditional. Jesus had a healing ministry, but healings are signs pointing to the ultimate message of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of our Savior. Miraculous healings are still possible, but were never meant to be the norm. In fact, it would be more accurate to think of Jesus' words 'in this world you will have trouble' as a promise than some of the more instantly gratifying verses that some suppose are promises.
My point is that it doesn't make much sense to be disappointed with God for not keeping promises that He never made, so we should make sure we think through these issues pretty carefully. It's not enough to just Google a list of Bible promises. It's not enough to just 'feel' God has promised you something. It could be that there are actually a small set of actual promises from God. They might not include things like ease and earthly happiness (they might even mean the opposite!), but you can bet they are eternally beautiful.
Monday, September 09, 2013
Limited Negatives
‘Limited Negatives’ as Conversation
Starters
A
"limited negative" is a statement, usually (though not always)
constructed as follows:
“Not A…but B”
But which actually means:
“Not
only A…but also B” or, perhaps, “Not merely
A…but primarily B”
Such an idiom becomes recognizable when it would be absurd or contradictory to take an absolute-sounding statement absolutely.
Such an idiom becomes recognizable when it would be absurd or contradictory to take an absolute-sounding statement absolutely.
Obvious Examples (to prove the literary
device exists)
Matthew
10:20
For
it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
John
12:44
Whoever
believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.
John
6:27
Do
not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.
1
John 3:18
Dear
children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Obvious Counter-Examples
(to provoke caution)
Romans
12:19
Do
not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath.
3
John 1:11
Dear
friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good.
Colossians
3:19
Husbands,
love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Ephesians
5:18
Do
not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
12 Potential ‘Limited Negative’ Passages
for our Consideration
Matthew
9:13
But
go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not
come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew
6:13
And
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew
6:19-20
Do
not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy,
and where thieves break in and steal. But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
Matthew
10:34
Do
not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to
bring peace, but a sword
Luke
12:4
I
tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after
that can do no more.
Luke
14:12-13
When
you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or
sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you
back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the
lame, the blind.
John
1:13
Children
born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but
born of God.
John
7:24
Stop
judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
John
15:15
I
no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s
business. Instead, I have called you
friends
Romans
12:2
Do
not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind.
Philippians
2:4
Not
looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
1
Peter 3:3-4
Your
beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and
the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self
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