Pastoral Ministry; October 23, 2021

Posted on October 25, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Thessalonians 3:8-9 For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?

Why would anyone become a pastor? The hours are totally irregular, the stresses are often high, and the pay is seldom high. The answer is right here. The level of satisfaction, accomplishment, and yes, joy, when believers really “get it” and stand firm in the Lord is worth it all! There’s an expression here that translates perfectly into Japanese, but isn’t native to English, that catches it very well. The NIV renders it as “really live,” but it’s a little bit more of “have a reason to live.” I’ve seen a couple of articles recently by Americans who’ve discovered the Japanese expression and concept, and their excitement was a little amusing to me, since I’ve known and understood it since childhood. Paul’s words here give the picture very well, because having a reason to live is certainly something to be thankful for. This also ties into the matter of legacy, because spiritual children beat out just about anything else you could leave behind when you die. Some pastors, even are consumed with buildings and programs and the like, wondering how they will be remembered, when none of that is eternal and human souls are. Paul isn’t saying that the Thessalonian believers are perfect, but he is assured that they are established in Christ, and that’s the important thing. If pastors indeed placed their priority on establishing believers in Christ, churches and society as a whole would be far better!

I’m in the middle of another practicum in this very issue. As I was typing this I had a call from someone who has only just become connected to this church, saying that their 97-year-old mother had just passed away, so I had to call to make arrangements for a casket and hearse and the like, and now we have the issues of when to have the wake and funeral. The members of this family aren’t my spiritual children, since I only just met them, but I have peace that their faith is genuine, including that of the one who has just passed. This is going to be an opportunity to act as Christ’s body indeed, not only in comforting the family but in testifying to the Buddhist relatives who will be involved. I don’t have the wisdom or organizational skills to handle it all, but God certainly does, so I’m to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him. This will be an opportunity for the family to integrate fully into the church, as well as for us all to proclaim our hope of eternal life, and for that I can rejoice indeed!

Father, thank You for all that You take me through, and that You make it all worth it indeed. The scheduling issues loom rather large in my mind at the moment, but I know that You have the perfect plan for that. I pray that everyone involved would recognize and follow Your schedule, with peace and even joy. May we function as the Body of Christ indeed, doing Your will on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thoughts and Prayers; October 22, 2021

Posted on October 24, 2021 by jgarrott

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Translation is an interesting thing. Often a variety of translations can be entirely justified from exactly the same original. Here, the Japanese says, “Be relentless in prayer.” That carries a slightly different feeling than “Devote yourselves to prayer,” but both seem quite applicable to the subject of prayer. Too often we take prayer lightly, even casually, and don’t stick with it. That’s not a good idea! Recently the expression, “thoughts and prayers” has become common, at least in public news reports, in relation to tragic situations, and that has been ridiculed by some who don’t have faith. To be honest, “sending warm thoughts” has always seemed pretty futile, because it is man-centered. It is when our thoughts are directed to the One who has all power and is defined by love (1 John 4:8) that they make a difference. Prayer, on the other hand, can be incredibly powerful. In my childhood we could pick up the AM broadcasts of the Far East Network from the Itazuke Air Force Base where I and my siblings went to school. It seems unthinkable in the political climate of today, but there was a program sponsored by the Catholics that had the tag line, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” That is an extremely accurate statement! Paul was acutely aware of the value of prayer, which is why he often asked for prayer, as he does right after this statement, and he mentions his prayers for others. Prayer remains a mystery, because why would the omnipotent Creator listen to such as we are? However, there is a huge mountain of evidence that He does listen, proving that He is indeed love, and that somehow our prayers make a difference. We make a huge mistake when we take prayer lightly, or indeed when we make it humanistic with “thoughts and prayers.” That expression is valid only when our thoughts prompt us to pray, because it is the prayers that matter.

As I have written many times, I was raised in a home where prayer was as natural as breathing. That was an incredible blessing, but it carried the danger of familiarity breeding contempt. Even with that background, sometimes I don’t think to pray! I indeed need to be relentless in prayer, alert to what is happening and filled with gratitude toward my gracious Father to whom I pray. I am to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in my prayers, because there is literally no end to things that would benefit from prayer, and God assigns different people to different things. I’m not to feel guilty for “I didn’t pray about that,” but as Paul says here, I am to be alert and relentless so that my prayers may be useful to God in establishing His rule and reign, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this clear reminder. Thank You that You continue to grow me in prayer, so that I may be a relentless warrior indeed in Your army. May my prayers be fully in line with Your will in every detail, so that I may be an effective servant bearing abundant fruit for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Distance Ministry; October 21, 2021

Posted on October 23, 2021 by jgarrott

Colossians 1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Colossians stands out among Paul’s letters as the only one written to people he had never met. He hadn’t been to Rome at the time he wrote that letter, but he at least knew several people there. His disciple Epaphras had gone to Colosse and evangelized very effectively, and this is Paul’s follow-up to that. He felt responsibility for the Colossian believers, not just because they were his spiritual “grandchildren” but because he was concerned for the Church at large, wanting all believers to be genuine and walk in all that Christ had for them. Prayer is the perfect answer to such a situation, because in prayer we are talking to One for whom time and distance have virtually no meaning. At the same time, it’s very encouraging and comforting to know you are being prayed for, and letters are an effective tool for that. Today, with electronic communications, it’s much faster and easier to share such blessings. As a teacher, Paul didn’t hold back in expressing truth even to people he had never met. This letter was a way of being an instrument of God’s answering the very thing he prays in this verse. Any time we pray we need to hold ourselves available for God to use us to answer that for which we are praying. If you pray a lot for world missions, you need to be willing to go as a missionary, whether or not God sends you. If you pray for people’s physical needs to be met, you need to be willing to share what God has given you materially. James was rather direct about that last point! (James 2:15-16) (Actually, James was direct about a number of things, which is why his letter is so valuable.) That said, often we don’t have the resources in ourselves to meet the needs for which we pray, but we are praying to the Creator of the universe, and He is never short of resources!

I feel this is very applicable to me. Not only have I discovered how much difference it makes for people to be praying for me, (as I have written before) with my blog I am touching many people I have never met. Some of them are already strong believers, some are struggling, and some are simply seeking or even just curious, never having enthroned Jesus in their heart. I am to communicate God’s truth in love to them all, trusting the Holy Spirit to sort it all out and plant it in their hearts, just as Paul did with the Colossians. In doing that, however, I must never forget to pray for them, or for the people in the various groups to which I am invited to speak. As again James said, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16) There is little if anything I can do in my own strength and wisdom, either at a distance or in person, but God is big enough to use me in any circumstances, and I need to be willing and available.

Father, thank You for this Word of encouragement. Help me follow through! I do thank You for the various methods of communication that are available. May I use them effectively by Your Spirit, accomplishing Your will for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Faith vs. Anxiety; October 20, 2021

Posted on October 23, 2021 by jgarrott

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

It seems strange to be writing on a passage that has been so familiar for so long, but I must not let familiarity breed contempt. This passage, properly applied, should empty most of the psychiatric wards around the world, but it doesn’t, because we fail to really believe it and apply it. We fail to believe that anxiety really is a choice, and it is antithetical to faith. When we really believe that God is good, that He loves us enough to send His Son to die in our place so that we can live eternally with Him, then anxiety becomes out of the question. Like the father of the epileptic boy, we cry out, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) We say we believe, and we aren’t lying, but the depth of our faith can really be tested. People all over the world are desperate for the peace that comes only by resting, abiding in Christ. Jesus words right after washing His disciples’ feet are applicable to every truth in the Bible: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17) Like James said, failing to apply the truth we know is just deceiving ourselves. (James 1:22)

It’s been several years now since the Lord told me specifically and personally to rest, relax, and rejoice. I’m still learning! I love to be in control of things, but with control comes responsibility. I am fully accountable for things that are in my control, but I’ve got to be at peace with the vast majority of things that are not in my control. The hardest part comes with the things that I would like to be in my control, but aren’t. I am to apply myself faithfully and diligently to the various tasks at hand, but recognize constantly that the power, the ability, to do them comes from God and doesn’t originate with me. I am to be a faithful steward, just as Paul said. (1 Corinthians 4:2) That includes stewardship of my body, my time, and my thoughts. It’s that last bit that this passage is dealing with. When my thoughts go astray, I’m to choose to bring them back into line. It’s spiritual warfare, again just as Paul said. (2 Corinthians 10:5) As the hymn says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.” The devil does all he can to steal, or at least damage, my peace. It must be my choice to submit to God and resist the devil, (James 4:7) because only then will I walk in the overflowing blessings that God has prepared for me.

Father, thank You for this reminder of truth that I have known for a long time. Help me indeed walk it out in every detail, so that Your purposes for me may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Living in God’s Grace; October 19, 2021

Posted on October 22, 2021 by jgarrott

Philippians 1:7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.

Philippians is the warmest of Paul’s letters to churches. That’s probably related to the very dramatic way the church was started, as recorded in Acts 16, but clearly the people of that church felt very warmly about Paul as well. The verse ahead of this, about being confident that God would complete His work in the believers, is a very famous one that I frequently write on the flyleaf of Bibles I give to people when they are baptized, but this verse caught my eye for a different reason. We sometimes separate our lives into different categories, such as “serving God” and “taking care of business.” Paul here mentions being imprisoned, where he could do very little, and proclaiming the Gospel as a bold witness, and clearly lumps both together as instances of God’s grace. I think we need to realize that every facet of our lives is included in God’s plan for us, and is an opportunity for Him to work in and through us. It was precisely when Paul was imprisoned, greatly limited in his activities, that he wrote most of the letters that form so much of the New Testament. It is risky for us to exclude any part of our lives from our active dependence on and obedience to God. Psychologically speaking, men tend to be more likely to compartmentalize their lives than women are. Sometimes it can be very helpful to “leave work at work” in order to relax and relate will to your family at home, but taken too far, it can blind us to all sorts of things. We need to remember that we belong to God, and He loves us as His children, all the time, and not just when we are “doing something religious.”

I have known this as objective fact for a long time, but I still tend to grade myself as to whether a particular activity is “spiritual.” The thing is, I am a spiritual being inhabiting a body, so everything I do is spiritual, in one way or another. Getting a good night’s sleep is as important as standing in the pulpit. I do a wide variety of things, giving some people the impression that I am terribly busy, but I actually have less rigidity to my schedule than most people, I think. That makes it all the more important that I submit every part of my schedule to the Lord, for Him to use me as He sees fit. Since I live in the church building all sorts of lines tend to get blurred, but I need to keep the awareness that every moment of my life is at God’s service, and a demonstration of His grace.

Father, thank You for Your amazing grace that indeed touches every moment of my life, every part of my being. Help me be active in allowing that grace to flow through me whatever I am doing, even if it looks like I am doing nothing! May I be a good servant, a child who does exactly as You desire, for the blessing of all I touch and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spiritual Warfare; October 18. 2021

Posted on October 22, 2021 by jgarrott

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

This whole passage could hardly seem more timely for any aware believer today. The world is a mess, and the spiritual warfare is becoming more and more obvious. In America the fight seems pretty intense, but the devil was laying the groundwork for that in the universities from over 100 years ago. He was able to do that because the believers, the Church, seemed largely asleep to it all. That’s why this verse seems so extremely appropriate. It is a command. We often don’t think we can choose to be strong, but the strength involved here isn’t merely human, it’s divine. In Christ we can indeed choose to be strong, and we urgently need to do so. We have far too many “doormat Christians” who have no idea how to fight! I’m not talking about martial arts and the like, but the spiritual warfare that is discussed in the following verses. Defensive armor and the sword of the Spirit are mentioned, but any military in the world knows that you have to have physical strength and endurance to be able to handle those tools. I wouldn’t want to be in a physical contest against a seal team member, for example! Physical strength isn’t the issue in spiritual warfare, but spiritual strength certainly is, and far too many Christians are spiritual wimps. Just as getting into physical shape requires consistent choices, and sometimes hard ones, getting into good spiritual shape requires adjusting your priorities, placing Christ first and foremost, valuing intimacy with the Holy Spirit above the world’s pleasures. Such choices are subject to our will and so can be commanded, as Paul does here. Like good soldiers, we need to salute and say, “Yes, Sir!”

I certainly wasn’t pleased at the time, but I think it was God’s good grace to me that I got my draft notice back in 1970. I knew it was God’s grace that I was assigned to Hawaii rather than Vietnam, but I didn’t recognize that the training itself was valuable to me spiritually. Getting out of training, I was in the best physical shape of my life, and I was prepared to use a wide variety of weapons. Rappelling out of a helicopter was actually fun! Part of that training was in taking orders and responding immediately. Of course, that places heavy responsibility on those giving the orders. On the human scale, sometimes those orders were good and sometimes they weren’t, but to come back to the subject of spiritual warfare, God only gives good orders. In the Church, people in positions of responsibility need to be careful they only repeat God’s orders, and not generate orders out of their own imagination and desires. As I’ve been writing this I have become aware of various areas in which I could certainly be more spiritually fit. I’m not to just acknowledge that but act on it, as James said. (James 1:22) In the Army I rose to E5 (sergeant), but there are such things as battlefield commissions. I have no real idea what my rank would be in God’s army, but I know that my focus must be on my Supreme Commander, to obey without hesitation or complaint.

Father, thank You for this call to attention. Thank You for the many things You are doing in and around me. Help me be fully obedient and effective as Your agent, so that indeed the devil’s works may be destroyed (1 John 3:8) and Your name acknowledged as holy as Your rule and reign is established and Your will done perfectly, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Infinite God; October 17, 2021

Posted on October 19, 2021 by jgarrott

Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

This doxology has an idea in it that is of extreme importance, but that we have great difficulty accepting, and that is the point that God is able to do “immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.” We choke at that! Human religion is generated out of human imagination, and produces merely human results. We frankly don’t like to admit that God is far above, far greater, than all of that. It comes back to Isaiah’s description of an idol maker, carving an idol and praying to it, all the while using the rest of the same piece of wood for firewood. (Isaiah 44:13-17) We are so foolish! If our God is not transcendent, we are doing no more than worshiping ourselves – which we love to do! When we pray we need to realize that whatever we are praying about, it’s no big deal for God. He doesn’t rubber-stamp human prayers, but somehow He includes them in His overarching plans for the universe, and that in itself violates human logic! Power and ability are never issues with God. This doxology comes right after Paul’s prayer that we may “know [God’s] love that surpasses knowledge.” (Ephesians 3:19) Everywhere we turn we run into the reality that God and everything He is and does are beyond human comprehension, so we are totally dependent on Him revealing Himself to us. Actually, the whole Bible is a record of that. It is a testimony to His love that He has gone to such lengths to reveal Himself to us, even to the point of sending His Son.

Growing up in the home that I did, I thought I knew God and His love pretty well. I only knew the smallest fraction! My intellectual pride wanted to define God, and time and again He has shattered that definition. Just recently I have learned of people that I thought had died as unbelievers were actively seeking God as they neared the end. I may yet meet them in heaven! Yesterday I watched a testimony of a near-death experience (NDE) that certainly had some unconventional theology, but I can’t say that man didn’t have a very genuine encounter with God, and he was an adamant atheist before he died that first time. He is certainly a transformed person now! I know in my mind that God is both infinitely smarter and infinitely stronger than I am, but my stupid human pride doesn’t want to live that way. I am not to proclaim anything that isn’t in the Bible, but I need help in recognizing the boxes into which I’ve tried to put God, even while saying that we can’t put God into a box! Pride indeed makes us stupid. In full humility I need to recognize and receive all that He has been trying to show me all along, so that I may be transformed into the son, the servant, the instrument that He desires, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. I have used this passage countless times in talking with others, yet need to internalize it better myself! Help me be done with limiting You in any way, so that You will be free to use me or not use me as You desire, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

God’s Power; October 16, 2021

Posted on October 19, 2021 by jgarrott

Ephesians 1:18-19 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Ephesians has several examples of Paul’s incredibly long, complex sentences, and this is part of one of those. The English and the Japanese naturally break those up differently, and verse divisions are arbitrary in the first place, so that can make it difficult to pull out a section to write on. However, ancient Greek had no punctuation, and the concepts that Paul was writing about are marvelously intertwined, so it’s understandable that we have this issue. That said, we need the help of the Holy Spirit to grasp what is really being said, because it is marvelous beyond words. That’s why Paul tripped over himself trying to say it! When this prayer of Paul is answered in a believer’s heart and mind, it is absolutely transforming. We have a small conception of God’s power in the first place, and the reality that such power can operate in and through us is more than we can wrap our natural minds around. We love stories of “super heroes” and the like, and people pursue magic and the occult to obtain special power, when God has already provided something that puts all of that to shame. The thing is, God’s power operates according to God’s will, and it isn’t something we can wave around at our whim. The reason people pursue the occult and such is they want something they control, rather than being submitted to God. The true stories of Moses, Daniel, and Daniel’s three friends, for example, top just about any fiction! There are countless verified reports of miracles today, including walking on water as well as resurrections. God’s power is in no way diminished, but as the hymn says, we’ve got to trust and obey.

I have maintained for many years that when Japanese believers wake up to who they are in Christ, not only the nation but the whole world will be transformed. The thing is, I too am in need of a fresh infusion of faith! After all, I’m not yet to the age at which Moses started his ministry! I have seen what might be classified as “minor miracles” operate through me, and I have also tried to produce such things on my schedule, to no avail. I earnestly desire a massive move of God in this nation and I would be delighted to be useful in that, but I also need to be at peace with simply getting out of the way, if that is God’s plan. I identify totally with something my father once did, prostrating himself on the floor and crying out, “God, if I am standing in the way of revival in Japan, then take me out of the way!” My father had observed the Shantung Revival in China, and was even encouraged to relocate there so as to have a more fruitful ministry, but his commission was to Japan, and he was convinced of it. I have always had a place in my heart for China, which is why our church tithes general offerings to New Life League for Bibles to be printed and gotten into China, but I too know that my assignment is Japan. With many things in the world pointing to the Last Days, I need to trust that Japan is still on God’s schedule before the end, and hold myself available for however He might want to exercise His power through me.

Father, Ephesians has always resonated in my spirit in a special way. Help me not treat these truths as academic, but live them out in every facet of my life, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Benediction; October 15, 2021

Posted on October 18, 2021 by jgarrott

2 Corinthians 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Once again I was undecided among several verses in this chapter as to which to write on. There’s a lot of good stuff throughout the Bible! However, I was finally drawn to this last verse, that I use as a benediction in just about every service I conduct. Familiarity must not be allowed to breed contempt! This is a very potent expression of the Trinity, and as such is certainly worthy of deep reflection. It starts with “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Grace being “unmerited favor,” this references the fact that we didn’t earn anything that Jesus did for us. The level of patience and flat-out endurance He demonstrated in being born as a human baby, living a life of poverty and hard work, teaching disciples who couldn’t seem to grasp what He was saying, and then submitting to scourging and crucifixion, dying for our sins, is really beyond human comprehension. After all, He was and is part of the Godhead, and didn’t “have to” do any of that! It is when we grasp that reality that we are able to let His grace flow through us to those around us. Then there’s the matter of the love of God. Paul didn’t write John 3:16, but he understood its reality. God the Father essentially divided Himself to send His Son to be our Savior. That is the absolute core of the Gospel. Again, the better we grasp His love for us, the better we are able not only to love Him in return, but also those around us, who are equally with us objects of His love. And then Paul mentions “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” I am personally convinced that there are two sides to this: fellowship with the Spirit Himself, and fellowship with other believers by the Spirit. In other places Paul refers to both, saying things like, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit,” (Galatians 5:25) and “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3) We need to grasp the totality of the Trinity to experience all of what our Creator intends for us.

As I said, I use this benediction at almost every service I conduct, but I do make some very minor changes in the wording, for specific reasons. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” is unchanged, but I specify “the love of Father God,” rather than simply saying “God.” That is both to emphasize the Trinity and to point out the Father-nature of our Creator. Many people have trouble grasping all that means because of the failures of their physical fathers, but that’s another long discussion I won’t go into here. The point is that God is Father, and that resonates throughout all creation. When it comes to “The fellowship of the Holy Spirit,” I add the word, “intimate,” simply because many people can’t imagine the level of intimacy that God has prepared for us by His Spirit. In the Upper Room Discourse and praying for us just before His crucifixion (John 14-17) Jesus spoke repeatedly of our being “in Him” and Him being “in us,” even to the extent that there is unity in the Godhead. That actually is beyond human comprehension, apart from a direct revelation of God. I speak that benediction with assurance, because I am convinced that it is the will of God for us His creation, and is thus the ultimate expression of His glory.

Father, thank You for the incredible privilege of speaking, expressing, that benediction to others. May my life be an expression of that indeed, drawing others to repentance and faith for their salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Charismatic Gifts; October 14, 2021

Posted on October 18, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Corinthians 14:39-40 Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

I almost stopped the reading at verse 33 when I was preparing the reading list because of the highly controversial remarks from verse 34 about women speaking in church. My grandfather W. O. Carver, who was a huge proponent of women serving in ministry (and who is therefore studiously ignored by the denomination he served with such distinction) said that in the early Church women would sit on one side of the room and men on the other, and the church in Corinth had a problem with women speaking out their questions to the disruption of the service, and that this was the only reason for verses 34 and 35. Paul certainly approved of various women in ministry, mentioned by name in several of his letters. All of that said, these verses that conclude the chapter are of great importance. Every believer should desire to be someone whom God can speak through freely. We get so hung up on predictive prophecy that we lose sight of the character of the vast majority of New Testament prophecy, which is simply speaking out what God is saying. Actually, predictive prophecy falls under that as well, but it is just a small fraction of the total. God uses different people in different ways, but we should all desire to be available as God’s instruments at all times, however He wants to use us. And the point about not forbidding speaking in tongues is important. More than one denomination had precisely such a prohibition for a while there. It wasn’t an issue until the resurrection of spiritual gifts in the 20th Century, but jealousy and pride always do a lot of damage when they are indulged, and Cessationists certainly ignored these two verses, largely because they weren’t manifesting spiritual gifts themselves.

My own career has been greatly shaped by this issue, because the Southern Baptists refused to appoint me as a missionary precisely because I was a “known Charismatic.” Sadly, we went through a lot of unnecessary turmoil and stress because they weren’t honest enough to be up front about it, and the policy wasn’t written down formally that I know of. With my family background, it might have made a big stink if it had come out! In any case, God turned all of that around and brought us here independently of any organization, giving me a freedom I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Right now, as I have written recently, I don’t do “Thus sayeth the Lord” prophesying in this church, but my desire and prayer is that every time I open my mouth to speak, God’s words would come out. Like Paul, I desire that everyone in the church speak in tongues for their edification, but at this point that isn’t much happening. I certainly won’t forbid it! I especially desire that each believer be available as God’s spokesperson to the people in their lives, so that the lies of the devil may be overcome by the truth and many set free.

Father, there is so much that I still don’t know. Help me do what You desire even when I don’t know what I’m doing! May we be a church that is fully hospitable to Your Spirit, rightly related to You on every level, so that Your name may be acknowledged as holy and Your rule and reign be established right here, as Your will is done in and through us for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment