Spiritual gifts work through a person’s spirit. Our spirit within impels us, like a wind driving ships across the sea. A particular gift implants a drive within; but in order for that gift to be expressed, we must choose to act on what our spirit within impels.
If one is given a gift of teaching, he must work at teaching. The gift does not give him teaching, only the drive to teach. It takes ten years to become an expert at anything. If one is given a gift of service, he must work at what is necessary to serve. A medical degree takes years to earn. Gifts are not shortcuts; they are the drive to do what we are meant to do.
Spiritual gifts are given by God; but they can lie dormant within us because we have not acted upon them. Paul urged Timothy to stir up the spiritual gift within him. What is in our spirit may require years of work to express.
Tiger Woods is gifted; not because golf was easy for him, but because he was driven to practice more than anyone else. He is arguably the best player in the world because he has worked harder at it than anyone else.
Spiritual gifts require spiritual freedom. We cannot serve others effectively if we are slaves ourselves. We must be free to work out what He is working in us. We cannot prophesy if we do not listen to His voice. We cannot teach if we have not learned to follow. We cannot exhort if we have given in to sin.
Only disciples can find freedom.
“…If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32
Only disciples can realize the spiritual gift God gave them.
The fulness of what God intended is realized when a disciple fully acts upon what his spirit within impels him to do. It is then that the spiritual gift becomes a gift to the body of Christ.
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ…” Ephesians 4:11-12
-Greg Whitten
July 23, 2009
July 15, 2009
CHURCH
Christianity has been largely defined by church for most of these two thousand years; Christianity has been understood primarily to be what happens inside a religious service. Our language has no other meaning for “church”.
Our English word “church” does not come from the Greek word it translates, but from a Greek phrase, “kyriakon doma”, meaning “the Lord’s house”. The essential thought in the English word “church” is that it is the Lord’s house.
But there is a true Tabernacle in heaven, which the Lord pitched, not man. This is the Lord’s house; this is the place of His throne, and the soles of His feet. For us to call something on earth the Lord’s house is like Aaron fashioning a golden calf, and saying this is the god who brought you out of Egypt.
His house is in heaven; it is there that we must direct our hearts. We must ascend the hill of the Lord; we must draw near to the throne of grace. Like priests we must enter alone into the holy place, to offer up what is acceptable to Him.
The word used in the Greek New Testament is “ekklesia”, meaning “assembly”. This is the word Jesus used; this is the word the apostles used. In Acts 19 this word is also used three times to refer to Greek citizens of Ephesus gathered together because of rumors about the apostle Paul. This is the primary meaning of this word. When the New Testament uses this word, it is using a non-religious word; ekklesia is an assembly of citizens. It does not imply house; it does not imply a religious service.
By turning ekklesia, assembly, into the Lord’s house, we have placed a graven image between believers and the throne of grace. The graven image can keep believers from a secret life. If “church” is the means to the throne of grace, then believers will not learn to seek Him in the wilderness. We will not learn to seek Him alone in the dawn.
Disciples should walk a narrow path. Disciples give in secret, pray in secret, fast in secret; what the Father rewards was not done to be seen. The riches of discipleship cannot be found by those who do not know how to walk with Him alone.
For us to gather as ekklesia on earth, we must first find grace in heaven. We bear fruit out of an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ; this fruit feeds others. Without this abiding relationship, we will have nothing significant to give others.
Ekklesia is a gathering of the citizens of the kingdom of God, who have walked in the City of God.
-Greg Whitten
Our English word “church” does not come from the Greek word it translates, but from a Greek phrase, “kyriakon doma”, meaning “the Lord’s house”. The essential thought in the English word “church” is that it is the Lord’s house.
But there is a true Tabernacle in heaven, which the Lord pitched, not man. This is the Lord’s house; this is the place of His throne, and the soles of His feet. For us to call something on earth the Lord’s house is like Aaron fashioning a golden calf, and saying this is the god who brought you out of Egypt.
His house is in heaven; it is there that we must direct our hearts. We must ascend the hill of the Lord; we must draw near to the throne of grace. Like priests we must enter alone into the holy place, to offer up what is acceptable to Him.
The word used in the Greek New Testament is “ekklesia”, meaning “assembly”. This is the word Jesus used; this is the word the apostles used. In Acts 19 this word is also used three times to refer to Greek citizens of Ephesus gathered together because of rumors about the apostle Paul. This is the primary meaning of this word. When the New Testament uses this word, it is using a non-religious word; ekklesia is an assembly of citizens. It does not imply house; it does not imply a religious service.
By turning ekklesia, assembly, into the Lord’s house, we have placed a graven image between believers and the throne of grace. The graven image can keep believers from a secret life. If “church” is the means to the throne of grace, then believers will not learn to seek Him in the wilderness. We will not learn to seek Him alone in the dawn.
Disciples should walk a narrow path. Disciples give in secret, pray in secret, fast in secret; what the Father rewards was not done to be seen. The riches of discipleship cannot be found by those who do not know how to walk with Him alone.
For us to gather as ekklesia on earth, we must first find grace in heaven. We bear fruit out of an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ; this fruit feeds others. Without this abiding relationship, we will have nothing significant to give others.
Ekklesia is a gathering of the citizens of the kingdom of God, who have walked in the City of God.
-Greg Whitten
July 06, 2009
PRAGMATISM
A disciple needs the power of the kingdom of God if he wants Jesus to rule in his life. The kingdom of God is near; we can find the power of the kingdom. If we have not found it, we need change. This is what Jesus preached; it is what John the Baptist had preached.
“From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Matthew 4:17
The imperative is to change the mind, metanoeo. But everyone thinks they are doing what they have to do; the mind maintains that illusion.
“There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12
The kingdom of God is near, we can take a very different path. We are not forced to live like victims of the twenty-first century. There is power to change the plagues of our heart.
This is basic to discipleship; discipleship is meaningless if there is no power. But if the kingdom of God is near, it is not here. The power of the kingdom cannot be found in our culture.
Pragmatism focuses on what is necessary. If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. Do whatever is necessary to find the kingdom of God. Like Pilgrim in Pilgrim’s Progress, we are on a journey looking for the City of God.
If whatever we thought would work doesn’t lead to life, keep searching. We cannot trust our mind to direct us; it can be deceived. There is no reason to listen to every myth in Christianity; if the myth didn’t work in others, it won’t work in you. There is no time to play other people’s games.
In this chaos there is a voice that is not part of the delusion.
“And your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:21
He wants to lead you in the way of a disciple; He wants to bring you into His kingdom. He knows what works; He is pragmatic.
Listen; it works.
-Greg Whitten
“From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Matthew 4:17
The imperative is to change the mind, metanoeo. But everyone thinks they are doing what they have to do; the mind maintains that illusion.
“There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12
The kingdom of God is near, we can take a very different path. We are not forced to live like victims of the twenty-first century. There is power to change the plagues of our heart.
This is basic to discipleship; discipleship is meaningless if there is no power. But if the kingdom of God is near, it is not here. The power of the kingdom cannot be found in our culture.
Pragmatism focuses on what is necessary. If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. Do whatever is necessary to find the kingdom of God. Like Pilgrim in Pilgrim’s Progress, we are on a journey looking for the City of God.
If whatever we thought would work doesn’t lead to life, keep searching. We cannot trust our mind to direct us; it can be deceived. There is no reason to listen to every myth in Christianity; if the myth didn’t work in others, it won’t work in you. There is no time to play other people’s games.
In this chaos there is a voice that is not part of the delusion.
“And your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:21
He wants to lead you in the way of a disciple; He wants to bring you into His kingdom. He knows what works; He is pragmatic.
Listen; it works.
-Greg Whitten
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