Greetings,
With the new year I will often put together goals and at the same time I will take a spiritual gifts inventory. A spiritual gifts inventory is like a test or evaluation that helps you to determine what spiritual gifts you are strong in and which you… aren’t blessed with. So, with my usual introspective attitude at the beginning of the year, I went to a website to take a spiritual gifts test. It had been several years since I had taken this specific test and they switched some things around.
As the loading circle churned around and around my screen while I waited for the results, I thought about how much had changed in my life over the course of the last few years. I wondered if there would be anything different in this test from the many that I had taken in the past. I was curious if a person’s spiritual giftedness lasts a lifetime or if it changes throughout someone’s life. It was just a short time that the loading circle spun on my monitor but there were many thoughts scrolling through my brain. As the image appeared on the screen, I couldn’t help but laugh. I knew the people closest to me would never believe it, so I took a screen shot of the test results. My strongest spiritual gift came up as administration. Administration?! I was sure I must have answered all the questions in reverse. Maybe I had read the instructions wrong. Then I read the description below the word administration and I felt better.
It stated, “The Greek word "kubernesis" means one who steers a ship. This expert had the responsibility to bring a ship into the harbor through the rocks and shoals, under all types of pressures. As an administrator you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by organizing, administering, promoting, and leading the various affairs of the church. The administrator is not a glorified file clerk.
"As an administrator you are a take-charge person who jumps in and starts giving orders when no one is in charge. You will put a plan on paper and start delegating responsibility. You may lean toward organizing things, events or programs, OR toward organizing people, emphasizing personal relationships and leadership responsibilities. In the first case, you usually organize details and have people carry them out. In the second case, you tend to organize people and rely on others to take care of the little things.”
I realized that the test designers for this particular test apparently had decided that leadership should be consolidated with administration. In the past It was normal that administration was on the bottom half of my spiritual gifts list along with mercy and service. It changed my perspective of administration a little. It was comforting to me to remember that God make me unique and has given me gifts that are unique. The amazing thing is that within the entire global church, God has made each one of us unique and has gifted each believer with certain gifts that are vital to the growth of His bride, the church.
Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV) says "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."
Other verses to look up on Spiritual gifts: Romans 12:6-8; 1 Peter 4:10-11; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31
There are many online spiritual gifts inventories. If you haven’t taken one lately I would encourage you to take one. Confirm what you probably already know to be your gifts and begin operating within those giftings.
Love ya,
Chris
Greetings,
I hope everyone had a wonderful time celebrating the incarnation of Jesus. It astonishes me that the one true God, the maker of heaven and of earth, would humble himself, taking on flesh like one of us. The Father had planned from the very beginning that He was going to send His son as a sacrifice for His creation. It is amazing to me that in His patient wisdom He established the law and a sacrificial system that set the stage for His great incarnation and ultimate sacrifice. He gave prophets and priests, and established traditions and celebrations over thousands of years before He finally revealed His Son to the world as a baby.
The sacrifice of our God to do such a thing for us should motivate us to examine ourselves and ultimately sacrifice our own lives for Him by offering our bodies, minds and souls to Him to use us however He sees fit. We are entering the beginning of a new year as well as a new decade and this is a great time to ask some serious questions about our lives, where we are now and where we want to be in the year to come. In what area of my life do I need to obey?
As individual children of God, working in unity as the family of God and operating as the hands and feet of God, I think it wise of us to see that we are doing what God has called us to do. I am believing that this year we are going to see some incredible things happen in the lives of people within our church family.
I am eager to begin purposefully working toward meeting some important goals over the next year and intentionally sacrificing to become more like Christ throughout the '20s. It is a fascinating time to be alive in world history--lets make the most of the wonderful blessings that God has given to us. I would encourage you to write out some measurable goals for your next year and maybe if you are ambitious, for the next decade.
"The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty." Proverbs 21:5
"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14
Love ya,
Chris
Greetings,
It is that time of year again! The jingling Salvation Army Christmas bells, the nonstop Christmas songs being played everywhere you go, the smell of fresh evergreen cut and brought inside, and the feeling of warmth of friends and family around during this season.
Some people genuinely love the nostalgia of Christmas and to others this season brings memories of sadness and loneliness. This Christmas, would you consider reaching out to someone that you know that might need a cheerful hello or a long needed word of appreciation? Take a moment and pray for someone that might be feeling less than joy filled this Christmas. Tell them that you are praying for them and what you are praying for them about. Often we feel like it would be awkward or sort of strange to greet someone out of the blue without a reason. It may be received as strange, but the motivation behind it is love. Genuine concern for our friends and those around us.
This last year I have come to realize that I think really loving and kind thoughts about many people around me and often I never tell them. I told my wife the other day that I think about her a lot and how much I love and appreciate her and she seemed surprised. Her response helped me to realize that although I think great things about her, she would appreciate hearing it out of my mouth a bit more.
My challenge to you is this: When a kind or thoughtful comment comes to your mind about someone, take just the few seconds that it requires to say it, text it or email it to the person. We are people of love. God is love and whoever lives in love lives in Him. Living in love means living it out loud. Love is only a feeling if it remains in your mind. It is best demonstrated by word and effort.
Here’s the deal folks... since God loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we could have eternal life through him, we must love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. People will know we are disciples of Jesus by our love for each other. (John 13:35)
God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him... and we have seen with our own eyes, through people’s life transformations, that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Everyone that declares that Jesus is the Son of God has God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and each of us have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So, we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
This kind of love has nothing to fear, because perfect love banishes all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we haven’t fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.
If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers. (1 John 4:11-21)
My hope is that you will love well this week and love out especially to those who need to hear it most.
I love you,
Merry Christmas
Chris