What kind of church would embrace even the confusing controversial gifts of the Holy Spirit? A church that believes God works through those gifts today!
25 Gifts of the Holy Spirit by Ron Philips  5/1/2013 Charisma Magazine online
" Most Christians are familiar with the nine gifts of the Spirit that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12:4-10. But did you know there are many more? Though the exact number is debatable, here are at least 25 spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit gave to the early church—and continues to give today."
1.  Word of wisdom (1 Cor. 12:8; Luke 6:9)
2.  Word of knowledge (1 Cor. 12:8; Luke 18:22)
3.  Faith (1 Cor. 12:9; Acts 3:6)
4.  Gifts of healing (1 Cor. 12:9, 28; Acts 28:1-10)
5.  Working of miracles (1 Cor. 12:10; Acts 6:8)
6.  Prophecy (1 Cor. 12:10; 1 Thess. 5:20-21; Eph. 4:11)
7.  Discerning of spirits (1 Cor. 12:10; Luke 8:29)
8.  Tongues (1 Cor. 12:10; Acts 19:6)
9.  Interpretation of tongues (1 Cor. 12:10; 14:13-33)
10.  Helping (1 Cor. 12:28)
11.  Administration (1 Cor. 12:28; Acts 6:2-3)
12.  Ministry/service (Rom. 12:7; 2 Tim. 1:16-18)
13.  Teaching (Rom. 12:7; Eph. 4:11-14)
14.  Encouragement (Rom. 12:8; Heb. 10:24-25)
15.  Giving (Rom. 12:8; 1 Cor. 13:3; Acts 4:32-35)
16.  Leadership (Rom. 12:8; Acts 13:12)
17.  Mercy (Rom. 12:8; Luke 5:12-13)
18.  Apostleship (Eph. 4:11)
19.  Evangelism (Eph. 4:11; 2 Tim. 4:5)
20.  Pastoral guidance (Eph. 4:11)
21.  Grace (Rom. 12:6; Eph. 3:7; 4:7; 1 Pet. 4:10-11)
22.  Willingness to face martyrdom (1 Cor. 13:3)
23.  Intercession (Rom. 8:26-27)
24.  Hospitality (1 Pet. 4:9)
25.  Celibacy (1 Cor. 7:8)

Confusion and controversy began when Holy Spirit came upon Christians after Jesus left earth.
Acts 2:12-13 (NIV)
12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

So, now what?
> Ask and seek spiritual gifts according to 1 Corinthians 14:1.
> Take a spiritual gift assessment. There is a good inventory at buildingchurch.net.
> Use your gifts for the Lord’s purposes.

Sunday afternoon, I plugged my laptop in to do some work. It smoked and sparked from part of the power cord that was well worn from going in my briefcase every day. Monday’s shopping for a cord found a universal cord available at two different stores in town for $59.99. Tuesday, I used the desk computer at the office and ordered a cord specifically for the laptop for $8.47 through Amazon. It arrived yesterday, so I can blog today!

The Bible records times when God’s people would follow a universal, one-size fits all god. It was an expensive time. Sacrifices were given and they got nothing in return because the gods they were sacrificing to were inferior.  God, let them get into all kinds of trouble until they collectively cried out to Him.

When your life smokes and sparks, go to the one, true God.  God made you and you are designed to be joined with Him. God gave His Son as a sacrifice for us. His offer is free, but not cheap. His life for our life.

John 3:16-18
  For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. 18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

My son and his fiancé are getting married at our home. In preparation for this wonderful celebration, our family is cleaning the place up. I have two dead riding lawn mowers that have been cluttering up our property. Our recycling center in town will take them for free, but I would need to drain the fluids out of them. I placed them on Craigslist for sale – not running, best offer. Any amount I get for the lifeless mowers would save me the work of draining and hauling them in to the center.

Yesterday, I got $200 for one of the mowers. $200! The person knows it does not run. His wife had contacted me about the mower and offered $200. He came and did not even look it over, but handed me two Benjamin Franklins. Some say that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is not. Now I am wondering if the cash is real. I will take it to the bank today.

Jesus offered His life for our sins. When you receive this gift of forgiveness, you have a relationship with the Creator of the universe. It can seem too good to be true. All my sin and all my shame is gone. You can take it to the bank to determine if this offer is genuine or fake.

Psalms 34:8 NIV
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
    blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.
Revelation 3:20 NIV
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me.

During the spring of 2011, we emptied the church and later that summer we burned our church.

What kind of church would burn down their building?
We did and here is why:
We were going to re-shingle the church roof and a person checked the interior attic the day before the shingles were to be delivered. The trusses were under-designed and were curving. Gusset plates were bent from the shift and pressure. Three engineers gave the same report: you cannot repair this – you must replace the roof.

The bid to replace the roof was $185,000. To get rid of mold in the nursery, update building code: make the building more accessible and remodel the kitchen exceeded the value of the building.

We asked some really good questions:
What was important to us?
What was important to Jesus?

Our front door was given a “do not occupy” notice from the city.
Inviting became a challenge:
“There is a yellow condemned building tag on the front door – do not go in that one – go in the side door on the east side…..”
Amazingly, we outgrew the basement the following spring!
We kept the building until 2011 when our insurance underwriter would no longer cover us.
The sheriff’s dept conducted a hostage training and our local fire dept used it for a practice burn along with three  other fire departments.

What kind of church burns its building down?
A church that cares about lost people like Jesus cares about them.

Luke 15:1-7
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Adam Clarke  writes that sheep stray more than any other livestock and cannot find their way back.

What kind of church would burn its building down?
A church that will do everything to rescue lost people.

Alvin Reid’s book “Radically Unchurched” of 350,000 churches in US only 1% growth is by conversion.
Most church are not growing and the rest grew by transfer growth.

What kind of church would burn their building?
A church that will do anything to reach lost people.

My understanding of heaven was formed during my early Sunday School years. Our class was taught that God is building a home and room for each of us in heaven. Heaven has streets of gold that will be in abundant supply. There will not be any sickness, death, or anything bad in heaven.



I am not certain if I was taught that God would do all of this in an instant or if it was my own thoughts that God would snap His fingers and change everything in a moment. As I read more of the Bible, I did not give much thought to passages that spoke of responsibilities that followers of Jesus Christ would have in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus taught in parables that those who were faithful here in this life would be given even more important responsibilities in the forever life.
Matthew 25:21
  “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

But what will they be in charge of?
The apostle Paul, when scolding Christians for having lawsuits among themselves, reminds them that they will be judging in heaven.
1 Corinthians 6:2-3 NIV
Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

I am uncertain why or how we judge the world and angels. I am convinced that there are significant work projects in heaven. The Bible records numerous times God’s people in the Old Testament were restored following judgment and defeat. Each time they returned to their land and were involved in the restoration of their city. Walls were rebuilt, homes were restored and the nation was revitalized.

I believe that Christians will be actively involved in the restoration of this world into the Kingdom of God. That is happening now, but will be even more intentional when Jesus returns. I am not certain what it involves. Let me know what you think our role will be:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

From wikipedia:
This phrase from the Declaration of Independence is – "one of the best-known sentences in the English language" and "the most potent and consequential words in American history".

Understand, this was a bold declaration, in it, the Americans were challenging the most powerful empire of the world at the time.

Freedom always comes at a cost.  Christianity celebrates our freedom from Satan’s rule and our total dependence on Jesus Christ. This freedom came at a cost. Jesus was killed on a cross to set us free from our own sin.
We get that freedom by completely giving our lives to Jesus Christ - what Paul describes as moving from a slave to sin into a slave to Jesus.
John 8:31-36
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
  33 They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"
34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Our communities and country does not recognize it’s slavery to sin.
You and I did not recognize it until Jesus’ truth freed us.

Truth sets Free.
Sin Brings Slavery.
Slave to sin and its addictive behaviors:
Anger
Speech
Substances
Shoplifting
Eating disorders
Envy
Gossip

How many years have you been captive?
You can choose your release date!
Accept the freedom Jesus Christ offers to you.