I love the way the King James Version poetically teaches us about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12. Listen to Paul’s introduction in verse 1: “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant“.
I’d like to invest the next several days doing a little teaching on spiritual gifts. The first truth I need to emphasize is that we are not to be ignorant! Ignorant doesn’t mean ‘stupid’, but unknowing. The trouble with most mainline denominational Christians is ignorance. And the trouble with many Pentecostal and charismatic believers is also ignorance.
Spiritual gifts are supernatural abilities endowed by the Holy Spirit to believers who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God brings us the mind of God. People of the world talk about extra-sensory perception (ESP) that lets someone sense something not known to the mind. It is a counterfeit for real spiritual gifts that reveal God’s mind to us.
Open your mind to spiritual things and you step into His power. These gifts are real and they really work in today’s world.
Tags: ignorance, spiritual gifts
Tonight Show host Jay Leno did “man-on-the-street” interviews. One night back in 1999 he collared some young people to ask them questions about the Bible.
“Can you name one of the Ten Commandments?” he asked two college-age women. One replied, “Freedom of speech?” Mr. Leno said to the other, “Complete this sentence: Let he who is without sin….” Her response was, “have a good time?”
Mr. Leno then turned to a young man and asked, “Who, according to the Bible, was eaten by a whale?” The confident answer was, “Pinocchio.”
Are you laughing or crying? We live in a culture where the basics of Christianity are absent. What is the dumbest misunderstanding of scripture you’ve recently heard?
Tags: Bible, humor, ignorance