Never Give Up Your Faith is a guest post from a dear friend of mine that I first met about a year ago on Facebook. It is a touching and wonderful testimony of one lady's focus on the promises of Jesus even in the midst of trials and how she is not letting circumstances get her down in the midst of adversity. I thought that this would be a wonderful encouragement to all of you out there that are seeking healing from Jesus but have yet to receive it.
Blessings
Pastor Duke
Never give up your faith by Victoria Kaye
We had a guest speaker join us at church last night. He came to us from a church in northern California that freely and routinely operates in the miraculous. He is the head of the Healing Room ministry, and he shared many testimonies about the healings he and his team had been direct witnesses to. He was a very humble young man, giving God all the glory, and you could see God’s Spirit all over him. As the evening progressed I saw many, many miraculous healings – a couple… [more]
Showing by category: Spiritual Gifts
In this final teaching on spiritual gifts we are going to look at interpretation of tongues. As I made clear in the last teaching on the proper use of tongues, the gift of tongues must be interpreted in a public meeting. If it is not interpreted then it is out of order and the uninformed or unbelieving person will think everybody is crazy. No one will be blessed by this gift. The gift of interpreting tongues is a pretty straight forward gift. As with the gift of tongues, the interpretation of tongues is a gift where you hear somebody speak in an unknown tongue, and you are given the meaning of that tongue. Both the one who speaks in tongues, and the one who interprets did not have this given to them by a natural ability, but by a supernatural gift given at the time. It does not mean that you have a knack for picking up languages, but it means that by the grace of God you were given the ability to understand the meaning of the tongue at the time given.
What is an interpretation of tong… [more]
As I am writing today's bible study on the proper use of the gift of tongues, I can already hear both my Pentecostal/Charismatic brothers and sisters and my barely Charismatic and non-Charismatic brothers and sisters rummaging around in their garages to get a rope to string me up! There will be those that will feel that what I have to say either goes too far or not far enough. That is okay! Recently I had two different people in my own church complain the same way. To one I was too Charismatic, and to the other I was not Charismatic enough. To me that confirms that I am right where I should be. I am on a quest for the radical middle. However I hope to show you where and why I am taking the stands I am taking concerning this gift.
The purpose of the gift of tongues in the modern church.
In looking at the gift of speaking in tongues, (This gift is called glossolalia in the Greek), a person needs to discern that there are two very different aspects to this gift. There is the evangelisti… [more]
The gift of speaking in unknown tongues has been one of the most controversial of all the spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12. It is not my desire to stir or spread controversy, so as I answer the question of what is speaking in tongues, I am reminded, so I remind you, of Paul's admonition in 1 Corinthians 13 where He says that even if he spoke with the tongues of men and angels but had not love, he would just be a clanging cymbal. So as I try to approach the question of what is speaking in tongues, please hear my heart. This is not a subject or an issue that should bring division or cause us to loose focus on the mission we all have been given. We are called to witnesses to this world by loving one another.
What is speaking in tongues?
The gift of speaking in tongues is a gift that is unique to the New Testament church. You do not find this gift in operation at all in the Old Testament. The gift of speaking in tongues is the ability to speak in a language that was previousl… [more]
There is a lot of buzz in Charismatic and Pentecostal circles today concerning the gift of prophecy. There is a whole movement that has sprung up called the Prophetic Movement. We have men and women running around calling themselves prophets. When I was just a few years old in the Lord, I got involved with a "movement". I thought it was the latest and greatest thing that God was doing. It was only after a couple of years getting banged around and swallowing some pretty bad doctrine did I realize that there is only 1 movement that God is calling us to. That is to run your own race towards the high calling that is in Christ Jesus. Since that time I have seen at least 4 movements come and go. All of them brought an issue or an understanding of our faith to the conversation table, but they also brought a lot of baggage because of extremes that went along with the movement. In today's lesson on the gift of prophecy, I am going to try to remove the baggage, maybe bring some correction, but m… [more]
Today we are going to talk about what is commonly called the gift of discernment. The Bible actually calls it the gift of discerning of spirits. There is a big difference between what many people think is the gift of discernment and what is the gift of discerning of spirits. There have been a lot of people who have been taught that the gift of discernment is talking about discerning between right and wrong, sin and righteousness, and whether people are right with God or unsaved or backslidden. This is not the gift of discerning of spirits but more than likely stems from a critical or judgmental spirit. Rarely have I seen a person who claims to have the gift of discernment and using it in this way come from a motive of love but rather they seem to have a hidden emotional need to look better than others.
The real definition of the gift of discernment.
The gift of discernment, is not about discerning the hearts of people but about discerning the source of something. When you are operati… [more]
Today we are going to look at the spiritual gift of working of miracles. The gift of miracles is a unique gift because it really has no boundaries. What I mean by that, is that the very nature of this gift, supersedes natural laws and thinking. It is truly the gift that can be explained in no other way than it was a miracle. Now their are other gifts that are miraculous like extraordinary faith and the gift of healing, but the gift of working of miracles goes beyond these other two gifts and changes impossibilities into possibilities.
This gift is probably the least seen gift in the modern church. I am not sure why this is other than it is probably the least expected of all the gifts. I think that we are so used to working things out, looking to science or reason for our solutions that we forget to look to God for miraculous solutions at time. I also believe that this is why there are more reports of miracles happening in nations and cultures that are not based on western civilization… [more]
Today in our series on spiritual gifts we are going to look at the gift of healing. Now the scripture actually does not say the gift of healing but says "gifts of healings". This is important because some people are under the impression that the gift of healing is just given to a select few that can heal the sick. This is not what the scriptures meant nor does it conform to the biblical text in 1 Corinthians. Remember that these are gifts of the Holy Spirit, not our gifts. They are given as He wills, not according to our ability or merit. Paul said that the manifestation of spiritual gifts are given to each of us for the common good, or to meet the needs as they arise. Thus, there is not one gift given to one person to the exclusion of all the other gifts or all the other people. It is based on the needs present and the will of God. That is why Paul used a plural form of the word for gifts and for healings. There are many times where more than one healing is needed and more than one ty… [more]
Today we are going to look at the gift of extraordinary faith. The reason I call it extraordinary faith is because every believer is given what Paul called a "measure of faith". This was the faith to believe that Jesus would save us. It was the faith that sparked being born again. In 1st Corinthians 12, Paul is not talking about saving faith, but about a spiritual gift given by the Holy Spirit. It is mountain moving faith. It is the type of faith that produces the miraculous. This gift is one of 3 gifts that are sometimes called power gifts because they demonstrate the power of God. The other two being the working of miracles and gifts of healings. The best way I have learned to discern when the gift of extraordinary faith is in operation is the profound absence of fear. Fear is the opposite of faith. It is at the polar end of the spectrum spiritually. So when you see something miraculous happen, coupled with the absence of fear, then you know it is the gift of extraordinary faith at w… [more]
This morning let's take a look at what is the word of knowledge. This spiritual gift is probably one of the most exercised gifts in the body of Christ today. When used properly it can be a powerful tool to demonstrate that God really is alive and well and living inside the lives of ordinary people like you and I. When used improperly it can look like charlatanry and fortune telling. I sometimes cringe at the notion of people running around seeking after "words from God". Trust me! God is a big boy. If He has a word for you, He is more than capable of sending somebody to you to give you that word. You don't have to go "seeking" after a word. About a year and a half after I went through the pain of divorce, I had an instance where I couldn't get away from some "words from God". I had been struggling with the issue if I would ever go back into ministry. I was truly wrestling with the biblical text of whether or not I was disqualified to be in ministry anymore. Well God had an opinion on… [more]
As we continue on with our study of spiritual gifts, I’m going to go in the same order as the Apostle Paul. So today we are going to be looking at what is the word of wisdom? The gifts of the Spirit can be broken down into three main categories. These categories are speaking gifts, revealing gifts, and power gifts. The word of wisdom is a revealing gift. The word wisdom in its most simplified form means knowledge applied. So a word of wisdom is a small snippet of the knowledge of God applied. This is not human wisdom or natural wisdom but this is wisdom that comes from no other source than God revealing it supernaturally. Now there are some that teach that the word of wisdom reveals the future, but they are confusing the gift of prophecy with a word of wisdom. So in this lesson I’m going to show you both where Jesus operated this gift and where the early church operated this gift. Hopefully, when we’re done we will both have a better understanding of what is the word of wisdom an… [more]
As I sit down this morning to share with you my thoughts on what is the baptism of the Holy Spirit I am reminded by the still small voice of Jesus to once again make sure that everyone understands that this subject is not a subject that we want to allow the enemy of our souls to cause division or strife about. That although I believe that this subject is important for every believer, it is not something that is important enough to break fellowship with one another. It is not an issue pertaining to salvation thus it is not an essential, it is in nonessential. Because it is not essential it falls under the category of giving one another liberty. So with that in mind, I will do my best to explain to you to the best of my knowledge what is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
The baptism of the Holy Spirit has been something that has brought a lot of confusion to many people. I believe that this confusion, at least in part, is due to the fact of mixed u… [more]
Before we go any further in the study of spiritual gifts, we need to stop and look at what is the Biblical motivating factor for the use of spiritual gifts. There are those in today’s world that may have a perfectly valid spiritual gift but are using it in an invalid manner. The spiritual gifts may be real, but the motivation of the person using the gift maybe carnal. That is why before I go any further in teaching you about spiritual gifts I’m going to make sure that you understand that these gifts are meant to be used with proper motivation.
Because spiritual gifts can be such a powerful tool in the propagation of the gospel, and because any tool used improperly can cause great harm, we need understand our own motivating factors that cause us to desire spiritual gifts. I hope that as you read this lesson allowed the Spirit of God to search your heart and allow him to weed out any motivations that would not be proper.
The motivation behind spiritual gifts.
Spiritual gi… [more]
The first thing that we have to figure out in dealing with the subject of spiritual gifts is the question “are spiritual gifts for today”. There are two streams of thought concerning this question. There are those that believe that spiritual gifts ended with the death of the last apostle. They believe that the spiritual gifts talked about in first Corinthians 12 are not for today but that they were part of ushering in the church age. This theological viewpoint is called cessationism coming from the fact that they believed the gifts ceased. They base this viewpoint on a passage in first Corinthians 13 verse eight where it says that prophecies will fail, tongues will cease, and knowledge will be done away with. They tie that verse with a belief that there are no recorded instances of spiritual gifts being used in history after the death of the apostles.
The other viewpoint concerning spiritual gifts is that there was no “age of apostles” but that there is only the “church ag… [more]
In today’s world, there’s been much talk, much confusion and in all honesty, considerable abuse of spiritual gifts. Because of that, I’ve decided to do this series on spiritual gifts. As most of you know, I am on a quest for the radical middle. I am not interested in hype or show. I’m also not interested in Christianity as a mere intellectual exercise. I am interested in that type of Christianity that Jesus modeled. Because of this, I’m sure that there will be those in both the charismatic/Pentecostal camps and the more traditional fundamentalist/cessationist camps that will disagree with me, perhaps even strongly disagree. That is OK! I’ve always believed that in essentials we should have unity, and in nonessentials we should have liberty and in all things we should practice a love. So as you’re reading this series on spiritual gifts, please keep that in mind. This is not an issue that should become divisive or problematic.
What are spiritual… [more]
John Wimber, one of the founding fathers of The Association of Vineyard Churches is one of my hero's of the faith. I first learned of John in 1983 when He spoke at the chapel service at Life Bible College. I was a sophomore that year and I was astounded at the way God used him. In fact it was such a memorable experience that people who were there still talk about it to this day. For 25 years I watched John and the ministry of the Vineyard from a distance since my path had led me to be a part of the Foursquare Denomination. However in the summer of 2010 I was asked to become the pastor of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Pine Haven Wyoming. It was at this time that my quest for knowledge and understanding of this man came to the forefront of my love for hero's of the faith. When I started researching to find out more about John Wimber, I found that the resources and information was few and far between and spread out on many websites. In fact the number one resource for information a… [more]