This morning I had the privilege of getting up early and participating in our local ministerial’s sunrise service. I was asked to give a short devotion, and thought I’d make it available here.
Tag: Religion
RE: Spiritual Gifts
Do you remember the excitement of the discover of what you were meant to do? In ministry we call it the divine call. All of us, though, through our talents, passions and other factors, are designed by God to fulfill a particular purpose. Most of us won’t get the opportunity to fulfill that purpose as our livelihood, but we can all come to the place where we get to aplly our gifts towards a holy passion in our hearts.
Over the past six weeks I’ve found myself on a journey of rediscovery. While I tend to read an awful lot and have a tendency toward learning that way, I’ve been exposed to some video teachings that have caused me to pause and reflect, leaving the books I’ve been reading lying around the house, unopened for days at a time.
One of the topics I’ve been chewing on is one that I had wanted to write about in the past. I had several thoughts going through my mind then and couldn’t really figure out how to go about it. Now I think I’m ready to tackle it. That topic is Spiritual Gifts.
A Reluctant Miracle?
Have you ever noticed that when you’re sick or tired, if you can get your brain to focus for a while, you seem to notice things you’ve never seen before? I’ve been out of it for a few days because of a sinus cold. While reading my Bible, I’ve caught a few phrases that have made me think.
Someone may write back and call what I’m about to say heresy, but I can’t help but wonder if Jesus performed a miracle (and probably still does) reluctantly. I get this thought from a small phrase in the story of His healing a deaf-mute, and you can read the whole story in Mark 7:31-36.
Community Revival
Subtitle: How do you change the heart of a city/town?
I’ve made the move from big city to small town. I joined up in my current position almost two years ago now. There has been a lot of pastoral turnover in those couple of years, and as we all settle in and get the lay of the land, we’re noticing that the heart of our town is basically dead.
What does it mean to have a town that is dead? There is no heart, no desire to be more than it is, no spirit, no pride. The people in our town are like zombies, having any spark of life sucked out of them at every turn.
As pastors, having made this diagnosis, we now find ourselves trying to find out the best way to bring life back to this “valley of dry bones.”
Blessed are the Pacesetters (3)
So what are my thoughts about being a pacesetter? If you haven’t read the previous posts on this topic, please go back and do so, as I can’t spend a lot of time on rehashing those ideas here. [ Post #1 | Post #2 ]
Come back with me to the analogy of driving on the freeway, and we’ll work a few of those ideas out.
Blessed are the Pacesetters (2)
You might be wondering why I haven’t expounded on the Pacesetters yet. The truth is, I want to make sure that I word everything just right.
While clearing up my thoughts for the next post, I received my monthly email from the Catalyst team. (I sign up for a vast array of e-mail newsletters since I can’t exactly sit and browse for hours with dial-up. Also, I get to keep the headlines and links for future reference.)
Chris MacKinnon 