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Well isn't that just the question now. It would seem that in the United States that most of the gifts are practised incorrectly or unbiblically and therefore have made many sceptical of the gifts usage as a whole. I have no doubt that God can still work through people mysteriously but if someone has the gift of healing, why don't they clean out a hospital instead of saying God is going to show up at 7pm on Wednesday night? Why are most of the healings internal stuff that can't be seen? Who has ever made a limb grow back? Tongues seemed to serve a specific purpose. That purpose is not widespread now here in the U.S. But maybe in another country it could still happen. I hear of healings and tongues and unclean spirits being cast out in faraway lands but not here. Maybe we are too civilized for God. Maybe we don't need him anymore.
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"whether you are pentecostal or not, do you believe the charismatic gifts are still offered today?"
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"whether you are pentecostal or not, do you believe the charismatic gifts are still offered today?"
Yes, I do. I also believe that most Christians don't have a proper understanding of spiritual gifts. The Bible gives specifics on how spiritual gifts are to be used. Regarding the gift of speaking in tongues, 1 Corinthians 14:21-31 says, "In the Law it is written: 'Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me,' says the Lord. Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you!' What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two--or at the most three--should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged."
I have personally experienced a church break-up that, I believe, was the result of an improper understanding of this particular spiritual gift. A woman at a church I used to attend once prayed "in tongues" at a private prayer meeting. Scripture specifically states that, "If anyone speaks in a tongue, two--or at the most three--should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church..." No one was there to interpret, so the woman should have kept quiet. The woman was allowed to pray "in tongues," and not long afterwards the church began experiencing problems. Soon afterwards, I was walking in a back hallway of the church and I saw this same woman speaking in the same strange language and waving something around. It was not long before the church split up. I truly believe that this woman was a Wiccan and was putting a curse on the church. (The Bible also speaks about the reality of witchcraft.) If there had been a proper understanding of this spiritual gift, the church break-up might have been avoided.
"i think the fact that they are "harder to come by" stems from the fact that many christians don't feel like their power is for today. also, i'm not sure if this is fact or not, but something tells me given the state of the western church they would be used more fully elsewhere."
You are one wise chick. (Being a chick myself, you can take that as a compliment!) :-) I agree with you whole-heartedly.
"do you think they are open to anyone who asks and has his/heart right with God? Or only for leaders/missionaries in the church?"
Spiritual gifts are God's for the giving. We can no more obtain whatever spiritual gift we want than we can will a million dollars into our bank account. We can pray for certain spiritual gifts, and they're available to anyone, but they're given by God to those whom He wants to have them. Their purpose is always to help build up His Kingdom and give glory to His name. If this will not be accomplished by a particular person possessing a gift, He will give it to someone else.
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Have not heard those terms before, but I'm aware of the internal 'conflict'.
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Have not heard those terms before, but I'm aware of the internal 'conflict'.
Scripturally, the "Spiritual gifts" are for the building up/functioning of the church (not talking about the physical structure here. Are they still needed? If so, why would they be withdrawn? I'm aware of the passages saying they will 'cease' -- full context, as in when "all is accomplished". Seems to me there's still work to be done. Even the prophet Joel talks about the Spiritual gifts being abundantly active in the "latter days".
Personally I wonder if the reasoning for cessation might go like this: The Spiritual gifts are there so Spiritual work can be done. If the "tools" have been withdrawn, then I can't be expected to do any work. Sitting and coasting is very popular these days.
I believe the Spiritual gifts are still offered/given. As many have mentioned though, it's becoming harder and harder to find functional examples of "the real deal". They require "Spiritual empowerment" to work correctly. We each have a limited supply of this energy and can power them "of ourselves" for a while (force or fake them) -- but when that energy is used up we return to 'type'. The energy to power them can be "whipped up" charismatically, too often involving pride, judgement and condemnation of others (powering them at the expense of others). The same happens spontaneously when we judge, condemn, put-down, out-maneuver, belittle, gossip, besmirch, dissemble and otherwise spiritually 'rape' those around us. We then gain limited access to some of their limited energy.
To work correctly and not mis-fire, Spiritual gifts need to be powered by God's Spirit -- and this requires a pure heart, free of the games we usually like to play on others and ourselves (or God!). There are not many who seek this kind of pure fellowship/worship . . . so genuine examples of the Spiritual gifts functioning as they are suppose to, are becoming harder and harder to find examples of.
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