The God Of Possibilities: “Baptisms - Earth: Water, Wind and Fire” - Part 3a

Recap of 5/9/2011:
I cannot fully express my appreciation of how our God guides us to where He wants us to be - if we are willing to be led. I couldn't have imagined this course of study we've traversed during the last few months. My hat goes off to y'all as we've walked together in discovering even more of what He has in store for us.

We started our final segment of this study, “Baptism In Fire”, and what a start it was! In recap:

• We discussed the difference in our thinking, according to Romans 12:2 (NLT), when we view the “little red spot” on the larger white board. God is challenging us to “change the way we think” about us, our world, His engagement with us, etc.
• From there we covered a number of scriptures which talk about “fire”. Many were offered by members of our group and we concluded with several more grouped into the following “unofficial” categories (as mentioned, some of these scriptures can be in a few of the categories):

God's Appearances (Exodus 3:2, Deuteronomy 4:24, Daniel 7:9-11)

God Leads and Protects (Exodus 13:21-22, Exodus 40:38, Numbers 9:15-16, Exodus 19:18, Exodus 24:17, Deuteronomy 5:4-6, Deuteronomy 5, Daniel 3:19-27, Zechariah 2:5)

Judgment/Cleansing by Fire (Numbers 11:1-3, Leviticus 10:1, 2, 6)

Purification by Fire (Leviticus 6:12-13, Numbers 31:22-23, Zechariah 13:9, Malachi 3:2, Mark 9:49, 1 Corinthians 3:13)

Dedication by Fire (2 Chronicles 7, Isaiah 43:1-3)

Word of the Lord = Fire (Jeremiah 20:9, Jeremiah 23:29)

• The last thing we discussed at length was a proposed concept of “opposites”. We first played with a list of words and “popcorn” responded with the opposite (words such as after, black, good, kids, man, run, true, etc.). Some of the responses demonstrated that we have a variety of perspectives - which is a GOOD thing in my opinion, otherwise, we end up with a bunch of boringly-similar, mundane people trying to influence a VERY diverse world. Remember, the Apostle Paul states that “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22 NIV) … can we expect anything less of the church today?

I think where we left off was really beginning to challenge our thinking on the spectrum with “tests/trials” on one end and “God's will” on the other end. We got to the point, I think, where we were just starting to scrape off the delusion of “fulfilling God's will requires we endure tests/trials”. Don't walk away yet, we'll be scraping more away from this thought as we continue next week.



For 5/16/2011 (Our last meeting for this season!):
Brief: For our last meeting we will finish off “Baptism In Fire” along with discussing summer activities. Please put your minds to the task of the homework below and, additionally, what activity you'd like to have considered for group multi-voting and what you'd be willing to coordinate once we vote on the top activities!

Homework
Over the next several days, I ask that you consider the following points, see what scripture says about them, and come prepared to share your findings during our discussion. The points to muse are:

• In Hebrews 5:8 (NLT) it says “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.” (thank you Bryan!) Consider what is meant here by suffering (when thinking of obedience and suffering, keep in mind that this is talking about the sinless Son of God).
• Formulate your thoughts (jot them down even) about what it takes to become child-like in your response to God as it's recorded in Matthew 18:3 (MSG) “… return to square one and start over like children …” and Matthew 11:25 (NIV) “you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.”
• Finally, what is your reaction to God's call to be holy as recorded in 1 Peter 1:13-16 (MSG, my version preference)?

“God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!”
-- Genesis 2:7 (MSG) --

The God Of Possibilities: “Baptisms - Earth: Water, Wind and Fire” - Part 2e

Recap of 5/2/2011:
We concluded with the remaining gifts of the Spirit. As a reminder, the purposes of spiritual gifts are:

• Equipping believers to share the Good News – Matthew 10:19-20; Luke 4:18; 1 Corinthians 2:13
• God confirmed the message of the Good News – Hebrews 2:3-4
• Strengthening the church to serve – 1 Corinthians 12:7; 14:26

Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church (1 Corinthians 14:12 NIV). It should always be remembered that one purpose of all the gifts is to strengthen and build up the church.


Listing of spiritual gifts (Part 2 for this week):

1 Corinthians 12:27-29

• gifts of administration (organizers) – able to keep things organized and in accordance with God's principles.
• able to help others – always having the desire and ability to help others, to do whatever it takes to get a task accomplished.

Ephesians 4:

• apostles – one sent by God with a holy mission to fulfill; and the supernatural power and spiritual gifts to fulfill the mission.
• prophets – one that speaks with divine authority, what God has made clear. Supernatural power and events to verify God has given the message.
• evangelists – one with the heart of God that all should come to the knowledge of the truth that God loves everyone.
• pastors – one with supernatural ability to love and care for the body, soul and spirit of many people at the same time.
• teachers – one with the divine mind of Christ to make the things of God easy to understand and live by in daily life.

Their responsibility is to equip (to furnish or provide with whatever is needed for use or for any undertaking) God’s people to do His work and build up the church.

Romans 12:

• prophesying – supernatural ability to receive a message from God to strengthen, encourage, and comforts the body of Christ or a believer. Supernatural ability to know the heart of God through a dream, vision or any divine encounter God would use to manifest Jesus Christ.
• serving - supernatural ability to do for others whatever needs to be done. Divine ability to carry another burden or task without notice or earthly reward.
• teaching
• encouraging – supernatural ability to motivate members in the body of Christ to do the works of Christ.
• giving – supernatural ability to give money or time where and when needed with a cheerful heart.
• leadership – supernatural ability to know when something needs to be accomplished, who can accomplish it and how it can be accomplished.
• showing mercy/kindness – supernatural ability to love and care for those who are not able to care for themselves. Divine knowing of who to help and when to help. Divine ability to care for those who no one else would care for.

Well!  This concludes the coverage of the Gifts Of The Holy Spirit - it took us awhile, but we made it. As a closure on this section of our study, let's do some important point recapping:

Do only select people receive spiritual gifts?
Are spiritual gifts given to an elite group of people? NO!! They can be given to anybody, anywhere, at any time of the Holy Spirit’s choosing.  “Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.” (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11 MSG) A major factor that plays into “who” gets “what” and “when” is, as Paul says: “earnestly desire the most helpful gifts” that would be appropriate for the circumstances at hand, again, motivated by love.

The use of all spiritual gifts is motivated by Love:
A tree is identified by its fruit (Luke 6:44 NLT). In other words, it's who you are, not what you say and do, that matters. When we have a desire to operate in the spiritual gifts, the spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-24) must first motivate us. There is a difference between spiritual gifts and fruit. Gifts are the Spirit’s manifestation through a person, but Fruit is the result of spiritual character. The Holy Spirit gives gifts as He desires; the Fruit is a by-product of the Holy Spirit’s influence and effect in our lives. In the natural, fruit is produced when a tree is fertilized, watered, and given sunshine. In the spiritual, Fruit is produced supernaturally when we are fed by the Word of God (having our mind changed and re-educated), watered by the Spirit (washed clean and our thirst quenched), and living in the Light (the illumination of God’s Word working with the power of the Holy Spirit showing us sin in our lives, leading us to repentance, and being renewed).

The Fruit of the Spirit is the display of the character of Christ. It has several attributes and, as Christians, we possess them all. We each can yield to the growth of the Fruit of the Spirit at varying rates. Spirituality isn’t measured by gifts, but by the evidence of Fruit. Though all of the Fruit of the Spirit is important – even critical to successful Christian living – we will focus primarily on the highest attribute of a spiritual person … love.

1 Corinthians 13 (often referred to as “The Love Chapter”) describes the action of love:

patient, kind, not jealous or boastful or proud, not rude, does not demand its own way, not irritable, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and endures through every circumstance.

Love is the greatest evidence of spirituality (1 Corinthians 13:13), without which, spiritual gifts cannot function effectively (1 Corinthians 13:1-2). Paul said we should have a desire for spiritual gifts, but it should follow the greater goal of love. “Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives,” (1 Corinthians 14:1 NLT).

When love motivates us as described in 1 Corinthians 13 in being available to the Holy Spirit’s use of spiritual gifts, it removes the concern and fear of this topic entirely and the end result is exactly what God intended and desires for His church.



For 5/9/2011:
Brief: We will move forward to our last segment: “Baptism In Fire”. Though this was a topic of concern for me as we started this journey, I've come to appreciate what the scripture has to say about this topic and welcome with an open mind, open heart, and open life. I trust you will find the same attraction to have and be ALL that God wants for you.

Homework
As part of our response to this learning, consider the gifts we've covered thus far and spend time with the Lord asking which of them are areas He wants to begin moving you into. If we have time, we'll spend some of it talking about this … don't worry, we have a few weeks to cover this part of the homework. So, we'll give it the time and space needed - as He leads.

“God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!”
-- Genesis 2:7 (MSG) --

The God Of Possibilities: “Baptisms - Earth: Water, Wind and Fire” - Part 2d

Recap of 4/25/2011:
We did a side-by-side comparison of tongues "the sign" and "the gift" and also a comparison of prophecy "the gift" and prophetic "the function/office". This comparison is not to say that one is better than the other, but, rather, to show when, where, how, and why they are different.  Here is a summary of the information we covered:

Tongues: The Sign

1. All may speak at one time (Mark 16:17)
2. All may speak at one meeting (Acts 2:4, 33)
3. No interpretation (Acts 19:6; Acts 10)

Tongues: The Gift

1. Only one speaker at a time (1 Corinthians 12:10)
2. At the most, three may speak (1 Corinthians 14:26-28)
3. Must be interpreted (1 Corinthians 14:5)

Now, when it comes to discussing the topics of prophecy "the gift" and prophetic "the function/office", it's important to understand that the prophet (function/office) is still necessary in the church today.  There is a thought stream that attempts to separate the Ephesian 4 ministries of apostles and prophets from the other ministries we have and allow today: evangelists, teachers, and pastors.  If we accept the latter ministries, we are compelled to accept the former (apostles and prophets).  The purpose of the Ephesian 4:11 ministries are given "until we all reach the unity in the faither and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13).  The responsibility of the Ephesians 4 ministries is to "to equip his people for works of service" (Ephesians 4:12).  In other words, "body ministry".  When the whole body is doing the work of the ministry and:

• we have reached unity in the faith
• we have unity in the knowledge of the Son of God
• we have become mature
• and have attained the whole measure of the fullness of Christ

then, and only then, will the Ephesians 4 ministries not be necessary any longer.  In light of this truth, here is a comparison of the prophecy "the gift" and prophetic "the function/office":

Prophecy: The Gift (1 Corinthians 14:3)

1. Strengthens
2. Encourages
3. Comforts

Prophet: The Function/Office (Acts 13:1; Ephesians 2:20; Ephesians 3:3-5; Ephesians 4:11-12; 2 Peter 1:21) (the prophet can be used in the "Prophecy: The Gift" as well)

1. Predictive (Acts 11:27-28; 21:10-11)
2. Rebuke
3. Directive

For 5/2/2011:
Brief: We will conclude with the remaining gifts of the Spirit - hopefully - and then move to the Baptism In Fire.  Once again, I count it a privilege to be working with you during this time of discovery and am VERY excited for what God has in store for you as a minister of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!!

Homework
As part of our response to this learning, consider the gifts we've covered thus far and spend time with the Lord asking which of them are areas He wants to begin moving you into. If we have time, we'll spend some of it talking about this … don't worry, we have a few weeks to cover this part of the homework. So, we'll give it the time and space needed - as He leads.

“God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!”
-- Genesis 2:7 (MSG) --

The God Of Possibilities: “Baptisms - Earth: Water, Wind and Fire” - Part 2c

Recap of 4/18/2011:
Once again, I stand amazed as God takes us where He wants us to grow. I am truly humbled to be serving you all and to have the opportunity to grow with you during this time. Blessings upon each of you and your family!!

When conversations about “spiritual” gifts take place, it can conjure up a wide variety of thoughts, definitions, concerns, and fears. The gifts of the Spirit are simply God enabling believers to do what He has called us to do. There is no need for fear, when the source of the gift is from the Holy Spirit and is motivated by love. The Holy Spirit distributes the gifts as He sees fit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). God calls us to be obedient servants to whatever is given to us as an opportunity. When He calls, He equips. So, whatever task or tasks He calls us to, He has obligated Himself to provide us “everything we need” to accomplish those tasks (2 Peter 1:3). For example, God may call one to be a teacher and gives that person the gift of teaching, but that does not excuse the person from serving God in other ways as well. We shouldn’t focus so much on one (or a few) spiritual gift(s) that we miss other opportunities to serve God and people. Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering (Romans 12:1 MSG).

Paul teaches the gifts of the Spirit are useful and beneficial, but not necessarily equal in their use or benefit. There is a use for the gift of prophecy, but may not be the most beneficial in the hospital when visiting the sick. The gift’s benefit is determined by its worth at the time. To help describe this, Paul uses the analogy of the human body (1 Corinthians 12:12-26). Members of the body have differing functions, Paul says, but the different parts are arranged and function together. The service of each Christian should be in proportion to the gifts that he or she possesses (1 Corinthians 12-14). All believers, as members of the body of Christ, must be serving together in order for the body to be fully functional. We need pastors, teachers, helpers, servants, administrators, those with great faith, etc. All of the gifts of the Holy Spirit working together are needed to produce the full potential of the church. Since the gifts of the Spirit are gifts of grace, their use must be motivated by love – the highest goal of all the Fruit of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 13). The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church.

Purposes of spiritual gifts are:

• Equipping believers to share the Good News – Matthew 10:19-20; Luke 4:18; 1 Corinthians 2:13
• God confirmed the message of the Good News – Hebrews 2:3-4
• Strengthening the church to serve – 1 Corinthians 12:7; 14:26

Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church (1 Corinthians 14:12 NIV). It should always be remembered that one purpose of all the gifts is to strengthen and build up the church.

Listing of spiritual gifts (Part 1 for this week):
There are many gifts listed in scripture. The list below may represent a majority, but, is by no means, an exclusive list.

1 Corinthians 12:8-11:

• message of wisdom – the ability to make decisions and give guidance that is according to God's will. It is the wisdom of God – the supernatural impartation of facts; it is not natural.
• message of knowledge – the ability to have an in-depth understanding of a spiritual issue or situation. It is supernatural insight or understanding of circumstances, situations, problems, or a body of facts by revelation; that is, without assistance by any human resource but solely by divine aid.
• faith – A supernatural ability to meet adverse circumstances with trust in God's words and messages and encourage others to trust God, no matter the circumstances.
• gifts of healing – the miraculous ability to use God's healing power to restore a person who is sick, injured, or suffering.
• miraculous powers – the performance of something which is against the laws of nature; it is a supernatural power to intervene and counteract earthly and evil forces. However, the greatest miracle (and often least talked about) is the miracle of salvation … taking spiritually dead people and transforming them into something new (a new creation) and giving them a fresh start in Jesus.
• prophecy – being able to proclaim a message from God which strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them. It is divinely inspired (not of intellect) and a supernatural proclamation in a known language.
• distinguishing between spirits (God, man, demonic) – the ability to determine whether or not a message, person, or event is truly from God. It is the supernatural power to detect the realm of the spirits and their activities.
• speaking in different kinds of tongues (languages) – supernaturally enabled speaking in languages not known to the speaker. These languages may be a current world language, some past culture, or “unknown” in the sense that they are a means of communication inspired by the Holy Spirit (Mark 16:17; Acts 2:4, 10:44-48, 19:1-7; 1 Corinthians 12:10, 13:1-3, 14:2-22, 26-32).
• interpretation of tongues (languages) – the ability to interpret the tongues being spoken and communicate it back to others in your own language. Supernaturally speaking an interpretation to reveal the meaning of a different tongue. This gift comes from the mind of the Spirit rather than out of the mind of man.

For 4/25/2011:
Brief: We covered a lot of ground last week … needless to say, there will be much more ground to cover this week. But, in addition to covering more gifts, we'll also compare a couple of giftings. We'll do a side-by-side comparison of tongues "the sign" and "the gift" and also a comparison of prophecy "the gift" and prophetic "the function/office". This comparison is not to say that one is better than the other, but, rather, to show when, where, how, and why they are different. ALL of the giftings of the Holy Spirit are good and necessary. Let's not fear them … let's embrace them for the purpose God has for His church!!!!

Homework
As part of our response to this learning, consider the gifts we've covered thus far (above listing) and spend time with the Lord asking which of them are areas He wants to begin moving you into. If we have time, we'll spend some of it talking about this … don't worry, we have a few weeks to cover this part of the homework. So, we'll give it the time and space needed - as He leads.

“God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!”
-- Genesis 2:7 (MSG) --

The God Of Possibilities: “Baptisms - Earth: Water, Wind and Fire” - Part 2b

Recap of 4/11/2011:
WOW! Talk about "whirlwind" … we barely got through the topic of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Once again, I underestimated what God wants to do with this topic and our group. Have Your way done, Lord! We will continue by looking more deeply into the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see more below). As we discussed this, we realized that there are at least two primary reasons that God wants us to walk in the baptism of the Holy Spirit: to have power and to be His witness (Acts 1:8). I believe it's critically important that we understand that God's desire is for us to be successful in being the kind of witness He needs on this earth and that He has promised to give us all that we need to be that witness. So, "we receive" the power and "we are" the witness!


For 4/18/2011:
Brief: There are many giftings that come with receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This week we'll plunge into those gifts to better understand what power God is willing to give us to be His witness. The question is: Am I willing to be a power-filled witness for God in this life? Here is the informational sheet we've covered before in brief. Feel free to download and print out for use in our next session.

Homework
As part of our coverage, we provided a number of scriptures in Acts to review during the week. Remember to look at these in context by reading the surrounding scriptures to the references:

1. Acts 4:8
2. Acts 6:5,10
3. Acts 8:14-18
4. Acts 13:52
5. Acts 19:1-7 

“God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!”
-- Genesis 2:7 (MSG) --

The God Of Possibilities: “Baptisms - Earth: Water, Wind and Fire” - Part 2a

Recap of 4/4/2011:
Dipping into the start of our journey in "baptisms", we covered the aspect of "John's Baptism", which, is a baptism of repentence and how it occurs prior to the cross of Jesus Christ. John came prior to Jesus and, in part, prepared the way in people's lives for The Way. Jesus came to "fulfill all righteousness" and to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. The "fulfill all righteousness" that Jesus accomplishes (with the aid of John) is the full acceptance of being the servant of God and obeying every word that comes from the mouth of God. We continued to splash about in the topic pool of the "Believer's baptism", which, is a baptism taking place after the cross of Jesus and is for those who acknowledge their need of a saviour and dedication of obeying God even as Jesus did. This "believer's" baptism is essentially an outward act signifying our inward change via repentance and agreement to follow God. We then lightly touched upon the aspect of being baptized in the Name: the Lord Jesus Christ. Though this is teaching that is controversial, it is something to be considered in light of scripture.


For 4/11/2011:
Brief: My naiveté would have us completed by now with the topic of baptisms - not so much! So, this week we'll begin our dive into the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As our topic title suggests, "wind" is an appropriate term in helping to describe the dynamics of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word, "pneuma" (breath) begins to help us understand this a little better - think of "pneumatic tools" or air tools which are usually driven by compressed air. Another, perhaps more appropriate, analogy is the wind which sailboats use to generate a force to power them. I like this one best because the boat is at the complete mercy and dependence upon the wind to move. This is how it ought to be for the Christian - totally dependent upon the Holy Spirit - "For in him we live and move and have our being". I don't expect we'll get through both baptisms of "Spirit" and "fire" this week, but, we'll give it a go! Repeated here are the starter scriptures to use in your preparation for our meeting.

Homework
Note what scripture says about the baptisms and be prepared to discuss them in our group time. For each of the following scriptures, find others in the Bible which complement or expand on the topic.

1. Acts 19:4 (AMP)
2. Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT)
3. John 3:5-7 (NLT)
4. Acts 19:1-7 (NIV)
5. Luke 24:47-53 (NIV)
6. Acts 10:43-49 (NLT)
7. Romans 8:29 (MSG)
8. 1 Corinthians 3:9-15 (NLT)
    

“God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!”
-- Genesis 2:7 (MSG) --

The God Of Possibilities: “Baptisms - Earth: Water, Wind and Fire” - Part 1

Recap of 3/28/2011:
We took a shot at covering the topics of the "power", the "sign", the "gift" and surrounding elements. Though we did not have an atomic explosion, I think we covered some good ground. Hopefully, as we radiate into the next few weeks, we'll see how much devastation we can do to the enemy's attempt to influence our thinking and understanding!!


For 4/4/2011:
Brief: As it was in the beginning, so God continues His creative power. He desires to have "the good" restored in His creation. We'll be looking at the dynamics of earth (humankind), water (Word of God), wind (Holy Spirit), and fire (purifying) as we look at the baptisms in the Word of God. Below you will find some starter scriptures to use in your preparation for our meeting.

Homework
Note what scripture says about the baptisms and be prepared to discuss them in our group time. For each of the following scriptures, find others in the Bible which complement or expand on the topic.

1. Acts 19:4 (AMP)
2. Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT)
3. John 3:5-7 (NLT)
4. Acts 19:1-7 (NIV)
5. Luke 24:47-53 (NIV)
6. Acts 10:43-49 (NLT)
7. Romans 8:29 (MSG)
8. 1 Corinthians 3:9-15 (NLT)
    

“God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!”
-- Genesis 2:7 (MSG) --