Spiritual Gifts

There are four major passages of scripture that talk about Spiritual Gifts. They are found in Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-31; Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Peter 4:9-11. There are twenty different gifts identified in these verses...

• Administration
• Apostle
• Discernment
• Evangelism
• Exhortation/Encouragement
• Faith
• Giving
• Healing
• Hospitality
• Intercession/Prayer
• Knowledge
• Leadership
• Mercy
• Miracles
• Pastor/Shepherd
• Prophecy
• Service/Helps
• Teaching
• Tongues/Interpretation
• Wisdom

If you have never taken a Spiritual Gifts Profile to know what gifts you have, I invite you to take this one that is provided free for you. You can download your free copy by going to this website and follow the link for the free Spiritual Gifts Profile. After downloading your copy, simply answer the questions, complete the score, make a list of your top scores, and then read the descriptions about each of the gifts identified.

There may be more than one gift that receives the same score or is scored very close. When that happens, the gifts that are scored very closely together are often called a person's 'gift mix.' So, when trying to discern what to do with your gifts, take into consideration other gifts that make up your gift mix. If you are a person who has a gift mix, don't overlook how one gift may influence how you use the other gifts in your mix.

Just for an example, say you have the spiritual gift of evangelism and teaching. Separately, each of these two gifts could be exercised in a variety of ways and situations. But, when exercised together, this person would be especially effective when teaching evangelistically!

Always pray when trying to discern what to do with your gifts, and certainly before exercising your gifts in ministry. Gifts are given by the Holy Spirit for two reasons.

1. To bring glory to God. You see, when you do something in the power of the Holy Spirit rather than your own power, God gets the glory for that.
   
2. To help or serve others. When you serve others in the body, they receive a blessing, you are blessed, and the body of Christ is strengthened. When you serve others outside the body with no expectation of anything in return, they receive a blessing and are strangely warmed to something they do not understand. You are blessed as well because God used you to bring help to another person. And the world receives a positive witness about Christians and Jesus Christ.

So, pray that the Holy Spirit would help you discern correctly what you should do with your gifts.

One final thought... Spiritual Gifts are only part of the story. God made you with specific design, purpose and intention. He gives you spiritual gifts when you become a believer so that you might fulfill his original intent when he created you. There are other things we can learn about ourselves that give us more clues for both how God created us specifically and what his purposes are for us to fulfill. If you've ever wondered about that, you may be interested in a six-week study called Understanding My Fit. You can get information about that HERE.

The Ministry of Coaching

Does the following sound familiar?

"You know your leadership or church has more potential than you are experiencing but there are things that consistently get in the way. You pray, you strategize, you involve others, you make plans, you go to seminars, and you do your best to execute, but it could be better and you know it. You feel that there's something else needed, but you just can't put your finger on it."

Believe it or not, the feelings expressed above are common for anyone who is trying to be the best they can be in their field. It's not just a pastoral, ministry or church frustration; it is a common feeling.

Individuals and sports teams have long enjoyed the benefit of having a coach. Solid coaching takes what you have and helps you make it better. A good coach does not change the basic ingredients of a person or organization, but they enhance the strengths already evident in individuals and helps the group of people blend into a team for maximum effectiveness.

Even the best performers benefit from personal coaching. Pastors and church leaders are beginning to see the same value for their own ministry effectiveness. Knowing what to do is important. Doing it to your best is the difference between being good and being great!

Some wonder what a coach does? Here's a couple of things that a coach is not.

• Coaching is not therapy or counseling. A counselor tends to focus on feelings related to past events and helps the client in processing those feelings to a place of closure.
• Coaching is not simply consulting. A consultant offers their skills to diagnose the situation and offers recommendations to the client to consider. Often the consultant is done when the final report is given to the client.
• Coaching is not mentoring. A mentor passes along knowledge, experiences, and skills from their own journey as a model for the client to learn from. A mentor is often someone who is older and further along in their personal journey.

So, what would a Ministry Coach look like and what would they do? If you'd like to know what this coach does, just click here to read a bit more. Thanks for looking in!

Understanding My Fit

For six years, over 140 people have taken classes in the East Michigan Training Institute. The classes are structured over two years with 10 required courses, each lasting 8 weeks, for completion of the program. The Institute was designed to help people who felt the tug for ministry but didn't feel it was feasible, for what ever reason, to go to a seminary or college for training. Each of the ten classes were held on a Thursday night for 2.5 hours over 8 weeks. Several have completed the program and are now under an appointment to a specific church with a specific ministry.

The very first required class is called Leadership Directions. In addition to the textbook study, during the eight weeks, each person also completes several profiles and assessments which help the student understand how God has created them and prepared them for ministry. Between the profiles and the Bible studies, the student has a much clearer awareness about what ministry they are best suited for. Some have gone through this process and realized that the ministry was not for them, but rather they were best suited for lay ministry, serving in their local church. The process gave each person the confidence that their pursuit was the right thing to do.

During these years, at various times, people would make comments about how valuable this was for them, and how much every Christian needed to go through this process. Even if they weren't going into the ministry, they would have a much clearer picture of how God had created them and which areas of ministry were best suited for them to serve in. It never seemed to fail, that God would show up in their lives and reveal their best fit for serving.

I am developing this same material into a package that anyone who would like to know how God has gifted and prepared them for serving can have. Many of the profiles and materials will be free and reproducible. Some will have a charge for them. The resource will be called, "Understanding My Fit." It should be ready for distribution on or near July 1, 2008. If you'd like more information, please visit this link... "Understanding My Fit" When you sign up there for information, you will receive a download link for a free copy of a Spiritual Gifts Profile that is used in the program. You'll already have one of the profiles used in the course! By signing up, you will also receive future information emails, and free downloads for other materials that pertain to this program.

I am very excited to get this material into the hands of lay leaders and people anxious to discover their fit for ministry. The teacher in me simply wants as many people as possible to learn from the Lord where and how he wants them to best serve. The pastor in me is excited about the prospect that leaders in my congregation could begin to serve out of their areas of passion, skill, giftedness and calling. I could only imagine how a church could be transformed when many in the pew began to serve out of passion rather than guilt or because 'someone has to do it.'

Visit the "Understanding My Fit" link now, and get your free Spiritual Gifts Profile. Get started in your journey of discovery right away! Please leave a comment!

Increasing Visitor Traffic

I have the opportunity to visit many churches of differing denominations and size. I am also blessed to coach one-on-one several pastors. Over this past week, something in common really was clear. Churches and pastors are dealing with one of two very common issues; either they have a front door where no-one is entering, or they have a back door where many are leaving. Here is some practical advice for the front door that needs fresh traffic.

For the front door that needs visitors, the fix is to provide events and encounters that encourage people from our community to check our ministry out. Here are some examples. One church this past weekend had a “wild game dinner.” About 260 people attended, of which only 25% were from the church, the rest were people from the community. There was lots of food! People brought their game dishes to share in potluck style. There were lots of door prizes! Several business from the area were approached and gave gift certificates and other items to be given away as door prizes. It seemed that nearly half of everyone attending got a door prize, including every child. There was a brief drama presented! Not an in your face “you need Jesus” drama, but one that clearly communicated a message of community. There was a brief message from the pastor! Yes, this one was clearly a gospel presentation using the acronym H-U-N-T. There were silent auctions; deer mount displays, and a couple of stories by hunters. Will anyone connect into the church body from this dinner? Possibly, but the odds are greater for this church than one who provides no event for a possible relationship encounter.

Another example comes from a church plant who last year sponsored 5 food plots for neighbors they previously had not met. They worked up a small area (5’ X 5’), planted seed, gave instructions for the care of the plants, and recipes for the harvest. The project gave the church people opportunity for several relationship encounters throughout the summer. Four of the five families visited the church over this last year, and 2 now call this church “their church.” This summer, they have a goal of providing 100 food plots and as of now, have materials and volunteers to cover 75 of them. Most of the volunteers are people out of the community, not people from within the church! A local gardening club, several banks, & even the mayor’s office are participating. This is from a church that is only averaging 68 in worship attendance. I wonder what the true harvest will be from these food plots!

Another church participated in an elementary school fun fair recently. This event was not promoted by the church but by the school. The church took advantage of the community opportunity already planned and simply asked if they could serve in any way. As it turned out, not only could they assist, but they were invited to provide their own booth and encouraged to promote their church! They gave away balloons, popcorn, and information about their ministry to everyone who attended the event. As a result, the church had over 500 encounters with families out of the community who learned about the ministries of this smaller church (about 65 in attendance).

If you need to increase the traffic flow through the front door of your ministry, consider how you can provide events and/or encounters for people in your community to become aware of your ministry. One visitor recently confessed that she had driven by the church for several years but never noticed it, until she had an encounter with one of the members at the community event. When Jesus said “Go,” we often think that means door to door and it frightens us. Consider sponsoring an event that gives your community an opportunity to have an encounter with your members or your ministry. It’s not only fun, but a productive way of “going.”

Keep watching for the next post – “For the back door that needs closing.”