I want to point out the change in my header after reading chapter 12. A place to share life with Joe Hogan and friends. Whether you like it or not you all are a part of me. I pray you all have the same mindset with me. The proof is in chapter 11.
v.14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
So many people just miss what spiritual gifts are about. It's not about who speaks in tongues and who doesn't. In fact the key reason the chapter is written is because the church was giving so much attention to the "tongue speakers" (greek word used in chpts 12-14 for spiritual gifts) spiritual gifts is not about who the teachers, pastors and prophets are. A good friend of mine would always tell "I'm just one beggar to another" (Sumo) All of us are one body and Christ is the head. None of us is more important than one another based on how we use spiritull gifts. All of you have used your giftings to benefit me and I thank God for the Body that I have. (you guys) You have spoke healing to me, prophesied over me, given me words of wisdom (thanks for the word Luis) and allowed the Holy Spirit(tongues) to directly pray over my life and ministries I shepherd. Some times your prayers have even laid me out on the floor (thanks alot Jacob) I can go on for days giving testimony of times you have helped me especially my administrators who come in the office (thanks Kristie, Tiff, Becky, Shayne and others) Every single one of you have given me the greatest gift of all and that is you Love Joe Hogan v. 31 Well I least I know for sure James does and if your faking it you're doing a good job. Ok now I am tearing up again.
v. 7 But the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
I am going to have to come back to this post or maybe others can continue because the dimension and reality that we are all one connected to each other is a little overwhelming to make comment at this time. I must be silent and this time.................
8 comments:
You can't fake Love like this Joe! not after the years we ran together in "Axiom" at lease.
1st Cor 12 4-6 "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.
There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons."
UNITY! UNITY! UNITY!
If you think about it one of the main and reoccuring themes in the Bible is Unity. In fact, Christ came and died so that we may have fellowship or Unity with him forever.The BIGGEST trick of the emeny is to cause seperation and division and like in this Chapter Paul starts off with Reiterating that we are of one accord, doesnt matter if your gift is tongues or whatever! in the Old T. I see that the Lord would allows cause confusion in the camps of the enemy which lead to there destruction through how ever God choose( I.e gidieon, walls of jericho, and entering canaan) Jesus said it the best right... A house divided against it self cannot stand. When the enemy comes in to my camp (mind/fellowship with others) and causes me to draw a line in the sand due to spirtual gifts or pride or out of selfish ambition I know a fall is coming quickly after.
Lord Please let me never forget your heart of Unity.Help me to have your eyes and ears to stay in fellowship with one another, to serve one another. GOd lead me with your instruction and Wisdom as go before me with your Joy and Love.
leaving Scripture -Ephesians 4:4-6
There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism,one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
(Love you Nate Dawg, miss you bud!as well as all my friends!!)
P.s... Pastor Joe this was a Awesome blog, bst one yet!
-TOES-
Lord please let it stop Raining!!!!! 31 degrees and rain arrggg...
GO Giants.. Random shout out, thanks guys!
"Different" and "Same"
"Many" and "One"
These words are repeated several times in this chapter, and help to reveal how profound and creative our God is. He desires UNITY without UNIFORMITY. Even though we are all different we can be one in spirit and truth. We can find common ground in Christ's love without losing our distinctiveness.
"Lord I thank you for all the different parts of your body. Oh how we need each other to complement and complete each other. Help us to continue being united without falling into the mistake of being uniformed. You delight in variety. Help us to remember that sometimes it's not a matter of right versus wrong, but simply a matter of different."
United we Stand!
Chapter 12 is all about bringing the people together.
In the first bit of of chapter 12 the Spirit is the focus. It doesn't matter what you can do, it doesn't matter what gifts you have, WE all have the SAME Spirit. No one thing or one person is better or more important or more blessed than the next. We are UNITED by one common factor. We are lead by the same AMAZINGLY FANTASTICALLY WONDERFULLY AWESOME God.
The chapter goes on to make sure the readers get that we are all connected. We are all one body. We are all EQUALLY important to God reguardless of what the world says about where we have been called or what we are doing.
One Body, One Ministry and One Family which has ONE FATHER who is the one and only GOD.
Corinthians 12
Joe Hogan!! Your blog entry was both eye-opening and inspiring, and I count myself blessed to have a pastor like you that I can call at a moments notice to be prayed for. Your encouragement and steadfast example of being fully devoted to Christ has been an answer to prayer, and I can honestly say that without you, I’m not sure where I’d be today. You are much loved my friend, and we only hope to return that same love to you each day.
I decided the reason I enjoy diving into chapter 12 so much is that it puts each believer on a level playing field-as far as giftings go. To be honest, I struggle with inadequacy on a daily basis, and the main reason is that I grew up in a Baptist setting, and gifts were rarely spoken of, let alone emphasized. Verses 14-15:
“…For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any less a part of the body.”
Every gift from God is important and necessary for the kingdom, and there’s a reason that it’s “spiritual gift(s)”-plural. God’s desire is for each one of us to actively seek the things that He has promised, and what we eventually find through the Holy Spirit might be completely different from the person seeking right next to you, but are equally necessary and important. Verses 22-24 are as follows:
“…On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it.”
Simply put, we as believers must all operate as one in the body of Christ. Like the hand, foot, eye and ears that Paul talks about having different functions on the body, each are fundamentally important to our overall cognitive existence. In realizing this, we must also understand that the word COMMUNITY is rooted in the word UNITY, and we as believers are integral in each others lives to operate in the giftings as led by the Spirit.
I love you all!
nathan l.
Well said Numba 1!
Pastor Juan said United We Stand so all I'm hearing while I'm typing is "the time has come to stand for what we believe in, and I for one..."
Anyhoo..
When I read this chapter I try to envision the Holy Spirit in us with the gifts. He's just ready to go and totally stoked to be used. He is ready to be powerful in and through us.
I love verse 26...
"And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it."
How often have I decided not to suffer with my fellow body parts or decided to be jealous when the hand got blessed and I didn't?
I pray against separation because if I separate from my brother it is probably out of pride (thats me personally at least).
Lord unify the Cornerstone within itself and then with the Vineyard and the Calvary Chapel up the street and the whooooole body!
De god is goed.
nathan
Chapter 11:
This was definitely a hard chapter for me to understand.
This chapter covers 2 issues that the church in Corinth was having related to public worship. First, wearing the veil, second, the Lord's supper. From what I got in verses 2-16, this is Paul clearing up an issue on public worship and women. It talks about God's administrative order. In that time it was a custom for even pagan women to wear veils as a sign of submissiveness. I guess there might have been some women in the church in Corinth who took off their veil because of their pride. It was a sign also of them rejecting their own womanhood and demanding authority higher than their husbands or fathers. I believe that if Paul were writing this letter today, it would be more about a womans attitude on her womanhood and her role in the church. Verses 2-16 is a celebration of womanhood. A woman is not any less than a man but they are equal and dependent on each other (verses 11). A womans role may be different but it is just as important.
The second half of this chapter really showed me the importance of the Lord's supper. I know it was just a church tradition but the meaning behind it was very great. The partaking of the Lord's supper meant to remember what Christ did for us and to remind us to proclaim Christ testimony. So we should definitely have the correct attitude when we celebrate this tradition.
chapter 12: I think we all basically have the gist of this chapter.
Unity.
We are all of Christ, filled with the same Spirit, and worship the same God.
So every person in the body of Christ is equal even if some of the jobs that have in that body seems less. I love verse 23
"And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow more honor;..."
This definitely is something to remember. We need each other. Each and everyone one of us is important in our lives and that is the truth. Nathan Brecht got verse 26 before me. What i got from that is bearing one another's burdens. When someone hurts, we hurt with them. We do this because it shows love and care. We are there for them and then we help pick each other up so we can keep running the race.
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