As a lifetime lover of Basketball, if its on TV, and I can watch, I will. But in recent years I have been severely disillusioned with pro basketball. Ridiculous travels left uncalled, clearing out the lane to let the best athlete put on a show, no defense!!! March Madness has been my solace! (Which is still the best time of year in sports!)
However, I have been tuning in to the NBA Playoffs quite a bit this year, and it seems, at least in my estimation, that there is a resurgence of good solid basketball. Watching the defense of Chicago, Miami, and Dallas along with Dirk Nowitski's perfect, fundamental shooting, has given me hope for the NBA.
I don't know how many readers will be interested in this, if any. But for a blog based in Indiana, surely someone will. So do you think there is hope for the post-MJ era in the NBA?
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Gifts of the Spirit: Have they ceased?
Well, the profound fools have been failing their readership, especially this fool. However, hopefully there will still be someone that will glance at this and offer some profound comments, and the "League" will come back from our hiatus!
I have recently being doing some study on a topic that is somewhat controversial. I have always been taught that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to believers, but today, some of those in the lists in the NT are no longer needed and are therefore no longer being exercised. For example, the gift of prophecy, tongues with interpretation, healing, etc. But if this is the case, shouldn't there be explicit teaching in the NT that is evidence to the ceasing of these gifts?
The central passage that has always been given to me is I Cor. 13:9-12, where Paul is focusing his treatment of spiritual gifts on what is the most important thing, that is love. In the text, he says that prophecies, tongues and knowledge will pass away, but love will not. So the important question is, when will prophecies, tongues and knowledge pass away? The answer in the text is "when that which is perfect is come". What is this referring to? The completion of the NT canon? While this has been my previous answer, after really being honest with the text and letting it speak for itself, I think this is very unlikely. Consider the "then" statements in the text referring back to the coming of the "perfect". "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known." Face to face? Knowing fully? Do these sound like experiences that we have now with the complete NT? I don't think so. "The perfect coming, face to face, and knowing fully" really sounds a lot like Christ's return, implying that these gifts will continue until then.
And this is the only text that I know of that even comes close to a statement of these gifts ceasing, and even this one, when examined more closely, implies just the opposite!!!
So I have to ask myself, have the gifts of prophecy and tongues really ceased, or was I making the text say something that it doesn't to fit my own agenda? Have I been bound by my own presuppositions and traditions, rather than allowing the Bible to dictate my beliefs? Is there some sense in which the gift of prophecy and tongues could be used to edify the body today?
While the "speaking in tongues" and "prophecy" that has been practiced by the majority of my Charismatic brothers is, from my estimation, a far cry from Biblical, is there a correct way to exercise these gifts today? Maybe our understanding of prophecy in the NT has been shaped too much by OT prophey and has been too narrow? (I plan on continuing this discussion in further posts, with propositions as to how these gifts could function today in a practical, non-Benny Hinn kind of way!)
So, for discussion, do you agree with my interpration of I Cor. 13, and if not, what is the alternative? Do we have something to learn from our brothers and sisters who have experience using these gifts? Does the exercise of these gifts diminish the sufficiency of Scripture?
I have recently being doing some study on a topic that is somewhat controversial. I have always been taught that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to believers, but today, some of those in the lists in the NT are no longer needed and are therefore no longer being exercised. For example, the gift of prophecy, tongues with interpretation, healing, etc. But if this is the case, shouldn't there be explicit teaching in the NT that is evidence to the ceasing of these gifts?
The central passage that has always been given to me is I Cor. 13:9-12, where Paul is focusing his treatment of spiritual gifts on what is the most important thing, that is love. In the text, he says that prophecies, tongues and knowledge will pass away, but love will not. So the important question is, when will prophecies, tongues and knowledge pass away? The answer in the text is "when that which is perfect is come". What is this referring to? The completion of the NT canon? While this has been my previous answer, after really being honest with the text and letting it speak for itself, I think this is very unlikely. Consider the "then" statements in the text referring back to the coming of the "perfect". "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known." Face to face? Knowing fully? Do these sound like experiences that we have now with the complete NT? I don't think so. "The perfect coming, face to face, and knowing fully" really sounds a lot like Christ's return, implying that these gifts will continue until then.
And this is the only text that I know of that even comes close to a statement of these gifts ceasing, and even this one, when examined more closely, implies just the opposite!!!
So I have to ask myself, have the gifts of prophecy and tongues really ceased, or was I making the text say something that it doesn't to fit my own agenda? Have I been bound by my own presuppositions and traditions, rather than allowing the Bible to dictate my beliefs? Is there some sense in which the gift of prophecy and tongues could be used to edify the body today?
While the "speaking in tongues" and "prophecy" that has been practiced by the majority of my Charismatic brothers is, from my estimation, a far cry from Biblical, is there a correct way to exercise these gifts today? Maybe our understanding of prophecy in the NT has been shaped too much by OT prophey and has been too narrow? (I plan on continuing this discussion in further posts, with propositions as to how these gifts could function today in a practical, non-Benny Hinn kind of way!)
So, for discussion, do you agree with my interpration of I Cor. 13, and if not, what is the alternative? Do we have something to learn from our brothers and sisters who have experience using these gifts? Does the exercise of these gifts diminish the sufficiency of Scripture?
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