Today, the topic is tongues; that New Testament phenomenon where a person speaks in a language that is unknown to him or her. This language is either the language of angels or other earthly languages. It occurred at Pentecost, in the first century church, and since then in churches all around the world. The New Testament describes tongues as a gift, given by the Holy Spirit to the church for the purpose of building up the Body of Christ and glorifying the Lord. Over the centuries however, confusion surrounding this gift may well have caused more harm than good and what was meant to build up the Body of Christ has often played a role in tearing it down.
Most Christians hold one of four views regarding the use of tongues in the church. Many consider them to be a private prayer language that is very personal and cannot be interpreted. Others view tongues as a public gift, a language through which God communicates to the church and it must be interpreted. Still others assign tongues strictly to the mission of evangelism and cross cultural outreach. Some believe that tongues no longer have any usefulness at all in the life of a Christian or the church and that their relevance ceased by the end of the first century.
Christians may be confused on this issue but the Bible is pretty clear. It doesn't answer all our questions but it gives some fairly strong instruction regarding when, where, and how the gift of tongues is meant to be enjoyed. I pray that God will use his word today to correct our thinking and to change our lives.
Identity - Week 26
July 10, 2011
July 10, 2011 • Dan Jarrell
Identity - Week 29
July 31, 2011 • Dan Jarrell
Today is the last week in our study of 1st Corinthians. We began it together in January! We've considered philosophical issues such as the source of true wisdom and the role of God's spirit in our lives. We've discussed sexual purity, marriage and divorce, the exercise of rights and liberties, leadership in the church, the roles of men and women, church discipline, spiritual gifts, the Lord's Supper, the resurrection, and the importance of order when we gather to celebrate in worship. Some of the issues are controversial and tend to stand out in our minds but above every issue, regardless of controversy, hangs the priority of love. 16 times in 16 chapters the Apostle brings his readers back to the priority of love. In this final chapter Paul drives that point home once more. Most of the chapter has very little to do with us really. Verses 1-9 talk about a collection for the persecuted followers of Jesus in Jerusalem. Verses 10-12 introduce Paul's young disciple Timothy. Verses 15-24 are all personal and contain greetings, expressions of thanks, and finally a blessing. But tucked right in the middle of these 24 verses is one of the most pointed descriptions of love's power in the entire Bible. I hope it challenges you today and that you leave here more enthralled with God's love for you and the privilege you have to live a life of love. - Dan Jarrell
Identity - Week 28
July 24, 2011 • Dan Jarrell
RESURRECTION! What if it didn't happen? How would our lives be different if the resurrection were just a myth or a religious fable and not an historical reality? Every promise of faith would be empty. Hope would vaporize. We would still be in our sin, guilty before God and destined for judgment. Fear would be energized were it not for the resurrection and the grief of losing a loved one, of knowing the end of life on this earth was really the end of life, would be overwhelming. Everything substantive about the Christian faith fully depends upon the promise of resurrection. Today we consider this spectacular promise and its implications for how we live. It's a paradigm shifting truth. It can rearrange every value in your life and change the way you look at every challenge, opportunity, and experience. At the core, followers of Jesus are people of hope and that hope depends upon the resurrection. I pray you are encouraged by this passage today and challenged to rethink how your life reflects confidence in the fact and the promise of resurrection. - Dan Jarrell
Identity - Week 27
July 17, 2011 • Jim Capaldo
Throughout the world, the gathering of the saints of God, for public worship, reveals unbelievable uniformity. This is one reason why a Christian from the United States can find herself in authentic fellowship with other worshipers of Christ, even in the farthest reaches of the earth. It is not that public worship looks the same, sounds the same or even smells the same, but rather that the underlying principles for orderly public worship are upheld and celebrated wherever growing believers are found. Today, in 1 Corinthians 14:26-40, we will examine these principles deeper and find that when Christians publicly gather for worship, they strengthen each other, they instruct each other, they encourage each other, they reflect God's created order together and they mutually submit to the authority of the scriptures. These principles have distinguished the public gathering of the saints from the time of the Apostles until now. They are timeless and they glorify God. Today, I look forward to celebrating them with you! - Jim Capaldo