Other than that I have been keeping busy out here with work, right now working with Smart Photography.

Note, today many churches have names that may be in this list and may believe something completely different regarding sign gifts, but this would reflect the average church under the listed names.

Hard-Cessationist
Supernatural gifts (such as healing, tongues, prophecy) were only active in the early church, for the purpose of authoritating the message of the apostles and have completely ceased from purpose of use today. They should not be practice and cannot happen in todays age.

Traditions: Very few mainline churches. Some conservative independent fundamentalist churches.

People: Some would say John MacArthur, though I don’t know if he would be this hard any more.

Soft-Cessationist

Supernatural gifts (e.g., tongues and prophecy, healing) functioned only in the early church for specific purposes of authenticating the apostles’ message, and ceased as the church became founded and the apostles died out. A soft cessationist would believe that these gifts have ceased in the sense of a person being “gifted” with it, and would not encourage their use, however a soft-cessationist would realize that God is sovereign and could so choose to have a person excercise a supernatural phenomena such as tongues or healing if he so willed. However this would be considered a miracle, not the norm, and a soft-cessationist would not expect or promote such gifts.

Traditions: Many Southern Baptists, Fellowship Baptists,  Brethren, Reformed Churches, and many conservative Evangelical churches.

People: James MacDonald, John Piper, Mark Driscoll

Charismatic (Continuationist)

Supernatural gifts are available to people today, and can be practiced so long as they follow the guidelines in scripture. Many Charismatic churches might simply be open to it, or not take a stand on it but would not practice them at all or downplay their importance, and some might encourage individuals to see if they possess the gifts.

Traditions: Church of God (Anderson, IN), Missionary Alliance Church, Church of the Nazarene, often many “Full Gospel” churches, Word of Faith, some Lutherans, some Anglicans, some Baptists, many Wesleyan churches, some Reformed churches.

People: Wayne Grudem, J.P. Moreland

Charismaniac (Continuationist)

Supernatural gifts are available to every generation and all people. Contemporary revelations are, in effect, equal to Scripture, and should be encouraged/promoted.

Traditions: no mainline traditions, some independant pentecostal churches.

People: Benny Hinn, Kathryn Kuhlman?

Pentecostal (Continuationist)

Essentially the same as the charismatic position, but as a proof of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, a Christian WILL speak in tongues, just as the believers did in Acts 2. Tongues are NOT necessary for salvation, but they WILL result. Some Pentecostals might not hold to the requirement of tongues after salvation, but most do. The line between pentecostal and charismatic is often blurred, but all pentecostal churches are charismatic, not all charismatic churches are pentecostal.

Traditions: Pentecostal Churches, Vineyard Church, Open Bible Churches, many “Gospel Temples/Tabernacles”, some Wesleyan “Holiness” Churches, Church of God in Christ, Hillsong Church

People: Rex Humgard, George Jeffreys, William Seymore

For more information & research see bible.org.

The following is notes taken by Abraham Piper at Kempton Turner’s session yesterday at the Children Desiring God conference. Great principles to practice when developing any program in a Christian context. Word of Life has a similar philosphy of ministry, starting with biblical principles, building biblical people, and lastly coming up with a biblical program on top on the foundation of the principles and people. All of WOL’s ministry resources and youth programs are developed with this philosophy.

1. Be a truth-drenched example.

1 Timothy 4:16

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

The example of your life is the hammer that drives your message home. If your life doesn’t exemplify what you expect, your message will not be believable.

2. Have a truth-drenched marriage and family life.

1 Timothy 3:4-5

He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?

We shouldn’t see if someone is fit for the ministry by how they do in seemingly less important ministries. Rather, we should see what kind of husband and father he is. If he leads his family well, then maybe he’s fit for the ministry.

Paul assumes that a church leader first leads his family. A truth-drenched youth ministry will get the overflow of the youth minister’s leadership of his wife and kids.

3. Cultivate a truth-drenched staff.

Acts 13:2-3

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Gather as a staff mainly to go vertical. Meet with God and see what strategy comes from this worship.

4. Preach and teach truth-drenched messages and lessons.

Hebrews 13:7

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

The main thing your youth should think about when they remember you is how you spoke God’s word to them.

Don’t replace teaching truth with games, media, skits, etc.

5. Develop and implement a truth-drenched vision and philosophy of youth ministry.

Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Picture youth ministry as a mountain. Develop a plan that puts the cross at the top with all the other good (but less important) things below. Then the truth of the gospel will flow down that mountain over everything you do, drenching your ministry.

See original post at the desiringGod blog.

“Paying attention to those who disagree with us and taking them seriously, even if we’re pretty sure we’ll still disagree, is part of what it means to be in the body of Christ. It’s humbling; it sanctifies. It will make us better husbands and wives. It will make us better Christians…”

Biblically, should we apply this in our interaction & discussion with believers from denominations with which we may disagree on issues we deem important? What about in our conversation with other religions, skeptics, or cultic “christian” groups?

C. M. Patton over at Parchment and Pen writes twenty signs you might be evangelical. Here are a few:

You Believe that hell is going to be populated by Catholics (except for Mel Gibson), the Clintons, Mormons (with a special dispensation for Glen Beck), the staff of New York Times (all of them), Rosie Odonnell, all of the people from the East coast and West coast (with a special hot spot for Hollywood), Brian McLaren, and all Liberals, you might be an Evangelical.

 If you ask someone how their spiritual life is going and you really mean “Have you been doing your morning daily devotionals,” you might be an Evangelical.

If you think Kurt Cameron should get the academy award for best actor in Fire Proof, you might be an Evangelical.

If you choose a church based upon the selection of donuts and coffee (and price), you might be an Evangelical.

If you evangelize by saying, “If you were standing before God and he asked you ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ what would you say?” you might be an Evangelical.

If your church’s weekly events consists of Men’s Lunch Bible Study on Wed, Ladies Beth Moore Study Teus afternoon, Men’s Prayer Breakfast at Chick-fil-a on Monday, Truth Project Friday’s, Potluck Dinner Every other Sunday, Men’s Accountability Group Thursday, The Passion of the Christ Watch Party Every Saturday Evening, and Men’s Every Man’s Battle Study Group Everyday (Morning and Evening), you might be an Evangelical.

 If your support of the church is determined by parking availability, you might be an Evangelical.

If you have submitted to your wife and feel guilty about it, you might be an Evangelical.

 View all 20 signs at Parchment & Pen

C.S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters are a series of letters written from an experienced “mature” demon (Screwtape) to a more inexperienced younger demon (Wormwood). Each chapter is a new letter beginning with “My Dear Wormwood….” afterwhich Uncle Screwtape gives advice on how Wormwood is to tempt, manipulate, and coerse a certain Christian man out of the Enemy’s (God’s) will. Each chapter assumes a return letter from Wormwood has been written back to Screwtape with status updates on situations this man encounters and how Wormwood used the situation to try and achieve the Father’s (Satan’s) will in the life of the man. Screwtape schemes great plans to help Wormwood instill thoughts of pride, self-righteousness, depression, arrogance, or temptation in the mind or path of the man he is assigned to. Each letter is signed “Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape”

I really enjoyed the book, C.S. Lewis really put a twist on the way we look at many subtle sins we allow into our lives, and challenges the reader to think about how important those subtle sins are to Satan’s objective, and how they can lead to destruction. Lewis’s theology comes out quite a bit in the book and I can sense he has a very Arminian outlook on the Christian life, however also wound into the book solid foundation biblical truths, of grace, absolute truth, pure love, purity (of course Screwtape attempts to pervert these truths). There is also quite a bit of political thought that comes out as WW2 is going on during the writing of the book and the man assigned to Wormwood reacts to different political ideas & philosophies coming out of the British culture in the midst of the War. The Book is dedicated to J.R.R Tokien.

Here are some thoughts I highlighted from the Screwtape’s letters:

“There is no thing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human’s mind against the Enemy. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them” (Letter 6)

“All mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be.” (Letter 10)

“The safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” (Letter 12)

“Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is specially true of humility” (Letter 14)

“He [The Enemy] does not want men to give the Future their hearts, to place their treasure in it. We do” (Letter 15)

“They anger him because he regards his time as his own and feels that it is being stolen….Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful posessor of twenty-four hours” (Letter 21)

“…the demand for infinite or unrhythmical change…This demand is valuable in various ways. In the first place it diminishes pleasure while increasing desire. The pleasure of novelty is by its very nature more subject than any other to the law of diminishing returns. And continued novelty costs money…” (Letter 25)

“The enchantment of unsatisfied desire produces results which the humans can be made to mistake for the results of charity” (Letter 26)

“A chastity or honesty, or mercy, which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky” (Letter 29)

When I think of iron sharpening I think of heat & sparks. This involves knowing your friend on the inside, knowing where they struggle, and caring enough to challenge them biblically (with the requirement of doing it in true love) to do something about it. It is interesting, that in scripture, truth & love seem to be inseparable (this is a great study, see Eph 4:14-15, 1 John 3:18-19, 2 John). You can’t have biblical love without truth, and truth without love is not biblical truth.

To have a true friendship you must know the friends heart & passion. Knowing the friends heart will mean you will inevitably see (and most likely experience) some of its shortcomings (Jer. 17:10). To continue biblically one must out of genuine Christ-like love come alongside his brother/sister and encourage them in the truth, being careful to examine ones own heart as well.

To know a friend is to know their heart.