Tom Cannon

Secretly, I have always envied chefs who could discern the various flavors or scents within an entree or dessert, and with little effort, identify every ingredient by their sense of taste or smell alone. It amazes me how they can differentiate between all the combined ingredients, and not only tell you what’s in the dish, but how much of each item is in it.

Its embarrassing how little talent I possess for cooking. One time, a few years ago, I tried making fresh bread for our family, but to my chagrin, the finished product was so hard, even our dog wouldn’t eat it. Try as I might, all of my attempts at creating sumptuous meals have fallen far short of their culinary goal – both in taste and presentation.

When it comes to cooking, its easy to see that some people simply have more talent than others.

But recently, something interesting happened to me, when I was cleaning the garage – I opened a metal storage cabinet where I Read the rest of this entry »

“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, ‘When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” Ephesians 4:1-17 (KJV)

The answer to the question, “What is the purpose of spiritual gifts?” is more complex than you might think. According to scripture, there are numerous reasons why God gives spiritual gifts to us.

Jesus said, “To whom much is given, much is required” (Luke 12:48). Therefore, with every bestowed gift comes the responsibility to use the gift fully, and well, for the glory of God. When we understand that the gifts of God, give us something to contribute to the furtherance of the Kingdom of God, it will transform the way we live, for only through the fulfillment of our divine call, will we begin living as people with a mission, a plan and a purpose for our lives.

The Purpose of Spiritual Gifts:

1) For Christian Service (Work of the Lord).

Although it shouldn’t be surprising, some people are quite shocked to discover that the “work of God” actually involves WORK. Too many people think the ‘work of the Lord’ goes no further than public ministry. And even then, they don’t understand how much effort – behind the scenes – goes into making our services, and churches, run smoothly.

You must understand, that while Christian service may seem glamorous, when the lights are on, and the music is playing; public ministry involves more work than you realize, and that public ministry is not the only work that needs to be done in the church.

Did you notice, that volunteers for public ministry are seldom in short supply, but locating sufficient, gifted workers for behind-the-scenes ministries can be an extremely difficult task. Read the rest of this entry »