Tom Cannon

“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 »

The story of Hannah’s life is miraculous, and the results are amazing. But there is a story within Hannah’s story that is tragic. When Hannah prayed, she was confronted by Eli, the High Priest. As Hannah prayed, Eli rebuked her, because he thought she was drunk. But Hannah was not drunk; she was anointed with the presence of the Holy Spirit. She was abiding in that place of intimacy with God, where she no longer could speak her request with human words, but had to cry out to God, from the depth of her heart and soul.

Eli didn’t know what was happening within Hannah, because he apparently could not recognize the anointing of God upon her life. And that’s what makes this ‘story within the story’ so tragic. At the very moment when God was getting ready to open Hannah’s womb, so she and her husband could conceive a child together – a child who would become one of the greatest leaders Israel would ever know – the spiritually blind leader of Israel (High Priest), judged Hannah by the presumptions of his flesh, rather than by his knowledge of the Spirit.

It’s not good, when the one praying (Hannah) is more righteous, godly, and spiritually mature than the person leading the church (Eli). Such was the case with Hannah and Eli. Read the rest of this entry »

That is my philosophy on people, ministries, and churches. People often think they have to be super-talented, a well-known ministry, or mega church to accomplish something significant for God. But is that true? Do you have to be someone ‘specially gifted, ultra-talented, famous, or wealthy’ to accomplish something significant for God?

We all love talking about new life, the birth of a baby, and fresh starts, don’t we? Yet, we often forget that new days, babies, and fresh starts typically begin with SMALLNESS. People who doubt the effectiveness of small churches haven’t studied history, because God has used many small churches, and seemingly ‘insignificant’ pastors in amazing ways.

Need proof? How about small church pastor, Smith Wigglesworth? Though his flock was never large, his impact (and theirs) was tremendous, wasn’t it?

Have you heard of a small woman, named Gladys Aylward? A parlor maid with a heart for God, who was rejected by China Read the rest of this entry »

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

If you really want to build an effective leader, who walks in the likeness of Christ, then you need to “root out” all forms of nepotism, bigotry, gender bias, racism, and personal favoritism that exists in your life. Failure to do so, will earn you the fitting reputation of an unfair leader, and cause the people in your church, or ministry, who are not “numbered among the favored ones,” to lose heart, and 1) leave the church, or 2) develop a “who gives a rip attitude,” because they figure they don’t stand a chance to earn legitimate place of ministry anyway, since those positions are always filled by people you have pre-selected.

Credibility is a strange thing; it can take years to earn, but only a moment to lose. And whether you like it or not, people are determining the level of your credibility every day, based upon the decisions you make, as a leader, and the fairness with which those decisions are carried out. So be careful what choices you make, as a leader, because they are revealing who you are much louder than your words, and by them, people know how fair you are to those you lead.

Example: If you consistently exclude women, or minorities from places of equal ministry opportunity, then you can expect a certain label to be attached to you, as a leader. You may not like it, and may even protest how that tag is unfair, but if your leadership choices never include women or minorities in substantial places of leadership, then you have no one to blame, but Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to developing leaders, some churches place too much weight on persona, charisma, and other supposedly necessary leadership qualities, but neglect “some of the weightier things,” that God repeatedly says are the most important of all.

Experience has taught us that ministers become more successful if they have:

• The RIGHT relationship with God. Well-defined leadership qualities, spiritual gifts, or charismatic personalities are not the most important asset of a successful Christian leader.  In fact, none of them will ever replace a right relationship with God. The Bible clearly teaches, without a right relationship with God, everything else will be meaningless.
• The RIGHT heart. Successful ministers must have a heart to reach this generation for Jesus, and intensely cares about the members of the church. You will never be successful in ministry, until you’re willing to give yourself away, to save, help, strengthen and establish those Jesus loves.
• The RIGHT work ethic. Like the people in Nehemiah’s day, servant-leaders must have “a mind to work.”
• The RIGHT commitment. Each servant-leader must be committed 100% to the cause of Christ, and to the process of Read the rest of this entry »