Dormant Gifts?

Dormant Gifts?

Idolatry is a divided heart. If in any particular the heart is divided, and the Lord does not have the full and final place, that is idolatry. A reservation, another consideration and influence from another direction, an affection, ambition, possession, pursuit, indulgence, which stands in the way of the utter will of God and His Glory is idolatry. Upon that thing, and because of that divided heart the heavenly purpose will crash, the vocation will break down, the servant be a disappointment, and the blessing to the world be hindered. That servant will be set aside.                  

T. Austin Sparks. ‘The Servant of the Lord’.

"Many of those who once were so passionately in love with Christ now run about pursuing their own interests. They're burdened down with stress and problems, chasing after riches and the things of this world."    David Wilkerson

Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.  (1Timothy 4:14-16)

Now we all know that Christ is our Salvation, but this verse indicates, that there is a sense in which we must save ourselves and others. (Don’t argue with me, argue with the above verse). Because if resting in Jesus only means to you, living ‘the wonderful, good life of your culture’, you have completely missed the very reason you were saved in the first place.

Some of the hard questions we should be asking ourselves in response to the present state Christianity is in and the above verse should be…

Do I so fully give myself in the exercising of my gift, that it’s apparent to everyone around me?  Am I ignoring the gift God gave me? Am I meditating on the ramifications of what will happen to me and others if I neglect that gift? Am I really serious about the business of saving others and myself as well?

If you have been given new birth and consider yourself a part of Christ then you have already been given your spiritual gift and have already been called to live His life to the fullest, get in the fight and do great exploits. And yes, we know that Mother Teresa said… “We cannot do great things, but rather small things with great love”. But if that woman didn't do great things… then no one has.

Our message to our brothers and sisters who are patiently waiting for God to reveal their gift and tell them what their calling is, is rather simple… quit waiting… get up… and get into the fight!

"While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while children go

hungry, as they do now I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out,

in and out, as they do now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard

left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there

remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight, I'll fight

to the very end!" - William Booth

Young people, do you love to read about Jim Elliot, Nate Saint and others who  devoted their lives to the Kingdom?  Have you heard what Jim Elliot spoke to the youth of his generation?  He had some pretty stiff words for those who were ‘bored with the things of God’. I think this applies to the youth of this generation as well. 

“Those whimpering Stateside (living in America) young people will wake up on the Day of Judgment condemned to worse fates than these demon-fearing Indians, because, having a Bible, they were bored with it - while these never heard of such a thing as writing” .  Jim Elliot

Our point is simply this… being fully saved, includes working, fighting and even dying for our King. What are you doing with the supernatural gift God gave you to increase His Kingdom? Have you even bothered to find out what it is?

There is a world of lost, starving, dying, and freaking out people that need something more than religious pat answers.  I don’t know if anyone has noticed … but things are going downhill pretty quickly in America and the rest of the world.  

Do we really think we’re in this end time cosmic fight because we go to religious concerts and wear Christian T-shirts?

"Radical Christians are not people who wear Christian t-shirts.

Radical Christians are those who bear fruit of the Holy Spirit...A

little boy, Andrew, a Muslim shot him five times through the

stomach and left him on a sidewalk simply because he said, 'I

am so afraid, but I cannot deny Jesus Christ! Please don't kill

me! But I will not deny Him!' He died in a pool of blood, and you

talk about being a radical Christian because you wear a t-shirt!"

-Paul Washer

 So the question we are asking our readers is this … what are you doing? Not what are you discussing in your living rooms… not what stimulating teachings are you listening to … but what, in this fallen world … are you doing?  Our brothers and sister’s around the world are being persecuted and killed. Young people are leaving the church.  

Apathy and complacency is growing exponentially. So our question is … what in the world are you doing about it?

Grace and Mercy from your StoneHouse brothers and sisters.