Think Bigger

It has been said a few times in these pages that we do not often write without some inspiration, which we hope has come from the Holy Spirit. However, this post is more than that. If I may be so bold as to say it, this is more than just inspiration. This is a word, perhaps in the category of the charismata, a word of knowledge. This is the first time I have felt one of these posts had something specific to say to a person or some people about what should be being done. I could only guess who that might be, or what it is they should be doing but I have the strongest suspicion that I also will be moved to action by the time this post is complete. (When I originally wrote that, I had no idea it would be months before I would actually complete the post.)


We always think smaller than God does. For those of you who think the word always should never be used because it is too inclusive, I have scripture on that. Of course, those same people should object to the use of never for the same reason, but they rarely do.


The Bible tells us, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Corinthians 2:9) That verse seems to be a pretty definite statement that we always think smaller than God does. Put another way, God always has bigger, hopes, dreams, desires, and aspirations for us than we have for ourselves. He knows how much there is for us and when He follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, rather than our own way, all that is opened up and made possible for us. You see, the things we want simply enter into our minds. The things He wants enter into our renewed minds via our spirit from the Holy Spirit.

Some of you may remember the story of Chuck Smith and the founding of the original Calvary Chapel. They had bought property in one of California's high rent districts. As I recall the story from hearing him tell it over thirty years ago, they negotiated a purchase price for the property. It was a larger piece of property than they felt they really needed, but it was all available so they bought the whole parcel. The problem in Chuck's mind was that they were about a quarter million dollars short of the full purchase price. Of course, that was in the early 1970s and a quarter million dollars was a lot of money. He prayed and told God he thought paying interest was not an efficient of use of their money, but since they considered it all God's money, He would have to deal with it. Shortly thereafter, a call came in from a major oil company offering them a quarter million dollars for a corner of the property. They arranged the sale and paid off their debt. This is one, simple example that I am aware of. Would that qualify as a miracle, something unexpected, even more than they could hope for? I am sure it was more than Chuck expected.


Chuck Smith's dream, or vision if you will, came about on the heels of a failure. By his own admission he killed more than one church before he realized that he was called to do something new and different. When he answered the call of God to reinvent himself, so to speak, and teach through the Bible in a small, Bible study group, the group rapidly outgrew several places they tried to meet. Calvary Chapel churches, by whatever name, have now encircled the globe. I know people who knew Chuck Smith as a child and a teenager. They tell me he was "just an ordinary boy". My guess is that history will record something different.


I have to wonder how many others of us are called to some form of greatness. Most Bible College and Seminary curricula include studies of the great, historical revivals. In those studies, the people who someone thought responsible for those moves of God are recorded. Perhaps they are the ones responsible, but perhaps not. When we say they are responsible, it should be obvious that what we mean is they are the human instrument the Holy Spirit used to get the work done on earth.

I will admit this is new territory for me. Mentally I know God wants more for me, but He has already blessed us so much. We have a lot more than a lot of people do. By American standards we are maybe middle class. By the world's standards, we are wealthy. Oh sure there are a lot of other things we would like to have and things we would like to do if resources were available. There is a lot more out there for us. That is for sure.


I was in an individual counseling session recently, asking a client what his plans were for the rest of his life. He was not sure. Then he asked me when I was going to move forward with something I had mentioned I thought was in my future. I told him the money was not here yet so I was going to content myself with what I am doing now. He said the money is never the problem. I really hate it when the guys I teach this stuff to bring it up at inopportune times. He is right of course. The money we see is never all the money there is at our disposal. All we have to do is get the money out of the spiritual realm into the physical. Simple huh? Most things in the kingdom of God are simple. We are the ones who complicate them. As long as I am quoting the program men, another one said, during a discussion about the best way to do something, "it was our best thinking that got us into this program." That was a reference to the fact that he an several other of the men were ordered to be there by a judge. At least I am one step removed, what with being on staff and getting paid to be there and all.

My posts are now out of order a bit. For some reason, I have not been able to finish this post until now. As the author and publisher I always have the right to redo anything the even actually gets published. I am going to change the date on this one so it ends up being closer to the date it is published than the date I started it. I think this one is now done--except to encourage you to think BIGGER!

We Need to Talk About Tongues

We are going to teach you something in this post that only about a dozen people in the world know. That is only because I have taught nine of them. While that is, of course, a tongue in cheek remark, if anyone else is teaching it correctly and completely, we certainly have not heard it. As with a lot of scriptural concepts it is so simple it is difficult to understand why it is not commonly known and taught.

Speaking in tongues is possibly the most divisive concept in the Bible. The interesting thing about that division is that the conflict comes from the people who do not want to believe the gift is still important to The Church. Oh wait, it is always the people who do not want to believe something who cause divisions in the church. Perhaps you have noticed that? In this writer's opinion, it is always better to believe too much than too little. When one believes too much, the Holy Spirit can always reign him in. However, when one believes too little he has set a limit on God. Limit God? God does delight in surprising us, but He will stop at the point of our unbelief. Take my word for that for now.

There is another interesting thing about the gifts of speaking in tongues. Yes, we did say "gifts" plural. It is interesting that Pentecostals and charismatics know there are different gifts of tongues, but virtually none of them know where they are found in the Bible. They know about the charismatic gift of tongues, part of the charismata, which is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:10. Somehow they make that gift both gifts. They say it is the public gift and also a private prayer language given by the Holy Spirit as the initial physical evidence of His baptism. Were it not for the fact those presenting this teaching are ignorant of what you are about to learn, it would be bad theology and possibly intellectual dishonesty as well. I suppose what is even more amazing, is they are correct--in a way and to a point. There is a personal prayer language, a speaking in tongues that is the initial, physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but it is not a part of the charismata. It is a gift called a dorea (a personal gift in Greek) and it is found in Acts 10:46. The charismatic gift of tongues is given to The Church so that God can talk to us, whereas the other gift, the dorea, is given so that we can talk to God.

Most Pentecostals and charismatics have pretty good theology about the charismatic gifts so we are not going to discuss them here. If you feel you need some teaching in that area, send us an email or simply read 1 Corinthians 12-14. Paul gives some detail on the gifts and how to use them. Understanding the dorea gift is the point of this post. Again, do not let this be too simple for you.

We attended a Pentecostal Bible college, sat under the teaching of some of the best Pentecostal theologians and teachers in the world today, and read numerous books on the subject of spiritual gifts. We did not so much as hear there was a dorea gift of tongues until we had the opportuntity to hear a teaching by Dr. E. Craig Hamlin. Dr. Hamlin holds a Ph.D. Psychology. He is not a theologian per se. He is a gifted Bible teacher. Had we not heard this overlooked piece of theology from him, we would not be teaching it here. Dr. Hamlin did not quite complete the teaching the day we heard it. He was exactly right as far as he went.


Acts Chapter 10 is the story of Peter being introduced to and starting a ministry to the Gentiles. The misunderstanding concerning the dorea is found in verse 46 as indicated above. The point that has traditionally been overlooked in this teaching is the case of the phrase, "the gift of the Holy Spirit" which it is said, "had been poured out on the Gentiles also". We think the Holy Spirit is the gift. That makes sense in the context and when we ignore the case, it is easy to misunderstand what is being said. In fact the genitive (or English possessive) case allows us to say either, "gift of the Holy Spirit" or "Holy Spirit's gift". When we use the latter rendering it is clear the gift is not the Holy Spirit, but rather is one given by Him. We will give you a second to think about that. The gift is not the Holy Spirit. The gift belongs to the Holy Spirit, it is His to give. That gift is the personal prayer language of speaking in tongues.

According to Pentecostal theology (We are not including the charismatics here because there is no such thing as charismatic theology. By definition a charismatic is a person who believes the charismata is for today, but chooses to remain faithful to another branch of The Church. Charismatics hold to Pentecostal theology and usually also to some other denominational, doctrinal position.) the initial, physical evidence of the baptism with the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues. This tripped me up for a few hours early in my Pentecostal walk. The Holy Spirit was quick to help me understand the principle. In order to help you avoid tripping too, let me say it has to be the initial physical evidence because it is the only physical evidence. All the other gifts of the charismata must be spiritually discerned as such. We hear tongues from a physical mouth to our physical ears. There is no question something different is going on.

The dorea gift of speaking in tongues is given so that we can communicate with God, through the Holy Spirit, according to His perfect will. When we pray in tongues we are engaging our spirit, our soul, and our body all at the same time. Our mind does not understand what we are saying, but it directs our body to say it, when the Holy Spirit calls the prayer forth from our spirit. It is not really a complex process. It is just something we are not used to. However, it is a good idea to get used to it. Do it often. Pray in the spirit as often as possible. You never know when someone might need prayer that you do not know about. The Holy Spirit knows and He is looking for a partner. Is there anyone who really does not want to be a prayer partner with the Holy Spirit? If you answered "Yes" to that question, you might be reading the wrong blog.