The Spiritual Gifts interactive CD-ROM is designed to teach Christians about spiritual gifts and help them discover their place of service. It includes an overview discussion of what spiritual gifts are, why they are given to the church, and how they are to be used. Here is an excerpt from the "Understanding Spiritual Gifts" section of the CD:
Both Romans 12:6 and I Corinthians 12:6,7 indicate that every Christian has a spiritual gift. The one experience that all Christians have in common is a point of conversion. It would stand that since this is the point that all believers receive Gods indwelling spirit, that this would also be the point at which God bestows his spiritual gifts on believers. In the phrase "spiritual gifts" of I Corinthians 12:1, the word gifts is implied. The Greek word for spirituals, translated there as spiritual gifts is pneumatikon, a composite of two words, pneuma and ikos. These Greek words mean "Spirit" and "characterized by or controlled by" respectively. Thus, pneumatikon means characterized or controlled by the Spirit. It would follow then that the spiritual gift is given at the same time as the Holy Spirit is given to indwell the new believer.
Each of twelve gifts (preaching, teaching, exhortation, giving, mercy, knowledge, wisdom, leading, faith, helps/service, discernment, and administration) are discussed in detail as to what the gift looks like and how they might be exercised to serve the church. Here is an excerpt from the discussion on the gift of exhortation:
The spiritual gift of exhortation is the capacity to draw alongside another Believer in order to encourage, comfort, correct, or provide insight toward Christ-like conduct. A person with this gift is people-oriented and will stick with them through good and bad times. Creative courses of action with problems are provided by this person, they enjoy people and understand where they are coming from, but yet they can be confrontive without offending. They are comfortable in a group or person-to-person situation. Problems are seen as an opportunity to grow, and this person is not easily discouraged but is persistent. There is a deep concern for people who are experiencing hard times. The person with this gift is an encourager. Areas where someone with the gift of exhortation might serve the body include counseling those who are struggling in their walks, doing visitation, following-up visitors, giving a devotional, leading an accountability group.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions are addressed from a Scriptural perspective, including "Can a person have more than one gift?", "Does a person's gift change over time?", and "Does not having a gift in a certain area relieve me of responsibility in that area?" Here is an excerpt from the FAQ section:
Are the gifts listed in the Bible the only ones?
Scripture warns against adding to, going beyond or subtracting from its contents (I Corinthians 4:6; Revelation 22:18,19). As such we are uncomfortable speculating what other gifts might exist, if there are indeed other gifts. Other authors discussing this topic, might look to gifts of music, craftsmanship, etc. But it is important that we recognize the difference between natural talents, learned abilities, and spiritual gifts. While all three are from God, music is generally a natural talent - one that the person possessed prior to becoming a Christian. As such, this does not fit our definition of a spiritual gift as being "given by God to all Christians at the time of their salvation". Abilities such as craftsmanship are learned skills. For these reasons, the testing tool incorporated into this software only tests for the speaking and service gifts as provided in Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12.
The primary purpose of the CD-ROM is to present a randomized survey
to help the user discover what his or her gift might be. The survey consists
of 132 pairs of statements, randomly generated by the computer. The user
is asked to pick the statement from each pair that best represents him
or her. Here are some examples of statement pairs:
A.) I am very aware of what I do and say so that I may not cause another to do wrong.
B.) When I observe improper behavior I can rebuke or reprimand in love with the intent to correct the situation.A.) I would be quick to loan my car out to a visiting missionary or a Christian in need.
B.) Doing quiet, behind-the-scenes jobs to help people in up-front ministries brings me great joy.
Once a statement has been chosen frpm each of the pairs, the computer analyzes the choices and produces a bar chart showing the more dominant and less dominant each of the gifts are for the user. It includes an analysis suggesting some further ways to identify the user's gift and some suggested areas of service.
The program includes the ability to save and print the results. The test may be taken over several sessions. The test may also be printed and administered outside of the computer, with the choices later entered into the program and the results analyzed and then displayed or printed, making this a great tool for churches to help their congregational members identify their places of service to the Body.
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About the Authors
Mark Spencer has been an officer with the Phoenix Police Department
since 1987. After graduating with honors with a BS in Business Administration
from Northern Arizona University, he met his wife, Shannon, while working
with Campus Crusade for Christ in Bangkok, Thailand. Mark later received
a Master of Arts degree in exegetical theology from Western Conservative
Baptist Seminary. Mark has lived in Phoenix for the past twenty-four years
and he and Shannon have two children, Caleb and Abigail.
Marty Thompson is the Executive Pastor at Desert Springs Bible Church in Phoenix, Arizona. Marty holds a Master of Divinity degree from Phoenix Seminary. Aside from his many duties as a pastor, Marty and his wife, Randa, are volunteer puppy raisers for Guide Dogs of the Desert. Marty and Randa are also parents to two adult daughters.
Stephen Hustedde is an instructional technologist / multimedia developer at Arizona State University and serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Computer Information Systems department at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Arizona. Stephen holds a Master of Education degree from Arizona State University and attended Dallas Theological Seminary. Stephen and his wife, Beth, are involved in leading/teaching an adult Sunday school class at Desert Springs Bible Church, as well as promoting world missions.