Loss of Powers

Last night I watched some "Heroes" episodes including "The Eclipse, Part 1".  In this episode all the characters with powers lose them.  Hiro can no longer teleport or pause time.  Matt can no longer hear thoughts.  Sylar loses his hunger and can no longer push items with his mind or use any of his abilities.  All the powers are gone.

In the Body of Christ we have what we call "Spiritual Gifts".  But let's be honest about this, shall we?  They are indeed super powers.  1 Corinthians 12 tells us that they come from the Holy Spirit and are assigned according to His purposes and pleasure.  They include powers to work miracles, heal, powers of knowledge, wisdom, distinguishing between spirits.  Paul lists many things but does not say that his list is exhaustive.

This begs a question, though.  If you were to lose your spiritual gift.  If God took away the Spirit-powered abilities that help you with your mission for Him, how would you feel?  Would you be ok with that?  Is JESUS HIMSELF enough for you?

While Matt struggles with his goal, Hiro says that this is part of the heroes journey.  That a hero must learn to live without powers and to complete his mission with whatever he has aside from them.  IF God chose to test you this way, would you be ok with it?  Would you press on or give up?  Do you even know what your powers are?  If not, pray about it and ask people who know you well what they think your gifts/powers are.

Jesus once said that we should not celebrate that we have powers, but that we should celebrate that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. We should celebrate Jesus, not our abilities. 

Monsters, Giant Mechs, and Respect

Greetings Explorers and Skeptics alike.

I hope you have had a great week.  Two days ago I FINALLYYYY got to see Pacific Rim.  IT WAS AMAZING!  I had so much fun and it was such a great combination of monsters, giant mechs, creativity, freshness, and even some thought provoking points.  Yes, I am about to talk about something in the movie.  There is a bit of a spoiler here.

There was a moment when Becket is about to go to train/meet his new partner.  Mako is in the hallway with him and had received orders from Stacker not to come along.  Becket is frustrated and says "You don't have to live in constant obedience to him" (not an exact quote, but very close).

Her response is amazing.  "It's not obedience, it's respect."  (I believe that that is an exact quote).

I remember a guy who was attending a church I went to who was upset about the idea of following Christ because he felt that we were all "puppets" and nothing more.  Although he did attend church and Bible study for many months, I am unsure if he was really looking for Christ or if he was just looking for a club to belong to.  If you are outside the church, try to look out from our perspective.  Put on our shoes for a minute.  We may seem to be puppets, but we are far more to Christ than that.  He died for us.  Would you die just to have puppets?

We live for Him out of respect for Him.  In John 14:23 Jesus said "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him and we will come and make our home with him."    Jesus said this after being asked why he was only showing himself to a few and not to all.  Essentially he wants us to participate with Him in showing himself to all.  So he doesn't expect blind obedience merely because we have to, but because we want to cooperate with Him.  2 Peter 3:9 says "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."  He isn't up there like a puppet master, but like a captain training a new crew for a voyage.  Watching to see who is really lining up with His goals and his direction. Observing who wants a job or who wants to be part of His team...His family.

Stacker did give Mako the opportunity eventually.  Even though he had reasons not to.  Sometimes we feel like puppets.  But this is not the case.  Sometimes God is just waiting for when we are ready or for other movements to happen on the game board of life. Our patience in waiting will one day be rewarded, but we are not to move on our own without His direction.