1. Be A Purple Cow - Clover Sites
April 15, 2010 BETWEEN2WORLDS.ORG Leading Nigerians and Nigerian Americans into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:9-11 Spiritual Gifts - part one it’s ok to be a purple cow By Segun Aiyegbusi I recently came across a book titled “PURPLE COW” by Seth Godin, and it’s basic premise had to do with businesses going from good to remarkable. His thinking goes something like this; If you’ve grown up in the city most of your life, leisure drives countryside can be an interesting experience, especially with the farm life and cows one gets to see. Truth is, cows are exciting to watch. At least for the first few minutes, but after a few miles, cows begin to get boring. They all start to look the same. Brown, black, white, spotted, eventually the old ones look like the new ones. They may be good looking and attractive cows, they may even be cows with 1 great personalities, but frankly they are still cows. However, if during your drive you were to suddenly spot a PURPLE COW? Now, that would be pretty exciting! It would stop you dead in your tracks! You would scream at the driver to put the car in reverse so you could take a look at the purple cow, maybe even take some pictures, and put it on face book until it goes viral. For Godin, a purple cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive, exciting, and flat out unbelievable. The essence of a purple cow is that it must be remarkable and exceptional. After reading his book, the “purple cow” concept quickly stuck with me, especially as I was preparing this series of messages on spiritual gifts. The concept became even clearer as I read about the movement of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the believers in the early church. I thought, “Man these dudes were a bunch of purple cows!” The more I studied for the series, the more I began to think of how the cow illustration is sometimes true of the church. If you have grown up in church like I have, after a decade or two, our churches and Christians all start to look alike. We all seem bored, sort of like cows waiting around, hanging out
BETWEEN 2 WORLDS . ORG - April 15, 2010 2 till Jesus returns to take us home to heaven. Then it hit me! What if we all became purple cows? Wouldn’t that be a sight to see? But specifically, what if we became the kind of “purple people” whose lives were so marked by the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit that people around us actually have to slam on their brakes, make a u-turn in order to checkout and experience God’s power in our midst? Now that would be phenomenal and counterintuitive! In 1 Peter 2:9-11, the apostle Peter says as Christians, we are aliens and strangers passing through this world, he calls us a royal priesthood, a chosen people and a holy nation belonging to God. I wished he had slipped in that passage these words “ you are purple people”, the color of royalty! Think of that alien illustration for a second, as an alien, you don’t naturally blend in, especially a purple alien. You’ll never quite blend into this world as a resident because of what and whom lives in you, in fact, your life was intended to stir up some serious attention. You were intended by God to live a life that is remarkable, counterintuitive, and exceptional! And that is our goal through this series on spiritual gifts. I want to show you the spiritual gifts at the heart of a purple people leader whose life is filled with, empowered by, and drenched with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. This series is a “calling out” of person God has created you to be, a calling out the “purple in you!” And that leads us to 1 Corinthians 12. Let’s start off by addressing the question; what in the world is a spiritual gift? It is a gift (or gifts) given to Christians by the Holy Spirit. Specifically, it is an ability that enables the believer through the power of the Holy Spirit to perform a task with relative ease and success. It’s outworking are sometimes supernatural, and other times natural. In one person’s life, it might play out in their ability to build other people up through words and acts of encouragement. In others, it might play out in their ability to pray healing prayers over people or to speak in an otherwise unknown language. In both (and all) instances, it’s the same Holy Spirit working to bring glory to God the father. As a matter of fact, starting in 1 Corinthians 12: 4, Paul says “ .There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same You’ll never quite blend into this world as a resident because of what and whom lives in you, in fact, your life was intended to stir up some serious attention. You were intended by God to live a life that is remarkable, counterintuitive, and exceptional! God works all of them in all men.” Not only is there a diversity of spiritual gifts, but each gift manifests itself differently in the life of each individual. Read the rest of the passage starting in verse 7 “ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” This passage makes a number of interesting points, first one being that when God determines a certain course your life is going to take, he equips you accordingly with the appropriate gifts. It can probably be argued that your spiritual gifting tells the story of what God is up to in your life, which is why it’s so important to know what they are and to begin using them. A crucial question to address at this point though is, who has these gifts? I think it’s very easy to assume that spiritual gifting only belong to those in spiritual leadership, the pastors, small group leaders, church planters, and worship leaders. But that would be an incredibly wrong assumption. Verse 7 says to “Each one” the manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good of all. The implication is that every born again believer in the body of Christ has been blessed with a spiritual gift, in some cases – multiple gifts. These gifts were given by God to ensure that each believer would have a tangible way of participating in the building up and the spiritual growth of the church. The common mentality however has been that “church” is something we do once or twice a week, in some cases twice a week. We come in, we sit down, worship, pray, listen to a sermon, say hello and chat with one another, and then go home. But once again, that’s another wrong assumption of what the church is. For born again Christians, church isn’t something we do – it’s who we are. In verse 27 of the same chapter, Paul says, “ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” That means the same spiritual power that works within me and allows me to speak into your life is the same spiritual power that lives within you. That means that each one of you is capable of having a great impact and influence on the world through the power of the Holy Spirit working in you than I could ever dream or imagine for myself. I say that because I don’t want you to buy into the lie that “Segun is the pastor and is the only one whom God can speak through or work through”. That’s one of the new
BETWEEN 2 WORLDS . ORG - April 15, 2010 3 prayer goals I’ve adopted for those whom God would call me to minister to. I continually pray that God would begin to work so powerfully in your lives through the Holy Spirit, so much that your impact and influence on the world would be greater than anything I could ever desire or dream for myself ! Let me clarify some important details about spiritual gifts, these are not the same as a natural talent, skill or ability. God is the author and giver of them both, but natural abilities and talents operate differently than spiritual gifts. For one, a natural talent, skill, or ability is something you are either born with or something that with discipline and training, you become extremely skilled at over a period of time. On the contrary, you are not born with a spiritual gift and it’s not something you just decide to pickup, it is a gift that you are entrusted with on the day you place your faith in Jesus Christ. So that means when the Holy Spirit moved into your life on the day of your salvation, he moved in with some gifts that would equip you to accomplish what God intends to do with your life. What is important to note here though is that you are now a manager of these things entrusted to you, and you will ultimately have to account for how you used them. Another important detail about spiritual gifts is that it doesn’t come preassembled. In other words it doesn’t come in a “ready-made” ability to perform. For instance, a Christian who has the spiritual gift of teaching doesn’t automatically become an amazing bible teacher on the day he becomes a Christian. However, because of the way the Holy Spirit is at work within the individual, they now posses a new capacity and desire to learn and teach. A bible passage that might take someone without the gift two months to grasp, would take this individual with the gift about two minutes to understand because of the gifting of the Holy Spirit within them. Having said all of that, some of you are probably thinking, “great! But what exactly are these gifts we’ve been given? Is there a list we can consult and how do I discover which one is mine?” Well, as a matter of fact – there is a list in the scriptures we can consult. The apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 4:10 “ Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” Based on this passage I take it to mean Peter is implying there are two categories of gifts, the speaking gifts and the serving gifts. A closer look at other texts in the scriptures will however reveal a third category called the sign gifts. (miracles, healings, tongues). These passages will give you a quick glimpse at all the gifts given by the Holy Spirit in the church age (1 who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, TO PREPARE God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” The serving gifts minister within the body to encourage Christians. The serving gifts are behind the scenes kind of gifts (hospitality, leadership, faith, giving) and these have to do with the smooth running of the church. Paul actually makes the argument that these gifts are the most important gifts, because without them, we wouldn’t be able to have much of a church service. So those are the different categories that encompass a large portion of the spiritual gifts present in the church age. Here’s the good news, if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, one of those gifts is within you and is waiting to be activated. My hope throughout this series of messages is that God would grant you a vision of which gift he’s deposited in your life, and how you can begin using it to build his kingdom. One of the ways you’ll know which one is yours is through the emotions that will Corinthians 12-14, Romans 12:3-8, stir up as you read through each one of Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Peter 4:8-11). If you want to see the actual list of gifts outlines, them. When we get to a particular gift return to the website and on the “Spiritual Gifts” section, and click on “LIST OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS” Ephesians 4:11-13 To help us understand how all these “ It was he who gave some to be gifts operate in the church, I have apostles, some to be prophets, some broken them down into 3 categories, the to be evangelists, and some to be sign gifts, the speaking gifts, and the pastors and teachers, TO PREPARE serving gifts. God's people for works of service, so The sign gifts were given to that the body of Christ may be built authenticate the message of the gospel wherever it was preached. A believer up.” with these gifts would go to a location where unbelievers were present and preach the gospel. However, a miracle, the Holy Spirit has entrusted to you, your healing, or speaking in tongues would heart will begin to swell with excitement sometimes accompany his sermons, and the display of supernatural power would because the same Spirit will be tug at your heart saying “BINGO! That’s it!” authenticate that the message was from Some other practical ways to identify God. An example would be the account which gift you’ve been entrusted with is of Paul and the crippled man in Acts to ask, “What service have I seen God 14:8-10. So the sign gifts serve the bless in my life?” Let me give you three purpose of drawing people into the examples. church (body of Christ). When you pray for someone or The speaking gifts minister to the something, do you tend to believe and body to equip Christians. For the most trust God and his word longer? even part, these gifts (teaching, when everyone else has given up hope? encouragement, evangelism) have to do Do you tend to trust God even when with explaining the bible with spirit filled everything and everyone around you tells insight. In other words, it has to do with you otherwise? You might have the gift of some sort of public proclamation or faith. teaching of the word of God so that Do you feel an overwhelming need to Christians know how to live the Christian life. Ephesians 4:11-13 says “ It was he ask God to do things beyond the natural?
BETWEEN 2 WORLDS . ORG - April 15, 2010 4 Does it seem like every time you pray for someone and ask God to heal him or her, God heals them physically on a consistent basis? You might have the gift of healing or even miracles. Does sharing the gospel with nonChristians come naturally and easily to you? and do your conversations often meet with relative success in that they put their faith in Christ? You might have the gift of evangelism. On the other hand, if it seems that you consistently fail at a particular area of ministry, then God might be hinting that your gifting is in another area. For example, if you claim to have the gift of encouragement and people feel depressed and saddened every time you talk with them, you probably shouldn’t be in charge of the encouragement team at your church. If you claim to have the gift of teaching, and week after week your class systematically dwindles to one person, who just so happens to be the pastor’s’ son, then you should reconsider teaching that Sunday school class because teaching might not be your gift. And lastly, if you claim to have the gift of evangelism and people always seem to turn to other religions every time you share the gospel with them, then there’s something wrong with you! Do you get the point? By the way, because you don’t have a certain gift doesn’t negate the need for you to do those acts of service. Not having the gift of evangelism, service, or giving doesn’t imply you never have to work at sharing the gospel with people, serve in the church, or give to those in need. Sure, it might come more naturally to others and they might meet with more consistent success than you will, but the scriptures are filled with instructions on how we are to love one another in a variety of ways using those gifts! So please press on past what you perceive to be (or not be) a gift in your life. I believe the key to understanding and using spiritual gifts in our lives is to realize that the focus is never solely on the gifts, but on the giver of the gifts. Our focus should always be on the Holy Spirit who empowers us to use those gifts because when we do that, we will be amazed at the extent of the impact and influence that we’ll have. This truth is powerfully illustrated in the life of a man named Phillip in the New Testament. Not only does he exemplify what it looks like to be a purple people leader – but his story is a great example of what it looks like when your I believe the key to understanding and using spiritual gifts in our lives is to realize that the focus is never solely on the gifts, but on the giver of the gifts. Our focus should always be on the Holy Spirit who empowers us to use those gifts because when we do that, we will be amazed at the extent of the impact and influence that we’ll have. gifts are entrusted and surrendered to the Holy Spirit. When we first meet him in Acts 6, he is a regular church member who has been singled out along with SIX other men to head up a hospitality team. Other than his name, he is simply described as a man full of the spirit and wisdom (that should always be your prayer, God fill me with the anointing and empowerment of your holy spirit). A little later, we are told he also had the gift of evangelism (Acts 21:8). But he didn’t dwell on those as the basis for all he could do in ministry. He was simply open to wherever the Holy Spirit would lead him. In chapter 8 of Acts, when persecution broke out in Jerusalem and they started arresting and killing Christians, the church scattered and Philip took that as an opportunity to travel to a town called Samaria where he shared the gospel. His preaching was accompanied by a powerful display of miracles and healings, and many people trusted in Jesus Christ. In light of his ministry success in Samaria, he could have easily settled down and possibly even launched a new mega ministry, but because Philip was so in tune with the spirit he was always on the move. Verse 26 says after that encounter, an angel showed up and directed him to go to a specific desert road where he would meet a very important man. That divine appointment was with the treasurer of Ethiopia, a man of great authority who worked closely with the queen of that nation and just happened to be passing through. When Philip arrives at the location the angel directed him to, the Holy Spirit whispers in his ear to walk alongside the carriage carrying the Ethiopian treasurer and to simply listen. As Philip did, he heard the Ethiopian reading from the Old Testament one of the prophecies about Jesus. Phillip interrupts him to ask if he understood what he was reading, the man responded by saying he didn’t. And so, for the next hour Philip explained how Jesus Christ fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies. When he was done, the treasurers’ heart was so changed by the gospel that he asked to be baptized immediately and Phillip obliged him. Listen to how verse 39 ends the story “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.” You know what’s amazing about this story? It’s the fact that when Philip set out that morning, he had no idea where and what the Lord was going to do. He simply knew that the gospel message needed to be shared and he trusted in the power of the Holy Spirit to lead and direct him, the gifts were a side benefit. What’s even more amazing is the man whom he shared the gospel with.
BETWEEN 2 WORLDS . ORG - April 15, 2010 Consider this fact. Through this experience with Philip, this Ethiopian treasurer was taking the gospel message back to the high and mighty palaces of Ethiopia, and through him many people in Ethiopia and Africa would hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. I wonder if it at some point spread to the natives in the area of Nigeria at the time? Talk about being an unintentional missionary! Philip was not a prophet nor was he one of the great 12 apostles, he was a regular congregation member just like you and who believed God was able to do great things through the Holy Spirit living in him. Are you willing to believe that God wants to and is able to do such a mighty work in your life? Remember, it is never about your gifts or how many people you want to reach for Jesus – it is always about the power of God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon your life. That’s what we need to be crying out to God for, we want more of you Jesus, more of you Lord in our lives! To get an electronic copy of this document, download it from our website for free (www . between2worlds . org) Segun Aiyegbusi is an ordained reverend and serves as pastor of young adult ministries at Grace the church on the Mount in New Jersey. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary in New York and has a passion for preaching and teaching in-depth Biblical truths. Segun and his wife Modupe reside in Netcong, New Jersey and enjoy mentoring young couples and single adults in their twenties. They both currently minister to young adults in a ministry called THE REMIX. www . remixnj . com www . grace4families . com www . facebook . com / people / Segun-Aiyegbusi / 649908331 To get an electronic copy of this document, download it from our website for free (www . between2worlds . org) 5
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2021/SOM1/SCE‐COW/019 EPWG Work Plan 2021/SOM1/SCE‐COW/020 PPSTI Work Plan 2021/SOM1/SCE‐COW/021 EGILAT Work Plan 2021/SOM1/SCE‐COW/022 SMEWG Work Plan 2021/SOM1/SCE‐COW/023 TELWG Work Plan 2021/SOM1/SCE‐COW/024 TWG Work Plan 18. The SCE approved the document classification list as amended.
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OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATORS & SURVEYORS LSS OCCASIONAL PAPER No. 3 AAI&S TECHNICAL PAPER No. 9 1988. THE ILLUSTRATION OF LITHIC ARTEFACTS: A GUIDE TO DRAWING STONE TOOLS FOR SPECIALIST REPORTS by Hazel Martingell and Alan Saville ASSOCIATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATORS & SURVEYORS THE LITHIC STUDIES SOCIETY NORTHAMPTON 1988 ISBN 0 9513246 0 8 ISSN 0950-9208. 1 Introduction This booklet .
