Yesterday I submitted an article, written by request, for publication in the October 2019 issue of the Pentecostal Life magazine. The article discusses the seven motivational gifts of Romans 12: prophecy, teaching, leading, giving, exhorting, showing mercy, and ministry [serving].

As in his teaching on the nine spiritual gifts in I Corinthians 12, Paul used the analogy of the human body to explain the gifts’ interrelationships. If you have been born again, you are a member of Christ’s body and are, by definition, spiritually gifted to fulfill your role in the body of Christ.

The question is not whether you have a gift. The question is what is your gift and how will you use it. When you identify and and work in the area of your giftedness, it leads to a sense of fulfillment and to success in your efforts. Attempts to work outside the area of your giftedness tends to result in frustration and burnout.[archive]

Last night, at the 2019 Urshan Graduate School of Theology Seventeenth Annual Commencement and the Urshan College Fifty-First Annual Commencement, I had the opportunity to talk with Rev. Jerry Jones. Brother Jones, former long time general secretary of the United Pentecostal Church International, is a graduate of UGST and now serves as the assistant professor of theological and pastoral studies and director of the Christian ministries program at Urshan College.

Professor Jones said he had expected to see me in regalia, but this was the first time in probably thirty-five years I did not need to wear it. This is one of the benefits of retirement![archive]