5 Smooth Stones

church, or shepherd, the ascension gift as given by the Lord. By separating the gift from the government or position within a church, the Church will discover that gifts have been given to all kinds of people, and some of these people are out in the congregation. Unfortunately there exists a tendency within the church to assume that only people with o ffi cial positions have these ascension gifts and this has caused a belief that head leadership positions can go to only one of the fi ve gifts. The gift is further limited when we a tt empt to function independently of other leaders. With these assumptions we allow two weaknesses within our congregations. First, we overlook the gifted people who do not hold or aspire to hold positions, and second, we limit our chief positions to only one of the fi ve gifts the Lord has supplied us. We have left untapped the power to release the saints of God to do works of service within the Church. It is a simple statement that any elders may be fi ve-fold, but not all fi ve-fold will be elders, and not all elders or fi ve-fold will be shepherds. There are examples around the world of people ordained and working in their gifts, yet not serving in the government of the church. There are women ordained as shepherds who are serving as cell leaders, yet not par ticipating in the oversight of the church. It will become a great revolution in the Church as a whole when we are able to release all of the people of God into their God given gifts to the Church, and not necessarily require a governmental position. A true understanding of the shepherd’s gift, and its need within the Church will have a major positive impact by not only releasing the saints to their service within the Church, but also by allowing those of us who do function as overseers to be more e ff ective, and allow the Lord to more e ff ectively put to use all the gifts in our churches. ENDNOTES: 8 New American Standard Bible (NASB or NAS), Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. All Rights Reserved. www.Lockman.org" 9 New American Standard Bible (NASB or NAS), Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. All Rights Reserved. www.Lockman.org" 10 Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All Rights Reserved. 11 An example of one who combines the two gifts incorrectly into one, is John F. Walvoord, Chancellor, Dallas Theological Seminary, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts, “The gift of

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