Preventing Helter-Skelter Worship

“God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.”
– 1 Corinthians 14:33

Church services in the early Christian church looked a bit different from our services today.

 

1 Corinthians 14:26-33 gives us the earliest written record of what a Christian worship service was like in New Testament times. In verse 26, Paul writes: “Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, another language, or an interpretation.”

 

Did you notice that there’s no mention of a pastor? Most of those early services were led by regular, everyday Christians. And because there was no New Testament yet, the Holy Spirit blessed ordinary Christians with extraordinary gifts, so that they all could contribute to the worship service.

 

But there was a problem. When the Corinthian Christians came together to worship, the services were chaotic. The tongue-speakers were clogging the airwaves, speaking over each other, often without an interpreter. As a result, the Christians weren’t edified because they couldn’t understand anything the tongue-speakers were saying. So, at the end of verse 26, the Apostle Paul tells them: “Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.”

 

To make sure all Christians are edified by the service, Paul lays out three basic rules for tongues and for prophecy. The first two rules were the same for each gift:

 

Rule #1: No more than two or three tongue-speakers / prophets are allowed to speak in a church service (vs. 27 & 29).

 

Rule #2: Tongue-speakers / Prophets must speak one at a time (vs. 27 & 30).

 

Rule #3 has slight variations for tongue-speakers and prophets:

 

Rule #3 for tongue-speakers: If there’s no interpreter, he must keep quiet (v. 28).

 

Rule #3 for prophets: Other prophets should use the established truth of Scripture to carefully judge what is prophesied (v. 29).

 

Since Paul has established that ALL church ministry must be edifying, understandable and orderly, these rules make complete sense. Without them, the service would turn into a jumbled mess. In verse 40, Paul summarizes the overriding principle of his message to the Church: “Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”

 

Whether it’s a Sunday morning service that is highly structured and led by a pastor, or if it’s a Bible study, a prayer meeting or another ministry that is less structured and is led by everyday Christians, ALL church ministry should be edifying, understandable and orderly. To God be the glory!

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services at 9am: at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville, or at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

What Is the Gift of Prophecy?

“The one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.”
– 1 Corinthians 14:3

There’s a lot of confusion in the Church today about the spiritual gift of prophecy. What is it, and are there prophets alive today?

 

The first man in the Bible to be called a prophet is Abraham. In Genesis 20:7, Abraham is described as a man who has a direct line of communication with God. And as the Old Testament unfolds, it becomes clear that Jewish priests spoke to God on behalf of the people, while prophets spoke to the people on behalf of God.

 

In the New Testament, the spiritual gift of prophecy is shown as the God-given ability to communicate divine revelations for the education, encouragement, and comfort of the Church. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul emphasizes prophecy because in his day — before the New Testament books had been written — God delivered His holy Word directly to prophets, and the prophets proclaimed it to the Church. Prophecy was the primary way for Jesus Christ to speak His word to His Church.

 

How about today? The primary way that Christ speaks to His Church is through preaching and teaching of the Bible … the written Word of God. So, as prophecy was to the church in Corinth, preaching and teaching God’s Word are to churches today. As a pastor, I’m a teacher of God’s Word as it’s revealed in Scripture — as opposed to a prophet, who receives fresh revelation from God.

 

So, is the spiritual gift of prophecy still active in the Church in 2026? Because God’s revelation to mankind was made complete in the New Testament, I believe the answer is “No.” It seems clear that the spiritual gift of prophecy was vital in the early years of the Christian Church, before the New Testament was assembled. But biblical and historical evidence indicates that this gift is not active in today’s Church — at least, not in the same way it was active in the early Church.

 

Since preaching and teaching are for Christians today what prophecy was to Christians in Paul’s day, it is the preaching and teaching of God’s Word that must be at the center of ALL ministry … both to Christians within the Church, and for the evangelism of unbelievers outside the Church. As the Bible tells us in Hebrews 4:12: “The Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

 

Whether it was through gifted prophets in First Century Corinth, or through preachers, teachers and evangelists today, God’s #1 tool for building up Christians is the Word of God.

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services at 9am: at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville, or at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

What Is Speaking in Tongues?

“For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God.” – 1 Corinthians 14:2

There’s a lot of confusion and disagreement about the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues. So, just what is this gift?

 

As always, the best place to get answers about pressing spiritual questions is the Bible. In Acts 2, the Bible presents the gift of tongues as it happened on the Day of Pentacost, just 10 days after Jesus ascended into heaven. In this instance, the Christians were “filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (v. 4). And when a crowd gathered to hear them, each person heard the Christians speaking in their own language (v.6).

 

The gift of tongues is mentioned two times later in the book of Acts, and again in 1 Corinthians 12-14, but the only clear description we’re given is in Acts 2. That’s why many conservative Christians today are skeptical of Christians who claim to have the gift of tongues but are not speaking a language that anyone understands.

 

Based on what we find in the Bible, I believe that the gift of tongues that Paul teaches about in 1 Corinthians is NOT the same gift of tongues that’s described in Acts 2. In 1 Corinthians 14:2, Paul writes: “For the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.” Unlike the tongues of Acts 2, which were heard as understandable human languages, the tongues mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14 seem to be languages that NO human can understand.

 

So, is the spiritual gift of tongues still active in the church today? In light of the biblical record and the writings of church leaders in the first few centuries of Christianity, it appears that the gift of tongues wasn’t active in the church once the apostles died. And it remained inactive for the most part until the early part of the 20th Century, when the practice of tongues played a key role in the birth of the Pentacostal movement.

 

What do we do about an issue where many Christians disagree so sharply? Pastor Chuck Swindoll gives us 2 beautiful insights about the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues:

 

Insight #1: “Any authentic gift of the Spirit must conform to the Bible’s prescription for its use. Without dispute, every gift of the Spirit … was given for building up the church, not puffing up the one with the gift (14:12). The edification of the church is to result in unity and love, not disunity and conflict (Eph. 4:11-16).” If a Christian’s exercise of his/her spiritual gift leads to disunity and conflict, that’s a red flag. Either it’s a counterfeit gift, or it’s a real spiritual gift being used in an unloving way. So, when we exercise our spiritual gifts, let’s make sure to do it in love to unify and build up Christ’s Church.

 

Insight #2: “We don’t all need to AGREE on the issue of spiritual gifts…. Some believe speaking in tongues today is a valuable prayer language. Others think it passed away in the first century. Nevertheless, Christians can still enjoy unity and fellowship over the essentials of the faith without agreeing on all the details of disputed issues.” The Restoration Movement of the early 1800s had this motto: “In essentials unity, in nonessentials liberty, and in all things love.” In other words, Christians can disagree on nonessentials like speaking in tongues – and still remain completely unified in our faith and our mission to lead people to Christ.

 

Always remember that as Christians, we are united in our most important beliefs: the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. And when we disagree on less vital doctrines, we must show each other grace. Above all, we must continue to love one another with God’s agape love.

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services at 9am: at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville, or at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Are You the Church’s Missing Body Part?

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” – 1 Corinthians 12:27

You’ve probably heard the Church referred to as the body of believers. There’s a good reason for that.

 

Ever since Jesus ascended into heaven, the Church has been His continuing incarnation – the Body of Christ – on earth. In 1 Corinthians 12:12, the Apostle Paul emphasizes this important truth: Just as in a human body there are many individual parts, in the Church there are many individual parts that form one Body.

 

So it isn’t surprising that Paul uses body parts as an illustration for spiritual gifts: “There are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” … On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable” (vs. 20-22).

 

God’s word makes it clear that all spiritual gifts are equally important, and every Christian is given at least one when they are saved and the Holy Spirit enters them. But parts of Christ’s body are asleep on the job, because not all members of the Body exercise their spiritual gifts.

 

In verses 14-26, Paul tackles the two most common reasons Christians give when they don’t use their spiritual gifts in a ministry:

 

Reason #1 (vs. 14-20): Some Christians feel they have nothing worthwhile to contribute. They believe their gift is expendable. Many Christians have a spiritual gift inferiority complex. One of Satan’s greatest schemes, especially since Covid, is to convince Christians that the church will get along just fine without them. But according to verse 22, your contribution to the Body of Christ is “indispensable.” Can the Body of Christ function without you? Yes, but it will only function as well as your body could function with only one foot or one arm. The Body of Christ will always be a bit handicapped—falling short of its true potential—when Christians sit on the sidelines.

 

Reason #2 (vs. 21-26): Some Christians feel they are so gifted that they don’t need the help of other Christians to do great ministry. Instead of a spiritual gift inferiority complex, the Christians Paul talks about in verses 21-26 have a superiority complex. Far too many Christians think that when it comes to using their spiritual gift, the rest of the Church is expendable.

 

Back when the Son of God walked this earth in the flesh, He was the whole spiritual gifts package. He had EVERY spiritual gift. But in verses 29-30, Paul makes it clear that no one Christian has EVERY gift. And that is by design. God doesn’t want ME to be a one-man band. Jesus doesn’t want YOU to be a member of a one-person church. You need the Church, and the Church needs you.

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person or online at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Can I Trade in my Spiritual Gift?

“A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other…. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts.” – 1 Corinthians 12:7 & 11

If you’re a Christian, you have at least one spiritual gift. You weren’t born with it. You didn’t inherit it from your parents. And no one taught it to you in high school.

 

So, where did it come from? According to Pastor John MacArthur, spiritual gifts are “supernatural endowments” given to Christians by God’s “Holy Spirit.” Pastor MacArthur also highlights the PURPOSE of spiritual gifts: “They are God’s supernatural provision for the edification of the church and the evangelization of the world.”

 

Going back to God’s Word, the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12: “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other…. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have” (vs. 7 & 11, New Living Translation).

 

Before we can delve into the types of spiritual gifts, we need to look at a couple of important truths from these verses:

 

Truth #1: The Holy Spirit alone decides which Christian gets which gift, and the Holy Spirit is never wrong. You don’t get to choose your spiritual gift – and it’s a good thing. I guarantee you, the Holy Spirit did a better job of picking your gift than you would. One of my spiritual gifts is pastoring. And honestly, there have been times over the years, when things were tough, that I wished I could trade in that spiritual gift for a different one! But I know now that God has always had me right where He wanted me to be, equipped with just the right gifts to do what He called me to do. The same is true of you.

 

Truth #2: Your spiritual gift isn’t for YOU; it’s for the other Christians around you. I love to teach God’s Word. But the enjoyment I get from using my spiritual gift of teaching is simply an added bonus. Our spiritual gifts are, first and foremost, for our Christian brothers and sisters in the church. However, as you faithfully use your spiritual gifts for the good of other Christians, God will bless you with an indescribable joy. It’s a thrill to do effective, life-changing ministry right where the Holy Spirit has put you and equipped you to serve.

 

Regardless of what your specific spiritual gift is, remember, it’s a gift given to you for the good of those around you. If you’re willing to accept this truth and humbly use your gift in love for the good of your church family, the Holy Spirit will see to it that your ministry is fruitful. And, as an added bonus, He will give you joy.

 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person or online at 9 a.m. on Facebook Live or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.