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Of course that's true - but it's not a reason to avoid saying that 'Jesus died'.

Seven questions? I think I must have missed some of them somewhere. Perhaps you could make a neat and tidy list of the ones I haven't answered, because I'm losing track of them all. "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us"...

Tongues and interpretation The gift of tongues is surely the ‘ultimate’ spiritual gift, the one that shows beyond all doubt that the speaker is filled with the Holy Spirit. Wasn’t it the gift of tongues that evidenced the coming of the Holy Spirit and kick-started the Church in the Day of...

If He laid down His life, than He died. That's all I meant. And He did die for sin - not His sins, but ours. All through the New Testament, the apostles are perfectly happy to say that Jesus simply 'died'. Why do you have a problem with this?

Well, there may be no way round it in your system of theology, but that should make you stop and rethink your rigid theology, shouldn't it? It just doesn't fit the facts of the situation. Maybe it wasn't faith that was lacking, but the will of God... That's why faith only has to be as big as a...

Every Christian prays for the sick; we don't get special titles for doing that. I have no desire to commit myself to a percentage success rate that should be taken as evidence of a 'gift'. Suppose I said 20% - would someone with just 19% not qualify? Who keeps such a close tally of their...

If you weren't around at the time, you wouldn't know - but that was very far from being the case. He was a very high-profile preacher and author, who believed in the power and gifts of the Spirit, and there were many who were absolutely convinced that God would heal him. They turned out to be wrong.

Why is it "obviously not the gift of healing", then? What percentage would you require to call it a gift of healing? Most people don't need a special 'word' from God to know what their gift is. I've never had one. Usually it's other Christians who will tell you what your gift is, because they...

Ah... thankyou for clarifying that. It isn't my thoughts - it's observation and experience. I still remember, for example, that many Christians struggled to accept that David Watson could die from cancer (this was back in 1984)

‘Come with us’ (Numbers 10:29-32) As the Israelites prepare to leave Mount Sinai, Moses invites his Midianite in-laws to come with them. “Come with us ands we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.” (verse 29) Initially, Hobab refuses; he is reluctant to leave his...

Oh yes you did - see reply 20. This was before I brought Job into the discussion.

I'm sorry, but how does this passage shed any light on Paul's thorn? If anything, it's telling us what the thorn is not, rather than what it is. Having listed all his sufferings for the gospel in such great detail, surely the thorn that he introduces a few sentences further on (and is so...

Sorry - I now realise that what I wrote was a bit ambiguous. What I meant to say was: "Somehow I get the impression that Paul's three prayers were more than just brief requests." I'm not certain that it was sickness. All I have said is that it could have been. Where does it say "clearly" what...

Please explain in what way I am departing from Scripture. I said "much prayer" - not "many prayers"... you are reading into my words something that isn't there. Somehow I get the impression that Paul's "three times" was more than just three brief requests. How can you be so certain that it...

Discernment The gift of discernment enables us to distinguish between what is the work of the Spirit and what is a product of the flesh (or maybe of an evil spirit). This is especially important in conjunction with some of the other gifts, such as miracles and prophecy. For not everything is...

Suffering may well come via the hand of Satan, but that doesn't necessarily make it against God's will (Paul's 'thorn in the flesh', whatever it was, was both "a messenger of Satan" and something used by God to keep him weak - and humble - II Corinthians 12:7) I think Paul's response to his...

There are many scriptures that tell us about the necessity for suffering. For example: Acts 14:22, Hebrews 12:7-11, I Peter 4:19

"[The Spirit] distributes [the gifts] to each one, just as He determines" (I Corinthians 12:11) says it pretty clearly to me. Of course, there may well be a lot of overlap between those who are seeking a particular gift and those to whom the Spirit intends to give it. A desire for the gift may...

The New Testament doesn't have a special word for 'church'; the apostles used ekklesia, the normal Greek word for 'assembly'. So what makes an 'assembly' a 'church'? The New Testament letters were written mostly to churches, and many of the greetings at the beginning contain more than just...

Prophecy The gift of prophecy enables us to hear and relay personal messages from God. It applies God’s word to the present situation or to a particular individual, for “strengthening, encouragement and comfort” (I Corinthians 14:3). This is a highly valuable gift, and it is not surprising...