"5. The gift of miracles. The book of Acts is a series of miracles"so why would we ever assume God pulled the plug on that power? He still opens prison doors, breaks chains, releases angels, opens blind eyes, changes weather patterns and delivers people of demons. If we remove the miraculous from our Christianity, we portray a puny God to the world. He is a miracle worker!" - J. Lee Grady
Yeah. No. When we portray God as a schizophrenic welcher of what He allegedly promised we paint a far worse imaginary God. Look, God can do whatever He wants with His creation so technically he could change weather patterns but why are you bringing it up? Have you seen the lunatic Charismatics who have prayed against hurricanes only to then watch the hurricane make landfall and devastate countless amounts of people? Do you think this brings glory to God or reproach to His name? Why are you bringing up angels? I have only seen mockery in Charismania when it comes to angels. Jennifer LeClaire claimed to have the power to release the angels of abundant harvest but only after she published her book of the same title. C'mon Lee. Bill Johnson brags about angel feathers falling all around him in a diner one night. These are not miracles, and they distract from the genuine miracles God does do. Does God deliver people from demons? Sure, but not the way modern Charismania portrays it. Just today I saw another article on Charisma News from the "demon slayers" who think that we have to discern if someone is laughing uncontrollably or shaking violently if the manifestation is of God or not! Spoiler alert! It is not!. As if these could be true manifestations of the spirit of God. We should be about the father's business, but we have to separate from the charlatans that steal the gifts for their own personal gain.
"6. Prophecy. God loves to speak to His people, and He wants to use us to relay His message. I consider the gift of prophecy "supernatural encouragement" because it always edifies the person who receives a word from the Lord"even if it is corrective. Will you allow God to use you to speak His direct message to others?" - J. Lee Grady
I like that description because prophecy now is contained to scripture. There are no extra-biblical revelations. God did not forget to tell us something that He is now conveying through Mike Bickle. That is absurd. The problem is that the false prophet network pretends the rules have changed. That they can be wrong and still be a prophet. What is worse is that most are trained to empty themselves through transcendental meditation and assign the first thought into their wickedly deceitful heart as coming directly from God. That is not prophecy. It is also not prophecy to speak vague future fragments over believers. That is called clairvoyance. Most prophecy today in charismatic circles is nothing more than psychic parlor tricks.
"7. Discernment (or "discerning of spirits"). When the Holy Spirit gave His gifts, He also provided a way for us to tell the difference between God's work and a demonic counterfeit. Not all that is supernatural is from God, so we need discernment to protect us from false prophecy and occultic fakery. We also need this gift to set people free from demonic bondage." - J. Lee Grady
This is probably the most needed and less encouraged gift of the spirit. No one in churchianity likes calling out what is false. The perfect example is Dr. Michael Brown who wrote a great book denouncing antinomianism but then refuses to call Joseph Prince a false teacher! When Jennifer LeClaire declared there was a sneaky squid spirit stalking her, Brown invited her on his radio program to give her space to defend herself from all the righteous criticism she had received. Grady almost has it right, but we really need this gift to set the church free from demonic bondage. I remember one night at my old church they had an itinerant preacher on Friday night who made everyone come up and throw their offering money on the altar. I remember watching in horror, discerning this was obviously demonic, as people lined up to throw their money at his feet. Church today needs a discernment ministry to watch that the apostate influences in this world do not infiltrate the body of Christ.
"8. Speaking in tongues. There are "various kinds of tongues" mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:10. Believers can have their own private prayer language, but some people are also gifted to speak in tongues in a church meeting. I also know of situations where Christians received a special ability to speak in a foreign language so they could communicate the gospel.
9. Interpretation of tongues. Similar to prophecy, this gift can relay a message from God that was spoken in a foreign or angelic tongue. Linguistic barriers don't limit our God; He loves the entire world and He knows all languages!" - J. Lee Grady
