Natural talents verses God given

Yeah, I meant it about a person driving.. From where I sit there is a shortage of church van drivers..

As for eating.... You've got me there.. but let me think on it.

Of course doing an activity that is a sin cannot glorify God (not thinking of eating, just thinking!) But something that is not a sin can.
We just have to use our sanctified imagination.

 

Isnt that passage mainly talking about honoring the Lord in all things? Surely that would include restraining oneself at the appropriate times as well as using abilities and skills in a way that bring glory to Him. The psalmist wrote that we should "play skillfully".

 

As always tatertot, you speak with wisdom!

 

Spiritual gifts are gifts of grace to the church for the edification of all. The word stems from the word for grace.

 

Yes, it is. That's why it shouldn't be used to sanctify unhallowed practices in Christian worship.

The psalmist wrote that we should "play skillfully".

The Psalmist also wrote that we should offer bullocks on the altar. The commandments in the OT concerning outward expressions of worship only apply spiritually to the Church.

The Apostle commands simplicity in Christian worship, and certainly forbids any kind of exhibitionism. So the church is no place for anyone to show off his skill.

The point of the thread is natural talents vs spiritual gifts, but it quickly turned into an argument for the excesses of modern worship. And that's because the excesses of modern worship cannot be justified if we are obeying the Apostle and observing the distinction between natural talents and ministerial gifts.

 

Aaron, it "quickly turned into an argument for the excesses of worship" because you took it there. Someone inadvertently used the "D-word" (drums) and you had your predictable fit over that. You find a way to weave the foundational point of your theology--"acceptable" worship practices--into every thread you post in. It gets old.

Now back to the original programming...

1 Peter 4:10-12 (New King James Version)

10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.