10-2-7 The Gifts Of God

Rev. Jacqueline Henry’s Response

I agree. I agree with everything that Duncan said. Nevertheless I feel that God has called me to leadership in his church, not to priesthood I think. There has been no priest since New Testament times. Jesus the High Priest and the final sacrifice, was the last priest. (Some Church of England people would start heckling me here)

And God has led me through different ways. I do feel that God has called me. How do we know that what we feel is right? John said, “Test the spirits.” if somebody says something, you must test it out. People get together and pray about it, how does it feel to them? No one person can make a decision about anything. we must test it out together as the body of Christ. He also said, “By their fruits you shall know them.” if someone says, “I have come as a leader,” and then there’s disharmony, then that’s wrong. If we quote history and quote wars we know the fruits of that was many dead and many injured. We know that’s wrong because of the result. We look at some of the things that men and women in the past have done and we say yes, that was right, that was good, because we can test and we can see by the fruit what is right and wrong. God shows us. We have lots of things to test rightness and wrongness by.

Back to myself, God led me first of all to work with youth clubs and that was my first ministry. To work with a youth club that was Mods, over the road we had the Rockers. And we wanted to talk, the leaders of that club, to young people about Jesus. So yes, the women in the early church who used their gifts for speaking to unbelievers, surely that’s what we’re all asked to do. We are asked not to share the gospel among ourselves and enjoy a theological argument; we are asked to go and tell others about Jesus. And so the gift that God has given me and other women in leadership, is not for my own benefit, not even for the benefit of the church where I work; it is for the benefit of my community where I live or, for some years, for the benefit of the church and the community in Africa where I worked.

I believe God does give gifts, and they’re for unbelievers. Sometimes the church has to be built up, and today, with education, men and women are equally able to teach the church, but not for their own benefit. It was G.K.Chesterton I think who said:

‘The church is the only club that exists for people who are not members.” So yes, I agree with what Duncan is saying, and yes I think my gifts are for telling others about Jesus. It is a gift for unbelievers.

I think I would like to finish there because otherwise we could just argue verses backwards and forwards. That’s my testimony. Thank you.