Spiritual Gifts Archives - The Paraclete's Hammer

Why Are They Called the Redemptive Gifts?

14 May 202329 May 2023 by theparacleteshammer, posted in Redemptive Gifts

Birthing……

It’s something every organization needs.

And as a new organization comes into being, there is, at its root, someone responsible for the conception and gestation of that idea. Responsible for the materials, the assets…that are used to bring that organization into being.

Birthing is the job of the Giver. And the protection of that nascent life is the responsibility of the Servant. Without the Giver and the Servant, the new thing is not sustainable.

I can hear the groans now from the crowd now. “Again with this Avengers schtick! David, what the hell does this have to do with redemption?! Or spiritual gifts.”

I am glad you asked that question, or did not ask it. Here is a lovely, protracted response.

In the case of the Avengers, the Giver that gave life to the organization was Phil Coulson. With his death, ultimately. And the Servant that protected its young life, its soul, its heart, its integrity, and kept it from getting twisted off-mission was Steve Rogers, starting from the moment he got suspicious of Phase 2 weapons created with the Tesseract, through the events of Civil War, attempted to help Tony and Bucky find their respective ways back home, through Infinity War, and he was the rallying point for the entire team.

And the purpose of the Avengers was to fight the battles humanity could not otherwise fight. They were made to take a situation that had been made horrid and to improve it, to take what was lost and regain it, restoring it, to compensate for the faults of those for whom they fought.

In other words, they fought to redeem a lost hope.

Aaaaannnnnnnd leave it to the cocky Exhorter to put forth the organization’s vision toward the villian…

Redeem…..

Sound familiar, gang?

REDEMPTIVE Gifts

I have a theory about why the gifts were called “redemptive”….so, bear with me on this as I work through this.

They were called the Redemptive Gifts because these seven designs show us seven flavors of redemption, which is a common theme in Scripture.

We seven were made to, in alignment with the covenant we have with Reality Himself, bring the best of redemption, reconiciliaton, and victory to humanity, to creation, and to the spiritual realm. We were made to redeem….after the acts of our Father, Bridegroom, and Paraclete.

Redemption is a major part of the biblical text.

2 Cor 5:17-21: the King’s chief mission is not to merely save people, according to the way we think of “saving” people. This reality is not meant to merely be one protracted altar call alone, though that does form part of the reality. Rather, it is to reconcile and redeem all of creation to the Father, as much of it as will come in accordance to the call and appeal of the Beloved Lover made through us as His conduits. I dare say too many people think our job is solely one of spiritual geographic transfer of humans; just to remove people from hell, depositing them into heaven. L-rd knows, we hear plenty of altar calls that are only for salvation, baptism, and church membership. Yet, this is not the point or the crux of the ministry we have been handed. Nevertheless, too often, consideration is not given to what happens after we have turned people from hell to heaven. However, a people that has been only relocated like chattel without thought given to fostering love and connection within them, among them, or with them is good for what?!
Exodus 6:6: Father’s ultimate mission was to redeem Israel from Mizraim. True, we are talking about the geographic movement and liberation of an oppressed people from their oppressors, getting Israel out of Mizraim. However, we are also talking about getting the Mizraim out of Israel. Dad wanted to use the season in the wilderness to deliver a nation of slaves from slavery into sonship. From bondage into freedom. Redemption is tied to the rescue from the things that oppress us externally, yes, but it is also about rescuing us from the things that shackle us internally, things that keep us from flowing in the liberty for which Father designed us.
This is another aspect of the Gifts, and the many vareigations of redemption, liberation, and reconciliation, both internal and external. Seven flavors of rescue; reconciliation; restoration; upward-and-forward motion; righteous strategy and warfare; protection; accrual of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding (none of these three are better than the other two, they are just different storehouses and repositories of acquisition). Seven designs, each unique from the other six. Seven perspectives on Kingdom execution, and each one a shadow of its potential without the other six. There is a reason the Prophet wants the news and describes things as black-and-white while the Mercy wants the details and the emotions and the “this is what I feel”. The Prophet activates the Mercy’s mind, and the Mercy activates the Prophet’s heart. Without heart, the Prophet will be a shadows of their potential, and without ethics and integrity, the Mercy’s excellence will never take flight. In another facet, The Exhorter Himself, Yeshua, wounds and activates the Teacher’s arena and brings to them encounter with the Living Word, if the Teacher will ask for it, so their mind is not only emotionally safe, but their hearts are also in play and tender toward those in their charge.
The seven gifts were made to work in tandem with one another. This is why the primacy of love. Because without love, we will not help Further, the process described in the book of Numbers following the rescue of slaves from bondage, is what the King means with all of us: taking a generation of slaves and transforming them into a generation of sons. Sonship is the next and eternal adventure that awaits us post-rescue.
Leviticus 25: Father made mention repeatedly of the concept of redemption of things, of land, of animals, of homes, and of firstborn. Meaning redemption comes to these things, meaning redemptive dynamics were made to touch all of cration.
Romans 8 tells us the following: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of G-d. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of G-d. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” Meaning, we were made to bring redemption to bear on all of creation, at some level. Now, we can argue to what end that is meant to be, but my contention is, let’s try some things and allow the King to say yes or no to us in our work, and let’s figure out how deeply we can bring redemption to each part of creation, not merely to humans.
2 Chronicles 7:14 gets overlooked. The L-rd promises that, when we repent and seek Him, not that He will heal us, but rather heal our LAND.
Ruth is a story of redemption, moving a Moabite into native Israel, and giving her a new heritage, which was her deepest heart’s cry, even though she was originally a pagan. In Ruth, we see how she showed loyalty to a despairing native Israelite, and herself was provided a home a place, a legacy in Israel, and a son that ultimately became an ancestor to the greatest king of Israel, David, who in turn became the father of the Messiah.
Psalm 26 and Job 5:20: we were made to be Rescued not just from hell, but also from death.
Psalm 130 shows the picture of redemption from generational sin, called iniquity.
And, given we are discussing the Redemptive Gifts, I would contend that, when the L-rd Himself knitted us together and designed us, and those gifts are tied explicitly to design, they were hardwired into us from the beginning. It’s the initial kiss from the King, that came hardwired into us along with our human spirits.
Psalm 139 is fairly explicit in some of its language, so let us proceed there.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139:13-14 ESV

All of Him made all of us, for a purpose. I despise dropping a turd of exposition in the middle of one of David’s most lovely poems, but I am going to do that for those that need the cross-reference.

We are his workmanship created in Messiah Yeshua for good works, which G-d prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them, per Ephesians 2:10.

Meaning, before we knew Him, we were created originally in Him for those works, originally designed for those good works. Now, whether or not we walk in those works, and whether or not we ever come to know Him, those choices are clearly ours. However, that does not negate that we were designed by Him for those works from the moment 23 and 23 equaled 46. He gave us those drives, inclincations, momenta, and motivations (another common term for the Redemptive Gifts are the Motivational Gifts) before we even came to know Him.

23 chromosomes from each of the gametes yield a being with 46 chromosomes.

Now, I could say that we are only given gifts by the L-rd following our salvation,

but…

…knowing the King lavishes His love and His prevenient grace (the grace that intervenes ahead of time) on us before we came to know Him…

…given Romans 1 notes the L-rd’s invisible attributes, namely, “His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world” demonstrating we are without excuse as to the outpouring of His knowledge, and built into ALL creations are the seeds of redemption and redemptive power…

…and given it is the heart of the Father to demonstrate His love toward us while we were yet sinners, as Romans 5:8 says, which is a passage dealing with salvation and redemption…

..and given σῴζω in its range of meaning can mean “I save”, or “I preserve”, or “I benefit”…

….it is entirely possible and within the realm of biblical reality that the King hardwired us in such a way that our designed trajectory is such that…

…momentum toward him is easier than away from him, and gifts were given to us, kisses from the King, in order to lead us to Him, that we might find Him….

My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:15-16 ESV

And redemption was meant to be so transformative in to make things as if the bad had never happened. There is a transformational aspect that pervades all things redemptive.

Our interaction with Him is not merely a salvation issue or a leaving hell issue. It’s an issue of being reconciled to a loving Father, who yearns emotionally for us, from the point of conception. So, I would argue He hardwired us in our mothers’ wombs from conception, not for sin, which the clowns would love to twist, but rather for coming back home. Especially given we are made in His image and according to His likeness.

So, the picture of why these gifts are called “redemptive” strikes me as the Father’s loving intention to place as many marks in front of and inside of us in order to lead us back home to Him.

And, indeed, where can we honestly go that He is not? Where can we go to escape from His presence? Where can we flee from him?

Even in Sheol, the land of the dead, and in Hell, He is there with us.

Were we to make our bed with death, He could still be found with us, and He waits for us as the woman Wisdom, calling and wooing us to himself. Offering her treasures in the street. Peculiar and precious and precocious treasures.

Just some thoughts.

The Redemptive Gifts. What Are They?

15 July 20194 May 2023 by theparacleteshammer, posted in Redemptive Gifts

NOTE: At the end of each post, I will provide a link to the next post on the Prophet, and each subsequent post in the sequence of the Redemptive Gifts, and following the Prophet, I will link at the top of subsequent posts where you are coming from. Thus, the set of Redemptive Gift Posts will form a chain link. And now, the introductory post.

“Wait a minute, what do you mean by ‘redemptive gifts?’ “

“Why are you calling that person a Mercy? I thought Mercy was an adjective.”

“How is a Redemptive Prophet different from an office Prophet?”

“What is this goofy language you are using, David?”

“It sounds like you are part of a cult.”

Well, not really. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we might be doing that we forget who came along for the ride.

Allow me to back up and to partly explain why you are here.

You are here in part because of my doing.

You see, I have an unusual capacity to draw people in. When I want to draw a crowd or group, it can be useful. But when I want to do one-on-one with people, it can be a little bit………frustrating?

I have come to some startling realizations among those people that call me friend. I have this uncanny knack for being able to draw people who are absolute strangers to a given concept, and helping them grow into an understanding of the concept, and then helping them segue to the next season using that concept or those concepts as tools in the next season.

To the place where they are ready to transition to a larger season, set of relationships, or set of truths. In fullness, we move from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18), from strength to strength (Psalm 84:7), and from faith to faith (Habakkuk 2:4), for as it is written, “the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). And part of my job description is to help people increase their capacity to receive, store, apply, and utilize.

Kind of like a bright star….more on that later.

I came to this realization in the last few weeks while working to walk well with a new set of friends who are relatively new to the concept of the Redemptive Gifts. And, since the concept of the gifts and their associated terms are common conversation points on The Paraclete’s Hammer, I figured that I would give a ground-zero entry-point, an intro post for those people who might not know what the gifts are, what we mean when we say “Redemptive Gifts”, and how they hook in to the rest of Scripture.

So, without further adieu, the Intro:

When we discuss Redemptive Gifts, we are referring to those seven gifts that are found in Romans 12:6-8.

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”
Romans 12:6–8 ESV

From that Scripture passage, we pull the following list of seven gifts.

Prophet
Servant
Teacher
Exhorter
Giver
Ruler
Mercy

First delineated by Bill Gothard of the Institute of Basic Life Principles decades ago as Redemptive Gifts, these gifts have several associated parallel patterns throughout Scripture were discovered by Mrs. Judy Lee and the Gifts and their parallels were popularized by Arthur Burk of Sapphire Leadership Group.

So, at the outset, before anyone decides to label me a heretic for mentioning Bill Gothard in anything other than a “stone-the-heretic-with-stones-that-he-may-die” tone of voice, please go jump in a freaking creek or take a cold shower.

These gifts were not only seen as distinct from the Manifestation Gifts of 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, and different again from the Office Gifts of Ephesians 4, they were also connected to many of the other heptadic (“heptadic” means “seven-fold”) groupings found throughout Scripture. A pattern that repeats. Also known in mathematics as “a fractal”.

Yes, I know I could probably nuance the definition and terms a bit better than that, but for our purposes of looking at patterns and types and symbols in Scripture, such a definition suits the purpose, and I know the definition might break under overanalysis, but this is not the time for that. I am plenty armed for that work at a later date.

In Scripture, there are patterns among the heptadic groupings throughout scripture that link together. For example, Teachers are often found in medical and research arenas, and most medicines derive from some plant life on some level, and when were plants created?

The Third Day, and the Teacher is listed third among the seven gifts.

Further, in Scripture, we see the Bronze Laver used for cleansing in the Tabernacle as the second of Seven Key Objects In the Tabernacle of Moses.

And the Servant and the Second Day, where the weather patterns and atmospheres were created, occupy the second position of the Fractal of Seven, and both have unusual capacity to cleanse.

Further, the Seven Days of Creation show us the following parallels, if you will pardon the repetition of the Second Day. Granted, this is not going to be an exhaustive list, and it is only going to be a getting-your-feet-wet intro:

For Day 1, we see the Creation of Light. But consider this. Not only did G-d create light on that first day, but He also created everything that was necessary for that light to exist on that first day. Now, reasoning from principle and using a little bit of science, what is required for light to exist? Understanding that “all different types of light are part of an electromagnetic field that flows across time,” and understanding that light is both a wave and a particle, you have to have four things: Time, Space, the Laws of Science, and then the Matter that operates within in those natural laws. And as Time, Space, the Laws or Science, and Matter are necessary building blocks, or Principles with which G-d built everything and which He utilized in order to get His Light to every dark place, so the Prophet is known for, using the principles governing all of reality as tools and building blocks, putting a million of them together in order to produce something that is useful and new. To illustrate, it was was not a simplistic “up” and “go” that got the first airplane into the skies. Rather it was a complex weaving together of dozens upon dozens of principles and variables. Thrust, lift, birdflight, gliding, kites, behavior of different wingforms in the air, windspeed, catapults before the first airplane wheels were considered, weight, loft, temperature, weather, and on and on and on. The Prophet’s ballpark and expertise is in the area of everything embodied by that first day and so much more.
For Day 2, the Servant’s Day, G-d created the waters above, the waters below, the expanse between (the sky and atmosphere) and the weather patterns. And what do the weather patterns and the atmosphere and sky and oceans do? Quite simply, they perform massive cleansing and massive life-giving functions. They are not readily seen usually, but they keep us alive in ways we do not understand. Likewise, the Servant carries this massive capacity to cleanse people, above all the other gifts.
For Day 3, G-d created the dry land and Vegetation, which is where we get the first concept of the Teacher. The dry landforms, dens for animals, tree homes for woodland critters, desert landforms for desert critters, polar and rainforest areas for those critters, all the safe places for each animal was created on this day. In addition, the vegetation that provided sustenance and medicine was provided on this day. Here is the picture we draw from this; the Teacher was designed to be a safe haven, a safe place, and a safe person emotionally. There is a massive amount of medical tie-in with a Teacher, and as stated above, most medications derive from things created on the Third Day. Also, the dry land, the dens and homes for animals that were all created with the dry land on the Third Day, the Teacher is a refuge for those who are overtly oppressed. They are typically emotionally incredibly safe.
For Day 4, the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, we move to the Exhorter, and the picture here is of broad scope. The Exhorter has, of all the Redemptive Gifts the capacity for working with the widest cross section of differentiated humanity. And, the sun, moon, and stars, control tides, give warmth, provide radiance, give a broad light, and attract people to study them, wildly divergent people who would not otherwise gather. Don’t believe me. Remember the solar eclipse a few years ago in North America. It caused EVERYONE to stop and stare and talk. That is what the big, bright, massive, sparkly things do, they move masses of people to a bunch of places. Just like the Exhorters.
Day 5, the Birds and the Fish, brings us to the Giver with one key trait: timing. The Birds (including everything that flies: don’t shoot me down over bats) and the Marine Life ( everything that swarms the oceans, again, with the whales) both have MASSIVE seasonal and timing components to working together.
Day 6, the Land Beasts, deals specifically in the concept of Systems with a million moving parts that all have to synch together. Herbivores, carnivores, and humanity all living together on land having to organize themselves and engage in the work of dominion.
With the 7th Day, we come to the concept of rest, and the Mercy was made to just be and experience the depths of intimacy.

Granted, that is just one overly-simple expression of the pattern of how one grouping of seven parallels the Seven Redemptive Gifts.

But, what I want you to see as we move into this is that each gift is unique and plays a VERY valuable component, without which, the whole creation would descend to utter chaos.

And, please draw the parallel, no matter who you are or what your gift is, (and I think we each only have one Redemptive Gift as our dominant driving force) you are EXCEPTIONALLY valuable and have a real place where you can make a difference. Not to be all things to all people, nor to be nothing at all, but to do that one thing you were made to do.

To fix the one major problem G-d made just for you to fix.

To possess the one thing that will bring you the greatest fulfillment.

To possess that thing we call your birthright.

That is the reason we discuss these concepts of Redemptive Gifts so readily.

Helping you to discover what your gift is, and what it looks like on Monday morning, functioning highly and expanding the Kingdom is one of the things that brings me intense satisfaction. And with that, we will jump into each of the gifts as they come.

Consider these things deeply as we file through each gift. Ask a ton of questions.

Think about the implications, and let’s really explore what these mean for us as a tribe.

Be blessed, and sleep the sleep of the righteous.

And for those with insomnia, here is my post on the Prophet.