A. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit The nine gifts of the Holy Spirit are divine graces from God used to not only bless the Church but win the lost. These gifts are outlined in I Corinthians 12: 7-11. 1. Utterance Gifts Prophets and prophetic people primarily operate in the: a. Gift of Prophecy - A divine message in a known tongue (i.e. English). b. Gift of Tongues - A divine message in an unknown tongue. c. Interpretation of Tongues - Interpreting a divine message in an unknown tongue into plain English. 2. Revelation Gifts The prophet's ministry is also characterized by the: a. Word of Knowledge - Knowledge about a person or situation that was not gained through natural means, but revealed by the Holy Spirit. (e.g. The Lord wants to heal someone of kidney disease.) b. Word of Wisdom ¨C Divine revelation about how or when to take action about a situation or decision. (e.g. Wait another year before getting married, as the Lord has some key situations that He wants you to have victory in before you make that commitment. ) c. Discerning of Spirits ¨C Divine revelation through the Holy Spirit revealing by what spirit one is operating under (e.g. spirit of jealousy, spirit of anger, spirit of fear, haughty spirit, spirit of grief, etc.) 3. Power Gifts Prophet's sometimes operate in: a. Gifts of Healings - Divine power to impart physical healing. b. Working of Miracles - Divine power at work to perform supernatural acts (e.g. Multiplying the loaves and fish, walking on water, changing water to wine, raising the dead.) c. Gift of Faith - Divine faith necessary to obtain a supernatural response to an urgent prayer or need. (e.g. Peter stepping out of the boat to walk on the water). B. Prophetic Teams The effectiveness of personal prophetic ministry can be greatly enhanced by prophetic teams, where a more defined word from the Lord through more than one prophetic minister brings greater edification and confirmation. C. Dreams and Visions The office of the prophet is oftentimes characterized by frequent dreams and visions from the Lord. Numbers 12:6 "If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision, and I speak to him in a dream." 1. Is God speaking to me through my dreams? Not all dreams are from God. However, the Lord sometimes speaks prophetically through dreams and visions. Joel 2:28 ¡°And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.¡± 2. Are my dreams a warning or direction from God? Sometimes a prophetic dream or vision will serve as a warning about a particular hazardous circumstance or person, bring new or confirming direction, or bring new revelation. a. Joseph, Mary and Jesus (Matthew 2:13-15) b. Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10:9-48) c. The Apostle John (Revelation) 3. Can I interpret my dreams and visions from God? Yes. Sometimes the Lord gives us dreams and visions that are in parables. He tests our hearts in this to see if we will seek Him and search out the meaning. Sometimes He will lead us to a prophet for the interpretation. Proverbs 25:2 "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter." Genesis 41:12 "Now there was a young Hebrew man (Joseph) with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dream for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream." Daniel 1:17 "As for these four men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams." D. Prophetic Prayer and Intercession A portion of the prophet's ministry takes place behind closed doors in the p

Go into the Land of Benjamin I feel a little depressed this morning. Maybe that¡¯s because of homesick, the school this semester will be finished soon, I am very grateful being here, really enjoy teaching English and the relationship with the staff and students here. I have been very open to them and willing to share my life with them. The Lord reminded me to build relationship with the people here before coming here, that¡¯s why I contribute a lot of time to build the relationship with them. But now nostalgia came to visit me, what is nostalgia? Oh¡­Last night, the wind is strong, though it is tropical climate in this island, effected by the cold air from the north, it¡¯s still a little cold, especially on the midnight and early morning. My friend told me, the temperature is below zero in the north. I can imagine how cold it is. We sent another teacher off this early morning, she went home for her grandma¡¯s funeral, but I noticed she was not so sad about it, on the contrary she seemed a little happy, as we know, she felt happy for going home much earlier. My heart was stirred by this thing, not only me , the students and staff¡¯s emotion also seems instable, they all talk about going home¡­ How time flies ! the end of the year always make me thinking of something and some people¡­ In the morning, when I almost woke up, my mind was a little sleepy, a word jumped into my mind: ¡®go to check Jeremiah37.¡¯¡¯ So I checked this verse when I got up, suddenly I understood why I should check this verse, for on the Jer37:11-12, it says: And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people. Jeremiah37:11-12 I think it indicates one thing: I need go to my hometown, something special is waiting for me. So pray for that with a faithful heart! Wait for his promise. A new adventure is waiting for me, en..go for it! My friend said,¡¯¡¯you have a free spirit.¡¯¡¯ Sometimes I think that¡¯s right. Once I decide to do something, I will do it quickly and will not give up until it is finished. This personality makes me attracted by other persons and they want to follow me when I want to do something, also because of that I really need learn to be humble anytime. May God¡¯s plan for my life fulfilled .

Today¡¯s Arranged Marriages of China For the great majority of Chinese people, ¡°the arranged marriages¡± has become an antique parlance in their conception. But I discovered a fact recently---that is: Arranged marriage¡¯s still very popular in some place. But it works a little different from it did in the old time. In the old time the woman had very little, if any, choice in which her husband might be. The fact is that young men were treated in a similar way as to women, many couples would meet for the very first time on their wedding day. My grandfather and grandmother¡¯s marriage were arranged by this way. This way is very scarce today, but the other way is still very popular in some place. The other way could be summarized to be: the matchmaker introduce , arranged to meet each other before the marriage, the parents decide at the end, go to marriage over the love passage. My father and mother¡¯s marriage were arranged by this way. Now this way is still very popular. For me I am amazed to see that. My friend Hua whose hometown just 200 km way from my hometown, her marriage were arranged by her parents. she is a very docile, very traditional Chinese girl. She is devout to her belief, for her, she would like to obey anything her parents order her to do, otherwise, she will feel herself selfish and not a good girl. She was only 22 years old two years ago, but her parents thought she should go to marriage as soon as possible, otherwise they would feel very shameful. Her parents decided she should marry the man they chose for her. She tried to disobey, for it¡¯s overweight for her. So she came to me and ask me to look for a job for her in the city. I asked my uncle to look for a job for her. Then she began to work in the city afterward. But soon her parents phoned and urged her to go home. Great pressure she got from her family. At last she gave up and went home. She got married in one month. She got pregnant last time I saw her, now her little girl is about one year old. Sometimes I call her and ask: do you love your husband? She always answers: you guess! I have no idea about love. Is that a tragedy?¡¡£É£ä£ï£î£§£ô¡¡£ë£î£ï£÷£®¡¡ £Â£å£ã£á£õ£ó£å¡¡£ï£æ¡¡£ô£è£å¡¡arranged marriage,the young poeple have to follow their parents' conception. Our parents£§ conception¡¡£é£ó: young poeple should marry as early as possible, so they can have grandchildren earlier.¡¡ In their opinion it is happy life. The age of consent is 22 for boys and 20 for girls. But many parents don't care about it, so in this place it's very normal to see young couples under the age of 18. Campare with them,I am the lucky one,but still my parents give me pressure to marry as soon as possible, they do worry about my marriage, I ask them do not worry,but.....I gave everything to Lord's hands, I know he holds tomorrow

God Speaks to People through Dreams There are many ways that God uses to communicate with His people, dream is one of them. Joseph and Daniel in the Old Testament all had special dreams from God, and they were given special ability could interpreted the dreams by God. I dreamed of a disaster last night. It seemed happened in an island of the Asia, maybe in China, but not so alike. It the beginning there was earthquake, then there was typhoon, people fled away to the south, for the south is safe¡­I am among them, but there was no fear in my heart. See¡­old man, men, women, children, they all ran with all of their strength. Behind the crowd a woman embraced her new born baby, and a 5-year-old girl followed her. ¡®leave the baby! Leave the baby! Or we all will die!¡± so the woman put down the baby and ran with the little girl. Everybody ran and ran, suddenly the typhoon stopped. The earthquake subsided to a calm gradually. People stopped, out of breath. Some women said to one another,¡± it is God ! God did ! God did, otherwise we all perished.¡¯¡¯ I feel moved hearing the word¡± God¡± from their mouth. Yes! Who have never heard about God would hear God. The people sat down and had a rest, they are common people, they are government officials, they are business men, they are intellects, they are students, they are kids. The fire was burning in my heart and my mouth was full of the word of God. So I stood up and stood before the people. I stood on the spot where everybody could see me. Like Apostle Paul in Athens, I began to speak to the people. I proclaimed that God is Lord of the whole universe. God controls everything. He sent his only son Jesus who died on the cross and rose again on the third day to the world to save people. Whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life¡­¡­. My speech stirred the people¡¯s heart, their faces changed and they are paid attentions to my speech. God used my mouth to answer their questions and sent His message. Then they all prayed and accept Jesus as their personal saviour. Then I went close to a small group. My friend David was there, but he just sat there, but I still felt happy, thought maybe he could help the people to answer their questions. The next plot is not clear, but it seemed a voice said,¡± David, don¡¯t just watch, don¡¯t just stand by, stand up bravely!¡± I woke up, the dream is very clear in my mind, I began to pray for David, I want to tell my dream to David, but I am not so familiar with David, so I ask Lord for a sign: if I see David when I open the door, I would tell David about my dream. I opened the door, wa! It¡¯s David ! he was walking by. I was so excited and stopped him. I told him my dream with an exciting voice, he was greatly encouraged, his face was glowing as hearing my dream. Thank you God for using me and my dreams.

Not just a Story -------Because He Lives, all Fear is Gone My teacher Joe told me a story, it is a true story. This is why he believes that there is a spiritual invisinable world. His teacher was a beautiful and cool lady when he was a student of the middle school. She was the daughter of the principal of the school. she is also a mysterious lady. Once Joe and the other two guys were called to the teacher¡¯s house for meeting. They noticed a golden sword hanging on the wall. They asked to take a look. The teacher take down the sword and showed it to them. Joe touched the sword, the body of the sword is very cool, shining like cold winter moonlight. ¡°Do you know the secret of the sword?¡± the teacher asked. They said ¡°no¡±. The teacher took the sword and stared at the guys and said,¡°Do you believe I can swallow the sword?¡±then she drew the sword close to her mouth, then like a magic she ate the sword slowly bit by bit¡­the guys all opened their mouths widely when they saw the tail of the sword disappeared before her mouth. and then she opened her mouth, suddenly a cobra snake slithered out of her mouth bit by bit¡­the guys felt so scared and ran away without said goodbye to the teacher. Then the other students said the teacher idolized the witchery more then any other things . As she always traveled to the east and south Asia,there she went to visit the witches and wizards. The golden sword was a wizard sword, it was from a witch of the south and east China. Then the teacher did more and more strange things. She was filled with the evil spirit and spoke in devil¡¯s tongue while teaching in the class. Her arms were full of extra strength and she could raise up the heavy tables, the students all ran away... The whole school was stired , the classes of the school had to stop and the students went back home till the storm was calmed down. Joe went home and told her mom and dad the whole story. Her mom who is a Christian knew it¡¯s spiritual thing, she comforted Joe and said Jesus is the only God,He has the authority beyond everything. From then on my teacher Joe really believed there was a spiritual invisionable world. He began to become a real Christian, because of Jesus, all fear is gone.