GREETINGS! You are about to become involved in an exciting spiritual exercise. God has given you one or more spiritual gifts if you are a Christian, and discovering that gift or gifts will be a thrilling experience. You will be asked to answer the 125 questions found in the "Wagner-Modified Houts Questionnaire."

This spiritual gifts discovery instrument was originally suggested by Dr. Richard F. Houts, a professor in the North American Baptist Theological Seminary, in 1976. Subsequently it has been modified by C. Peter Wagner of the Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth., and keyed in to his classic book, Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow, now the best selling book in the field of spiritual gifts.

The copy you have in your hand is the fifth edition and the first complete revision of the original published version. Thousands and thousands of believers have been blessed by taking the Modified Houts Questionnaire. Constant feedback from them has enabled us to refine it to the point where it will give you a fairly accurate picture of what kind of ministry God expects you to be carrying out in your group of believers.

12 Comments:

bdp wrote:

AS much as churches can blindly use tools like this to force people into cookie cutter roles for thier service... this tool can also be used to really help someone discover the unique mix they have been given in order for them to find their "place." I have seen it time and time again. It also worked for me... I woke up every day believing that I didn't deserve the air I took up from everyone else. I had been in church all my life and hadn't heard about spiritual gifts even though the bible clearly talks about these "deposits." The tests aren't the end all guarantee of figuring out which gifts are yours, but they point people in a direction to try it out in a ministry setting. For me, I would have never senced I was a teacher... but today is a different story. My life has found significant meaning and joy through discovering what God has placed in me. DOesn't make me proud... it humbles me, because it isn't me that did it. Just a thought...

posted: September 07, 2006  

.:webmaster:. wrote:

bdp wrote: "For me, I would have never senced I was a teacher... but today is a different story."

I would never have sensed you were a teacher either.

posted: September 07, 2006  

Anonymous wrote:

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

posted: December 13, 2006  

Warnepiece wrote:

Christiana,

If god can be "proved over and over" and you can back it up with facts, PLEASE, don't leave us in suspense.

If you have the key, open the door for us! Show us the evidence......

.....unless.....

.....you mean it's all in the bible.

If you have other evidence, well, that is why we are here, to learn.

posted: December 13, 2006  

Anonymous wrote:

Please Christina come back and show us some evidence for your God. I don't want to go to hell, but if you have evidence and will not share it with us then, if we go to hell it will be on your hands, and I dare say what that may involve, maybe worse than hell for you.

posted: December 13, 2006  

Jim Arvo wrote:

Anyone care to contact Christina and post her replies here (with her permission of course)? It sounds like she has the iron-clad evidence we've been asking for! Wouldn't you know it--someone with real evidence finally comes by and then they disappear. How unfortunate.

(Maybe I shouldn't encourage feeding the trolls.)

posted: December 13, 2006  

Anonymous wrote:

I am back. Sorry guys, I know this may not adhere to your idea of proof or evidence, and I know you will consider this "skirting" your questions. I am interested in telling people about Jesus in a comprehensive way from beginning to end based on the Bible. I showed someone evidence that the Bible is true and that God created the earth, and he doesn't believe it, so unless anyone is really curious about how Jesus actually makes sense, not in ironclad, beyond any possible doubt of any kind ever, because no one has seen God, but just how it makes sense. I am sorry to let anyone down, I may have gotten a little ambitious with my wording. And to the other anonymous, I am confident in my God, absolutely confident, and even though you were making fun of me, I hope you really want to know Truth, and are not just hard of heart and wanting to find confirmation of your own perspective. I went through looking at all forms or religions, atheism and the like at one time.

posted: December 19, 2006  

Warnepiece wrote:

Anonymous above is Christiana. I received her permission to use what she wrote to me via e-mail.

It would take up a lot of space to print all of her responses so I will only quote one paragraph below. Needless to say, she does NOT have anything to show that god has been "proved over and over" and there is no evidence that she can "back up to anyone with facts", which I had told her in my very first e-mail that I was concerned she would not be able to do. Here is the most telling paragraph in all the e-mails she sent to me: "What evidence did you think I could have other than my own life, the things I have seen, the transforming power of Christ in my life, in changing my family, in answering my prayers always, sometimes immediately in tangible ways, plus the evidence that has existed for centuries, the life of Christ, the truth of the Scriptures, the patterns in nature, not to mention the whole universe and the impossibilities that it could have happened by chance..."

I think it is telling that christians who come to this website make claims that they KNOW they can't back up, but that doesn't stop them. They only want to evangelize. They see their mission as dragging the "lost sheep" back, by any means necessary, including being dishonest. Surprisingly, Christiana would admit to things I wrote about, and even understood them. But she consistenly fell back on her "belief" as a way to defend her actions and to gloss over any inconsistencies I pointed out in the bible. She would say there are no inconsistencies yet she offered no answers to many of the questions I asked her, except to excuse god's actions because god was not harsh, he was "just".

I put too much "faith" in her initial response - that she would actually present the proof and/or evidence she was so sure about in her first post. It's almost funny how christians refuse to do as they are commanded in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (KJV)..."Prove all things."

posted: December 19, 2006  

Anonymous wrote:

Christina
God is real, He has been proved over and over, and there are some people out there, like me who know what they believe, why and can back that up to anyone with facts, and living testimony. Not everyone is following blindly.


Well I am soo disappointed in Christian, we waited ever so patiently for her to return with her evidence only to return with,

12/19/2006 4:18 PM
"I am sorry to let anyone down, I may have gotten a little ambitious with my wording."

Now I know without a doubt, that people who believe in imaginary beings are shallow, weak minded and perverse.

posted: December 19, 2006  

Anonymous wrote:

Christina
God is real, He has been proved over and over, and there are some people out there, like me who know what they believe, why and can back that up to anyone with facts, and living testimony. Not everyone is following blindly.


Well I am soo disappointed in Christian, we waited ever so patiently for her to return with her evidence only to return with,

12/19/2006 4:18 PM
"I am sorry to let anyone down, I may have gotten a little ambitious with my wording."

Now I know without a doubt, that people who believe in imaginary beings are shallow, weak minded and perverse.

posted: December 19, 2006  

Jim Arvo wrote:

To Christina,

I would very much like to convey several thoughts to you; a response would be appreciated. First, by boldly proclaiming that you possess evidence of god's existence (with the clear implication that it would be compelling to others) then backing off the moment you are asked to produce it, you have simply strengthened the stereotype of the brash Christian visitor here. We see the same thing time and again at this site; bold assertions with absolutely nothing to support them. Can you see why many of us simply roll our eyes (or worse) when such claims are made? Let me offer an analogy. Imagine a patent clerk who examines a dozen claims for perpetual motion machines every day, each one being touted as revolutionary, yet each one inevitably failing to meet the most basic requirement for patentability--exhibiting a working prototype. Can you blame the clerk for being dismissive when such claims cross his desk?

Second, I'd like for you to acknowledge that you have only two options with regard to discussing your beliefs: you must either 1) produce credible evidence and/or compelling arguments for the truth of your beliefs, or 2) accept that others can legitimately reject your beliefs as irrational. Since it appears that you are in no position to do the former, will you be so kind as to grant us privilege of saying "No thank you" to your particular belief system?

Have a nice day.

posted: December 20, 2006  

Anonymous wrote:

to all
i was reading thru some of the previous comments concerning the 'validity' of the Bible as well as Jesus Christ. it seams as though many of you have questions concerning proof. im not exactly sure where to start with this. at one point in my life, i also questioned the 'scientific' aspects of Jesus and the Bible. the first place i started to research was the Bible itself. once i realized that the Bible is not some mystical book of myths and legends but rather an actual history book, that sparked my interest to learn more. i then began to read the new testament (these are the accounts of what happened durring the life of Jesus and what He taught) and began to understand a little more. you have to keep in mind, the earliest eye-witness accounts of Jesus can be dated to within 5 years of Jesus's crucifixion. these eye-witness accounts makes the Bible a pretty reliable history book. also, keep in mind, that approxiamtely 400 years passed before anyone wrote a 'biography' on Alexander the Great and this information isnt questioned. if the Bible doesnt meet your requirements for proof, try reading 'a case for Christ' and 'the case for a creator' by lee strobel. i could keep going on right now, but ill let y'll ponder this for a bit.
thanks
brawny

posted: January 29, 2007  

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