There are several perspectives on how spiritual gifts operate in the Church. At Frontline, one of our distinctives is being a Spirit-filled church. As a Spirit-filled church, we want to be marked by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. In particular, we believe that all the spiritual gifts we see in the New Testament are available and active today, including the gifts of prophecy, tongues, healings, and miracles.
On this page, we provide you with a number of resources to help you both picture and practice our Spirit-filled distinctive. In particular, we want you to know what we believe about spiritual gifts and how they should function in the Church. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but a starting place to supplement our study of 1 Corinthians 12–14.
Picturing our spirit-filled distinctive
For a general overview and defense of why we believe all the spiritual gifts are available and active today, see "Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?” from Tough Topics by Sam Storms.
For another compelling argument for the continuation of spiritual gifts, read “Charismatic” from Spirit and Sacrament by Andrew Wilson.
For particular discussion around whether prophecy contains error, refer to this article by Sam Storms.
Practicing our spirit-filled distinctive
How do we grow in our dependence on the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives? Gregg Allison and Andreas Köstenberger answer that question concretely in this ten-page conclusion to their book The Holy Spirit.
What does it look like to pray for healing? Sam Storms tackles this in his chapter “Practicing the Power of Healing,” from Practicing the Power.
For general guidelines around practicing prophecy today, see “Principles for Prophecy Today,” also from Practicing the Power, by Sam Storms.
On how to distinguish God’s voice from our own inner voice, read “Discerning God's Voice” from The Beginner's Guide to the Gift of Prophecy, by Jack Deere.
A Guide to Facilitating Prophetic Prayer
The following PDF provides simple and clear guidelines for practicing what we call prophetic prayer. In many ways, this exercise is an unhurried and extended practice of one of the core rhythms of discipleship groups: Spirit-filled prayer. Every time our discipleship groups get together, we encourage them to devote time to praying for one another, while simultaneously inviting the Spirit to move through those prayers. Likewise, prophetic prayer is a way we can pray for one another, not just with our own thoughts, but as we are guided by the Holy Spirit. Over the next month, we encourage you to devote more time to this practice in your discipleship groups, using the provided guidelines to engage in prophetic prayer over one another.