The conversation surrounding spiritual gifts can be confusing. Author and pastor, Timothy Clothier looks to eliminate that frustration in his book, To Each is Given.
Clothier is the senior pastor of Waynesboro Grace Brethren Church, Waynesboro, Pa., and has been in full-time pastoral ministry for more than a decade.
In To Each is Given, released on June 2 by BMH Books, he reviews the Bible for what God says about spiritual gifts and how they are meant to be used in the Church.
“Throughout (the book), I intend to contend for what I understand the Bible to teach about spiritual gifts, signs and wonders, and how each has their place in God’s redemptive plan,” Clothier said.
A wide range of convictions and definitions exist across the church regarding spiritual gifts.
“I believe that the entire list of spiritual gifts, outlined in several different passages (in the book), is still operational for the church today. Furthermore, I believe that the church desperately needs all these gifts,” he said.
Many people seem to simply assume that signs and wonders are spiritual gifts and vice versa.
Clothier holds both an undergraduate and graduate degree from Grace College and Theological Seminary, Winona Lake, Ind., where he met and married his college sweetheart, Carrie. Timothy and Carrie have been married for 14 years and have four children.
Outside of doing ministry together and enjoying their family, Timothy and Carrie love sports and exercising. The two recently picked up pickleball and can be found weekly competing against one another at the local gym.
Much of the difficulty surrounding spiritual gifts in the church today may be due to lack of differentiation between signs and wonders and spiritual gifts,” he said.