What You Do Best In The Body Of Christ Discover Your Spiritual Gifts, Personal Style, And God-given Passion

What You Do Best in the Body of Christ, Revised and Expanded Copyright © 1995, 2005 by Bruce Bugbee First edition published 1995. Revised and expanded 2005 Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bugbee, Bruce. What you do best in the body of Christ : discover your spiritual gifts, personal style, and God-given passion / Bruce Bugbee.- Rev. and expanded. p. cm. Rev. and expanded ed. of: What you do best. c1995. Includes index. ISBN: 0-310-25735-2 (pbk.) 1. Gifts, Spiritual. 2. Lay ministry. 3. Pastoral theology. I. Bugbee, Bruce. What you do best. II. Title. BT767.3.B84 2005 253-dc22 2004020588 ISBN-13: 978-0-310-25735-6 This edition printed on acid-free paper. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE ©, Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for their content for the life of this book. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Interior design by Sharon Van Loozenoord Printed in the United States of America 05 06 07 08 09 10 /?DCI/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 I never thought it would happen. But it did. It was a dream come true. I designed and built my own home! I was raised in southern California. Then, after nearly thirty years, I moved to a small town in northwest Iowa. Among many special friendships was one with a carpenter named Gary. Before long, with his help, I was actually considering the possibility of building a new home. A design was agreed on, costs were explored, a lot was purchased, and the house was built. We moved in just in time for Thanksgiving. While in the Midwest, I discovered that there really are four seasons. Following the snowy winter came spring showers, and it was time to landscape our new home. I went to the nursery and bought trees, shrubs, and flowers. The lawn was planted and the yard was set. While most of my plants did really well, some died. I went back to the nursery and got more. I planted them. They died too. One afternoon I was in the yard explaining to my neighbor (actually complaining about) how frustrated I was with my plants. I showed him how some of them were doing really well while others kept dying. He made a brilliant observation. He said, "These plants won't grow here!" (At that point, I figured he must be a college graduate. He was able, so graphically, to articulate the obvious.) I said, "Really?" He went on to explain. "These plants require direct sunlight. Have you ever noticed that the sun never shines within three feet of the north side of your house? They should be placed where they can get the sunlight they need to grow." It seemed so simple. Yet someone had to explain to me how God had made each plant with different requirements. A plant needing direct sun will perish or flourish, depending on the amount of sun it receives. Another plant, requiring shade, will have its potential destroyed in direct sunlight. When I understoodBugbee, Bruce is the author of 'What You Do Best In The Body Of Christ Discover Your Spiritual Gifts, Personal Style, And God-given Passion', published 2005 under ISBN 9780310257356 and ISBN 0310257352.