Monthly Archives: November 2025

Gift, Office, Titles, Part 5.

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The Difference Between the Gift, the Office, and Titles. (Part 5)

By Kevin Baird

*This is a series of posts which might be of benefit for the first time reader to begin at the “Introduction” for continuity sake.

Obviously, for a prophet to be a prophet, there has to be some disposition to prophesy. That appears to be a simplistic statement, but apparently it needs to be stated. Titles abound in modern Christianity and many of those titles are self-conveyed. People declare themselves to be established in a certain office (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Elder, Deacon, Minister, etc.) without any fruit of such establishment or endorsement from a local church body. I believe these offices exist, but how it is appropriated as a title might need further evaluation. The Bible certainly presents these offices as a reality, but tends to present them as job descriptions more than titles. Nowhere in Scripture does Paul refer to himself as “The Apostle Paul”, but rather, “Paul, an apostle”. A strong case can be made that these offices are descriptors more than titles.

That said, I don’t think titles to necessarily be bad, but I do think they can be used for silly and self-aggrandizing purposes. I also believe there is an appropriate respect one might bestow upon another as a display of honor. My son is my pastor and I have called him by his first name for years. I still do at family functions and get-togethers. However, I find it important to refer to him as “Pastor” when I am amongst the people of the church and especially the children. If children are required in school to refer to their teachers as “Mr. or Mrs.”, rather than their first names, I would hope our church kids would do no less for their Pastor. Now, no one is required to do that. I am not required to do that, but I choose to do that to demonstrate that he has embraced an important role in corporate life and in my life. I need to break my familiarity and recognize the demonstrable call God has placed on his life. It is simply being respectful. In much the same way I have called my physician, Doctor; or my overseer as Bishop. Sure, I know their first names, but I simply demonstrate my respect because “I am to give honor to whom honor is due” (Romans 13:7).

I am also willing to convey that respect and honor upon other spiritual offices as they are established and endorsed credibly. But here is where some important parsing needs to take place. Not all who say they are a prophet, really are a prophet. In much the same way, not all who say they are an Apostle, Evangelist, Pastor, or Teacher, may actually be one. Before we bestow titles, we may need to distinguish between gifts and offices.

Everyone can potentially prophesy (Numbers 11:29; Romans 12:6; I Corinthians 12:10, 14:1-5, 14:31), but not all are prophets (I Corinthians 12:28-29; Ephesians 4:11). Granted, it might look and operate the same by outward appearance, but apparently there are distinctions to be made. I would suggest the following for consideration:

  1. The “gift” of prophecy can be released to anyone at any time subject to the will of the Spirit. (See I Corinthians 12:11) The office of prophet does not appear to be subject to certain arbitrary releases of the Spirit, but instead can function prophetically out of the resident gift and calling. (See 2 Timothy 4:2) None of the offices of Ephesians 4:11 are subject to certain heightened times of God’s presence, but rather are a part of the resident, internal equipment imparted by the Lord through His calling to function “in season or out of season” as required. Therefore, prophets can move into arenas not normally conducive to the moving of God’s Spirit, yet have a word from the Lord. (Example: government, education, businesses, etc. See I Kings 22 or Jeremiah 1:5)
  2. The gift of prophecy has more of an encouragement, exhortative, and edification aspect to it when released to individuals or the church at large. The office of prophet has more of an assignment attached to it (I will discuss this in next post). The office prophet carries impartation, instruction, and potentially activation. (See Romans 1:11 and 2 Timothy 1:6)
  3. There may also be certain “levels” of leadership and anointing within the expression of prophets, in much the same way we see it with evangelists and pastors. There are many called “evangelists”, yet few with the scope and influence of a Billy Graham or Ray Comfort. Yet, no matter the scope, one can be a legitimately called and equipped evangelist. The same could be said of pastors. Some pastors oversee works of 10’s, 100’s, 1000’s or even 10,000’s, yet all are legitimately called pastors. I don’t think every apostle has to arise to the stature of Paul. Biblically there were apostles relatively unknown, so we know this to be true. The same could be said of prophets. There were scores, if not hundreds of biblical prophets which are obscure to us. Yet, they were legitimate prophets. So not every prophet need look like Elijah.
  4. This may be somewhat controversial, but I am convinced the gift of prophecy almost exclusively confirms what God has already put in the believer’s heart, but the office prophet carries a “creative” or maybe ineptly stated a “conceptual implanting” of God’s Will into a person’s imagination. Isaiah appears to acknowledge such a possibility when he writes:

“You have heard; See all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
They are created now and not from the beginning; And before this day you have not heard them, Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’”

  • Isaiah 48:6-7 NKJV

Again, every word from the Lord which arrives this way to us is to be tested by the Scriptures. The reason simply put is that the Lord is able to speak to all His people and any potential decision made from a prophetic word is still subject to each individual’s consideration, faith, and responsibility. (Hebrews 4:2)

As I conclude this post, the prophetic ministry is recognized, not self-declared. No apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher should have to blow their own horn for recognition. It becomes self-evident by their fruit.

Hope that offers some clarity.

Until next time.

Avoiding Health Cliffs

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Dr Peter Attia shares guidance on exercise, nutrition, relationships and more
Longevity expert Dr. Peter Attia says most people experience a steep decline in their 70s — but it doesn’t have to be that way. 

“At 75, both men and women fall off a cliff,” the Stanford-trained physician, who runs a medical practice in Austin, Texas, said in a recent interview with “60 Minutes.”

During the interview, Attia shared some of his top strategies for not only living longer, but also remaining strong, healthy and engaged, so the last decade is as enjoyable and independent as possible.

This is what experts refer to as “healthspan” — the period of life when one is free from “age-associated maladies,” according to Douglas E. Vaughan, M.D., director of the Potocsnak Longevity Institute at Northwestern University in Chicago.

“There are certainly things that people can stop doing to extend healthspan,” he told Fox News Digital. Some examples include stopping smoking, drinking less, maintaining a healthy weight, getting regular exercise, avoiding processed foods and having good sleep habits.

Below are the five strategies that Attia shared with “60 Minutes.”

No. 1: Train like life is a sport

Attia recommends approaching life — particularly in advanced age — like an athlete would approach a sport.

As people age, their level of fitness, strength and mobility matters more than many traditional markers, he noted.

The longevity expert said he logs about 10 hours per week of exercise — a mix of fat-burning cardio, high-intensity intervals (to boost VO₂ max), and strength training to maintain muscle.

Attia said he alternates between “zone two” exercise, which entails steady cardio activity that allows you to maintain a conversation, and higher-intensity “zone four” training.

No. 2: Use meaningful tests — not just standard bloodwork

Attia recommends closely tracking VO₂ max, which measures the maximum amount of oxygen the body uses during strenuous exercise. 

VO₂ max is usually measured in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min).

“Your VO2 max is more strongly correlated with your lifespan than any other metric I can measure,” Attia said. “It predicts your risk of death from any cause, even more than your blood pressure, cholesterol or smoking status.”

“I think this is the neglected part of medical testing, is how fit are you, how strong are you, how well do you move?” he said. “And in many ways, these tests are even more predictive of how long you’re going to live than what I might get out of your bloodwork.”

Attia also uses scans like DEXA (short for dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), which measures bone density, muscle mass and body fat.

“When you look at things like cardiorespiratory fitness, when you look at muscle mass, when you look at strength, they have a much higher association than things like even cholesterol and blood pressure,” he added.

Attia also is a proponent of full-body MRI scans, which can detect cancers and other conditions earlier for better outcomes, although he warns of the potential for false positives. 

He also recommends getting tested for APOE, the gene that indicates an elevated risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Having one copy of the gene roughly doubles or triples the chances of developing the common dementia, while two copies raises the risk by 10 times and lowers the average age of onset by five to 10 years, data shows.

No. 3: Eat more protein than standard guidelines suggest

Boosting protein intake has been linked to increased muscle mass and strength, stronger immune function and reduced disease burden, studies show.

Attia recommends consuming more than twice the protein recommended in current nutritional guidelines.

The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, which would be 55 grams for a 150-pound person or 73 grams for a 200-pound person.

No. 4: Prioritize emotional, mental and relational health

Emotional and mental health are just as important as physical health, according to Attia.

“It’s as much a practice as what I put into exercise, blood work and cancer screening,” he said.

“By working hard on our physical health, we can reduce the rate of decline,” Attia went on. “But if we’re being deliberate and active on our emotional health, it can actually improve.”
The expert credits his wife of more than two decades for enabling his progress.

“Just like the exercise data, I don’t think this is just a correlation,” Attia said in the interview. “I really think that there is also some causality that flows from the end of having great relationships to living a longer life.” 

Vaughan echoed that the common denominator in “super agers” involves a supportive community, a healthy social environment and regular contact with people who care for one another.  

No. 5: Optimize the ‘marginal decade’

While decline is inevitable, Attia said his goal is to make what he calls the “marginal decade” as enjoyable as possible.

“The marginal decade’s not going anywhere. We will all have a final decade of life,” he said. 

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“The way I explain it to my patients is, that last 10 to 15 of your years — if you don’t do anything about it, you will fall to a level of about 50% of your total capacity, cognitively [and] physically.”