Subject: Have you spoke in tongues? |
Bible Note: rrherzog I agree with what you said about faith and tongues, however there is one aspect I would like to discuss. You said "...same gifts that God gave the apostles of that time He gives to us, or else He would be a respecter of man, and He is not." Is that true? Didn't God give the anointing to David to be King of Israel? I assure you I never got it also. He gave Elijah and Elisha powerful ministries but gave Elisha twice what he gave Elijah. Paul had a very traumatic salvation experience but I think he was probably the only one that experienced God to that extent. I think you have ripped this verse Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: from context. Peter was saying God provided salvation to the Jews and gentiles. If God gave everyone equally then we all could play every instrument, paint any masterpiece, be leaders of countries, have the skill of surgeons, the stamina of a well conditioned athlete, preach perfect sermons, and write hit songs. No God gives gifts as they are needed for His glory. I really do believe in tongues, but I also believe we seek the gifts harder than we seek God. We desire the gifts more than we desire a closer relationship with God. We would rather be used of God giving a message in tongues more than serving God in the nursery or speaking life into the children in Sunday School. We need to get these things into right balance before we can expect to convince the rest Christianity of their validity. Jesus in Acts 1 said we would receive the Holy Spirit to empower us evangelize. Yet today the Pentecostal church is probably one of the worst in evangelism. Once we realize the gifts weren’t given to “entertain” the church but were given to change the world and start using them as such things will change. I guarantee the minute people are drawn into church to “truly” worship God every church will want to know what drew them in. I also think the gifts of the Holy spirit are far too precious (holy) "when properly used" to have their validity debated. EdB |