You too can speak in tounges
4And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
When I was a teenager we used to take the piss of those stands at the show (a yearly festival in Cairns) that had a huge banner out the front with the words ‘You too can speak in tounges!’ shouting out of it. The stand was usually painted with flames and had a squadron of evangelists swooping on everyone who walked past. The stand belonged to the Revival Centre , a dodgy ‘christian’ group who placed a lot of emphasis on baptism of the holy spirit – which was evidenced by speaking in tounges (glosslalia) and slaying of the spirit (falling into a kind of epileptic trance).
But this wasn’t my only exposure to baptism of the spirit. At the age of twelve I went on a church camp where the speaker baptised me in the spirit. Nothing happened at all but I was told that I was now ‘saved’. I wanted to be a good person and godly and all that so I bought into it but experienced nothing.
Later on I went to other christian gatherings and tried to be baptised in the spirit as I was assured that unless I spoke in tounges it hadn’t really worked. There was ongoing debate as to whether you could be saved without speaking in tounges. At a holiday camp in Townsville I tried several times to receive the spirit and speak in tounges and was told that I was holding it in and fighting the spirit.
A year or two later I was at a mens retreat (my mother sent me even though I was still a teenager as she thought the other men would have a good influence on me). By this time I was cynical about anything to do with the ‘ministry of the Holy Spirit’ and this weekend really finished it for me. We had a prayer session and a guy there asked for the blessing fo the holy spirit. We prayed and he said he had words in his head but wasn’t sure if he was just making them up. The facilitator told him to just make some words up that sounded like tounges and then the real thing would come. He then whispered a few noises and there was a lot of ‘oh praise jesus, praise the lord’ etc…
There was a guy there in a wheelchair. The facilitator decided to heal ‘Cyril’ (not his real name). We prayed for a good deal of time and the facilitator kept insisting that he’d healed heaps of wheelchair bound people and that Cyril should be feeling strength in his legs after ten minutes. Cyril was looking very uncomfortable and weakly suggested we don’t worry about it. The poor guy. After ten minutes they tried to stand him up and of course he couldn’t stand on his own but they walked him around for a bit anyway and then put him back in the chair. The facilitator insisted that he had felt ‘something’ and that the spirit had moved powerfully in the room etc… What a load of crap.So I’m now cured of any belief I might have had in the power of the holy spirit. I could tell another story about the ‘prophet’ who predicted a miraculous healing of my eyes but i’m too bitter about it so maybe another time.
I’d like to have something good to say about baptism of the spirit but really i prefer the kind where you sprinkle water and promise to raise the kid with good values.
As for the reading – well there is too much smoke to see it clearly. We know that the apostles did have a baptism of the spirit at pentacost and that they did miracles and other wonders so I’m not completely doubtful. As for today – well I don’t know.
Posted: May 4th, 2005 under Bible Bashing.
Comments: 9
Comments
Comment from djfoobarmatt
Time: 29/6/2005, 9:23 am
Simon, I hope it works out for you. All I’m saying is it didn’t work out for me. I started this blog partly because I was sick of lying to myself in order to fit in with others. There are many things I thought I believed but I was too scared to question them. Many people enjoy ecstatic worship of God that changes their lives – but it’s not for everyone and certainly has never been my thing. The traditional response is that I’m not opening up my heart etc.. but I know I gave it a real good try during my teenage years and it just screwed me up. That’s not to say I don’t feel strong emotions about God and about some of the topics in the bible – justice, healing, redemption – but I don’t connect through ‘exciting’ worship – my most emotional feelings about God have been in the quietness of meditation, outdoors in a garden or on an empty beach.
I’ve found there’s much more to God than the feel-good pop music, party atmosphere and egomaniac pastors. You don’t need to feel maniacly happy to be with God. But I guess if you’re happy and you know it …
Comment from Lilly
Time: 10/7/2005, 10:57 am
It is not everyone’s calling to speak in tounges. In one chapter of the Bible…..a section of James I’m pretty sure, it says what good does speaking in tounges do if people don’t understand it? Maybe your calling is to interpret, not speak. God Bless, Lilly
Comment from Shannon
Time: 10/8/2005, 3:37 pm
What James is speaking about is toungues is not for the unbeleiver. Clearly djfoobarmatt had what you might call a bad experience. I am not going to sit here and defend toungues or tell you it’s a heart thing. What I am going to say is that God is very real and very interested in all of our lives. Toungues is a tool or a direct connection to God. It is like your special prayer language between the spirit inside of you and to God. Just because people may have messed up your teenage years doesn’t meen you should keep searching for the truth. You seem to be a very inteligent person so I am sure I don’t have to tell you to keep searching. As far as I am concerned as long as you are still seeking after God then he will change your heat. Remember to stand on his promises (which includes tounges) and he will change you. Just relax and do what the holy spirit inside of you says to do.
God Bless
Comment from gene
Time: 11/8/2005, 6:57 am
read Mark 16:16-18. if speaking in tongues was for everyone let those who speak in tongues and believe this do all that is said here. speaking in tongues is a gift given to some just as healing, preaching, pastoring and so on.
Comment from Ray
Time: 30/8/2005, 4:14 pm
Speaking in tounges comes automaticly when your relationship with Jesus is strong! You have to seek him everyday, follow him every night! You cannot earn it! it is a gift like everything else, and its given by the Grace of God! Seek first the kingdom of God, and all the things you desire will be added to you! Not given?! ADDED!!! Be relaxed, rest in the Lord and know that he loves you and will never condemd you!
You are blessed Brother
Comment from Ryan
Time: 19/9/2005, 1:27 am
Hi Guys. I had a similar dissapointing experience in seeking the Holy Spirit in general. The pastor asked if any would like to receive the Spirit come on down ( In traditional church style). So I went and a couple of leaders layed hands on me and began to pray. After an agonizing five minutes I gave up. They said to keep seeking and praying for it. I had always long for the supernatural and miraculous so I was determined. I have to say I owe my Grandma for all her Godly wisdom. I my appetite to know God I soaked up all she had to say like a sponge. So here goes. It says in the Bible to seek first the Kingdom of God then all these things (prosperity) shall be added unto you and so forth as Ray said above me. My Grandma taught me a principle that I believe is along those lines: Pray not that God would change your circumstances but that He would change your heart to eventually match Jesus’s heart (E.G: perceptions, attitudes, faith, wisdom, perserverance, courage, and any thing that you lack). She also taught me that you don’t have to pray out loud because the Lord knows your heart, thoughts, and deepest longings. Just project your thoughts to Him and be honest. You can pray for greater godliness, faith, love for Him and for others, even more desire to seek and know Him. Heck, you can pray for greater ability and enjoyment in prayer. Also, these things are not worked for. He loves you and He will give them free of charge. He will give them even amidst your doubt, but try not to of course. As for the Holy Spirit, just keep seeking Him and praying that He would reveal Himself and transform you. Desire the gifts of the Spirit and ask that He would reveal your giftings assigned to you. It says in scripture that greater is he that prophesies than he that speaks in toungs, and honestly I would rather know Lords voice than have my have my jaw flappin with wierd sounds! I can honestly say that done consistenly with determination (to know the Living God!) these teachings work! As for being saved, I believe whole heartedly that you are saved only by faith in the blood of Jesus shed for you, not by works and not by any outward manifestation like speaking in tounges. Is the loving blood of the infinite living God not enough? Of course it is more than enough! I also believe that you can be certain of your salvation. When a person looks toward God in their heart and accepts His Son to cure them of the disease of sin with sincerity they will be changed. It may not be evident at first, but deep inside (in the Spirit) your heart is then bent toward God. There is a
hunger to better know God, and a guilt that comes with sin. The scripture says that you become a new creature, you now are a living spirit and your sin nature has died. Of course you retain the memory of you old nature and can still chose to walk in the flesh. You must chose to seek God and His power to defeat temptation – you can do it only by His might. uilt is a sign that your Spirit is convicting you. Of course it is not condemnation, it is only meant to show you your fall and lead you to repentance, and God lovingly embraces you. The gifts of the Spirit are also a sure sign of salvation too. I have just recently found the power to defeat sin in my life actually. I feel like I could care less what my flesh wants – I just hunger for more of God and want nothing to stop that. Actually I have just received my gifting in tounges not to long ago. I was in an intimate time with the Lord and my mouth started moving. I felt like something was trying to come out but it seemed that I couldn’t (or wouldn’t) let it out. Finally I tried with difficulty and discovered that if I provided the air, the Spirit provided the tounge movement. I takes a little practice letting your mouth speak without you moving it, but it gets easier. As to the use of touges, it provides a variety of things. Mainly communion with God and to bless. Speak in tounges to draw closer to God. Speak in tounges to pray when you don’t have the words ( which is most of the time for me!). You can bless people, situations, and even objects (like books given to someone)! Lastly, you can very powerfully rebuke the devil in touges! And who knows what else! Sorry for the novel, I hope this helps.
Comment from djfoobarmatt
Time: 20/9/2005, 8:55 am
The more i think about this the mmore i’m convinced that the speaking in tounges seen mostly in churches today and possibly the church in corinth (circa when Paul wrote his letters) is not anything supernatural or spiritual. It’s just unhinging some deep part of the brain that is to do with learning language. Perhaps in the context of worship it has meaning for the individual but that’s about it. It is probably less important than saying a simple heart-felt prayer – which I would consider to be the spiritual act of primary importance.
On the other hand, the experience of the apostles at pentacost was more miraculous as people heard the apostles speaking real languages. It was a mass-translation event and it was God speaking directly to the non-jews to start the ball rolling of taking christianity outside of Israel and to the rest of the world (for better and worse).
Comment from Anonymous
Time: 20/7/2006, 4:47 am
Speaking in Tounges is not a neccesity to salvation but it is something that God will give you if you seek it! I was in a Pentecostal church that taught it as a neccesity and I really wanted the experience, and you know I got it and now use it to edify my spirit it is my privated prayer language with God. It happened to me not in a church but In my pickup while worshiping the Lord. So dont let experiences with Zealous people get between what God wants to do in you!
Comment from Simon Dobson
Time: 28/6/2005, 10:39 am
Hey,
I have been raised in a christian family and strayed not living for god, Recently i have come to a church and loved the youth and their passion for God and i aked god to come back into my life i have felt the goodness of god touch me and when i pray and worship i feel that i need to keep talking to him, So i asked that i be prayed for gift of tounges. they said step out in faith and try and make sounds that youve heard, so i did and they said well done keep trying all the time and you will get better and more….... fluent, i guess is the word. anyway its seems such a grey area and these guys love god if there was no such thing surely they would be condemed about it they say god talks to them gives them revelations, wouldn’t god give them an insight to “tounges” if it was not of god
If you could write back that would be good to my e-mail
Thanks Simon