Tongues
- Thread starter tjguitarz
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bigfuz
New Member
It's a Gift of the Spirit http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+corinthians+12:4-11
Some believe that it is an older gift, that is no longer witnessed/practiced, others believe it is still practiced. Mainly differences in denomination (i.e. Assembly of God and Church of God practice it). It is speaking in a language that is understandable only by interpretation. I believe it is considered to be the language we will all speak in Heaven? In any case, generally in a service during worship, some people may start to worship God by uttering in tongues (i.e. strange language sounding to anyone else) to themselves, in other case, there is "Speaking and Interpretation" which usually happens when someone starts to speak loudly in tongues to the congregation, then all is silent, then someone else speaks the interpretation of what was said. This is considered to actually be the Lord speaking to the Church congregation.
I grew up in an Assembly of God church, and this happened quite often. It is pretty serious if the tongues occurs without interpretation, as it is meant to be interpreted (unless personal uttering as mentioned above) I am now in Baptist church, and they do not practice it.
This falls into the category of, "It is not necessary for Salvation" and is somewhat a mystery. It often causes disagreements in the Church. There are many studies on it that you can find. It is important to note that in Corinthians, it seemed the gift was being abused (i.e. used more for pride than its intention...)
These are just some thoughts on the subject. It would be a good idea to look up a Bible study on it from a reputable source that you trust, and gain some more insight.
Hope this helped shed some light on the subject for ya! Odds are I will have even gotten some things wrong, or others will disagree
...such is the nature of the topic.
Some believe that it is an older gift, that is no longer witnessed/practiced, others believe it is still practiced. Mainly differences in denomination (i.e. Assembly of God and Church of God practice it). It is speaking in a language that is understandable only by interpretation. I believe it is considered to be the language we will all speak in Heaven? In any case, generally in a service during worship, some people may start to worship God by uttering in tongues (i.e. strange language sounding to anyone else) to themselves, in other case, there is "Speaking and Interpretation" which usually happens when someone starts to speak loudly in tongues to the congregation, then all is silent, then someone else speaks the interpretation of what was said. This is considered to actually be the Lord speaking to the Church congregation.
I grew up in an Assembly of God church, and this happened quite often. It is pretty serious if the tongues occurs without interpretation, as it is meant to be interpreted (unless personal uttering as mentioned above) I am now in Baptist church, and they do not practice it.
This falls into the category of, "It is not necessary for Salvation" and is somewhat a mystery. It often causes disagreements in the Church. There are many studies on it that you can find. It is important to note that in Corinthians, it seemed the gift was being abused (i.e. used more for pride than its intention...)
These are just some thoughts on the subject. It would be a good idea to look up a Bible study on it from a reputable source that you trust, and gain some more insight.
Hope this helped shed some light on the subject for ya! Odds are I will have even gotten some things wrong, or others will disagree
...such is the nature of the topic.
vibrokatana
New Member
I believe it is simply God speaking through a person.
ewoksrule
Active Member
When genuine....and in the case of frauds like Benny Hinn I believe it is simply Satan speaking through a person.
vibrokatana
New Member
Truth statement implied. Just because someone seems to be speaking in tounges doesn't mean that God is involved.
If a cow is a mammal then a mammal can be a cow.
Not if a cow is a mammal then a mammal is a cow.
1 + 2 = 3
3 may not be the resultant of 1 + 2, it could be 1.5 * 2 or 6/2, etc
yeah i think the issue of tongues can be varied, but really you have to discern which times are true and biblical and other times is not.
moxie
New Member
I grew up in the Church of God denomination, and I've seen it happen quite a bit. Bigfuz's post was right on in it's definition. When it happens loudly (for all the church to hear) it should then be interpreted and considered to be a word for the church. For example, in one case, a family in our church was hosting a student from Africa at their home. They brought him to church, and someone (totally not related to the student/family) started speaking in tongues. The African student understood what was being said and was able to translate it to the congregation. We found out later that the student heard it in his native language, which was actually really neat.
There is another version of tongues, where people pray in tongues when the heart is praying for something which cannot be expressed fully in the language of the believer. This is generally used in personal prayer and is not meant to be interpreted or considered a "word from God" to others.
While tongues is considered a spiritual gift, IMO it isn't necessary for salvation, and believers who do speak in tongues are not "better" than those who don't use tongues. It's just a different gift. And on the subject of Benny Hinn... well... I won't say that it's of Satan or not, God knows the heart and ultimately it's His call. However if the interpretation is contradictory to the Bible, then yes, it's an issue.
There is another version of tongues, where people pray in tongues when the heart is praying for something which cannot be expressed fully in the language of the believer. This is generally used in personal prayer and is not meant to be interpreted or considered a "word from God" to others.
While tongues is considered a spiritual gift, IMO it isn't necessary for salvation, and believers who do speak in tongues are not "better" than those who don't use tongues. It's just a different gift. And on the subject of Benny Hinn... well... I won't say that it's of Satan or not, God knows the heart and ultimately it's His call. However if the interpretation is contradictory to the Bible, then yes, it's an issue.
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Not just in your opinion. Paul says in his first letter to Corinth that all gifts from God are equal and one isn't more important than any other. Some people will have one gift, other people won't!
Thanks for clearing that up guys. Moxie, that's pretty neat about that African kid! I'd like to be a witness to something like this at some point in my life.
moxie
New Member
The reason I made that designation is because I have visited individual churches that believe that a person is not "one with God" unless they are able to speak in tongues. While they would admit that you are saved without it, they also would heavily push their members to acquire the gift. The result was generally a lot of people who felt they weren't "good enough" for the gift, and at times they were treated as lesser Christians by the people who had the gift.BUT, I stress that was on an individual church level and isn't seen very often. Pentecostal churches aren't like that overall.
XionTawa
New Member
The only thing that is necessary for salvation is the belief IN Jesus... Belief "of" and belief "in" are 2 completely different things...
Also, I am very proud to say that I grew up without the hinderence of a denomination and all the gifts of the Spirit were regularly practiced and speaking in tongues was very common, and still is today... I believe that it is a special language that only God can understand, others believe it is other languages, like my current pastor who said he was in Russia and did not know Russian, and was praying for someone in tongues and they understood it all and the interpreter asked how he learned Russian so fast...So I am kinda in the middle of what I believed in it and what my pastor said...
Pentecostal churches usually are very open about Spiritual gifts including speaking in tongues, I have been to many Pentecostal and Full Gospel churches and those are some very energetic people...
Also, I am very proud to say that I grew up without the hinderence of a denomination and all the gifts of the Spirit were regularly practiced and speaking in tongues was very common, and still is today... I believe that it is a special language that only God can understand, others believe it is other languages, like my current pastor who said he was in Russia and did not know Russian, and was praying for someone in tongues and they understood it all and the interpreter asked how he learned Russian so fast...So I am kinda in the middle of what I believed in it and what my pastor said...
Pentecostal churches usually are very open about Spiritual gifts including speaking in tongues, I have been to many Pentecostal and Full Gospel churches and those are some very energetic people...