Is The Gift of Tongues For Today?

[Socialite]

Originally Posted by Mr. Smith

You seem to be saying two opposite things....You say, yes, that a person can live just as powerful and overcoming Christian life without tongues while at the same time saying that a life without the Spirit (evidently you believe that without tongues, a person has not the Spirit) and without the gifts (evidently you believe a person without tongues has not any of the gifts) is "Not yet full." You also say it is a necessity while saying a person without it can live an equally powerful and overcoming life.

Can you clear that up for me?

Well, you've centered it all on tongues, while my central point is the Spirit.

If God has given these good gifts to the Church, I'd like to think a Church that either refuses to use them, or denies them is not living that "full Gospel" life that He intended for us. Wouldn't you?

So let me be more clear, a Church that does not welcome spiritual gifts, exhort believers to listen to the Holy Spirit and acknowledge a more central role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, is holding back from the Church what Christ has intended for our well-being.

Can they be overcoming? That is done in the cross. Are they robust, vibrant and healthy? That was promised to us through the working of the Spirit. You enjoy reading, I strongly recommend Gordon Fee's "God's Empowering Presence."

[El Predicador]

Originally Posted by Mr. Smith

You seem to be saying two opposite things....You say, yes, that a person can live just as powerful and overcoming Christian life without tongues while at the same time saying that a life without the Spirit (evidently you believe that without tongues, a person has not the Spirit) and without the gifts (evidently you believe a person without tongues has not any of the gifts) is "Not yet full." You also say it is a necessity while saying a person without it can live an equally powerful and overcoming life.

Can you clear that up for me?

Except for the female haircut I think I'm

starting to like you better

[Mr. Smith]

Originally Posted by El Predicador

Except for the female haircut I think I'm

starting to like you better

Only in your dreams could your hair be this cool!

[El Predicador]

Originally Posted by Mr. Smith

Only in your dreams could your hair be this cool!

True it would be a nightmare.

[Mr. Smith]

Originally Posted by Socialite

Well, you've centered it all on tongues, while my central point is the Spirit.

If God has given these good gifts to the Church, I'd like to think a Church that either refuses to use them, or denies them is not living that "full Gospel" life that He intended for us. Wouldn't you?

So let me be more clear, a Church that does not welcome spiritual gifts, exhort believers to listen to the Holy Spirit and acknowledge a more central role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, is holding back from the Church what Christ has intended for our well-being.

Can they be overcoming? That is done in the cross. Are they robust, vibrant and healthy? That was promised to us through the working of the Spirit. You enjoy reading, I strongly recommend Gordon Fee's "God's Empowering Presence."

Oh yes, I'm definitely centering this on tongues, no doubt about it. Yes, God intended for us to have the gifts, but did He expect us all to have them all? Can a person, who has never spoken in tongues, operate in the gift of faith, or discerning of spirits, or the word of knowledge?

[Socialite]

Originally Posted by Mr. Smith

Oh yes, I'm definitely centering this on tongues, no doubt about it. Yes, God intended for us to have the gifts, but did He expect us all to have them all? Can a person, who has never spoken in tongues, operate in the gift of faith, or discerning of spirits, or the word of knowledge?

Yes, I believe so.


But at the same time, I will tell you that tongues is a very common experience.

[Mr. Smith]

Originally Posted by Socialite

Yes, I believe so.


But at the same time, I will tell you that tongues is a very common experience.

In certain cultures, yes....if one concedes that it's all actual tongues and not just a learned habit.

[Socialite]

Originally Posted by Mr. Smith

In certain cultures, yes....if one concedes that it's all actual tongues and not just a learned habit.

Is crying a real experience or a learned habit?

How about smiling?

They are actually both learned and experienced.

I think you are referring to people void of spiritual authenticity, babbling almost as a pig latin sort of learned behavior. To that, I couldn't tell you or give any greater comfort. I speak in tongues and find it to be a beautiful experience.

[Mr. Smith]

Originally Posted by Socialite

Is crying a real experience or a learned habit?

How about smiling?

They are actually both learned and experienced.

I think you are referring to people void of spiritual authenticity, babbling almost as a pig latin sort of learned behavior. To that, I couldn't tell you or give any greater comfort. I speak in tongues and find it to be a beautiful experience.

Bolded...I don't believe so at all. That certainly wasn't the case for me. I was trying my best to do what was right, what was required, and what would give me "power". In a VERY authentic way, I was giving it my best shot. I wanted desperately to fit in to be as saved as everyone else, and then later, as "filled" as everyone else.

So scripturally, if those who do not speak in tongues have available to them a spiritually healthy, productive, overcoming, impacting life, what is the benefit of tongues?

[Mr. Smith]

So Socialite, how long could I have posted on this thread in the fashion I am and not been completely thrashed by now, in the old days when the right-wingers were here? Heck, you couldn't have even gotten away with what you've said!