Um... 'cause I don't believe that way anymore. Thought that was clear.
How do you explain what happened when you spoke in tongues?
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His banner over me is LOVE.... My soul followeth hard after thee....Love one another with a pure heart fervently. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
To be a servant of God, it will cost us our total commitment to God, and God alone. His burden must be our burden... Sis Alvear
Anyone can speak in tongues. It's not that hard, once you get the hang of it. I still can, of course. But it's not God speaking through me, or "giving utterance", or any such thing. It's not a "heavenly language". It's just me, doing what I heard other people do. Making it up as I go.
Sure, I've heard the stories of people who had never even heard of it before, and they spontaneously speak in tongues. Didn't happen to me, and I have to say I'm skeptical of the stories. Still, I don't know everything, and it is feasible that God randomly "blesses" a few seekers now and then with the real thing. Still, there could be other explanations of these experiences, and we can't rule out lying or bending facts or simple misremembering, can we? I think everyone here has to admit that lying etc. is pretty common even among Christians and, well, in my experience, it's very common among Pentcostals. We had this pastor.... Oh, man. Don't get me started.
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
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His banner over me is LOVE.... My soul followeth hard after thee....Love one another with a pure heart fervently. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
To be a servant of God, it will cost us our total commitment to God, and God alone. His burden must be our burden... Sis Alvear
....You can pretty much find any God you want, in the Bible.
Not so sure about *any* God, however here's an example that implies that the God-In-Charge-Of-Lightning probably doesn't care too highly for a big statues of Jesus, nor the symbolic intentions behind having a big statue of Jesus.
Not so sure about *any* God, however here's an example that implies that the God-In-Charge-Of-Lightning probably doesn't care too highly for a big statues of Jesus, nor the symbolic intentions behind having a big statue of Jesus.
... I think everyone here has to admit that lying etc. is pretty common even among Christians and, well, in my experience, it's very common among Pentcostals. We had this pastor.... Oh, man. Don't get me started.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mizpeh
Thank you for an honest answer.
Ahem. I said "don't get me started". Which obviously means "get me started"!
OK, I'm started. This guy actually said once in a meeting that it was very difficult for him to lie; he wasn't any good at it. First of all, that's a pretty strange thing to say, for anyone, isn't it? I mean, who tries to lie, but finds it difficult? Second, who says that? Why would he even mention it?
Here's why: because he's really good at lying, and he wants everyone to think that he's not.
Sometimes it was really, really blatant, too. He told my friend that he never signed church checks. Always left it to board members to do that stuff. He was very clear: he never even once signed a check! Well, with the board's permission, I found some checks in the files (the bank still sent them back to us with the statements, in those days) and showed them to my friend. Practically every single one had the pastor's signature!
And that's just one example. Oh man, don't get me started.
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
In high school, he was a superstar football player. He says. Was on the cover of magazines, many many times. He says. And he didn't even know that (so humble he was!), until his girlfriend showed him her collection of magazine covers with pictures of him on all of them. Yep. So he says.
Sigh.
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty