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Informational post on speaking in tongues #6

This is just a little ‘did you know’ informational post on the subject of speaking in tongues, shared as some food for thought.

When it comes to speaking in tongues, have you ever considered how things were in the New Testament times?

As mentioned in my previous blog, there are only three instances in the entire book of Acts where it is said that believers spoke in tongues.

Consider that none of those who are recorded in Acts as speaking in tongues had been previously taught about the subject. They were not instructed to expect to speak in another language. Not one person is seen as telling, or being told, that believers must/will/should speak in tongues. Do you find that to be in contrast with Pentecostal churches today?

Another interesting point to ponder is that you never hear of the believers in Acts speaking in tongues again after they initially did. I realize for some this is difficult to believe or grasp. Yet you will find no mention of Peter speaking in tongues a second time. There are no passages about Philip, John, James, Andrew, Thomas, Matthew or Mary speaking in tongues after the day of Pentecost. Cornelius, as well as his relatives and friends, are never observed as speaking in tongues again after Peter’s visit.

Is that not interesting considering the emphasis on tongues today? Either it never happened again with these Christians, or all the authors of the New Testament felt it was unimportant to mention. Does this not pique your interest and merit further thought?

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“We don’t want problems” – Mary’s royal gripe session

My name was probably removed from the roll this weekend. I’m really sad. I don’t know what I expected, but this wasn’t it. The pastor has never tried to contact me. Only four people have called. Some of my best friends never even called. We’re supposed to go to service four times a week. I haven’t been for three weeks and no one ever called?!

They think that church attendance is necessary for salvation, but no one is concerned enough for my soul- not my friends, and not the pastor- to call and see what’s happened, or to try to work things out? What happened to the Biblical methods of restoring such an one in the spirit of meekness? Of searching for the lost coin or the lost sheep? Jesus came to seek and save… why would the church sit on its hands and says “good riddance?” I’ve seen this before from inside, heard the stories of how wrong those who leave are. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am.

Adding to that is the knowledge that many other Oneness Pentecostal churches will not accept me. It’s wrong to have to call a church and ask permission to attend because I went to the same denomination before, to be required to explain- very carefully so as not to incriminate the pastor- why I might have ‘problems.’ So I won’t. Even pastors who tell me to get back in church don’t want me at theirs! I am not sure what they expect me to do, because the situation at my former church is untenable, but I can’t tell anyone else what is happening; I can’t prove much and most of what I can prove is considered acceptable or within the bounds of ‘ministry.’ I DO NOT believe that being called a heifer or other derogatory terms is considered ministry.

If a pastor tells you he could care less if you attend or not or if other churches will not allow you to attend because “they don’t want problems,” yet all believe that if you don’t go to church you are in disobedience to the Bible, and that you can go to hell for that, then they are effectively saying “Go to Hell.” What kind of Christian attitude is that? What kind of Christian attitude does the person have who says they are a leader and therefore cannot be questioned, or who says that a person is in rebellion for questioning certain words or actions? What happened to love, mercy and grace?

Books on Codependency Giveaway!

We are still celebrating hitting 100 blogs on August 6. 🙂

We have given away books for years as part of the spiritualabuse.org ministry and this will be our fifth one via this new blog area. This is your chance to receive one or more books on codependency. We have given away books on the subject through the years as it is often an issue in unhealthy churches. It was recently mentioned in one of our blogs.

Up for grabs are several used books:

~~Two hardback copies of Codependent No More & Beyond Codependency by Melody Beattie~~. TAKEN
One paperback copy of Facing Codependence by Pia Mellody. There is some underlining in the very beginning of the book.
Three paperback copies of Codependent No More by Melody Beattie. One copy has numerous pencil markings, but is still very readable. TWO TAKEN

The first people with a USA mailing address who respond will receive their choice of book(s) at no charge to them. To respond, just leave a comment for this post. Please understand that comments require approval unless you have previously commented. So while it may look like you are first or second, there may be someone ahead of you who comment is pending. Be sure to use your actual email address when setting up to comment as I will be contacting you. (Do not put the email or address in your actual comment.)

Be sure to mention in your comment which book(s) you would like and you may refer to them by number.

You still have the opportunity to receive one or more books on Boundaries by Henry Cloud & John Townsend here. You must comment separately on that blog to make a request.

Books on Grace Giveaway!

We are still celebrating hitting 100 blogs on August 6. 🙂

We have given away books for years as part of the spiritualabuse.org ministry and this will be our fourth one via this new blog area. This is your chance to receive one or more books on grace. We have given away many books on the subject through the years as people from unhealthy churches often have set aside God’s grace when they become caught up in the performance trap.

Up for grabs are several used books:

~~One hardback copy of The Grace Awakening by Charles Swindoll. The dust jacket isn’t in the best condition but the inside is good.~~ TAKEN
One hardback copy of Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing About Grace. TAKEN
~~Two paperback copies of Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing About Grace. One copy has some highlighting and markings, but is still very readable~~. TAKEN

Be sure to mention in your comment which book(s) you would like and you may refer to them by number.

You still have the opportunity to receive one or more books on Boundaries by Henry Cloud & John Townsend here. You must comment separately on that blog to make a request.

Video

I prayed through in a church where TV “in the home” was preached against. However, the pastor admitted to having gone to friends’ homes to watch TV as a kid. He also allowed the saints to have a VCR and monitor. He even eventually got one. I watched more PG movies in the six months after I got in church than I had in the world. Many of us would also go to places like Walmart and watch movies there.

Later, another pastor ended up teaching against TV, video, moving pictures, monitors- I wasn’t even sure it was acceptable to go to a play. So here is what’s funny to me: There could be no VCRs, movies, or TV. Sometimes YouTube was also preached against. But at least some would watch video clips online at work regularly. Several emailed me video clips, too. And video games that look exactly like cartoons were never taught against at all.

I’m a very visual person. To me, video is an art form, if done tastefully. But I didn’t watch a movie or TV for years because it was ‘wrong.’ Not biblically wrong, pastorally wrong.

I don’t have a pastor now. Yesterday I checked out three videos from the library. Last night was the first time in my life I’d ever watched a video in my own home. And I cried. I don’t even know why. It wasn’t that I felt guilty. Maybe I was so relieved to be able to chose to do something just for the enjoyment of it. It was a beautiful movie. And it felt so nice to be able to just do something for the fun of it!

I’ve heard video preached against because we remember so much of what we see. However, we must remember that not everything we see is bad.

Do we truly remember more of a video than we do of real life? It may seem that way at first, but in reality, we haven’t- it’s just that in real life we remember snapshots of scenes. The best movies are simply limited to a well-directed series of these types of snapshots. This creates an illusion of remembering more from the movie than real life, when in fact we are still just remembering snapshots of the best pieces of life.

I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. (Ps 101:3) Obviously no verse in the Bible speaks specifically against television or movies. However, this verse has been used in many circles to show people they should not watch movies or TV. We should, indeed, be careful not to engross ourselves in anything that is wicked- book, TV, movie, everyday life… but if we used this verse to say that TV or movies on the whole were wrong, then we would need to go through life with our eyes closed. Those who walk with their eyes closed are most likely to fall.