I witnessed someone speaking in tongues today

[OzSpen]

This kind of religious fear you two and a couple of others are describing must be horrible to make yourselves live with.

Willie,

Where did you get the idea I have 'religious fear'. That's a false conclusion. I have ZERO RELIGIOUS FEAR. You've invented that one. It's a straw man.

Oz

 

[Willie T]

Willie,

Where did you get the idea I have 'religious fear'. That's a false conclusion. I have ZERO RELIGIOUS FEAR. You've invented that one. It's a straw man.

Oz

Did I say you have religious fear? I thought I said you and others were "describing" religious fear.

 

[OzSpen]

@OzSpen

1 Corinthians 14:4 shows us that tongues can happen without edifying the group.

However, there is a fence put around what happens in a group of more than one person:

11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church (1 Cor 14:11-12 NIV).​

In a group, no matter what the size, Paul's teaching was:

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue (1 Cor 14:18-19 NIV).​

Oz

 

[OzSpen]

Did I say you have religious fear? I thought I said you and others were "describing" religious fear.

Do you get it? I have ZERO religious fear. To claim otherwise of me is a straw man.

 

[Willie T]

Did I say you have religious fear? I thought I said you and others were "describing" religious fear.

Do you get it? I have ZERO religious fear. To claim otherwise of me is a straw man.

Let me retype that for you... a little more directly. And, this time I'll type very slowly so that you can follow it.

I did not say you had religious fear.
I said you both described being concerned that if someone spoke in tongues, it was a bad thing (The way you put it, "not Biblical.")
You advised being careful (Godly fearful) not to get involved with speaking in tongues because — to you — it was not of God.

 

[Dave L]

That's the most accurate thing you've said in a while. It is exactly what happened at Pentecost. An Apostle could only have been uttering one audible thing, and yet that single sound would have sounded like 15 different languages to 15 different people.... even as drunken gibberish to a few.

I agree.

 

[amadeus]

It also shows that they knew what they were saying. Understanding what is said is what edifies.

Sometimes we, ourselves, need to be edified in order to continue to do our part in the Lord's work for us. At times when I am reading scripture, my brain fails to understand God's meaning but later on as the need arises, God works through me using what I read to edify someone else. We need to be listening and when understanding is also needed, God will supply it. This is by faith, which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

Give God the glory rather than the human mind which oftentimes will fail us when we believe we need it. Trusting in our mind too much will sometimes get us in trouble with God.

 

[Davy]

I've been fairly skeptical about tongue speaking for quite some time, as and I can't say that I had honestly encountered it before today. But I do believe what I experienced this morning was real, and I'm exceedingly grateful for it.

—
....

I have to give warning, take it or leave it.

Per Acts 2, especially in the Greek manuscripts, when the cloven tongue manifested on Pentecost, it was 'understood' by all peoples present. They understood in the very dialects of their language of birth.

They did NOT hear it as gibberish.

THAT is the Biblical measure, not how good or safe someone speaking gibberish might try to make us feel, especially when they are claiming God told them... to tell YOU something personal!

Do you think God cannot get your attention if He wants YOU to do something for Him? I assure you, He can get your attention anytime He wants, and you will know. There won't be any doubting. You don't need someone coming up to you trying to claim to be a prophet He sent saying to you something like, "God told me to tell you...", and that is exactly what one who claims God says this or that to you, is trying to be, i.e., like an OT prophet.

My wife would attend those kinds of Churches with one her friends while I was at work, and was always coming home to tell me one of the girls at Church spoke in tongues, and that God told her to tell me to do this, or that. And I recalled this event in God's Word which shows Who we should listen to..

1 Kings 13:8-26
8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:
9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.'
10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.
12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
16 And he said, 'I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.'
18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:
21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, 'Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,
22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.'
23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.
25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.
KJV


If you fail to read and heed the above, then you'll probably refuse to understand what the Pentecost cloven tongue is really about, and what it's for.

It's about the one tongue that all peoples once spoke, before the tower of Babel confusion. God knows how we speak and hear. If we go to a foreign people and there is no interpreter, and we pray they might understand, and we speak our normal language, the sign of the cloven tongue is that the people will hear in their OWN dialect of birth, in their own language. Not gibberish, but actually in their language of birth. This has been witnessed.

The other purpose, and main purpose in Bible prophecy, is in Joel 2 for an event at the very end of this world when Christ's elect are delivered up to give a Testimony for Him (Mark 13). Jesus said to not premeditate what we will speak in that hour, because it will not be us speaking, but The Holy Spirit speaking through us. Peter referenced that event in Acts 2 when he said, "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;" (Acts 2:16).

 

[Willie T]

Oh, Davy, Davy, Davy. I hope God soothes your mind soon.

 

[Davy]

Oh, Davy, Davy, Davy. I hope God sooths your mind soon.

I don't expect He will, since He didn't call me to be a soothsayer.

 

[Soverign Grace]

I've been fairly skeptical about tongue speaking for quite some time, as and I can't say that I had honestly encountered it before today. But I do believe what I experienced this morning was real, and I'm exceedingly grateful for it.

—

I was attending a prayer meeting before service for some extra fellowship and prayer time. About a dozen of us were centered around a square table, and we were all invited to pray as we felt led. A man came in late, we made eye contact, nodded, sat next to me. We started praying.

A few minutes in, this man sounded off a string of phonemes and morphemes in rapid succession in a whispered voice. It didn't sound so much like a language. He did not draw attention to himself. When he was moved to speak his prayer, it was not long but it was solid supplication and there was a tenor of strong emotion in his voice as he pleaded with God. A few minutes later, I heard this rapidity again. I felt an urging to look at him the next time he did this.

When it happened again, I looked up and he was staring right into my eyes, nodded, I averted my gaze almost immediately. Frightening. The prayers continued until our session ended a few minutes later. He introduced himself to me and to my friend.

We got up to leave and I called his name and asked if I could ask him a question. In the hall, "Were you just speaking in tongues?" His response was an immediate and confident "Yes." I told him that I had been rather skeptical of tongues and we talked a bit about it. He said tongues was "All from God." I was floored by the clarity, calmness, and peaceful composure of the man.

He spoke encouragingly to me, mentioning for me to plead with God and ask him to find what His will for my life is. To fast and pray and seek earnestly more spiritual gifts to serve our Lord. 1 Corinthians 12:31

All in all, a phenomenal day at church.

—

What are you experiences with this phenomenon? Does my account sound genuine with your own experiences? Do you speak in tongues, and if so, how often?


I will praise God for this gift and for this profound experience today. I am now decidedly less skeptical/judgemental about this claim.

I had sought a deeper connection to God and some Christians I knew attended a Pentecostal church and were speaking in tongues so I sought it and was enabled to speak it. I later read something bad about it - that it was from the evil one, so I was afraid to use it. Now when I pray and feel an urge to communicate to God but words won't suffice I sometimes allow it but pray that if it's not from God that He forgives me. Usually since God hasn't shown me it's from Him I try not to use it.

This is just my experience and how I handled it. I don't know if it's right or wrong but I'm waiting on God to show me so I usually just pray normally. I was turned off by the Pentecostal churches because I saw too much focus on emotionalism. I read a book "War on the Saints" and she warns against it. This may not be a more normal type of response that you're seeking because I'm not settled in my mind that it's wholly of God, but it can possibly give you some idea of how at least some believers aren't fully settled on it being of God. I think it is but God has not seen fit to confirm it to me yet. It's interesting however, to see how many other believers use it.

 

[Soverign Grace]

My own experience with tongues is that I started going to a church in around 1986 where everyone spoke in tongues. Since the majority of the people in the congregation were of a different nationality than myself, I didn't think of them as being mad. I just considered that they were praying in their own language.

The word was preached with power in that church; I must have gone forward to receive salvation about seven times.

About the seventh time, the eldership took me onto the stage and began praying over me in tongues. They prayed so long that I began to think that if I did not do the same thing I would never get out of there. So I opened my mouth and began to imitate them (although it was my own prayer language); I began to speak in a language unknown to me.

When I would pray in my prayer language in the bathroom, my stepdad had a fit; and not long after that, my family moved out of the area so that I could not go to that church any longer. I backslid and did not go to church for about 3-4 years. When I did come back to the Lord, it seemed like a new conversion. However, I didn't pray in tongues again until after I backslid a second time (while still going to church and seeking to walk the Christian walk; I was captivated/ensnared by a besetting sin that did not plague me for the first year of my second conversion). My second conversion was a Nazarene type conversion.

More recently, I do still speak in tongues on occasion. One time the spiritual battle that I was going through was so severe that I don't know that I would have survived spiritually if I had not been able to "Keep myself in the love of God" through "praying in the Holy Ghost" (Jude 1:20-21).

Do you care to share your spiritual battle? I've had more than my share of them and I wonder why some seem to get attacked while others don't.

 

[Davy]

I had sought a deeper connection to God and some Christians I knew attended a Pentecostal church and were speaking in tongues so I sought it and was enabled to speak it. I later read something bad about it - that it was from the evil one, so I was afraid to use it. Now when I pray and feel an urge to communicate to God but words won't suffice I sometimes allow it but pray that if it's not from God that He forgives me. Usually since God hasn't shown me it's from Him I try not to use it.

This is just my experience and how I handled it. I don't know if it's right or wrong but I'm waiting on God to show me so I usually just pray normally. I was turned off by the Pentecostal churches because I saw too much focus on emotionalism. I read a book "War on the Saints" and she warns against it. This may not be a more normal type of response that you're seeking because I'm not settled in my mind that it's wholly of God, but it can possibly give you some idea of how at least some believers aren't fully settled on it being of God.

If it's any further consolation, know that the KJV phrase "unknown tongue" in 1 Corinthians 14 is an error. The KJV translators ADDED the word "unknown". It is not in the Greek texts of 1 Cor.14 that they used for the KJV translation (and I love the KJV).

Apostle Paul was not talking about speaking in an unknown tongue. He was preaching about the gift of tongues, meaning known languages of the world.

1 Cor 12:10
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
KJV

In that phrase, "divers kinds of tongues", the KJV translators added the word "divers" because the Greek word for "kinds" (genee) is pointing to 'varieties' of tongues (known languages). So Apostle Paul when speaking of the gift of tongues means by that the gift of speaking a variety of known languages. There are people with this gift of languages; Peter Ustinov, a British actor, spoke up to 7 different languages fluently.

 

[Soverign Grace]

If it's any further consolation, know that the KJV phrase "unknown tongue" in 1 Corinthians 14 is an error. The KJV translators ADDED the word "unknown". It is not in the Greek texts of 1 Cor.14 that they used for the KJV translation (and I love the KJV).

Apostle Paul was not talking about speaking in an unknown tongue. He was preaching about the gift of tongues, meaning known languages of the world.

1 Cor 12:10
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
KJV

In that phrase, "divers kinds of tongues", the KJV translators added the word "divers" because the Greek word for "kinds" (genee) is pointing to 'varieties' of tongues (known languages). So Apostle Paul when speaking of the gift of tongues means by that the gift of speaking a variety of known languages. There are people with this gift of languages; Peter Ustinov, a British actor, spoke up to 7 different languages fluently.

I too only use the KJV now. I wanted to confirm it and I actually spoke to Siri on my cell phone (that should give someone a laugh) and I asked her to translate what I said. She said she couldn't. It would be interesting to speak into a translation machine to determine if what is being said is indeed another language. One of my family members uses it in the hospital when they care for foreign nationals.

 

[Davy]

I too only use the KJV now. I wanted to confirm it and I actually spoke to Siri on my cell phone (that should give someone a laugh) and I asked her to translate what I said. She said she couldn't. It would be interesting to speak into a translation machine to determine if what is being said is indeed another language. One of my family members uses it in the hospital when they care for foreign nationals.

Now that part in bold would make it believable, somewhat. I say somewhat because God's Word does not define the cloven tongue as being a gibberish sound at all. There is every indication that the Apostles on Pentecost spoke to the crowds in their own language. But it went out to the crowds and was divided (thus the idea of 'cloven') into the various languages of the world of the peoples present.

In the Greek text of Acts 2 there is an alternation of the idea of the 'tongue'. It's a perfect outline. And it's specific that even the dialect of languages is what the peoples heard them speak. That means they each heard even in the very dialect of their region of birth. Like I've said, God knows how we speak and hear.

 

[Willie T]

Now that part in bold would make it believable, somewhat. I say somewhat because God's Word does not define the cloven tongue as being a gibberish sound at all. There is every indication that the Apostles on Pentecost spoke to the crowds in their own language. But it went out to the crowds and was divided (thus the idea of 'cloven') into the various languages of the world of the peoples present.

In the Greek text of Acts 2 there is an alternation of the idea of the 'tongue'. It's a perfect outline. And it's specific that even the dialect of languages is what the peoples heard them speak. That means they each heard even in the very dialect of their region of birth. Like I've said, God knows how we speak and hear.

It is not very likely those Apostles were speaking in their own normal language, since onlookers accused them of being drunk, and Peter had to stand up and explain why they were sounding like that. I do, however, think it is entirely possible, even probable, that they were expressing thoughts in what they felt was just normal speaking.

 

[Dave L]

I had sought a deeper connection to God and some Christians I knew attended a Pentecostal church and were speaking in tongues so I sought it and was enabled to speak it. I later read something bad about it - that it was from the evil one, so I was afraid to use it. Now when I pray and feel an urge to communicate to God but words won't suffice I sometimes allow it but pray that if it's not from God that He forgives me. Usually since God hasn't shown me it's from Him I try not to use it.

This is just my experience and how I handled it. I don't know if it's right or wrong but I'm waiting on God to show me so I usually just pray normally. I was turned off by the Pentecostal churches because I saw too much focus on emotionalism. I read a book "War on the Saints" and she warns against it. This may not be a more normal type of response that you're seeking because I'm not settled in my mind that it's wholly of God, but it can possibly give you some idea of how at least some believers aren't fully settled on it being of God. I think it is but God has not seen fit to confirm it to me yet. It's interesting however, to see how many other believers use it.

Even voodoo practitioners get a buzz speaking in tongues. But today's "Pentecostal" tongues are not the originals. Speaking in Tongues: Glossalalia and Stress Reduction

 

[Davy]

It is not very likely those Apostles were speaking in their own normal language, since onlookers accused them of being drunk, and Peter had to stand up and explain why they were sounding like that. I do, however, think it is entirely possible, even probable, that they were expressing thoughts in what they felt was just normal speaking.

But it is... very likely they were speaking their OWN language of birth to other brethren of their same birth. The cloven tongue is not what Apostle Paul was talking about in 1 Cor.13 & 14. He did not preach an "unknown tongue" ("unknown" was added by the KJV translators in 1 Cor.14. It is not in the Greek text).

 

[Soverign Grace]

Now that part in bold would make it believable, somewhat. I say somewhat because God's Word does not define the cloven tongue as being a gibberish sound at all. There is every indication that the Apostles on Pentecost spoke to the crowds in their own language. But it went out to the crowds and was divided (thus the idea of 'cloven') into the various languages of the world of the peoples present.

In the Greek text of Acts 2 there is an alternation of the idea of the 'tongue'. It's a perfect outline. And it's specific that even the dialect of languages is what the peoples heard them speak. That means they each heard even in the very dialect of their region of birth. Like I've said, God knows how we speak and hear.

I don't think I explained it well enough: My family member works in a hospital and has to communicate with those who don't speak English. They use some type of machine that interprets what one says in another language and tells you in English what is being said. So I wondered if it was possible to speak into one of those interpretation devices and have it translate to me in English what I was saying in another language. It didn't work with Siri but there are other programs that I may look into. It would tell us if what we speak is actually the tongue of another nationality or no nationality at all - just something God hears and understands if it is indeed of God.

 

[Jeff Wiebe]

I've heard and read a few articles on this experiment. Each independent experiment done that I've seen has not shown the one speaking in tongues to be a known language. Its all gibberish.