random (02/04/83)
(Where's my soap box..........) ..*Ahem*.. I've noticed some talk of Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity and have noticed few comments by Christians actually *involved*. There has been quite a few questions on tongues and such so I figure I'll share my on the issues. I am a Christian that was brought up in churches which taught moral ethics and Biblical wisdom (kindness, giving, etc.) and called it Christianity. I was impressed at the folks all trying to be good people, but was annoyed at the lack of teaching on who the Father, Jesus, and this strange Holy Spirit are. The teachings were geared to good living and forgiving sin. However, when I was 10 years old, I didn't have a large history of sins to be forgiven of and wasn't trying to shake a guilty conscience. I just wanted to know God. Three years ago, when I was 22 (and had a past well needing forgiving) I was lead to Jesus so I would know Him personally. Suffice to say, it worked. I attend a church in the Portland, Oregon area that is Pentecostal, Charismatic, but most of all, Full-Gospel. This means we hold to the somewhat unpopular belief that the Bible is *completely* accurate (If God created the universe, why couldn't He keep His Word accurate?). Therefore, we believe lots more unpopular things like Jesus healing people when asked in faith (He doesn't do anything if you don't believe He can), supernatural inter- vention of God to accomplish His will (God is not passive or careless), restoration of one's life by the Holy Spirit entering the person to change said person from the inside (God *does* love us and wants to fix our souls, lives, and bodies), and two modes of speaking in unknown languages. There is more we believe in, too, but I don't want to reprint the Bible over the Net. I'll deal with tongues alone. The ministry of tongues is the one in the second chapter of Acts, which refers to the day of Pentecost (thus the name Pentecostal) in which the Apostles spoke in many *known* languages other than their own in order to proclaim that Jesus is Lord to people that they could not communicate with due to the language barrier. Praying in tongues, which is covered in I Corinthians 12 and 14, is another gift which allows a person's own spirit with guidance from the Holy Spirit to speak with God about personal stuff that is too deep to put into language of the world. Praying of this sort is typically done in private, although I've seen it done as part of specialized ministering. Praying in tongues allows God to deal with damage, imperfection, and other personal concerns within a person that otherwise might not be addressed. The tongue is *typically* not intelligible by anyone listening as it is NOT a known language of this world. I say typically due to another gift of God which is interpretation of tongues which some Christians have. Please note that speaking in tongues, as with any Divine inspiration, requires the Holy Spirit to influence a Christian heavily. This might be considered 'possession' except that the person influenced can *instantly* stop. The Holy Spirit will not force a Christian to speak in tongues (the Holy Spirit will not *force* a Christian to do anything). On the other hand, demonic possession (yet another unpopular belief in this pseudo-enlightened age) gives no choice to the person possessed. Demonic possession takes total control of the person possessed and will not let go until it decides to do so or unless it is forced out. Functionally, Divine influence will always result in God using a Christian for showing His love and power. Demonic possession will con- versely result in deception and/or destruction of the person possessed and pos- sibly to others, too. I hope I helped with this explanation. If you have comments, etc. please send mail. I'd like to hear any other view. One thing I noticed about being a Christian is my own fallibility. I cannot afford the closed mind I've noticed many Christians seem to have. However, please send personal abuse to /dev/null as I really don't have time for it. Thanks for staying with me this long, Randall Elliott