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Leadership Thought: Tongue Thing

Closet Tongue Talkers Unite!

Few subjects conjure up strong images and opinions as Speaking in Tongues. I’ve personally found that using my prayer language is incredibly beneficial. That being said, I’ve still had a back and forth/up and down relationship with this aspect of my spiritual journey. If there exists an island for theological misfits, I belong there. I’m fortunate enough to belong to a family with Assemblies of God grandparents, Southern Baptist “Step” Dad, in addition to being raised in a Wesleyan Methodist church and schooled at Oral Roberts University. I’ve heard both ends of the spectrum from people I respect very much. Some say you are less of a Christian if you don’t, some say you are less of a Christian of you do! Who’s to believe?

I came across this sermon podcast last week and found it to be an incredibly helpful review. Pastor Ed Gungor takes a look at this topic from a Biblical perspective that tongue talkers and non-tongue talkers alike would appreciate. Please give it a listen. It’s not long. Don't forget to give us feedback on our posts by commenting below! Thanks! - Mike

Posted on Friday, December 11, 2009 by Mike Collins

2 comments (Add your own)

1. Amber Kennedy wrote:
I was so excited to receive the e-mail about speaking in tongues. Although I don't have the chance to discuss this topic often, it is one of my very favorite! In a nutshell, my background with the Lord is as follows. I was raised in a conservative, Southern Baptist home that I consider more religious than spiritual. The only thing I was told about speaking in tongues was that people who spoke in tongues were evil and/or crazy. I gave my life to God at an early age, but I fell away from Him and lived in sin for a long time. A few years ago, God began to draw me back to Him, and when I rededicated my life to Him I was serious about it. All I wanted was to truly know God and live my life for Him. I wanted a relationship, not religion. When I started going back to church, I started going to a non-denominational church. A woman I knew told me she spoke in tongues. Honestly, the idea scared me, but she shared her story with me and said, "don't believe me. If you want to know, then ask God to reveal the truth to you." That night I went home and read scripture on speaking in tongues, did some research and prayed about it. It only took about twenty four hours before I was convinced that speaking in tongues was not evil or crazy, as I was raised to believe, but I knew that it was a gift of the Holy Spirit. On the night of Easter Sunday, I lay in my bed and I opened my heart to the Lord. I lifted my hands, and I asked Jesus to baptize me in the Holy Spirit. He did, and I began to speak in tongues at that very moment! I want to note that I had never heard anyone speak in tongues in my entire life, so the experience was unusual. Never the less, it was authentic. The devil attempted to lie to me and tell me that I was not really speaking in tongues. I was discouraged for about a week. I continued to use my prayer language during that time, but the enemy was pushing hard to convince me that I had not been filled with the Spirit or received my prayer language. I went to a class at my church one night about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. People lay hands on member's of the class, and as I prayed on my knees there was one word that kept coming out of my mouth. I didn't know why. Still, the devil kept telling me that it was nothing. The next morning I went to a class at church about speaking in tongues. The woman speaking told a story about her friend who could only speak one word at first, when she received the baptism of the holy spirit. Even though I had received my full prayer language right away, there was only one word that I kept repeating the night before when I was praying. This one word turned out to be the one word that the speakers friend had spoken! That was confirmation to me from the Lord, and I was elated that He gave that confirmation to me. There is more to speaking in tongues than just speaking, I believe. The Word tells us that we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us (Acts 1:8), and power is what I received. There are times when I have boldness in sharing my faith and witnessing to others that I know does not come from me. I can feel God's presence like I never have before, and I have a power to live my life for God that I did not have before I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Since I got baptized in the Holy Spirit I am also able to heard God's voice like I never did before and connect with Him in a way that I am unable to put into words. I'm not ashamed that I speak in tongues, because I am not ashamed of Jesus Christ or anything that comes from Him. Thank you for this blog.

December 12, 2009 @ 9:13 PM

2. Lynn Cherry wrote:
I really enjoyed that message, such a great reminder of the power and mystery of tongues.

February 19, 2010 @ 11:27 AM

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