All posts tagged: Gifts of the Holy Spirit

When is the last time you spoke in tongues?

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When is the last time you spoke in tongues? I am directing this question to myself, as much as I am to anyone else, because based on a recent survey I know at least a quarter of us have spoken in tongues. But are still continuing this spiritual practice today? A recent study conducted by Infinity Concepts and Grey Matter Research (ICGMR) in early August 2022 found that 25% of American Christians have spoken in tongues. Included in this percentage were people who did not consider themselves charismatic or did not attend a Pentecostal church. The survey entitled, “The Renewalists: Pentecostal and Charismatic Evangelicals,” also found that 13% of those surveyed attended a Pentecostal/Charismatic church and of those who did 55% had spoken in tongues, which means 45% had not. So, back to my original question, if you have received this gift of the Holy Spirit, when was the last time you used this gift? I ask this because, despite the controversy, the gift of Tongues is an important part of our walk with God. …

Kathie Lee Gifford says westerners are too terrified of the ‘gifts of the Holy Spirit’

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In an interview with Sheila Walsh, who hosts “Life Today,” Kathie Lee Gifford said that Americans are way too ‘terrified’ of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. She added that we need to see how these gifts are operating in believers around the world to fully appreciate them. Gifford, who formerly hosted “Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee” suggested that while some Christians believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not for today, this is not what the Bible teaches. “We’re all supposed to have gifts of the Spirit,” Gifford said. “They’re supposed to be different, used like different parts of the body for one good work, but we’re all supposed to use them. And people go, ‘Oh, Jesus doesn’t do that anymore, God doesn’t do that anymore.’ Really?” She pointed to a passage in the Gospel of John, where Jesus said that everyone who believes in Him will be able to perform the same miracles as the Lord did. “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works …

When in ‘doubt’ pray in ‘tongues’

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In an article on Charisma News, Ruth Zschomler shared the amazing story on how the gift of tongues saved a woman’s life. On August 9, 2011, Kathi and David Byker were abruptly awakened from their sleep in Grandville, Michigan by two men wearing hoods and brandishing knives. The pair quickly bound Kathi with duct tape on her ankles and wrists and demanded that David pay a ransom for her release. One of the assailants put a knife to Kathi’s throat saying she would be killed if David didn’t provide the money. After blindfolding Kathi and gagging her mouth with duct tape, Kathi was dragged into the family’s SUV and driven away. David was then given a cell phone number to call once he had gotten the money. The message was clear without payment, Kathi would die. As she was lying in the back of the SUV and being driven away, Kathi was terrified as the driver repeatedly warned her he would kill her if she tried to sit up. Terrified, Kathi stated she wanted to …

The ‘secret’ power behind speaking in tongues

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I read an interesting testimony by James Alford who serves as an Apostle of the Righteousness Ministries International Church based in Marietta, Georgia. His testimony on Charisma revealed the secret power behind speaking in tongues. Tongues is one of the gifts bestowed on believers when they are baptized in the Holy Spirit. A few years ago, Alford was sitting in a passenger jet getting ready for take off. The pilot had just announced there would be a delay and at that very moment the Holy Spirit told Alford to start speaking in tongues. Though, he wasn’t sure why God wanted him to do this, Alford started exercising his spiritual gift. The plane ended up sitting on the runway for an hour and a half, and when he felt like quitting, God told Alford to keep speaking in tongues. It is difficult to do something like this when you don’t have the complete picture, but Alford obeyed this prompting, because that is really all it was. How many times have people received similar promptings but shook …

Tongue Tied?

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Español: ¿Lengua atada? The Holy Spirit is an active member of the Trinity and is known by many names– each one an attribute or symbolic of a gift or activity. This article looks at when and how to receive the Holy Spirit. On the surface this seems simple enough right? I mean we all know when we receive the Holy Spirit just like we all know when we are saved.  But as in most things simple, there can be controversy. You know we can all have an opinion about anything. But as Christians we have to look at the Bible as our truth.  Even when we are right, we need to base our truth on the Word. So what does the Bible say when you receive the Holy Spirit? Some people believe you receive the Holy Spirit the instant you believe in Jesus Christ. Here are some Bible verses for that perspective. Roman 8:9 and Ephesians 1: 13-14 are used to back the idea that we receive the Holy Spirit when we first believe. Perhaps …

Morgan Freeman Credit: Nathan Congleton/Flickr/Creative Commons

Morgan Freeman on the Gift of Tongues

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The Christian Broadcasting Network published an article on comments actor Morgan Freeman recently made on his encounter with the Gift of Tongues at Newlife Pentecostal Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was part of a documentary series Freeman is doing called “The Story of God.” In a recent episode he describes this charismatic gift as “powerful.” Freeman said: “All around me people have been swept up by an invisible force. And now they speak what they believe is the language of Heaven. I can see on their faces that they are genuinely somewhere else. “Now, whatever it is, they felt that power; they are not the same. Experience changes them, how they see themselves, how they relate to others, how they change their lives. “That was a powerful experience. I could feel the energy in that space. Normal people suddenly transformed by some power and then just suddenly return to normal. But Pentecostals believe they are bringing heaven down to earth.” These are interesting statements as the experience seems to have genuinely impacted Freeman. The …

Small Pentecostal church service in Liberia. Photo: Multimedia Photography/Flickr/Creative Commons

What happens when you do a neuroimage scan of a person’s brain as they speak in tongues?

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ESPAÑOL: ¿Qué pasa cuando se hace una exploración de neuroimagen del cerebro en una persona que habla en lenguas? In some ways it’s odd how Speaking in Tongues has become the lightening rod of dissension in the church. According to the Bible, it is one of the supernatural gifts given a person when they are filled with the Holy Spirit. On one side of the spectrum you have those who believe Speaking in Tongues and most of the other charismatic gifts ended with the writing of the New Testament, while those of a Pentecostal/Charismatic persuasion believe it is a gift still needed today with some believing it is a sign of the filling of the Holy Spirit — meaning all people filled with Holy Spirit will speak in tongues. According to the Bible, speaking in tongues also called glossolalia occurs when the Holy Spirit moves on a person and initiates this language. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul described it this way: 15 What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and …

Make your fields white for harvest. Photo: Cristian Malevic/Flckr

Is John 4:35 the most misunderstood verse in the Bible?

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It seems every year, pastors preach the obligatory message on evangelism. It is an annual event in most churches. Invariably they will turn to the Gospel of John and quote Jesus’s words: “Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” (John 4:35 NASV) The message is we need to share our faith, because the fields are white for harvest. The grain is ready to fall off the stem and we just need to be there to gather it in. Of course, everyone knows it isn’t true. Sure a few people are getting saved now and then, but for the most part our communities are a hard place. Maybe the fields are white somewhere else, but they are not white where we live. So was Jesus wrong? No. But the point we miss is that Jesus made the fields white for a harvest and it is something we can do as well. Jesus said these words after He encountered a woman at a well …