I wish with Paul the Apostle that everyone would. I would rather they prophesy. But at least speak in other tongues. I'm not certain that a person without this gift can be effective in ministry or leadership. Acts 6 calls that question out.
Paul's words in the first 5 verses of 1 Corinthians 14: NLT (italics mine)
Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy. For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. (this takes care of the erroneous idea that this was about foreign languages in this setting)
You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious. But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them. A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.
I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy. For prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be strengthened.
Tonight ABC Nightline which comes on at 10:30 or so central time will have a piece on the whole thing. I know there will be people who watch this and think "This is crazy". I think it's crazy if this gift is laid at your feet by Jesus and you DON'T pick it up.
So, watch this show. Here's a link to the ABC Publicity on the whole thing. It's worth reading.
An excerpt from a news release:
ABC's Nightline Showcases Scientific Study of Speaking In Tongues
"When they are actually engaged in this whole very intense spiritual practice...their frontal lobes tend to go down in activity. It is very consistent with the kind of experience they have, because they say that they're not in charge. [They say] it's the voice of God, it's the Spirit of God that is moving through them."
ABC's Nightline this Thursday will cover the gift of speaking in tongues.
At the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Andrew Newberg has been conducting a scientific study of the phenomenon for a long time. According to an ABC report, Newberg found that brain scans show quite different results with Christians praying in tongues compared to Buddhist monks meditating and Franciscan nuns praying. The frontal lobes—the part of the brain right behind the forehead that's considered the brain's control center—went quiet in the brains of tongue-speakers.
"When they are actually engaged in this whole very intense spiritual practice...their frontal lobes tend to go down in activity. It is very consistent with the kind of experience they have, because they say that they're not in charge. [They say] it's the voice of God, it's the Spirit of God that is moving through them," said Newberg.
"Whatever is coming out of their mouth is not what they are purposefully or willfully trying to do. And that's in fairly stark contrast to the people who are—like the Buddhist and Franciscan nuns—in prayer, because they are very intensely focused and in those individuals the frontal lobes actually increase activity."
Says one participant in the study, Pastor Gerry Stoltzfoos, "I don't think faith has anything to be afraid of from science. Science validates faith, so bring it on, whatever the facts are, bring it on."
"When you have experienced this, you don't really care what anybody else thinks. It is personal in the first place; it is something between you and God," said Stoltzfoos. "So we don't really care if it is validated or not, but it is fascinating when it is, so that people who have thought we are crazy can have something to look at and—we are still crazy, we are just not as crazy as they thought."
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