General Chat

Hi all! just popped home from next door's birthday party to start video! Promise I will reply to all threads later when children in bed! D

Several connected churches around me practice it, most of them very involved in the Alpha Course and in rehabilitation of former addicts. Speaking in tongues and receiving 'pictures' from God are encouraged and applauded. It appears to me that both are part of a competitiveness to see who is the most religious, as if receiving secret coded messages from God is a sign of being more worthy to receive them. I find the whole thing a bit silly. The God that I believe in wouldn't want to confuse people with incoherent languages that have to be understood by an interpreter and, to be honest, I have never seen anything that I believe to be genuine and it reminds me very much of the girls who claimed to be bewitched during the Salem witch trials.

sorry to interrupt, but I just thought I'd throw this thought in for Heather :) Speaking in a language that you have not learnt, when you talk to God can be understood in this way - the language is not of Earth, but of God - therefore, you are speaking His language :) From what limited experience I have (not personally, but my family), when you speak in tongues, you know what you want to say, but it comes out in a different language - kinda like when you think in German like I do, even though I'm English lol I don't have all the answers (in fact, I don't really have any lol) but I hope that makes it a little more easy to comprehend.

1 Corinthian 12 :10 talks about some of the gifts God has given us which include ''to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.'' Hope this helps you understand where it comes from in the Bible.

Then why not say it in understandable language the first time? Sorry, you have your beliefs but this just not sit well with what I see as Bible principles.

the interpreter says what God tells them to after they have prayer to Him.

And what do the interpreters say when this is happening. I dont understand - on the one hand we are told no one knows what the words mean, even those saying them, on the other that in a congregation you can intepret those words???????? Has anyone seen this happen? I still believe that Paul was a bit annoyed with peeps showing off their foreign language abilities and that is why he made that directive. That is my humble opinion.

When you are part of a congregation & you speak out in tongues an interpreter is needed . In your own personal prayer time it's just you & Him.

Nope, sorry, from all my understanding this is just not acceptable to me. You may not be able to understand how a rocket flies to the moon but it has logic. It has been engineered, it follows principles of aero dynamics, it is guided and it can be predicted. In effect, it has cause and purpose. Words that mean nothing to anyone has no logic, cannot be of benefit and if I saw someone doing itI would feel they were either mentally disturbed (you often see bag men/women at it) or attention seekers or had worked themselves into a frenzy (as in voodoo dancing). Jesus never did this - why would lower mortals have the need or, as believed, the ability? I am reminded - yes Paul said it should only happen when another was there to interpret to the rest of the congregation. This would again indicated it was a recognisable language - even if foreign to the majority of those present. If no one, even the one saying this stuff can understand - then it doesnt agree with the principles set out in the Bible.

Hello everyone - what a good thread Denise has here. We don't practice speaking in tongues in our church, so unlike Denise I am not able to explain this wonderful gift God has given. We have many friends who do practice and they themselves admit that an interpreter will understand more of what they have said than they do themselves but the joy from feeling so close to our Lord is a wondrous pleasure beyond explanation. Going back to the Babel line, before the tower was even created, God had told the people to spread out into the earth and 'increase in every corner'. So you see when they started to build the tower to reach heaven in the hope of seeing God, they were being disobedient and so God 'confounded' their speech in order that they would not understand each other - the result was why stay around if you can't understand - and so they were scattered abroad upon the face of ALL the earth. I oftened wondered before coming a christian why or how there were so many nations, creeds, colours, languages amongst the people of the earth, I now wonder, is it a result of the scattering of the people from Babel. Very often we wonder why God does or allows things to happen. We must remember His ways and thoughts are far beyond our imaginings and we must accept that he knows what is best for us at all times, even tho' sometimes it may not seem like it at the time. Dorothy

Hi again Heather, You've asked a good question and probably Denise is better able to answer than I am, but what I believe is that a Christian cannot be possessed by evil as they belong to Christ. They would have received the gift of speaking in tongues in a Christian context. In any case, my understanding is that spirit possession is rare and only happens if someone, unwittingly or otherwise opens a door to it by meddling with the occult. Wendy, I can well imagine how alarming it must have been to hear that lady babbling away to herself like that!

Hey Heather I am not at all surprised you don't get it! It is so outside of earthly human understanding, that it's one of those things you can't really get your head round till you experience it. And even then, no-one really understands, more accepts. Its a bit like I don't have any real understanding of how a rocket flies to the moon, but I accept it is possible because people have done it! Will answer your other questions in a bit- got to pop next door with birthday card! D

Hi Wendy that must have been a bit of an odd experience! As you can tell I am not in the slightest bit embarrassed or ashamed by the things God does or asks me to do, but even so I wouldn't just suddenly start praying in tongues in the midst of a group of people , unless I was at a prayer meeting! There is always a case for sensitivity and wisdom. The only reason I might do what this lady you saw did, was in dire circumstances, if there was a terrible accident or someone had a heart attack, and I needed to pray quickly and urgently! Denise

Years ago when I was a student nurse,we were in the operating theatre,cleaning it after an operation.There were a few of us chatting away as we were working and suddenly one of the women started to speak in gobbledegook for want of a better word ,for several minutes.When she'd finished someone asked her what that was and she said she was speaking in tongues and most people gave her a very wide berth after that.I asked her later why she did it and she said that sometimes you wanted to say something to God and there aren't enough words in your own language so you speak in tongues. Someone told me later that when someone speaks in tongues there should be someone there who can interpret it.

Nope sorry guys, dont get it. How can you pray if you dont know yourself what you are saying? How do you know you havent been possessed by a spirit and are saying blasphemous things?. How can it help you or anyone else if you are saying words that mean nothing to anyone??? Why would God want you to speak what was nonsense to everyone? The Babel Tower was being built by persons who believed they could reach heaven and be god like. God destroyed the tower, gave people different languages (as now) and then dispersed them round the globe. In this way they were separated and unable to collude in the activities which were offensive to him.

Hi Heather, Several of us at work used to get together for a weekly lunch time prayer meeting/informal service with the Chaplain, and in this context when all sorts of spiritual questions were discussed, it was clear what he meant about the use of 'tongues' being important to his work. It was an enabling tool in his daily work for Christ, enabling him to pray in the most effective way possible (ie, with words given to him by the Holy Spirit - even though he didn't understand the language himself.) I understood that he also saw the phenomenen as a protection spiritually in that environment, in the same way that a good pair of boots took care of his feet (as he tramped miles of landings and concrete stairways!) You're right too, in that he did have a good ability to communicate with people, but that was a natural gift. Joyxx

Sorry Meercat, had to look back to remember the last bit of your question! No, the languages of tongues are not like a god given secret code, whereby all believers can understand each other. Only on very rare occasions, where I guess God needs it to happen, can people understand others speaking in tongues. Even interpretation of tongues in public use is not strict translation, more a god impressed sense of what was said. Even the person speaking does not strictly understand what they are saying, but they know that they are getting through to God, without the barrier of learned language! By the way, Meercat, I love your questions, they are honest and straight! Keep them coming! Regards Denise

Hi again Meercat! I would think there is a link between the word babble & the story of Babel, but I'm not wholly sure. God confused the languages of the people at Babel to separate them across the world. Doesn't that seem divisive for God, who loves unity? yes, but he did it to protect them, because previous to that they were all agreeing together to build a tower to heaven. God knew that such an enterprise would lead to idol worship and distract them from the truth about Himself. In Old Testament time God's spirit was moving in the world and rested upon some individuals such as prophets, but it was not until after Jesus' death and resurrection that the people of the world have had the opportunity to receive the blessings of the Holy Spirit from within. D

Heather, I'm sure Joy will get back to you, as obviously she knew the person concerned, but you can be sure that if the phrase' speaking in tongues 'was used, with reference to a Christian, then that's exactly what was meant! The ability to speak a language never learnt, used under the control of your own mind & body, at will. Amazed? Puzzled? that's understandable, because by his very nature God is beyond our feeble human understanding! I've tried to keep this thread from being too personal, because I am trying to refer to believers worldwide, and biblical truth. But this seems a good place to boldly go, as in Star Trek, to a personal view! I was brought up a Catholic, and although I always believed God existed, the ritual and repetition of church did nothing for me. When I was 17, I heard a talk about how God had always had a plan for all of us, and the only way he could accomplish this was to allow his son to die in a terrible way. His plan was to have a personal relationship with each of us. To accept this offer, we just need to acknowledge that we need God, say sorry for doing it our way, and decide to trust Him in future. That made sense. Of course God must have had a purpose.. I accepted and have lived in the fullness of that promise ever since! But I am an ordinary busy mum of three, I don't wear socks with my sandals, I like wine, chocolate and music, going out with my friends...but I believe I am living life to its fullest because of my relationship with God. And part of that relationship is the time I take to worship, thank & pray to Him, sometimes within the limitations of English, and sometimes with the freedom that comes from using the new language God gave me when I started to follow Him! No, I don't understand the words, nor do i understand how I can do it, or how the more I exercise it, the more the language grows..I just know that, in common with millions of others, I can do this! And I choose to use it because it helps me draw closer to God, and be effective in my praying. After all, if God spoke a word and the stars came into being... then how can it be beyond him to cause his people to learn a new language??! D

Joy, I understand your comments - but surely again, this chaplain meant he had the ability to communicate to people - whatever their background etc. Not that he had/used the ability to use a language which has no earthly basis?