EvangelTam,Enjoyed your testimony!The Spirit does things as He wills and the more we yield ourselves in obedience the more He uses us for His purposes.Blessings...from brother rbanks
I am seeking the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I am a Southern Baptist Pastor and recently after much frustration in ministry for over 20 years have come to realize that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a separate event to empower us to minister. I have read Robert Morris' book, "The God I Never Knew", and several of Andrew Wommacks stuff. I am convinced but can't seem to experience God in that fashion. How will I know? Can I be baptized already and not know it? I am Asking, Seeking and Knocking. BTW, I do realize that when it happens I will not be able to stay at my church much longer. I want to preach the truth!
_________________Mike Richardson
@ TrekkerHey Trekker, you stated
Let's be careful not to make an idol out of tongues like the Pentacostal churches DO and remember that it is the LEAST of the gifts.
I would think that it is not the least of the gifts since there appears to be three types of tongues. The tongues of evidence from the Baptism, the tongues for prayer and personal edification, and the tongues used rarely for the edification of the body which is public but must have an interpretation to be valid. I would suggest there is a fourth type such as the young girl in Spanish used for specific ministry not requiring an interpreter. Since it is useful for personal edification I want to pray in tongues as much as possible to be built up in my spirit and to overcome the carnal nature. The idea that it is the least comes from the baptist background, which I am, in order to dismiss it as useless. Far from it. When people focus on tongues only they are out of balance but it is a blessing from God, how can we say that a blessing from God is in the least category?
Hi Solomon101,To answer your question in a previous post there is no LEAST of the gifts. This is a popular misunderstanding of the Corinthians epistle that Paul gives a partial list of gifts. Tongues is mentioned last, not because it's the least but because it's the problem.
_________________Jeremy Hulsey
Lordsknight,God bless you! I pray you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues a.s.a.p. to start you on the journey. I agree that the gift of tongues is only called the least of all the gifts to those who dont have it or dont let it operate in their life... Im finding (in my own life) that it is definitely not the least of all the gifts, not by any means!! I would encourage you to find time in your secret prayer closet to worship Him, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you to sing in the Spirit (by the Spirit) and that will help so much to prepare you to enter into the presence of the Lord! Do you have any friends that are seeking the baptism also; for someone to confide in? I hope so, that helps a lot.God bless you again brother,Sister Lisa
_________________Lisa
Hey Lisa! Thanks!Well, my wife, (Lisa), was raised Baptist but rebelled and turned UPC for a couple of years when she was a teenager. She received the Baptism and spoke in tongues. That was the only time she spoke in tongues. After I met her I searched but was turned off by many of the antics in the pentecostal church. I later reasoned it was not of God and adopted the great baptist theologians teachings to refute it. This included, to my shame, convincing my wife that what she experienced years earlier was not of God. Now that I am searching she is confused. I have tried to convince her but she thinks all tongues is supernatural control of the Holy Spirit and we have no control...every time we speak in tongues. That is what her church taught.I am currently in the deep south Mississippi that is 90% Baptist so I am on my own here. I hope to soon report that I have received and experienced the Holy Spirit. Robert Morris said it took him 3 months, and I think Andrew Wommack took 3 years. So I have hope and faith on my side! God bless!