The Debate Goes On…

For some reason I've been coming across a host of blogs in the middle of a debate on whether the gifts of the Spirit are still for today.

This debate has gone on for at least two thousand years. But I continue to be amazed (and sometimes irritated) at our European/American mindset when it comes to looking at and interpreting the scriptures.

I confess: I can't read Hebrew or Greek. I took some college but never finished. Never made it to seminary, I like to eat and take care of my family more than get a degree. I also hated the thought of being in debt with student loans for the next thirty years. I have a horrible time articulating clearly what I really am trying to say, and I am not a proficient writer.

I never started out to be a preacher of the Gospel, I was minding my own business when The Holy Ghost (oops!) got in my stuff. Changed my heart. Changed my direction.

I wasn't seeking after tongues when it happened to me, it happened in my bathroom one night in 1981 while I was there beside the toilet (maybe that's what did it:) praying my heart out to the Lord, crying out the name of Jesus when it happened: I began to speak with other tongues!

I have been told repeatedly it's not for today. I have been told over and over it passed away when the last apostle died(apostles??? oops, that's another dirty word:)

And I know…tongues are the least of all the gifts! But it's easier for us to explain it away than to do away with our Calvinistic and Arminian mindset and remember, Jesus was a Jew, the New Testament is the second most Jewish book ever written (according to one Rabbi I spoke with) and…

Peter spoke in tongues…

John spoke in tongues…

Mary spoke in tongues…

120 people spoke in tongues…

Paul spoke in tongues more than anyone…

I don't want to start another argument…I'll just be glad when we get to heaven…we won't need the gifts of the Spirit anymore; we'll be with the Gift!

Then the debate will cease!