[mc6809e]

"Speaking in tongues" is a scam.

I remember these staged events in my church. Everything was planned beforehand by the church elders. There was a script and everything.

People ate it up.

I don't know how these church leaders ever lived with themselves.

[Eagle Eye]

You do realize that you are in direct opposition to the writings of Paul, don't you?

"I would that you all spake with tongues."

"I thank my God, I speak in tongues more than you all."

It is amazing to see so much study and effort put forth by 'Christians' and others to debunk speaking in tongues, something that is dealt with and promoted to a great extent in the Bible.

[wardaddy]

too broad a brush and inaccurate

i have seen unstaged speaking in tongues with my own eyes

it's not for me but...

[tutstar]

Like some of the "healing" services no doubt.

[ScubieNuc]

""Speaking in tongues" is a scam."

That is too broad of a brush to paint with. There are many different gifts God gives to people in his body (church).

1Cr 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

1Cr 12:29 [Are] all apostles? [are] all prophets? [are] all teachers? [are] all workers of miracles?

1Cr 12:30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

What is clear is that it is a gift from God to be used for a specific purpose. What seems to be unclear is it's usefulness today vs. when Christianity was young. I don't know of any scripture that details when tongues would be of no use, so I wouldn't completely rule it out.

On a personal note...I spent some of my younger years attending a Bible believeing AOG. One Sunday, my brothers girl-friend (now my sister-in-law) came to church with us. She was recently back from Japan as a foreign exchange student. That Sunday, a woman who never spoke "in tongues" previously, to the best of my recollection, spoke. A few minutes later, a man who rarely gave interpretation, gave one. After the service, my (now)sister-in-law was in awe and quesioning the woman. The tongue that she spoke in was a "hill dialect" of a certain region of Japan, that she happened to spend some time in, and she recognized the language, and verified the interpretation. Apparently, this dialect is not normal Japanese, but unique to one region of Japan.

The only solid thing I can tell you is that in that instance, speaking in tongues, had a VERY profound effect on my (now) sister-in-law. I know that God used that instant to speak to her.

Currently, I don't go to a charismatic church, because I have seen people get too hung up on whether or not they are saved, because they don't have these amazing gifts. I also have seen people emotionaly crash, because they weren't "happy" or charismatic all the time. My point is this...

It is real. It is a gift from God. There are scammers and problems in every type of church. If God wants you to get involved with the gift of tongues He will lead you there. If not, no worries.

Sincerely

[Chaguito]

Professional wrestling is a scam. That doesn't make college wrestling a scam. (BTW I'm not a tongues speaker.)