30 Fun Facts About Tongues

Here are 30 fun facts about tongues, as individually shown in scripture, that I tied together from a few different sources. The word "fact" may be a bit of a misnomer, as the word "fun" may be. :) Hopefully my conclusion helps clarify my intentions. As a reference, you may want to review my Bible verses via biblegateway.com.

Fun Fact #1
There are two types of tongues: public and personal. (1 Corinthians 14)

Public Tongues
Public tongues are intended as a prophetic message to the church. (1 Corinthians 14:5)
Public tongues always require an interpretation for the listeners, with one exception. (1 Corinthians 6-13)
The only time that public tongues do not require interpretation is if the audience knows the language directly, in which case the message can be translated like any normal language. (Acts 2:5-11) I have second-hand accounts like this, like Robert Hewing speaking in Hungarian and Allan Thorner speaking Egyptian.
Speaking in public tongues and the interpretation of tongues are considered two separate gifts of the Spirit, though one person may do both. (1 Corinthians 12:10)
Public tongues are a sign to the unbeliever. (1 Corinthians 14:22)

Personal Tongues
Personal tongues are the outward sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 10:44-46)
Personal tongues are for our personal edification. It builds us up, like erecting a house builds on a foundation. (1 Corinthians 14:4) If we consider that we are composed of spirit, soul and body then tongues are a tangible way for our spirits to effect our souls through our bodies.
Personal tongues are the only spiritual gift that we can operate by choice. (1 Corinthians 14:15)

Tongues Enable Us
Tongues can be used to glorify God. (Acts 10:46)
Tongues allow us to "utter mysteries" without spirits. We can pray about things that we don't know or understand consciously. (1 Corinthians 14:2)
Tongues allow us to pray when we don't know what to pray. (Romans 8:26-27)
Tongues give us rest and refresh us. (Isaiah 28:11-12, quoted in 1 Corinthians 14:21)
Tongues allow us to pray in two different ways at the same time. We can pray with our physical tongues, as controlled by our spirits and the Holy Spirit, and we can pray in our minds in our native language at the same time. (1 Corinthians 14:15)
Similarly, tongues allow us to sing in two different ways at the same time. That's right, there are singing tongues. (1 Corinthians 14:15)
Tongues help us to "pray without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Gear Up
Tongues fall into two general categories: regular earthly languages or heavenly languages. (1 Corinthians 13:1)
Tongues, as a prayer language, should be considered part of armour of God. (Ephesians 6:18, Mark 16:17)
Tongues can help us grow in the gifts of the Spirit. We should "eagerly desire spiritual gifts." (1 Corinthians 14:1)

Tongues as a Sign
Tongues are a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. (1 Corinthians 14:21, quoting Isaiah 28:11-12)
Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy and evidence of his ressurection. (John 7:38-39, John 16:7)
Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a sign of unity through Christ. (Acts 11) Tongues are like the opposite of what happened at the Tower of Babel.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit reminds us that we are saved by grace and not by works. (Galatians 3:1-5)
Baptism of the Holy Spirit reminds us that God is with us. (1 John 4:13)
Tongues are a sign that God uses the foolish things to "confound the wise." (1 Corinthians 1:27, 1 Corinthians 14:23)
Tongues show that God can be in control of our lives, even the tongue that "no man can tame." (James 3:5-10)

Three Levels of Intensity
Paul tells us not to forbid speaking in tongues. (1 Corinthians 14:39)
Paul wanted everyone to speak in tongues. (1 Corinthians 14:5)
Paul counted it a privilage to speak in tongues. (1 Corinthians 14:18)

Love
Tongues and other spiritual gifts are meaningless without love. Love is supreme. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Conclusion
The last comment about love and Paul's emphasis on it in 1 Corinthians 13 puts the importance of tongues and spiritual gifts in perspective. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not a goal in and of itself and it is not the mark of spiritual maturity. Neither are tongues. We should pursue both, as directed in scripture, but we should recognize that this is God's grace to us to help us grow in Him. It's nothing more and it's nothing less but that's a lot by itself.

The readers of this blog come from a variety of different backgrounds and beliefs. You may disagree with some of the points above for logical, empirical or theological reasons. That's fine. You can take this or leave it as you will. I just hope and pray that you will pursue God and that you will pursue everything that he has waiting for you. God loves you.

Acknowledgements:
Howard Katz and his notes for "33 Reasons Why We Should Speak in Tongues." My dad for his usual input. Richard Phillips for the Bible study that we did on this topic together back in January 2003. (Oy, this post took me almost than two and a half hours to write. I hope that it's not easily torn apart in less than thirty seconds. Heh.)

Friend of God

"The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend." Exodus 33:11

I've been working my way through Exodus recently and it's interesting to see God's personality come through so clearly. God may be omnipowerful, omni-this and omni-that but he's still like us in a lot of ways. Or more accurately, we're like Him in a lot of ways.

God wants to have friends and deep, meaningful friendships. He wants to be able to confide in someone. He likes to celebrate with us and yes, he even has a (righteous) temper. We can hurt him, as we can our own parents or friends. We can encourage him. We can provide a listening ear and we can help persuade him.

In Exodus 32, God roars against the Isrealites because they were worshipping a golden calf while God was giving Moses the Ten Commandments. Moses persuades him not wipe them all out for their sin. Later on, it refers to Moses and God like they were friends.

As much as we may be inclined to stereotype the Old Testament God as angry and judgemental, and as much as we may see Jesus as a free-loving beatnik, it's meaningful to get past the surface layers and really get to know what God and Jesus are like. We easily state that Christianity is about relationship instead of religion, so how well do we know God as a "person?" How well do we know his likes and his dislikes, the things that hurt him, the things that he hates and the things that he loves?

What does it take to be considered a friend of God?

Tongue Tied

1. If you're a Christian, have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit?
2. Do you speak in tongues?
3. Do you pray in personal tongues daily?

My answer is yes to the first two questions and no to the last. I was baptized in the Holy Spirit when I was around twelve years at a kid's camp at Braeside Camp. I immediately started speaking in tongues and I have had that ability ever since. I do not use my personal tongues daily and have never made a habit out of it.

All of the churches that I have regularly attended during the course of my life have taught that every Christian should seek baptism in the Holy Spirit. Most of these churches also taught that tongues were a required sign of this baptism, though some of the churches were fine if members happened to disagree with that particular piece of theology. People in these churches frequently use personal tongues while praying over somebody else or while seeking God during church.

Tongues are pretty commonly understood in my circles of pentecostal/charismatic Christianity. I mean, I even taught the guys in my cell group a few years ago a bunch of things about baptism of the Holy Spirit, the differences between personal tongues and tongues of prophecy and the purposes of the two types of tongues.

And yet, that third question has caught me a little by surprise several times in the past few months. I know that personal tongues are used to edify and strengthen ourselves (1 Cor. 14:4) but I don't remember any particular emphasis telling me that I should use personal tongues every day. It was probably taught to me at some point but that didn't exactly translate into practice in my life.

In retrospect, though, it makes perfect sense. We're encouraged to do daily devotions and spend time in prayer with God. It seems similarly beneficial to let the Holy Spirit use us directly every day through tongues to pray according to God's will and to strengthen our spirits.

I would like to thank the people at Open Door church for their often boisterous use of tongues during prayer. Prayer is loud and groups are directly asked to pray in personal tongues if they can (and out loud in english if they cannot). People are asked directly during prayer ministry if they are baptized in the Holy Spirit and if they can pray in tongues. People even pray in tongues while doing regular things like household chores.

Funny enough, my initial observation as I prepared to write this post was that our particular church cultures (and family tradition) have a lot to do with our approach to spiritual matters. That's not a surprise to anyone, of course, but the now that I see personal tongues in action more often I've started to use them more regularly myself.

To any Christians reading this blog, I do encourage you to seek baptism of the Holy Spirit if you have not received it yet. Have someone pray over you and study up on it. And if you do speak in tongues already, let me encourage you to use them more regularly. God certainly has some cool things in store for us.

Ants & Money

Go to the ant, you sluggard
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Proverbs 6:6-8

So here I am at the age of twenty-seven. I've been working at my current job for six years now and what do I have to show for it? Maybe a few thousand in RRSPs and a van. I have dreams of family and kids and a vague plan to own a house but I have little invested towards these goals.

In years past, this was not a concern for me. Even though my parents would mention the topic variously over the years, I would say that they had a good point about saving money whilst I continued on my merry way. Ostensibly, I preferred to spend my money on my friends in an effort to build relationships and perhaps mentor a few young guys. There's nothing wrong with that, right? And if I spend money on a date with my sister or pizza with my brother then so much the better.

Last year, I started to donate money somewhat regularly to the Take It or Leave It program at my church. I saw how well they spent my money and how they stretched every dollar that I donated so I kept doing it. I even toyed with the idea of giving the equivalent of my tithe once a month to this program. That's pretty altruistic, isn't it?

And yet, what is my plan for my future family? To live in an apartment or townhouse because I was too lazy to save more money? If I actually had children, I would never consider spending money on my friends rather than care for the needs of my kids first but here I stand, having done just that. In my dad's words, I am robbing my family.

I could take that a little further, perhaps. One of my main "expenses" is my tithe, the expected ten percent of my gross pay. I have always paid this faithfully, ever since I had a paper route as a tweener and just as my parents taught me. My dad has been reviewing the necessity of tithing (heresy!) and whether or not it's really required, despite what he taught me. His latest idea is that if you tithe ten percent then you should also put the same amount into a savings account for the sake of your family, whether or not you have a family yet. It's something to consider, I s'pose.

My conclusion was never that saving is bad or that I shouldn't do it. I have always agreed that saving is good and necessary, I have just never done it. This year, I hope to change that and save a pretty good chunk of my gross income. I'm already making good progress towards that goal without killing my "doodad" expenses but we'll see how that goes. At minimum, I would caution my younger friends not to make the same mistake I made and have so little to offer your family in the future.

After all, I suppose it is better to be an ant than a slug.

Thank You, Mother

I awoke early this morning and finished writing and recording a brief song for my mom. Merci our toute, mama! For curiousity's sake, I created a new site to host some of the music that I've been creating lately.

Here is my new song: Thank You Mother

Power Packed Weekend

This past Thursday I continued my snowboarding lessons with my Little. Thanks to some miscommunication, we started our lessons two weeks after everyone else. Since this was the fifth week for most of the students, the teachers persuaded us to move from the bunny hill to the "big" hill. And by "big" I mean the hill named "Easy." We had to take the chair lift up, which was a somewhat nerve-wracking experience for me and my Little since neither of us likes heights. After a serious fall or two and then a break for snacks, we headed back up the hill and by the end of the night we were doing fairly well on our own. I was still sore for a few days afterwards, natch.

On Friday night, Exodus in Peril had a "Metal for Missions" concert at Glad Tidings. They had six bands in the basement of the church with a full mosh pit and all that. I took my Little there for his first official concert and I also brought along his thirteen year old brother and another very young guy. I put my Little on my shoulders and we jumped into the frothing mosh pit twice, with me taking all of the hits whilst my Little stayed safely above the kids. I wasn't planning on attending at first but the main reason I went was to show the thirteen year-old guy that Christians can have really heavy music and can be cool. Mission accomplished and Exodus has now gained several new fans. Who needs Anarchy when you can have Christ? (That's not pithy but I couldn't figure out an alternative "A" word.)

Congratulations to Ariel Terry. He managed to get a very nice little apartment right next to Open Door Church with full amenities. He's still job hunting but at least part of his plans are starting to fall into place.

I was playing percussion at GTA (Glad Tidings) this past weekend. We're gradually working through the Bible this year and we did Job this time. We had the requisite set of hilarious videos and special songs. I got to play tambourine and sing harmony for the song at the end, "When the Tears Fall" by Tim Hughes, although some of you may know the song as recorded by Newsboys. Due to the topic matter and discussing the tragedies of life, it was pretty emotional for a lot of people but I hope that they came away from the service inspired.

To finish off the weekend, Andrea and I went over to Sam and Wendy's home on Sunday evening. We managed to cram in two complete games of Settlers in less than two and a half hours, which is amazing. I was second last in the first game and second in the second game. The epitomy of mediocrity. While I beat Andrea in the first game, in the second game I was waiting with the winning points in my hand and Andrea won the game just two turns before me. So the men in the game officially lost to the two women, so some would say that all is right with the world. Others might not say that. :)

Blinks

By coincidence, I came across a website depicting some of the optical illusions that an English artist named Julian Beever does all over the place. This 2D stuff is crazy!

Anyone care to know a bit more about flying snakes? This site has an FAQ and various quick video clips of the snakes "flying."

Welcome to Xena, the newest planet in our solar system. It's bigger than Pluto is but three times further away from the sun, hence the reason we didn't find it until recently.

Hi Grace! Nice site.