I have witnessed the kind where people speaking different languages understand each other. Several families in my church adopted kids from Ethiopia during Ethiopia's civil war and famine back in the 90s. The kids arrived speaking only Amharic. We all learned a few words in Amharic before the kids arrived but speaking them seemed to upset the boys. One of the boys explained in Amharic that we were addressing them as girls. We found out that words are different depending on the gender you are addressing. Some of the people in our church understood what they were saying. And from then on some people in our church could speak in English while the kids spoke in Amharic and all seemed to understand each other. The kids picked up English pretty fast so it wasn't needed for very long, but it was amazing to watch while it lasted.

Its an undoing of the tower of Babyl. All people used to speak the same language but defied God. So now after Jesus has come the Holy Spirit returns the gift of universal language for spreading the gospel. Its beautiful.

I always found speaking in "tongues" to be nothing but nonsense. Anyways, for those that are interested, we did that thing at the graveyard and nothing happened. So for all the hype it sure was disappointing. On a side note I've had some dreams which my Christian friends say is God trying to speak to me, for more details you can read about it on my tumblr.

I personally don't believe that tongues is spoken anymore. I'm not 100% sure, but it seems like in the New Testament, tongues fades away and is no longer mentioned at a certain point.
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Where in the Bible is there a time limit on that gift? In Acts 2:39, it states that the promise is unto them and to their children and to all who are a far off. There's no time limit on speaking in tongues.

I believe there is the gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation. I've seen it many times. I also believe that anyone can speak in tongues. There's no need for an interpreter because at that point, we're praying directly to God and He is the interpreter. It's a private conversation between us and God at that point and He's the only one who needs to know what is being said.

I was privileged to visit Israel with a group from my church one time and while the men were down at the wailing wall praying, one was praying in tongues. Apparently he was praying in Hebrew as the Jewish man next to him seemed to be reacting to what he was praying. It's not the only time I've seen someone praying in Hebrew when they don't know the language.

I am sorry, but all my experiences with people who can "speak in tongues" have been excruciatingly bad. Therefore, I have a hard time trusting people who say they can speak in tongues. I think most people who say they can, such as Pentecostals, are very confused. Gibberish is not biblically speaking in tongues, it's just a bunch of nonsense.
In fact, there are some connections with what they are doing and demonic possession (don't even get me started on Todd Bentley! ).

mm1991, you're right that some (even many) people are faking it when they claim to be speaking in tongues. But remember, just because there are a lot of fakers out there, that doesn't erase the real thing. Speaking in Tongues is a real Gift of the Spirit. And in many cases the Holy Spirit is talking through people, either in a language we don't know, or a language someone else knows.

I'm not sure which people you're saying have demonic possession, but I would definitely be careful there. Since a lot of it is real. And also some people are just confused, because of what they were taught, and really think they're doing something good, when in reality they're making it happen themselves (and those people aren't necessarily possessed). And if it is real, we definitely don't want to call it demonic, since its the Holy Spirit. And we don't want to call it demonic either if a person is merely confused about something because of what they were taught or grew up with.

I'm sorry you've had such bad experiences with it. I hope you have a chance to have better experiences with it someday. Because no matter how much people abuse it, the real thing is still beautiful. Just like so many fake "Christians" give Christianity a bad wrap, it doesn't stop true Christianity from being beautiful or true.

~Riella

Good point. But I still don't believe that everyone can speak in tongues. It's a gift of the Spirit and there are many different gifts. Speaking in tongues is just one of them. Also, you don't have to speak in tongues to be saved; that belief isn't biblical.

Good point. But I still don't believe that everyone can speak in tongues. It's a gift of the Spirit and there are many different gifts. Speaking in tongues is just one of them. Also, you don't have to speak in tongues to be saved; that belief isn't biblical.

Thank you! I love when I find people who share this view with me.

A lot of the people I grew up with believe it's a Gift everyone is supposed to have, and they would always tell me I was sinning because I didn't have it... I never quite went along with that...

To me, it's always been ike that one example of different people equaling different parts of Christ's body. You need a lot of different kinds of people, with different Gifts, so that it works better when it's all brought together as a whole.

~Riella

I have a somewhat funny story; a friend of mine, an atheist, was visiting a pentecostal church with a friend of his, and everyone was supposed to start "speaking in tongues" and "falling over" when the preacher touched them (I've heard a few people say they've had the preachers pull them down, but I can't speak from experience there). Anyways, my friend didn't start pretending to speak in tongues or fall over, and when the preacher reached him he informed my friend that he was possessed by a demon and could either be exorcised on the spot of leave the premises - forever.

I agree with W4J and Ithilwen about tongues being just one of many gifts, I mean I think that's stated pretty clearly in the Bible, I could be wrong though. What good is the gift of tongues if someone else doesn't have the gift of interpretation? And what good are either of those without others having gifts like teaching, encouragement, leadership, and prophecy?

I am sorry, but all my experiences with people who can "speak in tongues" have been excruciatingly bad. Therefore, I have a hard time trusting people who say they can speak in tongues. I think most people who say they can, such as Pentecostals, are very confused. Gibberish is not biblically speaking in tongues, it's just a bunch of nonsense.
In fact, there are some connections with what they are doing and demonic possession (don't even get me started on Todd Bentley! ).

See that's what I always thought. Whenever I've seen things like this, I thought it was a little... It just isn't something I've seen done by sane people. However now that I see people who I would call sane discussing it here, I'm starting to re-think my suspicion.

Andrew, that church is on the verge of what I would call a 'cult'. I would be in the same boat as your athiestic friend. I don't speak in tongues or interpret. And I certainly have never been 'slain in the Spirit' (which is the 'falling down' you described). That preacher would think I was possesed by a demon as well. I've dealt with demons and I can usually tell when something is demonic in nature or not. Not speaking in tongues or getting slain in the Spirit is not demonic in nature. But as pointed out earlier, it is something that can be mimicked by the enemy. Someone can who speaks in tongues can just as easily be possesed as someone who doesn't. And to assume it's demonic when you don't, is flat out being unBiblical if not heretical. CS Lewis points out the dangers of looking for a demon behind every bush. It's not healthy and I'm very sorry your friend had to experience that.

I have a somewhat funny story; a friend of mine, an atheist, was visiting a pentecostal church with a friend of his, and everyone was supposed to start "speaking in tongues" and "falling over" when the preacher touched them (I've heard a few people say they've had the preachers pull them down, but I can't speak from experience there). Anyways, my friend didn't start pretending to speak in tongues or fall over, and when the preacher reached him he informed my friend that he was possessed by a demon and could either be exorcised on the spot of leave the premises - forever.

Somewhat similar to our family experience with a pentecostal church. My sister and I were taken away from our parents by church leaders immediately after entering the church and put into separate rooms. My parents say they were locked in the sanctuary (pretty much literally - there were guards at the door to prevent people from leaving!) and everyone around them started "speaking in tongues" and convulsing. My parents were horrified. Apparently, there wasn't even a sermon or anything. Just the whole congregation going into a seizure-like state for an entire two hours.
The pastor came up to my parents and said they were obviously resisting the holy spirit.....

Needless to say, we never returned.

Yeah, that's pretty messed up. I feel for you and your family and Andrew and his friend. That kind of thing would freak me out too.

Somewhat similar to our family experience with a pentecostal church. My sister and I were taken away from our parents by church leaders immediately after entering the church and put into separate rooms. My parents say they were locked in the sanctuary (pretty much literally - there were guards at the door to prevent people from leaving!) and everyone around them started "speaking in tongues" and convulsing. My parents were horrified. Apparently, there wasn't even a sermon or anything. Just the whole congregation going into a seizure-like state for an entire two hours.
The pastor came up to my parents and said they were obviously resisting the holy spirit.....

Needless to say, we never returned.

Dang. Churches like these are what really endangered my faith as a child. Praise the Lord it didn't scar me.

Here's a pretty good, detailed study on tongues, what it means to speak in tongues and what the New Testament says about it: http://bible.org/article/speaking-tongues

I'm not sure I agree with their comment that it is wrong for women to speak in tongues; it kinda seems like they're taking the cited verse out of context, but I don't know enough of the section's history to say whether it's Bibilical or not.

Oy, those don't sound like pleasant experiences.

To tie in with what Andrew said, what are the opinions on women preaching in here?

When I was little, I don't think I ever went to a seminar where men and women alike speak the Gospel or messages--all I saw was pastors speak. And ever since I was little, I really feel a desire to speak the Gospel and speak, and then, called it "wanting to be a pastor" when I was younger. I realized what a huge responsibility that is, and see what I was really aiming for was for a speaker, not a pastor. So really, I want to be a speaker.

I've heard different things about women preaching, and am interested in what you all have to say.