Ask a Pentecostal

[ltwin]

Do you like Bagels?

Not really. I love pretzels with cinnamon on them though.

 

[andrewstx]

Do you like Bagels?

With cream cheese, raw onion, and lox.

 

[ltwin]

With cream cheese, raw onion, and lox.

Yuk!!! Cream cheese and raw unions And I don’t even know what lox is . . .

That was almost identical to me during a 'Life in the Spirit" seminar. We left the church proper and went into a small room in the school. There we were taken individually and the Monks from the Pecos NM prayed over us and laid hands on of for the HS baptism, and then immediately they prayed over us for the gift of toungues. They even coached us on how to speak toungues. S0rry but I felt and still feel a fakeness about the toungues because of the understanding that toungues must follow every person who had the gift of the Spirit.

In the Pentecostal church, it would be different. First of all, there would be no monks (but I think that’s obvious ). I was actually surrounded by my parents, grandpa, aunts and uncles and some altar workers. So, it was very much a family affair. It really becomes a “crisis experience” and an intense time of praying and seeking after God that you go through, and it was really special to have family members there who had been through the same exact thing. For Pentecostal families, there can be a sense of passing on a spiritual heritage in moments like that.

Second, we would not be prayed over for the gift of tongues (the gift of tongues is something different in purpose from the evidence of Spirit baptism). Most likely, we’d be kneeling at an altar (if in church), and we would pray in faith for the promise of the Father. After we had prayed, we would in faith open up our mouths to thank and praise God. We’d likely be told that it doesn’t matter whether its English or not. Just praise and glorify God for fulfilling His promise and in time tongues will manifest. Most of the time the person will begin speaking in tongues soon afterward.

There is some debate over initial or delayed evidence, whether tongues should follow immediately after or if there can sometimes be longer delays. Anyway . . .

If I ever stumbled into a church where they “coached” people on tongues, I’d leave in a heartbeat. The most I’m comfortable with is telling people to open up their mouths and praise God, which makes sense (how can you function in a prayer language if you don’t open up your mouth to pray?).

 

[andrewstx]

Lox is smoked salmon. I’m too tired to respond to the rest now, and my left hip is killing me.

 

[Protestor]

I was once in the church of God which from my understanding is a break from pentecostal it may not be I do not really care.

Do you believe that a person has to speak in tongues as a sign of the Holy Spirit? I know that at the church of God they did. It might have just been our church.

 

[ltwin]

I was once in the church of God which from my understanding is a break from pentecostal it may not be I do not really care.

The Church of God (Cleveland, TN) is a Pentecostal denomination. It sounds like you were in a Pentecostal church, so its most likely this one or similar.

The Church of God (Anderson, IN) is not Pentecostal, and this often confuses people.

Do you believe that a person has to speak in tongues as a sign of the Holy Spirit? I know that at the church of God they did. It might have just been our church.

Speaking in tongues is not the only sign of the Holy Spirit. There can be many “signs” of the Holy Spirit’s presence.

For Pentecostals, speaking in tongues is often identified as a sign of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, which is an experience that we believe empowers the believer for service, witness, and brings a deeper appreciation and hunger for the word of God and for fulfilling the Great Commission.

 

[MJCamp]

1 Timothy 3:15 “But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”

Here Paul calls the Church the pillar and foundation of the truth. Of course, scripture is important, but it is the Church that leads us. To resist the Church is to resist the truth

Romans13:1-2 “Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there in no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God. Therefore , whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgement upon themselves.”
Once again, Christ gave authority to his 12 Apostles who have ordained bishops and priests from the church’s birth. We are call to submit ourselves to the authority of the Church

2Peter 3:16 “In them are some things hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures.”
The Bible was canonized to exist within the Church not apart from the Church

Matthew 16:18-19 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
This passage clearly shows that Jesus is certainly establishing His Church. He does not say “My Churches”. To bind and loose means to be able to ratify issues, or to not ratify issues. And this matter is not only settled on earth, but also in Heaven. What Church is Jesus talking about here and why would he give this church authority?

 

[jerry_joseph]

That time , scribes asked “Who but God alone can forgive sins?" (Mark: 2:7)
Jesus replied to them “ Son of Man have authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:10).

Today protestants and Pentecostals asks ““Who but God alone can forgive sins?" . We reply that Son of Man has given authority to his priests to forgive sins.

“Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose so ever sins ye retain, they are retained.” (John 20:22-23).