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Speaking in Tongues

Jun 12
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The Gifts of the Spirit: A Profound Treasure

By | Gifts of the Spirit, Healing, Miracles, Speaking in Tongues, The Holy Spirit, The Prophetic | No Comments

The gifts of the spirit are one of the most profound treasures a believer can possess, yet so many Christians struggle to understand and operate in them. During a recent revival meeting, I had the opportunity to dive deep into this topic and share some incredible stories from my own ministry journey. The gifts are not something we can earn through works, but are freely given manifestations of the Holy Spirit to be earnestly desired.

You Cannot Earn the Gifts

So many believers fall into the trap of thinking the gifts of the Spirit are rewards to be earned through fasting, giving, or other spiritual disciplines. But as I explained to a dear sister in my church, if the gift of tongues came after doing all those things, it would be called the rewards of the Spirit, not the gifts of the Spirit. The gifts are imparted sovereignly by God’s grace, not earned through our efforts.

In my experience, it’s often those who are the most generous givers who struggle the most to receive spiritual gifts for themselves. It can be hard for people whose identity is wrapped up in giving and serving others to simply receive something as a free gift from God. There’s an inherent identity struggle in understanding how we, as simple humans, could be empowered to operate in profound gifts like prophecy.

To Say Something

The gifts of the Spirit are often categorized into three groups of three – the first group enables us to “say something.” This includes prophecy, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Consider how many times in Scripture, God instructed His spokespeople to quite literally “say something” – to speak forth His word and declare His messages.

I’ve seen the gift of tongues manifest in incredible ways, like the time my own prayer language sounded strikingly similar to ancient Italian as I interceded for my backslidden sister Sarah. The Holy Spirit was speaking into the very DNA and root system of her Italian heritage.

To Know Something

The second category allows us to “know something” beyond our natural abilities or circumstances. It includes the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and discernment of spirits. Like Jesus knowing the Samaritan woman had five previous husbands, these gifts impart supernatural knowledge and insight.

I’ll never forget praying for a man who had the incredible gift of knowledge operating in his career field. As I prophesied over him about this advantage, I started getting words like “undercover” and “agent” – turns out, he was one of the highest-ranking FBI agents in America! The gifts allow us to know things in the supernatural realm that are impossible to know naturally.

To Do Something

The final three gifts – faith, healings, and miracles – empower us to “do something” beyond our human capacities and limitations. Every believer has a measure of faith, but those with a special gift of faith seem to create an atmosphere where others around them become emboldened to believe God for greater things.

I love to see healings and miracles in operation because they are such powerful demonstrations of God’s power and love. Like the woman who regrew the bones in her ear after I prayed for her hearing, or the many medical verifications we’ve received documenting miraculous healings of metal turning to bone and missing limbs being restored. The working of miracles is an incredible gift!

The Source of the Gifts

At the core, every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Lights above. While there are different administrations and operations of these gifts, it all flows from the same Spirit. We must honor the diversity in how these gifts manifest while remembering the Source is the same. As I shared about my journey of being misjudged and misunderstood early in my ministry, exercising honor and grace towards one another is crucial for creating an atmosphere where the gifts can flow freely.

Each Gift Unveils His Love

One of the most profound truths the Lord has taught me about spiritual gifts is that each one opens up a unique way for us to experience the love of Christ. When exercised properly, even a hard prophetic word or intense deliverance should be permeated with the unmistakable aroma and fragrance of the Father’s love.

Too often, Pentecostals and Charismatics have divorced the gifts from sound theology and the love of the Father. But these gifts originate from God’s heart of love! When I operate in deliverance and see hundreds being freed from demonic oppression, there is a tangible sense of the Father’s love saturating the atmosphere instead of darkness or foreboding. Each gift is intended to unveil Christ’s passionate love for His children in unique ways.

A Source of Restoration

At their core, the gifts of the spirit are meant to be tools of restoration, healing, and reconciliation – not punishment or condemnation. Even when I had to confront my former pastor’s infidelity and financial misdeeds, it wasn’t to “be right” but to create an opportunity for repentance and healing in the church.

I’ll never forget years later seeing that same pastor overcome by conviction, walking through a crowd of 1,000 people to ask me to walk him through deliverance as he recommitted his life to Jesus. Though it took over 15 years, the prophetic word created a path to redemption and restoration. The New Covenant gifts are always an expression of the Father’s heart to restore and redeem His children.

An Identity Issue

For many, a blockage to receiving and operating in spiritual gifts is an identity issue of feeling inadequate or ill-equipped. We look at the daunting manifestations of the miraculous and think “How could someone like me ever move in those kinds of gifts?” The beautiful truth is that it’s not about our qualifications – it’s about Christ being formed in us.

The greater our intimacy and love relationship with Jesus, the more naturally the gifts will begin to flow out of our lives. Like the disciples being clothed with power from on high after the outpouring at Pentecost, our identity is meant to be rooted in His indwelling presence. From that place, the gifts cease being strange phenomena and become natural outpourings of the Spirit who lives within us.

Conclusion

The gifts of the spirit are not rewards to be earned, but gifts of grace to be earnestly desired and stewarded for the glory of God and the edification of the church. They open up profound avenues for encountering the passionate love of the Father in fresh ways. And though the manifestations may look different, the Source is the same – the Holy Spirit working in and through us.

My prayer is that this teaching would stir up holy desire and impart fresh courage to the Body of Christ. Let’s yearn, not earn, for the profound treasures of the spirit that are meant to be normal, not novel. And may the gifts release the fragrance of the Father’s love everywhere they flow!

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Sep 29
0
Brain imaging of science of speaking in tongues

Science Confirms Speaking in Tongues

By | Gifts of the Spirit, Speaking in Tongues, The Holy Spirit | No Comments

Speaking in tongues is a gift for today, and it has not ceased as many preachers and false theologians would have you believe. 

Recently we were live streaming our worship service and I was on the stage getting ready to transition into my sermon. The singer next to me began to sing in another language, which I assumed was Spanish. After the service was over, the singer said, “Pastor Mike, I’ve never sung in tongues before.  That was the most beautiful, powerful experience in worship I’ve ever had.”  I replied, “Well, I assumed that you were singing in Spanish, so that’s why I was encouraging you to continue to sing it.  He said, “No, that was tongues, I had no idea what I was singing.” 

Speaking In An Unknown Language

Later on that day he received a text message from a family member who had been watching the live stream broadcast.  They said, “Hey, since when did you learn Portuguese?” He said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, I don’t know Portuguese!”   The person replied, “Well, I know Portuguese and you were singing a phrase repeatedly in Portuguese: I give all my devotion to you, I give all my devotion to you.”

This is just one of many many stories I can tell. You simply cannot convince me that the gift of tongues through the Holy Spirit has ceased.  You might be asking, how can I speak in tongues?  

You Cannot Earn This Gift

There is this precious woman from my church who came to me recently.  She said, “Pastor Mike, I’ve been praying, fasting, giving my tithe and offering, reading my Bible more, and attending church every Sunday, I never miss. I have asked for the gift of tongues.  Why have I not received it?”  

I politely responded to her, “If the Holy Spirit gave you the gift of tongues after all of that work, it would be ‘the rewards of the Spirit’ not ‘the gifts of the Spirit.’” Rewards are earned, but gifts are received. In my experience, people who devote their lives to helping others and kind-hearted people who are always trying to do for other people have the hardest time simply receiving when they come to God.  They want to know how they can be good enough, ready enough, or knowledgeable enough to speak in tongues. This makes sense because everything else we do is learned, achieved, and accomplished.  But it’s not so with the gifts of the Spirit. We can only receive like children from a good Father.  

The Science Proves It

In 2006, the New York Times reported a scientific breakthrough. Researchers at The University of Pennsylvania took brain images of five women while they spoke in tongues and found that their frontal lobes – the thinking, willful part of the brain through which people control what they do – were relatively quiet as they spoke in tongues.  Even the language centers of their brain were relatively quiet.  The regions involved in maintaining self-consciousness, though, were active. The people were not in blind trances. It was unclear which part of their brain was driving the behavior of speaking in tongues.  

Brain imaging of science of speaking in tongues“The amazing thing was how the images supported people’s interpretation of what was happening,” said Dr. Andrew B. Newberg, who was the leader of this study. “The way they describe it, and what they believe, is that God is talking through them.”  Donna Morgan, a co-author of the study, was also a research subject. As a born-again Christian, she considers the ability to speak in tongues a gift. She said, “You’re aware of your surroundings.  You’re not really out of control. But you have no control over what’s happening. You’re just flowing. You’re in a realm of peace and comfort, and it’s a fantastic feeling.” 

Emotional Stability

Many people look at those who speak in tongues and think they’re out of their mind and they must be lunatics, but according to the New York Times article, a study of nearly 1,000 Evangelical Christians in England found that those engaged in the practice of speaking in tongues were more emotionally stable than those who did not. Contrary to what may be a common perception, studies suggest that people who speak in tongues rarely suffer from mental problems.  

How Do You Receive The Gift?

To receive the gift of speaking in tongues, you simply receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ, you are washed by the blood of the perfect Sacrificial Lamb, and then the Holy Spirit comes and dwells inside of you to fill the believer.  Over and over again in scripture, we see people filled with the Holy Spirit. When you ask Him to give you the gift of tongues, He will increase and you will decrease.  You get out of the way and say, “Okay God, I’m not going to do this through the centers and the regions of my brain that normally produce language, but I’m going to yield and allow it supernaturally to come through me.”

Further Resources

To learn more about the gift of tongues, check out one of my in-depth teachings here in blog and video format:

📝Is Speaking In Tongues For Today?

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Armor

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Jan 22
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False Teacher - Man wearing mask

5 Signs of False Teachers

By | Gifts of the Spirit, Speaking in Tongues | No Comments
False Teacher - Man wearing mask

Jesus warned his followers that there would be false teachers that emerge and lead people into deception.  

Matthew 24:10 (ESV)
At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 

A false teacher appears to be Biblically sound, but past the surface, it becomes apparent that something isn’t right.  We live in a world where it is easy to build a platform without being appointed by God.  Skilled and charismatic people can easily create social media profiles that carry the appearance of authority.  They can even gain a blue checkmark on those platforms that lends itself a measure of respect.  It isn’t necessary for these people to study the Word to show themselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15).  They reach people by understanding an algorithm, but have no connection to the heart of God, and thereby lead sincere believers astray. 

The Penalty for False Prophets 

Deuteronomy 18:20
But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.

God never changes.  He is the same today as he was in the beginning, and the same now as he will be forever.  The Word of God is true and consistent through the ages.  So, there are harsh penalties for misrepresenting what God has said.  There are severe consequences for saying that God said something that He did not.  

Jeremiah 14:14
And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.

Jesus says these people are among us, and it’s our job to be discerning through the power of the Holy Spirit to know who they are and avoid them!  Here are five signs of a false teacher so you can be aware and not be deceived. 

 1.  False teachers conform the Bible to their opinion instead of conforming their opinion to the Bible.  

You can twist the Bible to make it say just about anything you want it to say.  We see that over and over again throughout history.  People have used the Bible to justify horrible injustices, like slavery.  They have pulled verses out of context and twisted them to justify horrific sins.  A good Bible teacher or true prophet will encourage you to test a word and not be afraid of people taking it back to scripture and verifying it.  

2.  False teachers use the Bible to make themselves the hero of the story instead of making Jesus the hero of the story. 

If the sermons that they teach make them look better but do not make Jesus known or lift Him up, they might be a false teacher.  In John 12:32 Jesus says, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (ESV). If a teacher is preaching to elevate himself but not Jesus, proceed with caution.  

3.  False teachers teach what sounds good instead of what needs to be said.

It is very easy to teach what sounds good instead of what needs to be said.  As a pastor myself, there are things that I know I can say with the right enthusiasm or volume level that can stir a crowd to applause, shouting, or ovation.  A teacher should teach according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, not just because the words they say tickle the ears of the hearers.  Preachers, is the Holy Spirit telling you to say that, or are you teaching what sounds good and what will get a response?  The word God asks you to bring may not be light and encouraging.  There are a lot of false teachers who don’t have the courage to say what needs to be said when there is a tough or instructive message that needs to be delivered.  

4. False teachers teach for the income, not for the outcome.  

There is money to be made in ministry.  Jesus himself had a purse holder, Judas, who was over the finances of his traveling ministry and supervised the funds.  This shows us that Jesus made money and accumulated money while doing ministry.  The Apostle Paul supplemented his ministry income through tentmaking.  While he was writing scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit, he made and sold tents to make money.  Selling things and supplementing your income isn’t wrong in itself, it is about the heart and the motive. Be discerning of teachers who seem to teach only for the financial gain.  

5.  They have replaced the fear of God with the opinions of people.  

There are some pastors who have allowed the opinions of the biggest givers of their church to matter more than the opinion of God.  There are teachers who are swayed by the opinions of those who are giving, tithing, or ringing the bell notifications on YouTube and live in fear of their opinions, rather than teach to receive the approval of the One who they claim to serve.  A true teacher of the Word cares more about what God thinks than what people think.  This person realizes that one day they will stand before the Lord and give an account for everything they have taught.  This thought fills them with holy fear and awareness of the weighty responsibility to rightly divide and communicate the Word of Truth.  

I hope that you will use these five signs we’ve discussed to discern those who may not have your best intentions in mind.  Test every spirit and make sure that their teaching is leading you to Jesus and not to anyone else, including themselves.  

My Breakthrough Community is full of people just like you who are hungry for the gifts of the Spirit.  If you are interested in learning more, consider joining the Breakthrough Community!

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Jan 20
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Is Speaking in Tongues For Today?

By | Gifts of the Spirit, Speaking in Tongues | No Comments
megaphone

Speaking in tongues, or glossolalia, is biblical but is often misunderstood.  Many Christian believers think that speaking in tongues is not for today.  They say that this gift was only available to the early church and that this gift is not accessible to believers in modern times.  However, the Bible clearly points out that it is a gift from God intended for all believers.  

Who Can Speak in Tongues?

Mark 16:17 (ESV)
And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

In this verse, Jesus says signs would follow “them who believe.”  He doesn’t say the signs will only follow pastors, apostles, Pentecostals, or Charismatics.  It says “them who believe.”  So if you believe that Jesus is Messiah, then speaking in tongues is for you! 

The Gift of Tongues is for Today

Under the old covenant, humankind interacted with God through a mediator.  Receiving forgiveness required sacrificial systems, which involved the shedding of the blood of animals.  A high priest would go into the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God dwelled, on the people’s behalf.  God takes covenants very seriously.  An existing covenant can only be ended by the establishment of a new one.  When Jesus died and was resurrected on the third day, He began a new covenant.  He promised that he would baptize the discplies with the Holy Spirit.  

man being prayed forActs 1:4-5
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

In Acts 2, the disciples were all in one place and in one accord, and Jesus inaugurated the new covenant by giving the disciples the gift of tongues.

Acts 2:2-4 (ESV)
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

What was established by the sacrifice of Jesus is forever – it is not going to change.  Anything that the finished work of the cross brought in place is still in place today.  There will not be a third covenant.  Some say that the gift of tongues ceased with the early church.  Yet, in order for that to be true, there would have to be another covenant enacted. Because again, the only way to end a covenant is to establish a new covenant.  That is not going to happen, because Jesus isn’t going to die again.  His death and resurrection are a finished work.  The gift of tongues is alive and well and never ended.  

The Gift of Tongues is Free

The gift of speaking in tongues is called a gift because it’s free.  It carried a high price that you and I could never pay for with our own good works.  Jesus Himself paid for it with His life, and all we have to do is ask for it.  

It’s a gift. It’s for you. It’s for now. It’s that simple.  

My Breakthrough Community is full of people just like you who are hungry for the gifts of the Spirit.  If you are interested in learning more, consider joining the Breakthrough Community!

Request prayer here.

ACTIVATE YOUR PROPHETIC GIFT

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