Couppy

Be careful. If you ask God to increase your faith you may find yourself in situations where you are required to believe God and let go of your reasoning. It may turn you against your friends and family who are advising you to find other means to resolve the situation. Sometimes, you may have to wait till the very last minute but if you hold on to God he would not fail. Abraham had to show his faith by actually putting a knife to the throat of his only son before God intervened. Genesis 22. Abraham told his servants the very opposite of what he was about to do. Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.” That was faith. In Romans 10:17 Paul said "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

The gift of prophecy is one of the gifts of the Spirit as in 1 Corinthians 12:10. It is there for edification, exhortation and comfort. It is false teaching to assume that someone who prophecy should only predict the future. They can predict the future. They can predict and they can warn. If God sees a congregation heading for a split, which the overseer is not aware of, a prophecy can reveal that. Prophecy nowadays may not all about the big times such as the book of Revelations but even the small things relating to our day to day life. In Ephesians 4:11-16, Jesus "gave some apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" I think you got your scriptures mixed up, stating in 2 Peter 2:1 that there is a transition from prophet to teacher. All Peter said was that there were false prophets and false teachers.

The books may be completed and closed but God has not lost his power. People are getting saved. People are being healed. The Word of God has come alive in the lives of many people. Are we now picking and choosing what we want to believe God can still do and what God can no longer do? If you believe you receive if not you get nothing. I agree with frienduff that some make up tongues just like some will pretend they are saved. False tongues and false salvation are not of God. The devil has his counterfeit but that does not make God's gift less genuine.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." James 1:17 NKJV. Praying in tongues is the same as the speaking in tongues (gifts of tongues) in the Church. The only difference is that the first edifies oneself, the other can be used to edify others. For the first, if you have the gift of interpretation you may be able to pray in the spirit and pray in understanding (hence interpreting the tongues). For the second, you can speak in tongues in a Church and also give the interpretation if you have the gift of interpretation, if not someone else will interpret. One thing you lack is the knowledge that God called Paul as an apostle so you feel it is self-claim. I am assuming you believe that all pastors that you do not know when or how God called them into the ministry are self-claim. If you are an intercessor with this burden weighing heavily on your heart and you are wordless in prayer what do you do?

Why did you say prophecy has passed away? For the fact that you do not believe in the gifts of tongues and prophecy does not mean that God is not giving out these gifts through his Holy Spirit. God has not lost his power despite years have rolled by since the time of the apostles. If God does not do anything it is because he does not want to do it. The world is too big to know what God is doing in every corner. In your corner it is possible you have not met people who prophesy or speak in tongues.

When Christians pray they edify themselves spiritually. This can only be done by the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. Without Christ we can do nothing. It is possible that the dramatic way the Holy Ghost first fell on men in the Upper Room on Pentecost day may never happen again through history, but that does not mean that Christians are still not receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost with some of them speaking in tongues (other languages). To say that Paul was not an apostle, leaves me speechless. My post mentioned Holy Spirit interceding with wordless groans (I did not say animal sounds and behaviour). Have you ever had a burden on your heart to pray and yet you failed to find the appropriate words to interpret the burden into prayers? Well, it happens. Couppy

It is possible for born again Christians to fall away. Paul gave a warning in Hebrews 5: 4-8 "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned." Another warning Paul gave in 1 Corinthians 10: 1-6 "Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted." If we fail to continue abide in Christ and work on our relationship with God, there is the possibility that we could gradually turn our back on Him. "Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” 1 Corinthians 15:33. Adam walked with God but sinned. He got separated from God, according to the book of Genesis in the bible. Couppy

Knowingtruth, I believe that there is the gift of praying in tongues for edification, which also is a gift of the Spirit. The Corinth Church spoke in tongues after the Holy Ghost fell upon them. There is nothing strange that God poured his Spirit upon men and the Spirit of God used their tongues to praise God. How can that be strange? Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:13-15 wrote "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding." It is a gift! He acknowledges that we can pray in an unknown tongue. Our spirit prays but our understanding is unfruitful. He also acknowledges that "the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.". Romans 8:26-27. I also believe in the gifts of speaking in tongues to edify the Church where there is an interpreter. Couppy.

I would not suggest that your gift is not from God because you are not flowing fluently with the gift of tongues. It has happened to many people who are prayed for that they do not speak in tongues immediately because of several reasons, one is the fact that they are too tensed to relax and allow the Spirit of God to take over. So, when they are not thinking too much and are in a relaxed position they find they start to speak in tongues effortlessly. I think you were too conscious of what you were going to say and became tense in the process. Therefore you stammer and clamp up. With time and experience you will become more relaxed. This could happen with any gift from God. Even with prophecy, gifts of healing, faith, and word of knowledge. There may be hesitation at the beginning, then confidence kicks in with experience. I hope this helps. Couppy

As Butero said "there is no perfect Church". You may find another Church that you think is spiritual but after a few months you will discover there are weaknesses. There will be some Christians compromising or someone will fall into temptation. Whatever Church you find yourself, one question you should ask is whether you are being fed spiritually? Can you grow as a Christian in that Church? I have been in Churches where the only topic the pastor knew was salvation and repentance. Every Sunday I learnt different ways of preaching salvation and repentance, which was good for non-Christians. But some Christians need solid food to move on to perfection. Hebrews 6:1. I pray that the Spirit of God guides you into a Christian fellowship, where you would learn more about God and where God can use you for others as well. Couppy

Over the years, my understanding of prayer has changed several times. Now, I wonder what really is Christian prayer? It is definitely more than making constant requests to God. I have read books, articles, and listened to sermons but all I hear is talk about different kinds of prayer. As our relationship with God develops our prayer life changes. Our closeness to God changes the way we relate to God. Abraham was in a discussion with God about the residents of Sodom in Genesis 18: 16-33. I can't imagine him kneeling down with his head in his hands at that time. He probably was talking to God as a friend, very relaxed. There is always an opportunity to develop our prayer life, regardless of what level we are at, but we would never find out what the next level is unless we take our relationship with God to the next level. We can also learn a lot from listening to other people's prayers. Couppy

Let's keep praying to God who answers prayers. Couppy.

I have no idea whether salon.com is a "christian" site or not, but if not I'm not surprised at the attack on the young woman's faith. Jesus said to expect that from the world -- and its a good example of just what the world means by the word "tolerance." Praise the Lord and keep on going . . . If that site is a "christian" one, I have some questions about whether to listen to them or not. There's no reason to attack another brother or sister in Christ about a public declaration of faith. I believe that salon.com is not a 'christian' site. No christian will call God 'a God of parking spaces'. You shall know them by their fruits.... Couppy.

myeh. perhaps one could pray for rain like the prophet...and he was just one man I'm just too sarcastic so I toned it down... Sometimes we miss the little things while looking out for the big ones. Our lives are full of God's signs and wonders. Another thing is that God will not pour new wine into old vines. We must be of a broken spirit and of a humble mind to enable the Holy Spirit to operate freely through us. Elijah was completely dedicated to God and had a very close relationship with God, from what I gathered from the old testament. Couppy.

One other thought Gary... You came to realize that your motive in wanting to see the miraculous was to test God. Having come to realize that you seem to have set aside the desire to see these gifts operate to focus on love. Which is all well and good in one sense (if indeed that is the case) but I would say that if we come to realize that our hearts are in the wrong place...the better and more godly thing to do...would be to change our motives but still seek the Lord on how to do the sign gifts out of a pure and godly motive. If our motives ARE pure and desirous of seeking His glory and the furtherance of His Kingdom but we see nothing happen of the sort that He empowered His disciples to do...my question has to do with why not? Assume for a minute that my motive is pure and godly. I see no reason to believe it is not though I grant you that something may be lurking deep down inside that is not pure...the Lord will reveal that in good time if that is so...but assume for a minute that my motive is absolutely godly. Why do I not see more sign gifts occur? Why not? Is it God's fault? I mean is He really the Living Lord? Powerful and able and willing to do whatever He did when on Earth through His Body today? Or is it mine? Well...I think it's pretty obvious that the problem is me. So if that is the case...then what do I do to change? How do I repent from who knows what to be able to become a vessel through whom God will work through me (through us) to do what Jesus did while on Earth? Carlos Hi Carlos, All you have to do is seek a closer relationship with God and leave the Holy Spirit to work through you. I believe that the manifestation of God through us goes beyond our pure motives. It is a combination of many factors including recognising the gifts we have, our knowledge of the workings and operations of the Holy Spirit, recognising how God relates to us and works in us, and a few other things that only God knows about. The first step you have to ask yourself is what gifts of the Holy Spirit do you have? These gifts develop as we continue to use them but we have to first acknowledge that we have them. God deals with us as individuals and the operation of these gifts differ from individual to individual even though we see them as the same gift. How does God prompt you to do something? The gifts of healing is a coveted gift. We can develop this gift by stepping out in faith and praying for others e.g. if they have a headache, stomach ache etc. It does not necessary have to be something dramatic. As we continue to pray our faith becomes stronger and our understanding of the Holy Spirit increases. You never know what God is going to do through you next. Couppy.

I hope the individual members who felt uncomfortable with their pastor marrying the black couples in the Church have undergone a change of heart otherwise the problem remains. No apology by the Baptist Church will change individual opinions.