Holy Spirit: Not Allowed

Dear Friends,

The other day my husband told me of a conversation he had with someone who had visited our church recently. This person mentioned how he was blessed by the presence of the Holy Spirit that he had felt during our service and how my husband had not been afraid to operate in the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues OUT LOUD during the course of the morning. (Imagine that!) This person went on to say how he had roots in a church like ours, but had been unable to find a Full Gospel one recently that would allow the moving of the Holy Spirit in their corporate setting.

That got me thinking...

The last time I read Acts , didn't they pray in tongues out loud when the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost?
Didn't Paul say in 1 Corinthians 12:1 that he did not want us to be ignorant concerning spiritual things?
Didn't he also say that we should covet, or earnestly desire, the gifts of the Spirit, one of which is tongues and interpretation? (1 Cor. 12:31)
I also remember reading that tongues are a sign to the unbeliever, (1 Cor. 14:22) and that we should "forbid not to speak with tongues." (1 Cor. 14:39)

It grieves me that many churches who call themselves Full Gospel, or even Word of Faith, are opting to quench the moving of the Spirit because they are more concerned about increasing their attendance than demonstrating the true power of God. It's like saying,"God the Father, we honor You for You greatness, and Jesus, we thank You for Your sacrifice, but Holy Spirit...You're not allowed, because the things you do might be too 'out there.'" Of course, we agree that all things should be done decently and in order. (1 Cor. 14:40) And yes, there may be times when a person's heart will not be open to speaking in tongues-the language of the Holy Spirit. But many others, who are hungry for the deeper things of God, will be drawn to Him through the utterance of this heavenly language. What gives us the right to pick and choose what parts of the Bible we think are "relevant" in our modern day society and leave out the rest?

I don't know about you, but I am a whole Bible kind of person. I don't want to be a people-pleaser; I want to be a God-pleaser. I also want our church to be known in this region as a place where hungry hearts can come and be filled with the Power and Presence of Almighty God. I don't want to shy back because I'm afraid that someone might be offended at the way God desires to demonstrate Himself. No, instead I want us to be a place where God is free to move however He pleases! Don't you?


Not ashamed of the Gospel,
Pastor Rebecca