MILEPOSTS OF MY LIFE: WHEN DAN WOKE UP SPEAKING IN TONGUES

The church Dan grew up in was a great church that laid a wonderful, solid foundation for his faith. He learned much about church community, essential doctrines, sharing his faith and much more. He also made many lifelong believing friends who have always meant much to him. The church was a fundamentalist Evangelical church and their attitude about everything or anything Pentecostal was typical of similar churches. Although there were a few closet pro-Pentecostal folks in the ranks, they didn’t say much. Generally, most of the church didn’t quite know what to think of those bold, out-spoken tongue talking Charismatics, and were content to keep their distance.

Dan followed the lead but always wondered if there was something to what those other Christians believe. If Dan was to consider exploring that side of the faith he had some long held beliefs and questions he had to overcome:

• Speaking in tongues is of the devil: He had heard it all his life but thought that to be a risky statement if there was even a remote possibility it wasn’t true. Those who said this potentially attributed the things of the Spirit to the devil, something Jesus called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Dan always valued his salvation too much to utter such words.
• Some of the gifts of the spirit have passed away: Dan really had a hard time with this one. Why would they have? Why did Paul, in the middle of the first century spend so much scripture addressing the proper exercise of these fading gifts and exhort believers to earnestly desire them, if they were to pass away in a few short decades? Why and how do hundreds of millions of Christian believers practice these gifts if they no longer exist? Dan didn’t buy that they no longer existed.
• Many who practice certain gifts abuse them or overzealously practice them in a way that doesn’t necessarily glorify God. Well, Dan was sure that this was obviously true.

So in the early 1980’s Dan dared read some publications from the pro Pentecostal perspective. He occasionally visited a Pentecostal church. There was something there that drew him. There were things he liked and things he didn’t like. But if there was something godly to this Holy Spirit baptism thing, he didn’t want to spend his life as only a spectator.

Dan, like most fundamentalist and dispensationalists, had a major mental block regarding taking things by faith without being able to fully explain them. During this time Dan had started to go to a large Charismatic church called Jesus People Church. Several times a week he went and was faced anew with the question of whether this charismatic stuff was legit. He spent extensive time in study on the subject and lots of time in prayer. He talked to others on both sides of the very high fence between Pentecostals and non-Pentecostals.

God knew the difficult hurdles Dan would have to clear if he were ever meant to speak in tongues, prophesy, or anything else that the fundamentals condemned. One night, when Dan was lying in bed he spent time in prayer with a special emphasis on worship of the great and awesome God. He fell asleep worshipping. Suddenly, he woke up startled because he was speaking in an unknown language in his sleep! There was no one else around, no outside influences, no effort on Dan’s part, just a sovereign blessing of God. This may very well have been the only way Dan would have accepted such a thing. There was no one to blame but God. And if it was from God, it was a good thing. He smiled to himself and suddenly had no question of the legitimacy of the gift. Yes, it still existed and was still a good thing. Dan knew in his spirit he was worshipping God in a whole, new way.

During the time that passed after that night a ravenous hunger for the Bible took over Dan. He couldn’t get enough, primarily because it seemed that he had incredible revelation when he read it. Every time he opened his Bible it came alive big time. Dan experienced a refreshing of the fruit of the spirit and what seemed like a new found love for others. His faith seemed to increase. Dan experienced other gifts like prophesying, words of knowledge and others. Though Dan was the same Dan wanting to just walk with God, it seemed he had an extra zeal and calm assurance of the things of God. Dan was sure he had experienced supernatural encounters with the spirit in the past, but this seemed to be on a whole new level.

Since then Dan has mostly gone to Pentecostal churches. He has found that there are just as many positive and negative things in those churches as the others. There are many things Dan still likes or even prefers about non-Pentecostal churches, and Dan has great fellowship with Christians on both sides of the issue. God loves and uses us all. But Dan can’t shake off that extra baptism that he has experienced that is real and undeniable. To deny or make light of it would be a sin. It is a gift from God. And every gift from God is good.