Friday, January 4, 2013

Tongues

I hope that's an intriguing title!

I wasn't thinking of speaking in tongues, but that may be an interesting thing to write about from my Baptist background.

I wasn't thinking about the many times I've seen children stick out their tongues at someone from the steps in front of the church.

I was thinking about the tongues of fire that rested on the believers in Acts 2:3.




















You know, I've never heard a conversation, a sermon, read an article or blog post on the style of the tongues of fire. Were they wispy like in this photo? Realistic or more animated? Was the color more toward yellow, red, or orange? Tall and skinny or short and squatty? 

It's a silly conversation, isn't it? We'd never discuss the style of the tongue and miss the fact that there was FIRE in the house!

Yet I fear we spend far too much time in our churches being consumed with styles of music instead of the fire of the Spirit.

In fact, if we were more consumed with the Presence of the Spirit and the Person of Jesus, we'd forget to notice the sounds of organ or drums, choir or praise team, etc. 

Two quotes come to mind, one from Erwin McManus and one from the Apostle Paul.


"We must become relevant and reverent. Worship must become the meeting place between the eternal and the contemporary. We tend to love the altar so much that we refuse to set it on fire. Yet God comes in the flames. Our God is a consuming fire...
"Each generation must build its own altar and then set it on fire. If you worship the wood, you will lose the fire. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of our time is that we have kept our pews and lost our children... Throw everything into the fire of God, and you will be left with all you need." - An Unstoppable Force


And then from Paul to his protege Timothy, "I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:5-7)

Let's fan the flame of faith in one another!


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2 comments:

  1. Refine me with the refiners fire!!! Praise God...wonderful post Rod!

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