Walking The Walk

As a pastor I get a lot of interesting questions as you might imagine.   I thought I’d start answering some of those questions.   I’ve gotten this question about tongues several times.   So here’s what I’ve come to know about this topic by simply reading what’s written in the Bible.      Many of us have come across videos online showing pastors and church leaders speaking in what they describe as tongues. These videos often show individuals speaking rapidly in sounds that bear no resemblance to any known human language, sometimes with large crowds responding emotionally, and with no interpreter present anywhere in the room. It is worth pausing and asking a straightforward question.   Does what we are seeing in those videos match what Scripture actually describes?   In a word.   No.   If we want to understand the gift of tongues, the right place to begin is where Scripture introduces it — the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. When the H...

"We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check"  ~James 3:2 I have a Bible study that I lead on Wednesday mornings at a local coffee shop.  This week, it just so happened that the verses that came up in our study are the same verses I’m preaching on this Sunday morning.  I wrote the sermon two or three months ago, and the Bible study we just started a few weeks ago, so it’s a pretty remarkable coincidence.  And I couldn’t guess how many times I’ve told the congregation to pay close attention to “coincidences” because I’ve learned throughout my life, that often what we call a “coincidence” is God working in our life. I can’t think of a better time to talk about the power of words.  The importance of how we speak to each other.  Our culture is out of control, especially with our speech.  The hate we spew.  The foul language that’s everywhere.  The awful things...