1. Thats not true bro. And thats not even biblical. 2. Show me outside of the book of Acts where someone spoke in other tounges when they received the Holy Spirit. Or show me where the bible teaches that if you dont speak in tounges you dont have the Holy Spirit.
3. Didnt people start speaking in tounges in 1906? Started in California on Souza street down south? So before that youre telling me that all the Christians prior to 1906 went to hell? Im not sure when speaking in tounges ended, 1st Century? So thats alot of Christians in hell.
4. You do realize we must be born of Spirit in order to enter in the kingdom of heaven right? By you saying No tounges/No Holy Spirit = No getting in the kingdom of heaven.
TLC,
I'll go out on a limb saying some things that perhaps NO-one here likes or agrees with. Gotta say it in a few parts so I numbered your statements (if I'm answering one directly).
1. It is true that God requires us to worship him in Spirit, not just in truth. Speaking in tongues is
defined as
spiritual prayer in 1 Corinthians 14: 2& 14. "If I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays". That's a pretty clear statement. People assume, and churches teach, that praying sincerely = spiritual prayer.....but does the BIBLE say that anywhere? (Not that I've found.)
2. It could also be said "Show me anywhere else in the bible where it records a play-by-play of what it's actually like when someone first receives the Holy Ghost". The fact that God chose to have all of those recordings be in one book means that we have the option of actually USING and TRUSTING those examples...or... disregarding, downplaying, ignoring them, replacing them with examples that we think are 'better' because they fit our church's teachings, or simply saying that only
one example (or maybe 2 or 3) are more important than the others (again because our church or personal doctrine doesn't match the rest)
3. Apparently in 1906 some people who were seeking God experienced a significant outpouring of the Holy Ghost with tongues and other manifestations/gifts. It may have been significantly brought to the attention of the people of the United States at that time, but it's certainly not the beginning of it, nor the end. Do a little research. There are books written by Russians and others describing similar (though less publicized) outpourings independent of the Sousa street time and place. BTW, since people seem to be willing to acknowledge that the Souza street revival was a real thing, why don't they ask "What exactly did they receive?" "How did it get there and start happening?" "SOMETHING caused them to start speaking like that...Was it of God, or was it the devil? <---And seek God until he actually answers...not just jump to conclusions based on their own understanding and proclaim that they are "pretty sure" it's one way or the other.
4. Yes, we do realize this...although I'd change the wording to "No Holy Ghost = not BEING in the kingdom of heaven". (as Romans 8:9 supports, regardless what they particularly believe and whether or not they've been baptized, or are nice to people). But the way is still available to them, if they will take it. They're not locked out just because they haven't received it yet. That's why we're encouraging everyone to get what God is offering to them.
5. You yourself are able to see that there's more to salvation than just believing and being declared "saved" (by yourself or by your new church buddies, who probably acknowledge they don't know how to tell if someone actually has the Holy Ghost or not). But I don't think you see how rare that particular understanding is. You actually have the Holy Ghost...if you've ever spoken
anything in 'unknown' tongues by the Holy Ghost, even if it's just a few syllables. The Holy Ghost promises to teach things directly to you...and it seems to me that God has already begun doing that in you. (No, I'm not saying that to butter you up)
6. There's more to say, but I'll let that be in future posts.
Love in Jesus,
Kelby