Well, i come from lutheran/Protestantism Background. And learned that I am a Christian, because i was baptised as Baby. I rejected Jesus when I was 17 and met a christian who told me that I must believe in Jesus. I told her then that i have my own believe in God.
When I was 25, Jesus opend my heart for his word. I repent and turned to Christ. I left the lutheran church and the Pastor who baptised me as Baby was upset about my new believe.
Of course their are believers under the lutheren or catholics, but very less compare to the rest.
we cannot help what goes on when we are an infant...we both decided for Christ when we were capable of doing so
I was also taught that tongues were not for today, but that was not the end of it for me
a family member began a friendship with a woman who did speak in tongues and slowly my family began to see and understand more of the Bible and less of what 'denominations' teach
I am opposed to all the crazy things that sadly define so many things about that gift to too many people, but God is not the author of confusion...I believe you have quoted that yourself a few times in times past...and you are correct and I also believe that
in the end, a person has to decide for themself how to approach these things....I would be asking, and I was asking, how can there be such different opinions on this gift? so I decided to find out more about what the other side was saying and I prayed about it and I did begin to speak in tongues right away. I was alone....no one pressured me (I would have walked away because I like to make up my own mind and don't like force) and I knew it was real and that God had not only shown me it was real, but He had enabled me to have that gift also.
I am not a 'gift' seeker even though Paul in the NT tells us we should pray for certain gifts. basically I only want reality and the truth and God as He is and not as others see Him, but as He is
no one can force you Aidan....understand, please, that those of us who know tongues are real and who know there is abuse but still know that does not change what is real, are wanting to share what we have found because it has blessed us and brought us closer to God and we want to share that
why do people act crazy? I can only say it is because they do not follow the Bible and just accept any thing whispered into their ears as coming from God when the Bible tells us to 'test' the spirits because not everything we are going to hear is coming from God
I have heard plenty of what some people think is God and I know it is not....but be certain of one thing....people will hold onto their own experience, thoughts and beliefs for the most part as this and many other threads here have shown
I can relate both good and bad regarding the use of tongues...but none of that reflects on God....it reflects only on the person and we either bring glory or shame to God...the shame is in how others view the wrong use and people who think the gifts are all about them instead of for the building up of others who believe and at the same time benefitting the person who is praying or speaking or translating
anyway this is pretty long....I am sure you will have some difficulty understanding some of it and translation online is not always accurate, so please ask any questions you want...or not