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To: Mr Rogers; Quix; Zuriel; Alamo-Girl
I don’t believe gifts have ceased, but neither do I believe they are as omnipresent as some Pentecostals suggest.

True about the extreme positions, but to be honest to pentecostals, most I have met both in real life and on this forum do not say the latter. Even the Oneness Pentecostals (and there is a deep in faith Oneness Pentecostal in Zuriel) do not make it to be "omnipresent".

I think we non-Pentecostals may be misled by articles posted on the net that give us the gory idea of Pentecostals (just as many are misled by propaganda pieces against Methodists, Catholics, even Baptists)

184 posted on 05/05/2011 9:07:53 PM PDT by Cronos (Libspeak: "Yes there is proof. And no, for the sake of privacy I am not posting it here.")
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To: Cronos; Quix; Zuriel; Alamo-Girl

If one reads the Old Testament, for example, there are plenty of miracles - but spread over about 1200+ years of history. The norm is not for everyone to do miracles.

In the New Testament, the Apostles were marked as Apostles in no small part by miracles. No one would pay attention to what they wrote, otherwise.

Do I believe in anointing with oil, and praying for healing? Yes. It is scriptural. Do I believe that God sometimes chooses to do miracles to spread the Gospel, etc? Yes!

Do I believe every church has prophets predicting the future, or people healing the sick? Nope. Do I handle snakes? Nope.

And many gifts are both very valuable for the church, yet not spectacular.

“4For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” - Romans 12

I would not reject the gift of tongues, if it was given to me, but the gifts above seem more valuable for spreading the Gospel. And yes, I have met Pentecostals who have told me that if I do not speak in tongues, I’ll go to hell. But then, I’ve met Baptists who have told me I’ll be damned for drinking a glass of wine with dinner, so we can’t blame blame bad doctrine for creating jerks...


191 posted on 05/05/2011 9:38:40 PM PDT by Mr Rogers (Poor history is better than good fiction, and anything with lots of horses is better still)
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