I have been confused about the Holy Spirit quite awhile. A few months ago I believed that the Holy Spirit comes and goes, but then a few people told me you receive the Holy Spirit when you become a Christian (accept Christ into your life.) I go to a Pentecostal church and I don't really have a choice (I'm 17) otherwise my mother doesn't really give me the choice of going to another church because she doesn't trust that i'll be out there searching for God. I still try to go along with her church but the whole speaking in tongues and Holy Spirit confuses me. I hear about people receiving the Holy Spirit and I feel so confused because in my mind I say "but I thought you receive the Holy Spirit when you become a Christian." I was already explained about tongues, but I don't know how the Holy Spirit has anything to do with speaking tongues at all or if they have any connection! The church confuses me, and it has many surprises that scare me. I wanted to know because the church sometimes makes me feel confused because the pastor doesn't speak much about the bible but more emphasis on the Holy Spirit and what God has told her for the rest of the people in Church.
So, what is the Holy Spirit exactly? what is it to receive the presence of the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit do?
So, what is the Holy Spirit exactly? what is it to receive the presence of the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit do?
The article (short) proposes the "gift of tongues" does remain today, but that it is also counterfeited by the devil. just search this to get to the article: MIDNIGHT CRY MINISTRIES : MY TESTIMONY Tongues.
MIDNIGHT CRY MINISTRIES : MY TESTIMONY
Tongues Should Be Tested
By GERALD E. McGRAW
Man's initial contact with Satan was disastrous. No wonder Satan is called the father of lies (John 8:44), for he told Eve, "Ye shall not surely die" (Genesis 3:4). Yet sin did produce death. This original encounter warns us that deception is one of the devil's prime weapons.
Satan's duplicity is directed at contemporary Christians no less than at our first parents. Paul expressed his concern to the Corinthian believers: "I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3).
Some people see the present charismatic movement as the fulfillment of prophecies that a "latter rain" will invigorate Christianity before the rapture of the church. Opponents relegate the phenomenon to spiritual delusion and psychological imbalance. But Scripture does not anticipate a total cessation of spiritual gifts within the present age. There is New Testament evidence that the gifts are divinely intended for the entire church age.
But is it safe to conclude that all contemporary tongues-speaking results from the Holy Spirit's gift? Does Satan duplicate spiritual gifts?
In testing numerous tongues gifts by scriptural criteria my associates and I have found many originating from a satanic source. This article will examine the necessity, methodology and results of such testing.
......see article.
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