The Unifying Power of the Gift of Tonguesby Tracy McCarter Friday, December 11, 2009
“I believe the unifying purpose for the gift of tongues is clearly laid out in the book of Acts. The early church comprised of Jewish believers was persuaded to accept the Samaritans, the Gentiles, and the polyglot society of Ephesus into the church because they heard new believers speak in tongues just like the one hundred twenty had in the upper room. Tongues were God’s sign that He would not tolerate racism in His family. What a shame, then, that a gift God intended for the unification of His church has been distorted and has become a source of such division.” – Glenn Brown Author Glenn Brown has been an ordained Assemblies of God minister for over fifty years. A retired Navy chaplain, he served in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marines before pastoring churches for eighteen years. In his new book, Pentecost Revisited, Brown takes a fresh look at both the Pentecostal view and the opposing views of tongues, searching the Scriptures to resolve the conflict. His conclusion: the doctrines and traditions on both extremes of the debate are scripturally inaccurate, and both groups are missing God’s true purpose for speaking in tongues, as revealed in the Bible. Brown’s new book, Pentecost Revisited, shares the story of his forty year study of the purpose of tongues, the effects of that study on his personal and professional life, and Brown’s plan for leading the church back to what he believes are God’s intended purposes for tongues—to edify the individual believer in private devotional times and to break down racial and cultural prejudices to unify the church. “God’s gift of tongues was designed to bring divergent people groups together in a common purpose and love for each other. The outpouring of the Spirit accompanied by tongues conveyed a sign to early Jewish Christians who did not believe that certain groups could be included in the church without submitting to Mosaic rites. This sort of racial bias was true in both the first century and the twentieth,” Brown says. “I believe the unifying purpose for the gift of tongues is clearly laid out in the book of Acts. The early church comprised of Jewish believers was persuaded to accept the Samaritans, the Gentiles, and the polyglot society of Ephesus into the church because they heard new believers speak in tongues just like the one hundred twenty had in the upper room. Tongues were God’s sign that He would not tolerate racism in His family. What a shame, then, that a gift God intended for the unification of His church has been distorted and has become a source of such division.” With over five decades of ministry under his belt and degrees from both Denver Seminary and Princeton Seminary, Brown clearly articulates his doctrinal differences with both the Assemblies of God church and the cessasionists (those who believe the gift of tongues is not offered to the modern church) and, with heartfelt conviction, presents a scriptural alternative. The book also offers a brief history lesson concerning the Pentecostal movement, focusing particularly on the 1906 Azusa Street revival, a time when Brown believes the gift of tongues temporarily accomplished its intended purpose of unifying the church across racial lines. Pentecost Revisited delves unflinchingly into a topic often ignored by a squeamish American church—the prevalence of racism within our church body. Pentecost Revisited by R. Glenn Brown Code-Zoe Publishing/ISBN: 978-0-578-01785-3/254 pages/softcover/$17.95 www.pentecostrevisited.com General |
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