Tongues In Church History

EDITORS CORNER Hello Readers! I emailed the last issue on tongues at about 2am, the wee hours of Tuesday, January 8,2008. This date is personally significant in that January 8th is an anniversary for me. It was the day that I received a prophetic utterance about "the waters that heal" through the mouth of a 9 year old on January 8, 1983-a Saturday. Since I am dedicated to seeking truth, I am also trying the spirits regarding this prophetic word as well---a prophecy that just celebrated its 25th year of significant influence in my life. Today, my eyebrows are definitely raised because of recent events. The Ascended Master called Maitreya is declaring that he is actually 'healing waters' in various parts of the world. Many who either drink from or bathe in these waters are reporting that they are being healed of cancer and other diseases. I recognize that my prophecy of "waters that heal" arethe spiritual waters of the Holy Ghost, not to be taken literally. Even so, I will change my ministerial name if people start associating my ministry with Maitreya. A few hours after I released the issue by email, while asleep, a demon loudly screamed at me, "No one loves you. No one cares for you. What you need to do is KILL YOURSELF!!!!" Demons do NOT make it a practice to confront me with suicide. I have never been self destructive nor suicidal. Furthermore, my will power and my faith are too strong to succumb to any demonic commands. On the contrary, I believe that Jesus may come back in my lifetime and consequently, my goal is to remain among those who are alive at His return. In truth, I have never suffered from suicide ideation a day in my life. I will live until God takes me, either alive or dead. As I laid in bed, pondering this strange dream, I received a phone call from a "signficant other.". Two people who are very close to me were also attacked while they were sleeping that very evening, within hours of each other. One attack is extremely "insightful." A group of stars formed into a constellation, then turned into the face of a demon. The demon was threatening and menacing. The other person had night terrors. Apparently, the principalities and powers in the heavenlies or "high places" are very disturbed by my questioning the speaking of tongues in this hour. After completing my studies on the history of tongues in the church age, I suspect I now know why. Once I began to open up my 7 different emails after last weeks mailout, my suspicions became clear. Since the inception of this newsletter, Not once have I received as many "commentaries" so quickly. The responses were clearly impulsive, sudden reactions that "took aback those who speak in tongues. It was as if the commentators did not even give themselves time to think and meditate on the newsletter before emailing me. I was shocked. Readers actually sat down in the early morning hours of Tuesday, 1/8, ---took time away from their busy schedules to email me quite a few rather lengthy rebuttals about this subject. Tongues is certainly a volatile issue, to put it mildly. It seems that I may have "touched on something" here. Some of you would contend that the reason two of my significant others and I were attacked in our sleep the very night that I emailed issue 18---practically at the same hour-- because you believe that "I am messin with God when I try the spirits on "tongues." By the various warnings implicit in each commentary, I surmise that some of you believe that the Lord has released me into the hands of the tormentors. To those of that opinion , I ask, "would God send a message to suggest that "I kill myself?" Was it God who spoke to Job through his wife with

a cold remark like , "Look, you just ought to curse God and die!!!" Do you believe that suicide is acceptable to God and that He would tempt anyone with self annihilation for obeying His very word by "trying the spirits to see if they be of God?" Rhetorical in nature, I believe you already know the answer to my question. So I ask you, "why are the demons so upset, simply because I am obeying the spirit by "trying everything spiritual, including "tongues"?" The purpose of each issue is implicit within the newsletter's subtitle, "Try the Spirits." Besides the newsletters, I have personally confronted the religious demon on several occasions. I have even cast out various demons with much success. I have written a 356 page book about the religious demon, so my work and agenda is not new to the enemy. In fact, it has been proven to me that demons can recall every sentence on each page of all 4 of my books--a feat that is impossible even for me, the author of them. I have to search the table of contents to find what I am looking for. Perhaps I did not get attacked for writing Faces of the Religious Demon, because tongues, though mentioned, is not the primary emphasis of the book. As I reviewed several commentaries, it appears that when I indicated that I had reservations about tongues for two decades, perhaps I did not make myself clear. You need to know that I did not originally question the tongues that others spoke, but only my own "tongue." Nor did I mean that I originally believed that tongues was from the devil. I continue to uphold the biblical manifestation of tongues and interpretation in the early church, without a doubt. In truth, I have loved to speak in tongues. It certainly does sooth my flesh. In that regard, speaking in tongues is self edifying and self gratifying. I am a conversationalist---a preacher and a teacher of the word of God as well--- so I tend to be articulate.. Even so, in tongues, I can utter non-stop for hours. You need to be aware that chanting, transcendental meditation and yoga have the same pleasant and even ecstatic affects upon the flesh. Laboratory research has proven that tongues and other forms of mental passivity give the frontal lobe of the brain a real rest. This is because the mind is literally unfruitful when tongues is uttered, even more unfruitful then the state of sleep. Our minds work pretty well during sleep, as evidenced by the quality of our dream life. However, when I speak in tongues, all thinking actually stops until I cease from speaking. Even if I were to try to babble out something, my mind would be thinking of the next babbling sound to utter. However, not so with tongues. All thought comes to an end as the utterances roll off of the tongue like water. Not at all concerned until recently about the legitimacy of the overall tongues movement in our time, my original concern was totally personal. Simply put, I questioned whether or not I myself had received tongues in the correct spiritual manner. To explain further, I wondered why tongues did not "come upon me" as I witnessed the speaking in tongues of others and along the same lines, I wondered why I seemed to have so much control over my own utterances. I spoke tongues regularly, but in my own personal life, I never attributed my spiritual growth to it. Actually, I personally found affects upon my flesh. Rather, correction and chastizement of fires of refinement as opposed

no spiritual benefit to it other than its soothing I have grown in Christ by submitting myself to the the Holy Ghost, groomed and strengthened in the to uttering by the fires of a prayer language.

A particular incident is noteworthy.

The year was 1985.

I was travelling on a

narrow, country road in upstate New York on a very cold, bright and sunny winter morning. Since it was bitter cold, I had the heat blasting--- but on top of that, the sun was shining directly on me through the car windows, in all of its brightness. I was very warm but not sweating. Then there was the sound of the tires on the road that made a repetitive sound every few seconds--kerplunk,kerplunk, kerplunk. As a former student and practitioner of relaxation therapy, aka hynosis, the imagination and visualization of heat accompanied by a the monotonous tone of the hypnotist's voice are frequently used as mesmerizing tools to "put a person under." In short, I became hynotized by the heat and drive. While in an hynotic trance, I heard which continued to repeat, "follow that car, could also feel a push forward, as though an take action.

the tire sounds as I continued to in the spirit a very audible voice follow that car, follow that car." I invisible being was compelling me to

A car pulled out from behind me in order to pass me in the oncoming traffic lane to my left. As it passed me, a voice urged me to "follow that car", I was about to obey that voice when my hands gripped so tight on the steering wheel that I couldn't move them if I wanted to. My hands actually froze---locked tightly so that all I could do was drive straight ahead. My eyes were opened the entire time and I saw it all, yet I was hypnotized. Suddenly, as I awoke out of the trance, a huge truck whizzed right by me in the opposite lane. I realized then, that if I had followed the car, I would not have been alive today to write about this. I would have crashed head on into that truck. There were about 5 cars behind the truck as well. Others would have certainly died that day. When I got home, I spoke to a close "significant other" who rather casually remarked, "as I was sitting at my desk today, I saw a vision of you. You were riding in a car and the sun was shining very brightly on you. I didn't know what was going on so I just "prayed in tongues." For 20 years, this incident was my main proof that tongues was a "prayer language." I found a supportive scripture taken "out of context" in Romans 8:26 as my so called "confirmation", namely, that we know not what to pray for as we ought and that the Holy Ghost prays the perfect will of God for us. Yet I ignored the rest of that scripture, namely, that the Holy Ghost does this with groanings, and not with tongues. The scripture clearly states that the groanings "ARE NOT UTTERED." Speaking in tongues is AN UTTERANCE, so I believe we are in error when we stretch Romans 8:26 in order to confirm that tongues is a "prayer language.". So that you know, the enemy is famous in the use of what Christians call "confirmation,"---a subject of a future newsletter issue. Within my own congregation, I witnessed how tongues spontaneously came upon others and how "ecstatic" the experience was for them. In my case, it was neither spontaneous nor ecstatic, and I wondered if "it should be." On the contrary, when I spoke in tongues, it was rather "conversational,and "though it felt good, I rarely became ecstatic or emotional. I also noted that among the tonguetalkers within the congregation that I pastored, I could find no fruits of the spirit. In fact, some church members were seriously demonized, others suffered from mental illness. In short, every Christian drug addict among us were prolific in the speaking in tongues. I perceived a problem with that. Since I began to take a serious look at tongues in 2007, I decided to temporarily stop speaking in tongues until I was assured. Strangely enough, since

I have restrained myself from speaking in it, there are moments when I literally have to strengthen my will power against blurting out tongues at isolated times each day. On occasion, I can feel it in me, and I have a slightly complusive and impulsive desire to literally "cut loose" with it. This "phenomena" has not occurred since I first spoke in tongues in 1983, as I always uttered by the desire of my own will. Actually I am normally rather neutral about it. Now that I have both questioned it and temporarily refused to utter, I have a strong urge to speak in tongues. This is NOT a comfortable feeling. I can hear you tongue talkers now, screaming at me through the airways, "you are grieving and quenching the Holy Ghost, Pam. Give in to your compulsion and "let it roll!!!" Well, until I know without a shadow of a doubt that the tongues that I speak is of God, I will not speak in tongues. The way that I will know is if I receive the gift to interpret what I utter. Another problem that caused me to "raise my eyebrow" is that the majority of people in my church and those I met from other churches who spoke in tongues bore no spiritual fruit of holiness. I relate to the words of James where he questioned, "how can bitter and sweet waters come out of the same cistern?" For example, in my own congregation as well as those known to me as members of word of faith and pentecostal churches, I simply could not understand how people who were obviously hypocritical, legalistic and even mean spirited could be so prolific in a language inspired by "the Holy Ghost." Isn't the Holy Ghost grieved and quenched by sin? Good question. Then too, if a person does not walk in lioe, Paul explains that tongues are useless. (1Corin 13)Singling out no person other than myself, as a single Christian woman, fornication remained a stronghold for me as a babe in Christ. Like the Corinthians, I also ignorantly carried over practices from "the dumb idols" of occulticism for quite a few years, so when Paul warned the Corinthians to flee fornication, he spoke to me also. Yet, even at the weakest and most compromised stage of my own spiritual walk, I consistently remained fluent in tongues. Here's another example. I could not understand how I could speak in tongues on one hand, and occasionally come out of my mouth with the 4 letter words, on the other hand. For thirty years saved, it has been quite an effort to restrain myself from cursing, primarily because culturally, some of the "4 letters" were a part of my everyday colloquial speech. "The restraint" has not always been successful. Yet, it is possible for me to curse one minute and speak in tongues the next. Perhaps you tongue talkers can't relate cause every word that has come out of your mouth since YOU spoke in tongues has been righteous, holy and above reproach. Well, I have no one to please but God. Therefore, I don't fear being judged by you. If I lie to you, then the love of God is not in me. As I matured in Christ over 3 decades, I have had no problems with holding back cuss words around strangers, smug and pious Christians or professional or ministerial colleagues, but I can recall that when I socialize with my people--non-judgmental friends---- there are times when we intimately "kick it" back and forth--- not in anger, but as a comfortable practice within our colloquial language style. Just last evening, a neighbor unknown to me from my own race and culture began to share some concerns about the neighborhood. She knows absolutely nothing about me as this was our first conversation. Her brief,friendly chatter was filled with 4 letter words, in a matter of fact kind of way. As I listened, I myself did not curse, nor did I make her uncomfortable by not communicating in

her normal style. Simply put, I have matured both naturally and spiritually to a point where I can speak without cursing. Yet in the early days of my spiritual walk , I cursed more than "occasionally" AND I also spoke in tongues. Today I wonder, "how can those who normally curse in their native tongue, speak with a holy language, any time they choose?"Another good question. So, until recently, I never suspected that tongues could be "of the devil." Even so, I would not be the first to share such a supposition. Tongue talkers have been accused of "having a demon" by countless professing Christians and nonChristians. So what is going on "today?" This is what "Food of Thought" is about in this issue. I address what is going on TODAY by looking at what went on "yesterday."" In terms of "what is going on in my life today, this week, I cast out 8 Hindu deities from one former yoga practitioner who is a Christian: Shiva, Hakini, Savashiva, Isha, Vahni, Vishnu, Rakini and Brahma in the name and by the authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Practically each of these demons came out ranting at me using its captive to speak in tongues---a very similar sound to the tongues that I have heard uttered among those who profess to be speaking "a prayer language." Very interesting. Pam

Very interesting,indeed!

COMMENTARIES: PASTOR JOHN (location not provided) Lot's of commentaries this week, some ofwhich I may use in future issues: I believe that your interpretation about women in ministry is absolutely correct. But I respectfully submit that your "feelings" about tongues is off base. There are a half billion people on this earth who speak in tongues, baptized by the Holy Ghost. What I am wondering is this...if you are a spirit-filled, on fire preacher for God who knows the Word, spiritual warfare, etc., then why are you allowing satan to speak through you, if you claim that the tongues you have received are from satan? Think about this, Pam. Just because you have not received an interepretation of tongues does not mean that that the rest of us haven't...and it doesn't mean that tongues is not for us. I believe you are being deceived. In these last days there are those who will turn away from the truth and the one thing satan would love best is for us to teach against tongues because there is so much power within it. Please be careful about leading others astray down the wrong path. We cannot rely on church "history" to reveal truth to us. If we did be in a mess. We need to see the truth clearly in the Word and also of what the Word teaches. You might not be seeing the fruit because something amiss in your own walk with the Lord or your attitude. We check ourselves first...

that, we would see the fruit there may be must always

You really need to be speaking with those people who do speak in tongues, can interpret, and see the fruit. Once you are exposed to the truth, then perhaps you can see what the hindrance is in your own life. The interpreters are out there...you are not looking hard enough or mingling within the right circles. Remember that 1 Cor. 12 tells us that one of the gifts is interpretation...so God's will is for this, and there are many people who have this gift.... PAM'S THOUGHTS ON PASTOR JOHN'S EMAIL:

Pastor John's commentary is a typical word of faith illogical, personal attack. I perceive his comments as an attack aimed at me for this reason. By implication, if I "mix in with the right circles" and agree with his beliefs and practices, then in his mind "I am okay and my spiritual walk is acceptable." However, I don't even have to disagree. Merely questioning tongues in the form of "trying the spirits to see if they be of God," causes me to NOT TO BE OKAY and therefore Pastor John smugly belittles my spiritual walk. Morever, Pastor John's reasoning is illogical. Does the number of people who practice a thing mean that it MUST be from God? Jesus warned that truth is found "on the narrow way." In Pastor John's view, due to the sheer millions, perhaps billions of people in the world who practice transcendental meditation, hypnosis and yoga, these practices must be acceptable to a Christian for the same reason that he defends the speaking in other tongues. Yet another illogical comment refers to all the people he knows who "interpret tongues." The reality is "how can any of us validate any interpretation of an unknown tongue if there is no one around who actually knows the language?"I have heard what passes itself off as "interpretation." Most of it just sounds like paraphrased repetition of scripture, with all the "thees" and "thus saith the Lord" expressions in the same places.The irony is that I myself am the only one I know whose tongue has ever been interpreted by someone who actually KNEW the language. Once, a Peurto Rican woman translated a tongue that I uttered, claiming that I was speaking in a known dialect of Spanish and Latin. I myself have never heard of such a language. On one thing, I agree with Pastor John. If I received tongues in the wrong way, then there is certainly something definitely wrong with my spiritual walk and "THAT SOMETHING" may be the unknown tongues that I have spoken for 20 years. So I "check myself before I wreck myself." Truly, I have had a lot in common with the Corinthians for I too worshipped at the altar of pagan gods, aka demons. Since the Corinthians were saved, Paul did not suggest that demons be cast out of them but only that they "interpret." If no interpretation, then no speaking. This is simple. I don't expect that I have to cast demons from myself, even if the tongue I speak is not from God. Paul suggests that the person who speaks in tongues should also seek to interpret. I seek to interpret. I heed Paul's counsel and I simply will not speak in tongues without an interpreter. One way or another, I DO strive for perfection. To obtain it, I MUST TRY THE SPIRITS. To try the spirits is to question and examine every supernatural experience, regardless of whose feelings I may offend. I truly hope that the manifestation of tongues today is not a counterfeit. If so, I will relax, open my mouth once again and "let it rip." But, from what I learned from my observations of history, "the fruit hasn't fallen far from the tree!!!" I wonder if Pastor John will find anything wrong with the spiritual lives of those who were the first to revive tongues after it had ceased for centuries: Mother Ann Lee, founder of the Shakers; Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons, Marie Woodworth Etter, Charles Parham and William Seymour. the founders of pentecostal denominationalism. After reading "Food for Thought," I wonder if Pastor John will find anything wrong in their spiritual walk!! SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------To discern the signs of the times, I believe that we need to comprehend "what went

on yesterday, about 100 years ago. So this issue is dedicated to sharing a historical perspective and to let you, the reader decide. I myself try all supernatural occurrences from the words of Jesus: A good tree doesn't bring forth bad fruit and a bad tree doesn't bring forth good fruit---and also--you shall know them by their fruit. Remembering the fervor of the early 80's, the word of faith movement clearly "took off" primarily because of tongues. Everyone was seeking the initial sign of the baptism in the Holy Ghost, as word of faith preachers, pastors and teachers all concurred that tongues was the initial evidence. At times, seeking after uttering a tongue seemed higher in priority than salvation, as the leaders taught that being saved was only a beginning step to being "filled." Consequently, those who proclaimed to be "born again" did not settle for conversion alone because being filled with the Holy Spirit meant that "you spoke in tongues." History was my least favorite subject in high school, probably because what was past didn't seem important to me. When we are young, we live in the present moment. Many misunderstand that just because being born again involves "old things being passed away," how will we be able to assess our spiritual growth if we don't consider "how we used to be?" To illustrate, as a black person in this country today, I no longer allow the slavery of my ancestors to control either my emotions or my behavior. Nevertheless, remembering my roots encourages my compassion for all human suffering and injustice around the world. The racial past of my people as former slaves contains clues relative to the spiritual, economic and societal ills that we continually face today as a people, and so it is crucial that we remember, "from whence we came." Along these same lines, I believe that the truth about tongues can be found in its historic roots, that go back a century or so ago. Prior to the early 20th century, history would suggest that the speaking in tongues actually DID cease for several centuries. While the Middle Ages constituted long years of spiritual darkness, the Protestant Reformation exemplified a revelatory outburst of light regarding the doctrines of sin, salvation, justification by faith and holiness. This period marked the interpretation of scripture by some of the finest minds in church history. Even though there were some instances of "the ecstatic" among a group called the Anabaptists, for the most part, the Reformation was silent about the speaking in tongues. Moreover, within the founding days of America, neither the Pilgrims, the Puritan leaders, nor any other Christian group indulged in speaking in tongues. Times of great emotional conviction were recorded and believers were moved to show their convictions through their fervency of feelings and emotions. Yet, even though thousands were convicted of their sins in frontier revivals, the speaking in tongues found no expression. Earnest Christians and ministers in this period of history set themselves to rediscover truth. Literary Christian scholars produced excellent essays and formulated insightful scriptural interpretations, yet not one spiritual leader ofthe Reformation period in the USA even intimated that the doctrine of speaking in tongues had any role at all in the spiritual life of that day. In the third decade of the 19th century, a pastor in London by the name of Edward Irving made a public declaration of healing, prophecies and tongues, including them in his worship services. Upon visiting Irving's church, contemporary essayists wrote in the London Times, "God was working miracles by hysterics." Though Irving was ousted from the Presbyterian Church, he started another,namely,

the Catholic Apostolic Church. In various parables, Jesus gave us a simple tool of discernment. He tells us that good trees produce good fruit, bad trees produce bad fruit,and that we "know them by their fruit." The Lord made it clear that a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. As I continued to study,I found that the precursors of the pentecostal movement which centered itself in the speaking in tongues was filled with "bad fruit." Let's look at the lives and work of each outstanding leader, one at a time. It is interesting to note the sdignificant influence of women in the tongues movement and the establishment of the denomination of pentecostalism. Mother Ann Lee" the founder of the Shakers, 1736-1784: Mother Lee was the charismatic founder of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, commonly known as the Shakers. After a difficult early life, she joined a group of Christians in Manchester, England, who had split from the Quaker movement. Their unorthodox views and impassioned convulsions in worship drew ridicule and persecution, along with the nickname "the Shakers." While imprisoned, Mother Ann received a revelation that she was the embodiment of the second coming of Christ, in feminine form. Lee claimed that she could also discourse in 72 tongues. Lee settled in Watervliet New York, a town about a 15 minute drive from where I now live. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons,1805-1844: Smith was among the first to advocate for the speaking in tongues. He believed that tongues opens the door to visions and revelations. After all,this is the way that the book of Mormon had come to him. Taken from a chronological history of the Mormon church, I found this: History of the Church 2:428, 27 March 1836: [at the end of the temple dedication] "President Brigham Young gave a short address in tongues, and David W. Patten interpreted, and gave a short exhortation in tongues himself, after which I [Joseph Smith] blessed the congregation in the name of the Lord, and the assembly dispersed a little past four o'clock, having manifested the most quiet demeanor during the whole exercise.... During the evening of the same day, Brother George A. Smith arose and began to prophesy, when a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; I beheld the Temple was filled with angels, which fact I declared to the congregation. The people of the neighborhood came running together (hearing an unusual sound within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple), and were astonished at what was taking place. This continued until the meeting closed at eleven p. m." Bare in mind ,readers, what John Smith and the Mormons believe about Jesus Christ of Nazareth: They preach that Jesus is the brother of Satan, an elder brother of all people on this planet. Mormons teach that Jesus was born on an unnamed planet near the star kolob through God the Father having sex with one of his many wives. In short, that the Lord was born on Earth through God manifesting a body and having sex with Mary. They claim that Jesus was married to three women at the same time, and had children. Consider the outrage of teaching that Jesus saved himself by obeying the principals of Mormonism and that the Lord is an example for all good Mormons to follow. John Smith also claimed that Jesus received godhood after he rose from the dead and that He is now one of many gods over his own planet with his many wives making spirit babies and populating that planet. So consider this. The founder of this doctrine is one of the first Americans to

proclaim that he "spoke in tongues." Assuming that what John Smith wrote in the Mormon history book about the supernatural manifestation that occurred in his gatherings, ask yourself this. Based upon John Smith's blasphemous doctrine, ask yourself, "was the Holy Spirit and the angels of God the author of that experience on March 27, 1836???????? " Marie Woodworth Etter, faith healing and evangelist: (1844-1924) is one of the best known Holiness preachers of the pre-Pentecostal era. From around 1885 onwards she began to use the charismatic gifts in her meetings, and was known for healings, trances and visions. Licensed to preach in 1884, Etter was the mega preacher of her day in tent revivals. Her critics called her "the Voodoo Priestess." She was known for speaking in tongues, along with strange and sundry manifestations that were attributed to the movement of the Holy Ghost. She was was also known for preaching texts out of context, preached regularly for the Mormons, and seemed to be the person who started the phenomena known today as "slain in the spirit." Most of the manifestations common in present day meetings like the Toronto Blessing were experienced in the Woodworth-Etter meetings, so much so that some critics of the current movement trace The Tronto blessing back to Etter. Etter was certainly faithful to her calling and it appears that she was honest and sincere. But as I point out in "Faces of the Religious Demon", I believe that "we are now living in an era when the Lord will turn over those with a religious demon to a reprobate mind. At that moment,the captive's thoughts will be permanently darkened to the degree that he becomes incapable of receiving the truth. (pg 47) Considering her dedication, I hope that Etter escaped our era. Charles Parham, founder of pentecostalism, 1873-1929 An extremely controversial figure, I recommend to those who are interested to search with his name and read about him for yourself. There are rumors of homosexuality, racism, ( membership in the Klu Klux Klan) and freemasonry. He was actually arrested for lewdness in a public place, attempting to sollicit sex from men. There are also several allegations and reports concerning his strange doctrinal interpretations. In regards to tongues, in the fall of 1900, after leading his students through a series of Bible studies on repentance, justification by faith, sanctification, and healing, Parham instructed them on Spirit baptism. By the end of December, they were prepared to encounter the day of Pentecost in a new way. After the revival commenced on New Year's Day, Parham announced that the students had spoken many languages. He himself claimed he had received the capability of preaching in German and Swedish. On January 1, 1901, Agnes Ozman spoke in a tongue that sounded like "Chinese," though never actually verified. She is renowned as being the first pentecostal person to ever speak in tongues. The problem with her tongue speaking is that it is claimed that she spoke non stop for 3 days in Chinese, actually unable to speak in English until she was "released" to do so. Others among Parham's students were alleged to have spoken in a variety of languages including Japanese, Hungarian, Syrian, Hindi, and Spanish. Parham noted that "cloven tongues of fire" appeared over the heads ofthe speakers. Sometimes interpretations followed such as "God is love," "Jesus is mighty to save," and "Jesus is ready to hear." Parham anticipated that he could send out missionaries all over the world who would supernaturally speak in the native tongue of the land, without having studied it. It never happened and Parham was extremely disappointed that his

missionary plans were thwarted. Although Parham was accused of being a racist, he preferred to consider himself a separationist, as exemplified by the fact that he allowed a black man to participate in his bible study classes, sitting in a restricted and separated part of the study hall. That man was William Seymour. William Seymour, a waiter and the Azusa Street leader (1870-1922) went to Los Angeles and taught the Holy Spirit baptism in a warehouse on Azusa Street. On April 4, 1906 a revival began and thousand's of people came to 312 Azusa to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. This revival lasted from 1906-1913, and during this time, thousands of Pentecostal missionaries went forth establishing missions throughout the world. Seymour's work at Azusa is regarded among most Pentecostal historians as a genuine move of God in restoring the church to true power and authority. However, it has also been reported that the Azusa Street meetings were filled with spiritualist mediums, hypnotists, and others who had a deep interest in the occult. There are reports of fits,babblings, moral compromise with people falling on top of each other, jerks, twitchings,shakings, ie. mass hysteria. In fact, the spiritual pandemonium of the meetings became more than Seymour could handle, and so he sent for his teacher, Parham to come and help out. When Parham arrived, he was outraged and appalled. As a result, Parham and Seymour had a rift that was never reconciled. Parham publicly denounced both the revival and Seymour in October 1906 for the emotionalism displayed in the worship at the Azusa Street revival, and for the intermingling of blacks and whites in the services. Seymour had sought Parham to help him control these "ecstatic" excesses. But visiting the mission for the first time and observing what Parham believed to be "manifestations of the flesh," Parham stood up and declared: "God is sick at His stomach!" Even so, it is reported that emotionalism played a strong part in Parham's own worship services. This unfortunate incident and his judgmental nature alienated Parham not only from Seymour, but others as well. It is alleged without substantiation that Seymour "stole Parham's pentecostal movement" by blackmail as Seymour was privy to Parham's secret sex life. Shortly, the pentecostal movement had now begun to move well beyond both men. Indeed, Pentecostalism emerged in India in 1906 among holiness believers without ties to Azusa Street. Evan Roberts and The Wales Revival of 1904-1905; Part of the appeal of this widescale revival lay in Evan Roberts himself, a charismatic and sincere preacher. Although he came from the Welsh Methodist tradition, he wasn't a theologian, and he never finished his training to be a minister. His message was for all the people of Wales, regardless of denomination, and it was immensly appealing. Meetings would be a mixture of prayer, self examination and singing, and they could last for hours. The most outstanding aspect of the revival was its impact upon everyday societal life. Crime dropped, saloons closed, in short, the entire community was affected. It is believed that at least 100,000 people became Christians during the 1904-1905 revival, but despite this, the revival did not put a stop to the gradual decline of Christianity in Wales, only holding it back slightly. It has been argued by some Christian historians that the 1904-1905 revival lacked depth in terms of nurturing the newly converted Christians in biblical teaching. Evan Roberts admitted that wildfire erupted "from the very outset." He reported that the physical, mental, and spiritual wreckage resulting from the baptism in the Holy Ghost was appalling in its effect upon the revival's leaders and workers, to say nothing of the new converts. It is reported that "thousands," and, "nearly all," were "wrecked."

Evan Roberts himself suffered a severe mental breakdown at the end of the revival, from which he never recovered. As a result, his public ministry was finished. He recuperated at the home of Jessie Penn Lewis and he assisted her in writing "War on the Saints." When the book was denounced by critics in that day, it is reported that Roberts denied co-authoring the book. Jessie Penn Lewis, author of "War on the Saints." ((1861-1927) was an English evangelical speaker and author of a number of Christian evangelical works. Her father was a Calvinist Methodist minister. Along with Evan Roberts, Penn Lewis was significantly involved in the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival. As previously noted, the revival was abruptly shortened with the mental and physical collapse of Evan Roberts. Penn-Lewis traveled internationally to take her spiritual warfare message to audiences in Russia, Scandinavia, Canada, the U.S., and India. She has remained a controversial figure among Christians for almost 100 years, primarily because she declared the failure of the Welsh Revival to be the work of Satan. Emphasis is centered in "War on the Saints" of the danger that comes to believers at the point of baptism in the Holy Ghost, yet little reference is made to tongues. In a subtitled called "The Counterfeit Presence is Sensual," Penn-Lewis writes: (War on the Saints, pg. 130-131) "The counterfeit presence of God is given by deceiving spirits, working upon the physical frame, or within the bodily frame, upon the senses. We have seen the beginning of this, and how the first ground is gained. It is deepened by these sense-manifestations being repeated, so gently, that the man goes on yielding to them, thinking this is truly 'communion with God'----for believers too often look upon 'communion with God' as a thing of sense and not of spirit---and here he commences praying to evil spirits under the belief that he is praying to God. The self control is not yet lost, but as the believer responds to, or gives himself up to these 'conscious' manifestations, he does not know that his WILLPOWER IS BEING SLOWLY UNDERMINED. At last through these subtle, delicious experiences, the faith is established that God Himself is CONSCIOUSLY IN POSSESSION OF THE BODY, quickening it with felt thrills of life,or filling it with warmth and heat, or even 'agonies' which seem like fellowship with the sufferings of Christ, and travail for souls, or the experience of death with Christ in the consciousness of nails being driven into the bodily frame, etc. From this point, the lying spirits (demons) can work as they will, and there is no limit as to what they may do to a believer deceived to this extent. (Jessie Penn-Lewis) Now readers, don't get angry with me. I did not write those words. I don't know about you, but almost a century ago, this woman wrote words that describe ME! From the agonies and travail for souls, the feelings of warmth and heat, .the consciousness of nails being driven into my bodily frame, I experienced all of this---some of it before I even heard about tongues, before I was even introduced to charismatic teachings or mega preachers. There is nothing new under the sun where the religious demon is concerned. He just reworks the same ole stuff. Just recently, I happened to be browsing "War on the Saints" for the upteenth time and I found a short paragraph accompanied by a specific footnote toward the end of the book regarding tongues in small print which is quoted below, in red. As much as I read and value this book, I only noticed this small paragraph and footnote last week: "A question arises here as to whether believers may now speak in unknown tongues, as the disciples did at the time of the Holy Spirit's infilling at Pentecost.

There are those that say 'Yes" but the truths set forth in preceding chapters, show that until the spiritual section of the Church of Christ are more acquainted with the counterfeiting methods of the spirits of evil, and the laws which give them power of working, any testimony to such experience AS TRUE, cannot be safely relied upon. (pg. 298) And here is the footnote in fine print: The subject of speaking in tongues is not further dealt with, as the counterfeits in connection with it are only a fraction of the countless countefeits being forced upon the children of God AT THE PRESENT TIME, numbers of which are not referred to in these pages. A believer not deceived by counterfeit speaking in tongues can be deceived and possessed by accepting other counterfeits. An understanding of the BROAD PRINCIPLES showing the basic differences between the way ofGod's working, and the deceptive imitations by Satan, will enable spiritual believers to discern for themselves all the counterfeits they meet with today. Clearly, Jessie Penn-Lewis was more concerned about "her day and time" then she was about ours. Having ministered in the greatest revival that has occurred in recorded church history since the days of the early church, much of her wisdom comes from experience. Likewise, my own reservations about tongues is primarily connected to counseling professing Christians for deliverance, the vast majority of whom speak in tongues, yet they are also tormented and some have been seriously demonized. Evidently, Penn-Lewis was not a prophet and therefore, the Lord did not show her "our times" or perhaps she would have spent more time on the speaking in tongues--a practice that has evolved in our times into a major controversy. Yet from this historical review, I admit that I conducted it more for my own sake, then for yours. In this regard, I hope that those readers who speak in tongues will not allow their feelings and emotions to override their good sense. To sum up, in spite of my findings, I have not yet come to the conclusion that tongues has permanently ceased. The Lord may have another use for it that we are yet unaware of. My concern is not for the bonafide manifestation. My concern is for the counterfeit. As such, I agree with my contemporary, Dr. Rebecca Brown's warning concerning counterfeits manifested through the speaking in other tongues. Her comments were made relative to charismatic Catholics but I believe that Dr. Brown's words apply to word of faith followers and those within pentecostal denominations as well: "Christians have made the terrible mistake of assuming that ALL tongues are from God. How wrong they are!...It is well known that many occultic rituals are done in tongues....The fact that Catholics speak in tongues is not proof that they are filled with the Holy Spirit. Too many of these precious Catholic souls assume that because they are speaking in tongues, they are saved. How can the Holy Spirit be operative and manifesting in a system of idolatry?"( Prepare for War, pgs 182-3) In a nutshell, Dr. Brown's rhetorical question is the bottom line of this issue, and in a nutshell, she has written what I believe to be the overriding issue. Therefore, I must concur that I do not believe that tongues and its interpretation can be a gift from God within an idolatrous system. The degeneration of this system in the last two decades or more has now gone wild with the prosperity gospel. The amount of money pilphered from unsuspecting, faithful people in tithes and offerings is beyond my imagination to sum up. Furthermore, the current segment of the charismatic/pentecostal system's preaching of faith has seriously injured and caused premature death to countless of people who have refused needed medical attention that could have spared their lives. Tragedies of today are actually influenced by the ministries of Parham and another 19th century minister whose name is John Alexander Dowey. Called the Father of Healing Revivalism, Dowey was arrested and charged with manslaughter in the death of his own daughter, who died from a severe burn due to

Dowey's refusal to seek medical attention on her behalf. The beat goes on as I have recently watched video clippings of people whose deceased relatives believed in error that they were healed at a Benny Hinn crusade. Only God Himself knows how many of his children on their death beds suffered needlessly,---depressed because some word of faith preacher taught them thay anyone who becomes sick has either failed God or that their faith in God was too weak to be healed by Him. No, I no longer trust a system that has been replete with error for 100 years. I have searched the scriptures and now I have reviewed the history of tongues. I have some strong impressions as to why I have been suspicious of manifestations that I have either experienced or witnessed. Research has confirmed for me that most of what we see operative today in tongues is counterfeit. Yet, I continue to seek the Holy Ghost to reveal to me personally whether or not there remains a legitimate manifestation of the gift of speaking in tongues in our time. I have experienced a use of tongues that is not recorded in the bible nor in history. However, I am cautious because I don't want to become another Parham--starting a new practice that opens the door to even more demons. Just because much of the organized church is uttering a counterfeit tongue does NOT negate that there may very well be a legitimate, true use of tongues today. If there is a true gift of tongues in operation, we should be privy to how to discern the true gift from the fake one. Moreover, if tongues has actually ceased by the hand of God, we should not attempt to restore it. For those who desire to continue to track my search for truth, I suggest that you keep reading. Note: Today is March 16, 2009. This newsletter was written in 2007. After two years, I continue to NOT speak in tongues because today I am convinced that it is a counterfeit doctrine of the spirit of the Anti-Christ. To learn more on this and other subjects, I suggest that you obtain "The Fake Jesus: Fallen Angels Among Us at www.lulu.com/content/2716532