3 – Background

3 – Background

BACKGROUND

Some might ask, “What motivated him to write this article?!” Indeed, everything written has a primary motive. Therefore, it may be important to give some background as to the motivation in writing this work.

Some of this author’s family members are Pentecostal and believe in speaking in tongues. Many countless hours have been spent praying for them to turn from many false doctrines, including their false beliefs and practices regarding tongues. This subject is very near to this writer’s heart.

Many years ago, at about the time this writer received Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, his uncle made special efforts to invite him stay with him at his home. They were already members of a Pentecostal church and they asked him to attend their church while he stayed with them.

At this time, this writer had very little knowledge from the Bible about the sign gift of tongues. The uncle attempted to persuade, saying that tongues were necessary in the Christian life. Repeated phrases, like, “There’s more,” were made, suggesting that what this author had was not enough. The uncle and his wife were persistent in this pursuit; however, a “still small voice” inside, which later was realized to be the voice of the Holy Spirit, put a definite impression on this author’s heart and mind, “Don’t make a decision until I have shown you in my Word.”

This author then set out to study the doctrine of sign gifts in the Bible and eventually wrote a letter to the uncle to convince him of what the Lord had shown in His Word. A copy of this letter was used as a basis for continued study on the subject which eventually developed into the present article.