SPEAKING IN TONGUES IS IT FROM GOD?

"I JUST don't understand," says Devon. "Each week at my church, many seem to get the holy spirit and miraculously speak in different languages. Some of them lead immoral lives. Meanwhile, I try to live in a  morally upright way. Yet, as much as  I pray for it, I never receive this gift of the spirit. How can that be?" 

Gabriel likewise attends a church where people appear to receive holy spirit and speak in tongues.  "What bothers me," he explains, "is that during my prayers, others interrupt me with loud speech that neither  i nor they understand. No one really benefits  from this speech. Should not a gift of God's spirit have some useful purpose? 

The experience of Devon and Gabriel raise an intriguing question, Is speaking in tongues  as done in some churches today really from God? To answer that question, it is helpful to examine the gift of miraculous speech among the first-century Christians.  

Next time: SPEAKING IN TONGUES IS IT FROM GOD? They "Started to Speak With Different Tongues" 

From the Watchtower magazine, 2010