Magic vs. Witchcraft Part 1: The Difference Between Magic and Witchcraft

Magic vs. Witchcraft Part 1
The Difference Between Magic and Witchcraft

                Because Holy Wars mentions magic and spells, I wanted to take some time to explain what the difference is between the Word of God, Magic, Spells, Witchcraft, Magic Tricks, Spiritual Gifts and Speaking in Tongues.  You see, there has been a great deal of misconceptions about these things throughout the history of mankind, and, as Holy Wars mentions, it is all about definitions.  How do you define each of these things?

                The Word of God is, in short, the defining person of God.  The Word of God, who is also Jesus, the Son of God, is and was the element of God that defines everything that exists, including God Himself.  As you will hopefully read in The Mystery of Creation, which probably explains this better, the Word of God is like the language of a computer.  In other words, many computer programs use the C++ language.  This language is used in all of the programming within the system, and the system only understands the programming because the C++ language is built even into the CPU, or central processing unit, of the computer.  If a language other than C++ is used in a system built using the C++ language, the computer will not understand the programming, and the programming is, thus, meaningless, and it does literally nothing within the computer.  This is why a MAC version of Windows cannot work with a PC version of Windows.  The PC version’s language just doesn’t understand the MAC version’s language.  They are built differently.

                So the Word of God is the foundation of all things.  It defines everything.  So, just as a video game’s programming defines every single image and how it functions within a video game, so the Word of God defines all things in existence and tells just how it looks, how it functions, how it relates to other things in the system, etc.  The Word of God is intelligent and powerful and can divide even soul and spirit, for it defines the difference even between these two very fluid and difficult to divide aspects of a being.  This is a great mystery, and for more on this, you should read The Mystery of Creation.  There I go into a whole lot more on this topic.

                Now let’s talk about Magic.  If your definition of magic is rituals, candles burning, chanting, cutting yourself, drawing hexes and other magic symbols, casting curses or blessings on individuals, séances, Ouija boards, spirit possessions, psychic readings, tarot cards, voodoo, and so forth then it is 100% wrong according to God as defined in the Bible.  This is actually not the true definition of magic, which is why I used the term in Holy Wars.  This is witchcraft.  This is a perverted form of what magic actually is.  This is why Christians in the past, such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien had good characters use magic.  C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia discussed “deep magic” and how the lion, who was a figure of Jesus, knew the deep magic.  J.R.R. Tolkien said that magic was in all things, in the wind, and the waters and the earth, but he differentiated between magic and sorcery.

                The reason these men did this was because they understood the true definition of magic.  Magic is, by definition in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “the use of means (such as charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces.”  A Spell, by definition, is “a spoken word or form of words held to have magic power.”  In other words, to paraphrase, magic is the use of a spoken word or words to influence natural forces and to change reality.

                Thus, when one truly understand the meaning of magic, then one realizes that the Word of God is God speaking a word or words and defining or redefining laws and definitions that He has put in place.  For example, when God said, “Let there be light,” He essentially used words to define light, and through speaking these words He created light.  When the man who was lame was healed by Jesus, He spoke, “Rise, take up your mat and walk,” and by His spoken Word, the man was healed and got up and walked.  Therefore, based on the true English definition of magic, Jesus used magic…right?  He spoke words, and it influenced the natural forces within the man who was lame, changing the definition of the man’s legs so that instead of his legs being lame they were now normal and healed.

                But one must be very careful when saying that magic is okay.  The reason is that most do not think of magic in this way.  They think of magic as incantations and witchcraft.  What is witchcraft and what are incantations?  Witchcraft is “the use of sorcery or magic” or the “communication with the devil or with a familiar.”  Sorcery, then, is “the use of power gained from the assistance or control of evil spirits especially for divining.”  An incantation is the “use of spells or verbal charms spoken or sung as a part of a ritual of magic; also : a written or recited formula of words designed to produce a particular effect.”  In other words, witchcraft and sorcery are a bit different from the true definition of magic.

                So what, exactly, is witchcraft and sorcery and why does God hate it?  Witchcraft and sorcery came about in the world because the Devil and his demons took the concepts of magic and twisted them to corrupt mankind and to gain power over them. 

                Before the Fall, whenever Adam commanded something, it was done, because Adam was created like God.  If he, like Jesus, commanded a fig tree to be cursed then it would wither and die.  That is why Jesus was considered the “second Adam.”  It’s because He was able to, as Adam did, walk about and command, and it was done.  Jesus, the True King of the Earth, who is fully man and fully God, will reign forever in Adam’s place, and by the power vested in Him by God the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus has authority to command angels and elements and all things obey His Word, even as they obey God’s Word.

                So before the Fall, angels and elements did as commanded.  The angels and elements would change the very definitions of things so that, instead of a healthy fig tree the new definition of the tree was sick and dying.  Instead of the lame man, the man’s legs were healthy and normal.

                Satan took this concept and created his own magic system so that he and his demons would be, essentially, gods to those who used his magic system.  Satan knew that humans, desiring to do their own thing apart from God’s Law, would submit themselves to him because he was the Father of Lies and the Lawless One.  Satan didn’t require men to abide by all of these harsh and strict laws, so it would be easier for a human to acquire supernatural powers without going to God and asking Him for a miracle.  All a person had to do was submit their will to Satan and his demons, and in turn these evil spirits would give that person what they desired.

                So it is like magic, but sorcery and witchcraft are not True Magic, the magic that God set up and the magic that sustains and controls and defines all things.  While True Magic is executed by the Spirit of God and by angels, being dependent upon them and trusting that God is wise and good and in control of all things, witchcraft and sorcery are executed by Satan and demons, being dependent upon them and trusting the incantations and the magic spells and rituals and the false gods and demons and Satan that they will grant the spellcaster whatsoever they desire. 

                You see, the differences are quite severe even though there are quite a number of similarities.  Both, by definition, are magic, but the main difference is who and what the individual is putting their trust in.  Those who call upon the Name of the Lord, who rely on True Magic, or better defined as the Word of God, they trust that even if they don’t get what they want, God is in control and He has promised good to all those who love and serve Him.  God and angels are the source of miracles, and those who pray to God and ask for a miraculous healing or guidance, etc. trust that even if nothing happens, God has a good reason for it, and it’ll all work out in the end and be better than what would have happened if God had given them what they asked for. 

                Those who do spellcasting and incantations, they trust that they will get what the spell promises them.  A spell to cast a curse or hex upon someone is expected to give the target of the spell the exact curse or hex that the spell says it will.  If the spell fails and nothing happens, the reason is typically assumed that the spellcaster failed to cast the spell correctly or they simply did not have enough spiritual influence over the “magic” to make it work.

                You see, Satan set the system up this way so that the blame would be put upon the person, not on him or demons.  In this way, he could then set up additional systems and methods so that a person could do these things to gain more power and influence over magic.  When one studies witchcraft and sorcery, even “White Magic” or wiccan magic, what you find is that the easiest spells are those that require little from the caster in the beginning.  Like most things that are evil, wiccan magic and easy spells tempt the user into witchcraft by requiring very little.  “Just say these words and believe and you’ll find that you are more charming and likeable.”

                But then, as one begins to see results to their spellcasting they begin to crave more.  Then they start to try to cast bigger, harder spells.  Ah, but these spells require more influence.  Therefore, they require you to perform certain actions in order to gain power and influence over magic.  Now, instead of just waving your hand around and chanting some strange words, now you have to cut yourself and drip blood on a piece of paper and burn it while chanting the spell.  Deeper, more powerful spells, may require the use of drugs, incense, sexual immorality, animal sacrifices, burning yourself, drinking odd concoctions, wearing magical symbols like pentagrams, drawing magical symbols on things or on the floor, performing sick and twisted rituals, drinking blood or urine or other odd things, and many, many other depraved things that magic rituals have called for throughout the years.  In fact, in the time of Moses, child sacrifices were one of the most common ways of gaining magical power and influence in the land of Canaan.  That’s one of the reasons God wanted to use the Israelites to wipe them out.  They were doing so many evil things that God couldn’t stand it anymore.  He wanted His people to end these diabolical witchcraft practices so that the land would be cleansed of them.  This is also why God would get so angry with the Israelites during most of the chapters of Judges and Kings and Chronicles.  The people were constantly falling into the sin of witchcraft by serving foreign gods and performing rituals of witchcraft and sorcery.

                So the Devil set up the system of sorcery so that humans would fall to an even deeper level of rebellion, and it was all to hurt God even more than he already had.  He knew God loved humans so much that He would die for them, and so he wanted to lure them into an even deeper level of rebellion.  That is why the Bible calls rebellion “as the sin of witchcraft.”  Both are synonymous because witchcraft is one of the most extreme forms of rebellion.  Instead of repenting to God and asking for His forgiveness, allowing Him to be in control of their lives and allowing Him to decide what is best for them, people turned to this system of witchcraft and sorcery and trusted in it to give them the desires of their hearts.  In other words, they say to God, “Hah!  See?  I don’t need you even for supernatural things.  I don’t want you in my life so much that I’m willing to do horrible atrocities in order to gain miraculous power.  I’m selling my soul, basically, to Satan and his demons so that I can get what I want when I want it.”  It is also as if they are saying to God, “This way is better than your way.  I reject you as king over me and I reject your ways.”

                If you struggle with this, think of it more like a standard, medieval kingdom.  Those who trust in God and pray to Him and “use” True Magic, essentially trusting in the power of God, are those who are citizens of the King.  If they have a problem, they petition the King, and the King determines whether they get what they asked for or not.  They trust that if the King says no that the King knows best.  They accept His ruling because they trust Him as their leader.  Those who trust in witchcraft and sorcery say to God, “I reject you and I’m going out into the wilderness to live with the rogues and scoundrels and bandits and thieves and murderers.  When I want something, I’m going to get them to do it for me.  I hate Your ways so much, King, that I’m going to go live amongst the brigands who are free of laws and I’m going to get them to be my minions.  I’ll do whatever it takes to gain authority and power and influence over them so that more and more of them will do my bidding.”  It’s really the classic situation where you are either on the side of truth and justice and law and order or you are on the side of rebellion, lawlessness, anarchy, injustice, survival of the fittest, where the strongest and most capable rules.

                Therefore, in Holy Wars, Lucifer uses magic to control the universe.  He defines and redefines using words to change his environment.  He “casts” spells, which are a string of words put together to redefine things, in order to use magic.  So when he travels to Eden from the Third Heaven, he redefines himself as no longer being in Heaven but in Eden, using spoken words to cast this spell and change his location.  When he attacks another angel, he uses spoken words in an attempt to destroy the definitions that define the very being of his target, tearing apart their very essence.  This is True Magic.

                However, later in the stories, Lucifer, who is now Satan, crafts his system of witchcraft, which includes an ritual practices that are not godly, and he makes it so that men say funny words, putting their trust in these words, and he and his demon (fallen angel) minions execute the spell, mocking and laughing the humans the whole time because they know that the humans are just speaking gibberish.  The words don’t actually have any true power.

                Now, before concluding this topic, I want to also discuss magic tricks because so many Christians have had issues with people who even perform simple card tricks.  This is not evil and it is not from Satan.  It is simple trickery and illusion.  There is no demonic force behind such things.  A person who saws a woman in half on stage is merely tricking his audience into believing that he is because he is tricking the senses through smoke and mirrors.  There are no true incantations or spells used.  No demons are actually taking a hold of the person and controlling him or doing his bidding.

                However, even magic tricks and pretending to use magic can be dangerous.  The more you pretend to use magic the more you may want to actually use magic.  In other words, the more you do magic tricks the more you may actually want to delve into incantations and witchcraft.  This is why some magicians really are quite strange and almost scary and you get a dark vibe from them.  They have gone beyond simple tricks and nonsense, which can be fun, to truly performing sorcery.

                Still, those who do this because they dabbled in magic tricks are few and far between.  Most people who do magic tricks do so simply because it is fun, and it is a good source of entertainment.  I have known many Christians, and I myself am included in this, who have done magic tricks to awe children and adults alike.  They are truly harmless and they almost never result in someone actually trying to do witchcraft.

                I also wanted to discuss, while we are talking about miraculous things, Spiritual Gifts and especially the Gift of Tongues.  Spiritual Gifts are abilities given to people by God the Spirit based on God’s design and purpose for a person’s life.  In a sense, God redefines certain aspects of a person so that instead of their definition stating, “I don’t speak very well in front of others,” suddenly their definition states, “I speak very fluently and with great charisma and influence in front of others.”  The Gifts of the Spirit, the Spiritual Gifts, are things like: effectively preaching, teaching, singing, writing, drawing, painting, inspiring, encouraging, prophesying, healing, performing miracles and signs, evangelizing, and way too many others to name them all here.  In a sense, they are like talents that people inherit without often even realizing it.

                For example, one of the Spiritual Gifts of one of my best friends that I went to high school with was that he was able to brighten your spirits the moment he entered the room.  This was a gift of encouragement.  God had granted him with a natural ability to just make people feel good and happy.  He could cheer you up and he knew how to empathize with you.  My wife, one of her greatest gifts is that she somehow knows what is best for people and even how situations are going to play out.  She has some sort of supernatural insight that gives her the ability to almost, without a doubt, know exactly how some things are going to come to pass.  We even starting calling her “prophetess” because she was always saying, “I bet you this is going to happen,” and it would happen.  Even if it didn’t seem like it was going to happen, somehow it would wind up working out just as she would say that it would.  The only explanation…Gift of the Spirit!

                Similarly, I have a gift for storytelling and for retaining all sorts of random, obscure facts about things like history, the Bible, and also a gift for unraveling the mysteries found in these things.  I feel as if God just drops revelations into my brain.  I also feel this way about storytelling.  When I’m creating a story, I often just sit down and start writing, and the story seems almost to write itself.  I can delve into characters as if I am those characters, and plots…I hardly have to work at them at all.  (Well…all this I say assuming I’m not the only person who thinks that I have this gift that is.)

                Now, as with all things that come from God, nothing we do can determine what gifts we are going to get.  Like anything, we can ask God for certain gifts, but ultimately He decides what gifts a person gets.  He is in control, and we acknowledge this and accept it.  I always wanted to be a prophet and I always wanted to do miraculous healings and great signs and wonders.  I prayed for them for what felt like an eternity.  I tried all sorts of things to try to reenact miracles in the Bible…some of which were quite embarrassing.  I had faith.  I was fully committed.  I tried fasting for them.  I tried going to revivals.  I tried certain prayers because some said that if you recite this certain prayer then you will acquire healing.  Yeah…none of it worked.  Why?  Because I told God before each and every thing I tried that if it was not from Him I didn’t want it.

                Later, it dawned on me…Christians need to even be careful of how they go about trying to “get their miracles.”  Reciting certain prayers, giving offerings of money, food, or whatever, trying to reenact miracles in the Bible…all of it borders on witchcraft.  Think about it!  If you are attempting to follow some sort of formula in an attempt to get your miracle, it is not much different from a person who does witchcraft.  Your motive is the exact same.  You are trying to force God to give you a miracle by performing some action. 

                So Christians can be guilty of doing this very same thing.  I have, and I know many other Christians I know have, attempted to “Name it and claim it” in an attempt to receive miracles.  I can tell you that I have rebuked Satan and his demons so many times that their ears ought to be bleeding from the times I said, “I cast you out in the Name of Jesus!”  I’ve said, audibly, “Be healed in Jesus Name!” and nothing ever happened.  In fact, most of the time I’ve noticed the situation getting worse.  Why?  Is it that I didn’t have faith?  Did I doubt or waiver?  No!  I can assure you that I stayed true even past the time when others were telling me to just shut up already.

                Why?  The reason is that we are trying to do pretty much the same thing that witches and sorcerers do.  We are trying to follow a particular formula to get our miracle.  We treat God like a vending machine.  If we put in just the right amount of change and press the right button we’ll get what we want. 

                Now, before I get a million Christians attacking me for saying all of this, I will say that there is a huge difference between a person doing witchcraft and a Christian attempting to get a miracle from God by “Naming it and claiming it”.  Christians love God and honor Him above all else.  They are just trying to do their best to do what they think they are supposed to do in order to be the best representatives of Christ on Earth.  Therefore, He just hears these prayers and He sighs and says, “That’s not how this works, Child.  You can’t force Me to do whatever you want Me to do.”  He doesn’t get angry, as He does with those who practice witchcraft, for He knows that we just don’t fully know what we’re doing.  Also, Christians are not doing horrible acts that are unnatural in order to get what they want. 

                Therefore, the point of me saying that it is like witchcraft is that our motives are similar.  Just as a witch casts a spell because they want to bypass God’s ultimate authority on the subject to force something to go the way they want it to, so a Christian who tries to follow some formula to get a miracle is attempting to bypass God’s will in an attempt to get whatever miracle they want.  They are both attempting to go around God, trusting in some “thing” rather than trusting that God is going to make everything end well for them.

                The Bible does say, “speak to that mountain and it shall be removed” so Christians expect that what the Bible says is true, and rightfully so, and if they speak to their issue it will go away.  I have also witnessed Christians perform miracles when “Naming it and claiming it” so please don’t misunderstand.  I’m not saying that God does not use people to do these things.  However, again, I can tell you that I have spoken to my issues until I was blue in the face, and nothing happened.  No matter how much I said, “In the Name of Jesus”…no matter how fervently I commanded things to happen…no matter how hard I believed…no matter how loudly I spoke it…nothing changed.

                So what is the conclusion?  God is in control.  He determines when a person receives a miracle and when they don’t.  He also determines when He will speak through someone and when He will not.  We don’t decide these things.  We can’t reenact some sequence and get the results we desire.  We cannot perform some ritual and get what we want.  We can’t pray some special prayer and get what we want.  God decides.  So when you see a person who “Names it and claims it” and it happens, God has moved in that person and spoken through that person, and in doing so God has performed a miracles through that person.  Some people are given a gift of healing, and the Lord moves them to those who are to be healed and moves them away from those who are not to be healed.  Not everyone has this gift. 

                So, the rest of us, we need to seek God and ask Him continually in prayer for healing or whatever miracle we need, and just keep trusting that He has it all under control.  He doesn’t need to bring someone with a gift of healing into our lives to heal us, and He can certainly do it at any moment He desires, but regardless we just need to be patient as we wait for our miracle.  In the midst of our waiting, we then need to continue praising Him and loving Him, telling Him that even if we are never healed, even if we never receive that miracle, we are still going to always love Him.  There is nothing that you can do to move God more than to tell Him this.  Nothing touches God’s heart more than to hear His children say, “Even if the worst case occurs…yet will I love you!”

                And this is what the Bible teaches, that the Spiritual Gifts are not given to everyone.  They are spread out amongst the believers of Christ.  In this way, we are supposed to find those who have different gifts from us so that we can work with them in perfect unity and harmony.  If you have a Gift of Healing and so does someone else in the church, maybe you should consider finding a church without someone who has this gift so that you can build up that church.  Likewise, if two people in a church have the gift of preaching, and only one is needed, the other preacher should find their own church to preach in.  If two people can perform great miracles, naming things and they happen, then one should find a church that does not have such a person and perform their miracles there.  In this way, every church should have a prophet, a preacher, a teacher, a healer, an encourager, a miracle worker, an evangelist, and so on…at least one in each church.  All this, I say, but every person should go where the Spirit leads them of course.

                Now, finally, let’s talk about Speaking in Tongues, because it is a topic that has plagued the church for over a hundred years now.  Is it necessary to be saved?  Is it just babbling and it isn’t really scriptural?  Are Charismatics crazy?  Is there true power in it?  Should everyone do it?

                I struggled with Speaking in Tongues for a long time.  I grew up in churches that believed that if you did not Speak in Tongues you were not saved.  This, I can say, is totally wrong.  I don’t mean to offend anyone who believes this, and I want to encourage you to truly seek scripture on this.  What is required to be saved is found in Acts 2:38-39.  It reads, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

                Notice what it really says.  “Repent and be baptized.”  This is all YOU need to do.  Then you will, “receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  Many interpret this to mean that you will be filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of Speaking in Tongues.  However, there were those in Acts who later had accepted Christ but they did not have the filling of the Holy Spirit.  In other words, they were saved, but they had never experience a true move of the Spirit of God in their lives.

                Think about it logically, for a moment.  Why would Christ go through all that pain and suffering only to let a person whom He loved who was truly repentant go to Hell just because they didn’t Speak in Tongues?  They did everything right.  They turned from their evil ways.  They just couldn’t seem to get to that point where they were Speaking in Tongues.  Should God cast such a person in Hell?  It seems, to me, like God certainly wouldn’t be a good God at all if He did something like that.

                I had, for the longest time, not Spoken in Tongues.  I did all sorts of things to try to Speak in Tongues.  Just as with miraculous healings, I tried every formula people gave me in order to try to make it work.  One lady who was a bit older, came and prayed for me at the altar one Sunday morning when I came forward to receive the Gift of Tongues, and she said, “Just start babbling.  It’ll come to you as you just start babbling.”  She prayed for me and prayed for me and prayed for me.  I prayed and prayed and prayed.  I earnestly asked God to help me just let go and let Him take over.  I repeated over and over, “I am letting go.  Take over!”  I babbled and babbled and babbled.  Nothing…nothing at all.  No matter how hard I tried it didn’t work for me.

                Then, after one worship service, I hadn’t even been thinking about it.  I was so caught up in the emotions of the service and the feeling of God’s presence that all at once, as we in the choir were leaving the platform, I barely made it to the choir room before the Spirit overwhelmed me.  I began to cry out and speak so rapidly…I didn’t know what I was saying and I didn’t care.  It was wonderful.  It didn’t happen when I was trying to make it happen.  It happened long after that woman had tried to help me Speak in Tongues, and it happened when God wanted it to happen.

                To this day, I don’t speak a lot in Tongues as I did that day.  In fact, I don’t know if I’ve ever really had an experience like that again.  I babble at times while worshipping or praying, but it is more of a mindset that “God…I’m letting go and trusting that you know what I need and what I want.  My babbling…I’m trusting that you know what it is and that you are moved by it.  I’m trusting that Your Holy Spirit is speaking through me to the Father and the Son, and I’m not going to question it anymore.”  Never, however, has it been the same, that I can recall, as it was that day when I was in that choir room.  It has always just been more subdued and, quite honestly, just like a lot of babble.

                But again, I’ve even tried using Speaking in Tongues as if it was some sort of magic spell to get miracles and healings…and you can’t tell me other Christians haven’t done this as well.  We need to be careful that Speaking in Tongues is done as praise and worship unto God, as a way of allowing God to just take over as opposed to trying to make something happen.

                So do I promote Speaking in Tongues?  Is it really from God?  Is it really important that everyone try to Speak in Tongues?  This I can tell you from personal experience.  I promote Speaking in Tongues, even if you think it is just babbling.  Do as I have suggested.  Treat the babbling as a “God I’m letting go and I’m trusting that your Spirit is speaking through me” moment.  Even if God’s Spirit isn’t really speaking through you, it doesn’t hurt and it does usually make me feel better when I do this.  And I can also tell you that I promote Speaking in Tongues because I have been to a lot of churches in my life.  Those that practice Speaking in Tongues are almost always excited about God, eager for Him and to do His will.  Churches that don’t practice Speaking in Tongues, I find them to be nice churches, usually, who love God and seek Him, but it always seemed to me that something was missing.  There was a missing energy in these churches.  It was as if the enthusiasm and the drive were not there.

                I tell you the truth, some of the nicest churches I’ve visited and some of the nicest Christians don’t practice Speaking in Tongues.  However, most of the time that is what they are.  They are nice.  They do things for Christ and they love one another and love their communities, and some of them do this more than Speaking in Tongues churches.  However, I have never yet been to a non-Speaking in Tongues church that was more energized, more exciting, more dynamic and more powerful than a Speaking in Tongues church.

                Here is an example.  After attending various churches in my city, my family and I were quite disappointed.  Something always seemed to be wrong with each church.  One person or another would say, “I just didn’t like this” or “I didn’t feel this was right.”  When we walked through the doors of my current church, the moment we stepped through the doors we felt the energy.  The doors to the sanctuary were open and we could see the choir singing.  The music, the energy, the dynamics drew us in and excited us.  None of us walked away from that church with a negative comment.  We all wanted more.

                The difference?  Every other church we’d visited didn’t practice Speaking in Tongues.  Every other church we’d visited loved Christ and the preachers preached well and they were loving and friendly and kind.  Therefore, I cannot help but believe that there is something to this Speaking in Tongues thing.  There is something to “Babbling in the Spirit” while you are praying or praising and worshipping.  There is an energy, the power of the Holy Spirit, that is stirred up whenever you give yourself over to Him.  Therefore, I cannot help but believe that Speaking in Tongues is something all believers should do.

                But there is a difference between Speaking in Tongues and the Gift of Tongues.  The Gift of Tongues, as the Bible teaches, is a truly Spiritual Gift.  It is when the Holy Spirit causes a person to miraculously speak and/or understand a language that exists either today or in ancient times, for the purpose of proving God is real and for the purpose of allowing individuals to understand God in whatever language they speak.  There have been incidences where evangelists were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke in the native language of the country they were trying to preach to…and they didn’t know that language at all.  However, the listeners understood the person clearly in their own language.  This is the Gift of Tongues.

                You may have a different experience from me about Speaking in Tongues.  You may view churches who have preached this as being horrible churches.  Certainly I have experience my share of Christians who preached Speaking in Tongues was the right way and they did so by condemning people who didn’t believe as they did.  Some, even today I am sure, call people who don’t Speak in Tongues sinners and worthy of Hell.  I remember being terrified that I was going to Hell because I had not Spoken in Tongues even though I loved God with all my heart.  You aren’t alone in this.  What I am saying, however, is that there are a vast majority of churches out there who do believe in Speaking in Tongues who do not condemn people if they don’t.  They encourage them with love and the energy that is in these churches cannot be rivalled by other churches who don’t believe these things.

                I conclude with this: Always remember what 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John say.  The theme of these three books is that God loves us all so much.  If we have the Spirit of God in us then we will not condemn others.  We will build them up and encourage them with love.  Even if you think I’m wrong and you think people who believe as I do are wrong, if you have Christ in you then you will not be hostile towards me.  You will merely try to help me understand scripture as you do.  So even if you think that all that I have written here is wrong, you will not condemn me to Hell and call me a blasphemer and say that I am a fraud or a fake.  You will instead come to me with your comments and tell me, in love, why you think I am wrong and back up your beliefs with logical conclusions and Biblical facts.  This is what the Early Church leaders did, and this is what Christ Himself did.  Even when speaking with Pilate before His crucifixion, Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” and Jesus did not condemn him or criticize him.  Even when the thief that was crucified with Him mocked Him, Jesus did not condemn Him.  Therefore, let us not condemn but always encourage one another with love.