Pentecostals misuse the gifts of the Spirit more than any other group of people on earth; possibly even more than all other denominations combined. I say this not to their shame, but rather to their honor.
The more cars you have on a freeway the more likely you are to have accidents; the more vehicles, the more traffic violations. I commend the Pentecostal churches for their deep conviction concerning the validity of God’s gifts for today and for the risk they take in allowing them to operate within their denomination.
When it comes to most other denominations the freeway is not very well traveled and for the most part, closed altogether. When man in his religious endeavor blocks every on- ramp to the manifested presence of God, it creates some serious side effects. Young people, who are soon to become the next generation, become programmed by unbelief to think less and less of anything spiritual. They follow the detour signs set by their peers that reroute the traffic around any type of spiritual encounter with God.
No one learns to walk without first falling. The safest way to avoid falling would be to stay crawling. Imagine a grown man scooting around on his belly all his life and never walking. The monkey bars at a grade school are not completely safe for kids to play on but the experience they gain makes it worthwhile. The element of risk involved teaches the kids ‘cause and effect’ and how to deal with safety and danger.
When the church removes the monkey bars from the little children and blocks the freeway on-ramps from the youth spiritually, two things happen. They never climb very high and they never travel very far.
If you are a parent whose children attend church regularly, ask them what they know about something simple like speaking in tongues. If they know nothing, find a new church.
Any Bible believing church should declare the full counsel of God; that is why they call them ‘Full Gospel’. In Africa they have Baptist, full gospel churches. Young people come up to you and ask, “Pray me to receive language from heaven.”
Pastor Tilson Shumate