I know a preacher in Australia who was on a mission trip to Pakistan. He heard that a poor Muslim farmer in the neighbourhood had a very sick cow. Many Muslims know that God dramatically answers the prayers of Christians, and this farmer invited the preacher to pray for their sick cow.
He visited the poor farmer, but the cow was already dead, but he prayed for the dead cow anyway. The following day the dramatic news came, the cow was alive again and completely healthy.
There are many churches in Europe where signs and wonders are not expected, but especially in Africa, Asia and South America, signs and wonders like the one in Acts are very common.
The first dramatic sign in the book of Acts was the manifestation of speaking in tongues.
One hundred and twenty disciples of the Lord Jesus were together in Jerusalem.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Ac 2:4 NRSV
Then they came out of the upper room and proclaimed heavenly wisdom in these languages they had never learnt.
Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven.
When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Ac 2:5–6 CSB
An American preacher was once a guest on a Christian talk show in California. In the middle of the interview, he felt a very strong touch of the Holy Spirit.
He began to speak in tongues. He felt very nervous because he didn't know how the radio station's management would react. He was relieved that no one reacted.
Listeners to the talk show could call counsellors.
Immediately after the program, a telephone counsellor approached the preacher. She spoke with a strong German accent.
It turned out that a German woman was listening to the program and she heard the preacher speaking in her own language. The preacher didn't even know what language had come out of his mouth and he didn't know what he had said in flawless German.
The German telephone counsellor explained to the preacher that the German woman who had called was terminally ill and dying. She heard instructions from God on what to do from the preacher's mouth. As she carried out the instructions from the Holy Spirit, the power of God came upon her. She got up and was completely healed.
The English preacher mentioned above told me how he experienced a very unusual manifestation of speaking in tongues. He received a direction from the Holy Spirit to fly to Jakarta, Indonesia.
He obeyed God's leading and sat in a hotel room in Jakarta. He had received no further instructions. All he could do was wait and pray.
Then there was a knock on the door. An Indonesian pastor entered and invited him to preach to his huge congregation.
The English preacher stood at the pulpit, ready to preach in English with an interpreter. He opened his mouth and began to preach in perfect Indonesian. He had never learnt Indonesian.
Not only could he speak Indonesian perfectly, but he could understand everything. From that moment on, he was able to completely master the Indonesian language. He later worked as a language teacher and taught Indonesian in Australia.
For me, speaking in tongues is very important. I pray every day in languages that I have never learnt. I don't understand these languages and if there are listeners, they don't understand anything either.
But God understands.
For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit. 1 Co 14:2 CSB
How can we understand this contradiction?
In 1 Cor 12:10 we read about ``different kinds of tongues`` 1 Cor 12:10
We cannot understand this gift of grace, but God's gifts are always good.
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