By J. Lee Grady-Pentecost Sunday: It’s Nothing to Be Ashamed Of
What happened in the upper room in Acts 2 was not some trivial episode in church history. So why do we downplay it?
A few weeks ago a reporter from USA Today asked if she could interview me about the misunderstood subject of glossolalia, or speaking in tongues. Since I had talked with this woman before and I knew she handled matters of faith with sensitivity, I readily agreed to answer her questions. Besides, I’m not afraid to tell anyone that I have a prayer language.
The article ran in the newspaper this week, just a few days before Christians around the world planned to celebrate Pentecost Sunday. It mentioned a recent scientific study of the human brain and how it is affected when people pray in tongues.
“Aside from Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit’s outpouring on the day of Pentecost was the single most important moment in history.”
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania monitored the brain waves of Christians who prayed in tongues and compared them to the brainwaves of Buddhists who meditated and Catholic nuns who prayed the rosary. The results showed that the Christian prayer language had a unique impact on the body, essentially shifting brain waves into an “off” position.
The researchers concluded that when people engage in glossolalia, the frontal lobe of the brain that normally monitors speech and body function slips into low gear. The man who led the research team, Andrew B. Newberg, told USA Today: “Our findings are very consistent with what people say they are feeling—that they are not in charge of what is happening and are experiencing an intense sense of themselves in relation to God.”
I won’t hold my breath for this report to be published in Psychology Today or The American Journal of Medicine, but it certainly offers a skeptical world one more reason to ponder the claims of the Bible. It also gives the American church—which has restricted, feared or even the demonized Pentecostal practice—another reason to reconsider our desperate need for the Holy Spirit’s miraculous, unexplainable work.
Aside from Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit’s outpouring on the day of Pentecost was the single most important moment in history. Yet we treat it with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. Crowds pack churches on Easter, but how many times have you seen everyone show up to celebrate Pentecost? (Especially when it falls on Memorial Day weekend when many folks go on vacation!)
Pentecost was God’s big coming out party, a grand inaugural celebration accompanied by wind, fire and ecstatic, supernatural speech. It was heaven’s wondrous way of announcing that the Lord had chosen not only to dwell inside His redeemed people but also to mantle them with otherworldly power. When the early disciples were filled with the Spirit they were not embarrassed to speak in their new heavenly language. They raised a holy ruckus that eventually shook an empire.
Yet today many Christians have developed a defensive posture about tongues. Southern Baptists actually outlawed the practice among their missionaries last year. Some fundamentalists still teach that the Pentecostal experience is nothing more than religious hysteria.
And, worst of all, some modern charismatics and Pentecostals who prefer seeker-friendly worship and user-friendly sermons have stopped offering prayer for the baptism in the Holy Spirit at their altars. They don’t want to offend the crowd by encouraging anything too weird or embarrassing. They prefer church to be neat, orderly and rational. They want a faith that can be controlled.
They don’t realize this is the fundamental reason God gave us the gift of tongues in the first place: To shift our frontal brain lobes into neutral and get us out of the driver’s seat so He can take over.
When I pray in my spiritual language, my mind yields to a higher authority. I don’t know what I’m saying, yet the Holy Spirit prays through me and releases His anointing. It makes no sense in the natural, yet when I pray in tongues I override the limitations of reasoning and shift into a powerful spiritual dimension.
Speaking in tongues is a precious gift, one that the modern church has despised and devalued. We shouldn’t be apologizing for it. It’s time we renounced our intellectual pride and embraced the wild, unpredictable and unexplainable power of Pentecost.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The Difference Maker 1 - Making Your Attitude Your Greatest AssetBy Dr. John C. Maxwell
Motivational speakers have famously touted the slogan, "attitude is everything." While there's no doubt about the power of a positive outlook, attitude alone won't take you to the top. By itself, attitude is unable to resurrect a doomed business plan or make up for a deficiency of knowledge. Attitude can't alter reality or reverse a dire financial situation.
The "attitude is everything" doctrine becomes dangerous when a person lives on hope rather than paying his or her dues for success. The mindset, "Everything will turn out for the best," substitutes for planning and effort. Attitude has undeniable benefit, but it's not a magic ticket that compensates for failure to perform. You cannot disconnect attitude from reality and expect to be successful.
Since attitude has too often been presented as a cure-all, in this edition of LW, I'd like clear away unrealistic impressions of what attitude can accomplish. At the same time, I'd like to advocate the sensational upside of a great attitude.
What Your Attitude Cannot Do For You
Your Attitude Cannot Substitute for Competence.
In my leadership experience, I have made the mistake of hiring for attitude and discounting ability. I erroneously thought that positive people would eventually find a way to get the job done-even if they didn't have the exact abilities for their role. Unfortunately, there's no substitute for talent. An attitude of confidence cannot replace competence.
Your Attitude Cannot Substitute for Experience.
Idealists have intense desire to change the world and often have a courageous attitude to match their ambition. However, without experience an idealist's wave of enthusiasm will crash on the shores of reality. Certain leadership positions-due to their scope of responsibility-demand the kind of wisdom that is earned solely through experience.
Your Attitude Cannot Change the Facts.
As John Adams said, "Facts are stubborn things." They may be painful to accept, but they cannot be ignored. Attitude alone cannot reverse financial numbers showing a company on the verge of bankruptcy. The reality for many companies involves difficult decisions like outsourcing or layoffs to cut costs.
By itself, attitude cannot stem the tide of an evolving industry. For instance, newspapers must adjust their advertising strategies to confront the fact that consumers are flocking online for news. Without a fundamental shift in their business models, traditional newspapers face extinction-regardless of the attitudes permeating their company cultures.
Your Attitude Cannot Substitute for Personal Growth.
Attitude fills us with hope that we might reach our dreams. However, hope divorced from action proves false. In the words of musician, Bruce Springsteen, "A time comes when you need to stop waiting for the man you want to become and start being the man you want to be." Never stop dreaming, but also never cease growing if you expect your dreams to come true.
What Your Attitude Can Do For You
Your Attitude Makes a Difference in Your Approach to Life.
Our performance will likely match the expectations we have of ourselves or the expectations we allow others to impose upon us. In fact, it's very difficult to behave in a way that is contrary to self-expectations.
At the professional levels, athletes are encouraged to visualize themselves having a successful performance before competing. Visualization has proved to be a productive technique for enhancing an athlete's play. Likewise, flooding your mind with thoughts of successful leadership can be pivotal in setting healthy self-expectations.
Your Attitude Makes a Difference in Your Relationships with People.
Many factors come into play when working with people, but what makes or breaks interpersonal skills is a person's attitude. In my book, Winning with People, I describe twenty-five people principles that anyone can use to become better at building relationships and working with others. Many of those principles are attitude-based. Here are some examples:
The Lens Principle: Who we are determines how we see others. Our perception of others depends more on our attitude than it does their characteristics. If we are positive, we see them as positive.
The Pain Principle: Hurting people hurt people and are easily hurt by them. Our negative experiences and emotional baggage color our perception of others' actions. Normal interactions can cause us pain even when another person did nothing to inflict pain.
The Elevator Principle: We can lift people up or take them down in our relationships. People possess a mindset of either lifting or limiting others.
The Learning Principle: Each person we meet has the potential to teach us something. People in possession of a teachable attitude can learn from everyone they meet. On the contrary, someone who assumes others have nothing to offer will walk away from relationships empty-handed.
Your Attitude Makes a Difference in How You Face Challenges.
Circumstances appear to be instrumental in the creation of great leaders and thinkers, but such is the case only when their attitudes are right. Your attitude is the paint brush of your mind. It colors your world with brilliant optimism or a dark veneer of negativity. Consider these historical examples of leaders whose attitudes carried them beyond circumstances:
Demosthenes, called the greatest orator of ancient Greece, possessed a speech impediment. He overcame it by reciting verses with pebbles in his mouth and speaking over the roar of the waves at the seashore.
Composer Ludwig von Beethoven wrote his greatest symphonic masterpieces after he had become deaf.
John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress while in prison. Daniel Dafoe also wrote while in prison, producing Robinson Crusoe.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is considered by many to be among the best American presidents. Despite his polio handicap, FDR led the nation through the Great Depression and World War II.
For years I have tried to live by the following statement: I cannot always choose what happens to me, but I can always choose what happens in me. My attitude in circumstances beyond my control can be the difference maker. My attitude in the areas that I do control will be the difference maker.
Summary:
What Your Attitude Cannot Do For You
Substitute for Competence
Substitute for Experience
Change the Facts
Substitute for Personal Growth
What Your Attitude Can Do For You
Make a Difference in Your Approach to Life
Make a Difference in Your Relationships with People
Make a Difference in How You View Challenges
Motivational speakers have famously touted the slogan, "attitude is everything." While there's no doubt about the power of a positive outlook, attitude alone won't take you to the top. By itself, attitude is unable to resurrect a doomed business plan or make up for a deficiency of knowledge. Attitude can't alter reality or reverse a dire financial situation.
The "attitude is everything" doctrine becomes dangerous when a person lives on hope rather than paying his or her dues for success. The mindset, "Everything will turn out for the best," substitutes for planning and effort. Attitude has undeniable benefit, but it's not a magic ticket that compensates for failure to perform. You cannot disconnect attitude from reality and expect to be successful.
Since attitude has too often been presented as a cure-all, in this edition of LW, I'd like clear away unrealistic impressions of what attitude can accomplish. At the same time, I'd like to advocate the sensational upside of a great attitude.
What Your Attitude Cannot Do For You
Your Attitude Cannot Substitute for Competence.
In my leadership experience, I have made the mistake of hiring for attitude and discounting ability. I erroneously thought that positive people would eventually find a way to get the job done-even if they didn't have the exact abilities for their role. Unfortunately, there's no substitute for talent. An attitude of confidence cannot replace competence.
Your Attitude Cannot Substitute for Experience.
Idealists have intense desire to change the world and often have a courageous attitude to match their ambition. However, without experience an idealist's wave of enthusiasm will crash on the shores of reality. Certain leadership positions-due to their scope of responsibility-demand the kind of wisdom that is earned solely through experience.
Your Attitude Cannot Change the Facts.
As John Adams said, "Facts are stubborn things." They may be painful to accept, but they cannot be ignored. Attitude alone cannot reverse financial numbers showing a company on the verge of bankruptcy. The reality for many companies involves difficult decisions like outsourcing or layoffs to cut costs.
By itself, attitude cannot stem the tide of an evolving industry. For instance, newspapers must adjust their advertising strategies to confront the fact that consumers are flocking online for news. Without a fundamental shift in their business models, traditional newspapers face extinction-regardless of the attitudes permeating their company cultures.
Your Attitude Cannot Substitute for Personal Growth.
Attitude fills us with hope that we might reach our dreams. However, hope divorced from action proves false. In the words of musician, Bruce Springsteen, "A time comes when you need to stop waiting for the man you want to become and start being the man you want to be." Never stop dreaming, but also never cease growing if you expect your dreams to come true.
What Your Attitude Can Do For You
Your Attitude Makes a Difference in Your Approach to Life.
Our performance will likely match the expectations we have of ourselves or the expectations we allow others to impose upon us. In fact, it's very difficult to behave in a way that is contrary to self-expectations.
At the professional levels, athletes are encouraged to visualize themselves having a successful performance before competing. Visualization has proved to be a productive technique for enhancing an athlete's play. Likewise, flooding your mind with thoughts of successful leadership can be pivotal in setting healthy self-expectations.
Your Attitude Makes a Difference in Your Relationships with People.
Many factors come into play when working with people, but what makes or breaks interpersonal skills is a person's attitude. In my book, Winning with People, I describe twenty-five people principles that anyone can use to become better at building relationships and working with others. Many of those principles are attitude-based. Here are some examples:
The Lens Principle: Who we are determines how we see others. Our perception of others depends more on our attitude than it does their characteristics. If we are positive, we see them as positive.
The Pain Principle: Hurting people hurt people and are easily hurt by them. Our negative experiences and emotional baggage color our perception of others' actions. Normal interactions can cause us pain even when another person did nothing to inflict pain.
The Elevator Principle: We can lift people up or take them down in our relationships. People possess a mindset of either lifting or limiting others.
The Learning Principle: Each person we meet has the potential to teach us something. People in possession of a teachable attitude can learn from everyone they meet. On the contrary, someone who assumes others have nothing to offer will walk away from relationships empty-handed.
Your Attitude Makes a Difference in How You Face Challenges.
Circumstances appear to be instrumental in the creation of great leaders and thinkers, but such is the case only when their attitudes are right. Your attitude is the paint brush of your mind. It colors your world with brilliant optimism or a dark veneer of negativity. Consider these historical examples of leaders whose attitudes carried them beyond circumstances:
Demosthenes, called the greatest orator of ancient Greece, possessed a speech impediment. He overcame it by reciting verses with pebbles in his mouth and speaking over the roar of the waves at the seashore.
Composer Ludwig von Beethoven wrote his greatest symphonic masterpieces after he had become deaf.
John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress while in prison. Daniel Dafoe also wrote while in prison, producing Robinson Crusoe.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is considered by many to be among the best American presidents. Despite his polio handicap, FDR led the nation through the Great Depression and World War II.
For years I have tried to live by the following statement: I cannot always choose what happens to me, but I can always choose what happens in me. My attitude in circumstances beyond my control can be the difference maker. My attitude in the areas that I do control will be the difference maker.
Summary:
What Your Attitude Cannot Do For You
Substitute for Competence
Substitute for Experience
Change the Facts
Substitute for Personal Growth
What Your Attitude Can Do For You
Make a Difference in Your Approach to Life
Make a Difference in Your Relationships with People
Make a Difference in How You View Challenges
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
