One of my teammates and I played in a giant bouncy house designed for children. That information seems like a fun headline so that’s what I’m going to go with.
The bouncy house was really fun. Sometimes you need a break and God created rest too. I needed a mental break to bounce back, so I started bouncing. Another fun thing recently was going to a Muay Thai event. We got in for a sixth of the price because we showed up with only an hour left. We could’ve gotten in for free waiting an extra ten minutes but alas. I just think it’s funny that I went to the kiddy world then immediately turned around and went to the part of the city most famous for sinful actions to watch a bunch of fights. It’s fine though. A lot of people think progressing to manhood is upgrading from Weenie Hut Jr’s to The Salty Spitoon, but what manhood actually is involves going to The Salty Spitoon to eat a steak and hitting up Weenie Hut Jr’s after the fact to get a milkshake because The Salty Spitoon has better steak and Weennie Hut Jr’s has better milkshakes. Then you don’t care what other people have to say about those decisions.
Speaking of saying stupid things, let’s discuss speaking in tongues. We are currently in the middle of two weeks of teaching, pertaining to a lot of spiritual stuff. The most controversial topic was likely the concept of speaking in tongues. I had zero interest in this gift prior to the trip, but then my leader said in a conversation we had about this: “It is a gift that God provides and I want everything God has for me”. And you know what, that’s a pretty good mindset to have. When the leaders asked who wants prayer for the ability to speak in tongues, I didn’t stand up, but prayed to God that I was open to anything. I tried to do it when they told us to try and activate it ourselves, and I certainly made noises.
So let’s have a discussion about that scenario. When I thought of speaking in tongues, I always assumed that the Holy Spirit was the guide, and it was in relation to speaking in a language you didn’t normally understand. Doing it with a sort of internal activation to a bunch of noises makes it seem like just saying a bunch of gibberish.
Duchjdjdhdnd Dhdhhdhdhd kdjdhsjsj idhsvshsjsjdh shshjsjdj. There. I just typed in tongues.
Here’s the thing with that mindset. God can certainly put things on people’s hearts and it’s certainly not impossible praying like babbles is what he would want in a given situation. Worst case scenario, you are gibbering like an idiot. God loved David dancing like an idiot, because God likes pride being swallowed and fun being had.
I’ve mentioned my future video series before and I’m in the middle of Isaiah. One development I wasn’t anticipating was the amount of crazy things I’m planning to say and do in front of the camera. The series just kinda developed that way. I like to have fun, and one advantage I have over the devil and any demonic spirits is I’m canonically hilarious. Sometimes being good at making people laugh isn’t very good when you’re not intending to make people laugh, but being interesting is clearly a gift I have and I’m going to use every single weapon in my arsenal to help fulfill God’s will. I’m willing to do whatever is necessary for the kingdom, so I’ll certainly take being a jester. Just don’t underestimate a jester’s intellect XP.
With that being said, this is not a game. We do have a responsibility to evangelize for the sake of people’s souls. When praying like “Da da do ching chong”, you look like an idiot to that person and could turn them off from Christianity all together. I’m also not just going to immediately trust someone that they prayed in tongues just because they said they prayed in tongues in the same fashion that I wouldn’t immediately trust someone saying “God told me to do this”. He can talk to people and does talk to people, but it needs to be tested with scripture and through others, because God uses those resources for communication as well.
This is my last blog in Thailand so sayonara until Malaysia. In Malaysia it’s illegal to evangelize and we are going by train so I’m interested.
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