For Senior Pastor Gerry Stoltzfoos, speaking in tongues is a deeply ingrained way of life. He says he has been speaking in tongues since he was a boy growing up in an Amish family, although the Amish frown on the practice.
Among Christians, speaking in tongues is most often associated with Pentecostals and Pentecostalism. Pentecostals take their name from the day of Pentecost, a day during which the Bible says that the apostles and followers of Jesus Christ were filled with the Holy Spirit and gifted the ability to speak in tongues.
Pennsylvania and Midwest Mennonite communities closely resemble Amish communities, as they also practice traditions like avoidance of worldly belongings and women wearing prayer caps. But unlike the Amish, most Mennonite congregations have become more and more modern with time.
The Bible says, “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost” —Jude 20. Speaking in tongues stimulates faith and helps us learn how to trust God more fully. For example, faith must be exercised to speak with tongues because the Holy Spirit specifically directs the words we speak.
Mennonites believe, with their Christian brothers and sisters, in the great affirmations of faith: God becoming human, the lordship of Christ, the power of the Gospel, the work of the Holy Spirit and the authority of the scriptures.
The Amish are orthodox, believing in the Holy Trinity and the deity of Jesus Christ. They believe in one God eternally, existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In North America, many Mennonites have adopted English as their common language. In Germany, many Mennonites have shifted to Standard German, with only the most conservative fraction maintaining use of the Plautdietsch dialect.
He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.
First, Southern Baptists cannot permit its missionaries to pray in tongues because what the latter claim is the biblical gift is not. The biblical gift of tongues was always “a legitimate language of some people group,” so the policy declares.
[37] If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. [38] But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. [39] Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
Most of the earliest Amish arrivals came from the Swiss/Alsace region and brought their traditions and mother tongue with them. Generations of living apart from other communities have kept their heritage intact. Therefore the Amish can indeed be said to be primarily Swiss German people.
There's no prohibition on alcohol in most communities, but certain strict Old Order communities aren't in favor of it. You'll never see Amish men going outside of the community to bars and other such establishments. If they do drink, they do so at home or in the community, at a social gathering.
The three affiliations: "Lancaster", "Holmes Old Order" and "Elkhart-LaGrange" are not only the three largest affiliations, they also represent the Old Order mainstream among the Amish.
They distinguish between (private) speech in tongues when receiving the gift of the Spirit, and (public) speech in tongues for the benefit of the church.
According to the New Testament, glossolalia first occurred among the followers of Jesus at Pentecost, when “all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts of the Apostles 2:4).
The great mystic Saint John of the Cross said, “Silence is God's first language.” If we look at the very first book of the Bible we see that out of the silence of all eternity, God begins to speak and what God speaks happens.
While the small Assemblies of God congregation goes through all the traditional trappings of a Pentecostal service, there is one notable absence: speaking in tongues, a defining trait of the faith.
She says in modern day, speaking in tongues is a practice popular in the Pentecostal church; one that started in 1905. "It was a badge of honor for Pentecostals to be set apart. They wanted to be different from the majority Christian denominations," she said.
The primary if not sole purpose of tongues, therefore, is to signify God's judgment against Israel for rejecting the Messiah and thereby shock them into repentance and faith. Tongues, so goes the argument, are a “sign” to unbelievers of God's judgment.
Some have said that may be the “tongues of angels” Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13:1. Others suggest our Heavenly language will be music, which is understood in any language; or perhaps it will be the language of love – God's love returned to him and others.
You're just flowing. You're in a realm of peace and comfort, and it's a fantastic feeling.” Contrary to what may be a common perception, studies suggest that people who speak in tongues rarely suffer from mental problems.
Every born-again follower of Jesus, that has received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, can speak in tongues. The gift of tongues is not just for the gifted, rather it is for everyone that puts their faith in Jesus Christ.
The Amish (/ˈɑːmɪʃ/; Pennsylvania German: Amisch; German: Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian (French) origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches, a separate Anabaptist denomination.
A minority of Amish today, the so-called “Swiss Amish,” known as Shwitzer, comprise two subgroups, one speaking a form of Bernese Swiss German and the other Alsatian German.
Mennonite Low German is called Plautdietsch. "Low" refers to the flat plains and coastal area of the northern European lowlands, contrasted with the mountainous areas of central and southern Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, where High German (Highland German) is spoken.