Speaking in Tongues

 

These two phrases in tongues

I picked up only today:

“Shodabotahonda shodabotakia”

Is what I heard a man say.

 

Never mind their meaning

Or even what they look like,

Bible tongues were known languages,

Not an emotional hype.

 

I have observed trends

Regarding phrases and sounds

Which were learnt and practiced

So impression could abound.

 

The two above I heard

While watching a YouTube video,

 At first, they were quite baffling

But now for sure I know.

 

 

I guess you might now say

Stewart can speak in tongues

But I tell you, if you believe this,

You’d be so very wrong.

 

Two phrases I assure you

Doth not a tongues-expert make

But I am sharing these with you

To ascertain your take.

 

Shodabotahonda!

Should I repeat this phrase

Or should I go on to the next one

If you are not too fazed?

 

Shodabotakia!

This should help with the first,

Now say them both together

And audibly rehearse.

 

 

 

The translation is simple

Just put on your thinking cap,

The first may be more expensive

So you mightn’t want that.

 

The next on the other hand

May be within your range,

“Shodabotahonda shodabotakia”

Should no longer be strange.

 

If in a daze you still are,

I would have to be at fault

So this tongue speaking session,

Must now come to a halt.

 

Stewart Russell © January 3, 2024

 

Second Work of Grace

 

 

Show me from God’s Word

This second work of grace

For I have searched and searched

But have found not a trace.

 

The first work I have found

And this, without a doubt,

For it was very straightforward;

Nothing to work out.

 

But I have a difficulty

With this second work

Though I must tell you up front

I’m no Bible expert.

 

The Spirit witnessed to me

I am a child of God

And having been born again,

I thought this was all.

 

But it seems I am wrong

According to some

And I don’t yet have the Spirit

Or even God’s dear Son.

 

 

I have seen many struggle

Trying to explain this

And however hard they tried

Something they missed.

 

Some call it a filling;

This second work of grace

Giving me a kind of impression

It’s more than a taste.

 

But how would I know

This grace when received?

Is it the same witness of the Spirit

As when I first believed?

 

It’s entire sanctification

Some are heard to say

But while entire, it’s not entire,

Is another way.

 

“You will know for sure

You cannot go wrong,”

The evidence, some people say,

Is speaking in tongues.

 

I cannot remember

Ever speaking in tongues

So, I have never been sanctified

If they are not wrong.

 

However, this I know,

And I know this for sure,

I am a born-again child of God-

No less and no more.

 

 

I have the Spirit’s witness

That I am a child of God

And I have His blessed assurance

Even when I fall.

 

If I have not the Spirit

I do not belong to him

And so, it is crystal clear to me

I am still in my sin.

 

But I thank God today

This is not my case

For I have been wonderfully saved

By His miraculous grace.

 

This same grace that saves

Is also able to keep

As in Jesus, the Shepherd’s vigil

Over each of his sheep.

 

I know of one grace

As in that wonderful song,

It’s the wonderful grace of Jesus

And to Jesus I belong.

 

I dare not split God’s grace

Into a one, two, three

But He who has started this work

Will continue it in me.

 

 

Nothing more definitive

Than a sinner saved by grace,

This I am and this I will always be

Until I see his face.

 

Stewart Russell © June 9, 2024

 

This Tongues Thing

 

 

A cut above the rest

Depending on the gift you get,

If it is prophecy or tongues

You are fairly well set.

 

Especially in these days

As we are coming to the end,

Prophecy is the gift that tells one

What is around the bend.

 

“Tongues” is a conversation

Between a person and God,

Nobody knows what was said

Including the one called.

 

No better informed

Are the listeners in this case

But everybody gets into the act

At least merely to save face.

 

It is a skill I have been told

That can easily be taught,

Open your mouth and believe

And the miracle is wrought.

 

I’ve heard of certain schools

That teach tongues by the phrase

And for a nominal fee, of course,

The learner would be amazed.

 

 

 

It is very impressive

To hear a speaker of tongues,

Especially the very fluent ones

That are around.

 

Some will give a phrase

Others will go on for a while

Leaving the listener enchanted

As though a little child.

 

A sure sign of the Spirit

And for some, the only one,

If you’ve not spoken in tongues

You are not truly reborn.

 

I mean “born in the Spirit”:

“Experiencing the new birth”,

A work that comes from heaven

And experienced on earth.

 

If this is really the case

Then I would have to be lost,

Never have I spoken in tongues

Thus, I am short on the cost.

 

 

 

I’ve no witness of the Spirit

If “tongues” is the witness

And like the unsaved non-believer,

I am still in sin’s mess.

 

This tongue thing is trouble

When taken out of context,

No wonder many Christian believers

Find life so complex.

 

They dabble in many things

That they do not understand

Rather than with faith in the Word

Stick to the divine plan.

 

If the charismatic giftings

Are causing us to focus on men

Then I dare say without apology

We have a huge problem.

 

If speaking in tongues

Puts us above all others

Then salvation is of no saving effect

And is become a bother.

 

 

 

If you are representing me

Before the Lord’s throne,

Please speak in the English language

That from a boy I have known.

 

I mean no offence

And I genuinely say so long

But I get no spiritual upliftment

When you speak in tongues.

 

Stewart Russell © September 14, 2023