The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his122/tongues.lzh/TONGUES.TXT

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MOV:I spoke in tongues  by Pastor Edward Stelling

   My Conversion

   I was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1907. My parents being
Episcopalians, was christened in that church. Faithfully the' brought
me up to attend Sunday School church, and the young people's society.
In due season I learned the catechism and wac confirmed by the bishop.
But I had never been saved. I became a member of the choir president of
the young people's society, and president of the Brotherhood of St.
Andrew's but I was not saved. I even attained the position of Cross
Bearer and Altar Boy, but I was not a Christian. On some special
occasions I was permitted to read the Scripture from the lectern and
prayers from the prayer book during a service. Still I was not saved
although the church, because of infant baptism, counted me "a member of
Christ, a child of Go, d, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.

   At the age of 25, I moved to Washington, D.C., in order to study
commercial art. I was working in the Census Bureau of the government
and attending the Epiphany Episcopal Church. As secretary of the Sunday
School, I noticed the influence that a certain teacher had upon the
young people she taught. I decided to attend that class. She took an
interest in me and unknown to me, prayed for me to be saved. One day
she gave me a book to read on the new birth. I struggled through and
returned it. Her question was, "How did you like it?" My reply, "Oh, it
was a good book, " but under my breath, "but not for me." Then after a
time, she invited me to a meeting outside the church, where the people
gave testimonies. That night everyone seemed to speak about being born
again. I went home lifted up, thinking of what a wonderful service it
was. I felt those people were really doing a grand work.

   At my desk the next day, some voice seemed to say to me, "When were
you born again?" I wondered, "When was I born again?" Then like a flash
it came to me that they were speaking about infant baptism. "Of course
they were, for that is what the prayer book states." I then resumed
work and was happy. But the voice seemed to insist, "When were you born
again?" I stopped work and wondered, "Just what did they mean? If they
were not talking about infant baptism, what could it be?" Then again
like a flash there came the answer that they were speaking about
confirmation, and it seemed so dumb of me not to have thought of that
before. Once again I was reassured and worked with whistling spirit.

   But there again came that persistent question, "When were you born
again?" Now I was really troubled; for if they were not referring to
infant baptism, nor confirmation, then I know not what, for I had no
more religious experiences upon which to rely. For about two weeks I
was greatly disturbed over this being born again. Those whom I asked
about it gave me no help, until I visited my Sunday School teacher. She
explained that I was a sinner and needed a Saviour. Jesus Christ was
that Saviour Who died for my sins, and I needed to accept Him
personally in order to have peace and sins forgiven. There and then I
accepted Christ and found peace. My life was so changed that my mother
could detect it in my letters and asked me to come home and explain
what had happened to me.

   I gave my testimony to the young people a church and met with strong
opposition.

   The Scripture says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved" (Act' 16:31); I believed and was saved and knew ii It
also says, "Therefore if any man be ii Christ, he is a new creature;
old things ar passed away; behold, all things are become new" (Il
Corinthians 5:17); I was now ii Christ, Christ was in me, and my life
was really changed.

   My Introduction to Pentecostalism

   My early Christian life, however, was full vacillation--I was happy
one day and defeated the next. I began to understand how weak the flesh
is. I was still yielding to temptation; was finding it hard to break
with the world; was failing to witness for my Lord; I was not reading
my Bible; and my prayer life wa almost nothing. These things never
bothered me before, but now they constantly affect my conscience. I
seemed to be thinking much, too, about being filled with the Spirit
read everything that came across my pal about being filled; I gave
special attention sermons on that subject; yet no matter ho hard I
tried to meet the conditions, I could make no progress--I just could
not find the fullness. Furthermore, the conditions give were confusing,
for all the ministers did agree on how to be filled.

   I was in this state of mind when a Christ' friend, Gene Scheele,
asked me to go wi him to the Full Gospel Tabernacle. He knew my
difficulties and my heart's desire. said, "Ed, come on over to this
church; you like it. It is one of the happiest groups Christians I
know. They have fine singing and are on fire for the Lord, witnessing
and winning souls continually." It sounded fine to my discouraged ears,
and I went.

   The church at that time was having evangelistic meetings led by Mrs.
Edith M. Pennington. Every seat was taken and extra chairs placed in
the aisles. The musical part of the program was rousing. Mrs.
Pennington preached a message on salvation, and I enjoyed it. But
coming out of a church that majored in ritual and reverence in their
service, I was quite upset by the informality of this service.
Especially was I disturbed when one or two during the service would
arise and speak with unintelligible tongues. These would stand up
somewhere in the congregation. Then after they were quiet, another from
the platform, usually an elder or the pastor, would speak in English.
This was my first introduction to hearing speaking in tongues and an
interpretation.

   When the invitation was given, many moved freely toward the altar
railing around the pulpit. Some stood and some knelt. I mentioned to my
friend Gene that we should go home now. "Oh no, " he said, "let's stay
for the after-meeting; this is the best part of the service." I yielded
against my better judgment.

   Soon prayers and praise began to ascend from the seekers, as they
prayed, for the most part, aloud. The overtone increased in pitch. Here
and there a shout. Hands began to rise and tremble. Some people started
weeping; some were clapping their hands. Then I saw a few women fall
backward from the railing in unbecoming positions, but small blankets
were quickly thrown over them. Many were speaking in tongues, some
praying, some praising, and some singing.

   I grew quite frightened and told my friend that he could stay, but I
was leaving. He left with me and tried to explain things on the way
home, but I was very confused. When I did reach my room, I knelt by my
bed for a long time in prayer and confessed to the Lord that I was
fearful of this experience. I asked why I should be afraid if this was
of Him. If this was the proper way to be filled with the Spirit, why
should I be moved with fear? I set out a fleece, that if this was of
the Lord, He would remove the fear that I had of it by the next Sunday
(for the campaign closed that Sunday), and I would go forward and tarry
for the "baptism."

   All that week I thought upon that service, and each time I
reconstructed the scenes in my mind, fear gripped me. At the end of the
week, I decided to use some of my accrued leave and stay home on
Saturday to pray. Someone placed into my hands a book on this subject,
and I read it through. Everything seemed to be explained in such a
simple manner; the Scriptures used were very reasonable; and I found
myself beginning to understand. Suddenly, I realized that my fears had
left me, and just as I had prayed, before the next Sunday. I fully
concluded it must be of the Lord and with joy decided then and there to
go forward the next night.

   Again the church was packed with an over-flowing audience. It made
no difference to me where I sat, for I was determined to be the first
to the altar rail. I do not remember anything about the message as I
was awaiting the invitation. As soon as it was given, I started down
the aisle to seek the baptism. I knelt, while my friend Gene sat in the
first pew behind me. A worker knelt by my side and asked if I came to
be saved or to tarry for the Holy Ghost. I told her I was saved but
wanted to be filled with the Spirit. She advised me to praise the Lord
and keep praising and praying and yielding to Him. She blessed the Lord
and left my side. I followed instructions as nearly as possible, but
nothing happened.

   I turned and looked about me and saw a number with their hands
raised and speaking in tongues. I decided to try this; maybe it was the
way. However, nothing happened, and I soon became tired of holding up
my hands.

   Then I looked about again, and this time I saw a number had fallen
prostrate on the floor. The thought came to me, "No wonder you do not
receive the power; you would never let that happen to you; you are too
proud. An Episcopalian on the floor of the church. You would never
humble yourself to do that." At once I determined that if that was
required to humble me, if fear of lying on the church floor before all
these people was hindering me from receiving the Holy Ghost and power,
it would be a stumbling block no longer.-I lay down right alongside the
nearest seeker.

   But still nothing happened to me, and I began to despair. Several
came over to my side and began to pray in tongues and encourage me to
praise the Lord and "let go and let God." The elder and the pastor came
over and laid their hands on my head and prayed in tongues, but still
nothing happened. I held up my hands until they were weary, and I kept
going over these phrase' that I heard others use, "Hallelujah. Glory to
God. Praise you, Jesus! Praise you Jesus! Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!
Bless you Jesus bless you, Jesus!'!

   I felt the sensation come up over my body. My arms, which were now
by my side, began to move by this power. The power crept on up to my
chest, then to my neck and stopped. I remembered what the woman had
said about the tongue, and I praised hard, yearning for my tongue to be
taken. Then it was, and it began to move like a trip-hammer. I began to
use sounds and syllables that I did not recognize. Behold, I was
speaking in tongues. My tongue was moving faster than I could ever move
it in normal conversation, and I was not in the least tired, nor were
my hands tired as they had been earlier in the evening, though they
shook and shook. My whole body was refreshed.

   I spoke in tongues; then I sang in tongues, the syllables seeming to
match the music; then I prayed in tongues. I was in burden and squirmed
on the floor. All at once I was seized with "holy weeping, " and I wept
until I thought my heart would break. Then suddenly I was seized with
"holy laughter"; I laughed until I thought my sides would break; nor
was I thinking of anything funny-no, not even in my imagination; I was
under the grip of this power. From weeping to laughter, I behaved as
one hysterical, and yet I had never had hysterics in all my life.

   After some time had elapsed, this power released me, and I began to
quiet down. I opened my eyes and looked around. I sat up and was
strangely surprised to find that there was no one left in the church
except my friend Gene, who was faithfully sitting in the pew next to
me. It was close to midnight. I stood to walk but was so dizzy from the
experience that I had to reach for the back of a pew to steady myself
from falling. Think of it dizzy from lying on a floor--it certainly was
not a worked-up experience.

   As I steadied myself, the Scripture came to my mind, "Others mocking
said, These men are full of new wine" (Acts 2:13). I did not remember
the exact words, but I knew the apostles were accused of being drunk on
the day of Pentecost. So I let out a shout, for I was thereby assured
that I had the true baptism of the Holy Ghost.

   As I walked the streets that night going home, I felt like I was
walking on a cloud. Oh, was I happy, and my friend happy for me. I went
to bed, but I did not sleep for praising the Lord. Often through the
night I would scratch the sheets to see if something was under me, for
I felt like I was floating on a cloud.

   I was living in a boarding house with a number of other Christian
young people who worked in Washington, most of them for the government.
Each morning after breakfast we had group devotions. I had been told by
the Pentecostal folk that if I did not testify of my experience, I
would grieve the Holy Ghost and lose the experience. So at the first
devotional meeting, I decided to testify.

   After asking if I might say a word by way of testimony, I told them
briefly what had happened to me the night before. Some knew I was
interested in this experience, and when I began to speak, their heads
dropped. The only one who seemed to understand, outside of my Christian
friend, was the Negro cook, who clapped her hands and cried, "Praise
God, Master Edward got the Holy Ghost."

   I found a new boldness in witnessing; each morning I would stop in
the parks along the way and pass out tracts and deal with souls. In
fact, I was late to work several times but consoled myself with "first
things first."

   Then one morning at my desk, that sensation of a current flowing
through my body ceased. I had had it day and night ever since I came
under the power. I was frightened. I thought I must have sinned and
grieved the Holy Ghost. I rethought my waking hours of that morning
before coming to work but could think of no definite sin. It worried me
so, I decided to ask off and go home half a day.

   Being given leave for half a day, I rushed to my room, locked the
door, dropped to the floor, and began to praise Him again as at the
first when I had received the baptism. I knew that if I could repeat
the actions of that first night, the power would come on me again-and
it did. But when my friend Gene came home from work and I told him of
the experience, he explained that I had nothing to fear, for it was
very unusual for me to have the bodily sensation as long as I did. He
said it usually departs that very night of the original baptism.

   My friend had been tarrying, I found out after my experience, for
about twenty years for the baptism (that is, off and on) and had never
received it. I told him to come down to the church next Sunday night,
and I would pray for him; I was sure he would then be baptized and
would speak in tongues. He did go with me and fell under the power that
night. After that, he and I would go to a certain home of one of the
Pentecostal women of that church, and a group of us would tarry for
"Refreshings" or "anointings." At such times, I always spoke in
tongues, often praying, singing, weeping and laughing.

   My Deliverance From Tongues

   But now I must turn your attention to those things which led to my
deliverance from this power. The first that made me question it a
little was the failure to see what I expected to see among the
Pentecostal people--a spiritual life that extended way beyond the
normal. I expected victory, fruitfulness, consecration, spiritual
discernment, the wisdom of God, Bible understanding and depth of prayer
commensurate with Spirit-filled lives; instead I found carnality,
impurity, defeat, ignorance of God's Word and spiritual pride. Not, of
course, in everyone. There were a few who bore a good testimony, but
many lived below the normal Christian life. I know we find them in
every church, but not every church claims this mature experience; not
every church claims to have the "meat of the Word" and the "spiritual
gifts." It made me wonder.

   Again, I entertained a doubt when a close friend, who loved God's
Word, would not have anything to do with this doctrine or experience.
This friend lived in the same boarding house. Each day that I came
home, I would see him at his desk studying his Bible. I also noticed
that whenever anyone would ask him a question about the Christian life,
he would answer with some reference from the Scriptures. I knew he
lived a clean life and witnessed for the Lord faithfully. It bothered
me that he would not tarry. One day I asked him why. He said, "Ed, I
have read both sides of this subject, I have studied the Scriptures on
it, and I cannot see my way clear to seek it. I want everything God has
for me, and I have prayed earnestly about this matter, but I am not
convinced." (This friend, George Miles, later became president of a
Bible institute and is now president of the Washington Bible College
and the Capital Bible Seminary in Lanham, Maryland.)

   Another thing that made me question tongues was what happened in a
Christian youth fellowship. I enjoyed the privilege of sharing the
leadership of this interdenominational group with two other young men,
Gene and George. After I had received the baptism, naturally I became
interested in every other Christian receiving it, too. I knew it was
what they needed but they, as most Christians, were prejudiced against
the Pentecostal young people. I began to pray for them to receive the
power. A number of Pentecostal young people became interested in this
group and prayed with me to introduce the experience to them. The
influence began to affect our prayer meetings especially. Finally,
since we were approaching a split in the group, we had a special
meeting of the deeply interested Christians. I could see that we had
been in the wrong. Surely, the Lord would not give me a spiritual
experience that would lead to strife among believers. Surely, a
Spirit-filled Christian would not foster division among the saints, and
that is what we were doing by forcing this experience upon the group.

   A Bible teaching pastor in the city often brought messages to our
group of young people. All of us respected him highly in the work of
the Lord. He knew the Word well and knew how to impart that knowledge.
The Lord had blessed his ministry among us (over a hundred young
people). Of course, these young people were praying for me to be
delivered from the day I became vitally interested. Now many of them
were pleading with me to visit this minister and let him show me the
Word on this doctrine of tongues. I constantly refused, with the
argument that he did not have the experience I had, so how could he
have the light I had on the Word. My old Sunday School teacher,
however, joined in with them, beseeching me to speak to this Bible
teacher, promising to make the appointment for me. I assured them that
I was perfectly satisfied, could never doubt the reality of such a
marvelous experience, and knew that he could not show me anything
different in the Scripture; but to bring peace, I would go.

   This pastor patiently went through Acts 2 and I Corinthians 12- 14,
showing me that what I had was not scriptural. All during the
interview, I was praying that the Spirit might fall on him and prove to
him that what I had was real. I thought of what a wonderful power for
God he would be if he had what I had along with his knowledge of the
Bible. Everything he said was going in one ear and out the other.
Because he saw that he was not making any headway, he prayed and closed
the session. But I could not forget that this Bible-loving pastor was
convinced that the tongues experience was unscriptural. Now I had
confidence in two people who both loved the Word of God, but yet did
not believe in the baptism of the Holy Ghost with tongues.

   The next shadow that crossed my experience was concerning my
sweetheart. I was quite interested in a young Christian nurse who was
serving in the Sibley Memorial Hospital. She played the piano for this
interdenominational youth fellowship, and I was the song leader. After
my experience at the Pentecostal church, I asked her several times to
go with me to one of the services, but she steadfastly refused. I
prayed earnestly for her to speak in tongues.

   Then it occurred to me to ask her if she would visit one of the
homes with me, where we met for prayer. I picked out the home of a
mutual Pentecostal friend. She agreed to go and also to tarry for the
Holy Ghost in that home. It was the apartment of a widow of a
Pentecostal minister.

   That night I spoke in tongues freely and prayed earnestly in tongues
for her to be baptized. She fell under the power and began to speak in
tongues as she lay on the floor. It being late at night, the telephone
rang, and the people in the lower apartment threatened to report us if
we did not quiet down. They claimed that the chandeliers were shaking.
We praised the Lord all the more because we were being reproached for
His name's sake.

   During that night, I had an unusual experience. I had been kneeling
at the side of my sweetheart praising the Lord in tongues. There was an
over-stuffed chair behind me. I turned slightly toward that chair, and
I was lifted and thrown against the chair by this power, with my feet
dragging along. This stirred me to praise all the louder.

   But when we went down to my car, I noticed that my friend was not
elated such as I was the night I received the baptism. Already her
woman's intuition led her to doubt the authenticity of it. My questions
received cold answers. Immediately, I thought that she had gone through
all this Just for me, because we loved each other and expected to be
married. From that time on, we had strife over this matter. She came
out more boldly against it and I rebuked her severely for tampering
with such holy things. We "broke up" and "made up" a number of times
over tongues. It seemed that we would never be married. Nevertheless,
we were married, being convinced that it was the Lord's will, in spite
of our differences on this subject.

   In less than a month after we were married, Mrs. Stelling was hit by
a taxi in Washington. I brought her home from the emergency operating
room and tried to take care of her in our modest little apartment. I
had to do the housework, cook, and work a full-time job besides.
Through the night I had to be awakened whenever she had to turn from
one side to the other. It was wearing me down. Then one of the
Pentecostal women, a practical nurse, asked if I would like her to come
and spend a day with Mrs. Stelling to help out. I thrilled at the
suggestion and told her to do what she could to rid her of this foolish
idea that tongues was unscriptural.

   The day that the friend came, I prayed hard that the Lord would give
her wisdom to convince my wife, so that we could be of one ac cord
about Pentecostalism. I could hardly wait to punch the clock and go
home to se£ what success had been made. I offered t< drive the nurse
home. On the way I asked he what progress she had made- She replied
"Your wife is very stubborn. I could no change her view at all. Brother
Ed, the Lori has given you a very unusual experience) among us, and you
must not let anyone stan in your way to take this message out." Well
Could I believe my ears? Was this woman suggesting that I leave my wife
for Pentecostalism? This suggestion so shocked me that I forgot my
wife's stubbornness. This seemed like the last straw that broke the
camel's back. I did not know much Scripture, but I knew better than
that. I knew the Lord would not bring into my life such a spiritual
experience that would cause me to divorce my wife. We had prayed long
and knew His will about our marriage. Yet I still could not deny this
tremendous experience that I had. How could it be wrong? Surely the
Lord would not let me be deceived when I sought Him so earnestly about
it. And all of these Christians in Pentecostalism--could they all be
deceived? I just could not turn back--even the thought was
repulsive--it struck fear into my heart.

   One night Mrs. Stelling and I decided to attend the Bible Conference
being held in a local church by a nationally known Bible teacher. At
the close of the service, we moved back toward the book table. While
scanning the books, Mrs. Stelling picked up one titled The Modern
Tongues Movement. She glanced through it, then turned to me and asked,
"If I buy this booklet, would you read it?" I took the book out of her
hands to note the author and publisher. Dr. Louis S. Bauman, Bible
teacher and pastor of a Brethren church, was the author. I quickly
handed it back and said, "No, I would not read that; the author has
never had the experience I have had, so how could he have the light on
the Scripture that I have?" She then asked, "Do you mind if I buy it
for myself?" I replied, "I don't care what you buy for yourself." So
she took it home.

   Some days later, she knew that I was planning to take the afternoon
off in order to study for a message I was to give that weekend. Like a
wise wife, she told me that she was going for a walk, and left that
booklet lying on the table. During the afternoon, I arose to get a
drink of water and, passing the table, noticed the booklet. I stopped
and looked at its cover. "No, I'm not going to read it. What does he
know about it?" And I passed on. Coming back, I stopped again. An urge
came upon me to read and see just where he was off in his teaching.
Curiosity gained the best of me. I decided that I could read it and
replace it before she returned, so that she would never know that I had
read it.

   I began to read. Page after page I read. It gripped me. I was amazed
at how accurate he was on the Pentecostal teachings, practices, and the
experience that I had known as the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It was
interesting, too, as to how he had set up his book. For he described
the Pentecostal experience in part and then on the same page showed
that the Scripture did not-agree. It was like setting up pins in a
bowling alley, then bowling them down--so that, piece by piece, I was
losing my experience. By the time I had read through the book, I had no
experience left.

   About that time my wife walked in, looked at my face, and said,
"Praise the Lord!" "Why?" "You don't have to tell me, Honey; you are
delivered." "Yes, I am, and, what amazed me, I did not have the same
emotional ecstasy coming out that I had going in. I have peace. Why, I
did not realize how stirred up I had been, until the peace of
deliverance flooded my being. (Some time afterward my friend Gene was
also delivered. Praise the Lord!)

   These are a few of the points that Dr. Bauman brought out. First,
the gift of tongues was the least of the gifts (I Corinthians 12:28).
The Pentecostal made it the -greatest because all others depended upon
it. Second, tongues were a sign to the un-believer (I Corinthians
14:22). They made it a sign to the believer; for by it you are filled
with the Spirit. Third, the true gift of tongues was spoken only when
there was an interpreter present in the assembly (I Corinthians
14:27-28). Many times I had heard speaking in tongues in the public
service without any interpretation, and never had I heard anyone ask if
an interpreter was present. Fourth, the true gift was under the
speaker's control (I Corinthians 14:32). Often I had heard, "Let go and
let God" and "When the power came upon me, I was in a trance; I
couldn't have stopped speaking if I wanted to." Fifth, no woman was to
speak in tongues in a public service (I Corinthians 14:34). And women
were the chief speakers.

   When I was delivered, I could come to only one conclusion. I knew
this power that came upon me was supernatural; it was not human, the
energy of the flesh, a worked-up emotion; for I could not do in the
natural what I did under the power. There were only two supernatural
powers. Since the Word of God proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that it
was not the Holy Spirit, it could only be a deception of Satan, a
counterfeit of the true baptism, the true fullness of the Holy Spirit.
When I told this to my Pentecostal friends, with horror on their faces,
they declared that I had committed the unpardonable sin and would pay
for my folly. That was over 40 years ago, and surely by this time, my
witness and ministry have proven the contrary. In fact, what I had
expected to find through the tongues experience, I have found since I
was delivered. I have made this statement publicly many times, and
herein inscribe it again, that the experience taught by tongues people,
that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is an experience apart from
salvation and evidenced only by the individual's speaking in tongues,
is of the Devil. Also, the teaching that only those who have spoken in
tongues have been filled with the Spirit, is of the Devil. Please do
not quote me as having said, as I have so often been accused of saying,
that the tongues people are of the Devil. I have never said that and
never will, for I myself was saved while under the power of the Wicked
One. For the most part, I believe Pentecostal people are saved and
believe in the salvation of sinners by grace alone through the blood of
Jesus Christ. But they have added to their teaching this spurious
deceptive experience, instigated by Satan himself.

   Scripture for Satanic Domination

   Dr. Bauman significantly shows in his little£ book that Satan was
the first one in the Bible to speak in tongues. He energized the
serpent to speak in a human tongue, so that Eve could understand.
Furthermore, the tongue was used to deceive the woman (Genesis 3:1 13).

   The question arises in the minds of many "Can Satan thus dominate or
control believer?" We shall suggest to you several Scriptures that
testify to this truth.

   In Acts 5, we have the instance of Ananias and Sapphira, who were
believers that lied to the Holy Spirit concerning their consecration.
Said Peter, "Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the
Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?"

   In I Corinthians 5, Paul writes concerning the discipline of a
believer who had fallen into the sin of fornication while a member of
the church at Corinth. He said, "For I verily as absent in body, but
present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present,
concerning him that hath so done this deed, in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the
power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for
the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day
of the Lord Jesus."

   Likewise, of Hymenaeus and Alexander, who had made shipwreck of
their faith, Paul wrote, "I have delivered unto Satan, that they may
learn not to blaspheme" (I Timothy 1:20).

   But Il Timothy 2:24-26, I believe, especially applies to the
Christian who has been led into this deceptive experience of tongues:
"And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all
men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose
themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of
the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his w-iI.'5--l
believe that I was one who was opposing myself while insisting on the
genuineness of the tongues experience. I was in a snare of Satan
unknowingly. But when the Lord gave me the grace of repentance, to
acknowledge the truth, I was able to recover myself from Satan's snare.
Praise the Lord!

   I would like to thank Pastor Ed Stelling for his devotion and love
to Jesus Christ over all these many years. I first met Ed Stelling back
in January of 1965 four days after I can to know Jesus Christ as my
personal savior. You see he was the Pastor of Charleston Harbor Bible
Church, in Charleston, SC at the time.

   I consider myself very fortunate to have sat under his ministry for
almost four years. He was/is one of the greatest expository teachers of
the Word of God that I have even had the pleasure to be ministered by.