Quote Originally Posted by buddha@TeamFX
I was also raised Penecostal...well Holiness...and am very proud I was!!..Speaking in tongues is a gift from god and not every one has a close enough walk with him to have it...some may think they do but they don't...it takes alot of prayer and obedience to receive it...
But why so much emphasis on receiving it? The Pentecostal church puts too much emphasis on having this gift, when clearly Paul says there are so many more useful gifts than that one. Being raised Pentecostal and now looking back, I've found what I've just stated to be all too true in every Pentecostal church I've been to.

There isn't a spiritual "benchmark" to hit before you receive a gift. If someone can speak in tongues, it doesn't prove him or her no more closer to God than another. You might want to reconsider your feelings on that.