Speaking with us about his book, The Language of Heaven, pastor-scholar Sam Storms discusses the gift of tongues and the blessing it is to individuals and the local church.

Pneuma Review: At this point in church history speaking in tongues is still a controversial subject. What would you say to someone who refers to speaking in tongues as gibberish?

Sam Storms: If a person believes that all tongues speech both in Scripture and today is a known human language spoken somewhere in the world but previously not known by the speaker, then yes, it will come across to them as “gibberish.” It may also sound that way simply because the hearer is not familiar with the linguistic form of the tongues speech. Quite honestly, Mandarin and Swahili both sound like gibberish to me. If I had not been told they were legitimate human languages, I would probably conclude that they were non-sense utterances.

I suspect that some consider tongues speech to be “gibberish” because they fail to recognize that, although unintelligible apart from interpretation, all legitimate tongues speech today carries and expresses genuine, cognitive information. Paul makes this clear in 1 Cor. 14:2, 16, and elsewhere. It may not sound as such, but that doesn’t mean it is lacking sense or fails to communicate meaningful content in some form or other. It may also be that they think it to be “gibberish” because of a long-standing prejudice against contemporary expressions of tongues. Since most evangelicals are persuaded that in order to be of any benefit to anyone all utterances must be intelligible, they will understandably form negative opinions of “speech” patterns that they cannot decipher.

Pneuma Review: According to the Bible, are tongues always known languages? 

Sam Storms: No. They certainly were known languages, spoken somewhere in the world, in Acts 2. But there is no reason to conclude that all other instances of tongues speech must adhere to the pattern described in Acts 2. In neither of the other two occurrences in Acts of tongues speech, Acts 10 and 19, were people of different linguistic backgrounds present to hear them. In other words, if all tongues are known human languages designed by God to evangelize people of a different linguistic experience (and this is what many, if not most, evangelicals believe), why were there only believers present in Acts 10 and 19 when people spoke in tongues?

Sam Storms has served the Lord in a number of different capacities. He is a pastor and has served as an associate professor of theology at a major Christian college. These experiences show that he has served the church in both the practical “grass roots” expression of Christianity in the local church and in the academic setting, where he has helped train people for Christian service. In addition, he has authored a number of books. Some of his previous works have dealt with the subject of spiritual gifts. For example, he wrote The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts (Bethany House, 2013), Convergence: Spiritual Journeys of a Charismatic Calvinist (Enjoying God Ministries, 2005), and Practicing the Power: Welcoming the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in Your Life (Zondervan, 2017) [Editor’s note: See Review of Practicing the Power]. But this current volume is focused on the New Testament gift of speaking in tongues. As the author deals with this controversial subject, he brings pastoral sensitivity and theological precision to the task. He dedicated this book to Jackie Pullinger, an English missionary, who has spent over fifty years in Hong Kong ministering to gang members, drug addicts, and prostitutes. The dedication of this volume to her is appropriate because Pullinger saw a dramatic change in her ministry when she began to pray in tongues on a daily basis. Before we look at the contents of the book I would like to mention that Sam Storms does speak in tongues.

The Language of Heaven consists of an introduction and fourteen chapters. In these chapters Storms answers thirty questions that people often have about speaking in tongues. Some of the questions that he addresses are: “Does the gift of tongues always and invariably follow Spirit baptism as its initial physical evidence?”, “Are tongues always human languages previously unlearned by the speaker? If not, what kind of language is speaking in tongues?”, “Is tongues-speech primarily directed to men or to God?”, “Can a person pray for another person in uninterpreted tongues?”, and “If I don’t have the gift of tongues but want it, what should I do?”

In Practicing the Power Sam Storms addresses issues related to the exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the church. The subject of spiritual gifts is not a new topic for him; he has written about them in a couple of his earlier books: The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts and Convergence: Spiritual Journeys of a Charismatic Calvinist. He also addressed the subject when he contributed to one of the books in the Counterpoints series, Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? Storms, who has experience as both a pastor and a professor, brings both a theological mind and a pastoral heart to this text.

The book contains a forward, an introduction, twelve chapters, a conclusion, and two appendixes. In the course of its pages Storms covers a number of topics. While there is certainly some theology in the book the main emphasis in the text is practical. The author has walked the road leading his own church toward the exercise of spiritual gifts; he knows what some of the major issues are.

In the introduction, Storms goes on record saying that he desires to see a local church in the twenty-first century that is committed to the authority of the Bible and the operation of all of the gifts of the Spirit (page 13). In other words, he desires to see a “Word and Spirit” church. A few pages later in chapter one, he states that pursuing spiritual gifts is both pleasing to God and biblical (page 24).

Two ways in which believers who desire spiritual gifts may pursue them are through prayer and fasting. The author devotes a chapter to each of these spiritual disciplines. Both of these disciplines indicate spiritual desire. There is one chapter given to the subject of healing, three to the gift of prophecy, and one to deliverance. All of these chapters contain very clear, practical, and pastoral counsel about how to function in and facilitate/administrate the power of the Spirit. The last three chapters deal with quenching the Sprit, manipulation and ministry, and the importance of worshipping in the Spirit.

I enjoyed Storms honesty about the challenges one may face in seeking to obey the biblical directive to pursue spiritual gifts. In chapter one he warns the reader that there is a cost involved in pursuing spiritual gifts and that their pursuit requires commitment and sacrifice. This is especially true for leaders. The reason for this is that things do not always go well when a church attempts to step out and exercise spiritual gifts. As people venture into new territory problems sometimes arise and these need to be dealt with in a constructive manner. The sometimes “messy” aspects of the gifts can generate negative responses from some in the church. Though the book is given to the pursuit of spiritual gifts Storms acknowledges that we cannot (and should not) force the Spirit. He says “The Holy Spirit wants to be pursued but refuses to be pushed” (page 35). Also, in the chapter on prayer he admits that when they first started to pursue the power and presence of the Spirit, they did not see a radical increase of the supernatural at first; things began to change but slowly (page 46).

One thing I would have liked to have seen in this book is material about some of the other gifts of the Spirit that Paul lists in 1 Corinthians 12.

Practicing the Power is very easy to read. I found it to be very insightful, informative, and pastoral. I believe that it is a good resource to help move local churches into a fuller experience and expression of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Leaders in particular may benefit from this book. It is a great resource; I recommend it.

Reviewed by John Lathrop

Publisher’s page: http://www.zondervan.com/practicing-the-power

Sam Storms, Convergence: Spiritual Journeys Of A Charismatic Calvinist (Kansas City: Enjoying God Ministries, 2005), 244 pages, ISBN 9780977173907.

I realize that one of the words in the title of this book may prove troublesome to some; I am referring to the word “Calvinist.” This word may be problematic in that many, if not most, Pentecostals and Charismatics tend to be more Arminian than Calvinistic in their theology. Nonetheless, if you are Arminian in theology do not let the word “Calvinist” stop you from reading this book.

Sam Storms has an interesting spiritual history. He, like Jack Deere, Rock Bottomly and Robert Heidler, was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary (all of these men now endorse, and have written about the present day charismatic gifting of the Spirit). Storms was on the staff of Mike Bickle’s church during the days of the controversial “Kansas City Prophets.” After leaving Bickle’s church he went on to teach theology at Wheaton College, so Storms is a man who is well acquainted with both the Spirit and the Word.

Convergence is divided into three sections. The first section is called “My Spiritual Journey.” In this section Storms shares some of the supernatural experiences that he and his family have had. These experiences include examples of divine guidance and exposure to the workings of the Holy Spirit though dreams, prophecy and deliverance.

Section two is titled “The Wedding of Word and Spirit.” Storm’s desire is that the church would come together and embrace both Word and Spirit. In this section he explores some of the differences that exist between cessationists and charismatics (whom he calls continuationists).

Sam Storms in 2013.

The final section, section three, is called “He is There and He’s Still Not Silent.” In this section Storms considers the subject of God speaking today. He affirms that God speaks to us today through the Bible, but he also believes that God speaks today, by the Spirit, just as He did in Bible days. Also in this section Storms draws upon the writing of Jonathan Edwards to support the idea that we ought to have an experiential faith, one that affects us at an emotional level.

Convergence does not deal with the subject of Calvinism in any significant way; it is really a book about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Storms believes in the contemporary exercise of the gifts of the Spirit. The book makes a case for the church to embrace both the Word of God and the supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit. This book can not be lightly dismissed by those who do not believe in the contemporary exercise of the gifts of the Spirit. The author is a very educated man who has a high view of Scripture.