well...I do know this. No man knows the day nor hour of the Lord's coming. Getting on with the job-hmmm I find that I get on with the Lord's desire of sharing the gospel when I know what the Lord's heart in a given situation and season of MY LIFE and that means being in tune with where the Lord desires me to give (which means using and imparting gifts that He has given me) AND to receive inside of the body. For example: one season I may need to have MORE focus on learning and one season I may need to have MORE focus on teaching or ect. ect. you understand I'm sure. What should be or has been the time and place that the entire picture of the Lord which is to take place or already has causes me personally to focus to much on my desire to control something (this for me personally is prideful). The Lord doesn't need me to control anything on a big picture...He needs me to control my heart by submitting to Him and presenting myself as a living sacrifice to Him daily. By doing this He presence works through me and others do what He places on their hearts...this enables the Body of Christ to minister together in one mind and one accord...the Big picture then is just taken care of...I need to continually focus on Jesus and whether my heart is far or near to Him...(James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners; and purify your hearts you double minded.) The Lord will cleanse us...Amen. I just want to thank you for putting the questions out there because it is very bold of you. Many Christians will not openly question things...whether we are in agreement doesn't matter right this second we have One Lord...Jesus...who will make known to us His heart as we continually seek Him (Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33). Now I just want to give Him praise that He will do the work! Amen!?!?! Have a great evening :)

Thanks for your comments. I will give this matter further thought. Another contact of mine said that perhaps we have actually seen a restoration of the gift of tongues, because it has been missing from much of church history.

Regarding the 'end times' stuff...radical missionary movements usually believe they are ushering in the end by preaching the gospel. Even Saint Patrick believed that. Perhaps it can be a healthy thing to believe Jesus could return soon - it may give us great impetus to get on with the job.

However, maybe we need to ask other questions - such as, could it be that events in the book of Revelation have already happened in history? And if they have, can the prophecies still happen on other levels, or even apply to other generations?

I am just getting tired of proclamations that certain privileged groups have special knowledge of the end, and the 'emerging generation' is going to change the world as we know it, etc etc etc. Any of us could make up our own end-time conspiracy story and make it sound plausible.

Hi...I don't know if this will help you much, but I pray it will. John Bevere has a book called Drawing Near which speaks very well on tongues and the use of...I don't believe that will help you directly on the gift of tongues in church history, but I do believe that with some of the understanding with the use of the gift you will be able to find instances which are not directly mentioned in church history, but you can tell when tongues was prevalent there.

Now you are probably asking why would that be important? Well any gift from the Lord is just that, a gift to encourage, break down walls, build up love...you know and get the idea..."edify the Body of Christ." So the real question then becomes why focus on one gift? I'll take for a moment the answer of "because this is the only way that we can comprehend it, but then again is it really? No...The Word says "lean not on your own understanding, but acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6) Now if I believe this part of my Lord's Word then I do it as James said "do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says."

The Do Factor: There might be a reason in which certain gifts are harder to find in church history. My thoughts on this would be that the gift is the means in which to understand more thoroughly the LOVE of Jesus. When we try to lean on our understanding in how the Lord desires a gift to be used I believe we miss the most basic point-letting our "self" go enough to let the Love of Christ build up within us and overflow...from out of the overflow a gift (whatever it's manifest presence is called) comes and thus someone is built up because it is of the Lord and not us and therefore by not leaning on our understanding the Lord is making our paths straight.

Now the Do Factor incorporated with what you mentioned about the Prophetic ___ (let's call them blerps)...The end time stuff and the armies rising up whether it be this generation or that or one that has yet come...these blerps commonly come from the overflow...mixed with the lack of our understanding of what the Lord is doing which causes us to fall back on the understanding the Lord has shown (revelation) to us through the Word. From reading the Word you know that the Lord desires there to be a people to proclaim His name...That's MOST commonly referred to in recent church history as being the "great commission" but the essence is that the Lord is pleased when we proclaim His name...in love...right? Well...let the prophetic go and come and take this to heart: the Lord is doing something among His people on the earth to make known His knowledge and His Glory for this is the Lords Heart...Sooo when can let the manifestation of His Glory and His presence work through us each personally and "consider how you may spur others on toward love and good deeds" (Hew. 10:24).

This is the fight we have..."By your patience possess your souls." (Luke 21:19) Read that in context but the times are the end times...Luke 21 also speaks of armies and wars and what not, but the coolest verse to me was 19..."By your patience possess your souls." It is a command from the Lord...It came right after a promise (verse 18: "Not a hair of your head shall be lost.") This is AMAZING because by the patience that the Lord gives me I possess my soul only to give it to the only one that PROMISES IT SHALL NOT BE LOST!!!...Amen Lord Jesus. The Body of Christ will be built up...for my Lord Jesus said through Paul "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Have a blessed day Mr. Price.