Baptism - Here we go again

[Waggles]

@Waggles -- water baptism is not part of salvation. What Jesus Christ did on the cross was sufficient for our salvation. Baptism is important, yes, but not essential For salvation. It IS something that a pastor or elder does for the already born again believer.

The thief on the cross -- neither spoke in tongues or had a chance to be baptized. Yes, Jesus Christ said that He would be with him in Paradise. Paradise is not heaven -- it Is the other part of Abrahams' bosom that Jesus Christ went to after He gave His life for us -- He went to the section of hell / Hades in our place and then took those waiting in Paradise/ the other section that was separated by an abyss back up with Him when He rose from the dead. So that thief was the last person to die before Christ's death and was taken back up with the rest of the born again believers who'd been waiting for the cross to take place.

Wrong wrong wrong - very wrong

 

[Sue D.]

@ Waggles -- of Course I'm wrong -- very , very, very, very wrong. So - what would You say.

 

[Reba1]

The thief on the cross was under the old covenant, if you read the OP you would know this.
People say baptism isn't required, and yet the Bible says it is. Who is right? You or the Bible?

Mark 16:16; He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

This verse does not say " but he who is not baptized will be condemned "

1Pet 3:21; Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

This verse says clearly it is not the dunking or washing of the flesh Matt Henery says it much better then me..
.I. Declares what he means by saving baptism; not the outward ceremony of washing with water, which, in itself, does no more than put away the filth of the flesh, but it is that baptism wherein there is a faithful answer or restipulation of a resolved good conscience, engaging to believe in, and be entirely devoted to, God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, renouncing at the same time the flesh, the world, and the devil. The baptismal covenant, made and kept, will certainly save us. Washing is the visible sign; this is the thing signified.

Luke 7:30; But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.

Rejecting baptism is rejecting the will of God.

Luk 7:28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
Luk 7:29 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
Luk 7:30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

These verses in are Luke about John the Baptist's Baptism

 

[Brother-Paul]

Back at the time of Jesus Christ -- outdoor rivers / lakes, etc were all they had. It was a different part of the world. Different climate, etc. So -- indoor baptistries came to be. The water doesn't have to be Flowing. It simply needs to be enough to cover the person completely when they are laid down. And are brought back Up.

@ Waggles -- you're suggesting that your way is The right way? That way we'll all be on the same page?

It is nice to discuss these things Sue, much better than the Gospel according to what some believe, righty or wrongly.

A point I would raise regarding your comments is, the church was RCC up until after the reformation, some sprinkled, some poured, it was left to the minister to decide. As denominations started to emerge, many flowed the RCC method of baptism, called a Christening.

The Baptists and Free churches came later, as did the baptistry pools, manufacturing and technogy linked with plastics allowed this to happen. So in real terms it makes baptistry pools relatively new when considering 2000 years of history.

 

[Brother-Paul]

There is no need to be baptized in ice cold waters - there are baptism baths and tubs indoors - even warm water.
I have seen wheelchair baptisms and in many places the crippled are lifted into the waters of baptism.
At Pentecostal rallies where the lame and the crippled go and get baptized I have seen them healed in the waters of baptism and come out whole.

This shows your lack of understanding my friend, a one size fits all attitude, that said, the way you thing is not uncommon.

People see someone in a wheelchair and they consider them a crippled, in must cases they consider they must be paralysed in some way. A paralysed person has no feeling in parts of their body, so to lift a wheel chair, with a wheelchair hoist can be done. But not all people in wheelchairs have paralysis.

The example given regarding the wheel chair is myself, I have had to use a power wheelchair for almost 20 years, in fact I have two, one in the car the newest one and one in a ketter to get round our back garden. I can hobble a little but am restricted, I have pain in hips, back and coccyx, the first two 24/7, the latter if the first two are extreme, it is a balancing act for sure, I push myself and struggle, I try not to complain, I always say, no matter what I have to go through I will never suffer as much as my Lord did for me (and us all).

I used to live near a city with historical background, old buildings, a castle etc, the council installed cobbled in the street paving to be in keeping with the city, I had to stop going there, I even struggle on rumble strips (pavings with bobbles to help the blind know they are at a crossing or similar). I cannot take the vibrations and have extra cushions on every seat I sit on. When I hear people complaining over trivial things, I just step back and think and pray. As for myself I learnt many years ago, no matter what we suffer in this life, there will always be someone suffering more.

I do not have a bath @Waggles, that doesn't mean I smell. not everything is black and white my friend. I have a walk in shower, in my case an hobble in shower, I have double vision so have to shower with one eye shut, I am not winking, not everything is black and white.

 

[Waggles]

People see someone in a wheelchair and they consider them a crippled, in must cases they consider they must be paralysed in some way. A paralysed person has no feeling in parts of their body, so to lift a wheel chair, with a wheelchair hoist can be done. But not all people in wheelchairs have paralysis.

If I am a wheelchair user, with back and spine issues, pain 24/7, and use an electric bed to get myself out of bed, what am I to do?

Your replies are inconsistent. It is you that describes yourself as being "crippled" by impairments to your health and body.
All I have posted is that people with infirmities - such as blindness, lameness, polio, tuberculosis, deafness - have come up out of the waters of baptism healed from such.
I have seen a person who did not want to come out of their small wheelchair and so he and the chair were lifted up and dunked together in the water. His choice and circumstances has nothing
to do with you. I have seen people made lame through polio assisted to get into the baptism pool and confess their faith and then come up out of the water made whole.
Obviously God is not fussed over the issue of a river versus a pool or large tub.

I do not have a bath @Waggles, that doesn't mean I smell. not everything is black and white my friend. I have a walk in shower, in my case an hobble in shower, I have double vision so have to shower with one eye shut, I am not winking, not everything is black and white.

This makes no sense at all and and is irrelevant to the topic of baptism.
In a nutshell you claimed all forms of water dousing is acceptable and equal.
I have merely responded that scripture does not uphold this - baptism by full immersion is what is taught in the NT.

 

[Brother-Paul]

Your replies are inconsistent. It is you that describes yourself as being "crippled" by impairments to your health and body.
All I have posted is that people with infirmities - such as blindness, lameness, polio, tuberculosis, deafness - have come up out of the waters of baptism healed from such.
I have seen a person who did not want to come out of their small wheelchair and so he and the chair were lifted up and dunked together in the water. His choice and circumstances has nothing
to do with you. I have seen people made lame through polio assisted to get into the baptism pool and confess their faith and then come up out of the water made whole.
Obviously God is not fussed over the issue of a river versus a pool or large tub.

Not so, the first was an example of a person with those issues, as the conversation I continued that the example was myself.

You are again not understanding what was posted, I am sure you have seen people lifted in a wheelchair and dunked, the point is a person in a wheel chair doesn't have the same issues as another person in a wheelchair, many consider people in wheelchairs to be paralysed in some way, no feeling in there lower body. My situation is, as I felt I had to explain, is the total opposite, I hurt 24/7 and cannot cope with bumps and jolts, I literally feel every one.

 

[Brother-Paul]

I do not have a bath @Waggles, that doesn't mean I smell. not everything is black and white my friend. I have a walk in shower, in my case an hobble in shower, I have double vision so have to shower with one eye shut, I am not winking, not everything is black and white.

This makes no sense at all and and is irrelevant to the topic of baptism.

Not really, I cannot be lifted in to a tub, I cannot get to a river side and if I did I would struggle getting out of my powerchair let alone getting into the water. With that in mind it seems clear to me to explain I also do not have a bath to be baptised in, if I had a bath, I couldn't get in it and if I did I couldn't get out again. When I fall I cannot get up the paramedics have to come and carefully lift me, two are required to do it. It is not because of weight I am only about 15 and a half stone, it is my disability/injury.

As we have gone this far let me explain, I have baptised myself. Wait for it, you can't baptise yourself, nothing is impossible in God's sight. I cannot be submerged so I prayed, as we both say, God knows the heart. I hobbled into the shower, no glasses and one eye shut due to double vision, I prayed, I went 'under' the water of the shower, let it totally cover me, prayed each stage under the water and rising out of it. I am sure you or someone will say this is not sufficient. God knows the situation and the heart.

In a nutshell you claimed all forms of water dousing is acceptable and equal.
I have merely responded that scripture does not uphold this - baptism by full immersion is what is taught in the NT.

Again you prove you read snippets, I never said all forms of water baptism was acceptable, I raised the point of church history regarding baptism, I said I remain neutral, I shared how all forms of baptism was acceptable from 300 AD to just after the reformation, note the RCC period, which I also stated. Their view was any form of baptism would do as long as people were baptised and most times it was left to the minister to choose, trickle or pour being most common.

I repeat this in case you missed what was said previously, the comments were about church history and baptism methods, never saying which I agreed with.

One thing I would add at this point if I may, again not saying which method of baptism is right and wrong, many who choose to be baptised in pools or similar are usually baptised with other worshippers there as witnesses, very few not believers and so often behind closed doors. Whereas the trickle or pour people often do have families and friends who are not saved.

I have said this before, forums have become a place of opinions, facebook spin offs. If you choose to raise a subject for discussion, people instead shoot there opinions. What ever happened to the days people could sit together and talk about things, yes even scripture.

 

[Reba1]

Your replies are inconsistent. It is you that describes yourself as being "crippled" by impairments to your health and body.
All I have posted is that people with infirmities - such as blindness, lameness, polio, tuberculosis, deafness - have come up out of the waters of baptism healed from such.
I have seen a person who did not want to come out of their small wheelchair and so he and the chair were lifted up and dunked together in the water. His choice and circumstances has nothing
to do with you. I have seen people made lame through polio assisted to get into the baptism pool and confess their faith and then come up out of the water made whole.
Obviously God is not fussed over the issue of a river versus a pool or large tub.

This makes no sense at all and and is irrelevant to the topic of baptism.
In a nutshell you claimed all forms of water dousing is acceptable and equal.
I have merely responded that scripture does not uphold this - baptism by full immersion is what is taught in the NT.

So spoken like so many Pentecostals i have know all my life... My 2 grandmothers both Christian both Pentecostal ( would pray in tongues) Isabell was not nice she just wasnt she made a point of putting down folks who "did not have the Holy Ghost". Mary was kind very strong in the Lord a pleasure to b around accepted the fact that Christians grow and mature. Seems Isabelle disregarded :

1Co 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
1Co 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
1Co 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
1Co 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Co 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
1Co 13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
1Co 13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
1Co 13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1Co 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
1Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Grandma Isabelle was all about herself speaking in tongues. Mary was about the Love of the Lord.


Act 5:15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.
Act 5:16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

You talk , post here ,big deal , how about praying in tongues until you can post here , proof your shadow heals those in the streets.

 

[Sue D.]

It is nice to discuss these things Sue, much better than the Gospel according to what some believe, righty or wrongly.

A point I would raise regarding your comments is, the church was RCC up until after the reformation, some sprinkled, some poured, it was left to the minister to decide. As denominations started to emerge, many flowed the RCC method of baptism, called a Christening.

The Baptists and Free churches came later, as did the baptistry pools, manufacturing and technogy linked with plastics allowed this to happen. So in real terms it makes baptistry pools relatively new when considering 2000 years of history.

The Protestant Reformation came to be Because some of the people were finally able to read Scripture for themselves and found some of the errors Of the RCC. It Had been in Latin and the people were mainly peasants who couldn't read. They were subject to whatever they were told. Then some of the men were learning to read and saw the errors within the RCC and tried to change it from within, That didn't work, so they Protested and began to Reform outside of the RCC. Thus, the Methodist , Lutheran and Presbyterian churches and much later the Baptist churches emerged.

As more and more people get into the Bible / God's Word / they find that baptism by immersion is the only baptism done in the New Testament.

It's more the reason For being baptized. When a person accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes immediately to indwell them. They become spiritually alive by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the desire To follow Christ. A baptism Should take place around other people. An outward symbol of what we already believe. Kind of like a wedding. It's identifying within the family / community the desire for the man and woman to come together and become a family unit. A husband / wife 'unit' in the community. And baptism would be identifying a person as a new believer / member in the body of Christ

 

[Brother-Paul]

It started with Martin Luther, who initially wrote a list of RCC errors for discussion with the scholars, but it became more than that and ended up a fall out with the Pope, these notes of errors became known as the 95 theses. The rest is history.

 

[Sue D.]

" what we do must be acceptable God..." and where do you find in scripture directions as to where and how people are to be immersed in water.
There is no scriptural doctrine on the necessity of rivers versus other bodies of water.
You are splitting hairs and creating a strawman's argument over what is not important. Baptism in a river at the time of Jesus was a matter of convenience.
What is acceptable to God is that people get baptized in water by full immersion.
And many people when baptized receive their first healings and miracles in the waters of baptism - so it would seem to me and to them that God has found what they do acceptable to Him.

John 9:1 And passing by, he saw a man blind from his birth.
9:6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and with the clay anointed his eyes,
9:7 and said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Silōam (which is interpreted, Sent). He went away therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

Your comment "and many people , when baptized, receive their first healings and miracles in the waters of baptism. --- so it would seem to me and to them that God has found what they do acceptable to Him"
My impression of Pentecostalism is that of emotionalism. A person's emotional state of mind can affect their bodies.

I've been in a Pentecostal church a few times -- the pastor was very good at creating emotional responses from the congregation. A person can get on an adrenaline 'high' and be able to do lots of things on a short-term basis and then be 'down' again.

 

[B-A-C]

I've been in a Pentecostal church a few times -- the pastor was very good at creating emotional responses from the congregation. A person can get on an adrenaline 'high' and be able to do lots of things on a short-term basis and then be 'down' again.

What's wrong with emotion? God got angry, God was sorry, God had Fury, God rejoices. Have you ever read Psalms, David danced before the Lord. People though the disciples were drunk on the day of Pentecost, if we are created in God's image, we have emotions.
Loving God, crying to God, and even being angry at God in some cases, are just natural responses. There is nothing wrong with this.

 

[B-A-C]

This verse does not say " but he who is not baptized will be condemned "

But it does say, "He who is baptized will be saved". It doesn't say he who isn't baptized will be saved either.

Matt Henery says it much better then me..

Matt Henry is not the Bible. I don't see where he wrote any of it.

 

[Brother-Paul]

As more and more people get into the Bible / God's Word / they find that baptism by immersion is the only baptism done in the New Testament.

It has been a subject of debate for almost 2000 years Sue, so let us consider all options, no doubt discussions will continue to Christ's Return in Glory.

We are all aware of Romans 6:4
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

We are also aware of Acts 8:39
Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.

This verse has been debated for years, when they came up out of the water doesn't say immersion, it says literally they came up out of the water, they could have been stood in the water, we don't know.

Doesn’t the word baptize mean “to dip or immerse,” and isn’t it true that the word never has any other meaning (as demonstrated by Alexander Carson in his classic defence of the Baptist view, Baptism: Its Mode and Subjects)?

The word baptize does not mean “immerse”! Those who maintain that the Greek verb bapto means “to dip or immerse” are generally correct. (For example, the term is used in the Old Testament, as it is in classical Greek, for dipping hyssop or a finger in the blood used for sacrifice [See Ex. 12:22; Lev. 4:6, 17; 9:9] or dipping one’s feet in the River Jordan [Josh. 3:15].

Our word baptize translates the Greek word baptizo, not bapto. While bapto may mean “to dip or immerse,” baptizo does not refer to a mode, but to a process and an effect. While baptism may include dipping or immersing, baptizo does not, in itself, mean “to immerse.”

Most people don't know that there were baptisms in the Old Testament, they were for purification and identification. Hebrews 9:10 speaks of “various baptisms” which is often translated as “various washings” that are noted in the Old Testament. Most of the baptisms in the OT were done by sprinkling of blood, as a means of cleansing, Hebrews 9 describes many of these which refer back to the time of Moses.

Now we may say but the OT was using blood to purify, John baptised with water, Jesus was also baptised with water, you would be right to say so. But, the NT practices followed Jewish tradition at the time and the procedure for purification did include sprinkling.

NT baptisms, includes the process of applying water to someone and identifies the person baptised with the cleansing properties of the water. The emphasis is not on dipping or immersing or on sprinkling or pouring, but on the process of identifying the one baptized with a cleansing provided by God himself.

This is why the Westminster Confession of Faith (28.3) states that “dipping of the person into the water is not necessary; but baptism is rightly administered by pouring, or sprinkling water upon the person.” It has been argued (considering all options) that there is no clear example of a person being baptised by immersion in the New Testament, but there is a biblical pattern for a minister baptizing by dipping his hand (or a utensil) in water and sprinkling (or pouring) that water on the one to be baptized. (As done in an OT baptism and purification)

When one receives New Testament baptism, that person is 'identified' with Christ in his life, death, resurrection, and reign. That is why the New Testament often refers to Christians as being “in Christ.” The one baptised is, by virtue of God’s covenant, identified with Christ, so that the person comes under the controlling influence of the only Redeemer of God’s elect.

What about such passages as Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, and Acts 8:38–39. “Doesn’t that prove immersion?” you may say.

It should be noted, the Greek prepositions translated “into” and “out of” may also mean “to,” “toward,” or “unto,” and “from” or “away from.” In Acts 8, the Greek preposition eis is used eleven times, but only once v38 is it commonly translated “into.” In verses 3, 5, 16, 25, 26, 27, and 40, it is best translated as “to.”

It is also interesting when looking deeper at Strongs and Vines Dictionaries

Look again at Philip and the Eunoch

Acts 8:38-39
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down [G2597] both into [G1519] the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized [G907] him.
39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

Greek Strong's Number: 2597
Greek Word: καταβαίνω
Transliteration: katabainō
Phonetic Pronunciation: kat-ab-ah'ee-no

Translated - come down, come, came, decent - no mention of immersion

Greek Strong's Number: 1519
Greek Word: εἰς
Transliteration: eis
Phonetic Pronunciation: ice

Translated - into, to, for, on - into is mentioned but we can go into water and not be dunked

Greek Strong's Number: 907
Greek Word: βαπτίζω
Transliteration: baptizō
Phonetic Pronunciation: bap-tid'-zo

Translated - baptised, wash

NOTE: G907 baptizō is not bapto but comes from bapto used with ceremonial washing.

<G911> (bapto); to make whelmed (i.e. fully wet); used only (in the N.T.) of ceremonial ablution,

Strong, J. (2020). Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary.


From the above we read, baptism, baptizō, can be by coming to water, although the translations can include into this same word means to, for or on water.

We go down to the water, we come up from the water, can be considered in many ways, but the word submersed is not in scripture.

Col 2:12
having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Having been buried not drowned, (water is but a symbol). We die to sin and are raised up with Jesus through faith.

How does it happen by water, by baptism, by a ceremonial washing, that is how the translated words read.

The ceremonial washing, or ceremonial baptism are the same as the OT, except with Jesus the teaching is with water, not blood. Why because Jesus' blood was shed for all our sins, once for all. Water is a ceremonial cleansing called baptism, from the word, baptizō, (Not bapto) meaning to baptise, to wash clean, it is a purification, a cleansing, ceremony.

It is good to discuss these things together.

 

[Reba1]

It seems everyone in the region was being baptized, and confessing their sins. Baptism isn't really a sign that you are saved nearly as much as you have repented.
If you haven't repented, you aren't ready to be baptized.

Matt Henry is not the Bible. I don't see where he wrote any of it.

Nor are your words the Bible . It is a shame that a man with as much Biblical knowledge as your self would try and pass off John's Baptism as the same as being Baptized in the Name of the Father, Son and holy Ghost

 

[Reba1]

This verse has been debated for years, when they came up out of the water doesn't say immersion, it says literally they came up out of the water, they could have been stood in the water, we don't know.

exactly

 

[Waggles]

My 2 grandmothers both Christian both Pentecostal ( would pray in tongues) Isabell was not nice she just wasn't she made a point of putting down folks who "did not have the Holy Ghost". Mary was kind very strong in the Lord a pleasure to b around accepted the fact that Christians grow and mature. Seems Isabelle disregarded :

Do not apply the failings of your family onto everybody else. Your grandmothers and you are responsible for your own walk with the Lord.
And just because some individuals are not the best examples of a church faith and doctrine is no excuse to paintbrush millions of others with the same alleged faults.
Pentecostal churches have millions of members worldwide where Spirit-filled saints baptized in water and the Spirit do walk in love and bear fruit of the Spirit.
In Pentecostal churches converts are baptised in water by full immersion and baptized in the Holy Spirit with the Bible sign of praying in tongues.
That is how we do it in accordance with scripture.
As to miracles and healings when some people are baptised in water or some people are baptized in the Spirit that is the work of God confirming His word and the gospel.

 

[Waggles]

On a Wednesday night after my first attendance at a Pentecostal church meeting - I was Roman Catholic at the time - the man who witnessed to me walked over to me and asked;
"Well Nick are you going to get baptized?" I replied yes and was baptized by full immersion before the congregation that night.
So I confessed my faith and called on the name of the Lord before others as witnesses to my repentance.

Matthew 10:32 "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
10:33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."
Luke 12:8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God,
12:9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God."

 

[Waggles]

Your comment "and many people , when baptized, receive their first healings and miracles in the waters of baptism. --- so it would seem to me and to them that God has found what they do acceptable to Him"
My impression of Pentecostalism is that of emotionalism. A person's emotional state of mind can affect their bodies.
I've been in a Pentecostal church a few times -- the pastor was very good at creating emotional responses from the congregation. A person can get on an adrenaline 'high' and be able to do lots of things on a short-term basis and then be 'down' again.

1Cor 2:4 and my [Paul] speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
2:5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Well you have not been in all Pentecostal churches - Christian worship in the U.S.A. is different to what goes on in the rest of the world.
Our fellowship is not about emotionalism, but is grounded on the word of God - these signs shall follow them that believe and the gifts of the Spirit distributed within the body of Christ.
Gifts of faith, healings and miracles are abundant within Pentecostal faith, and praying in tongues is making use of the power and purpose of the Spirit of God.
When I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues I also received my first major healings right then.
1Cor 4:20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.