October 3, 2013

ASSEMBLY OF GOD CEO FORMS TIES OF FAITH WITH CHURCH OF LDS [Excerpts]

"God is playing a role in all religions and that Christians are more united than they sometimes think." ~ George O. Wood

The question is, united around what? Around which God? The eternal Christ that Christians worship, or the created being whose brother is Lucifer?

Yes, some strange things have been happening with the Assemblies' top leadership these past few months. [In August] at the Assemblies of God "Believe" Conference, leadership brought in New Age Contemplative key player Ruth Haley Barton.

And now it appears [Wood] and his leadership team are joining hands to find common ground with top Mormon leaders at BYU. According to the campus newsletter...George O. Wood, addressed hundreds of BYU students and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of "the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles..."

The paper reports that the Quorum of the Twelve sponsored the lecture for its Faith, Family, and Society series:

Wood shared his lifelong spiritual journey and ministry as a member of the Assembly of God. He gave a brief history of the Assembly of God's origin in the early 1900s, including the receiving of the gift of tongues. He spent time drawing parallel's between Latter-day Saints and the Assembly of God.

"Like the LDS we were a very marginalized minority, and even persecuted," Wood said. "We had preachers that were tarred and feathered and driven out of town because we had this experience that others didn't understand."

Elder Holland sat on the stage, listening intently and laughing at the humorous and touching experiences Wood shared.

Wood spoke of an experience he had two years earlier with Elder Holland at a conference in Utah. In response to a question from Wood, Elder Holland expressed that his greatest worry about the young generation was that they would grow coarse to the values and principles taught by Jesus Christ.

"His response immediately bonded my heart to him," Wood said. "Any Assembly of God preacher could say the same thing. We just absolutely share that in common."

Wood expressed that the Assembly of God's 66 million members test out their faith just like Latter-day Saints do. He urged the audience to seek a strong faith through diligent study of the scriptures.

"The question for me in college became, 'Is experience enough to carry me through?'" Wood said. "I had to have a stronger, intellectual foundation for my faith."

Wood showed that God is playing a role in all religions and that Christians are more united than they sometimes think.

"The whole aspect of the Christian faith, and my personal faith, rests upon whether or not Jesus Christ rose again from the dead," Wood said.