Assemblies of God Ministers Letter
Called to Serve
• April 2015 •
FROM THE GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT
What Jesus Wants in His Church
L
ast year we celebrated our centennial
anniversary as the Assemblies of
God. What a remarkable journey it
has been! But, God is not done.
I want to look at the concerns
of Jesus as He speaks to the seven
churches of Asia Minor through the
apostle John. It’s been only six decades
since Jesus returned to heaven, and
already most of the churches were
showing signs of spiritual illness,
some more deadly than others. What
can we learn from them? What does
Jesus want in His Church? Let me
personalize His concerns to us.
expend so little effort that “a lifetime such
as this would not exhaust a butterfly.”
But, they had one failing. They had not wed
passion for Jesus to their orthodoxy. Their first
love for Jesus and others had been forsaken.
Fighting false doctrine and false preachers can
diminish your power to love Jesus and people.
We live in an era of the twenty-four-hour news
cycle, of attack electronic and print journalism.
Some of this spirit has invaded the church as
well, and we can see it in the social media posts
and Internet blogs in which believers attack
one another in the spirit of “I’m right, you’re
wrong.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
The Ephesian church had vigorously defended
doctrinal purity, but in doing so had lost their
passion for Jesus. Can we keep these two things
together: purity and passion?
Jesus seeks a church that is in love with Him.
First, Jesus wants each Assemblies
of God church to be doctrinally
sound and spiritually passionate.
That’s what we learn from His letter to the church at Ephesus
(Revelation 2:1–7). He tells them, “Yet I hold this against you: You
have forsaken the love you had at first.”
The Ephesian church had a great history with pastors like Paul,
John, and Timothy. Once-great churches are not always great
churches today. The Ephesian church had a great legacy, not only
in its past leadership, but also in the qualities commended by
Jesus. There are six:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Second, Jesus wants each Assemblies of God church to
remain true despite severe trial from the world.
That’s what we learn from His letter to the church at Smyrna
(Revelation 2:8–11). Jesus tells that church, “Be faithful, even to
the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.”
Churches then and now face two constant attacks: from
outside and from within. The Smyrna church had no “inside”
problems. But, it was under ferocious assault from the world.
We are certainly seeing that replicated all over the world today
with the martyrdom of Christians, the displacement of historic
Christian communities, the virile hatred of major religions
against Christians, coupled with the scorn and disdain against
Christians from the secular world.
Persecution doesn’t start with acts of murder or ethnic
cleansing, of course. It starts with caricatures, marginalization,
and discrimination. It seeks first to dehumanize other people, for
once a group is regarded as less than fully human, then it
Hard work
Perseverance (mentioned twice)
Lack of toleration for wicked men
Testing of false apostles
Endured hardship
Had not grown weary.
The believers at Ephesus combined doctrinal orthodoxy with
hard work. Charles Spurgeon commented that some believers
Continued on page 5
1
AG.ORG
April 2014
2
AG.ORG
April 2014
3
AG.ORG
Pergamum served as a center for the major pagan cults of
Zeus, Athene, Dionysius, and the serpent god Asclepius who
presided over the art of healing and whose serpents were the
city’s emblems. It was the first city in the Roman province
of Asia granted permission to build a temple dedicated to
the worship of a living emperor, Caesar Augustus. Its most
prominent landmark was the great altar of Zeus, jutting out from
the top of a mountain.
I remember when my parents would spend time evangelizing
at key festivals in the town of Loesar, site of the largest temple
in eastern Tibet, called
Kum Bum—the place of
one hundred thousand
idols. The largest festival
occurred in winter when
huge idols, made from
butter—some thirty feet
tall—would be paraded
for display. The temple
courtyard hosted masked
dancers, the chief of which was the lord of hell and death,
garishly masked. One night, when I was about seven years of
age, I remember that the presence of evil was so powerful we
could not sleep, and Mom and Dad pleaded the blood of Jesus
Christ all night against the demon powers.
Pergamum was a Kum Bum-kind of place. The presence of
the demonic was real and palpable. But, Jesus identifies himself
as the One with the real power. He holds the most advanced and
dangerous weapon of that day—a sharp, double-edged sword.
He says to the church, “I know where you live.” I like how
the King James Version puts it, “I know where you dwell.” The
saints at Pergamum were not visitors or passersby. They dwelled
there. Day by day, they made their living and their life in a place
not conducive to their spiritual well-being.
Many believers, even today, because of circumstance live in a
hell on earth.
But, the unique paradox of the Pergamum church is that it
had held up against the outward pressure even in the face of a
recent martyrdom (Antipas), but it tolerated a minority within
its midst who held “to the teaching of Balaam.” The Book of
Numbers tells the story of Balaam’s indecisiveness leading to
immorality by the children of Israel with the women of Moab
and the Israelites’ subsequent idolatry. This minority wanted
all the benefits of grace without the cost of discipleship. They
wanted to stay in the church and hold on to a lifestyle contrary
to God’s Word.
The late Norman Vincent Peale told a story from his boyhood
when he found a big, black cigar, slipped into an alley, and lit up.
It didn’t taste good, but it made him feel very grown-up— until
he saw his father coming. Quickly, he put the cigar behind his
back and tried to be casual.
becomes acceptable to shunt them aside, to disregard them,
and to treat them badly.
We see the beginning elements of this cycle in some
parts of the Western World, including in the United States.
I’ll just cite one example and I choose it because I am also
an attorney. Did you know that it is impossible now for an
evangelical or Pentecostal who is pro-life and who believes
marriage is between a male and a female to be appointed to
the federal courts? About one-third of America identifies as
evangelical, but not a single evangelical sits on the Supreme
Court. The values of
America have shifted in
my lifetime as Christians
have been increasingly
marginalized because
we hold the Bible as
the authority by which
we live. Even though
religious freedom is
enshrined in the First
Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,
and other statutory laws, leading voices in our culture
increasingly express the desire to narrow its application,
changing freedom of religion to freedom of worship. In this
way, they hope to privatize the faith and confine it within the
four walls of a church building.
Will we remain true to Jesus in the face of external
pressure? The Smyrna church did. Within fifteen years after
the Book of Revelation was written, Ignatius passed through
Smyrna on his way to martyrdom in Rome. Polycarp was
in his mid-forties when Ignatius passed through Smyrna.
Four decades after the death of Ignatius, Polycarp, bishop at
Smyrna, was burned at the stake. As he waited for the fire to
be lit, he faced the stadium crowd and responded to the offer
to renounce Christ and swear allegiance to Caesar. His voice
carried throughout the arena, “Eighty and six years have I
served Him, and He has done me no wrong; how then can I
blaspheme my King who saved me.”
Knowing that Ignatius and Polycarp and others in Smyrna
would seal their commitment with death, no wonder Jesus honestly
disclosed, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. . . . The
one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.”
The Lord did not and does not promise to remove the
difficulties. He offered no solution to their suffering except
that in eternity they would be vindicated.
The Ephesian church had vigorously
defended doctrinal purity, but in doing so had
lost their passion for Jesus. Can we keep these
two things together: purity and passion?
Third, Jesus wants each Assemblies of God church to not
compromise its witness either to the world or to a minority
within its own ranks.
That’s what we learn from His letter to the church at
Pergamum (Revelation 2:12–17).
April 2015
4
AG.ORG
corrected but that should not keep us from acknowledging
the good things that the Lord is doing among us. As a young
person, I became cynical about the church because I was
continually focusing on what I perceived to be wrong. The
Spirit dropped a different word in my heart that helped me
to change focus. I began saying, “There is too much good to
reckon with the bad.” Is the Assemblies of God perfect? By no
means! Is God using the Assemblies of God today to advance
the gospel? Yes, by all means.
Some of the great churches in our Assemblies of God no
longer exist today or are a shriveled shell compared to what
they used to be. Somewhere along the way, they began doing
less than they did in the past. Churches and pastors made
poor choices. May we take to heart this phrase that the Lord
wants to say of us, “You are
doing more now than you
did at first.”
Interestingly, the city
of Thyatira was the leastimportant city of the seven,
but it got the longest letter.
The city had been founded
as a military town to delay
an invading army long
enough for Pergamum to
get its defenses ready. To the
believers in this town that could be so easily trampled by an
invading army, Jesus makes the amazing promise that He will
give overcomers authority over the nations. What else can that
be other than the promise that God will make them to be a
great missionary church?
We were founded to do the greatest work of evangelism
the world has ever seen. Missions and evangelism are in our
spiritual DNA. That’s why the Holy Spirit has been given, that
we may become empowered to be His witnesses.
Desperate to divert his father’s attention, Norman pointed
to a billboard advertising the circus, “Can I go, Dad? Please,
let’s go when it comes to town.” His father’s reply taught him a
spiritual lesson he never forgot. “Son,” he answered quietly but
firmly, “never make a petition while at the same time trying to
hide a smoldering disobedience.”
The Assemblies of God’s origin comes from what we know
as the Holiness Movement. We have matured beyond the point
of equating holiness with women not wearing lipstick or jewelry.
But, let us never mature to the point where we are willing to live
in a way that is not honoring or pleasing to our Lord.
Fourth, Jesus wants each Assemblies of God church to
have a present that is greater than its past.
That’s what we learn from
His letter to the church at
Thyatira (Revelation 2:18–29).
Jesus tells them, “I know your
deeds, your love and faith, your
service and perseverance, and
that you are now doing more
than you did at first.”
What a great commendation:
“You are now doing more than
you did at first.”
We have had a remarkable
stretch of growth in our Fellowship. Every year for the past
twenty-five years in the United States, our number of adherents
has grown. In the past seven years, we’ve seen over 2,200 new
churches started. We’re experiencing growth all over the world,
with the number of congregations now topping the 370,000
mark, and believers nearing seventy million. This is God’s
doing. I believe that what the Lord said about the Thyatiran
church is what He would also say to us, “You are now doing
more than you did at first.”
Thyatira was not an easy place in which to live and work.
The social structure of the town centered on the guilds—
woolworkers, linen-workers, makers of outer garments, dyers,
leatherworkers, tanners, potters, bakers, slave dealers, bronze
makers, etc. Lydia was a seller of purple from Thyatira and
had a distributorship in Philippi. If you did not belong to a
guild, you didn’t have a decent job. But, guild meetings began
with recognition of Caesar as lord; and meals and banquets
began with a sacrifice to the gods. The main body of believers
abstained from such events, but evidently some within
the church compromised. Jesus corrects the majority for
tolerating the conduct of this minority whom He labels
as Jezebel.
But, in correcting them for tolerating Jezebel, the Lord
did not overlook their progress. That’s a good example for
us. There will always be things in the church that need to be
We were founded to do the greatest
work of evangelism the world has ever
seen. Missions and evangelism are in our
spiritual DNA. That’s why the Holy Spirit
has been given, that we may become
empowered to be His witnesses.
April 2015
Fifth, Jesus wants each Assemblies of God church to have
performance consistent with its profession.
That’s what we learn from His letter to the church at Sardis
(Revelation 3:1–6).
The Lord says to that church: “I know your deeds; you have
a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”
Sometimes the name of a church doesn’t correspond to how
it presents itself to the public. I think of one of our districts
where the district office received a call that a fight had broken
out and the pastor had bitten the ear of a deacon. The name of
the church was Friendship Assembly of God.
The opposite is true of the church at Sardis. It had a great
external reputation, but it was unhealthy on the inside.
How fast can a church depart from Christ? How fast can it
go sour? The church at Sardis is an example. The
5
AG.ORG
Assemblies of God Ministers Letter
commendation of Jesus is absent for the church as a whole.
Pergamum and Thyatira had tolerated minority heresies and
conduct; but the main body of those churches had held fast—
not so at Sardis. They had only a few who had not spiritually
soiled themselves.
G. Campbell Morgan said of this church: “Prayer . . .
songs . . gifts . . . Everything
stopped short of the
inner temple. All kinds
of committee meetings
attended, but nothing done,
nothing finished, nothing
fulfilled. Resolutions
and promises, and a
great showing on paper,
but nothing reaching
fruitage before God, nothing that satisfied the divine heart,
nothing that answered the divine purpose. Outward forms,
ceremonies, organization, but death reigned.”
The church can operate for some time without the Spirit.
It’s called mechanical Christianity. But, when the Spirit is no
longer treasured, when the church becomes satisfied with
itself, death reigns.
Jess Moody once wrote a book with a title any Pentecostal
would love, A Drink at Joel’s Place, derived from Joel’s
prophecy about the Spirit being poured out. Moody said that
if a person walks into a bar and asks for a drink, he or she
doesn’t expect to get milk. If the bartender says, “We’re out
of alcohol, but we do have milk,” the patron might give them
one or two more opportunities at best. Moody said that the
church presents itself as a community of love, of joy, and of
relationship. But, what happens if people come and that is
not present? They won’t return. In fact, if Kleenex begins
adding sandpaper, people will ask for facial issue, and if Coca
Cola adds a dash of lye to each bottle, people will go back
to asking for a soft drink. It’s not the label that sells. It’s
what’s inside.
The Sardis church was Pentecostal in name only. Its deeds
did not match its splendid reputation. Buildings, budgets,
numbers, and noise don’t tell the real story. Jesus is looking
for a church rich in prayer, rich in love, rich in good deeds, rich
in the Word, rich in the power of the Spirit.
That attempt had been so successful that in one hundred years,
Greek had replaced the mother tongue of Lydia.
To this church in a town that had spread Greek culture,
the church is told it had an opportunity—despite its own
struggles— to spread the gospel.
It’s fascinating that the church that Jesus described as
having “little strength”
is the church that is told
it has an open door of
opportunity.
There are thousands of
“little strength” churches
in the Assemblies of
God. In fact, more than
eight thousand of our
churches have less than
one hundred people. After my parents came home from the
missions field, my dad and mom pastored some of those
churches. I remember one Easter Sunday when I was a kid and
over one hundred people came. I thought the whole world had
come. It was such a vast crowd.
The danger of a “little strength” church is that it will feel
itself insignificant. I love the spirit of the home missionary
pastor, a woman in Detroit, Michigan, who wrote my uncle
Victor Plymire many years ago and said, “We are a very small
church, but we have a very big heart for missions.”
I love the poem that says:
Jesus is looking for a church rich in
prayer, rich in love, rich in good deeds, rich
in the Word, rich in the power of the Spirit.
Master, where shall I work today?
And my love flowed warm and free!
And He pointed out a tiny plot,
And He said, “Tend that for me.”
But, I answered quickly, “Oh no,
Not there – not anyone could see
No matter how well my task was done;
Not that – that little place for me.”
And His voice when He spoke,
Was not stern but kind.
But He answered me tenderly,
“Friend, search that heart of thine.
“Are you working for YOU,
Sixth, Jesus is looking for each Assemblies of God church
to respond to opportunity.
That’s what we learn from His letter to the church at
Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7–13).
The Lord says to that church, “See, I have placed before you
an open door that no one can shut.”
The city of Philadelphia had been founded to spread Greek
language and culture to the regions of Phrygia and Lydia.
April 2015
For them, or for ME?
Nazareth was just a little place,
And so was Calvary.”
Francis Sheaffer once preached a sermon titled, “No Little
People, No Little Places.” Every person, every place, every
church is important to God and vital to the Kingdom.
6
AG.ORG
Executive Leadership Team
George O. Wood
General Superintendent
The secret of satisfying the thirst of Jesus
lies not in keeping or hoarding our resources,
but in giving them away.
L. Alton Garrison
Assistant General Superintendent
James T. Bradford
General Secretary
Douglas E. Clay
General Treasurer
Zollie L. Smith, Jr.
Seventh, Jesus is looking for an Assemblies of God church that satisfies His thirst.
That’s what we learn from His letter to the church at Laodicea (Revelation 3:14–21).
He says to them: “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to
spit you out of my mouth.”
We live in a day of affirmation; but here is a church about which the Lord can find
nothing good to affirm. The church and the city in which it lives have two things in
common: self-sufficiency and a water supply that is neither hot nor cold.
The reason for the water problem lay in the fact that Laodicea had to pipe in its water
either from the hot, medicinal waters of Hierapolis, six miles to the northeast or from the
cold, pure waters of Colossae, ten miles east.
The church at Laodicea had neither cold water for the spiritually thirsty, nor warm
water for the spiritually wounded.
One of the most unforgettable places I’ve ever been was Kalighat, the hospice home
for the sick, destitute, and dying, in Calcutta, India. Homeless and helpless men and
women lay on mats distributed throughout the large room, provided by the Sisters of
Mercy, which was founded by Mother Teresa. Her motto in life was taken from one of
Jesus’ dying words, “I thirst.” She felt that when we minister to others in the name of
Jesus, we satisfy His thirst.
The church at Laodicea had resources; but the secret of satisfying the thirst of Jesus
lies not in keeping or hoarding our resources, but in giving them away.
This church had actually put the Lord outside His own church; thus, He stands
knocking at the door. Whenever a church body thinks only of itself, when it only
measures itself by its financial or numerical resources, when it only basks in its past
attainments, then Jesus stands outside that church. He’s ready to spit out the church for
its lack of love for the lost, the hurting, the desolate, and the needy. He’s ready to spit out
that church; but if the church will open the door and let Him in, then they will sit with
Him on His throne.
Every Assemblies of God church must exist to satisfy the thirst of Jesus.
What does Jesus want in His Church? He wants His Church to be doctrinally sound
and spiritually passionate, to remain true in trial, to not compromise its witness, to look
for open doors of opportunity, to have consistency between profession and performance,
to respond to opportunity, and to satisfy His thirst.
If we will do that, there is no limit to how He will use us in the days that
lie ahead!
Executive Director,
Assemblies of God U.S. Missions
Gregory M. Mundis
Executive Director,
Assemblies of God World Missions
Executive Presbytery
Warren D. Bullock
Northwest Area
T. Ray Rachels
Southwest Area
Clarence W. St. John
North Central Area
J. Don George
South Central Area
Larry H. Griswold
Great Lakes Area
Rodney K. Loy
Gulf Area
H. Robert Rhoden
Northeast Area
C. Dan Betzer
Southeast Area
Saturnino Gonzalez
Language Area – East Spanish
Jesse Miranda, Jr.
Language Area – West Spanish
Nam Soo Kim
Language Area – Other
John E. Maracle
Ethnic Fellowships
Brian C. Schmidgall
Ordained Minister under 40
A. Elizabeth Grant
Ordained Female
George O. Wood is general superintendent of the Assemblies of God (USA)
and chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship.
April 2015
7
The General Council
of the Assemblies of God
1445 N. Boonville Avenue
Springfield, MO 65802-1894
AG.ORG
HEALTHY LEADERS
GROW
DAVID
HEATH
SCOTTY
Launching a lasting
love of Christ in youth
that carries into adulthood
Bravely meeting Jesus
in both the dark
and the bright times
Instant access
to the absolute best
youth ministry ideas
HERTWECK
ADAMSON
GIBBONS
FIND THESE AND OTHER GREAT RESOURCES AT
www.MyHealthyChurch.com
April 2014
8
AG.ORG