Assembly of God

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tobinatorstark said:
They are very anti-Catholic. (Aunt and Uncle). They repeatedly condemn us to hell, accuse my of idolatry and not reading the correct Bible version. They believe it watching TV is a sin, anything other than church and prayer on Sunday is a sin, gym class in school and extra ciricular activities are sins, any music outside Gospel music is sinful just to name a few. They aren’t charitable and do hoard their money
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Huh:shrug: 🤷 🤷

This is totally unlike any Assembly of God church that I am aware of.
 
I was raised in the A of G, and have many family members who were and/or are now ministers in that body. Generally speaking, they do not consider themselves to be a denomination, but rather a fellowship of like minded churches. Howbeit, in recent years the move has trended toward a denomination. Notable present or past A of Gers are: Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Jim and Tammy Fay Baker, Paul and Jan Crouch, Jimmy Swaggart, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Hagin sr., Jerry Lee Lewis, Kenneth Copeland, David Wilkerson, Nicky Cruz, Moya Brennan, former U.S. Dept. of the Interior Secratary James Watt, former U. S. Attorney General Bob Ashcroft, Sarah Palin, etc. I think Dr. Finis Jennings Dake was one, and John Hagee might have been one too, I’m not sure. A thorough internet search would turn up other prominent names. They are Trinitarian. The United Pentecostals (oneness) are a split off of them. They do not believe in OSAS. They believe the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in 1 Cor. 12 are not done away with. Although they believe that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the Baptism of the holy Spirit, only about 33% have experienced it. Compare that to the 36% of American Catholics who say they have. There are more tongue talking American Catholics than there are tongue talking A of Gers. They believe the offices of apostle and prophet are still existent, although the office of apostle is existent only in the form of missionaries and church planters. Some don’t believe the office of apostle still exist. They believe all sin is mortal. They believe divorce is a sin and won’t allow divorcees to pastor churches. They believe abortion and euthanasia should be illegal. There are different wings that have different viewpoints on certain things. Obviously the Paul Crouch wing doesn’t believe it’s a sin to watch TV. The more conservative wing believes it’s a sin for women to wear makeup, jewelry, or dresses that don’t at least reach the knees. This wing also believes it’s a sin for women to wear pants or sleeveless blouses, and men aren’t allowed to wear their hair long enough to touch the ears and no facial hair except maybe a thin mustache. The conservative wing also forbids swimming in mixed company. Anyway. Some believe the Catholic Church is of the devil and everything else Jack Chick believes about it. And some believe that it is not any of those things. Then there are those who believe that there are people in the Catholic Church who are true Christians but will sooner or later have to come out of the Catholic Church if they want to make it to Heaven. They believe very strongly in tithing. I’ve never heard any preacher preach hoarding of money, though I’ve known plenty of skin flints among them. Many, if not most, of the who’s whos of the health and wealth gospel came from the A of G, but that doesn’t mean that all A of Gers adhere to it. Many an A of G church has been split by these preachers coming in and preaching their doctrine. I have read the CCC and must say that about 80 to 90 percent of it is in agreement with A of G doctrine. Their services generally start with 3 or more songs, followed by taking the offering while another song is sung, then somebody stands in the pulpit and gives church announcements, then one or more people will sing a song before the congregation. Perhaps they have enough people for a choir, in which case the choir may sing a song or two. Then the pastor preaches a sermon, after which there is an altar call for people to come and get prayed for, or get saved, or to just kneel at the altars and pray. Then there’s a prayer of dismissal. It’s not always done this way. They try to be flexible. They believe other denominations are Christian, but aren’t as close to the truth as they are. These are just a few of the things they believe and do. ( I just noticed that others have posted on this as I am writing this and have said some of the things I was going to say.) My mind has drifted to other things so I will stop.
 
I have had a lot of interactions with their youth groups. They encourage teenagers to disobey their parents to attend youth group events. They think it’s okay if the parents aren’t Christian because the Holy Spirit must be guiding the teenagers (higher authority), but many of the parents are Christians in different denominations.
 
Assemblies of God come out of the Azuza street mission. Theologically they come from the Holiness movement in the US in the latter part of the 19th century and into the early 20th century. Pentecostals in general believe in two baptisms (where baptist only believe in one) water baptism and baptism in the Spirit. Baptism in the Spirit is evidence by the speaking of tongues. They are Pretribulation, premillenialist necissarily so by their statements of faith. A famous AOG preacher is Jimmy Swaggart who latter was asked not to preach. If you ask me they are modern day Montanist and just as heretical.
 
mothom said:
I was raised in the A of G, and have many family members who were and/or are now ministers in that body.

The United Pentecostals (oneness) are a split off of them. They do not believe in OSAS. They believe the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in 1 Cor. 12 are not done away with. Although they believe that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the Baptism of the holy Spirit, only about 33% have experienced it. Compare that to the 36% of American Catholics who say they have. There are more tongue talking American Catholics than there are tongue talking A of Gers. They believe the offices of apostle and prophet are still existent, although the office of apostle is existent only in the form of missionaries and church planters. Some don’t believe the office of apostle still exist. They believe all sin is mortal. They believe divorce is a sin and won’t allow divorcees to pastor churches. They believe abortion and euthanasia should be illegal. There are different wings that have different viewpoints on certain things. Obviously the Paul Crouch wing doesn’t believe it’s a sin to watch TV. The more conservative wing believes it’s a sin for women to wear makeup, jewelry, or dresses that don’t at least reach the knees. This wing also believes it’s a sin for women to wear pants or sleeveless blouses, and men aren’t allowed to wear their hair long enough to touch the ears and no facial hair except maybe a thin mustache. The conservative wing also forbids swimming in mixed company. Anyway. Some believe the Catholic Church is of the devil and everything else Jack Chick believes about it. And some believe that it is not any of those things. Then there are those who believe that there are people in the Catholic Church who are true Christians but will sooner or later have to come out of the Catholic Church if they want to make it to Heaven. They believe very strongly in tithing. I’ve never heard any preacher preach hoarding of money, though I’ve known plenty of skin flints among them. Many, if not most, of the who’s whos of the health and wealth gospel came from the A of G, but that doesn’t mean that all A of Gers adhere to it. Many an A of G church has been split by these preachers coming in and preaching their doctrine. I have read the CCC and must say that about 80 to 90 percent of it is in agreement with A of G doctrine. Their services generally start with 3 or more songs, followed by taking the offering while another song is sung, then somebody stands in the pulpit and gives church announcements, then one or more people will sing a song before the congregation. Perhaps they have enough people for a choir, in which case the choir may sing a song or two. Then the pastor preaches a sermon, after which there is an altar call for people to come and get prayed for, or get saved, or to just kneel at the altars and pray. Then there’s a prayer of dismissal. It’s not always done this way. They try to be flexible. They believe other denominations are Christian, but aren’t as close to the truth as they are. These are just a few of the things they believe and do. ( I just noticed that others have posted on this as I am writing this and have said some of the things I was going to say.) My mind has drifted to other things so I will stop.
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I’m always a little curious about stats and where they come from. Do you have any source for this 36%. I kinda find it hard to believe as I have never seen anyone claim this ability but I would love to learn more.

Thanks:thumbsup:
 
I don’t remember where I saw that. I may have seen that at a Methodist site because I remember seeing that 25% of the Methodists claimed this experience too, and it was at a Methodist site that I read this. I’m not sure where I saw it, but I am sure I did see it. That doesn’t mean what I saw is correct. It may or may not be.
 
This is the AoG statement of faith:
Statement of Faith
We believe . . .
������ the Bible is the inspired and only infallible and authoritative written Word of
God.
������ there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
������ in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His
miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death, in His bodily resurrection, in His
ascension to the right hand of the Father, in His personal future return to this
earth in power and glory to rule a thousand years.
������ in the blessed hope—the rapture of the Church at Christ’s coming.
������ the only means of being cleansed from sin is through repentance and faith in the
precious blood of Christ.
������ regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for personal salvation.
������ in water baptism by immersion.
������ the redemptive work of Christ on the cross provides healing of the human body
in answer to believing prayer.
������ the baptism in the Holy Spirit, according to Acts 2:4, is given to believers who
ask for it.
������ in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is
enabled to live a holy life.
������ in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost, the one to everlasting life and
the other to everlasting damnation.
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I prefer the nicene Creed personally
I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things visible and invisible;

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only begotten Son of God,
begotten of his Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father;
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvation
came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost
of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried;
and the third day he rose again
according to the Scriptures,
and ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;
and he shall come again, with glory,
to judge both the quick and the dead;
whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and Giver of Life,
who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son];
who with the Father and the Son together
is worshipped and glorified;
who spake by the Prophets.
And I believe one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church;
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;
and I look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. AMEN.
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Gee, I’ve been a Catholic all my life (well from age 6 to now (over 50 years) and I have never come across anyone who spoke in tongues or anyone who ever claimed they met or heard anyone speaking in tongues.

I went to Catholic schools, grade school and high schools and all my kids did as well. I’ve known a whole bunch of priests and I belong to a Catholic men’s club and I have yet to experience any such thing. I know a boatload of Catholic friends and not one has come across this sort of thing. I seriously doubt 30+% or even 10% of Catholics have ever experienced this feat.
 
wcknight said:
Gee, I’ve been a Catholic all my life (well from age 6 to now (over 50 years) and I have never come across anyone who spoke in tongues or anyone who ever claimed they met or heard anyone speaking in tongues.

I went to Catholic schools, grade school and high schools and all my kids did as well. I’ve known a whole bunch of priests and I belong to a Catholic men’s club and I have yet to experience any such thing. I know a boatload of Catholic friends and not one has come across this sort of thing. I seriously doubt 30+% or even 10% of Catholics have ever experienced this feat.
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I’ve been Foursquare for 7 years and only among the oldtimers do I hear anything like 30% claim they have been thus gifted. In other Pentecostal denominations sometimes it seems like everyone has. When I hear abot Charismatic Catholics they aree normally in multilingual locations and are speaking of the known language tongue not the unknown language tongue which a praise leader will often signal for in pentecostal services.
 
wcknight,
During the Charismatic Renewal, lots of Catholic churches were filled to overflow whenever there was a charismatic healing Mass. (We had them monthly for awhile) There are Catholic charismatic communities and religious orders. Parish prayer groups often have at least an element of charismatic expression. Charismatic experience was responsible for bringing lots of people back to the Church. It’s nowhere near as common now as it was in the mid-late 80’s and 90’s, but it’s still around. Our diocese at one time even provided a diocesan liaison (a priest) to the Catholic charismatic community.
 
wcknight said:
Gee, I’ve been a Catholic all my life (well from age 6 to now (over 50 years) and I have never come across anyone who spoke in tongues or anyone who ever claimed they met or heard anyone speaking in tongues.

I went to Catholic schools, grade school and high schools and all my kids did as well. I’ve known a whole bunch of priests and I belong to a Catholic men’s club and I have yet to experience any such thing. I know a boatload of Catholic friends and not one has come across this sort of thing. I seriously doubt 30+% or even 10% of Catholics have ever experienced this feat.
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I have only heard 1 person speak in tongue and only know of 3 that did so. It is a rare gift, but it does happen
 
i have been with friends to their assembly of God church. i can tell you, they are very anti Catholic. they say Catholics are not Christians. we worship balaal. they constantly brings attractions to their churches to attract peoples. once i saw this pastor who was invited to perform miracles. the miracles were that people would see gold power in their hands, oil would drip from their hands also. it was really strange. they also see the devil everywhere and in everything. christmas tree is part of the devil and so forth. my friend told me that they threw their crucifix away because it was a course to carry a cruicifix. crucifix was from the devil. their pastor came over to my house once and told me to throw hte picture of St Francis away, he told me to throw away it was from the devil. there i saw many weird things going on in their church. slammed in he spirit was their main thing. people falling around, groanings, all kinds of scary sounds. i was really scared about what i saw. the last time i went there was after i saw an exorcism performed by a very strange looking man. this was my last time. no more of that.
 
Boy howdy, my A of G friend, her minister-husband and their congregation are NOTHING like that.
 
kage_ar said:
The A/Gs run a wide range, those who live/act/dress like any other evangelical Christian to the strong holiness/pentecostal. Sounds as if your relatives are on the holiness/pentecostal side of the curve.

Love them, let them see that you Love God and that you DO know your Bible. That will be the best witness to them.
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I agree, they do sound more like Holiness Pentecostals. My fil’s side of the family is Holiness and they are very strict in dress and behavior. The A/G I know are not as strict in dress and behavior. However, they are anti-Catholic.

I agree with what Kage_ar said about loving them.
 
FickleFreckled said:
Boy howdy, my A of G friend, her minister-husband and their congregation are NOTHING like that.
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yes. and i have another friend who is also an assembly of God who recently told me she is going to pray for me to leave the pagan CC. when i defended the CC she challenged me for a debate. i have not heard yet on this issue. i am hope she calls me.
 
There’s obviously more than one representation of Assembly of God. My friend has gone to Mass with me, has a very good understanding of Catholicism for a lay Protestant, has never spoken a word against it, counts several Catholics among her close friends. Her congregation is charismatic, their expression of that is pretty much the same that I’ve seen from Catholic charismatics, nothing particularly bizarre. The people I’ve met have been joyful, gentle-spirited and had big hearts. I really can’t see much difference between them and a lot of the non-denominational “Spirit-filled” churches in this area. I know that she has a deep faith that inspires many people, including me.
 
When I worked for the Air Force there were three of us in a liaison office A Jewish boss, an AG secretary, and me. We got along fine. We did know every priest-minister-rabbi joke going.

We needed the secretary to take messages, arrange for visitors from our home base etc, but she had a lot of spare time. At the time my wife and I were giving weekend retreats for couples with three other couples and a priest. The secretary volunteered to type up our talks with the orator type on her typewriter. I asked the boss if it was okay, he said it beat having her sit there doing crossword puzzles. 😃
 
AGs are not cookie cutter products. Some are vehemently anti-Catholic, some are at the other end of the spectrum. I’ve met members of that faith group who believe in the Real Presence and that only a Catholic priest “can make it happen”.
As with Baptists and others, what members of a given congregaton believe will depend upon several factors, including how persuasive the preacher is, how high emotions run during services, etc.
Because of my civic position, it is sometime necessary to attend services in non-Catholic churches (always making sure I’ve been to Mass and Holy Communion first). I once attended an AG service where a lisping preacher, whose overall language command and demeanor suggested a limited education, begged for someone to break out speaking in tongues.
I had to hold mine, wanting to shout, “Laus tibi Christi,” or some other Latin. 🙂
 
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