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Left or Leaving the AoG
July 9, 2007
Greetings in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
What does Scripture have to say to the believer about being in a mixed crowd?
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be there God, and they shall be my people.’
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” II Cor 6:14-17
Many of you have written to say that you have left the Assemblies of God or were shown the door because you dared to differ with leadership. Time after time, I learned that you were now part of a non-denominational church group. While there isn’t anything inherently wrong with being non-denominational, I think this exodus would make our A/G founding fathers very sad. The very reason they organized was to ensure that a bunch of independent Pentecostals stayed true to God’s Word.
And before I go any further, please let me be perfectly clear: if you are rejoicing in the trouble that current leadership is having staying on the straight and narrow, then I am not addressing you. On the other hand, if it deeply grieves you to see the dictatorial ways, the marketing motivations, and the number hungry behaviors of our A/G leadership—how far they have strayed from our founding fathers’ humble, servants’ hearts—then it is to you that I address the following.
Would someone out there who has left the A/G take the initiative to form a new denomination? How about calling it the “Assemblies of God Maranatha [Even so come quickly Lord Jesus]?” What about a denomination that looks an awful like the A/G of one hundred years ago: growing by Pentecostal revival versus public relations, praying and repenting rather than giving the press news releases, eagerly anticipating Jesus’ return rather than the fishing boat ramp, devouring God’s Word rather than going into debt for our doctoral degrees, singing about Heaven rather than the here and now, believing the Bible front to back rather than our college professors teachings on science “falsely so-called,” sitting in church together as a family rather than creating a new generation gap with separate services for each age group, and keeping churches small enough where the pastor knows the names of all of his sheep and the sheep can get close enough to know his voice?
If you have already left, then the changes that have snuck into the current A/G constitution and bylaws will have no effect on you. However, if you’re thinking of leaving, then you may already be aware of the roadblocks that stand in your way: 1) the reverter clause, and 2) what you signed up to when you said you would be in a “cooperative fellowship.” First, the reverter clause, which may be a universal clause from the national C&B down through all of our districts and sections, says that if a church leaves the A/G, then their property reverts to the applicable district or section (never mind that this principle is on very shaky ground in a court of law [Who paid for the land and the church building? Was it national headquarters, the district or the section? No, it was the members of your church or their ancestors in almost all cases]). You should count this cost as you decide. Note that if God is calling you out, you had better leave, cost or no.
The current definition of “cooperative fellowship” is a 180 degree out perversion of the original intent of that phrase. From reading historical documents, I believe the original intent was to codify the A/G as a loosely held federation of churches. The only thing required of A/G pastors and churches was that they believe in the 16 Statements of Fundamental Truths. If they believed, they were good to go. If they didn’t, out they went. Today, cooperative fellowship says in words and is executed by leadership as, “Either you will agree with me the leader or you will lose your license to preach. There is no room for dissention. I am the Lord’s anointed and therefore have the voice of God.” So, when setting your expectations of leaving, don’t expect to have a receptive voice from your leadership. You will be treated as a dissenter—just like John Bunyon, Martin Luther, and John Wycliffe. Church history records that church leadership has a history of putting themselves so close to God as to cause confusion regarding who is whom. If your leadership was really concerned about the current crop of heresies invading the A/G, they would be leading you out not waiting to see you about your concerns.
Let’s think about this brethren and sisters. If God has called you out (“What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness?”), then will He not provide? Both your license to preach and a new building? If you are a beloved shepherd, then your flock will follow you. And you don’t have to violate Scripture (I Cor 6:6) by suing other Christians to keep your own church. If you do the right thing, God will provide!
There are many benefits to forming a new denomination. This list is not all-inclusive: being able to publish your doctrinal beliefs to ensure adherents truly believe the Bible, being able to grant licenses to preach to Pentecostal pastors, being able to create a single, Bible-believing, non-bureaucratic avenue from which to send missionaries, having the resources to create your own Bible schools and to publish periodicals that speak the truth to member pastors and church members (rather than dealing in the fluffy, all-roads-lead-to-heaven marketeering of a Robert Schuler or a mass emailing from your best, purpose driven, New Age Southern Baptist friend Rick Warren).
With Love for the Assemblies of God as Envisioned by J.R. Flower and E.N. Bell,
Brother Mike
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