georgeowood.com/the-experience-of-the-spirit

[navygoat1998]

Very good article written by Dr. George O Wood, the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God. He has Pentecostal roots that run deep.

http://georgeowood.com/the-experience-of-the-spirit/

The Experience of the Spirit
Three primary views within the church describe the baptism in the Holy Spirit. One is the view that the baptism in the Holy Spirit and any terminology connected with it in Scripture are meant to be taken as synonymous with conversion—that when we give our life to the Lord we are automatically baptized in the Spirit.

In this view, the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 represents the moment the members of the Early Church became Christians. The baptism in the Holy Spirit, therefore, is not meant to be repeated in believers’ lives today in the manner described in Acts 2, 8, 9, 10 and 19, but is to be seen as God’s way of giving the Church a giant cosmic shove into its centuries of existence.

On the opposite extreme are those who treat the baptism in the Holy Spirit as the highest goal of Christian experience—a goal that once reached need not be sought after again. Unfortunately, this is the view I had of the baptism in the Spirit while I was a child and teenager. In a particular church of which I was a part, you couldn't hold office in the youth group unless Spirit baptism was the highest goal of your life. Consequently, when I received it, I promptly relaxed.

Only years later did I come to fully realize the function of the baptism in the Spirit. This, I believe, is the third view. Spirit baptism is a distinct part of our entrance into the full Christian life, along with salvation and water baptism. These can each occur at different times, but I believe it is God’s purpose to make this a cluster of initiation events into the Christian life.

Jesus’ earthly experience with the Spirit is a model for our own. Jesus was conceived by the Spirit. Yet, at His baptism, the Spirit came upon Him like a dove. That He was conceived of the Spirit meant that all through His existence the Spirit resided in Him. Yet, as He began His earthly ministry, the Spirit came upon Him. This does not mean that until that time the Spirit was absent from Him. It meant Jesus’ public ministry had begun and He needed the Spirit’s empowerment. That’s why after the temptation in the wilderness He could say, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” The Spirit had always been in Him, but at His baptism there was a necessary experience of the Spirit coming upon Him.

The Church models that same experience of the Spirit. We are conceived by the Spirit. The life of Jesus is born into us; we are born of the Spirit. Everyone who has Jesus has the Spirit living in him or her. But there is a subsequent work we find in Acts 2, when believers assumed their spiritual responsibilities. For this, we need the Spirit to come upon us. We need to be placed into the Spirit even as the Spirit has placed us into Christ.

[Farfel]

Good article! George O. Wood is always delivering great stuff.

[navygoat1998]

He is very anointed, I enjoy his teachings and his Pentecostal roots are deep.

[Michael The Disciple]

What he said:

Only years later did I come to fully realize the function of the baptism in the Spirit. This, I believe, is the third view. Spirit baptism is a distinct part of our entrance into the full Christian life, along with salvation and water baptism. These can each occur at different times, but I believe it is God’s purpose to make this a cluster of initiation events into the Christian life.

The only thing he errs is by using the word "salvation" instead of faith or repentance. Other than that very good. Acts 2:38 is the BASIC plan of salvation.

[kclee4jc]

I work with the local AG pastor's wife..very sweet people. They really like George Wood. I wonder what type of Pentecostal Church he was raised in as a child/teen?

[navygoat1998]

I work with the local AG pastor's wife..very sweet people. They really like George Wood. I wonder what type of Pentecostal Church he was raised in as a child/teen?

Here is his Bio:

Step into George Wood’s office on the executive floor of The U.S. Assemblies of God National Leadership and Resource Center in Springfield, Mo., and you’re likely to see an assortment of souvenirs not uncommon for a well-traveled man of his age.

Every artifact in this office symbolizes part of a lifetime journey that’s brought him to this place and position – as head of the World Assemblies of God. From a boy born to missionary parents to China and Tibet to a man leading the largest Pentecostal organization in the world into the 21st century, George Wood’s story is one peppered with equal parts providence and preparation.

“If you look at the journey I took to get to this spot, there is no way I should be in this chair,” Wood says. “I can give you multiple reasons why I should not be in this office. But it’s like the Lord saw the desire of my heart. I took the text, ‘If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work’ (1 Tim. 3:1, KJV), and I believed that it wasn’t sinful to desire.”

Wood’s respect for the position he holds comes from his rich Christian heritage and a deep love for the people he leads today.

Family Heritage

On the far wall of his office hangs a panorama of the Sun Moon Mountain Pass in the Xinghai Province in China – one of the locations his parents labored as missionaries for the Assemblies of God and where Wood spent his life until age 6. His parents served several terms in Northwest China and Tibet until Communism forced them out of the country – but not before planting a congregation of 200 souls. That congregation is 15,000 members strong today.

From there his parents pastored and pioneered several small churches in the States until settling in Springfield, Mo., as his father traveled as an evangelist.

Two phrases his mother taught Wood were foundational to his approach to life and ministry. “She would say, ‘If we stand before God, He won’t ask us if we’ve been successful. He’ll ask us if we’ve been faithful.’ The other thing she would say when I’d be upset was, ‘Now, Georgie, it won’t matter a hundred years from now.’ My parents really lived by the values that matter a hundred years from now.”

Ministry Historywoodsit2

Wood’s parents laid a foundation for his four decades of Christian service—from pastor to professor and campus minister to denominational leader. Wood graduated from Evangel University (College) in Springfield, Mo., and then Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., in the height of the evangelical intellectual movement in the 60s. Wood would return to serve in several capacities at Evangel, including as director of spiritual life and student life from 1965-71.

He and his wife Jewel, who he met while at Evangel, have two children, daughter Evangeline and son George. They have two grandsons: 15-year-old Jacob and 4-year-old Reese.

Wood was ordained by the Southern Missouri District in 1967 and returned to California to pastor Newport-Mesa Christian Center in Costa Mesa, Calif., which grew to approximately 2,000 under his jurisdiction of 17 years. He served as assistant superintendent of the Southern California District from 1988-93.

When his children left home he pursued a lifelong dream of obtaining a law degree from Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, Calif.

He served as general secretary for the Assemblies of God for 14 years, and was the first secretary to be named general superintendent when he was voted in by the General Council in August of 2007.

As he was elected, Wood set the tone for his term. He said, “We’re going to run on five core values, and everything we do has to relate to these five things:

passionately proclaim Jesus by word and deed at home and abroad
vigorously plant new churches and revitalize existing ones
strategically invest in the next generation
skillfully resource the fellowship
fervently pray for God’s favor and blessings as we serve Him with pure hearts and noble purpose.
Everything we do here relates to those values.”

Preparing the Next Generation

group4His life’s work is all about getting people back to the Bible – back to real relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. While the methods change over the years, the message stays the same. To help him keep that perspective at the forefront, Wood keeps his father’s antique typewriter next to his keyboard.

“I learned to type on that typewriter, and I keep it next to my computer to remind me how important it is to change,” Wood said. “When things are changing you’ve got to change as well – if we stayed with the typewriter where would be today?”

It’s that approach – clear-headed thinking, common sense and reliance on the Holy Spirit – that Wood relies on for success in ministry. With one hand pulling from the rich history of the Assemblies of God and one hand reaching to the future of the movement, Wood’s vision as CEO of the Assemblies of God is bringing the church with more than 12,700 congregations and more than 3 million members and adherents in the States into the 21st century.

Wood has a number of books to his credit including Road Trip Leadership, Living in the Spirit, A Psalm in Your Heart, Living Fully and The Successful Life. And if you’re ever in Springfield and stop by his office, he might give you a copy – after his office tour, of course.