The State of the Church

Posted on January 18, 2008 by Matt Boyd
Wow! Maybe Im crazy but it looks to me like the General Overseer is responding to this Blog in the Evangel… maybe Im crazy or delusional. You decide!Here is a quote from the current issue of the Evangel, Pastors Edition (Jan 2008 Page 24 interview with G. Dennis McGuire).
COSSEY: Some would say that the Church of God, like other movements before us, is destined for institutionalization-to become more of an organization than a living organism. In your emphasis on the Holy Spirit baptism, are you suggesting that reemphasis on Pentecost is a means of staving off institutionalism
MCGUIRE: As the worlds oldest Pentecostal denomination, I think it is important for us to emphasize our major doctrinal distinctive; and that is the baptism in the Holy Ghost with the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance. We fully understand that the Holy Spirit is given to us so we may have power to witness and win people to Jesus Christ. As much as I believe tongues to be the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Ghost, I believe witnessing is the continuing evidence. If we will maintain our evangelistic emphasis, we will not become institutionalized. I firmly believe God is in charge of His church. If we are Spirit-filled, the church will reinvent itself, if necessary, as we allow the Spirit to lead us.
Response Missional COG ministers
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