( After discovering that the Assemblies of God leadership had invited Ruth Haley Barton, a Spiritual Director (Guru) trained in pagan Contemplative Spirituality, to speak at their General Council in Orlando, Florida, I sent George Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, a set of questions. The following is the email exchange between George Wood and me. )
Brother Fisher,
Greetings in the Lord.
With all the press of things calling for my attention, I’ve nevertheless tried to respond briefly to your questions below. I believe the more thorough response has already been given, which I believe you have.
Blessings!
George Wood
From: Woodward, Jewell
Sent: Monday, May 06, 2013 3:42 PM
To: Wood, George O
Subject: FW: Some questions
do you want to respond to him?
________________________________________
From: CH Fisher [mailto:cfisher@triad.rr.com]
Sent: Mon 5/6/2013 3:13 PM
To: General Superintendent
Subject: Some questions
Some Questions for the AoG leadership
(Please note that your answers will be published unedited on the Internet.) (George Wood’s responses are in red.)
1. Christianity is presently being inundated with a number of cult beliefs and practices directly from the New Age Movement. One of those practices is Contemplative Prayer. Even if your version is the genuine article, why are you introducing it during this surge of cult, occult, and pagan infiltration by means of a “spiritual director”? For everything God has, the devil has an imitation. Just because he has an imitation does not mean we stop doing the original. Waiting on the Lord and meditating on His Word is very Scriptural.
2. Before I was licensed and eventually ordained by the Oklahoma District of the Assemblies of God some 35 years ago, I was required to read a book by E. M. Bounds entitled, “Power through Prayer”. Nothing in the book even hinted of Contemplative Prayer. Here is a quote from that book; “The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.” Do you now reject or marginalize E. M. Bounds, Rees Howells, and other great praying Christians? If so, then what caused this change of opinion? If not, then why are their examples now insufficient? None of them are rejected even though I don’t believe they were Pentecostals. We need all the help we can get in motivating people to pray.
3. You say that Contemplative Prayer is a true Christian practice that is being mimicked by Satan. Obviously, just applying the term “Christian” to it does not change is intrinsic nature. If that is the case, then how do you tell the difference between the true and the copy? You apply God’s Word and the witness of the Holy Spirit. If you knew the Godly women who chose the speaker for their event as I do, you would have every confidence in their spiritual discernment. I regret that you do not know them and have unfairly judged them. These are ordained women in our Movement, spiritually mature and thoroughly Pentecostal.
4. If we are in the last days, then it is certain that deception will be a primary factor in the great and final apostasy. Deception usually arrives on the wings of some new thing. Since it arrived with a number of other New Age elements, spiritual formation, centering, spiritual directors, yoga, transcendental meditation, and etc., doesn’t it seem more likely that Contemplative Prayer (in my opinion a pagan practice and at the least a new term) is a vehicle for extreme deception? Not the least. Waiting on the Lord and meditating on His Word are part of Biblical disciplines. I would rather wait on the Lord and meditate on His Word then sing a simple chorus over and over (which is a musical form of contemplation) that gets overdone in many of our circles.
5. Has any of the leadership of the Assemblies of God practiced Contemplative Prayer, centering, or had any experience with the practices listed in the above section? If not, then why are you so adamant about introducing such a practice into the Movement? If so, can you give scripture references that prophesy such things will be revealed and ordained by God for His church in the last days? I’ve meditated on His Word and waiting on Him in prayer all my life. I’ve waited hours on the Lord. You can call that focus or centering – it’s certainly very Pentecostal. We need more people who will get quiet before the Lord, wait on Him, ingest His Word into their lives. In all the busy-ness of today – what we need is to get into our prayer closets. Contemplative prayer is the current term for what is a very Biblical practice – getting alone with God. I suggest you read Ruth Barton’s book, Strengthening the Soul.
6. Do you agree with the New Age beliefs of Rick Warren, Rob Bell, Brian McClaren, and others in the Emergent Church Movement? Are you in the process of merging the Assemblies of God into the Emergent Church Movement? Do you agree with its goal of global ecumenism using the vehicle of Contemplative Prayer? If not, would you issue an official statement of opposition to this aggressive cult, occult, and pagan-driven Movement? I know Rick Warren personally and he is not a New Ager. That is a slur on him and I will defend him as equally strong as I would defend Billy Graham. Rob Bell is heretical. I’m not familiar with Brian McClaren except for his name. There are many components of what passes under the umbrella of the term “emergent” church so I would not lump everyone under the same roof.
7. You sent out a call to unity. When everyone adheres to truth, there is obviously no need for a call to unity. Considering the controversy over whether Contemplative Prayer is of God or of Satan, would it not be more appropriate to send out a call to truth? I stand by the call for unity. We’ve had over 10,000 download my message so far. It touched a need in our Fellowship. Waiting on the Lord and meditating on His Word is not of the devil. Remember that my parents were missionaries to Tibet and I was a kid then. Tibetans under the power of the devil spoke in other tongues. That doesn’t mean that our speaking of the tongues is of the devil. Not at all! As I said earlier, the devil always tries to imitate what God has. What a shame that there are those in the body of Christ that are criticizing other believers for wanting to learn better how to wait on the Lord. We are spending a lot of our time needlessly shooting at one another rather than focusing on reaching the lost. Right here in Springfield, the big battle right now is on rights of homosexuals. We need to be together engaging on those issues rather than sapping time and energy dealing with that.
8. Does your call to unity mean that everyone who opposes the practice of Contemplative Prayer should drop their opposition and trust you completely that the practice is God ordained? Why would you require such a thing without proper research, without seriously considering the opposing views, and without putting it to a vote of the membership? I did not mention contemplative prayer in my message. If you took it that way, then that is your interpretation. I referred to multiple divisions in local churches and the body of Christ. Often those who reject the conviction of the Holy Spirit respond in a negative way – as you have discovered in your own ministry.
9. What do you expect to accomplish with the introduction of Contemplative Prayer at the General Council in Orlando? A significant number of AoG ministers have rejected this practice and do not agree with your introduction of it? If your decision divides the Movement, will you believe the forcible introduction of Contemplative Prayer was worth the cost? I’m not introducing anything. Our Credentialed Women in Ministry Task Force selected a speaker for their event. I suspect that the ministers who are rejecting “contemplative prayer” do not understand that within our context the term simply means waiting on the Lord and meditating on His Word. If we have ministers who are opposed to waiting on the Lord and meditating on His Word, then I do think even more that there is a need for a true revival in our midst.
10. I apologize in advance if the following questions offend anyone. I mean no disrespect, but in light of recent harsh actions by certain AoG leaders against credentialed ministers, these questions have to be asked. I am not aware of any harsh actions. I have done my best to respond kindly to all who have written or talked with me. I have been the recipient of many unkind emails and letters.
You were elected to lead the Assemblies of God. Do you believe that job description gives you the authority to force a controversial belief or practice upon the entire membership without any recourse on their part? I am accountable to the Executive Leadership Team, the Executive Presbytery, the General Presbytery and the General Council itself.
If so, when did you come to the conviction that being given the privilege of leading the great AoG Movement equals dictatorial dominance of the very ones that granted you the privilege of leadership? Anyone who works with me knows that I am not dictatorial, that I work with consensus among leadership. As for Ruth Barton, I and our executive leadership team approved the request of the credentialed Women in Ministry Task Force because we trust them.
Do you plan to excommunicate credentialed ministers that ignore your Call to Unity and openly disagree with your arbitrary decision? No. I’ve never threatened anyone with excommunication; and as you know, there is a process of dealing with credentials – and I don’t have that power, and wouldn’t use it if I did.
If you truly consider leadership as God’s word defines it, “not being lords over God’s heritage” (1 Pet. 5:3), when will you call for a conference with qualified speakers to enumerate the pros and cons of Contemplative Prayer, its origin and history, and the consequences or benefits of implementation? I think the blogs are perfectly capable of debating that issue without the need for a conference.
Thank you for your answers to these important questions. You are most welcome. I trust my responses are helpful to you. Perhaps we will not agree on some issues but it’s always right that we love and pray for one another. I do covet your prayers. The Lord richly bless you!
For His glory,
C. H. Fisher
Enjoyed reading the discourse.
I appreciate the questions asked of Dr. George O Woods; I had an encounter at First Christian Assembly/ Burlington , NJ; the pastor started teaching contemplative Praying techniques . The pastor was actually leading the bible study into a NAR mind set. The Assemblies of God local district/Springfield were contacted by the board members of the church. They played a very passive role; there actions puzzled most of us that had educated ourselves to contemplative spirituality and NAR (new apostolic reformation).
We had to leave our church after 28 yrs; this new pastor was leading the congregation into mystic practices and the Assemblies of God district office/ Springfield Office did nothing.
I believe Dr George O Wood, who happens to be a friend of Pastor Rick Warren, is leading the Assemblies of God churches into great deception.
I appreciated reading your article on Dr George O Woods; I have gained a deeper insight of where the Assemblies of God Churches are heading. I had to leave an Assemblies of God Church in Burlington, NJ in 2011. the new pastor was teaching Contemplative Prayer techniques ( the silence, centering). The local Assemblies of God office saw nothing wrong.
The church split; most of the long time members were educated about NAR, and Contemplative Praying.
We now see that Dr. George O Wood is merging the Assemblies of God with the seeker friendly/ emergent church movement. I notice that several of the large Assemblies of God churches in Burlington County are offering Spiritual Formation classes.
Nearly forty years ago I became born again and began my search for a Christ centered, Bible believing, teaching church. Having been raised in a AoG church, I went back to one for a while but it seemed to me there was not much real Bible teaching, more on emotional experiences. Another thing that bothered me was the chuch was mostly women, who tend to be emotional compared to men. As the years passed, and I became Biblically literate, I began to take notice the most unbiblical teachings, heresies and the heretical televangelists were mostly Pentecostal types, so to this day, I avoid theses churches. Today the things that take place in these churches are beyond anything I could have once imagined. It gives me comfort to read of the discerment some of the “remnant”, if you will, that left when they saw the New Age move in.
I have been blessed to have found your site a few days ago and have been devouring everything you have written. I thought I was so alone in what I was seeing take place within the church. If the ” contemplative prayer ” is ” simply means waiting on the Lord and meditating on His Word ” then why use the term contemplative prayer at all since it is easily tied to the occult practice? He says this over and over as a defense, but why is it so important to him to use the term and tactics of the occult practice then? Personal friend of Rick Warren and yet oblivious to the heresies he teaches? It seems his discernment is really off also. Really sad. Years ago, in our local AoG, I stood against the teaching of Christians being possessed. They were literally having ” deliverances ” for what the Bible calls ” works of the flesh ” as in Gal. 5:16-26 destroying many young Christians faith. I then wrote Bro Crank who was the head then, he came and shut the practice down and Opal Redding, a professor at Springfield wrote a book exposing the practice. The pastor there was promoted ,however, and continues to teach unscriptural practices as I hear from others. The movement has really gone downhill. I also warned about the so called revival in Florida with the radical tattooed guy and was told by a AoG pastor that he personally vouched for that pastor and it was a move of God and I was the one off base. Even in spite of such horrible fruit, they still defend it. Where was the discernment of leaders who laid hands on and prophesied over such a adulterous situation as that? Really sad. Thank you so much for this site!
A call to true prayer for relatives who are in the AofG church. Please pray for their discernment and willingness to seek a true Bible teaching fellowship. Thank you to all who pray with me.
Clearly George woods defines contemplative prayer as: “Waiting on the Lord and meditating on His Word are part of Biblical disciplines. I would rather wait on the Lord and meditate on His Word then sing a simple chorus over and over.” You just did not want to listen.
George Woods is a gracious man. Just the fact he respond to you email is amazing considering his level of leadership and responsibility and your a blog.
Any AG minister stating George removed them is very questionable. Minister’s Credentials are given and removed at the district level. The big focus is the 16 fundamentals and whether your abiding by them.
BTW- I am not and AG minister but used to be.
Contemplative Prayer is new age and I agree it is wrong. Just as wrong as being a spiritual bully or causing division in the Body of Christ. Read Romans 15 we are to be of one mind. And no I am not talking ecumenically, the real church. I would guess most of those your accusing need to be educated not attacked. Help them turn from deception instead of trying to kill with the tongue.
Please be informed that my email to Dr. Wood was because flagrant Contemplative guru, Ruth Haley Barton, was invited to speak at the General Council. Further, since you read (hopefully) the email before you posted your response, you should have noticed that Dr. Wood recommended Barton’s book and claimed that it benefited him. The only way that book could have been considered a benefit to him is if he engages in Contemplative Prayer. He recommended that I read her book, which I considered bizarre. I informed him that I would read her book if he would read the one I recommended by Ray Yungen. He refused to agree.
Concerning your defense of Dr. Wood’s personality, I never made a reference to his persona. This is about his support of a diabolical heresy, Contemplative Prayer. I have met many gregarious heretics. And why wouldn’t they have that appearance. After all, “sheep’s clothing” would not reveal them as dark and foreboding individuals that did not invite trust.
If you or any other professing Christian is going to survive this present great deception and apostasy, truth must be loved and defended. Allowing a pleasing personality deceive you is not beneficial to maintaining possession of love for truth.
I am so appalled at the AoG. I have gone to AoG for almost 40 years. I remember reading about the Guru at the meeting and frankly I think the ladies ahead of that group should be reprimanded. I forgot about it until it came up that AoG is now supposedly having Rick Warren at their prayer function. With Rick being for Chrislam I am totally against his teachings. Is this true? I am saddened that my husband and I may have to leave the AoG.