Info and Stats - The 2nd largest of the Pentecostal Bodies are Assemblies of God (2.5 Million in USA) and Churches of God in Christ (3 million in USA) is the Largest Pentecostal Body in United States according toDenominations Comparison(Rose Publishing, 2003). Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), which is prominent in the South, had 890,000 membership in 1999.
Mead's Handbook of Denominations(11th Ed. p265) says the following about the Origin and distinctive characteristics of the Assemblies of God:
"Pentecostalism is a modern American Christian Movement that emerged out of the Holiness Movement at the turn of the century. Two key figures in the beginning of Pentecostalism were Charles Parham (1873-1929), the founder of BethelBibleCollege in Topeka, Kansas, and William Seymour (1870-1922) , an African American Holiness evangelist from Louisiana. Parham became convinced that the gifts of the Holy Spirit that were evident in apostolic times are available to Christians in modern times as well. Of particular interest was speaking in tongues, the first incident which occurred at BethelBibleCollege in 1901 when one of the students, Agnes Ozman, spoke in tongues. It was concluded, then, that speaking in tongues was the evidence that one had been baptized by the Holy Spirit, and henceforth came to be the distinctive doctrine of the Pentecostal Churches, differing them from tGroups. For this reason, the experience has been called the beginning of the modern Pentecostal Movement. Five years later, Seymour, who had studied at bethel with Parham, led a revival on
Pentecostal bodies believe one of the results of being overtaken by the Holy Spirit or 'slain in the spirit' is a phenomena known as 'Holy Laughter' in which the spirit-filled believer breaks out in uncontrollable laughter as a means of praise and worship to the Lord, while others dance uncontrollably around the church building even during the worship service. This is absurd and surely of the Devil. The Apostle Paul clearly warned us that everything in the church should "be done decently and in order" —1st Corinthians 14:40.
I can't help but think that the participants themselves often burst out in uncontrollable laughter because they know it's all a big joke and a farce. It's hard not to laugh just watching them act like idiots. And the funniest thing (and saddest) is that millions of people naively fall for this kind of deceit and send in their money to support these shenanigans.
CONCLUSION
The Assemblies of God are a carnal bunch, twisting the Scriptures to meet their own agendas. However, the Word of God still stands true. Sadly, the Assemblies of God use the pervertedNew International Version(NIV, or better yet... HIV) of the Bible. There are many other doctrinal problems with the Assemblies of God and their associated spin-off groups, but these are the major heresies that NEED to be EXPOSED! I would strongly plead with you to leave the Assemblies of God if you are involved with this wayward carnal group. Why join the church at Corinth when there are many decentIndependent Fundamental Baptist churchesthat you can join.
