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If the COG and other Pentecostal denominations are right and we have found the only biblical way to do Christianity, I am left with some questions I hope you all can help me with.If that is true, why aren't we out telling people? I get it, we evangelize... but why are there more COG congregations in my small town (not even speaking of other Pentecostal churches) than in the entire Midwestern state my friend lives in. Why is that?Why doesn't God make it plain to others so they are not lost? If our way is the best way, why isn't that shown plainly to people over the past 2000 years instead of a relatively new discovery by us in the last 100+ years?If our way isn't really the only way or even the best way, why do we spend so much time tearing down nominal churches and non-Pentecostals who too believe they are doing God's work by bringing people to Jesus?I am not trying to be argumentative. I sincerely do not understand why these things are true. I am a 4th generation member of the COG and I love it and the people in it. I am not mad at anyone. I just don't understand

I have literally heard men in the pulpit denigrate non Pentecostals, and go so far as to say unless you are filled with the holy ghost you will not go in the rapture. I don't think it is an official statement of any group but it seems from the pew to be sort of the attitude of a number of preachers I know. But I may just be hanging out with the wrong people.

As I have shared over the years. My wife's family hails from Big Sand Mountain Alabama. Hiway Church of God Geraldine, AL. The Church of God is right Hallelujah to the Lamb!I was born and raised Southern Baptist so having been exposed to let's say a particular perspective, I will contribute the following.There was a teaching among some (not all) that the Church of God Cleveland, TN was in fact THE Church. One of my wife's aunts shared with me that her sister (another aunt) had wandered into the A/G but the Lord showed her the light concerning the Church of God and she was restored.It is an ancient attitude that has seen it's day come and go Charles A. HutchinsSenior Pastor SPWCCongregational Church of Godwww.spwc.church

I have heard it from my COG pastor when I was in my teens.I left that church first chance - as that wasn't the only problem.And I attended a COGOP church with a friend that really believed it, as well.I left that friend first chance, as well

Back a good number of years ago in the Church of God, there was indeed a movement by some to claim that only the Church of God was going to make it to heaven, etc. It was Paul Laverne Walker's dad, Paul H. Walker, who not only contested against this take, but wrote articles in our publications to deal with this. At the same time, I make no excuses about it: Pentecostal is the best understanding of Christianity. I'm not talking about the tongues-obsessed stereotypes of Pentecostals, but of the true belief that God still works in mighty ways, that Acts was meant for all. (NOTE: We don't remotely live up to this, but we do aspire to it and hold it as the standard that we believe in.)I have no doubt that many non-Pentecostals will meet the Lord in the air. They might even be far better than Pentecostals in some ways. BUT living the Christian life without believing as Pentecostals do (i.e., God is still at work in miraculous ways) is to live beneath your birthright. There are Baptists and Presbyterians that are far better men of God than some of us. Being non-Pentecostal does not mean you aren't saved. It simply means that one has not availed themselves to all the is available from God.

This a strange thing. My dad was a pioneer in the COG. I NEVER heard him state the things you have said. BUT , for some reason in my youth I got the idea that the COG, Pentecostals were THE ONLY WAY. Absolutely in our area of the country that ATTITUDE was prevalent. As I stated, I never heard it under my dad but I still got that attitude from Camp Meetings and evangelists in the 1950s. I know Butterfli is much younger than I, but I can still understand what she is saying. Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/

This a strange thing. My dad was a pioneer in the COG. I NEVER heard him state the things you have said. BUT , for some reason in my youth I got the idea that the COG, Pentecostals were THE ONLY WAY. Absolutely in our area of the country that ATTITUDE was prevalent. As I stated, I never heard it under my dad but I still got that attitude from Camp Meetings and evangelists in the 1950s. I know Butterfli is much younger than I, but I can still understand what she is saying. Cojak, I think the attitude might have been prevalent for many of us, since in that time, the Church of God was looked down upon by the other denominations, for the most part.

We sit in our churches of 50 people...

And look up the street at a Baptist church running 500 with an active Christian education, missions, evangelism, and discipleship program and say, What those people could only do if they had the Holy Ghost.WARNING--UNPOPULAR STATEMENT COMINGDare I say this?Some of the shenanigans that have gone on in our churches have filled more non Pentecostal churches than our own.ThereSaid it and I'm glad.Nyah Nyah Nya

It might be an unpopular statement, but it is actually a truth. AND that is a shame. Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/