Faith News Network

The Nazi Party was so thoroughly organized, having spies left and right, that my better judgment told me that my religious activities would sooner or later be called into question. Herman Lauster

August 1946 brought eventful days to delegates meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, for the 41st General Assembly of the Church of God. Some of the excitement was likely because this was the first full meeting of ministers and members in several years. The war years had demanded travel restrictions, and the previous Assembly in 1945 was limited primarily to Bishops.

On entering the auditorium Sister Emma Barr was the first to dance upstairs. . . .

With the advantage of time, it is easy to see that the year 1929 was a watershed for youth ministry in the Church of God. On October 24, the General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing the Church of God Young People’s Endeavor(YPE) as a national youth organization.

In January, 1907, I became more fully awakened on the subject of receiving the Holy Ghost as He was poured out on the day of Pentecost. That whole year I ceased not to preach that it was our privilege to receive the Holy Ghost and speak in tongues as they did on the day of Pentecost. I did not have the experience, so I was almost always among the seekers at the altar. . . . By the close of the year I was so hungry for the Holy Ghost that I scarcely cared for food, friendship or anything else. I wanted the one thing—the Baptism with the Holy Ghost. –A.J. Tomlinson, The Last Great Conflict

On Saturday, January 12, Pastor A.J. Tomlinson preached a message entitled “The Baptism with the Holy Ghost and Fire,” at the second General Assembly held in this Union Grove church in Bradley County, Tennessee.

“Glorious results. Speaking in other tongues,” wrote the travel-weary A.J. Tomlinson as he returned home to Cleveland, Tennessee, on June 14, 1907.