Dr. Dave Johnson has generously made his book available on ACPT as a free download.
Download “Led by the Spirit” in PDF format
About the Author:
Dr. Dave Johnson has been an ordained Minister of Assemblies of God USA since 1986. He was appointed Missionary with Assemblies of God World Missions (USA) since 1994 and has full professional proficiency in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines.
Forward by Rev. L. John Bueno
After reading through the pages of this very exhaustive and interesting history of the Assemblies of God in the Philippines, you will note three elements that are essential for church building. Our forefathers had the foresight to establish correct, biblical missiology. In most cases, this was practiced by our early pioneers. You will see the wisdom of this missiology as you read through the pages of this great work. David Johnson has done much research and has been able to blend in these elements that I want to bring to your attention before you read through these pages.
First is the importance of the missionary who was called of God and obedient to the prompting of the Holy Spirit in going to the Philippines. Some came from other countries, but they all came in God’s will, since their coming was part of the process of building the church in the Philippines.
The second is the importance of the national workers. The Philippines is unique in the sense that the church was basically started by national Filipinos who were either trained in the States or developed their own ministries in the Philippines as the church grew. The partnership between missionaries and national workers is essential to anything we do in missions. We believe strongly that God has called us to partner with men and women from these different nations to establish a viable church that will withstand all the pressures of time and change. You will see as you read through this history how this combination at times had some conflicts, but wisdom prevailed on the part of missionaries as well as national leaders to bring about decisions that were constructive to the overall welfare of the national church.
The third element is the work of the Holy Spirit. We say that we are Spirit-driven, and you will see that this is basically the pattern of how things developed over the history of the Assemblies of God of the Philippines. We believe the leading of the Spirit is as important in the twenty-first century as it was in the twentieth. You will see time and time again how the Holy Spirit prevailed in guiding men and women to surrender to His will, which contributed to the eventual establishment of a national church. His place cannot be overstated. The Holy Spirit’s work is essential to building the church of Jesus Christ in any time or under any circumstance.
You will marvel as you see how God directed this whole process and brought about one of the strongest and most viable churches in the world today. The vibrant and steady growth of the church of Jesus Christ is stronger today than in the beginning. The principles followed led to current national leadership that has vision for establishing hundreds of churches throughout the Philippine islands. You will rejoice and bless the Lord for what He has done in that land and know this pattern can be followed and has been followed in many nations of the world.
L. John Bueno
Executive Director
Assemblies of God World Missions