Mesa Musings:

Dr. George O. Wood has been my pastor and friend for many years.

Actually, the popular minister is a friend to many. He’s got a whopping 5,000 friends on Facebook!

For 17 years, Wood pastored Newport-Mesa Christian Center in Costa Mesa. That’s where I first met him. I sat under his teaching from 1983 to 1988. I’ve had many other pastors before and since, but he’s the one I claim as my pastor.

I began attending church at the age of 8 and, except for 16 years of wandering in the wilderness of agnosticism from ages 16 to 32, I’ve been a believer ever since. At 32, with three young children and a fourth on the way — and a massive hole in my soul — I opted for the pursuit of meaning and significance.

Cerebral and academic, Wood is a remarkable teacher and compelling orator. His sermons appeal to people who think.

Wood was elected two years ago to the position of general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, headquartered in Springfield, Mo. Putting it in untechnical, layman’s terms, he’s pope for the 2.8-million-member U.S. denomination.

Wood spent 14 years as general secretary for the fellowship before being installed as general superintendent Aug. 9, 2007.

In his acceptance speech, Wood said: “The Lord [has] dropped a verse in my heart: ‘My yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ I know that many responsibilities await me — but I also believe that the Lord intended all ministry to be a journey of joy.”

Joy swathes his daily endeavors. Wood earned his doctorate in pastoral theology from Fuller Seminary in Pasadena. He holds a juris doctorate from Western State University of Law and is a member of the California State Bar. He did his undergraduate work in history, religion and philosophy at Evangel College in Springfield, Mo.

The son of missionary parents, Wood spent his formative years in China and Tibet. He’s the author of seven books. He has led more than 30 trips to the Holy Land, and I’ve had the good fortune of traveling with him twice: in the winter of 1988-89 and in the spring of 1990. For me, the trips were life-changing.

New impressions began to assail me on the first trip even before the wheels of our El Al 747 lifted off the runway.

As we were checking our luggage at Los Angeles International Airport, the airport received a bomb threat. It was five days after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The entire Tom Bradley Terminal was emptied. We spent two hours curbside.

The all-clear finally came, and we took off three hours late. We had a brief stopover for fuel in Amsterdam, then headed for Ben-Gurion Airport just outside Tel Aviv. We arrived in the evening. We’d been scheduled for an 8 p.m. welcome dinner at our Tel Aviv hotel. As it turned out, the kitchen and dining room staff had to be held over so that we could be fed at 11 p.m.

I remember thinking that because of the actions of some knucklehead in Los Angeles — 10 time zones away — the lives of a dozen hotel staffers had been affected. They were delayed by three hours in going home to their families.

Wood touched on that issue the next morning at our chapel service. It proved to be a poignant object lesson. Everything we do, he said, has consequences — to the point that we may even touch a life half a world away.

Over the next two weeks Wood and his lovely wife, Jewel, led us on a breathtaking journey through Galilee, Jerusalem, Haifa, Bethlehem, Caesarea, Nazareth, Megiddo, the Golan Heights, Masada and the Dead Sea.

We stayed at a kibbutz on the Sea of Galilee, and at a hotel on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem that overlooked the Temple Mount.

Wood was a fountain of knowledge and inspiration. It was a journey I shall never forget. I was so moved by it that I signed up for Wood’s next Israel trip.

This time we landed in Amman, Jordan, and spent time at Petra, the ancient rose-hued Nabataean city of stone. Before I shuffle off this mortal coil, I’d like to return to Israel just once more with Wood.

JIM CARNETT lives in Costa Mesa. His column runs Wednesdays.