A. J. Tomlinson, Historical Notes, pp. 76, 77

"I came with the understanding we were going to search the Bible to see if we could find The Church of God just like David said we would find it. I came and after staying all night with Brother W. F. Bryant I got up the next morning, had prayers, ate breakfast and took out up the mountain. I was gone for an hour or more… I came back down the mountain and entered the meeting. Questions were asked, Bible answers were given. They said they took the whole Bible rightly divided as their only rule of faith and practice. I said, ‘Well if you take the whole Bible rightly divided, that makes it The Church of God. Why do you want to call it the Holiness Church at Camp Creek?’ They agreed with me but couldn’t answer my question. Then I said, ‘You have agreed that this that I have said makes it The Church of God, and will you be willing to take it and keep it The Church of God?’ They said that they were willing. I then asked if they were willing to take me in with the understanding that it IS The Church of God—not going to be, but IS The Church of God? They were willing. So I stood right there in front of the fireplace, and Brother Spurling, who has gone on to heaven, took the Bible and gave it to me. He handed it to me and said, ‘Will you take this as the Word of God, believe it and practice it, obey its precepts and walk in the light as God is in the light?’ I thought deeply. I remembered what a time I had on the mountain. I meant business. David meant business and Isaiah meant business when he said, Arise, shine…"

(A. J. Tomlinson, Historical Notes, pp. 76, 77)

THE PRINTED MESSAGE

by the late William H. Brooks.

This message was printed in the

September 2, 1972, edition of the White Wing Messenger, when he was serving General Headquarters as the English mission Representative and World Language Secretary.

"The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it" (Psa. 68:11).

Publishing includes the translating, printing, and distributing of the gospel, as well as preaching the Word. The company to whom this responsibility was given is similar to an army. In Song of Solomon 6:4, the Church is referred to as being "terrible as an army with banners." When we think or talk about an army, we think of men who are trained, skilled, disciplined, enthusiastic, and ready to obey the command even at great self-sacrifice.

Great was the company, or great was the army of printers and army of evangelists. Both printers and carriers of the message are of vast importance. This Word which the Lord gave was published by an orderly company; by a trained, dedicated company of men, skilled and under orders to go forth and distribute the message.

A man that is going to carry this gospel and be a soldier during this warfare cannot and will not entangle himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who has chosen him to be a soldier (2 Tim. 2:4).

At present, literature (the printed message) is one of the greatest means we have of spreading the gospel. However, literature on our shelves or in our stock rooms will not reach the minds and hearts of the people with a need for salvation.

FALSE CULTS:

The gospel truth isn’t the only message that is spread forth by the printed page. False Cults are spreading their false doctrines through the same medium.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, using literature as their key tool, increased their membership 2000% in 25 years!

Christian Science reading rooms are found in large cities. Ever-increasing in popularity, the daily newspaper, Christian Science Monitor, sold on news stands, combines sharply reported news from around the globe, infiltrated of course, with the Christian Science strain of thinking.

Even Communism’s most dangerous and far-reaching weapon is the printed page. Leo Trotsky, one of the fathers of Communism, said, "The most powerful means of propagating Communism is the small pocket pamphlet."

STRIKING INFORMATION:

"Martin Luther: When God revealed to him that salvation is a free gift and man can pray for his own forgiveness, Martin Luther took his stand against the Roman Church in protest to their man-made creeds and traditions. Because of his courage, the term ‘Protestant’ came into meaning. Later, he tacked his leaflets on public buildings where the common people could read them. They began praying for themselves—and revivals swept Europe."

ministry in Chicago by the simple act of distributing gospel tracts to Great Lakes seamen."

"John Wesley organized 160 Leaflet Distributors in 1757, whose efforts caused the worship habits of the entire city of London to be changed by the reading of the Word of the Lord."

"Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson, the first General Overseer of the Church of God in these last days, was a distributor of tracts and Bibles. He zealously engaged himself in the propagation of the gospel through the medium of mighty words— spoken and written. He wrote, set, and printed leaflets and tracts which have had tremendous influence upon thousands throughout the world."

OUR RESPONSIBILITY:

  

Our chief responsibility is to put the doctrine—the Bible rightly divided—into different languages of the world, that people may be taught and brought together, and eventually into a perfect unity with one mind, one faith, and one Church for the Lord. The secret of the accomplishment of our commission resides in our ability to publish our knowledge of God’s truth. The Church has spent many precious years in searching out and finding the present truth as we know it today. Therefore, we should cut ourselves loose from worldly entanglements, and become enthusiastic and ready to obey the commission, even at great sacrifice. The full gospel is destined to reach all nations of the world, and we are the company chosen to publish it.

TRACT DISTRIBUTION:

  This amount of Scriptural material will reach thousands of souls, some of whom will dedicate their lives to the cause of Christ. However, it is a fact that not all who have a spiritual need will be reached unless more literature can be printed and sent. My gratitude is extended to all who have had a part in this great work.

Rapture Ready

"And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" (Gen. 5:24).

"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God" (Heb. 11:5).

Enoch was the first man who was raptured to heaven. He did not die and leave his body here on earth but was translated to heaven. It seems that Enoch’s faith in God, his service and his fellowship with Him, set the stage for this glorious event in his life. We know that God is holy; therefore, for Enoch to walk with Him his walk had to be holy. What must this experience be like, and what pleasure there must be to live in the divine presence of God in heaven!

Scripture declares, "he pleased God." The only record we have of his service for God is found in Jude 1:14, 15: "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

Enoch prophesied of the second coming of Jesus to the earth with His Church and the saints of all ages and, know for sure, Enoch will be among these saints. The rest of his message stated the reason for His coming, which was to bring judgment upon all the ungodly and their ungodly deeds. This speaks of the day we are living in and grows more ungodly each day.

The message in this for us is to prepare for the rapture. Ungodliness and holiness cannot walk together. Speaking of the Body of Christ, Ephesians 5:26 says, "that it should be holy and without blemish." Our walk must conform to God’s holiness—then we will be Rapture Ready.

Thank the Lord for the faithful work of the WMB. We are helping to send the gospel light from shore to shore.

ONE MORE YEAR

Springtime, birds, flowers, green grass and GRADUATION! Not for all of you—I realize, some of you have ONE MORE YEAR. (Take heart—it is only 365 days, not thousands as it may seem right now.) Others of you may be several years from your graduation and still others have to look behind you to see your last graduation. But, for a good number of our young people, graduation is a reality this year. I would like to congratulate you for completing the studies you’ve dedicated yourself to. Now a chapter of your life is closing and another one will soon be opening. What does the coming chapter hold? It is a story that you get to write. There will be twists and turns, sometimes on every page, and these unexpected things will make it necessary for you to make some tough decisions. The most important part of the story is at the close of the coming chapter. Will you be able to look back and know that you’ve been faithful to God? Will you have used the learning from the previous chapter to propel you deeper into your walk with the Lord and service to the Church where and how He wants?

It is likely that you’ve been told over and over again that you need to be your own person and make your own decisions. "Follow your heart," the world tells you, "and make up your own mind—be what you want to be." I’d like to offer some alternative counsel to you: seek the Lord and fulfill His will for your life. Don’t follow your heart but give your heart, with its desires and plans, to the One who has given all of Himself to you. Don’t make up your own mind but let every thought be brought into the obedience of Christ (See 2 Corinthians 10:5.). God has a great plan for you, and He wants to help you write the coming chapter and every chapter beyond, but you must allow Him to. For some of you, allowing God to write the next chapter may mean that a drastic turn is made from where you thought you were going. That’s okay, because He’ll be with you all along the way if you’ll surrender to Him. God bless and lead you in the decisions you must make. Let me close with some wise counsel from Solomon regarding the choices that we make in life, "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh…" (Eccl. 11:9, 10).

CHRIST IN US, THE KING OF KINGS

"Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:26, 27).

Believers cannot be any richer than having Christ in them, the hope of glory. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. So the reality is that Christians truly have a King in them. Although He was in heaven as a part of the Godhead royalty, He made Himself without reputation and lower than the angels that He might be man’s perfect sacrifice without yielding the power of His Kingship. "That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (1 Tim. 6:14, 15).

The One who comes to make His abode in our hearts when we accept His forgiveness and His salvation is spiritual royalty. He is the Lord from heaven, the King of kings. This means that there is no power nor authority above His power and authority. Christians have no excuse for not living holy, consecrated lives in this present world. Whatever evil power or authority comes against us, we are more than conquerors, because if the King of kings is for us, who can be against us? We must never doubt the power of the One who abides on the inside of our hearts. Our Sunday School lessons teach us of His power and glory. Every one of our lessons relate in one form or another to the message of salvation for all of mankind. Jesus Christ came down from heaven, giving up His throne while maintaining His royalty as the Son of God. While He was here on the earth, the Father in heaven gave testimony that Christ was still royalty: "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (2 Peter 1:16, 17).

Christ has proven to be worthy of all majesty and power. Let Him reign in our hearts, giving us the victory over every trial and obstacle that may arise in our lives. When He is for us, no one can be against us.

LITTLE IS MUCH IF GOD IS IN IT

Cleveland Daily Banner, penned this short article for the Cleveland, TN, newspaper: "THE ‘17 WORKS OF THE FLESH’ Bible study will begin March 16 at The Church of God, 1213 Chippewa St. The Rev. E. Roger Ammons, pastor and international evangelism director for the church, will be the teacher. The class will begin at 7:15 following a fellowship dinner at 6:30. Everyone is invited to participate. Books will be provided." About 2 weeks later, the pastor received a 4-page handwritten letter from an inmate at a federal correctional institution. Here are some excerpts: "Prison changed my life. Well, not the prison system, but God who works to change lives when we have lost it all, hit the bottom, and have nothing else to lose, find hope in prison. At the gates of hell God rescued me and revealed His love to me in Jesus... I’m hoping you will open your heart and give me a chance to minister to you. What God is doing in my life today is equipping me for tomorrow. You see, I’ve been in prison for almost 10 years. I've experienced 5 different prison institutions... I have 2 years left on my sentence, and if God brings me back to Cleveland, I hope to join what God is already doing. Before coming to prison I lived in Old Field on King Edward St. selling methamphetamine and running a crime ring... But thanks be to God who sets men free, He set me free. I’m writing in few words about the article placed in the Cleveland Daily Banner on the ‘17 Works of the Flesh’... and I'm wondering if I can have a copy... There is a program here at the camp called the "Positive Impact Team." There are four of us who leave the federal prison and travel around to schools, juvenile centers, and often churches. As long as there are schools and churches we are allowed to speak of our prison experience, our criminal background, and our encouragement for the future. We cannot speak on God or Jesus unless the children or young adults ask something of our faith. Since we are all Christian men, it never fails that one teenager will ask what we believe in or what has changed us, and from that point we take off, but God takes over and Jesus is lifted up… Romans 8 speaks of the difference between the flesh and the Holy Spirit, which one will lead us and govern our lives. I know what the flesh wants, and yet it comes with a price. I’ve sowed in the flesh and reaped many harmful and hurtful things. But now I see just enough to allow the Holy Spirit to teach me what it means to be in the Spirit... Please pray for me and where and what God will do with me when I come home."

When this letter was read to the church, Deacon Kryss Barick said that he had known this man before he went to prison. Wow!!! Look how God can use the media (in this case, a very short newspaper article) in evangelism. Look how God is using this man to minister from prison.

God has a plan to use each of us in winning lost souls to Jesus. What are you doing to win souls for Christ?

The Light God is Light!

"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5).

We cannot have fellowship with God and walk in darkness because there is no darkness in Him at all! The blood of Jesus brings us out of the darkness into light and fellowship with one another and God.

"If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:6, 7).

There should be no difference in the way we walk and talk if He abideth in us. When we walk in the light we cannot hate our brother because hate lives in darkness and cannot live in the light.