Embracing Our Rich Heritage: SEARCH FOR TRUTH

A search for truth is the anthem of our heritage. Above all plans, programs, perceptions, and personalities, the driving force of the Church of God is to know and live in truth. For our movement and those that sprang from the same existence, it was this unwavering desire for truth that led the early church founders to seek the Lord.

“In Monroe County, Tennessee, in 1884, a Missionary Baptist licensed minister—Richard G. Spurling Sr.—was seized with a spirit of unrest and dissatisfaction over certain traditions and creeds that were burdensome and binding on the members.” This unrest and dissatisfaction led him to spend much time in fasting, prayer, and the study of the Word of God to discern the truth.

This search through fasting, prayer, and the study of the Bible continued for roughly the next two years. This was no light task and no quick solution for Pastor Spurling. His desire was to truly seek the Lord for a revelation of what it means to live in truth.

Many hours of fasting became his routine. He saw this as a season of consecrating and separating himself from all distractions. He was intent on setting his heart and mind on the Lord to learn the truth of what it means to be the Church of the Bible, the Church of God.

Those seasons of fasting were filled with prayer. His petition to God was for a continual revelation of God’s Word and how it applies to the church of his day. He did not want to be caught up in man’s wisdom and understanding. Rather, he wanted to hear from the God of truth and receive enlightenment from the Word of Truth.

Thus, he spent hours upon hours searching the Bible, continually asking the question, “What does God’s Church look like? How is God’s Church supposed to function? What are the precepts that God’s Church must hold dear? What caused the early church to erupt in reaching the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ?” His study proved to him that some reformation was needed within the church.

“As an alternative he called a special meeting at the Barney Creek Meeting House . . . to give further study and consideration to pressing religious matters . . . Spurling moderated the meeting, and addressed them on the pressing and important needs of reformation.”

This small group of believers would be the same ones that A.J. Tomlinson would later join, birthing the Church of God movements. The continued desire of the Church of God of Prophecy today is to be people of God who commit themselves to fasting, prayer, and study of the Bible. Through such consecration, we will truly be the Church of God of the Bible.

In a day of modern technology and connections, let us move forward in this same intentionality as we seek to hear from God and continually follow in His truth. Let us speak the truth, share the truth and live the truth. Our world fills the minds of everyone with all sorts of information, some of it truthful, but the vast majority are suspicious.

Let us pray as the Psalmist and say, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14, NLT). Then let our speech be filled with truth as we please the Lord.

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1 C. T. Davidson, Upon This Rock, Volume 1 (Cleveland, TN: White Wing Publishing House), 292.

2 Ibid., 292

BISHOP TODD D. BAGLEY | EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT OF FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION, HERITAGE MINISTRIES COORDINATOR