59 years ago today on February 13, 1957, the Late Bishop Grady R. Kent resigned as C.P.M.A. Secretary of the Church of God of Prophecy and the Reformation began. Here below I have posted His article that explains why. Also there is a link that will send you to Bro. Kent's Resignation, http://www.thevisionofall.org/ resignation.html My Dear Friend: Greetings in the wonderful name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I have prepared this letter to give you the information concerning the stand that I was compelled to take for the Revelation of Jesus Christ which was given to me to be revealed. It was because of this Revelation that I was condemned by those who could not understand the divine law and principles of the Word of God. I have not changed my beliefs. I am not starting a new church as some have accused me, but my faith is rooted and grounded in the very same church that I have always preached. And if there is any so-called separation it is by those who are not sticking to the vision as revealed to A. J. Tomlinson and the very same vision that God has revealed in me in its complete form. It was and always has been destined to go to perfection but could not do so under its present influence. To show that these words are true let me quote from the words of the former General Overseer of the Church of God of Prophecy, Bishop A. J. Tomlinson, in regard to the duties of the C.P.M.A. Secretary – Now read: “I consider that one Secretary can work at the perfecting of the church and then do the work of the Marker Association as well as one secretary handles the A.B.M. and S.O.P.A. These are locked together, and also the perfecting of the church and the Marker Association.” [1] According to these words the former General Overseer felt that it would be the duty of the Secretary of this office to search out means and ways for the church to advance toward perfection; this is what I have been doing. And this is what has caused much
of my persecution from those who did not understand my work. I can only say, “Lord, forgive those who did not understand; but, I could not be disobedient to the revelation that God gave to me as the way toward perfection.” The Church of God moves on; it is the Church of God…the Church of Prophecy. It is the same one that was built upon the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ being the Chief Cornerstone. It only trembled for a moment under the galling influence of laws, wire-pulling, prejudiced feelings, respect of persons, power and prestige, but now moves forward with a greater revelation and a more perfect government as it is described in the New Testament and supported by all its types and shadows of the law and prophets. And since the day I was forced to either resign or refrain from publishing this revelation, God has revealed the extension of His government that will bring about a perfect and glorious church. And since the work of perfection was my responsibility while holding office, it was necessary for me to make an advanced move in making preparation for the coming of the Lord and have His church ready. The thing that brought about my resignation was the printing of my testimony of what God and Christ had been in my life, and the revelation of His last days’ work being revealed in the spirit and power of the beloved John, the Revelator, who wrote the divine book and made a return to the earth in spirit and power to reveal his writings. And out of his writings has come the development of Fields of the Wood and all its projects that I have revealed in his book and also the Wings of Prophecy of the Angel with the flying message supported by the law and the prophets. I was condemned of congregating or talking with those who believed and openly supported this revelation. And because I refused to cease printing and doing this,
I was condemned and forced to resign even without a church trial. And since I was compelled to take this stand to save The Church of God and her true vision, I now feel that it is necessary to make corrections on the different errors made by the Assembly in order for the Church to have the favor of God and His glorious power upon it. They are as follows: Number One: THE ASSEMBLY IS NOT THE HIGHEST TRIBUNAL OF AUTHORITY! Yet, this was accepted by the Assembly in the Forty-third Annual Assembly. To prove this, the following words are taken from the Cyclopedic Index of Assembly Minutes, Page 438 as follows:, "Be it resolved, by this 43rd Annual Assembly of the Church of God over which M. A. Tomlinson is General Overseer with headquarters offices at 303 Bible Place, Cleveland, Tennessee, U.S.A., convened at Cleveland, Tennessee, September 14-20, 1948, that the General Overseer be and is hereby authorized to represent and stand for the General Assembly when it is not in session, to sign any and all documents requiring the signature of an authorized representative of said Assembly, and to handle all emergencies arising between Assemblies which have not been settled by the General Assembly while in session, AS THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IS THE HIGHEST AUTHORITY IN THE CHURCH." This law was passed by the Assembly; yet, God has never permitted the people to rule or be Authority. For every time the people took the Authority unto themselves, they met with disaster and tragedy. This is pointed out all through the Bible. According to the Scriptures, Korah and his men are renown attempted to raise the Assembly to the same height of power and so be equal with Moses; but, a tragedy came their way when this was done and God pointed out to them that Moses was the Authority and had the rule over the people in the Assembly and out of the Assembly. God's way was the TRUE, THEOCRATIC FORM OF
GOVERNMENT but Korah's way was contrary to God's way and so God had to bring about a tragedy to show them the right way. And from the time that the Assembly made itself the highest Authority it has continued to make errors and refused to use Scriptures to support its moves. This alone is contrary to one of the basic beliefs as outlined in the pattern for government as revealed to A. J. Tomlinson, Now read: "We want our decisions to be on Bible lines," [2] Now then, I feel that it would be good for you to read just what Korah did, and what happened to him and his people, and see for yourself that this is what did happen and remember it was the Church in the Wilderness (Acts 7:38) which was a type and shadow and an example for us upon whom the ends of the world have come (I Corinthians 10:11) Read: "Now Korah…took men: And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty PRINCES of the ASSEMBLY, famous in the congregation, men of RENOWN: And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, YE TAKE TOO MUCH UPON YOU, SEEING ALL THE CONGREGATION ARE HOLY, EVERYONE OF THEM, and the LORD IS AMONG THEM: WHEREFORE THEN LIFT YE UP YOURSELVES ABOVE THE CONGREGATION OF THE LORD? And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even tomorrow the Lord will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto Him… (Numbers 16:1-50).” Number Two: Another law of the Assembly was passed when the Assembly attempted to give the General Overseer power in absence of the Assembly – this is a mistake; for, this is an inherent power that is given when the General Overseer is anointed for the position. The General Overseer is anointed by
God and accepted by the Assembly and by the present General Overseer. And by doing this, the General Overseer has surrendered his inherent authority, which came with the anointing. This subjects the people of God to GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE that is contrary to THEOCRATIC Government... GOVERNMENT BY GOD FOR THE PEOPLE. Number Three: Another serious mistake, which was passed as a law by the Assembly, is where the privilege of selecting a pastor in the local church was done away with. When this happened, the THEOCRATIC FORM OF GOVERNMENT ceased to operate in the local churches for there was no place given any longer for opportunity for unanimous agreement or for God to work in them to make the selection of a pastor. This will also come under the heading of state independence. State independence exists when a man, though he is a licensed minister in the Church, cannot cross a state line to preach unless he will agree to change his convictions to please every state overseer of whatever state he may be in at that time. And with such a law as this existing in the church, and where every state has its own doctrine, and where ministers are eventually condemned when they reach a state where a state doesn’t agree with them, the church could never go on to the state of perfection. Number Four: Another serious mistake is when the Assembly passes laws to take the place of salvation, that is, to make people do things that salvation is suppose to do for them. This happens when someone or a group of people fail to live right and then the first thing that the Assembly does is to pass a law to make sure no one else does the same thing. This is unScriptural. Either we are a church governed by salvation or we are a church governed by laws; and, the latter surely is not God’s way of Government. Many things in a Christian’s life is governed by their conscious and not by a law. He is suppose to have
enough of Christ in him to live the teachings of the church and not be ruled to live by them. The divine institution of Christ, the Church of God, the Church of Prophecy, is suppose to be a Government by love and not fear. This is something that has been accepted by the Assembly in the past, but for some reason, has found it to their advantage to dispense with. Read: “A statement was made that those in authority, whether overseers or pastors, could not lord it over God’s heritage, but rather to advise; there is no forcing to submission under the grace dispensation.”[3] All decisions made by the Assembly are supposed to be based on Scriptures. Everything, which we support, is to be supported by the Scriptures, but for some time, the committee hasn’t seemed interested in what Scripture says about a thing. And one State Overseer even made the statement that it made no difference whether it was specifically Scriptural or not, just as long as the Assembly passed on it. This is in direct conflict with the former practices of the Assembly and beliefs of A. J. Tomlinson. Read: "Make everything according to the pattern must be our motto."[4] "… Bear in mind that the Council at Jerusalem was conducted under the Theocratic form of Government which honored God and the Holy Scriptures in the final settlement of the matter in question; while the one at Nicea was operated under Episcopal Government and not a word of Scripture was given as authority for the Creed and nothing said about it being pleasing to the Holy Ghost. We are certainly following in the footprints of the noble and ever to be revered Apostles and Elders of the early Church when we declare that in ALL of our deliberations the final decision and settlement of every question must be in harmony with God’s Holy Word, and a ‘Thus saith the Lord’, or ‘it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us’ at the end of the decision.”[5]
Number Five: Another serious error was made when the Questions and Subject Committee, in the 56th Annual Assembly, misled the Assembly to make a law prohibiting the Word of God from being revealed in the church. This was in regard to the Two Witnesses. Read: "Question: Does the Church endorse attempts by its Ministers to identify themselves or other Ministers as the Two Witnesses – mentioned in Revelation 11? Does it approve of anyone indicating that he is – John, the Revelator? Answer: NO” [6] In the first place, the Assembly had never said “YES or NO” in regard to this question; yet, the Questions and Subjects Committee took the liberty of impersonating the Assembly by saying, “NO”. This was misleading and an error. Now Read: “Committees never settle things, but consider questions and recommend certain actions, and the Assembly settles matters.”[7] Number Six: Another necessary thing which should have already been done is to set the Church upon New Testament principles, since the Church of God takes the whole Bible rightly divided and the New Testament for its rule of faith and practice. Jesus organized the Church on perfect principles, and for some time, it remained in this perfect state. Now then, many of these principles have been left off which now will have to be placed in and operating in the true Church in order for it to be perfected. This is what I have been working toward--filling up that which is behind. I have already established these principles in the perfecting of the Church and all who will stick to this vision and revelation will get to see her in all her glorious beauty--the perfect church! It is not another! It is the same --The Church of God, the Church of Prophecy. Preparations are now being made to correct all these mistakes that have led astray from the true Bible lines. I trust this information will be sufficient to give you an understanding of the true light on the subject and that it will give an understanding as to where the true Church is.