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Breaking Free Miinistries USA

A Search For Truth (Part II)

LOST FIRST LOVE
From age thirteen to seventeen I was faithful in attending church, and felt that one day God would lead
me into ministry. Sometimes at home I pretended I was preaching to others. But even at that age I did
not like the preaching style I had become acquainted with. I had heard that my father was once a
jack-leg preacher [that is what a preacher is called when he has not had any formal Bible college
training]. The reason I said, "I heard" is because my mother and father divorced when I was four years
old, and I was reared by my mother. Around the age of about seventeen, I became dissatisfied with
Christianity in the Baptist church. Why? One of the traditions in some Black Baptist churches is the
Holy Spirit possession one experience during the preaching or singing, the same experience I believe I
experienced when I got off the mourning bench [ I don't have any remembrance of coming off the
bench].   Later on I often observed others having this Holy Spirit experience, but I never experienced it
again. I called it "getting happy" because the individual would began shouting and praising God, and
sometimes would fall on the floor. There were times when I wondered if there was something wrong
with me. But as Christians, we shouldn't be looking for an emotional experience. Another reason I
learned later for my dissatisfaction was the lack of discipleship and good Bible teaching after
becoming a Christian.

RADIO MINISTRY
For entertainment as a youth, I would always listen to the radio; our family did not own a television at
that time. I would listen to every Christen program I could. The Christen ministry I listened to the
most was "The World Tomorrow" by Herbert W. Armstrong; soon he was the only one I was listening
too. When one program went off, I would switch to another station, to hear sometimes the same
message. Because his program was on many radio stations, I would listen to him several times a night.
Why him?

It was the content of the message and the messenger. Mr. Armstrong spoke with authority. His voice
was so dynamic that it demanded attention. He had answers to today's problems: why are we hear and
how to get there. He talked and taught about real issues we face in our daily life, offering biblical
solutions. While in comparison to the traditional Baptist church I was attending, all I could see was
emotional experiences which I could never connect with. I learned later that we as Christians don't
always respond to the Holy Spirit the same. Some Christians respond to the Holy Spirit outwardly
while others inwardly.

TEACHINGS OF WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD
Soon I began receiving every possible literature that was mentioned during Mr. Armstrong's radio
program, The World Tomorrow. Their two major publications offered to the general public were "The
Plain Truth" magazine and the "Ambassador Correspondence Course." The Plain Truth magazine
wasn't written to teach doctrines of the church, then called the "Radio Church of God." It was written
to appeal to the general public. It had Christen teachings in it that would be helpful to all Christians
regardless of your denomination, even though there were at times doctrinal issues in it. But the
"Worldwide Church of God" did have a separate magazine, "The Good News," written especially for
its members.

One of the main tools used for teaching the doctrines of the church was the Ambassador
Correspondence Course. In response to a question I asked regarding best colleges to attend, included
in the letter that was sent to me was a statement about the Ambassador College Correspondence
Course. It covered all the basic doctrines of the church, for example: Where Is the True Church? [They
taught they were the only true church.]; the Sabbath (Saturday) should be kept instead of Sunday; the
Jewish holy-days should be kept (Passover, Pentecost, Feast of Tabernacles, etc.); the food laws (certain
meats were not to be eaten). I was a dedicated Bible student. I spent must of my spare time studying
my lessons in the correspondence course. Usually I studied all day Saturday and Sunday. In each
lesson I learned new knowledge I had never known before.

In response to another question I asked, "Is it alright for me to vote in school elections for officers of
the student council or various clubs, and is it alright for me to run for office?"

Another teaching of the Worldwide Church of God was their teaching that "God was the author of
segregation." The two biblical examples stated were the building of the Tower of Babel, and the
commandment to Israelites not to marry non- Israelites. After coming out of the Worldwide Church of
God, I learned the truth about these examples, that they had misinterpreted these scriptures.

FIRST VISIT TO "WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD"
After many months of listening to "The World Tomorrow" program, studying the "Ambassador
College Correspondence Course," and reading "The Plain Truth" and other literature from Mr.
Armstrong, I became convinced the "Worldwide Church of God" was the only true church, that
salvation could come only by belonging to that church, and everyone else was going to "hell."
Therefore, I wrote to them asking if I could become a member of their church, the true church.

In response to my request, the Worldwide Church of God sent me a letter regarding baptism. They also
sent a representative to visit me from their local church in Little Rock, Arkansas. He said he could only
invite me to visit their local church, but he could not baptize me yet. Since they didn't accept my
original baptism, to them it was invalid, I would have to be re-baptized. Because I lived five miles
outside of Morrilton, I first had to get to Morrilton to ride a bus to Little Rock. Since I didn't own a
car, I had to get a ride or walk, which I did often.

Upon my arrival to my first church service of the Worldwide Church of God, I was very excited, but I
was also leery because this was my first time attending a predominately white church. Many welcome
me there. I was surprise to find a few African- Americans who were also attending. I was able to attend
the Little Rock church during the summer about three or four times in 1963. Because of lack of
financing, I couldn't continue to afford the bus ticket to Little Rock.

LACK OF BROTHERLY CONCERN
Since I quit attending the Baptist church where I was a member, not once did anyone, pastor or other
members, come to ask me why I stop coming. We as members of the Body of Christ, especially
members of a local church, should have enough concern and love for one another to be always aware
of who has not been attending regularly. Perhaps if enough brotherly concern had been shown me at
that time I may have recognized some of the false teachings I had accepted.

It was several years later before I ever heard anyone speak against Herbert W. Armstrong. It was
during my father's funeral that the pastor used Mr. Armstrong as an example of a false religious
teacher during his funeral sermon. I wondered if he knew I was a member of Mr. Armstrong's church.

BECOMING A MEMBER
It wasn't until after I graduated from high school in May 1964 and moved to Kansas City, Kansas that
I was able to attend Worldwide Church of God on a regular basis. After attending the local Kansas
City branch of the Worldwide Church of God a few weeks, I had the opportunity to attend my first
Feast of Tabernacles in Big Sandy, Texas. Even though I had very little money, a Kansas City member
offered me a free ride and someone else gave me a place to live.

After proving myself faithfulness in attendance, I was granted permission to join Worldwide Church of
God as a member. I was re-baptized on February 28, 1965, nine months after arriving in Kansas City.

BEING A MEMBER
After being a member of the Worldwide Church of God for a number of years, I was well indoctrinated
into their teachings. I had a sense of identity; I was one of the elect ones, chosen to know the truth, and
to be part of the true church.

It was preached to us that we shouldn't attend other denominations or listen to their ministers on the
radio or television, nor read their literature because they weren't interpreting the Scriptures correctly.
This was a guaranteed way of keeping its members from being influence by others, keeping us from
questioning anything that was taught us. The Worldwide Church of God taught a lot of good
Christian principles, but they also taught legalistic principles as a requirement of salvation: faith plus
works, which I mentioned previously being taught as part of the "Ambassador College Correspondence
Course." One of the great mysteries God revealed to Paul was that we are now saved completely by
grace, not by any works we may perform (Ephesians 2:8,9). No amount of charitable contributions you
may give, serving the needy, or keeping the law can ever earn you salvation.

Besides the legalism principles being taught, they predicted the date of the second coming of Christ.
First, it was 1972, and later, 1975. But the Scripture plainly states that no man will be able to predict
the date of the second coming of Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:36). Yes, we are living in the end-times, but
we should never stop planning for the future as long as we have breath. The end-times have been upon
us for nearly two-thousand years. No man knows whether Christ's second coming or the rapture will
occur tomorrow or one-hundred years from now. But there were consequences in my personal life as a
results of this false teaching.

After 1975 came and past, many members including myself became disillusion, some left the church,
but the majority remained because we felt there wasn't any other church to go too. Must of us had
been well indoctrinated into believing that the Worldwide Church of God was the only true church.
However, I do have some fun memories while being a member. The most enjoyable was our annual
Feast of Tabernacles I attended, first in Big Sandy, Texas, and later at the Lake of the Ozarks in
Missouri. This was the highlight of the year for most members, our planned vacation.

One of the three tithes required to take from our income was used primarily for this festival. The first
tithe was given to the church and the third tithe, required every third year, was used to help the needy
in the church.

Since nearly everyone had plenty of money, we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. Members from across
America came to the festival. Some lived in motels, while others camped-out, eating delicious meals
and fellowship. For seven days, we listen to inspiring sermons from ministers from our headquarters in
Pasadena, California, and pastors of local churches. Our highlight speaker was always Herbert W.
Armstrong or his son, Garner Ted Armstrong.

There were many other things about Worldwide Church of God that were good while I attended the
church. The best things were the opportunities I had for fellowship: the Ambassador College
Spokesman Club, the church activities, and including personal relationships I developed.   The speech
club helped us developed our speaking ability. It consisted of twelve speeches, starting with an
autobiography and ending with an attack speech. We also had many dinners with our wife or date
during speaking assignments.
The church was always having activities for its members. Picnics were held often during the summer.
Besides the fellowship that occurred before and after church services and annual holy days, home
fellowships often occurred.
                                            [Continued in "Part III" (click)]