A letter unto the Church of God
By Brother Ricky Ricardo Morris
I write this letter in all humility to address a matter that is of great concern among the body. I have known the church of God for about 35 years, and I have seen her trials and battles down through the years. I remember when coming to a church of God local congregation in June 1975 it was the most thrilling experience that a young man at the age of 22 years old could ever experience. Freshly coming out of Babylon and seeing the full illumination of truth is the greatest witness and divine revelation that I have ever witness in my lifetime. I came out of a Pentecostal sect. I remember in my quest for truth, I went down many roads seeking the right way to live for God. At the time I didn’t understand that to start living for God I simply had to repent and confess and forsake my sins and put my faith and trust in Christ my Lord. I was side tracked in my quest and went from mountain to mountain and hill to hill seeking Zion.
I by default inherited my family religion, for what my mother was (a Baptist), I also became. To just back track a little farther, My Great Grandfather was a Baptist Minister and my Grandfather was a Baptist Minister and many Uncles were Baptist Ministers as well. My ancestry dates back to the late 1700’s when my family arrived from Guinea the West Coast of Africa. My family history in America is authentically documented by the U.S. Census Bureau, Their names are all there as well. So you see religion was handed down in my family from generation to generation. My family religion existed before the sixth seal was opened and though they lived under the fifth seal they lived to all they knew in the sects of men. But one thing that was nice to know was that the greatest legacy that my great grandparents could leave my family was the sense of worshipping the true God of heaven and put faith in his son Jesus Christ who died for our sins.
After growing up as a lad in Chicago Illinois, and losing both of my parents at an early age. I wanted to know more about God, and I became very conscience of heaven and immortal things. This great sense of loss forced me to be concern about my own mortality. So I began to seek for truth. I considered the Muslims, Jehovah’s Witness, and other sect religions. Even though I went to a Baptist Church as a youngster on the South Side of Chicago, I knew that I need more. Once day while coming home from the YMCA in my neighbor, I noticed a church by the name “Mt. Calvary Church of God in Christ”. It was something about that name that attracted me to that place. Hummmmm, the Church of God in Christ. For some reason I felt that I was getting closer to a resolution for my quest. So I started going to this church. I also and another friend of mine would gather all the children in the neighbor and we would go to this church. Why I did this I don’t know. I started reading the bible more and seeking for a deeper experience of more than what I had. I went to this church faithfully. On Wednesday Night we would have (BTW), I think this meant Bible Training Workers, and on Friday Nights I would attend a Holy Ghost tarrying Service, where we would praise God, and testify and dance for hours seeking the presence of the Lord, and seeking to get filled with his Spirit. We would also speak in an unknown strange tongue as evidence that we got it.
But I had a big problem with this, because I could not get the Holy Ghost. No matter how much I danced and tried to speak in that unknown tongue, I just couldn’t get it. I was living to all I knew, but for some reason I just could not get it. There were other problems to there. This sect or group of people would publicly beg their audience dry, they would set up Twenty Dollar lines, Ten Dollars Lines, Five Dollar Lines and a Dollar Line, and by the way they didn’t except change (coined money). They would also make the audience stand and walk around to the front of the pulpit to drop their money in the offering plate. This way they could see who was giving and who was not giving. On the way back from the offering walk on one occasion I didn’t have anything to give and I was accosted by the Pastor’s Mother in Law, by her pulling on my jacket and was questioned about not putting money in the offering plate. I resented this because I was embarrassed that I didn’t have the money to give and offended that she would even ask. I remember once leaving the Friday Night tarrying service and going home, and upon entering the living room of my house God spoke loudly to me with a strong audible voice in my conscious and told me to sit down, no one was in the living room with me, so I sat down and God said open the bible and read it for yourself. And this I did. From that moment I began to learn God for myself. I was a illiterate person, because I never spent much time in school due to being sick most of life a child. I never even made one whole credit in High School. But by obeying God, that day He gave me the spirit of knowledge to learn of him for myself.
I decided from that day that I would quit going to that church, and seek God for myself. God gave me a strong conviction that he wanted to teach me the word of God. Later I went downtown to the Bible book store to find a book or things to help me study my bible correctly, and while in the book store (Moody Bible Book Store) I ran into an Old friend who were once in a band with me and also went to the same high school that I went to earlier and He witness to me about Salvation and other truths, and in my heart I excepted those things that he said. He did not force them on me, but it was something about what he was saying the totally agreed with my spirit and I knew God was in what he was saying. Later that week He came by the house and invited to a Church of God bible class on the south side of Chicago on 46th and Drexel where the Pastor was Elder Willie E. Gordorn. It was a very good bible class and every one in there looked different. They had this glow about them. They were very nice people and greeted me very warmly. I knew I wanted to come back to this place. So on Sunday I came out to service and upon entering the door, you had to walk up stairs to the main chapel, and God spoke to me, you have come to Mount Zion. I didn’t know what Zion was, but I knew that I had come home. I had found my resting place. As I write this, I weep at the awesome guidance of God down through the years. Brethren I could have still been in Babylon but God through divine intervention brought me out with a mighty hand.
Now after being absent for a while at the Pentecostal church and not showing up at the tarrying service. The Deacon came looking for me, this is the one who was teaching me how to tarry (dance), and speak in tongues. As I went on my way out my door out of my walkway, I could see him coming down the street and I ran back into the house and went out the back door and went and hid in a neighbor’s house from him. Thank God for providing a way of escape.
I will never forget my first introduction to the church of God and its teachings. I remember Pastor Gordon teaching the Friday Night bible class and one of the things that we would have to do at the start of the class was to recite a list of things the church of God stood for, and I am 57 years old now and still have not forgotten them and can say it by heart. For example:
The Church of God stands for;
AN ETERNAL GOD - PSALM 90:2
A DIVINE CHRIST - JOHN 1:1,14
AN INFALLIBLY INSPIRED BIBLE - II TIMOTHY 3:16; II PETER 2:20,21
SALVATION FROM SIN - MATTHEW 1:21; I JOHN 3:8-9
THE NEW BIRTH - JOHN 3:1-7
ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION – EPH. 5:25-26; I THESSALONIANS 5:23
A HOLY LIFE - TITUS 2:11-12; HEBREWS 12:10-14
UNITY OF GOD'S PEOPLE - JOHN 17:21; I COR. 12:13
DIVINE HEALING - JAMES 5:14-15
THE ORDINANCES - MATTHEW 28:19-20
ETERNAL LIFE - MATT. 25:46; MARK 10:29-30; JOHN 3:15, 6:54,10:28
ETERNAL PUNISHMENT - MARK 9:43-46; REVELATION 20:15
These were the best Friday Nights that I ever had in my life. We also used to study from a book called what the Bible Teaches, which dealt more in-depth about the subject matters that were listed in the church of God recitation that we sounded at the start of every class. We were also given topics to individually study and prepare to bring back to the next class and stand before the class to expound what we have learned. I remember on one occasion after being in the Church of God for about 3 months, I was given a topic on Sects and the different between the true Church and Sects. I came up with the ideal to get poster board, and I went home and got some tops from the pots and pans and created my first chart describing the true Church as a big circle in the middle and the false churches and sects of man as little circles surrounding the big circle. Through this illustration and my notes I was able and clearly show the difference between the True Church of the bible and the False one. My Pastor was amazed and stated that there were some here who had been around the church of God for thirty years who did not know as much as I did about the difference between the true Church of God and Sects.
I became very encourage through these classes and began to study more and more about the Church of God, in prophecy and history. The book of Revelation became my most read book at the time and through prayer and the Holy Spirit, I was able to have a clear understanding of the book of Revelation. It showed the triumphant and battles of the Church, It show her victories and also her enemies. It showed the church from its inception and also her outcome in the end time. It truly is a marvelous book. At this time there were several brothers that got together sometimes to spend a whole night together praying and studying the book of Revelation. These brothers was also known or dubbed the Revelators. God through prophecy and history showed us many things from this great and last book of the bible.
I said all of this to let the church know that I love this book and the way God revealed many wonderful jewels from this book to me. Yes I read other commentary concerning this book, but these were nothing in comparison to how God through the Holy Spirit gave it to me.