The Anointing

57 Pages·2010·2.67 MB·English

C T
HAPTER HREE
The Anointing
( )
age 30
Chapter 3: The Anointing 80
THE END OF THE LINE
As previously mentioned, the simple folk who filled Church of God pews in these days
were distinguished by, among other good things, their great zeal for the gospel. They were
not content merely to react to the world’s conduct or criticism; on the contrary, they always
took the initiative. They saw themselves as conquering soldiers of Christ, and they had no
defensive tactics. They were bold and aggressive with goodness. No one dared to join a
Pentecostal church who still clung to the hope of retaining the approval of unbelieving family
or friends. Keeping company with the saints at that time meant keeping company with
people who might at any time start praising the Lord or testifying in public of the wonderful
grace of God. My father said that whenever he was with Brother Hunnings, the old man
could hardly go longer than thirty seconds without at least whispering words such as “praise
God”, or “hallelujah”, or uttering praises to God “with words that man cannot utter.”
There came a day when these despised but exuberant saints called for a victory march
through downtown Kinston to declare the glory of God to the whole city. My father, willing
to follow his elders in whatever direction they led, committed himself to showing up for this
parade of praise. On this occasion, however, he was a little low on the oil of the Spirit, and
he felt a touch of embarrassment at the thought of being seen by businessmen and others of
the town as he marched among those poor, ignorant people. Oh, but we can trust Jesus to
find a way of chastening us when we find ourselves short of “the oil of gladness”.
Reasoning to himself that most people in Kinston, contemptuous as they were of holy
Ghost baptized people, would turn their backs on the parade and ignore it once they saw it
coming, Brother Clark chose to be among those who marched at the end of the parade. That
would be, he felt sure, the least noticed and therefore the least embarrassing part of the
procession. But Jesus, the Master of irony, intervened. On that day, he made the people of
Kinston strangely curious. The shouts and praises and singing of Brother Hunnings and other
happy souls at the front of the column served not to disgust but to attract a great number of
curious spectators, shoppers and shopkeepers alike, and by the time the end of the parade
passed down Queen Street, many hundreds of scornful eyes were fixed on the young man and
those who marched with him at the end of the line.
The lesson was learned. Those low on the Spirit’s oil feel ashamed of Jesus because
they are a shame to him, and he will cause them to feel from men his displeasure. The ones
most willing to suffer the ridicule of men that day were those who had to suffer it the least.
That is the way of God with His children, and this is a story about God.
Chapter 3: The Anointing 81
THE MUSIC OF HEAVEN?
As I have mentioned, the Church of God denomination was either so small or so scorned
by the general public that it was not even recognized along with the other churches in town
by the media. In the Kinston Free Press, the Pentecostal Holiness Church and its pastor were
regularly mentioned alongside the more prestigious Christian churches in town, but never
in those days was the Church of God’s existence even acknowledged by the media, so far as
I could determine. The reason for this cannot be given with certainty, but from all accounts,
society’s contempt ran deep.
An old adage maintains that “when love turns to hate, there’s no forgiveness.” When
Joseph’s brothers, for example, lost their love for their little brother, their dislike of him grew
continually until it became a fierce loathing. And when it grew thus, it could no longer be
denied or hidden. The Bible tells us that those other sons of Jacob “could not speak
peaceably unto him.” There was nothing good they could find in this very good youth.
The general public’s hatred of zealous holiness people at the time Clarence repented and
became “Brother Clark” was not far removed from the attitude of Joseph’s brothers. They
were ostracized, abused, and mocked at every turn. On one occasion when Brother Clark
was preaching, a group of townsfolk surrounded the church building and, on a signal, threw
bricks through the windows. One brick landed in the lap of a sister on the first row, in front
of Brother Clark. On another occasion, when he returned to Goose Creek Island to preach,
an angry mob kidnapped him and dragged him into a swamp, I suppose to tar and feather or
to kill him. His salvation came when the two leaders of the mob began fighting over what
exactly to do to him. While they fought, he escaped through the woods. On his way out of
the woods, he was very happy to meet another group of men who were on the way into the
swamp to rescue him. Threats were always being made against the saints, and sometimes
were carried out. There was nothing good that some people found in these very good people.
Even the most innocuous of objects was treated as contemptible if it was associated with
holiness folk. On the front page of the Free Press, for example, the first sermon in a series
by Rev. T. C. Johnson, pastor of the First Baptist Church, was summarized. The object of
Mr. Johnson’s ire was the lowly tambourine, an instrument commonly found among holiness
people, and for several reasons: (1) tambourines were cheap, and the saints were poor; (2)
playing the tambourine did not require a great deal of expertise, and almost none of God’s
people were trained musicians; (3) the tambourine’s beat fit in nicely with the spirited music
of holiness meetings. But one might gather from the remarks of Pastor Johnson that the devil
himself invented the tambourine for no other purpose than to lure people into immorality and
destroy their souls. On the following page is the article as it appeared in The Kinston Free
Press on June 5, 1933.
Chapter 3: The Anointing 82
The following is an account of a 1933 sermon by the Rev.
T. C. Johnson, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Kinston,
NC. The editors of the Kinston Free Press regularly
published, on the front page, a Sunday sermon delivered by
one of the city’s admired Christian ministers.
Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister,
took a tambourine in her hand, and all the
women of Israel went out after her with
tambourines and with dancing.
And Miriam sang unto them,
“Sing unto the LORD, for he has
triumphed gloriously;
Horse and rider he has thrown into
the sea.”
Exodus 15:20-21
NRSV
Chapter 3: The Anointing 83
From The Kinston Free Press, September 20, 1919.
Up until the early 1930s, when I stopped searching, I never found an instance in which
the Church of God sect was listed with Christian churches, as was the Pentecostal Holiness.
Chapter 3: The Anointing 84
PROTECTING THE CHURCH OF GOD SECT:
“ . . . until we get more light on it.”
There was a great controversy raging within the Church of God sect at the time Clarence
was called by Jesus into the grace of God. A. J. Tomlinson, General Overseer of the Church
of God, had been accused by the elders of the church of mismanagement of church funds.
In time, the bitterness grew to the extent that the Overseer split with the elders and, with a
small group of followers, founded the Church of God of Prophecy. At one point, and to
Clarence’s growing dismay, there was such quarreling and heated debate over the Tomlinson
issue at church meetings that he realized that he was having difficulty keeping his mind on
God. At last, he decided to withdraw from regular meetings and have meetings in his home,
where people could come to worship God without having such distractions. The only
requirement for those who wanted to come was that the subject of A. J. Tomlinson could not
be brought up.
For about a year, Clarence had meetings at home, and the number of people attending
swelled. Young people began receiving the holy Ghost, and all who attended feasted on joy,
peace, and righteousness.
After a year, Brother Hunnings approached his young friend and told him he had spoken
with the District Overseer, and it had been agreed that if he would return to the Church of
God sect, then he would be allowed to act as pastor. After thinking it over, Clarence agreed,
and he brought the congregation from his home with him.
Clarence was what some now would call a “people person”. He was by all accounts
personable and witty. Apparently, Church of God officials judged the young minister to be
trustworthy, prudent, and capable of handling delicate situations. On several occasions, he
was charged with the weighty responsibility of visiting wayward ministers and congregations
to realign them with the standards and doctrines of the Church of God sect. One particularly
disturbing error that Clarence was chosen by Church of God officials to deal with concerned
a doctrine being taught then in several congregations in eastern North Carolina. Certain
Church of God ministers were beginning to teach that the baptism of the holy Ghost with the
evidence of speaking in tongues was not an experience one receives after being born again,
but was itself the experience of new birth. In other words, a person was not born again until
he received the holy Ghost baptism with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
My father dutifully visited those congregations who were being taught this irritating new
doctrine and spent time with the ministers who taught it. He was impressed with their
sincerity but was disturbed by their testimonies of the Lord “revealing” this doctrine to them.
It was obvious to him after being around these wayward brothers that he was unable to
persuade them to abandon their new faith completely. However, he was a good negotiator,
and in the end, he felt that he had accomplished as much as anyone in his position could
have, in the light of their rock-solid confidence that God had spoken to them. He managed
to reach an agreement with the pastors who taught that doctrine that they should no longer
teach it in official Church of God services, at least “until we get more light on it.”
His superiors in the Church of God must have been satisfied with that conclusion as well
because after returning to headquarters this report, he heard nothing else from his Overseer
about it.
Chapter 3: The Anointing 85
PROTECTING THE CHURCH OF GOD SECT:
“The devil can heal, too!”
Not long after this, word began to spread of a traveling tent preacher named Brother
Creech who claimed to be anointed to heal the sick. Brother Creech had a reputation as a
man of God among Pentecostals in general, but his ministry was frowned upon by Church
of God officials. Young Clarence was asked by Brother Criss, his Overseer in the Church
of God denomination, to attend Brother Creech’s tent meeting with him in order to
investigate the man and his work and probably to see who among their flock was attending
these meetings in disobedience to their leaders’ instructions.
The two went and sat together near the outer edge of the tent. When the healing service
began, several people seemed indeed to be healed, but Brother Criss remained unconvinced,
and he told his young associate that he knew that Brother Creech was a fraud and that he had
hired people to act as if they were healed when he laid his hands on them. The younger
minister listened and watched. He didn’t know if Brother Creech was of God or not, but his
own eyes and ears were telling him there was something real about what he was witnessing.
And he didn’t know if Brother Criss was correct in saying that these people were pretending
to be sick and then healed, but he trusted his elder’s judgment in spiritual matters. It was a
confusing situation to the young man, and it troubled his spirit.
Suddenly, Brother Criss’ head jerked up and his eyes widened.
Clarence quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Brother Criss said, “That’s my brother’s boy over there. The one with the crutches.”
Clarence saw him, too, and asked his elder, “Is your nephew pretending that he needs
healing, too?”
Somberly and slowly, Brother Criss responded, “No, he has been like that his whole
life.”
Now, Clarence was extremely interested. He knew that he and Brother Criss would see
for certain now whether or not Brother Creech’s anointing with healing power was real. As
the service continued and the healing line shortened, the afflicted young man drew ever
nearer to Brother Creech. The joyous shouts of those who were healed and their testimonies
of how they had suffered meant little to Clarence now. They could not be trusted; they might
be faking everything, even though their tears made it all seem genuine. In Clarence’s mind,
God had provided him and his elder an unexpected but very welcome measuring stick by
which Brother Creech’s anointing might be judged.
As the distance between the hobbling youth and Brother Creech was reduced, Clarence’s
interest was multiplied. Nothing could take his eyes off the scene. Finally, the youth stood
before the man of God, humbly asking for healing from Jesus. Brother Creech laid his hands
on him, rebuked the affliction, and the young man shook under the power of God. He was
healed instantly and completely! He threw down his crutches and began running around the
front area of the tent, praising God with tearful joy.
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What excitement filled Clarence’s heart! He was so thankful that Jesus had provided
him and his Overseer with a way to prove the truth about this healer. He and Brother Criss
had done their duty; they had investigated for the good of the church a man who claimed to
be sent from God and had discovered that, indeed, God had sent him. The concerns of their
leaders could now be relieved. Brother Creech was no fraud. The healings were real.
Clarence’s first thoughts were that he and Brother Criss could file their report and tell
the leaders of the Church of God sect that it was safe for their members to attend Brother
Creech’s services. They would, no doubt, be happy to hear that God had visited His people.
He looked excitedly at his Overseer and was surprised to see on Brother Criss’ face a dour
look. The elder slowly leaned back in his seat, quiet and thoughtful. Intrigued, Clarence
waited for his elder to speak.
At length, Brother Criss muttered lowly, “Well, the devil can heal, too.”
Clarence was stunned and silent. An eerie, uncomfortable feeling covered him when he
heard his trusted elder say that. What was he to think now?
His elder rose and walked away from the tent, followed by young Clarence.
Chapter 3: The Anointing 87
“I WANT POWER!”
In the beginning, Clarence happily and eagerly
yielded to what he considered to be the superior wisdom
of his Pentecostal elders concerning the doctrine of
Christ. After all, were they not the ones who helped him
find the Way? As he grew in Christ, however, questions
stirred within his soul as Jonah once struggled within the
whale’s belly, and the young minister soon found himself
driven to spend much time in prayer.
The kind of prayer he was driven now to pursue with God required time alone. He
prayed often at home and with the church, but to seek the face of God as he longed to do, he
needed a secluded place. He knew of an abandoned church in a wooded area just outside of
Kinston that suited his purpose, and there he went. As his hunger grew, so did his time that
he spent alone with God in that dilapidated building. The extrovert withdrew from the
company of men to quench an insatiable desire to know God.
In this period of deep thirst for God, the young man spent over three weeks in almost
constant prayer in the secluded chapel. He experienced a new feeling when he found himself
wanting to avoid people; their mere presence seemed to interfere with his communion with
God. He volunteered no greetings to those whom he passed while walking along Kinston’s
streets on the way to the lonely chapel. His mind and spirit could only be satisfied when they
were focused entirely on God. He did not make up his mind to go without eating; he simply
forgot about food for days at a time. He was with God in his dreams, and in the daytime, he
found his way back to the chapel in the woods. He grew so weak that he sometimes
staggered when he stood up and attempted to walk. His soul was being purified in
preparation for his visitation from the Lord.
At last, after this extended time of earnest prayer, Jesus came to his servant who knelt
in the deserted chapel. Through his tears of desire for God’s answer to his confusion, the
desperate young man looked up toward heaven, expecting as usual to see the cracked ceiling
of the meeting house in the woods. This time, though, he was startled to see, not the ceiling,
but Jesus nailed to his cross. Then, to Clarence’s further amazement, the crucified Christ
looked down in compassion at him and tenderly asked, “What do you want?”
He cried out, “I want power!”
To which the suffering Lord responded, “You will have it.”
When Jesus had spoken these and a few more words to him, Clarence’s attention was
captured by a wasp flying horizontally along the top of one of the crumbling walls of the run-
down building. Moved by a new sense of authority, he sternly and swiftly pointed a finger
at the wasp, and it immediately fell dead to the floor “as if you had shot it”, my father used
to say when describing the incident. Wide-eyed in amazement, young Clarence said to
himself, “I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” But not quite yet. There was one thing more Jesus
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required of him before he would fully release into Clarence’s possession the power that he
had promised him.
Clarence had recently spoken to Brother Hunnings in a way that had not pleased God,
and Jesus let him know that the next time Brother Hunnings came to town, he was to humble
himself and ask forgiveness for how he had spoken to the older man. Only after that would
Clarence be able to use the power that
had been promised to him. Clarence
didn’t know when he would see
Brother Hunnings again, for he did
not live in Kinston and only
infrequently made the trip into town.
The next morning, however, as
Clarence stood on a downtown
sidewalk, he saw Brother Hunnings’
old car chugging around the corner.
He had come to Kinston!
When Clarence caught up with
Brother Hunnings, they spent the day
in happy fellowship, but in one of
those odd, inexplicable fragments of
life, the Lord’s last commandment to
Clarence somehow slipped his mind
until later that evening. He
remembered it only when he and
Brother Hunnings were getting ready
for bed where they were staying that
night. It was then that the younger
servant of Jesus remembered what
Jesus had commanded him. He
quickly and humbly apologized to
Brother Hunnings for how he had
spoken to him, but Brother Hunnings
seemed scarcely to remember the incident to which Clarence was referring. He merely
shrugged it off, telling Clarence, “Oh, that’s alright, forget about it.” Clearly, Clarence’s
tone of voice had displeased Jesus more than it had troubled Brother Hunnings.
After that, as they continued to talk excitedly of the things of God in their room before
going to sleep, Clarence felt the holy anointing of God poured over his being. He described
it in terms of a full bucket of refreshing water being poured upon his head. It was the
anointing of God, the confirmation of the power Jesus had promised him. How they both
praised God in great victory in their room that night! Clarence knew now that Jesus had
made him “an able minister of the new testament”. He was so happy!