Other Adventists

★1236 ★

Christian Nations–Eagle Warriors

Current address not obtained for this edition.

Christian Nations–Eagle Warriors was founded by Rev. St. Michael Doc Balzarini in Panorama City, California, in 1994 as the Universal World Federation but soon adopted its present name. The church affirms a belief in God, Jesus Christ as God manifest in the flesh, and the Holy Spirit. Its holds as its authority the Bible as the verbally inspired Word of God. Satan is a real personality, a fallen angel and the enemy of believers. Regarding humanity, the church teaches what is termed the "Teeter-Taughter Principle" that humans consist of Mind, Body, and Spirit.

The church teaches that the laws of the Jewish scriptures (the Old Testament), except those dealing with blood sacrifice and the levitical priesthood, are still in effect and applicable to present-day Israel. Christians are part of present-day Israel. In the near future a new confederation of 10 Western nations, all formerly a part of the old Roman Empire, will occur, a sign of the approaching endtime, referred to in Daniel 2:7 and Revelation 13:1. Following the organization of this confederation, the New World Order, a world dictator will emerge.

Membership: Not reported.

★1237 ★

Church of God (Reinertsen)

℅ Olaf Egge
33738 McKenzie Vw. Dr.
Eugene, OR 97401

The Church of God (Reinertsen) began in 1883 in Chicago, Illinois, when Aanen Reinertsen, a Norwegian immigrant, declared through a set of pamphlets and a periodical, Domsbasumen (The Judgment Trumpet), that he had been called out and sent by the Lord to declare that the great day of the Lord was at hand. A major theme in his writings was the apostasy of the contemporary Christian churches.

Reinertsen believed that the Church had fallen away in the year 666 and that Satan was given the power to work his deceptions for 1,260 years. Luther brought the truth of God through, but the wound he gave to Rome was soon healed. Eventually all the Christian sects fell into the same apostasy. With the time of Satan coming to an end, the kingdom of God would again rise up.

Reinertsen identified himself as the sixth angel of the tenth chapter of the biblical Book of Revelation. The angel was identical with the stone that smites the mountain (false Christianity) in Daniel 2:34-35. The stone shall become a great mountain, the kingdom of God which replaces the false church. The angel comes from heaven with the strength of God and is the cloud with which Jesus clothes himself as he comes to his people. Jesus dwelt in him, worked through him, and guided him. The angel also has an open book, i.e., the Book of Revelation, by which he can see the whole plan of God.

When the sixth angel comes and the church of God arises, the war in heaven begins between Christ and the church and the dragon and the society of the dragon. The church will win this war. The church shall exist for 1,260 years in the land of the Gentiles. Then shall the church be suppressed for about three and one-half years, to be followed by the seventh angel and the woes that he brings. The church shall then relocate to Israel. The entire historical Israel shall be saved and brought into the kingdom of God. Then shall ensure another thousand years of the millennial reign. Thus through Reinertsen, the millennial reign of Christ begins and the church he builds shall never fall again.

Reinertsen gained a small following within the NorwegianAmerican community which has survived to the present.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

Reinertsen, Aanen. The Testimony of the Man-child. Eugene, OR: Church of God, n.d. 23 pp.

★1238 ★

Kingdom of God on Earth Within Man

℅ Kingdom of God Headquarters
PO Box 77659
Los Angeles, CA 90007

The Kingdom of God on Earth Within Man was founded in 1973 by Eugene Emmanuel Purnell, an African American pastor known among the members of the Kingdom as Pastor Emmanuel. He has received the teachings of the kingdom of God through Jesus by the instrument of a host of angels who have guided and informed him in Spirit. Pastor Emmanuel, in turn, published these teachings in a series of books.

The Kingdom understands God to be Good, the totality of all Good, the Creator, Maker, Ruler, and Owner of all things. Thus all things are a part of God and inseparable from God, though no person or thing is God. The opposite of God is Evil–the devil, the consciousness of scarcity. Heaven is the throne of God. It is not a physical place, but a spiritual place. The government of heaven is the kingdom of God within the minds of the saints. In the kingdom all people are rich, free, secure, happy, mentally healthy, at peace, and immortal. They all recognize God as the creator and owner of all. The opposite of heaven is the world, the realm of lies, sin, and the devil (consciousness of scarcity). Angels exist as messengers of God or the devil to bring spirits (words, concepts) to us. All persons are messengers either of God or the devil.

The good people are being organized into the kingdom of God, the structure of which was first revealed to Pastor Emmanuel in 1973. It is designed as the perfect social system and the solution to all the individual and social problems that today beset humankind. Basic to understanding the kingdom is the truth that God creates, makes, and owns everybody and everything. The sinful person is guided by the devil–the law of scarcity–to acts of war, murder, slavery, destruction, in the false understanding that man creates, makes, rules, and owns nature, laws, persons, lands, and things.

The Kingdom of God moves to organize and coordinate all of the general activity of humankind, including the gathering and distribution of all of the appointed spiritual and material things needed to dress, feed, and shelter people. Its concerns include justice, housing, transportation, education, health, communications, and other areas of life. It comes first in one person, Jesus, and then grows through the coming of the saints. As it grows, a social transformation will occur as God transfers governmental stewardship from the governments of the world to the Kingdom of God. It is Pastor Emmanuel's observation that most of the structures of the world are permeated by the devil, i.e., the consciousness of scarcity. Included in this evil realm are all of the world's governments, religious organizations, school systems, and marriages.

In each generation God's anointed prophet, the one whom God has ordained to serve as His chief coordinator of the return of God's saints to Paradise on earth is designated the Son of God. Pastor Emmanuel is that person and he is calling the saints to the kingdom. The kingdom will be led by a hierarchy of the Council of Elders (24 or more leaders), the Assembly of Elders (15,00 in number) and coordinators of the twelve ministries: Justice, Food, Housing, Transportation, Education, Health, Clothing, Accounting, Music, Communication, Human Resources, and Material Resources. The official language of the kingdom will be English and its physical headquarters will be in the United States.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

Catechism One. Los Angeles: Kingdom of God Press, 1981. 56 pp.

God's Eternal Kingdom, Laws and Judgments: Official Guidelines for the Day of Judgment, Resurrection of the Dead and Immaculate Social Transformation. Los Angeles: Kingdom of God Press, 1983. 103 pp.

★1239 ★

Leatherwood God, Followers of the

(Defunct)

The story of the man who came to be known as the Leatherwood God began in August 1828, in the small community of Salesville, Ohio. He quietly joined a group that had gathered for a camp meeting and–during a pause in the proceedings, when the preacher had called for repentance–he interrupted the service with a loud shout of "Salvation!" People turned to look at the then strangely dressed man. He wore a black silk, beaver-skin hat. He seemed to be approximately 50 years old. The people later learned his name was Joseph C. Dylks. During the next few weeks he moved through the town as a rather mysterious personage. At times he preached and on occasion interrupted others with his shout.

As days passed, he revealed his claim that he was the true messiah and that he had arrived to establish the millennial kingdom. He further claimed that he was immortal, that his kingdom would never end, and that all who joined him would not die. He had a decisive encounter with the devil after which he declared his work done and never again shouted. He also appointed a man named McCormick as his associate leader. A short time after announcing his claims, the majority of the village had become adherents and took control of the local church building, rededicating it for the use of Dylks followers. At the service, Dylks proclaimed, "I am God, and there is none else. I am God and the Christ united…" Angry detractors now challenged Dylks, demanding a miracle. He promised one but did not deliver. Finally, someone grabbed him and pulled a handful of hair from his head (He had said that not a hair on his head could be touched.). He was arrested, but a judge could find no crime to charge him with.

In October 1828, a mere three months after his appearance, he announced that Philadelphia, not Salesville, would be the center of the New Jerusalem. He would depart and while he was away preparing the new site, the faithful should remember him by facing east (toward Philadelphia) when they prayed. He departed with McCormick and two other disciples. However, several miles from Salesville, Dylks departed from his disciples and said that they would meet again in Philadelphia when the New Jerusalem began to appear. However, Dylks did not reappear. The men searched Philadelphia for him, and finally returned to Ohio to tell their story to the congregation.

The disappointment at Dylks' departure without actually founding the millennium did not deter the congregation, and most of the members remained faithful. Some seven years after the journey to Philadelphia, one of the three men, a former minister, told the church members that he had recently seen Dylks ascend to heaven and that he would soon return to set up his kingdom. The next day the man disappeared. McCormick remained faithful through the rest of his life, dressing in a manner similar to Dylks when he first appeared. The church slowly dissolved as the members died off, there being few new converts. Around 1850, a man named Moses Hartly appeared in the neighborhood and claimed that he had seen Dylks and that Dylks would reappear before the end of the century. Dylks, however, was never seen again.

Sources:

Kummer, George. "Introduction." In The Leatherwood God by Richard H. Tannyhill. Gainesville, FL: 1966.

Taneyhill, Richard H. The Leatherwood God. Cincinnati, OH: N.p., 1870.

★1240 ★

Matthias, Followers of

(Defunct)

There appeared in Albany, New York, in 1830 a man calling himself Matthias who declared that he was the Christ and had come to judge the world. Matthias had been born Robert Matthews, but little is known of his life before assuming his religious persona. He dressed in unusual, expensive clothes pontifical robes lined with silk and velvet, carrying a rule in one hand and a sword in the other. He claimed the sword was the Sword of Gideon, but it was identified by onlookers as merely a common U.S. Army issue. He identified himself with Matthias, the apostle chosen to take the place of Judas (Acts 1:21-26). The new Matthias was the Spirit of Truth that had disappeared from the earth with the death of the first Matthias. With his sword he would pronounce judgment and with his rule he would measure the New Jerusalem.

Soon after his appearance, he declared that Albany would be destroyed and warned residents to flee. He left on what became a grand apostolic tour (though Albany was not destroyed) and made his way west toward the Ozark Mountains. He then went into the deep South through Tennessee and Georgia. He soon returned to New York, having gathered a small following. He became a public figure walking around New York City in his apostolic costumes. At one point, around 1833, he was briefly committed to Bellevue Hospital for the Insane. A short time later, when his wife became pregnant, he announced that a holy son would be born. The child turned out to be a girl.

He left New York and was last seen visiting with Joseph Smith, Jr., and the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kirkland, Ohio. When he explained his message, Smith had him ejected from their community. From that time on the fate of Matthias and his small following is unknown.

★1241 ★

Remnant Church

Current address not obtained for this edition.

The Remnant Church originated in the early 1950s in the visions of Mrs. Tracy B. Bizich of Sewickley, Pennsylvania. In 1951, Ellen G. White, founder of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church reportedly appeared and told her that that church had backslidden beyond recovery. She was also told that her spiritual name was "the Bee" and that she would soon be joined by a man whose spiritual name would be "the Fly." Together, they would begin to gather the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 14:1-3, who would be the only ones to enter the new earth after its destruction, which is imminent.

In 1957, Mrs. Bizich met Elsworth Thomas Kaiser (b. 1901), a railroad worker from Rochester, New York. He, too, had many visionary experiences, which Mrs. Bizich was able to interpret for him. She recognized him as "the Fly" and designated him an elder and the first minister of the Remnant Church. That same year, a congregation was founded in Rochester.

According to the Remnant Church, 1957 marked the beginning of the end of the world. In 1962, the first angel blew his trumpet (Rev. 8:7); 1965 brought a foretaste of the burning up of all the green grass. The Remnant Church is very strict. Members are required to be obedient to superiors, observe the Sabbath, dress modestly, share a community of goods, live in sinless purity, eat without question the food placed before them, clean their quarters, be diligent in study, and wear uniforms (gray for women and tan for males). Members are forbidden to go to physicians (although the use of herbs and leaves is permitted, since these are for the healing of the nations); take others to court except in defense of the Remnant; make distinctions on the basis of race; use drugs, alcohol, or tobacco; or attend other church services. The Lord's Supper is celebrated annually. Baptism is by immersion, and full baptism includes baptism with the Spirit.

The 144,000 will perform active spiritual work in the world until they are all caught up in the Spirit. Some souls have already risen from their graves and have preached in the spirit to friends and relatives.

Membership: Not reported. When last encountered in the mid-1970s, the church had only a few members.

★1242 ★

Restored Israel of Yahweh

PO Box 150
Landisville, NJ 08326

The Restored Israel of Yahweh was founded in McKee City, New Jersey, in 1973 by Leo Volpe (b. 1916). Volpe is considered to be the resurrected Prophet Jeremiah. According to the Restored Israel, the Bible tells of the resurrection of the prophets in the last days, who should be sought because they would have a true understanding of the Bible. Volpe is said to be one of these prophets and others are expected in the near future. Volpe began his study of the Bible under the guidance of Yahweh (a transliteration of the Hebrew name of God) in 1940. The year 1973 is marked as the beginning of God's Kingdom on earth.

The group believes that Yahweh deals only with the nation of Israel. In the past he dealt with the fleshly nation which was rejected for its disobedience. However, he has promised to restore Israel, which will be composed of those who fulfill the name Israel by placing Yahweh above all else. Chosen out of all the nations of the earth, the true Israel is composed of individuals with righteous hearts. This is the end time when Satan's world system will be destroyed. Yahshua (Jesus Christ) made his Second Presence in 1913. At that time he resurrected his 144,000 Body members. These people are kings and priests who have begun to reign with Yahshua in heaven. In 1917 Yahshua began his period of 1,000 years rulership of earth and will bring the events of earth to a rapid climax. The final ten years of the system will begin with a 1,260-day period of preaching, during which time the Restored Israel of Yahweh will be heard and become known around the world. Everyone will have a chance to accept or reject the message. The 1,260 days will be followed by the abomination of desolation which is the union of the United States, Russia, and the papacy into a world government. Israel will be silenced and will retreat into self-sufficent communities. The union will last only another 1,290 days. The pope will be cast out of power and war will soon follow. More will respond to the message of Israel and will become, with Israel, the third of humankind to survive the war and establish Yahweh's beautiful kingdom on earth (these prophecies are derived in part from a reading of Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation). Those who survive will have life everlasting here on earth.

The Restored Israel of Yahweh gathers twice weekly for Bible study. Other periods are spent in evangelistic activity, including speaking and distributing literature. A major activity of the group is gathering in public places with large signs upon which scripture quotations and a portion at their own writings are written. Interested persons are allowed to speak with members about their message. The group runs its own school (kindergarten through high school) open to children of baptized members. There is no instruction in evolution, patriotism, or competition. As of 1985, the group was constructing a self-sufficient community, the first of many, seen as the beginning of God's kingdom on earth. At the beginning of 1988, the community had a functional saw mill, cabinet shop, auto mechanics shop, auto-body shop and four homes. The organization's web site is at http://restoredisraelofyahweh.org.

Membership: Not reported.

★1243 ★

Shiloh True Light Church of Christ

Rte. 1, Box 426
Indian Trail, NC 28079

History. The Shiloh True Light Church of Christ grew out of the work of Cunningham Boyle (1831-1884), a former Methodist preacher who had received a message believed to come from heaven. He declared that the existing churches had so deviated from Christ's teachings that they had become irretrievably lost. In the 1870s he left Methodism and began to preach in the area around Lynchburg, South Carolina, establishing several churches. He also authored a book, A Key to the Bible which delineated his teachings. The Shiloh Church, near Charlotte, North Carolina, was founded around 1900.

Beliefs. The beliefs of the church are summarized in its articles of faith. The church affirms the living God, a personal spiritual Being whose perfection consists of his attributes of mercy, justice, truth, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence and immutability. The Bible is the inspired Word of God. Jesus Christ, God's Son, possesses the same attributes. The Son existed in an embryo state until the beginning of creation, at which time the Son was separated from the Father and made equal to Him. The devil is also a personal spiritual being who is co-eternal with God. The devil possesses seven attributes of unmercifulness, injustice, untruthfulness, wisdom, power, omnipresence, and immutability. Humans are essental souls (personal spiritual beings) who exist in the body and impart life to it.

The church teaches that all spiritual and immaterial things are non-created, hence cannot be annihilated. Besides God and the devil, the uncreated reality includes time and space, and the souls of human beings. Souls are the offspring of God, existing from all eternity. Souls were separated from God on the sixth day of creation to go through a period of probation. God created human beings in His own image, but when they fell to temptation, the Spirit of God (the image) was lost and humanity received the spirit of the devil. The work of Christ was to provide salvation and the recovery of the Spirit of God for humanity.

Members believe that there is one true church of Christ, and membership in it, gained by repentence of sin and faith in God through Christ, is essential for salvation. The church observes two ordinances, baptism (by either sprinkling, pouring, or immersion) and the Lord's supper. Members are conscientious objectors to war. Alcohol and tobacco are forbidden.

The church teaches that 7,000 years was the period allotted by God from creation to judgment, and that 6,000 years is the time allotted for the probationary period. The last generation began in 1870 and before this generation passes (i.e., the end of the 6,000 years), Christ will return. Without specifically naming the date, the church believes that it is living in the last years before Christ's return, possibly by the end of the twentieth century.

Organization. There is but one congregation of the True Light Church. It is led by a head elder and assistant elders, who teach, minister to the members, and handle the financial affairs of the congregation. None of the leadership is salaried.

Membership: In 1988 there were approximately 1,200 members in the single congregation. While most of the members live in the vacinity of the church building, some are to be found in communities in adjacent states.

Remarks: In 1970 the church was split by a schism when a member, Herman Flake Braswell (b. 1926), claimed to be the successor to the late-head elder. That position was challenged by James Rommie Purser. The issue went to court which decided in Purser's favor. The Braswell faction then formed a second church called the True Light Church of Christ.

During 1986, the Shiloh church became the subject of controversy in a still continuing conflict with the U.S. Department of Labor over a program of vocational training it had instituted among the youth members of the church. In 1971, the church had won the right to school its children in the homes of the members. As an extension of its educational program, it launched a vocational training program which saw a number of younger members working at a masonry company. The labor department has instituted legal proceedings, and as of mid-1988, the issue remained unresolved.

Sources:

Boyle, Cunningham. A Key to the Bible or the Book of Truth. Lynchburg, SC, n.d.

★1244 ★

Star of Truth Foundation

(Defunct)

The Star of Truth was the ministry of Ruth H. Lang and V. Jean Mallatt of Galena, Kansas. It was their belief that the fullness of time had come (Eph. 1:10, Mk. 16:7), and a new age was upon us. Each new age (or period of administration) is initiated by God's representatives giving birth to the Christ. The previous age was begun by Mary, who conceived and brought forth the Son of the most high God. This Son was not a physical birth, but a spiritual being which she conceived within the consciousness of her own being. As God's representative, Mary was told to go and tell the brethren (Matt. 28:7), and a new pattern was set for the age.

It was the Foundation's belief that This period was the day for a new birthing of the Christ. The representative of God for this new birth would be Ruth Lang. In the passing dispensation, the Comforter was given; in the new age, the Spirit of truth which will abide forever would be given. Paul ran ahead of time and saw this new age. He is thus the establisher of it. At one time, Ruth thought of herself as a reincarnation of Paul. She then came to see him as the resurrected one in Christ, who has come in her to resurrect her also.

The Star of Truth Foundation published The Sparkler bimonthly. Ms. Lang also wrote a number of pamphlets. The publications tied together the small band of believers, who were scattered across the United States. The Star of Truth Foundation was disbanded in the early 1980's.

★1245 ★

True Church

Current address not obtained for this edition.

The True Church began in 1930 in the home of Mina Blanc Orth in Seattle, Washington. Ms. Orth, the daughter of Baptist home missionaries in Julian, California, had opened her home to George J. Sherwin (b. 1879) to teach a Bible class. In 1937, she took over leadership of the group, becoming the authoress of a dozen books and pamphlets which contain the basics of the True Church's teaching. Beginning in 1950, she engaged in an extensive radio ministry.

The beliefs of the True Church were based upon an allegorical (spiritual) interpretation of Scripture. The church taught that God's Word is understood in "God's three-way light," the literal light, the historical light, and the symbolic, or spiritual light. Numbers are a focus of the interpretation which holds that the Bible is "formed over a numeric system divisible by seven," the number of perfection. Typical elucidation of texts is seen in the Song of Solomon 6:8, an allegorical description of churchanity: "There are sixty queens (Catholicism) and eight concubines (Protestantism) and maidens without number (Modernism). God is Father and Son. The personhood of the Holy Spirit is denied."

There was a strong expectancy of the imminent return of Christ. During the 1940s, a date between 1950 and 1967 seemed a possible time for that return. World War III, the third War of Revelation 11:14, would begin in the near future. Churchanity would be destroyed; only a remnant of Anglo-Saxon nations (Israel) and the Jews in Palestine would survive. Upon Christ's return, he would destroy all systems of men in opposition to him and set up a new government, symbolized by Job's seven new sons (Job 43:13) to rule during the millennium.

Membership: Not reported. The True Church is organized into small groups meeting in homes. There were an estimated 600 such centers in the United States and Canada in 1968. Headquarters were in Seattle.

★1246 ★

True Light Church of Christ

Current address not obtained for this edition.

In 1969, a dispute arose within the leadership of Shiloh True Light Church of Christ when Elder Herman Flake Braswell and Mr. Clyde M. Huntley claimed to have been elected bishop and elder, respectively, of the church. At a meeting on December 26, 1969, Braswell was elected bishop and appointed Huntley as elder. James Rommie Purser, the church's elder, disputed Braswell's claims. The court ruled in Purser's favor. It declared that Shiloh True Light Church was congregationally ruled and enjoined Braswell from disturbing its life and worship.

The disruption occurred just prior to the date in which a 100-year-old prophecy made by Cunningham Boyle, founder of the Shiloh True Light Church of Christ, was to be fulfilled. Jesus was to appear in 1970. The Braswell faction of the church approached the date of Christ's coming in a more radical way that did the main body. Braswell closed his upholstery business; others left their jobs. Huntley committed suicide in May 1970, apparently because of the failure of the prophecy. After the failure, some left the church, but most tried to reestablish their normal church activities and secular activities. Braswell, at last report, had reopened his business.

Membership: Not reported. There is estimated to be less than 100 members.