June 13, 1903: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee” (Isa. 60:1, 2).
“According to the prophets, [the Church] would be found in the mountains, in a land far away from where it was originally headquartered in the land of Israel. The place chosen by God for His Church to arise was in the mountains of North Carolina, in the United States of America… A. J. Tomlinson received a divine revelation of the Lord’s Church on the top of a mountain, in a forest, in ‘fields of the wood’… He had come under the spirit of seeking out the ‘place’ and ‘habitation’ of the Lord: (See Jeremiah 30:18-22) [and he found it]” (The Church, the Body of Christ, excerpts from Lesson 9, pp. 39, 40).
“…After staying all night with Brother W. F. Bryant I got up the next morning, had prayers, ate breakfast and took out up the mountain. I was gone for an hour or more… I came back down the mountain and entered the meeting. Questions were asked, Bible answers were given. They said they took the whole Bible rightly divided as their only rule of faith and practice. I said, ‘Well if you take the whole Bible rightly divided, that makes it The Church of God. Why do you want to call it the Holiness Church at Camp Creek?’ They agreed with me but couldn’t answer my question. Then I said, ‘You have agreed that this that I have said makes it The Church of God, and will you be willing to take it and keep it The Church of God?’ They said that they were willing. I then asked if they were willing to take me in with the understanding that it IS The Church of God—not going to be, but IS The Church of God? They were willing. So I stood right there in front of the fireplace, and Brother Spurling who has gone on to heaven, took the Bible and gave it to me. He handed it to me and said, ‘Will you take this as the Word of God, believe it and practice it, obey its precepts and walk in the light as God is in the light?’ I thought deeply. I remembered what a time I had on the mountain. I meant business. David meant business and Isaiah meant business when he said, Arise, shine….” (A. J. Tomlinson – Historical Notes book, pp. 76, 77).