Jim's Ministry
Time to be fully engaged!
I have been called to work towards the reformation of the Church through the re-discovery and recovery of the authentic revelation of the Gospel of The Kingdom which was first given by Jesus to his first apostles (Matt 13:11). My first charge of this responsibility comes through my presidency of Apostles Theological Seminary (ATS... website: atsvirtual.org). From this responsibility I “blow the trumpet” concerning the need of reforming the church as we know it. I go through the open doors given to me primarily through my relationship with Apostle Dave Viljoen as my spiritual father who leads the ministry of Apostolic Working Company (AWC). I also work with my relationship with Apostle George Kouri who is the presiding elder of the Communion of Apostles and Churches (CAC), with whom Apostle Dave Viljoen works AWC to be in covenant (relational commitment agreement).
The AWC and CAC are the ministries with whom I am covenanted. They do not function as denominational entities, but rather work towards the reformation of the One Church Jesus is building. Every denomination (and every contemporary expression of Christianity to date) has attempted to determine itself as a better and truer model of church based upon its best understanding of what it means to be the church. Unfortunately, 2000 years of church history shows that Christianity has departed from the original foundation of the Church laid by the apostles and prophets in the first century, with the Lord Jesus the Christ as the chief cornerstone. Any attempt thus far for reformation still show that what we have as church today is a far cry from its beginnings.
Our ministry (ATS, CAC and AWC) is working to restore the authentic pattern and foundations first given. This is a tall task indeed, and not something we presume to be able to do on our own apart from the participation of the whole body of Christ (every true believer) along with work of the Holy Spirit with the proper understanding of the scriptures. We as a ministry do not think we are it. We have come out of our subnormal backgrounds, and we still have not seen the authentic Church in practice that Jesus is working to build through proclaiming, demonstrating, and administering the Kingdom on earth as in heaven. We also do not discount that God is working even despite the dysfunctional reality of the church world as we know it. In our work towards reformation we do not ignore church history, but rather try to learn from it.
A foundational scripture we used to bring attention to our efforts is found in Galatians 1:8-9 that states if someone preaches another gospel (than the one the Apostle Paul first preached to the Galatians), then let him be accursed! In that immediate context the “other” gospel was the adding on to the message that the Gentiles needed to become like Jews (referring to the law of Moses and particularly to circumcision) prior to truly being united with believing Jews in the Kingdom of God. The group promoting this distorted gospel were called Judaizers. However, my point in bringing this up here is not just a Judaizer distortion of the gospel, but ANY distortion of the gospel will result in people being accursed. And, I am thinking in particular that the fruit of such a distorted gospel will be a dysfunctional church. Unfortunately, the effects of being accursed from a different gospel started within the New Testament era, as noted here in Galatians.
The original apostles submitted to one another to preach only the Gospel of the Kingdom as revealed by Christ and recorded in the New Testament writings. And so, these apostles had the original revelation and practiced the great commission with The Holy Spirit’s help while defending against distortions of the gospel. Starting with those who wanted to have "disciples following after themselves" (see Apostle Paul’s warning in Acts 20:30), a bastardized gospel has produced accursed fruit. Today we have an accursed dysfunction accepted as normal for church, and thus we are fighting to re-discover and recover the original against this sub-normality.
So, I am investing my time towards dialog with leaders and the distribution of materials to any interested ministers regarding this recovery and re-discovery of the authentic revelation found in the scriptures (some of these materials can be found at our website: selahministriesandresources.org). The first door that opened to me concerning this ministry has been in Africa. Contacts in Kenya and South Africa thus far have welcomed my ministry for this purpose through my relation to ATS, CAC and AWC. Now, I am also beginning to build relationally where I live, having moved to Blairsville, Georgia at the end of September 2020. So, I am ministering through local contacts, through remote connections with those I know in the United States and in Africa. I also schedule trips in Africa to relate to and to teach leaders in person. My main ministry is through ATS. However, my contacts through the CAC and AWC have help me towards finding open doors for ministry related to my ATS function as President.
The move away from my business Storehouse Treasures located in Palm Coast, Florida to a home in Blairsville, Georgia has encouraged me to focus more on ministry. I am grateful for those who have supported and will support Selah Ministries and Resources because it enables me to seek after and accomplish the cumulative God-given assignment on my life. My wife Anne and I believe God will continue to graciously provide our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus as we seek to serve him in this manner. We pray people are blessed by what we write and record via video on our website, and that those moved by God to give towards our ministry would do so. To God be the glory as we continue to serve Him with gladness.
