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Ministry’s Organizational Guidelines
Introduction: The guiding policy of the New Jerusalem Church Missions International (NJCMI) is characterized by lots of striking features, innovatory religious principles, customs and traditions. These make it a complete departure from orthodox Christian practice! It outlines measures which bring forth hope, assurance, and joy to all those who are in a sincere search for truths of doctrine that lead to the goods of life. It also addresses itself to manifold doctrinal and other institutional mishaps besetting the Christian Church. The Ministry is founded on the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem delivered of the Lord in His Second Advent through His humble servant, the foremost world academic celebrity, Emmanuel Swedenborg. As must be expected of endeavors of the Lord’s initiative, for the Ministry to be very efficient and comfortable, it requires an organizational formula and guidelines (Constitution) as its operational mechanism. This will additionally assist those who will later join the organizational, administrative, and worship streams (i.e. the flock) to have their ways clear as to how to freely float abreast of the Ministry’s fundamental objectives, and contribute their best to its growth, development, and expansion. Hence evolution of this document!
Highlights in the Guidelines:
i replacement of the orthodox (discordant) Christian theology from the Formula Concordiae published in Leipsic in 1756 with the new, rational, consistent and sublime one from the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, ii Orthodox Christian church’s custom of shrouding church constitutions in secrecy with major tenets, various provisions and clauses known probably only to their authors, sponsors, managers, trustees, so-called ministers, high ranking officials, and other elites of the denominations, is unacceptable. Every member of Ministry must have a copy of its Constitution! Majorities of worshippers constituting the “pews” of various Christian denominations are being the bulwark of the churches but are kept in complete “ignorance” as to Ministries’ policy-directions. How then could such objectives and directives have any real meaning or impact on their spiritual, moral, religious, social, emotional, material, so on, and so forth lives? Due to this organizational lapse and administrative mishap, masses of today’s Christian worshippers do not actually know what are their sacred responsibilities toward the denominations and those of the denominations towards them. This should not have been a bane in a sacred organization as the Christian church!
iii So-called Christians who are supposed to be redeemed, reformed as to life, and spiritually regenerated people of God (Matt.13: 13-16) are rather sunk in varied religious bondages. They therefore hear about the spiritual freedom, dynamism, emotional peace, joy, goodness, mercy, compassion, fellow-feeling, and all the other spiritual and celestial beatitudes in the Lord directed at the human race all right (Refer to Matt.11: 28-30; Galt.5: 1, etc.), but then, so pathetically, they do not have any practical taste or feel of them, iv flawed church doctrines, religious beliefs, traditions, rituals, articles of faith and confession, social counseling in relation to indigenous traditional cultures, belief-systems, moral life patterns, inherent personal attributes, societal norms, legal sanctions, cultural etiquette, institutional values, indigenous art-forms, political governance, economic organization, ideological traits in especially black Africa! These do not amicably harmonize the Christian Faith. At times, the indigenous value-systems confront each other, and together oppose most of the foreign ideals the Christian church tries to super-impose on them. Thus cultural and religious mechanisms in black Africa do not actually blend, let alone co-exist in peace, in rhythm, and in harmony with each other.
All these facets of life are in serious confusion! It is the on-coming New Church’s responsibility to streamline them, bring them into harmony, flexibility, understanding, and peaceful co-existence to the qualitative development of individuals in the Ministry to the enhancement of their spiritual, moral, cultural, and economic lives. The Lord “…was manifest in the flesh…” (1Tim.3: 16) to “…reconcile humanity to Himself…” (2Corth.5: 19). He was to patch up the bits and pieces within our interiors, and rhythmically blend all our life-patterns so that they shall be streamlined in order to flow freely with His heavenly precepts of life. It is this Ministry’s core duty to successfully ensure this, so that the new Christian concept brought forth with the descent of the New Jerusalem (Rev.21: 1-5) into local indigenous cultural and religious systems shall find relevant meaning, good expression, and objectivity among all peoples, nations, tongues, cultures, social lives, and peculiar indigenous conditions. In short, there must be a good, consistent, and excellent rapport, sweet communication and communionship between the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem and authentic indigenous core cultural, religious, social, personal, institutional, and moral norms, concepts, patterns, and practices
v The Ministry must strictly ensure that its sources of finance, their flow and disbursement have direct bearing on the spiritual, moral, civic, social, emotional, intellectual, and material lives of supposed accomplished members in full fellowship who are the actual generators of such church wealth. It would thus be a religious error for a church treasury to lack real impact on members’ overall lives, social, and economic activities (See Is.61: 1-3; Acts 2: 40-47, 4: 32-37, 11: 19-26, etc.), vi The ridiculous custom in Christian circles today where satisfaction of certain “monetary requirements” are the “sole condition” for acceptance into “full fellowship” of so-called  churches of God is a very terrible latter time anti-Christian development. For instance, in the orthodox so-called mainstream churches, members are required to fulfill to the letter their obligation of settling annual, seasonal, monthly, so on dues before they can be considered as “full church members”. And in the so-called Pentecostal and Charismatic denominations is an imposing “tithe commitment” on poor church members’ necks. Certified satisfaction of this imposition is the condition for “full membership”!
Meanwhile as the Lord taught in Matt.6: 1-4; Jn.4: 19-24, 2Corth.9:6-15, etc., our deeds towards the Mighty God must be committed unto Him alone. For we need to worship Him “…in spirit and in truth; because the Father seeks such to worship Him…”! Thus the spiritual sense of “tithing” is what the church which is supposed to be “spiritual” must explore and lay more emphasis on its outbursts, because according to the Bible, the letter of the Word on which they strongly insist “kills” rather than gives life (2Corth.3: 6). It is “the spirit that gives life…” (Jn.6: 63). With this spiritual knowledge and application, church members shall turn into real “disciples” of the Lord. Thus this custom of making “money” the sole condition for acceptance into full membership of so-called Christian church fellowships, is not only anti-Christian, but likewise a monstrous religious development (Refer to Matt.6: 1-4; 2Corth.9: 6-15, and the document ‘New Covenantal Forms of Tithing’-ACS No. v for in-depth insights into this subject). Considered in the light of the Word and the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem which give enlightening spiritual expositions on the sacred Scriptures, these church beliefs, ideas, and practices cannot be considered as really ‘Christian” in spirit and in truth. Added to this religious mischief, so-called Christian denominations completely deny, hence totally ignore their sacred responsibilities towards even their own proven accomplished members (Refer to Art.12: 4, 5 of these Guidelines). Meanwhile church ministers shamefully turn round to pressurize the very neglected or marginalized people to fully satisfy their humanly (so-called clergy’s)-manufactured church obligations (See Matt.23: 1-12, 15: 1-20, etc.).
In the spirit and letter of this Constitution, this “monetary-factor” in religion renders the organizations legalistic, thus un-spiritual, irreligious, counter-scriptural, and un-Christian. For they are inhibitions to spiritual life, growth, development, and heavenly conduct! In reality, these so-called Christian denominations are shackled “social clubs” rather than independent good, free and flexible religious bodies. They are open markets of spiritual decadence, moral corruption, deception, extortion, materialism, indiscipline, and religious bigotry. Exploitation of man by man is their “hallmark”. Actually they are dens of forgery, thuggery, and intimidation. They need to be exposed by the “light of life”, and fellowship with them of good religious aspirants, severed (Jn.2: 13-22).
Making money off materially poor church aspirants to fuel so-called men of God’s carnal affluence and wild aggrandizement- These so-called Christian denominations are turned into havens of covert theft, forgery, thuggery, corruption, and fraud by false pretences. For here, the powerful ecclesiastical governors mercilessly exploit the financially vulnerable church aspirants to the teeth by piling on financial pressures on their heads. They do this in a most unjust social relation of all! Really as Bible put it: if “judgment” is to be visited on human injustices, it must commence from the so-called Christian churches (1Pt.4: 17). The discordant Christian theologies from which these evil practices derive are so damnable! They are inconsistent as to biblical doctrinal principles and practices. They must be overwhelmed and totally consumed by the more reasonable, rational, sublime, and consistent theological system from the Lord massed up in the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem. The Heavenly Doctrines and theological system thence derived, need to be powerfully unleashed, the Church of the New Jerusalem out-doored, heavily advertised, and freely let loose to occupy, and settle well in new millennium minds, hearts, lives, and thoughts if religious (spiritual) justice is to actually prevail, not only in the Christian church in particular, but generally in the religious world and all other sectors of society.
Money per-se as the sole condition for acceptance into a supposed sacred religious body is a very big form of “idolatry”. The practice must thus be radically removed from religious perception, tradition, and organization with “…fear and trembling…” (Acts 8: 9-24; Philp.2: 12, 13). Otherwise the “claim” of such institutions to worship the Lord or respond to His Majesty shall be a ruse (See Acts 8: 9-25; 1Tim.6: 6-12, etc.)! Whilst in the world, the Lord stressed that: “It is the spirit (i.e. the spiritual implications of the Word) which quickens; the flesh (performance of external church rituals, obedience to diverse dogmas, satisfaction of monetary commitments, frivolous external forms of worship, carnal ceremonies, etc.), profit nothing…”-Jn.6: 63). In other words, mere sentiments and satisfaction of the Word in “…the letter (humanistic ideas, wisdoms, pressures, traditions, demands, precepts, instructions, etc.) kills”. It is “the spirit (spiritual thought, life, and practice) which gives life” (Matt.15: 1-20; Jn.6: 63; 2Corth.3: 6-All stress mine).
vii Negative, i.e. corruptible so-called fashions of the day involving “falsification” of the original “image, likeness, and appearance” of God into which we were created are to be attacked and rooted out of church practices. These physical distortions erode the untainted beauty, strength, and vitality of the human body which replicates the Lord’s exterior Human, so is described by the Divine as “very good” (Gen.1: 26, 27, 31). It also houses the human spirit which serves as the habitation of the Lord (1Crth.3: 16, 17, 6: 18-20; Rev.3: 20-22), so must be kept pure, holy, sanctified, true, and good. These unfortunate infiltrations into the church affect mostly black African church ladies. They are religious perversions, which if allowed to freely have its own way, can lead to mass infections of “skin” and “scalp” cancers degenerating into their material impoverishment, moral degradation, and pre-mature death (Is.3: 16, 17; Jer.13: 22, 23; Rom.12: 1, 2). Moreso within the orthodox Christian world especially in black Africa, are distorted standards and values, i.e. forcible adoption of incompatible foreign (strange) ideals and norms of practice, forms, and ideas which actually war against authentic indigenous moral etiquette, traditional institutions, social norms, cultural values and time-tested artistic orders. All these abnormal patterns (as far as the African culture, personality, dignity, identity, and moral standards are concerned) are condoned in the name of Christianity and of fashion, beauty, wedding, education, scholarship, development, modernity, and advancement. It is being unfortunate! The new Christianity needs to stand up and rationally re-define these concepts to save our innocent youths from being swept clear by this monstrous tide of time!
These and other beliefs and practices infiltrating into the Christian church have sunk it deeper into spiritual corruption, moral decadence, religious absurdity, fraud, immorality, and hence, “anti-Christianity”! Wherefore this document is set forth to forthrightly expose, denounce, oppose them, and thereby rationalize the system. It strategically sets forth the true position of biblical Scriptures in all issues of religious interest.
 
Preamble
i We regard as the Body of Christ herein called the “New Christianity”, The New Jerusalem Church Missions International. As a fellowship, we feel it our sacred obligation to redress the handicaps of the orthodox Christian theology, system of church organization, and administration by a) making public the Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, and b) out-dooring the New Church, and thus expanding the Kingdom of God on earth (Matt.6: 10). Such that, Christian morality, spiritual discipline, chastity, and sanctity, shall find  free expression in the worshippers’ day to day thoughts, lives, and ministry!
ii We commit ourselves to the mass evangelization of the New Church through our authentic traditional culture, institutional values, our personality (2Corth.3: 2, 3), dignity, and identity. Also our traditional folklore: art-forms, music, drama, poetry, literary works, so on, and so forth as “witness” to all nations that, we of black Africa are as equally religious, and can well perform as accomplished Christians just as any other peoples on earth
iii We pledge ourselves to critically make thorough investigations into the institutional errors and injustices openly prevalent in the Christian world which momentarily deepen the spiritual degeneration of these highly aspirant religious peoples, cause their moral decay, emotional crisis, undue material suffering, and psychological woe
iv We promise, in the Name of the Lord, to see to it that the black African, or any other oppressed person, nation, sex, or class anywhere in the church comes to respect his or her providentially-endowed personality, dignity, and identity. For it is only by this the “image” or “likeness of God” making him or her up shall be realized and made to serve the purpose for which he or she was created and planted in the natural world by the Lord (Gen.1: 26-28). Every human being needs to lead his or her life exactly as Divine Providence decided for it, but not any contrary. We must worship His Divine Majesty exactly as our endowed selves; for this life-projection is the only one that can really be our “reasonable services to Him” (Rom.12: 1, 2; ML 524).
In short, a black, white, yellow, brown, red, so forth Christian, must be Christian either of these. Spiritual, or let’s say celestial Christian worship shall be described as being in motion if the church can come to this realization. When people who are actually abiding in cultural realism receive reformed lives from the Lord and are plunged into the process of spiritual regeneration, love and charity easily flow through their lives and thoughts unto those searching for the Lord (Jn.12: 23). For they do not crave for honors of men, but of He who created them exactly the way He did so, and saw that “…it was very good” (See Gen.1: 31; Is.1: 16, 17; Am.5: 24; Matt.6: 10; Lk.17: 20, 21; Jn.5: 41, 44)!
v Accordingly it is hereby expressly declared that what follows in this sacred document (Organizational Guidelines-Constitution of the New Jerusalem Church Missions International) shall be our evangelical and church administrative and organizational guiding principle. Furthermore the Ministry will use net-receipts accruing to it from her income-generating activities (Refer to the attached organizational chart) for church outreach programs, also nurturing of new individual members, groups, and branches into maturity. They shall serve for purposes of benevolent, charitable, loving, philanthropic, and welfare services of the needy within and outside the midst. They will likewise be mobilized for agricultural, educational, health promotion, printing and publishing, environmental sanitation, economic investment, re-investment purposes, and many others time and conditions shall readily call forth.