Frequently asked Questions

What is the historical background of The Kingdom Christian Ministries?

The Kingdom Christian Ministries has its roots in The Kingdom, a Christian fellowship of believers who organized around the ministry of Frank W. Sandford in the early 1900s.  This fellowship was and is evangelical in outlook and believes in the fundamentals of the Christian faith (see the Statement of Faith elsewhere in this website).  While other resources give a more detailed history of the work and ministry of Frank W. Sandford,*(see note at end of this answer) in brief, he was ordained as a minister in the Free Baptist denomination who felt a special call from God to evangelize the world on apostolic principles.

This meant that he left his denominational pastorate and wholly gave himself to the Holy Spirit to be directed by Him thereafter.  He lived a life of faith, depending on God to meet every need, and this meant he would not solicit funds. He did not conduct church collections or asking for money from anyone but God.  Beginning his work with schoolhouse and tent ministry in the state of Maine, he went on to establish a Bible School training center called Shiloh, in Durham, Maine.  From there he was called to set up various centers from which evangelistic and prayer ministry was conducted in other places throughout the world.

Mr. Sandford attended D. L. Moody’s “College of Colleges,” a summer program in Northfield, Massachusetts and was deeply influenced by Mr. Moody’s ministry.  His practice of backing all his teaching with Scripture came from Moody’s godly example.  It was there that he signed the Student Volunteer Pledge to be a missionary wherever God should call him.  He was also influenced by A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance.  Rev. Simpson conducted Frank Sandford’s wedding, and Mr. Sandford freely credited him with pioneering the teaching of divine healing which those under his ministry practiced.  It was under the teaching of Stephen Merritt that Frank Sandford received the Holy Spirit in a simple but distinct step of asking Him in and trusting Him to take over all aspects of his life.

As time went on he felt called of God to pray for the fulfillment of Scriptures which foretell the restoration of the land of Israel.  To that end, he established prayer centers in that land which continued for several years in that land.  With a band of prayer warriors, he circumnavigated the earth on the yacht Coronet, believing God to break the power of Satan over the whole earth.  He believed strongly in the inspiration, inerrancy, and sufficiency of the entire Bible and taught that all of life should be centered in Christ and His Word.  Carefully applying the Bible to his own life, he taught his people to honor and live the Bible themselves.

Frank Sandford also felt God called him to fulfill the biblically predicted role of a modern “Elijah,” who would restore all things in preparation for the second coming of Christ.  This included renewing scriptural teaching on the Sabbath, the Kingdom, the Lord’s Supper, the Church, and Baptism.  It also included prayers of restoration for various geographical areas, such as the Holy Land, other nations, and the various continents, exercising faith that they would all fulfill God's designs and purposes.  Teaching that every Scripture would be fulfilled to the letter, and that like Daniel we could pray for the promises of God to be fulfilled in His time, his prayers of restoration sought to establish each aspect of Christian living fully and completely on God’s Word, instead of human ideas or tradition.

In practice, this meant that he kept the Sabbath on the seventh day as it was first ordained; that the Lord’s Supper was a fresh communion with the Lord and an imbibing of His present power through His body and blood (not by “transubstantiation,” but simply by accepting Jesus’ words, “This is My body”); that baptism is into Christ and (along with the experience of salvation) has transforming power to enable us to walk in newness of life; that the local church must be established, as was the early church, on God’s Word, taking its ordinances from Scripture; and that the Kingdom of Christ is the goal, in which all Christians come together under the kingship of Jesus at His return.

While there are many other aspects of Mr. Sandford’s teaching, they all come directly from the Bible, as the Holy Spirit led him to understand its meaning.  Many of them were considered part of orthodox Christianity, while others (like the seventh day Sabbath and the observance of the Feasts) appeared to be relatively new in the Christian world.  Since then many have become widely practiced among Christians, not based on knowledge of his work, but simply because they come from Scripture.  Many of these teachings, together with their scriptural basis, may be found elsewhere on this website.

 * The most authoritative of these is The Sublimity of Faith, by Frank S. Murray, an ardent follower, who based his account on many years of close association with Mr. Sandford.  Others include Shiloh, a doctoral thesis by William Hiss of Bates College, an objective but sympathetic inquirer; and Fair, Clear, and Terrible, by Shirley Nelson, an example of misrepresentation based on half-truths.  One of her primary sources was her father, Arnold White, who grew up at Shiloh, became bitter against the Kingdom, and eventually rejected Christ Himself.

Are the claims of Mr. Sandford still a part of the ongoing ministry of The Kingdom Christian Ministries (KCM)?

Because Mr. Sandford was such a sensational personality and has been a polarizing figure over the years, there are those who would like to portray the ministry of KCM as some sort of Frank Sandford fan club, rather than what we are, a Christian ministry whose whole purpose is to reach this world for Jesus Christ.  The truth is, we are quite content to leave these claims with God and to pursue a godly way of life in the present, while continuing our calling to faith, preaching, and prayer.  At the same time, we are not denying the influence that Mr. Sandford's teaching has had in shaping our present day ministry and understanding of the Bible.  What is unequivocal is that the inerrant Word of God is the basis for all matters of faith, doctrine, and practice.

Is the Kingdom fellowship an elite organization that looks down on other Christians?

When the Kingdom fellowship was first organized, it revolved around Frank Sandford and his unique prophetic claims. In those years, they anticipated that Jesus’ return was near and that everyone would respond to their ministry in order to be ready for His coming Kingdom.  Things did not unfold this way, and since then it has become clear that God has moved in other parts of the Christian world in ways once expected chiefly to involve the Kingdom.

The founders of this fellowship were zealous for all God had in mind and aspired to His best and highest standards.  Anything that wasn’t keyed to this high call was considered lesser, a “watering down” of Scripture, and was shunned.  This attitude lent itself to an elitist mindset, contrary to the admonition, “Let each count other better than himself.”  Humbling experiences, including significant moral failings of some in leadership, have proven once again that “all flesh is grass” and that we are no better than other sincere followers of Christ.  We have repented of spiritual pride and remain fully dependent on Christ for mercy and victory, while at the same time we have not altered our zeal for God”s best. Of those hurt by prideful attitudes of past aspects of the ministry, we humbly ask forgiveness.

One of the practices that seemed to foster elitism was what is called “closed communion,” meaning that only those baptized under Kingdom ministry were accepted at the Lord’s table.  This policy was changed in 1999 to what we call “careful communion,” meaning that any born-again believer who has experienced a scriptural baptism and is desirous of being under the authority of our fellowship is welcome at communion.  (See under “Baptism” for further details.)

Why do financial donations from KCM’s local congregations go to a central treasury?

The Kingdom Christian Ministries sprang out of a formerly-existing fellowship of like-minded churches, all of whom were under the ministry of The Kingdom, described above.  After a restructuring which took place in 1998, it became clear to some of those churches (later called KCM) that they wanted to carry on the same ministry, which included (in part) the unity of all believers.  This kingdom principle means that we are all part of the same body of Christ, and as such we wanted to operate as one church, even though our ministries were in various locations.  At the time of restructuring, each congregation incorporated individually and received its real estate assets formerly held by The Kingdom.  Then, those who wanted to continue ministry together decided to pool those assets.

In other words, we had the freedom to operate as independent churches, but consciously chose to join as one church.  The spiritual leadership was given to a board made up of a pastor and elder from each of the joining congregations.  Business responsibilities were vested in a board of three directors, elected by all members regardless of their congregation.  In the same vein it was decided that all financial intake would come to a common collection point (called in Scripture the “storehouse”), from which it would be distributed by the Directors according to local needs.  While this arrangement may change as local congregations grow, it has enabled KCM to maintain unity among its churches, with larger groups helping smaller churches when special needs arise in one geographical area and not in another.

Why does the Kingdom have such vehement detractors, including a website that seeks to undermine the ministry?

The Bible indicates that “all who would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”  This has been evident throughout Christian history.  Whether godliness is demonstrated by a zeal for reality, a sense of divine authority, or high standards of conduct, there are always persecutors who try to tear down or undermine those who seek to live truly godly lives.

We expect this from the world, but it is more surprising and harder to understand when it comes from other Christians. Yet Paul himself was persecuted by believing Jews, who may have felt threatened by the gospel he proclaimed, and godly ministries today have seen websites springing up to counter their teachings as well. Only God knows human hearts and motives, so we have no desire to judge the motives of those who have contributed to persecution toward the Kingdom, past or present.

The hardest part to explain about a website such as fwselijah.com is that it includes many assertions that are partly true or contain an unidentified bias. How can a new reader distinguish?  We find that two people can go through exactly the same experience and have very different recollections years later.  It may be because of intervening experiences which create positive or negative feelings towards something in the past. But it happens that out of the same event can sometimes come increasing bitterness or growing sweetness.

Much of some retelling of the Kingdom’s history has been based on newspaper accounts of the day, many of which were blatantly distorted and false. Newspapers of Mr. Sandford’s time were dominated by reporters and editors who were opposed to God and the supernatural, and they went out of their way to present the Shiloh Bible School and ministry as bizarre.  Those who take such newspaper stories at face value will never be able to know what was true.

Other more recent accounts while claiming objectivity are affected by personal biases.  Those biases include taking things from the past and superimposing them on present operations, resulting in a major twisting of truth.  An example is the account of the process by which the Fairwood congregation chose to join KCM in 1998.  The fwselijah website states, "In mid-July, 1998 Neil Sandford indicated he had received light from God and along with his ministry team, joined Fairwood with four other local churches, all supporters of the Vision Statement. This decision making process was in the typical Frank Sandford mode, i.e., the Leader feels he gets light or a sensing from God, then expects his subordinates around him to get on board, the general church population is never given an opportunity to vote approval, but dutifully follows along."  The truth is that Pastor Sandford polled every member of the congregation and found an overwhelming majority voted to join KCM.  Because there was one family who voted against joining he held off, not wanting anyone left out. Seeking the Lord for His will resulted in "light" when the one remaining family called out of the blue and asked that their vote not count in the decision.  That meant that the vote of the congregation was virtually unanimous and the "church population" had full opportunity to be a part of the decision.  This is just one example of how the truth is misinterpreted by the fwselijah website.

The Kingdom fellowship has always been made up of human beings, who although seeking to live godly and Christ-like lives, have made mistakes in the process.  Wherever that has hurt others, we express deep regret.  To those hurt by the mistakes or sins of others, our hearts truly go out in sincere compassion.  Whether the sin was pride, harshness, rejection, or imbalance in the teaching of Bible truth, we offer no excuses, but trust only in the grace of God up to date.

Were many of the Kingdom’s teachings and practices “legalistic”?

The book of Galatians defines legalism as trying to gain salvation by works rather than by faith in Christ.  The ministry of the Kingdom has always taught that salvation is based only on Christ’s finished work on the Cross.  There was also great emphasis on holy living, and some have misinterpreted that to mean that we taught that salvation depended on works.  This is most certainly not the case.

If this historical emphasis on holiness has led some to think that they could live the Christian life by their own effort or strength, we recognize this as a significant error.  While we weren’t there to know how the ministry was balanced out in earlier years, anything that emphasizes holiness to the detriment of the reality of Christ’s redeeming work on the Cross, or anything that imagines we can live the Christian life in our own strength is wrong and teaches an incomplete or unbalanced view of Christianity.

In today’s world, “legalism” has taken on a further meaning than that mentioned above.  Today, anything that holds high standards or appears to have spiritual pride is branded as legalism.  The Bible promotes high standards, and while we reject glorying in the flesh or trying to win God’s approval based on our works, we do not apologize for encouraging all to look to Jesus for the highest and best there is for a Christian.  He is worthy of our best love and devotion.  If we do things simply because He has called us to them in His Word, and if our motivation is out of love for Him, then that is the appropriate response to the living Christ.

As with any group of people, the first generation may respond to the call of Christ to their hearts with a perfectly right motivation. Subsequent generations may not get the real heart of it, yet carry on the same practices, and their motivations may be quite different from those of their spiritual parents. That has certainly occurred in this fellowship, and our response has been to move away from some practices because they have been so misunderstood, while promoting others.  The intent has been to return to the motivation which comes from love for Christ alone.

Why did Frank Sandford make such strong statements about himself and his roles?

Frank W. Sandford lived in a day when strong, superlative statements were common among prominent leaders.  Even in the political context, men like Teddy Roosevelt made such statements as a characteristic way of expression.  Mr. Sandford did make remarks about his ministry that seem extreme in the context of today’s world.  Few would dream of making such strong assertions today. Such statements were made because he believed them to be true.  He was always a champion of the truth whether talking about himself or others who walked with God.

Coupled with this, however, are his even stronger declarations Mr. Sandford made regarding Jesus as the Christ, his Lord and Savior, and the coming King of kings.  We offer a brief sample of them here to show that he lived a life so totally immersed in worship to God that all statements about himself paled into insignificance.

THE RECIPE FOR A VICTORIOUS LlFE
 "Holy is the Father in all He demands of Humanity."
 "Holy is the Son in meeting those demands for us on Calvary."
 "Holy is the Spirit of the Living God in executing the demands of the Father as He leads me into the fulfillment of these requirements."
 "And holy are the Three in their work in my life--begun."
"And holy are the Three in their work in my life--when it is done."
 "And holy the work of the Three in my life--as it's going on."
 "HOLY...HOLY...HOLY IS JEHOVAH OF HOSTS."

"If the human race only knew the greatness of The Remedy on Calvary, they would feel like crawling there on their knees -- crawling from the north and the south and the east and west to kiss the spot where “God so loved.”  Humanity can never get low enough to properly express appreciation for the unutterable lovingkindness of a longsuffering God.  (The Divine Remedy)

The Son of God is the One to talk about -- the One to exalt -- the one to let one's mind run on -- the One to fill all our speech -- to fill our earth, our heaven, all things. (Arrows from the Bow)

Real faith doesn't look around; it looks up into the face of God. (Arrows from the Bow)

In the midst of a Godless, Christless world, -- live the Bible!  (Arrows from the Bow)

Whatever you go through, never doubt your salvation or that God loves you.  (Arrows from the Bow)

Satan's whole battle is to get your eyes off Christ and on yourself.  (Arrows from the Bow)

The devil's first word is "if."  There is no "if" about it!  [Jesus] is, was, and always will be the Son of God.  (Arrows from the Bow)

Be of good cheer.  The glorious Gospel is for your salvation on each and every point where you feel a need.  Believe it, and the power of God will bear you on.  (Arrows from the Bow)

[Referring to the Holy Spirit]  The Guest told me He was in all the experiences of life, making them all work together for my good if I would only love Him, have confidence in Him, and let Him mold me.  He said I need have no responsibility whatever, but simply respond to His movings, to His providences and to His written Word.  He would open the Scriptures to me, by fiery trials write them in the very fibre of my life, and be my endurance while in the furnace.  (The Guest Within)

Just as I am, Thy very own: Made worthy, by Thy blood alone, To sit beside Thee--share Thy throne--O Lamb of God, I come, I come!  (FWS supplement in Warrior Songs)

At the creation God was first. v.1.  "In the beginning God."  In God's sight there is no one of us who do good, we are all gone out of the way, we are altogether become filthy.  But we are the creatures he has created and the cause of our being in such a condition is rebellion against him.  He has become our Redeemer, and the only way for us to be what he wants us to to--a new creature in Christ Jesus--is for us to lay aside our rebellion and let him take his rightful place in all things in our life, which is to be always FIRST.  
(Tongues of Fire, March 1, 1897, Fifteen Lessons on the First Chapter of Genesis, p38)

Every triumph that you will win, every attainment to which you will attain, every blessing which you shall ever enjoy, is likewise already "provided."  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who HATH blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame."
    Every need of yours has been as truely provided for as that engine [a steam engine paid for in answer to prayer]. God is waiting for you to step up and take that which He has already "PROVIDED."  Hallelujah!
    "Wherefore, be of good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told."  
(Tongues of Fire, April 1, 1897, p 56)

1 Pet. 1:18, "Not redeemed  with corruptible things as silver and gold."  Psa 49:7, "They that trust in their wealth... none of them can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him."  No, not one thing of human wealth or wisdom can be offered to God, costly or precious enough to satisfy Him as a ransom for a soul created in His own image, but through disobedience now living in the bondage of sin.  O, no! All are helpless to do one thing.  So let no soul think for a moment that he can purchase salvation by good works or charitable deeds.  That will not only prove a failure, but by the insult of ignoring His plan for salvation increase the wrath of God. 
(Tongues of Fire, October 15, 1897, The Precious Blood, p164)

"Oh the majesty of conquest!  We will see its fuller meaning when the glorious rays of millennial reign and triumph break out, filling these heavens with glory and this earth with glory until there is not a place anywhere in space where you could go and not find a celebration of the victory of the matchless Rider on the White Horse and of the White Cavalry that so faithfully followed Him in His majestic conquest."