The Life and Ministry of A.J. Tomlinson

Life and Ministry of A . J . Tomlinson

Ambrose J . Tomlinson (1865-1943 ) belonged to a moderately wealthy family from Westfield , Indiana . His family conducted business , and so the young Tomlinson , after finishing his studies at the prominent Westfield Academy , tried his hand at business as well . His life in the huge Quaker community was serene to begin with . In the rural community Tomlinson was able to connect with a few religious people who strengthened his interest in the Gospel (Hunter , 2003

Tomlinson 's neighbors in Westfield included two African-American families . Each summer

the African-American families in addition to some of the freed slaves attended camp meetings of people of color . White worshippers were attracted to the meetings as well . Even Tomlinson happened to attend some of these meetings . Soon he was introduced by a man named J . B . Mitchell to Charles G . Finney , a revivalist . In the year 1894 , Tomlinson and Mitchell co-founded the Book and Tract Company which took them both on short trips to Appalachia . Tomlinson was introduced to Frank Sandford , the founder of the Shiloh community , and other religious figures around this time (Hunter

Tomlinson 's understanding of religion was enhanced as he encountered important religious personalities . The Acts 2 commune practiced by the Shiloh community , for example , provided a model for his family to imitate . In the year 1899 , Tomlinson and his family came across the Fire-Baptized Holiness Association of B . H . Irwin (Hunter By this time Tomlinson had been eagerly seeking out locations where special visitations of the Holy Spirit were occurring (Nienkirchen 1992 ,

. 32 ' According to Nienkirchen , the goal of Tomlinson was to find the true `Church of God ' where the preaching of the word was being confirmed by miracles , signs , and wonders , together with gifts of the Holy Spirit according to the pattern of Acts (p . 32 ' The Church of God for All Nations describes Tomlinson 's success in eventually finding the Church of God

According to prophecy , the Church (Zion ) was ordained to arise from the grave of the Dark

Ages among the Gentiles in the Last Days (Isaiah 60 :1-3 Isaiah 52 :1 . This occurred on June

13 , 1903 , in Cherokee County , North Carolina , when Prophet A . J Tomlinson found the body

of people whom God had chosen to be the resurrection Church of God in its infancy this side

of the Dark Ages . It was in this same year that the Wright Brothers arose from the earth by

the invention of the airplane , a material witness to what God was doing spiritually (Isaiah

60 :8

Prior to this time , A . J . Tomlinson was a colporteur for the American Bible Society

distributing Bibles and religious literature throughout the southeastern United States . He also

printed and distributed his first publication called "Samson 's Foxes " God began to move

upon him to find the body of people who would be the Church of the Last Days . After

investigating many groups , he scripturally determined the one which God had chosen . It was

the remains...