“Theology is the greatest enemy of God, and religion is the greatest enemy of man”
1 Corinthians 9:20
“To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the Law, I became as one under the Law, though not being under the Law myself, so that I might gain those who are under the Law.”
No passage from the Bible more reveals or better explains the purpose of this author during the past 14 years than 1 Corinthians 9:20. This blog, the Accidental Apostle, provides context, insight, and perspective into the life of a man who chose to walk with God and, thus, God chose to walk with the man. This walk would take the man places and to do things that he could have never imagined. And if the man learned anything during those years, he learned of the heart that the Lord Jesus Christ has for his own kinsmen. The man, who had an intense relationship with the LORD during the years prior to this walk, would soon be led by the Spirit of God on the journey of a lifetime.
During the summer of 2007, the author made his first trip to the Ben Israel Fellowship located in northern Minnesota. Unknown to the author, this trip and the anointing that took place while visiting there would change his life forever. This anointing, an apostolic anointing, came upon the man who knew that a transaction had occurred but could not immediately identify the specifics of that transaction. Personal accounts published on the House of Ephraim blog cloak in kindness a landscape that actually was full of turmoil during this first trip and the subsequent trip to the Ben Israel Fellowship two years later. Years later, more clarity as to what actually took place during those trips to Ben Israel was alluded to in the post “Ode to Art Katz.”
The Accidental Apostle blog has been created as a companion piece to the House of Ephraim blog published between 2008 and 2021. It is important to note that the House of Ephraim blog covers in detail the journey of this individual man several years prior to 2008, but it wasn’t until the man came under the apostolic anointing that he was driven to create a written account of this journey. Some individual posts and sections of the House of Ephraim blog have been temporarily removed to protect some people from themselves but will be restored as the appropriate context for understanding those posts is provided here on The Accidental Apostle blog.
While the man was already operating under an anointing received several years prior to 2007, most likely a prophetic anointing, the addition of the apostolic anointing made what some might call a double portion anointing. At the time, the author understood that he was moving and having his being in a double portion anointing but he did not fully understand the scope or the exact reasons for those anointings. During the years that followed, the author was driven, by the apostolic anointing, to take the Messiah Jesus Christ to the Jew first and then to the Gentile under the pretext of communicating the Ephraim story.
The title of this blog, The Accidental Apostle, came into realization as the post “Say It Ain’t So, Hoe” was being developed on the companion blog. As the author recalled his previous work experience, he remembered his time as the “Accidental Economist,” and knowing that God often uses patterns in the life of an individual to provide understanding, the author was able to see and understand that his just completed service to God was as an “Accidental Apostle.” But why accidental? The author believes this same apostolic anointing is intended primarily, if not solely, for a Jewish man. Art Katz, being the son of two Jewish parents with the last name Katz, faithfully carried out the requirements of this anointing for many years. Upon his death, I believe this anointing was intended for his own son or another Jewish man. But since this wasn’t possible due to reasons unknown by the author, somehow this gullible hobo found his way to the Ben Israel Fellowship and the bed where Brother Art had just recently passed. After several nights spent in that room, the transaction took place. Hence, “The Accidental Apostle.”
The Accidental Apostle 