RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

 

THE BIBLE      read more

 

THE GOD HEAD     read more

 

MAN CREATED AND FALLEN      read more

 

SALVATION ONLY THROUGH CHRIST       read more

 

ETERNAL SECURITY     read more

 

HEAVEN AND HELL      read more

 

BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER    read more

 

STATEMENTS OF PRACTICAL APPLICATION

STATEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN'S WALK    read more

 

STATEMENT OF SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE    read more

 

STATEMENT ON HOW THE CHURCH SHOULD BE FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED    read more

 

STATEMENTS ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES    read more

STATEMENT ON THE MODERN DAY TONGUE-SPEAKING MOVEMENT

 

STATEMENT ON ABORTION    read more

 

STATEMENT ON WOMEN IN THE MINISTRY     read more

 

STATEMENT ON HOMOSEXUALITY AND LESBIANISM    read more

 

STATEMENT ON THE HEALTH (HEALING MIRACLES). WEALTH AND PROSPERITY DOCTRINE      read more

 

THE BIBLE

We accept the scriptures of both the Old and New Testament to be the inerrant, infallible, verbally inspired word of God; and that they are the supreme and final authority for faith and practice. We deny that other books are inspired by God in the same way as the Bible. (II Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17; II Peter 1:21) Back to Top

 

 

 

THE GOD HEAD

We believe in the Tri-unity of God, and that the God head eternally exists in three persons, and that these three are one God, but separate in personality and work.

1.God the Father: The one true and living God, the creator and sustainer of all things. The Father is the head of the God head.

2. God the Son: The promised Messiah of the Old Testament, Jesus Christ, who was born of the Virgin Mary, hence the God-man. He died on the cross to redeem man, rose again from the dead to justify the believer, ascended to the right hand of God where He intercedes for us, and in the Father's own time will return in visible, personal form to overthrow sin and judge the world.

3. God the Holy Spirit: The one sent from God to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, of judgments, to regenerate and cleanse from sin. He is the resident guide, teacher, and strength of the believer.

We believe that these three are worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence, and obedience. (Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3-4; II Corinthians 13:14; Hebrew 1:1-3; Revelation 1:4-6)     Back to Top

 

 

MAN CREATED AND FALLEN

We believe that man was created innocent, that he was tempted by Satan and sinned; because of this, men have been born in sin since that time and are by nature the children of wrath. Man fell into sin, and is lost, which is true of all men; and except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God; making man incapable of personal salvation and good works before God, thus needing a savior. As a consequence of his sin, man lost his spiritual life, and became subject to the power of the devil. This spiritual death or total depravity of human nature has been transmitted to the entire human race of man, the man Christ Jesus alone being excepted.

Man is essentially and unchangeably bad apart from divine grace. (Genesis 1:26; 2:17; 6:5; Psalm 14:1-3; John 3:6; 5:40; 6:53; Romans 3:10-19; 8:6,7; Ephesians 2:1-3; I Timothy 5:6; I John 3:8)     Back to Top     

 

 

SALVATION ONLY THROUGH CHRIST

We believe that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again; and that no morality however high can help man obtain this salvation; but a new nature imparted from above, implanted by the Holy Spirit, is absolutely essential to salvation. We believe that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of Jesus Christ, who was made to be sin and was made a curse for us, dying in our place; and that no feeling, no sincere effort, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church, can add in the very least degree to the value of Christ's blood which was shed for us on the cross. (Matthew 26:28; John 3:7-18; Romans 5:6-9)    Back to Top

 

 

ETERNAL SECURITY

We believe that because of the present and unending intercession of Christ in heaven, because of God's immutability and unchangeableness, because of the regenerating, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all who are saved, we and all true believers everywhere, once saved shall be kept saved forever. We further believe, however, that God is a holy and righteous Father who does not over look the sin of His children. He will when they persistently sin chasten them and correct them in infinite love; but having undertaken to save them and keep them forever, will in the end present every one of them faultless before the presence of His glory. (John 5:24; 10:27-30; Romans 8:35-39; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 7:25; 12:5-11)    Back to Top

 

 

HEAVEN AND HELL

A.  HELL

The bulk of the New Testament teachings concerning hell is to be found in the recorded sayings of Jesus. The compassionate Savior earnestly warns against the punishment to come. We believe that hell is a literal place (not currently realized in the earth) outside the kingdom of God. It is a state of utter moral depravity and the fulfillment of selfishness. Hell is the climax of rebellion and anarchy. It is the full harvest of sin with all its pollution and defilement. Hell is a state of punishment and suffering beyond the power of the human tongue to describe. (Matthew 25:41, 46; 8:12; 10:28; Luke 16:22-28; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:10-15)     Back to Top

 

 

B. HEAVEN

Heaven is also a literal place where all the redeemed are to have perfect fellowship with the Triune God, the Holy Angels, and one another. Heaven is a place where Jesus reigns supremely as King, and a state in which subjects serve Him in glad submission. Heaven is a state of perfect happiness. Sin with all its blight will be done away; no more sickness, pain, sorrow, nor death. We shall be changed; our characters will be purged of all iniquity and we shall be good. We shall be like Him. Heaven is an everlasting place where we shall live in His presence throughout eternity. (Luke 16:22, 25; 23:42-43; John 14:2-3; Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Revelation 7:9; 21:1-4,25-27)   Back to Top

 

 

BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER

The New Testament church has two ordinances; Baptism and the Lord's Supper. They are both symbols and pictures of spiritual truths. They are ordinances that picture the Savior in His act of sacrifice that purchased our salvation.

A. BAPTISM: The first New Testament ordinance is baptism, which should be administered by complete immersion. The ordinance pictures in graphic form the burial to an old life of sin and the resurrection to a new life in Christ. Any change in the mode of baptism alters the meaning of the ordinance. (Matthew 28:19; Acts 10:47-48; 16:32-33; 18:7-8)

B. THE LORD'S SUPPER: The second of the New Testament ordinances, the Lord's Supper, was instituted by Christ in the closing of His earthly ministry. It is a picture of a crucified life. Jesus gave us this picture that depicts His broken body. It is observed in remembrance of the fact that Jesus came to make the supreme sacrifice that men might be saved. The fruit of the vine depicts His shed blood. The bread portrays His surrendered body. (Luke 22:19-20; I Corinthians 11:18-34)     Back to Top

 

 

STATEMENTS OF PRACTICAL APPLICATION

STATEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN'S WALK

We believe that we are called with a holy calling to walk not after the flesh but after the spirit, and so to live in the power of the indwelling spirit that we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. But the flesh with its fallen, Adamic nature, which in this life is never eradicated, being with us to the end of our earthly pilgrimage, needs to be kept by the spirit constantly in subjection to Christ, or it will surely manifest its presence in our lives to the dishonor of our Lord. (Romans 6:11-13; 8:2, 4, 12-13; Galatians 5:16-23; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 2:1-10; I Peter 1:14-16; I John 1:4-7; 3:5-9)     Back to Top

 

 

STATEMENT OF SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

The Bible teaches that children of God should submit themselves to the government of the nation wherein they abide (Romans 12:1). Where the laws and statues of the government contradict God's laws, His Holy Word should be judged supreme. Thus the Bible and the church should provide guidance and instruction for those of the government but the opposite should not dictate to the church its beliefs, practices, and doctrines. We therefore adhere to the principle of separation of church and state, yet believe that it has currently been interpreted too broadly by not allowing prayer and Christian groups to meet in our public schools.     Back to Top

 

 

STATEMENT ON HOW THE CHURCH SHOULD BE FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED

God has a plan for the financing of the great program of work His church should do. God's plan was never for man to use worldly schemes to raise money for the spread of His message. God did not plan for His church to have sales, dinners, raffles, or bazaars to raise money. God gives only one plan of church finance in the Bible and that is by the tithes and offerings of His people. The tithe is the tenth, meaning that God's people are to bring a tenth of their income to the Lord and His work. Offerings are the amounts given above the tenth. This is the plan that God teaches throughout His word. (Malachi 3:6-10; II Corinthians 9:6-7)      Back to Top

 

 

STATEMENTS ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

STATEMENT ON THE MODERN DAY TONGUE-SPEAKING MOVEMENT

We do not endorse the modern tongue-speaking movement for the following reasons:

1.It often suggests that tongue-speaking is the necessary evidence of the special work of the Spirit when in fact the New Testament does not say this.

2. It tends to place more emphasis on tongue speaking as an external manifestation of the Spirit than on the work of the Spirit within to produce character and behavior.

3.It claims that "ecstatic utterance" is also tongue speaking when in fact the gift in the New Testament was that of speaking in previously unlearned foreign languages.

4. It usually gives an undue prominence to a gift that had only limited value even in New Testament times. (I Corinthians 12-14) In stating our position on the modern tongue speaking movement, we do not mean to distract from the sincerity of Christian character of many within the movement.    Back to Top

 

 

STATEMENT ON ABORTION

We believe that life begins at conception and that the responsibility of government should be to protect its citizens, pre-born as well as born, from the irresponsible behavior of others. We do believe that a woman should have the right to decide what to do with her body. But that right ends where it endangers the lives of others. We do not advocate the pro-choice movement, which for us is synonymous with pro-abortion and pro-death. We adhere to the beliefs of pro-life, that all life must be protected by law from conception until death. (Genesis 9:5-6; Exodus 21:12, 22-25; Psalm 127:3-5,139:13-16; Isaiah 49:1-5; Jeremiah 1:4-5; Luke 18:16)   Back to Top

 

 

STATEMENT ON WOMEN IN THE MINISTRY

We believe that I Timothy 3:1-7 lays down the qualifications for a bishop (preacher, pastor, overseer). According to these verses, that office can only be held by a man. The masculine gender being used above 10 times. Furthermore, when choosing the first 12 disciples (preachers) of the early church, Jesus himself chose 12 men to lead the church. This has nothing to do with superiority or inferiority rather with positional leadership and authority. Someone must be in the position of leadership in the church (and home) and God has simply placed man in that position. (Genesis 3:16; Matthew 10:1-4; I Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:22-24; I Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9)    Back to Top

 

 

 

STATEMENT ON THE HEALTH (HEALING MIRACLES). WEALTH AND PROSPERITY DOCTRINE

We emphatically state that we do not doubt God's power. He can do anything He wants. He's omnipotent. For Him, miracles are no problem. He has the ability to cure any disease. We believe in divine healing but not in divine healers. We do not find scriptural support to believe that God wants everybody well only if you have enough faith.

We believe it to be materialistic by the promising of financial prosperity and perfect health. We see this as a shift from sound doctrine to a focus on promised physical, financial, and material blessings. We believe this to be an extreme misrepresentation of sound doctrine. Man cannot use God or the Holy Spirit to receive whatever he wills. Whereas the truth of biblical Christianity is just the opposite: God uses the believer. This type of teaching views God as some kind of genie or Santa Claus who is at the Christians beck and, call. This is not the God of the Bible. We believe that God blesses us, but not always materially. (Matthew 16:21; I Timothy 6:5, 9-11;II Peter 2:1-19)    Back to Top