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Understanding the truths of God is a journey. No person, church or denomination fully understands all of the truth. We as church leaders are extremely solid in foundational truths that define the basics of Christianity and, at some point, Christian individuals must become immovably devoted to these truths. They are axioms from which all else in our life is built and the context in which everything else makes sense to us. But there are many questions of a theological nature that humans have debated endlessly for centuries. We do not claim to be the final authority; We may, in the future, even have to revise some of our current thinking due to new enlightenment of scripture by the Holy Spirit. But we are willing to do so because we love the truth. The truth is fully embodied in the person of Jesus, our Savior, so it is to Him that we give ourselves and it is to Him we seek to join ourselves on this journey.
We present here a brief summary of where our leaders currently stand on a multitude of issues from the very simple to the very complex. We do this, for one, with the aim of letting people with established positions on doctrines to quickly evaluate if this church may be a good home for them or not. As much as you may love a church and its people, it is simply not possible to remain closely joined to a congregation that teaches, bases its strategies upon and defends doctrines that are contrary to your own strongly held positions. It is vital to the health of a Christian and to the health of a congregation that a person not remain with such a local church. If you disagree about an issue presented here, but consider the issue a minor one, or if you are not currently certain of where you stand on issues, then by all means we invite you to join your heart to our church if God so leads. But we ask in all sincerity that you would agree that you will endeavor with all your heart to support the values and ministries of the church and to not tear down leaders or divide the church. Please simply join another church where it is not an issue for you to walk in agreement!
Here is our list in no particular order:
1) Salvation. The most defining characteristic of the Christian is that he or she has been "born again". This is an event whereby a person undergoes a miraculous transformation of the heart that is characterized by many facets. The one, in particular, that is key to salvation is faith. That is faith in Jesus Christ as being God, Lord and Savior through His sacrificial death on the cross. Such a faith is marked by a changed life and a new direction, neither of which comes about due to a person's own ability. It is indeed a miracle of changed desires. Salvation comes through God's grace toward us and is a free gift available to anyone who will call out to Jesus. Faith in Him alone is the way to be saved from sin, death and hell; Being a good person will not allow you to go to heaven. We are saved for good works not by good works.
2) Nature of God. No human can completely comprehend who God is, but we hold these characteristics to be true concerning Him: God is eternal and omni-present, having no beginning or end in time or space. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. He is perfect morally, and is the very essence of love. God is not the same type of being as any man or angel. He is infinite, we are finite. He is creator of all, we are His creation. He alone is worthy of our worship.
3) The Trinity. The God of Christianity is a monotheistic God. He is one God with total unity of purpose. However, there are three distinct persons by which He has expressed Himself to man. They are known as God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit.
4) Jesus. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity and, as such, is fully God. At the same time, He came to Earth in the form of a physical man and, therefore, is also fully human. As a human, he never sinned and lived as a perfect example for us to follow. In His human body, he also fully experienced what we experience and is able to sympathize fully with how we feel. Jesus is the mediator between God and man, the gateway to God the Father. He is the prophesied Messiah of the Old Testament, miraculously fulfilling all Messianic prophesy. He was born of a virgin, performed many miracles, willingly gave himself up to be crucified on a cross for your sins and mine and rose again to life on the third day. He was then seen by many before ascending into heaven where he now lives, preparing a place for us. He is to be the spiritual bride-groom of the church.
5) The Bible. The Bible is completely true and accurate in the original text. It was written by God through men who were used by the Holy Spirit. It is the revelation of a real, living God to mankind, His creation. The theme throughout is the redemption of His creation through Jesus Christ. See more about this here.
6) Heaven and Hell. Beyond this life, man continues to exist for all eternity. Heaven and Hell are the only two options as to where a person will spend the after-life. They are real, literal places - heaven being a place of eternal joy and communion with God and Hell being a place of eternal torment. Hell was created as the ultimate home for Satan and his demons, not for men. Please read here about how to avoid it!
7) Nature of Man. Man was created in a state of goodness, but after the first man sinned, all people born of men are born with a tendency to sin. Any amount of sin would be enough to ensure us a place in Hell on judgment day, but we do have the capacity to be redeemed and forgiven of all sin by placing our faith in Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross. Man is composed of spirit, soul (mind, will and emotions) and body, and his spirit is made alive to God when he his saved. See "Nature of God" above for more on our relationship to Him.
8) Sin. Sin is simply any form of rebellion against God. It is the primary problem all of humanity faces. Sin ruins countless people’s lives and is the cause of all suffering and turmoil in the world. Even worse, sin disqualifies us from entering into the presence of God and eternal life with Him. The penalty for sin is death and, afterward, ultimate spiritual death in Hell. Sin must be dealt with in our lives by repenting (agreeing to turn from sin) and placing our faith in Jesus. Sin must be dealt with in the church by encouraging our brother to repent and, in extreme cases, not associating with such a person until repentance has occurred. Sin must be dealt with in the world by declaring that sin is wrong and sharing the Gospel to help people come to Christ.
9) The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God, being the third person of the Trinity. He ministers conviction of sin to unbelievers and is a comforter and empowerer to believers, whom he dwells inside. He is our helper and teaches us all truth. His power and guidance are crucial to the church being able to carry out the purposes of God on Earth. See "The Baptism of the Holy Spirit" below.
10) The Baptism of the Holy Spirit. There is little dispute among Christians that the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our body at the time we are saved. But there is quite a bit of discussion about an event described in the Bible as the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" - primarily as to whether this is the same event or a different one in a person's life. We believe that the "baptism" is essentially equivalent to another term, the "filling" of the Holy Spirit, which is available as a continual, day by day infusion of the power of God into your life. Thus, it follows that we are in the camp of those who see it as a separate experience from the "indwelling" at salvation.
The term Holy Spirit "baptism" is frequently applied to the first such filling of power in a person's life, and we will sometimes use it as such. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is ministered to the believer by Jesus and allows the believer to minister to others with boldness, miracles, signs, wonders and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is obtained simply by asking God in prayer or by having a believer who is filled lay hands on you and pray for you. It's coming will happen in God's timing. We do not hold that the first time you are filled with the Holy Spirit speaking with tongues must occur and we see no scriptural need to limit God to this pattern.
11) Water Baptism. Immersion in water in the name of Jesus is an outward sign of an inward transformation after a person is saved and an undeniable acknowledgement that he or she wishes to join the universal body of Christ. It is shown by the example of Jesus and commanded by God of all who have placed their faith in Him. A true faith will inspire a person to declare publicly their devotion to Jesus, at any cost. Baptism of infants is not practiced in our church, since baptism is reserved for those who are old enough to have declared they wish to believe in and follow Jesus. Therefore we say to our members, if you were not water baptized after the point in your life that you know for certain that your faith in Jesus changed your life, then get baptized as soon as you can - even if it is not the first time! It is an important and spiritual ritual that signifies that the previous self has been been buried as Christ was and that a new person has raised to life with Him.
12) Communion. Another spiritual ritual of great importance is the Lord's Supper or Communion. The taking together of the bread and the wine (we use juice) was commanded by Jesus and demonstrates His death and suffering in a tangible way that we may remember and contemplate these vital events. It is to be taken in reverence and serves spiritually to bind us together as the body of Christ. Although the New Testament does not specify how frequently it should be observed, we will generally endeavor to partake of the Lord's Supper several times throughout the year, or more often, as the Lord leads us. Our home groups are the setting where Communion will be observed, as the more intimate setting fits with the spirit of fellowship that the ritual embodies.
13) The Second Coming of Jesus. Jesus is returning to Earth in bodily form at a future time often referred to as the Day of the Lord. He tells us that when this occurs, every eye will see Him and that He is coming with the clouds. This event will be an end to this age and a time of restoration of all things. We do not believe the prophesies of His coming were fulfilled in the past. However, many prophesies can and do have the amazing attribute of having both historical and future applications.
The interpretation of exactly when this will occur and what events will herald His coming are a topic of lively discussion due to the very symbolic nature of many of the end-time prophesies. We ask believers in our church to handle this topic with an open mind. We encourage deep personal study on the subject by all and will not hesitate to openly talk about different possible interpretations. However, we do ask that people not engage others with a dogmatic, conflicting attitude concerning your specific beliefs about the details of the end times. Listen prayerfully to different points of view and decide in your own heart what God would have you believe.
14) Miracles. The main controversies surrounding the topic of miracles, signs and wonders usually have to do with whether they are for today and if so, what are "valid" (i.e. scriptural) manifestations of God's supernatural power. There is no clear statement in the Bible that miracles will cease or have ceased already. On the contrary, the blanket statement is made that signs and wonders will follow those who believe. We even see the clear example of the Apostles praying for signs and wonders to go forth with the word of God! We desire to follow the clear example of Jesus and His Apostles and be a church that prays for, loves and actually moves in miracles, signs and wonders.
As far as what is acceptable supernatural activity, we will not limit God. He performed an amazing variety of miracles in the Bible and there are no scriptures where God limits himself to exactly what he can and will do. Our only standard is that discernment be used to make certain that the power comes from God and not from the enemy. These are, indeed, the only two sources of supernatural power. This is the reason we have nothing to do with occult activity. We use discernment as leaders in regards to all that is taking place. We know that manifestations mixed with an atmosphere of sin must be shunned. We trust the Holy Spirit and invite His working, gifts and manifestations with an atmosphere of reverence and faith and see the fruits of people being saved, healed, given joy and drawn closer to God.
15) Prophesy. This is a special case of a miracle - God communicating with His people. We believe He does speak and does so in many ways. Every universal spiritual truth we learn from the Bible is due to God's Holy Spirit speaking to us and teaching us. God also speaks to our hearts about our personal circumstances and His will for our lives. He may also speak to us of these things using more overtly supernatural means such as dreams, visions, angels, audible voices or visible visitations from our Lord.
He also speaks through other believers. This occurrence is called the gift of prophesy. The listener should test, judge and discern for himself if the message is from God, while being respectful of the one speaking. We see through a dark glass when it comes to prophesying and should not be quick to label everyone as "false prophets" who do not appear to have every detail perfectly right. The only actual false prophets are those who knowingly speak from their own mind or from the enemy and do so in the name of the Lord. We also maintain that no extra-Biblical truths shown to us by God are to be applied as a new "laws" to be enforced or dogmatically taught in the church. These may only be used to shape our personal convictions and, even then, must have absolutely no contradiction to clear scriptural teaching.
16) Free Will. Some people use the concept of "predestination" to completely negate the idea of free will. We feel this is extreme and carries the danger of dulling the senses to the idea of personal responsibility. Of course, when you are talking about a God who knows and controls the past, present and future, it impossible to escape the notion that God's sovereign will ultimately determines what goes on in the Universe. However, we as humans have been granted the power by God to make choices. The Bible in places clearly commands men to "choose," and throughout the Bible we are commanded to obey and follow God, which strongly implies that we must employ our will to do so. Full understanding of how these concepts go together is not something we claim to have. Basically, we look at it like this: God gave men free will and He knows beforehand what they will choose.
God is the author of salvation, the One who executed the work of redemption and the One that draws each one of us to Himself to be saved. We would not have come to God on our own without Him revealing our need for a Savior to us. However, we do hold that men are responsible to engage their will to receive this free gift from God. Jesus tells us we should "believe" in Him. Again, this implies that He invites us to choose to do so and, in practice, this is what we must do in order to be saved. Each of us has this invitation before us and it is our personal responsibility to respond.
17) Apostasy. We first reiterate that faith in Christ is the key to salvation. We hold to this simple truth: If a person has a true faith in Jesus Christ at the moment they die, then they will go to Heaven. There is much debate over the question of whether a person can have such faith at one time in their life and then later abandon it. While we have no doubt that a person cannot be separated from Christ by any outside force whatsoever, the Bible states in many places that we must be steadfast in our faith to the end. If we choose to abandon Christ, then what expectation can we have but to again face judgment?
Then there is the question of a person who claims to be Christian but, afterward, embarks on a lifestyle of sin. We believe that sins are covered by the blood of Christ if we have a true faith in Christ. Giving into sin places us on the slippery slope of back-sliding and the danger here lies in the fact that, in order to continue to go against our renewed nature and conscience we must, at some point, extinguish the flame of faith in our heart. Both of these manifestations of apostasy, we believe, place a person in danger of Hell.
18) Creation. We hold to the Biblical account of the creation of the world in six literal days roughly six thousand years ago. Click here for more on why we believe this.
19) Marriage and Divorce. A marriage between a man and a woman is God's special picture of the union of Christ and the church. The two are joined in mind, body and spirit, never to be separated until death. This is the ideal, anyway, and is why we emphasize the importance of seeking God for the right person rather than selecting a mate based on human wisdom or fleshly attributes. Divorce and remarriage are an epidemic among those professing to be Christian in these days, and families, children and the souls of men and women are the casualties of this blight.
There are some who hold that divorce followed by remarriage is always a sin. We acknowledge some interpretative difficulties in this area and maintain that there are at least two possible exclusions to this rule. The first is when the partner has been adulterous (sexually immoral). The second is in the case that the spouse was an unbeliever and left the relationship of their own accord. We would council people in these circumstances to seek God very carefully and consider all the possible interpretations of scripture before deciding whether remarriage is allowable for them. We would not treat such as a sin if the person in one of these two categories remarries.
Apart from these, however, there is no doubt that a remarriage is equivalent to the sin of adultery. We would not sanction such a remarriage in our church and would require that anyone who has done this in the past to agree that is was sin and confirm that they have repented. We do not suggest that the new union should be dissolved, but would treat it as a marriage, subject to the same laws. We only suggest that entering into it was wrong and should be repented of.
In cases where a possible Biblical exclusion is not present, but there are extenuating circumstances, such as a physically abusive spouse, by all means separate yourself from them for your own protection until the problem is solved. Pray for them and pray for reconciliation. The goal is always to fully repair the relationship, with the help of others and God. This path should be considered even when you feel you may be scripturally entitled to a divorce. God hates divorce and only ever concedes it because of the hardness of our hearts.
20) Prayer. What is prayer? When we become a Christian, we miraculously have the ability to directly communicate with the God of the Universe through the Mediator, Jesus Christ. We can come into His presence and commune with Him in an intimate relationship because He has cleansed us from our sin. When we speak to God, He hears and answers.
Communication with God can be for several purposes - the main ones would fall into the categories of confessing and repenting of sins, giving of thanks, expressing joy and praises to Him, and requesting His intervention on your behalf and others. It would be beneficial to spend some time in each of these every day. If you have the gift of tongues, then praying in tongues should also be a part of your regular communication with God.
When it comes to the effectiveness in the area of supplications and intercessions, this will depend on several factors. Mainly, how closely our prayers align with the will of God and how much faith and fervency we bring when we pray. We recommend that you seek God to know how to pray for a situation and listen to Him. Pray then with the leading of the Holy Spirit and let your faith and your passion be lifted by what God is saying to you. Be persistent in prayer, but not with mindless repetitions. It should be a relationship, not a formula.
21) Faith. Faith in Jesus is the key to salvation. Also, faith is a needed ingredient in our relationship with God, in seeing our prayers come to pass and in our ability to be used in miracles. Faith is basically a strong, expectant assurance within our heart, mind and spirit that something that has not yet occurred will take place or that something that we do not see is real. Faith can be placed in many things, and some of us have more of it in certain areas than others. It can be gift from God or something we choose to exercise.
We want to say a few things about our philosophy regarding practical faith in the Christian life. First, we must absolutely trust in the goodness and love of God and that His ultimate plan for us is truly perfect, even if we can't fully see it that way until the next life. This belief must never be shaken, even when our immediate circumstances do not look good. The further application of faith will be undermined if we have not come to this point. However, there is no need to stop there.
God wants us to have faith that He will use us to accomplish His purposes, however far beyond our own ability, and He wants to actually use us to do so. We must not fail to ask God for big, difficult and supernatural things and do our utmost to exercise our faith when doing so. If we do not ask, we certainly will not have. At the same time, we know that misplaced faith - that which is in something that God is saying "no" to will also avail nothing.
We must trust God enough to know that He is still for us when something does not happen exactly as we envisioned it. We continue asking God to help us know His will and timing and keep trying to exercise faith! Persist in praying for your miracle unless God explicitly says you should stop. Do not look down on those who do this. Childlike faith in miracles is pleasing to God - not a sign of immaturity. Guard against an attitude of unbelief if you continually try to exercise faith and nothing seems to happen. Believe something yet unseen is happening and that prayer changes things for the better. Do not give up. Pray for more faith. Only change course if God clearly directs.
Last, we must mention that we do not teach faith as a magic formula to get what we want or teach a "name it and claim it" faith. Faith only is effective in conjunction with a relationship with God. We walk with Him and talk with Him about everything we have going on in our lives and everything we need. We ask Him to help us to know what to have faith for and what He wants to do in the lives of others. We cannot analyze God and determine that He absolutely must perform something for us in the way we want it. He tells us what He is doing and we come into agreement with him. Nevertheless, we hold that it actually is His will to intervene miraculously on our behalf more often than what most of us are used to believing for. Start by trying to apply faith instead of starting from a mindset of skepticism.
22) Suffering. A common difficulty that many people have with Christianity in general is in the area of suffering. Questions such as "Why do bad things happen to good people?" and "Why does a good God allow suffering in the world?" are often asked. A first point to make is that our theology does acknowledge that suffering is real and becoming a Christian is not, nor can it become, a free pass to avoiding all suffering in this world. Jesus told us that we would encounter trouble in this world. We believe that, for His own purposes, God allows this fallen, sin-filled world to continue on for a brief time before we enter into the vast expanse of eternity with no suffering. On Earth, nevertheless, His presence is always with us to help us through trials and, at the end of the age, the worst suffering on Earth will pale completely in comparison with being with Him in heaven.
The true cause of trouble in the world is sin. Sinful people inflict suffering on many and the very presence of sin in the world corrupts nature itself. God's people, in particular, are the target of a form of suffering known as persecution. Jesus promises a special reward to those who are afflicted by sinners for His name sake. In the beginning, however, God's design was not for suffering. He is not the direct source of it nor did He create it. Rebellion against Him by man and by the devil are at the root of all suffering. Again, sin will shortly be done away with and suffering also will cease.
We see that prayer for protection is valuable in avoiding unneeded suffering and that God often intervenes to help us avoid trials. Why, then, does it appear that, at times, he does allow a tragedy to strike in the live of a believer? This is a question that must be wrestled with on a case-by-case basis. Do not be quick to judge another. We consider that some possible reasons include: Sin in one's life - particularly of the unrepentant variety, a direct attack of the devil - this may be broken off by prayer and possibly fasting, or a trial that comes from the circumstances life or from the enemy where God sees from the beginning that the outcome will be more damaging to the kingdom of the enemy than the problem itself. There may be others, and we are not guaranteed to be given complete understanding of everything that goes on behind the scenes in regards to God's choices in these matters. The bottom line is: God is good - He is morally perfect - and we can place out trust in Him to work things out for our ultimate good.
Lastly, we would note that there are those who glorify suffering to an extreme. They seek to put themselves in trials and inflict pain on themselves, thinking that it is pleasing to God to do so. We do acknowledge that God has said that it is possible to rejoice when we are persecuted for Christ and we believe that we should look at the good which God does bring out of trials as a glorification of His ability to bring good even from bad. This is seen most clearly in the suffering of Jesus. We identify with the glorious outcome that God can bring from suffering as we go through things in our own life. However, it is not our position that suffering in and of itself is good or desirable. We would not go looking to bring it upon ourselves - enough will come our way without our trying to do so! In practice, we strive in prayer for an end to troublesome things that we go through and minister help to those in trials of their own. Jesus made it a point say that He came to heal and bind up the brokenhearted. We see this as a great source of glory to God and want to have faith that he will be our deliverer from the trials of this world.
23) Angels and Demons. These are real, powerful beings that inhabit a world that coexists with the natural world that we see most of the time. Some are also currently in Heaven and Hell. God initially created angels; After this, one of them, called Lucifer, led a rebellion in which many took part and were ultimately transformed into demons. Angels and demons can interact with the natural world. Angels can bring messages to humans or help them in times of danger. Demons will harass, hurt or even take up residence in the bodies of people. Christians have the ability to break off these types of assaults by commanding them to leave in name of Jesus. We can open doors for demons to enter our lives by participating in occult activities or by engaging in sin.
24) Church Leaders. There are two God-ordained leadership positions in the local church. The first are referred to as pastors/bishops/overseers/elders (these terms are all equivalent). Pastors are chosen by God and seek God for the direction of the church. Requirements for pastors are spelled out in scripture. The second group are deacons. Deacons are servants of the church who are given charge over various tasks in the church and projects needed to help church members in need. The pastors are responsible for choosing deacons and directing their activity. Requirements for deacons are also given in scripture. See this section for more about pastors and deacons in our church.
On a broader scale, the scripture also says that God gives the church apostles. Many believe that no one alive today can be an apostle. However, there is no clear scriptural statement to back up this idea. The fact that Paul was an apostle actually refutes the idea that the term "apostles" only applied to the original twelve disciples of Jesus. Apostles plant churches and/or have a special role speaking the word of God over churches. They frequently support pastors. In practice, they originally had the ability to author scripture (by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) but, due to the fact that we hold that scripture is now complete, we do not see this function as valid in apostles of today.
25) Church Discipline. Sin is a destructive force in a person's life and in the life of a church. Jesus makes it clear that if someone claiming to be a brother in Christ willfully engages in sin, it should lovingly be brought to his attention by those who are involved. If needed, other witnesses can be brought forward to establish the matter. Finally, the matter would be brought up before the church congregation. He is given a chance to repent at each of these steps. Repentance means agreement that the action indeed was sin, requesting forgiveness from God and all involved parties and expressing a desire to no longer engage in the action.
A pastor would be involved in this process, at least in the second two steps, to mediate and direct the outcome. If the sin is not repented of, the person would be asked to no longer attend meetings and break off fellowship with other members of the congregation. If a person repents from the sin in the future, this would constitute grounds for the issue being forgiven by all and the person being welcomed as before in all church gatherings (in some circumstances parties that were sinned against, while forgiving the person, may still require space - this is to be respected). This kind of restoration is the hope of the discipline. The church is to never stop loving the person and praying for them to return to God.
Please understand this process is not taken lightly and there is not a frequent need to go to these lengths. Many sins, such as those hidden in a person's heart and mind, will never be handled by going down this path, because there is no way to firmly establish the sin as a fact. We reserve discipline in the church for cases where the offender's actions are unquestionably proven, as judged by a pastor of the church. Some habitual sins would be dealt with using a great deal of patience if the person continued to express repentance and was working diligently on resolving the problem.
26) Women in Church. There is controversy over the meaning of some of Paul's instructions given about women. Before we examine that, let us say that we see many scriptural examples of Godly women in the Bible actively participating in the purposes and works of God. Many commandments to minister in various ways in the church are given to a general audience, not men only. Examples we see of this include ministering in the spiritual gifts to edify one another and teaching and admonishing one another in songs. "Daughters" are told they will prophesy. In the larger context, we do not see Paul's admonitions as an excuse to make women feel lower or to exclude them from speaking in church gatherings.
We will state here the only special instructions we hold are scriptural regarding women.
- We do not ordain female pastors or deacons.
- We do not allow women to establish or create church doctrine.
- We ask that women who lead church-related events, such as worship services, cell group meetings, etc. consider themselves "covered by" (i.e. under the authority of) an appropriate male figure (pastor, husband or father) while in this role.