What I Believe

Bible

I believe that the sixty-six books of the Bible make up God’s inspired Word, perfect and completely without error in the original autographs. I believe in both plenary and verbal inspiration, understanding that God utilized the personalities of the human authors to record the exact words He wanted.

II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21

Trinity

I believe in only one true God who exists in three separate persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The three Persons of God are equal in importance, but each plays a different role. God the Son and God the Holy Spirit willingly submit themselves to God the Father.

Genesis 1:1; Matthew 28:19

Jesus Christ

I believe that Jesus Christ, as part of the Trinity, is 100% God. He was born of a virgin, made a man, and lived on the earth for the purpose of offering Himself as the substitutionary atonement for our sins. He rose from the dead bodily and is now at the right hand of the Father.

Romans 1:3-4; John 1:1-3; Matthew 1:18

Holy Spirit

I believe that the Holy Spirit is the Person of God that convicts men and indwells the believer at the point of conversion.

John 16:8; I Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 1:13-14

Justification by faith

I believe that man is justified and made righteous in God’s eyes only through his faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The blood of Jesus Christ is the only forgiveness for man’s sin.

I Peter 1:18-20, John 3:16, Acts 16:31

Security of the Believer

I believe that once a man is saved, he is saved forever. No one can take it from him.

John 10:28-29; Romans 8:31-35; Ephesians 4:30

Free will of man

I believe that God’s offer of salvation extends to all, and it is the responsibility of the man to receive it.

I Timothy 2:4, Romans 5:18

Priesthood of the Believer

I believe that when a man is saved, he has direct access to the Father, and does not need another man to stand in his place. While the believer holds the authority of a priest, the High Priest is Jesus Christ, for it is only through the shedding of His blood that we can access the throne of God.

Hebrews 4:15-16; I Peter 2:5,9

Rapture of the Church

I believe that the next great event on God’s calendar is the rapture of all true believers, who make up the Church. The bodies of dead saints will be resurrected and reunited with their souls, and the bodies of the living saved will became changed into a supernatural body. I believe this to be a premillennial, pretribulational event. After the rapture, the world will undergo seven years of tribulation. Then Jesus will come back with all the saints to rule the world for 1,000 peaceful years.

John 5:28-29; I Thessalonians 4:14-18

Heaven

I believe that those who put their faith in Jesus Christ will, after their death or the rapture, be transported to be in the presence God forever. After the Tribulation and Millennium, God will make a new earth, and set His new Holy City upon it, where the saved will live in a perfect environment, praising God forever and ever.

Revelation 21:4

Hell

I believe that upon death, the souls of the unsaved will go immediately to a place of punishment commonly known as Hades to await final judgement at the Great White Throne Judgment. They will subsequently be cast into the Lake of Fire, which was prepared for Satan, and they will be consciously tormented forever and ever.

Revelation 20:14-15

Ordinances

I believe that the Lord Jesus gave the church two ordinances that show the world we are separated and remind us of His work, but do not provide salvation. These ordinances are baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper (communion). I believe baptism is the first step of obedience for the Christian, signifying death to self and new life in Christ. The Lord’s Supper is a remembrance of Christ’s work on the cross and a symbol of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb that is yet in the future.

Matthew 28:19; I Peter 3:21

Human Sexuality and Marriage

I believe that God created man and woman as separate genders, identified permanently by their anatomy at birth. I believe that marriage is the sacred union of one man and one woman, and is terminable only by death. I reject all sexual immorality and all attempts to change one’s biological gender and/or act in disagreement with one’s biological gender.

Philosophy of Ministry

The goal of my ministry can be summed up as “to glorify God by making trained, edifying, accountable, and reproducing disciples of Jesus Christ.” I see discipleship as taking place in three stages, which I call “Come and See” (salvation), “Grow in Grace” (growth and knowledge), and “Go Therefore” (specific ministry training).