MY FAITH
Jude 3 (NLT) — Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.
My Faith points below are what I consider basic Bible beliefs for Christian living, and they are derived from the entire body of the Scriptures, not from just a few verses, so I have not listed references as they would be too numerous. They are listed in relative order of importance for genuine evangelical Christianity.
THE BIBLE
The most basic way to get to know God and to learn about Him is to read His Word, the Bible, the 66 books of the generally accepted canon of the Old and New Testaments. Written by men, but inspired by God as its Author, it is God’s written revelation by the Holy Spirit through human vessels to mankind, and is the only complete, inspired, authoritative and inerrant (in the original manuscripts) written Word of God for teaching and communicating God’s character, ways and truth.
GOD
The one true God is the amazing key to all of life, and He eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, whom we call the Trinity. He is eternal, holy, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good and present everywhere.
JESUS
Jesus is God’s only Son, the second person of the Trinity, who purchased our salvation from sin, satan and death and rescued us from everything evil and contrary to God’s wholeness. He did this by leaving Heaven and becoming incarnate, God in the flesh, born of a virgin, fully God and yet fully man, demonstrating God’s power and love through His miracles, then shedding His blood and paying the substitutionary price for the forgiveness of our sins, giving His life and winning the victory over the devil for us on the cross, and then proving that victory by rising bodily (physically and tangibly) from the dead. He has now ascended into Heaven and has promised to return to gather believers to himself, judge the world, and deal with the devil and evil.
SALVATION
We experience God’s salvation by grace in our lives when we repent of our sins and believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus for us, and receive Him as our Lord and Savior by faith, apart from any works of our own, thus experiencing spiritual regeneration and new life and a restored relationship with God, transforming our lives for the good. This restored relationship with God is the key to experiencing a righteous life, meaning and fulfillment in life, as well as to entering and enjoying eternity in Heaven with God after we die or when Jesus returns. When Jesus returns believers are promised a resurrection body and freedom from sin.
SIN
Sin is rebellion against God and disobedience to His revealed Word or will in thought, word or action, and can be manifest as either what we do or what we fail to do. It breaks our relationship and fellowship with God, leading to guilt, shame, unhappiness and lack of fulfillment in life. We learn what is sin by reading and studying the Bible.
SATAN
Satan is a fallen angel who leads other evil spiritual beings and entities in rebellion against God, seeking to steal, kill and destroy mankind, who are made in God’s image.
MANKIND
God created mankind in His own image, with special inherent value, male and female, made for family*, procreation and God’s divine plans and purposes, created originally without sin or corruption. However mankind disobeyed God and sinned through the temptations of Satan and inattention to God’s commands, and we became separated spiritually from God, and our relationship with God was broken. We then became subject to death, decay, sickness, misery, spiritual bondage and sinfulness, and needing a Savior.
*Scripture reveals family as based on the marriage of one man and one woman, according to our birth gender (=biological sex), committed to each other in a covenant relationship, with sexual expression being reserved for only in the marriage relationship.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Bible exhorts us to be filled with the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, so we can have spiritual power, spiritual gifts, love and strength for living a victorious Christian life, as well as power to share the gospel and to pray for effectively for others. We receive all this by being filled with the Holy Spirit, who we must ask to fill us initially and continually in our relationship with God, and is not the same as receiving Jesus at salvation. TheHoly Spirit is present at salvation, but being “filled” with the Holy Spirit comes in response to a believers asking.
THE CHURCH
God has a forever family called the church, which He has desired all along, that provides health and strength and spiritual care and growth and protection for all His children. He wants each of us to be a part of that family by finding a healthy and life-giving local church to live, love, lead and serve in.
ISRAEL
The Jewish people must receive salvation through Jesus Christ (He is their Messiah) the same as all people, however God’s purposes for both the Jewish people, their nation and the land of Israel have much more to be completed. We must remember Jesus us returning to Jerusalem at His second coming.
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
Jesus Christ is coming back a second time with resurrection power and with life and death, heaven and hell, judgment and reward, and eternity at stake for each person, so we must do all we can to be personally ready, and we must work to “make a difference” now in our world by bringing God’s love and help to people and by sharing the good news of the gospel with them so they can repent and believe and be saved and forgiven and know Jesus as their Savior before He returns.
HEAVEN and HELL
Jesus clearly taught a vision of eternal judgment at His return that included Heaven and Hell. True believers who have repented of their sins and received Christ as their Lord and Savior will go to Heaven to be with God forever in eternal joy. Those who have rejected Jesus and God’s message of repentance and salvation will face the reality of Hell. God is just, and He will make sure everyone gets an opportunity to be saved. Now is the time to receive Christ and to have Heaven as your home!
MY VALUES
1 Timothy 4:8 (ESV) — for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
LOVE GOD
I passionately love Jesus and serve Him because He first loved me, and I follow His ways in His Word, which is the basic way we get to know Him, His Father, and the Holy Spirit!
Mark 12:30 (NLT) — Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this… The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”
LOVE PEOPLE
I passionately love, serve, help, bring the gospel to, do justice for, and reach out to people because Jesus died to save people!
Mark 12:31 (NLT) — Jesus replied… “The second (commandment) is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these (two).”
LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY
It would make no sense to be saved from sin, and then continue in sin! We should hate sin, and live righteously, all by God’s grace and power.
Matthew 6:33 (NLT) — Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
LIVE GENEROUSLY
God was radically generous with us in that He gave us His only Son for our salvation, so we must learn to be generous like God, as we can never outgive Him!
Proverbs 11:24 (The Message) — The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.
CHAMPION EXCELLENCE
I champion excellence, going beyond mediocrity, always doing my best in Christ’s character and creativity, conquering obstacles for the glory of God, because God is worthy of my best!
2 Peter 1:3 (ESV) — His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence…
CHOOSE JOY
I choose joy, always having a positive, cheerful, friendly and faith-filled attitude!
Philippians 4:4 (The Living Bible) — Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice!
MY VISION
Proverbs 29:18 (The Message) — If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.
WORSHIP GOD
Jesus rebuked the devil by telling him we are to worship the Lord our God and serve only Him! Worship shows we love God, and our love for God, not duty, must be our motivation for however we might serve God! We worship personally and together as His Church!
Matthew 4:10 (NLT) — “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
PREACH THE GOSPEL
One of Jesus’s final commands was to take the gospel to the entire world. That is because only the gospel (the “good news”) has the answer and the antidote for the issues we face in our fallen world!
Mark 16:15 (TEV) — He said to them, “Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to the whole human race.”
HEAL THE HURTING
When someone receives Jesus Christ as their Savior, there is often a need for much healing from hurts in their life, and Jesus promised that is part of what He came to do!
Luke 4:18 (NKJV) — “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed…”
MAKE DISCIPLES
Once a person comes to know Jesus as Savior, there is much to learn and many areas of our lives God wants to help us change and grow in godliness and victory! That is what making disciples is all about – helping others to learn and grow from the truths, realities, principles, character and promises that God has for each of us, all given to us in His Word!
Matthew 28:19 (NLT) — Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
BUILD THE CHURCH
Jesus is only building ONE thing! His Church! Worship of God, saving souls, healing the hurting, and making disciples must all come together and be done in the context of church! He is coming back not for just individuals, but for His Church! He wants each person to discover community and comfort, growth and purpose, success and significance through serving, all as part His family. As long as there is one person needing Jesus, we must make room for them in God’s House!
Matthew 16:18 (ESV) — And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
BLESS OUR WORLD
We are not here to just be a “bless-me” club of “us-four-and-no-more”! We are called to “make a difference” and to be a blessing in our world! Since God has rescued our lives, we must unselfishly and generously give back to others so they might experience God’s love and come to know Him. People often “do not care how much we know until they know how much we care.” This also includes prophetically speaking to evil in our society, culture, world or nation where we see it. Silence is complicity!
Matthew 5:16 (NLT) — In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Ephesians 5:11 (NLT) — Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.
Acts 3:26 (NLT) — …to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways.”
LEAVE A LEGACY
Unless we have a unique call to remain single, we are called to family! One man and one woman in a committed marriage, raising our children in the ways of the Lord. We can build a legacy through our families that will impact generations to come with the truths and ways and blessings of God!
Genesis 18:19 (ESV) — For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
HOW I LIVE MY VISION
Content Production via Writing and Video
Preaching and Teaching
Serving in the Local Church
Leading our church Celebrate Recovery Ministry
Leading Missions Trips
Prison Ministry
Community involvement