Statement of Faith

Our mission statement: Spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ worldwide, defending justice, religious freedom, and helping persecuted Christians.

We share the following truths accepted by evangelical Christians:

• We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.

• We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.*

• We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

• We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.

• We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.

• We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and them that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.

• We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The above statement can be referenced here.

We also support the Lausanne Covenant on world mission and evangelization.

* The doctrine of the Trinity does not mean belief in three Gods, as it is often wrongly interpreted and miss-stated. God is one. Neither is the modalistic view biblical (the teaching that if God is one, then this should be narrowly interpreted that One Divine Person manifests Himself in different situations in different forms). Until all is revealed, we are left to live with the tension in understanding certain aspects of the Biblical truth about God and the oneness and the triunity of God is one of them.


Values

Our fundamental values are:

1. The Lordship of Jesus Christ, as a Savior of all, who repent of their sins and believe;
2. Authority of Scripture as God’s truth and divine revelation to mankind;
3. Relying on the power of the Holy Spirit for life, faith, and ministry;
4. The Great Commission and mission work (Matt. 28:16-18).

Some principles we have seen as biblically sound and proven in our work are:

Following Christ is a way of life, not a philosophy, a trend, or just going to church (Matt. 7:24-27; Luke 9:23-24; James 1:19-27; Romans 12).

* Prophetic ministry calls the church to a higher standard of commitment to Christ and brings disciples closer to God while building and encouraging individual believers and the body of Christ to fulfill its commission (1 Corinthians 12:1-3, 14:1; Jeremiah 1:10).

* Church is relationships in Jesus’ name, based on truth, forgiveness, and service (Ephesians 4:25). The shortest definition of church is:  “Following Jesus together.”

* Render unto Caesar with Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s. Freedom to believe and worship is given to all by God and cannot be sanctioned by secular government laws; the mission of proclaiming Christ to the nations is an ultimate command to His followers and is backed up by all the authority of heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18, Acts 4 and 5, Daniel 6).

* Missionary (apostolic) vision and action is the sign of a living faith (Matthew 28:18-20).

* Studying and teaching the Bible is essential to our walk with Christ. The Scriptures are the written Word of God and the most credible written source for instruction for salvation and Christian life (1 Timothy 3:16).

* Team ministry (Acts 13:1-2). Although it is not easy to maintain the intensity of relationship in a team setting, the team is still the best way to engage in Christian life and ministry. Christ established the team model with the apostles and later sending out small teams of workers.

* Good works and helping the orphans are a sign of living faith and conquer enemy territory (Matthew 5:16; Hebrews 10:25; 1 Peter 4:19; James 1:27).

Spiritual leadership in the church is by example (Christ’s way), not by imposing one’s will (the world’s way). As a movie character once said: “Men don’t follow titles, they follow courage” (Braveheart, 1996) Authority for leadership is measured by the extent to which we are willing to surrender our wills to the will of God. (Hebrews 13:7; 17; 1 Timothy 5:17-19; 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:1; 5:12-13; 1 Peter 5:1-4).


The Apostles’ Creed in Traditional English

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic* Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.

Amen.

* “Catholic” here means “universal.”