A Letter To The Broken

The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the verbally inspired Word of God, they are without error in the original writings, and they are the complete and final revelation of God. We believe all Scripture is “God-breathed and is useful for teaching rebuking and training in righteousness.” (Matthew 5:18; John 17:17; II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21; Revelation 22:18-19)

There is only one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Who are co-equal in their essential nature, attributes, and perfection; and each of Whom is to be honored and worshiped as God. (Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 18:30-31, 147:5; Matthew 28:19; Mark 12:29; Luke 3:22; John 4:24, 5:23, 10:30, 14:9; Acts 5:3-4; II Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 1:1-3)

Jesus Christ is God the Son, the promised Messiah, conceived in the flesh by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, true God and true man, without sin, and the only mediator between God and Man. (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7; Matthew 1:18-25; Mark 14:61-62; John 1:1-3, 14, 29, 5:18, 8:58, 10:30; II Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 2:9; I Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 1:2-9, 2:14-15; I John 5:20)

Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross, paid for all sin, completely satisfied the righteous wrath of God against sin, and provided redemption and forgiveness for all who believe. After His death, Jesus Christ arose bodily from the dead, was seen by many during a period of forty days, and then ascended into Heaven where He is seated at the right hand of God as our Advocate and High Priest, from which place He will some day return to establish His Kingdom on earth. (Isaiah 53:5-6; Luke 24:36-43; John 1:18, 3:16, 20:25-28; Acts 1:6-11; Romans 3:21-26; I Corinthians 15:3-8, 20-23; Galatians 3:13; Colossians 1:13-14; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; I Peter 1:18-19, 2:24; I John 2:1-2; Revelation 20:6)

The Holy Spirit is that Person of the Triune Godhead who convicts men of sin, causes spiritual birth, indwells, seals, sanctifies, guides, equips, teaches, comforts, fills, and sets apart believers unto a holy life; enabling him to walk in obedience to God and His Word. (John 3:5, 14:16-17, 26, 15:26-27, 16:7-15; Acts 1:8, 5:3-4; Romans 8:9, 14; I Corinthians 2:10-11, 6:11, 19, 12:4-13; II Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:16-18, 22-23; Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30, 5:18-21)

Man was created by God in His own image and is not the product of evolution; he fell into sin through personal disobedience to the revealed will of God; and as a result, all mankind is sinful in nature and practice, is unable to save himself, and faces eternal separation from God. (Genesis 1:26-28, 2:7, 18-24, 3:1-24, 9:6; Matthew 19:4; Mark 7:21-23; John 8:42-44; Romans 1:18, 3:10, 23, 5:1; Ephesians 2:1-3)

Eternal salvation from sin, death, and hell, is the free gift of God’s grace, and is based solely upon man’s personal faith and belief in Jesus Christ. He voluntarily died as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins and arose bodily from the dead, thus guaranteeing our own resurrection to eternal life. This salvation is not received by, nor based on, any sacrament, merit, or good work on our part. This one who receives Christ’s salvation is eternally secure. (John 1:11-13, 3:16, 5:24, 10:28-30, 14:6; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:23-26, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 7:24-25; I Peter 1:18-19, I John 5:11-13)

We believe “if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”  (I John 1:8)

We believe “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)

We believe “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” and can fully redeem and powerfully use even those who consider they have been “the worst.”  (I Timothy 1:15)

We believe God “is patient, not wanting any to perish but everyone to come to repentance.”  (II Peter 3:9)

We believe “our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so they will be like His glorious body.”  (Philippians 3:21) We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; the saved unto the resurrection of eternal life and the lost unto the resurrection of damnation and eternal punishment. (I Corinthians 15:51-57; Revelation 20:11-15)

(As a ministry we share the same position as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as stated below.)

We believe it is possible for Christians today to receive special gifts of the Spirit. In regard to the spiritual gifts as they are listed in I Corinthians 12:4-11, it is important to note especially verse 11 where we find the Holy Spirit gives the gifts according to His own will.

In Mr. Graham’s book “The Holy Spirit,” he states as follows: “He (the Holy Spirit) chooses who gets which gifts, and He dispenses them at His good pleasure. While we are held accountable for the use of any gifts He gives us, we have no responsibility for gifts we have not been given.”

Mr. Graham goes on to say: “Every one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) should be characteristic of every single Christian. But the gifts of the Spirit are different. Every believer should have the same fruit as every other believer, but not every believer will have the same gifts as every other believer. No, the Holy Spirit distributes the gifts in such a way that every believer has at least one gift which is uniquely his. You may have been given a certain gift by God, but it would be a mistake for you to say everyone else should have that same gift.”

We must keep in mind that the spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit and must not be considered unimportant. The use of them is to exalt the Lord and build up the body of believers. The possession of a spiritual gift is not to be thought of as making one believer more holy or more spiritually advanced than another.

It is important to note that Paul admonishes that these gifts must be governed by love and that all things should “be done decently and in order” (I Corinthians 14:40). A good test of any spiritual ministry or experience is whether or not it honors God and exalts the Lord Jesus Christ.

We believe human life is sacred from conception to its natural end; and that we must have concern for the physical and spiritual needs of our all fellowmen. (Psalm 139:13; Isaiah 49:1; Jeremiah 1:5; Matthew 22:37-39; Romans 12:20-21; Galatians 6:10)

We believe every believer in Christ is the “temple of the Holy Spirit and we are to strive to “live holy and Godly lives as we look forward to the day of God.” (I Corinthians 6:19; II Peter 3:11-12)

We believe that we must dedicate ourselves to prayer, to the service of our Lord, to His authority over our lives and to the ministry of evangelism. (Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 22:37-39 and 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:9-15 and 12:20-21; Galations 6:10; Colossians 2:6-10; I Peter 3:15; John 15:1-17).