Who I am

I have decided to write down my Philosophy of, well everything.

This is not a doctrinal statement, but will focus on doctrines. It is what you would call a philosophy of Ministry, although I believe this relates to my entire life as well. I do not wish to compartmentalize any part of my life, this is a mistake that many people make. What I mean by compartmentalize is: to separate my church life from my private life. I am a part of the Church and there is no separating me from that, thus I must be the same in every area of my life in order to be glorifying to God and real as a person.
I have a conservative view in music. I believe first and foremost that all of my worship must be truthful(based on truth) and from my heart(real). The words that I sing must hold to the doctrines that I believe, which can make for a very interesting experience, even in the hymns I sing in my hymnal. I believe that the notes play just as an important part as the lyrics. If I was to ignore the fact that music(notes) do not move the human emotions, then I would be ignorant. I am not one that believes that I must have that "right" feeling in order to say that I have worshiped, because worship belongs to God, but when I sing lyrics that are true according to God's word it does move the heart.
I take a literal hermeneutic in translating my bible, therefore when I teach, whether in a bible study, S.S. class, or from a pulpit I prepare according to that conviction. I am not concerned with numbers I would be more quality vs quantity. I believe that when a person gets saved they must understand the core doctrines of scripture, before you put them out into service such as teaching. I am dispensational in my theology and Premillenial. When I teach through a passage I like to teach in an expository fashion. I will use topical styles, but in studying and teaching, I believe an expository approach is best. I believe it is very key to keep all of your teachings in context, historically and grammatically, so that you can properly bring out principles to the people that you are teaching. As I said earlier, I am a dispensationalist, therefore when I teach it is very important for me to keep Israel and the Church separate.
When I work with teens and younger children I understand that attention levels differ from adults, but entertainment can never take the place of doctrine. It may seem hard to understand to some, but when you are working with any age group teaching style may vary, but you must also remember if they are saved then they are accountable to God and will stand before the Bema seat of Christ, just as you will, and if they are not saved then why make them think that church is just like the world when it is not.
My vision for the future ministry that God has for me is like this. I do not desire to have a huge church, I actually prefer a smaller group so that I may be more involved in individual lives. I would like to pastor a flock and bring them along in the knowledge of God's word, an in depth knowledge of His word. I prefer a smaller group of people so that I can teach them so that they may then go out and start a work of their own, according to God's will for their life. I want to be faithful with what God's has given me instead of making an empire for myself. I do not care if I leave a legacy for myself, but rather a history for God.

I would say that if I had a primary focus in my ministry it would be to remind the saints of who they are. We are the Bride of Christ, and when we keep that concept in the front of our minds then we will make all the necessary choices for personal sanctification. There is so much involved in being the Bride of Christ that is not "really" taught; blessings, our place with Christ, our place in the millennium, our place in eternity in relation to other saints throughout human history. I want to focus on who we are an not mix other dispensations with the present one (the Church). We are a part of a relations with God and with Christ that is like no other.

I realized, with the help of my wife, that I have not mentioned anything about evangelism. I believe that all saints should have a continual focus on evangelizing the lost. I enjoy working with people one on one, discussing things, and bringing salvation into any topic when dealing with a lost soul. The idea that we must use whatever means necessary to reach the lost is wrong. I believe that through living a different life from the world will draw attention to those around you, opening an opportunity to witness. If I am going to call myself a Christian then I must exhibit some Christ-like character.


There will be more to follow in this philosophy in the future, but it gives a surface understanding of who I am.