I am in the process of applying for an adjunct teaching position at a Christian college. That college wants me to include a statement of my theological beliefs. If you have read my resume, then you know that I have a Master of Divinity Degree in Languages from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. I used to have a bi-vocational resume for churches that are looking for part-time pastors. I happened upon this resume recently, and so I decided to retype the theological beliefs portion for them, and for you if you are interested in what I believe.

Note: If you know of a bivocational church looking for a minister, feel free to tell them about this blog as God directs. If it matters to you, I was licensed to the ministry on November 14, 1979 by Forest Hills Baptist Church, Raleigh, North Carolina.

My Theological Beliefs:

Baptist Faith and Message: I believe the Baptist Faith and Message is the creed closest to Biblical truth that man has developed (it certainly has the most scriptural references). I believe it entirely, including the statement that the Bible, both Old and New Testament, “has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.” In fact, the only sentence I disagree with is the one stating that baptism is a prerequisite to the Lord’s Supper. While this may be a good rule, it is not backed up by any scripture and should not be forced upon people who are not baptized due to circumstances beyond their control (for example, some churches can’t baptize during winter months).

In matters not mentioned in (or different than) the Baptist Faith and Message, I hold the following viewpoints:

Baptism: The primary misunderstanding in some Baptist churches (and many churches as well) today is that baptism is just an initiating ceremony for joining a particular denomination. Nothing, I believe, is further from the truth. Instead, baptism is a celebration of the death and new life in Jesus Christ (not in the church, which is the purpose of church membership) that a new believer has. It is an outward confession of that person before other people that he is willing to follow God. I know of no scripture that requires a believer to be re-baptized if he has already been so. The proper order is that a person be saved first, then be baptized. Thus if a person wasn’t saved when he or she was baptized the first time (even if it was done in a Baptist church), only then should he or she be required to be reimmersed.

The Lord’s Supper: The Greek word eucharist also means thanksgiving, to give thanks for the “Lord’s death until he comes.” (I Cor. 11:26)  Since all people should give thanks for the Lord’s death (and his payment for our sins), I believe communion should be “open” and not “closed.” According to I Cor. 22:27-31, the only people who should not participate in the thanksgiving of communion are those who, after self-examination, do not have a proper relationship with God – a relationship worth giving thanks for. The church in most cases cannot and should not make this judgment about people.

Stewardship: Since we have become slaves (servants) of Christ (Rom. 6:22), all that we have, including our time and our money, belongs to God and not to us. We should go beyond just tithing our money and have the attitude stated in Acts 2:44-45, calling nothing that we have as our own. Even the very schedules of what we do should be completely by our Lord (James 4:15).

Gifts of the Spirit:  I believe the Holy Spirit still gives out spiritual gifts to help build up the body of Christ. I believe I have the gifts of teaching and administration, while others might have the gifts of mercy, service, etc., even tongues. No one person has all the gifts nor is any one gift possessed by all people. This is one reason why Christians are not to be independent, but to be interdependent upon one another. Again, the purpose of the gifts is to help build up the body of Christ, and if someone is not using his “gift” to help fellow Christians become closer to God or to help non-Christians to know Christ, then his gift is not a Spirit-given gift. This is especially true of some tongue-speakers who use their “gift” to break up churches, instead of building them up. I advocate silence in tongue-speaking unless it is to be done in a scriptural manner (see I Cor. 14:26-33) for edification.

Style of Teaching and Preaching: I teach/preach almost exclusively expository sermons, exegeting on what the Greek actually says. I preach mostly from the New King James Version, but occasionally use the New International Version, the King James Version, and the New American Standard Bible. I try to avoid preaching that merely “tickles the ears” (2 Tim. 4:3), which means I don’t preach just “salvation sermons,” but sermons which challenge the congregation to walk closer to God seven days of week and not just on Sundays. I believe in “how-to” (application-oriented) teaching. (Note: I haven’t actually preached a sermon in a church since the early 1980’s.)

Ministry of the Deacons: “Deacon” in the Greek means servant, not administrator. I wholeheartedly support the “deacon-flock” ministry plan, for in many respects a church is as strong as its deacons are. I believe that pastors should have a weekly in-depth Bible study with the deacons, who in turn would be Bible study leaders themselves (see 2 Tim. 2:2). Thus it is extremely important that only those people who are really interested in following God become deacons (I Tim. 3:8-9), not just those interested in the glory of the position. This is especially true in bi-vocational churches, in which the pastor has other duties to perform outside the church.

Church Extension: I believe in church growth and in starting new churches from home Bible fellowships (assuming the area is not “overchurched,”) as well as active witnessing and outreaches to the unchurched,  for a church cannot grow on “biological growth” alone, although ministry to the children of members is also important.

Prayer: Jesus once said “My house should be called a house of prayer.” (Luke 19:44) I believe in the power of prayer and I would like the church I pastor to be considered a house of prayer. Dialogue with God is important if a church is to follow Him. I would put an emphasis on this subject as I want the people God has given me to shepherd to be close to Him.