Over the years, however, Fundamentalism, while it clung to the integrity of God's Word, tended to become rigid, legalistic, and unaccepting of spiritual gifts. Pentecostalism became emotional, sometimes at the expense of the teaching of God's Word. Both movements began to place legalistic requirements on their teaching and doctrine; teachings that could not be backed up by Scripture...at least not without some major Scripture twisting.
Like the fundamentalists, we believe in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures, and that the Word of God is totally inerrant.
Like the Pentecostals, we believe that all of the gifts of the Spirit are alive and well in the church today, and are given to us for power to evangelize and to live as Christ would live.
We also believe that the gifts are sadly misused or misunderstood by the majority of the church today, and that many in both extremes twist Scripture to support the doctrine of their choice; rather than base their beliefs and practices on what the Scriptures plainly teach.
"Come, let us reason together", saith the Lord.
We believe that the Bible does not contradict itself.
We believe that man's ways are not God's ways, and man's thoughts are not God's thoughts.
The Godhead
We believe there is only one God, eternally showing Himself to us in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He led a sinless life, took on Himself all our sins, died and rose again, and is seated at the right hand of the Father as our mediator and advocate.
We believe that Jesus rose from the dead and will be returning soon, at the last trump, in victory to claim His bride, which is His holy church.
We believe that Jesus is now preparing a place for his followers to live with Him in eternity.
We believe that the Holy Spirit guides and directs the followers of Jesus on earth today.
We believe that the Holy Spirit has been sent to lead believers into all truth and correct understanding.
We believe the Holy Spirit daily gives us power to live and act as Jesus would, gives us gifts for service, and prompts us to repent when we fall short and sin.
Salvation
We believe that all men are lost and will face judgment from God, and need to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through His blood, which was shed upon the cross.
We believe that man's spirit is eternal, and that after death, we will either be forever separated from God in our unbelief, or forever rejoicing with Him because of His gift of salvation.
Obedience
We believe that followers of Jesus must live in obedience to His commandments; the greatest of which, according to Matthew 22:37-39, are to, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind", and to "Love your neighbor as yourself".
The Church
We believe the local church is for Christians to receive instruction and encouragement for their daily living, and training to make disciples of all men.
We believe that the universal church is the bride and the body of Christ, for which He gave His life.
Spiritual Gifts
We believe in the gifts of the Spirit as described in 1 Corinthians, chapters 12, 13, and 14.
We believe that all spiritual gifts must operate in accordance with the Word of God, must be confirmed by the Word of God, and may by no means contradict the Word of God.
We believe, according to 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 that we are commanded not to stifle the Holy Spirit, but to test everything that is said by the standard of the Bible. We are to hold on to what is good, and keep away from every kind of evil.
We hold a Continuationist view of the Gifts of the Spirit, but we do not believe that the Scriptures teach that any one particular gift is the sign of the Filling or the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
We believe that all the Spiritual Gifts are given by the Holy Spirit, as He directs and wills to do so; and that they are given to use to empower us for service. We believe that the Holy Spirit gives us different gifts at different times in our lives, and that we may or may not manifest the same gift all our lives. We believe that everyone's experience with the Holy Spirit is not the same, but each is valid as long as it lines up the testimony of the Word of God.
Fruit of the Spirit
We believe that there are not many "Fruits of the Spirit", but one Fruit of the Spirit.
In Galatians 5:22-23, we read the classic passage on the Fruit of the Spirit. Please take note that in this passage, Paul used a singular tense for word “fruit”. This means the Fruit of the Spirit is a singular item.
We are often mistaken by thinking that there are nine parts to this fruit. The fact is that there are only eight parts. Love is not a part! The whole fruit is known as “Love” or in the Greek, “Agape”. Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are the eight parts that form the manifestation of this singular “Agape” fruit.
To put this another way, the Fruit of the Spirit is Love. Love is manifested in Joy. Love is manifested in Peace. Love is manifested in Kindness. Love is manifested in Goodness. Love is manifested in Faithfulness. Love is manifested in Gentleness. Love is manifested in Self-Control.
If we have love, real agape love, we should be manifesting each of its components.