In short, you need to be around Christians enough that you have accountability for Holy Living and the practical support to continue to grow in your relationship with Christ and in responsibility to the Church. Making this more complex, sometimes friends and family who are in opposition to God’s plan for your life may try to limit your engagement with The Church. In general, you should expect to attend a Church once a week as part of a main service and a second time (or more) where you can receive and contribute in discipleship.

Baptism is similar to getting married to Christ in a spiritual way. Baptisms are meant to be public before other Christians as witnesses and physically symbolises your decision to leave old identities, and other sinful ways of living. Those being baptized tend to choose a spiritual mentor like their pastor or someone they are submitting to in discipleship to baptize them. Baptism only needs to be completed once and demonstrates that a choice to submit to Christ’s gospel has already been accepted and the person being baptized is willing to undergo persecution as a Christian.

The bible should be read almost daily or more, at a minimum of 15 minutes. Most new believers are instructed to begin reading from the Gospel of John through the end of the book, then to get an idea of how the Old Testament is laid out, read the first couple chapters of each of the books before then reading the gaps. The book of Revelation (the last book of the bible) tends to be difficult to understand as it is written in code that is spiritually discerned. Do not feel shame about not understanding parts of this book–just reading it through is a blessing and an accomplishment.

Some tips from our Director:

1. Read no more than one chapter of the bible at a time as part of your daily devotional. This will give you time to process what you are reading and for God to demonstrate his providence in your spiritual growth. The addition of other readings or forms of worship are appropriate, but not at the cost of life responsibilities.

2. Begin reading the bible from the Gospel of John found in the first 4 books of the New Testament.

3. Proceed to read from the Book of Acts through to the end of the bible. The book of Revelation may be the most confusing, but one is blessed just by reading it through. (At the right time, God will illuminate aspects of the prophetic book of Revelation in His timing later.)

4. Now, read the first 2 chapters of each of the Old Testament book, starting from Genesis. You will notice themes and styles of writing as you progress. This strategy will help expose you to how these books are different, but carry a diverse Christian understanding.

5. Alternate between finishing each of the Old Testament books and reading the gospels to gain a more full understanding.

6. Do not get distracted. It is easy to begin using 2nd or third party tools like bible study curriculums to make it “easier”, but reading through the bible first without 2nd or 3rd party bias is important to see your journey in Christ accurately.

The bible is not organized chronologically. 

The bible has many translations with varying degrees of seriousness taken in accuracy and is translated from more exclusive and accurate ancient languages.

The bible is inerrant and not merely a history book. For simplicity sake, inerrancy means that the Holy Spirit, who is without sin, perfectly authored every aspect of scripture and thus it is not only perfect at a given point, but is perfect for all time, and is made alive by the Holy Spirit.

The bible is unable to be correctly discerned without the Holy Spirit who wrote it. This excludes non-born again people from presuming to understand the bible simply by reading it; their spirit must be transformed by the Holy Spirit for correct interpretation.

The bible is intended for understanding morality, but also God’s global will for humanity, and God’s personal will for the destiny of every born-again Christian.

Most Christians read their bible daily (called a “quite time” or “daily devotional”) on their own outside of Church bible activities.

Below are our favorite versions of the Bible and why:

1. ESV: for word study, 

2. NASB: for word study, 

3. NIV: for vocabulary level; 

4. KJV for word study and attendance at orthodox and mainline churches.

*Avoid The Message and The Passion version when you begin bc they invite unnecessary controversy in the early stages.

No. Our Executive Pastor, the founding director, has outlined some basic factors concurrent with Christian experience across 3 main experience levels:

DISCIPLE-LEVEL (~1 week-5 years) Many Christians FLOURISH in these experiences. VOLUNTEER leaders are familiar with
these.

PASTOR-LEVEL (~5 years-20 years) Most pastors and teachers are expected by born again Christians to be proficient in these.

OVERSEER-LEVEL (~20 years or more) This season is required of all Christian leaders who will interact regularly across denominational
lines and across people groups.

For a more detailed review of each stage, click here