What we believe about God

Statement of Faith
For Flinders Christian Fellowship
and Outback Jack

What we believe about God and about being a disciple of Jesus in this modern day world.

·We believe the Bible, (old and new Testament) is the inspired Word of God. It is the complete and final authority in faith and all matters of life that the Bible seeks to deal with.

·We believe in the one God of Israel, eternally existent, undivided in three persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit

·We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, who is the only begotten Son of the Father, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless and perfect life, He died on the cross, was resurrected from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father.

·We believe in the atoning death of Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice for all of mankind. His work on the cross also defeated the work of Satan the accuser of the brethren.

·We believe that there is no other name in heaven or on earth by which a man or woman can be saved, either Jew or Gentile, then that of Jesus Christ and that it is by faith in Him alone. Not by works or good deeds. They prove that we have faith ( see book of James) but they do not earn us salvation.

·We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is essential.

·We believe that the Holy Spirit continues to work within the Church calling us to holiness and that His gifts and ministries are active until His eventual return. We also believe that not all manifestations of the miraculous are of God and that discernment and much wisdom is necessary to determine what really is of God. The Gifts of the Spirit are not for self glorification, nor entertainment. They are the common sense tools that God equips His people with so that they may withstand the attacks of the enemy - Satan (Devil) and also to be used to continue the ministry Jesus commanded us to do. To set the captives free, to heal the sick and to preach the Good News.

·We believe in the physical return to the earth, of Jesus Christ, to gather His saints. We don't know when but it will happen!

We believe in the final resurrection of the dead, the believer to everlasting life, and the unbeliever, to eternal punishment.

·We believe that Israel is God's chosen people, chosen to reveal His plans and purposes for the world, that the prophecies concerning her will be fulfilled in the future, that His promises remain true to Israel. This does not mean however that we believe all that happens in Israel or through them is of God. God still has plans for this nation but they are not a fully 'redeemed' nation. We believe that the Gentile Church is the ingrafted branch Rom 11:17 ff.

We believe that the prophecies and the promises contained in the Bible will be fulfilled. We also believe that in the last days God is raising up a remnant that is true to His Word and will be persecuted until the end because of their faith in Jesus Christ. This remnant may not necessarily be found in the established Churches as many are falling away from true Biblical belief and embracing New Age philosophy.

In response to email request, stating our position clearer

It was interesting the other day to receive an email that stated this site was not clear about it's intentions and that it was 'fundamentalist' and stuck on the KJV version of the Bible. Some people seem to like labels, or have things put into boxes. Well life is not like that especially not in our postmodern expression of life today. But I am going to try to define things a little more because the Bible clearly states that if someone asks you for your shirt you should give it to them, and possibly your coat as well. So here goes.

The correspondent said that we should put our intentions clearly onto our front page.

Just because a website does not contain its faith statement on it's opening page is it guilty of deception and fundamentalism? I like this comment from http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/worthy.php atricle titled "Unworthy Witness"
"A Christian community development leader recently described to me a layered approach of their ministry within a community. It is something like a Christmas package. No deception can ever be involved, but the outer wrapping (public actions, activities, and appearance) stimulate interest which causes people to probe deeper, through the layers, until they find the gift inside - perhaps long after the team has left. "

So it is with this site. It has many layers, just as I have many passions, interests and hobbies. Like Shrek said Ogres are like onions, well this site is either an onion or a Christmas package. You the reader can form your own opinion about that.

Overall this web site seeks to be fun, both for the creator and the reader. It seeks to be informative as I love to learn and explore this land of ours. It also seeks to support and encourage local business and station owners, some of whom are not Christian and therefore we don't put Christian things onto their pages unless they request it. We think local support is crucial in this time of drought.

Finally because I am a Christian who follows Jesus and seeks to be his disciple I share this too, just as I share the other parts of my life here with you. Along with my sharings are also the growing involvement of the Church that I am a member of.

Who are these people in my church?

Flinders Christian Fellowship is a home-church that just got too big for our homes. We are a constitutional body but we do not belong to a particular denomination. If you need a lable which some do we would be a cross between Evangelical/Pentecostal/Charismatic middle of the road type group. We base our beliefs on the Bible, we believe that Jesus is the Key to salvation and we seek to live out our faith in love with those around us.

We also are blessed to have as members the current custodians of Colbrook Community Clara and Raymond who reach out to their Indigenous community and family groups.

Well I hope this helps clear things up for those out there who like to get things in neat packages. It is about as clear as my mind can get it. But who knows with the ongoing help of my audience I may yet be able to become more effective in my overall website presentation.

One last thing they pointed out is my terrible spelling, on that there is no argument. I wish Blue Voda had spell check. It does not and content always rates a higher priority to spelling. They believe my spelling is so bad it will put you the reader off of my site. Funny but it never effects my blog with Telstra and I am more slack there with spelling than here. Guess it is something I will have to work on.

Love your day, it's a gift from God you know!

Before you throw the fundamentalist label at this site make sure you have not fallen into 'religious relativism'. If there be truth, then there must be 'untruth', if there be light there is also dark. But you can still love one-another regardless of position and not compromise your faith in the midst of listening.

"Our era is characterized by a return to exclusive fundamentalism on the one hand and what Glasser calls "careless tolerance and religious relativism" on the other. No matter what we do, no matter how we live our lives, as we speak of our faith in Jesus Christ some will accuse us of ?unworthy witness?. And - it hardly needs mention - different settings, different times, different people will respond to different approaches in differing ways"

I love this quote it is from
http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/worthy.php

Partacoona station Flinders Ranges