Our Beliefs

FAQs about our Beliefs

From time to time, we receive questions from visitors to our church and website, inquiring further into our beliefs and/or doctrinal teaching. Our pastor, David Davis, has responded to these questions from the Word of God. If you have questions after reading these answers, feel free to ask a question on our Q&A Bible Study streaming every Sunday morning on our Facebook page.

1. What is your title?

My title is senior pastor. This is my office (I Tim 3:1, Eph 4:11) as I could also be called a bishop. The members of our church do not call me by my title. So, you wouldn't hear anybody calling me Pastor Davis. I prefer (as does our other pastor, Michael) to be referred to by our names like everybody else (Job 32:21-22) as we are not any more important than any member of our church (I Cor 12:20-27). This does not diminish the respect people have for us (I Tim 5:17), nor does it take away from our responsibilities (I Tim 3:1-7; II Tim 4:1-2; Tit 1:6-9) and authority (which is discussed in another question below). My name is simply David Davis.

2. Can you define your belief in the local church? Could you also comment on your views regarding the universal church?

We believe in the autonomy of the local church or local body of believers. The apostle Paul (the apostle to the Gentiles - Rom 11:13; I Tim 2:7; II Tim 1:11) never established anything except local churches. He never formed a governing council or body that ruled over local churches. He never defined any office for the church with greater authority than that of the Bishop/Pastor (I Tim 3:1-7; Tit 1:6-9). Had God wanted such a governing body or office to exist, He would have laid it out clearly in His Word.

The universal church or global body of Christ is the union of all believers in this dispensation (Eph 5:30-32). It would be impossible to apply all requirements that the Word of God commands us for the local church to governing a global body. I Cor 12:26, for example, requires us to suffer with any member who suffers and rejoice with any member who is honored. There is always some Christian somewhere in the world that is suffering and some Christian somewhere who is honored. This can be applied on a local level, but not on a global or universal level.

3. Could you tell me what the purpose of Baptism is according to the Bible - using Scripture?

To answer this question, we have to first talk about rightly dividing the Word (II Tim 2:15). All scripture is inspired and written for us (II Tim 3:16-17), but all scripture is not written to us. This is where doctrine defines what we are accountable for before God in this dispensation (II Tim 1:13; Tit 2:1). Many people get confused about many doctrines and ultimately believe the Word of God has contradictions (which it does not). It is simply important to understand what scripture is doctrinally to us and what is not. Then we can learn from all scripture without fear of misapplying the Word of God (Rom 6:14).

Baptism is one teaching which has caused a lot of confusion and division (I Cor 1:11-16). Many people, attempting to take doctrine from Acts 2:38 or Mark 16:16, will teach that baptism is necessary for salvation. These passages do not apply to us doctrinally as they were given to the Jews (context is the number 1 rule of Bible study). We were not even commanded to baptize as Paul declares in I Cor 1:17. Biblical salvation for this dispensation (Rom 10:9-10; Eph 2:8-9) does not require baptism (which would be a work). However, Paul did use baptism (again, 1 Cor 1:11-16) as a tool to unite us in the doctrine which saved us (I Cor 1:10; Acts 16:30-34). This doctrine is the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24) and it does not require baptism. We, therefore, follow Paul's example (I Cor 4:16; 11:1; Php 4:9), and use baptism as a tool to unite us in the truth of the gospel of grace.

4. What is the elder that is mentioned numerous times in Scripture?

An elder is a mature believer in the Lord (I Tim 5:1-2). It is not an office or position in the church, as it has never been defined as one. A pastor has to be an elder (Tit 1:5-7), but not every elder is a pastor (or someone who has a position of authority - I Tim 5:17). It is like saying that every Kansan is an American, but not every American is a Kansan. A bishop must be an elder before he is a bishop. But not every elder rules the church (I Tim 5:17). Also, a woman can be an elder (I Tim 5:2; Tit 2:3-5), but she cannot rule the church as a pastor (I Tim 3:2). We would not want a woman to instruct other women in how to live as a godly woman just because she was elder in physical years. She needs to be elder in her walk with the Lord. Titus 1:5 does not say, "ordain men to be elders in every city" but rather "ordain elders in every city" and then gives the requirements for a bishop (Tit 1:6-9). This is ordaining men who are elders to be bishops. The Word never says, "an elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife. It only gives these requirements for a bishop.

5. Why do you have only one senior pastor?

The Word never commands us to have only one senior pastor in a church. However, Paul never set up the structure with multiple equal pastors in any of the churches he established. He set Timothy over the church of Ephesus after he left. We also follow the structure of authority that the Lord establishes for a family (I Cor 11:3; Eph 5:22; Col 3:18). The husband and the wife do not have equal authority in the home. That does not make the husband any more important than the wife or his children, but he is to rule his home (I Tim 3:4-5). And if a husband becomes a tyrant, he is not a Biblical husband (Eph 5:25-28). A pastor is not more important than any member of his church (I Cor 12), but he is to rule (I Tim 3:5; 5:17). If a pastor becomes a tyrant, his is not a Biblical pastor (Acts 20:28). One thing is crystal clear from the Word of God: there are only two offices/positions defined for the local church - bishops and deacons (I Tim 3; Php 1:1).

We currently have two pastors; we keep ourselves accountable to the Word, the Lord, and each other. It is the Word of God that unites us (I Cor 1:10) and our decisions for the church. We follow a structure with me as the senior pastor just as in a family (as stated before). I definitely believe that Christ is the head (Col 2:19) and that is why His Word is our absolute authority. I have stated more times than I can count that if I were to ever teach something that does not line up with Scripture, believe the Word, not me (Act 17:11). That is why we have so many cross references in our messages.

6. What, in your opinion, is the role of the pastor in regards to his authority over the people in the church?

Many pastors confuse pastoral care with pastoral control. I have the responsibility to train up the members of my church in the Word of God (Eph 4:12). To do this, I have the authority over all decisions regarding the operation of the church (although, I am not the final authority - the Word of God is). If someone is not teaching doctrine correctly, I have the authority to remove them from ministry (I Cor 1:10). If someone is rebellious to the Word and/or causing division, I have the authority to give them the boot from the church (Rom 16:17; I Cor 5:11; II Ths 3:14; I Tim 6:3-5).

The Word of God does not, however, give me authority to make decisions for how people live their lives. If somebody does something that is clearly against scripture, I have the obligation to call out sin (I Tim 5:20). But if somebody is doing something that is not against the Word of God, I have no authority to judge them (Rom 14).

Also, my authority over the church does not usurp the authority of a man over his family (I Cor 11:3; Eph 5:22-24; Col 3:18-20). I cannot tell people what time they have to put their kids to bed or how much TV they can let them watch. I cannot even ask a woman to take a responsibility in the church without the approval of her husband.

The messages on the requirements of a pastor (I Tim 3) would elaborate more on this issue.

7. Can you tell me how someone in the Old Testament got saved?

In the dispensation of the law, they were required to keep the law (Dt 30:10). If someone from the world (gentiles) wanted to be saved, they had to become a proselyte Jew (Ruth 1:16) and the males would have to be circumcised (Gen 17:14). The dispensation of conscience which is Adam to the law (Rom 5:13-14) is more difficult to determine as they had no written standard. Although, they knew what God expected of them (Gen 4:3-5; Job 1:1). Grace is a common requirement for all dispensations. But the Old Testament believer was required to have works as well. Salvation by grace through faith is only under the gospel of grace (Eph 2:8-9) in the dispensation of grace (Eph 3:1-7).

8. How do you train your people to school their children?

First off, see the answer to question #6. I cannot tell people how to school their children. We have people in our church that homeschool their children (including my family) and we have people who send their kids to public school and some to Christian school. The Word of God does not command us to school our children one way or another. The parents must determine what is right for their family and not judge others for their decision (again - Rom 14). I will give an account to God if my decision to homeschool my kids was right for my family or not at the judgment seat of Christ - as will everyone give an account for the decisions God gave them the authority to make.

9. Do you receive a salary or work a secular job?

We are a small church, so we do not have the resources to cover my salary. It is Biblical for a pastor to receive a salary (I Cor 9:1-14); however, I am not seeking this for myself. I have the responsibility of providing for my family (I Tim 5:8), so I do have a secular job. This does not deter me from my commitment to our church. It just diminishes the amount of time I can dedicate to it. This and all finances of the church are public knowledge (except personal giving records).

10. Does your church take up an offering?

Personal giving is between the member/family and the Lord. We do not collect an offering in the traditional way. We have a box with a hole in it in the back of the church and the members give as the Lord leads them. "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." (II Cor 9:7) Tithing is not required in this dispensation - that was under the law. I do not have a key to the box and my name is not on the church checking account. Our treasurer keeps track of personal giving records for tax reasons, but I do not know and do not want to know how much people are giving as it is between them and God.

11. How many people typically attend on Sunday morning?

As I said, we are small. We currently have around 50 people on any given Sunday. We have been blessed to have a church building located at 7005 E 102nd St. Kansas City, MO. We focus on spiritual growth more than physical growth (Eph 4:12-16; II Ths 1:3).

12. Can you briefly tell what you teach in regards to music and dress standards.

Our music is focused on applying Col 3:16. The main purpose in our music is to be Biblical and let the Word of God dwell in us richly. We emphasize singing actual scripture set to music (like Psalms originally was). We also sing a lot of hymns and a few spiritual songs. We prioritize these three in the order given in Col 3:16 and Eph 5:19. We have a director of music that plays a guitar (easy to carry into the school for services). Some of the scripture set to music is being placed on the website in the audio section. The focus is to prepare our hearts for the receiving of God's Word through the preaching which is the focus of our Sunday morning service. The entire service is a worship service and not just the singing part.

As far as dress standards go, I again have to refer to the answer to question 6. The Word of God does not command specific attire (coat and tie, dresses for women - those are social standards). For me to impose a set of rules requiring specific attire would be legalistic and surpassing the authority given me by the Word. Should someone dress in way that would be sexually provocative, I would address that situation (I Tim 2:9). However, I have yet to have anybody show me the scripture which is doctrinally applicable to us in this dispensation that forbids women from wearing pants or anybody from wearing shorts. Personally, I hate ties and stopped wearing them regularly for services when we were missionaries in Panama. My attire Sunday morning could be defined as business casual. But we also have people who come to church in casual attire and that is their decision (again - Rom 14). The focus is on the spiritual, not the physical (II Cor 4:16-18).

13. Can you give me your philosophy on America and patriotism.?

Opinions about politics should definitely not be something that divides believers. I have political opinions as does everyone. I do not express them from the pulpit. What I preach is the truth of the Word (II Tim 4:2) and nothing more. When asked a question like that in our question-and-answer Bible study, I am careful to explain that my opinions are not the Word of God, and even then, I am extremely hesitant to give it. I am personally conservative in my politics and I love my country. Those things, although I am not ashamed of them, are not what I preach about. I preach verse by verse through the book of the Bible that the Lord puts on my heart for that year. I teach that we are to support our government (liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican) and submit to it (Rom 13:1-7; I Tim 2:1-4) unless they command us to do something that is against the Word of God as it is our final authority.

14. Does your church have a street preaching ministry and/or focus on evangelism?

We do not have an organized evangelism ministry at our church. I have been involved in street preaching ministries in the past. I can see both their benefit and their shortcomings. If the Lord leads one of the leaders in our church to organize such a ministry under the structure of the church, I would be pleased. If the Lord leads any individual member (as He has done) to pass out tracts or witness to neighbors, they have complete freedom to do so (they don't need my permission). I know that it is all of our responsibility to do the work of an evangelist (II Tim 4:5), but that does take many different forms. We train our members to always seek open doors of opportunity with family, friends, coworkers and fellow students (Col 4:3-6), then to have the courage of walking through that door when the opportunity comes (Eph 6:19-20). We dedicate one of our discipleship lessons to evangelism. The time we meet together as a church body is focused on the edification of the members (Eph 4:12-16) and to prepare them to minister the Word as the Lord gives them opportunity (whether to lost or saved people). Evangelistically focused messages are preached only when they come up in the natural context of preaching through the Scriptures (Eph 2:8-10). However, after every message I preach (evangelistic or not), I ask anybody who doesn't know for certain whether they have eternal life to give us the opportunity to show them from scripture how to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

15. What do you believe about speaking in tongues?

I've used the passage of I Cor 14:27-35 (God's rules for speaking in tongues) to discuss the practice with Pentecostals. I've had a couple who were honest enough to acknowledge that it can't be the Holy Spirit since He would never do anything that isn't according to the Word of God (one of whom is now pastoring one of the churches we started in Panama). We actually can apply this passage in the church today as well. Since the purpose of tongues was to communicate with people in different languages (Acts 2), we can apply I Cor 14 to different languages today. If I have somebody come up from Panama or Mexico and preach to the church in Spanish, nobody will be edified unless there is somebody to interpret (which I can do). I could not allow somebody to preach in Japanese unless there was somebody who could interpret.

16. Why do you capitalize "Word" when referring to the Bible?

God cannot be separated from his Word (Jn 1:1; Rev 19:13). He has glorified His Word above all his name (Ps 138:2) and expects His Word to be glorified by believers (I Ths 3:1). The Bible does not normally capitalize Word, nor does it capitalize pronouns referring to the Lord. I do this out of respect for Him and His Word; it is a personal decision/habit of mine. I do not worship the Bible, nor pray to it as an idol. The Bible/book itself could burn, but the words it contains are eternal. His Word is how we know Him and everything He wants us to know as His Spirit reveals the truth to us. The following messages would be helpful as well (I Ths 2:13 and II Ths 3:1-2).  

17. Does your church use other versions of the Bible?

We accept the King James 1611 as the preserved, inerrant Word of God (Ps 12:6-7). We state this clearly on our website under the beliefs page. Multiple versions mean multiple authorities; and no church body can be united under multiple authorities. There can be only one final authority. If the church members cannot all look to one single version held as their final authority, they require a man (normally the pastor) to define for them what the Greek or the Hebrew really means. I am not the final authority in our church, the Word of God is (I Ths 2:13). People have to have the humility to submit to the Word of God. If a man does not believe he has the actual words of God in his hands when he reads it, he will judge the Word rather than let the Word judge him (Heb 4:12-13). That is a sad and dangerous place to be in. The bottom line is that the KJV 1611 is our final authority.

18. Does God choose who goes to heaven and who goes to hell?

First off, let me respond by quoting I Timothy 2:3-4.

"For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."

If God would choose for someone to go to an eternal hell, He would be a cruel and hateful God indeed. But God is not hate, He is love. He loved us enough to die an eternal death for us so that we might have eternal life (Rom 5:8; Tit 3:4-7). But He didn't die for some and not for others; He died for the entire human race: all the descendants of the first Adam. The price he paid on the cross was for all mankind (I Cor 15:22; Rom 5:12-21) and it would be impossible to pull any of the descendants of Adam out of that group that were died for. Having made the sacrifice to all mankind, He then makes the offer to all mankind to be saved from the fate we condemned ourselves to (Hell) by our sin. There are different requirements for accepting this offer depending upon which dispensation a descendant of Adam lives. In our present dispensation of grace (Eph 3:1-4), we are saved by grace through faith without the works of the law (Eph 2:8-9). And, yes, I agree that even the faith we have to believe is a gift from God as those verses clearly proclaim. It is given freely to anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. There are two requirements for salvation in this dispensation to accept the promise from the Word of God to be saved: Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead (proving His deity) from Romans 10:9. You cannot add to those requirements that the person has to be one of the few privileged beings to have been selected by God to live eternally. Any person (I Tim 2:3-4; Tit 2:11) in this dispensation who fulfills the two requirements of Rom 10:9 "shall be saved."

If God had predetermined which souls were eternally damned and which souls were to be saved, there would be absolutely no point to this temporal life anyway. Just throw the poor rejects in the lake of fire and be done with it; then let the party start for those blessed few to have been selected for eternal life. Another completely illogical and unbiblical conclusion to this pre-selection is that there would be no need for evangelism of the lost. We are commanded to give the gospel (I Cor 1:17; Eph 6:15, 19; Php 1:27; II Tim 1:8; 4:5) and are commended for doing so (Rom 10:15; I Cor 9:16; Php 1:12; 4:3). There would be no reason for us to give the gospel if it didn't matter whether we did or not. And it wouldn't if it was already predetermined who would go to heaven and who would go to hell.

This may be simple confusion about the term "predestination" (which many believe to be God predetermining who is saved). However, being predestined (Eph 1:5, 11) is only a result of God's foreknowledge (Rom 8:29-30). Because God is omnipotent, he knew before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4) who would accept His salvation (Gen 1:3) and who would not. Those He knew would accept, He chose to be a part of the family of God and predestined them for this end. A Calvinistic view of predestination is also many times a result of not rightly dividing the Word of God (II Tim 2:15). There are too many misconceptions to cover here, but a there is also a common misunderstanding of the election of Israel and the separate and distinct reward that the Lord has for us in this dispensation (Php 3:8-14; II Ths 2:13-14).