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Introducing Ourselves
I first became acquainted with the Philippines back in 1977 where as a US Marine and young Christian, I became burdened. After
my honorable discharge, I submitted to God's calling, received seminary training, and was sent out by the South Side Baptist
Tabernacle of Ypsilanti, Michigan to church plant. I am happily married to my wife Lenore (who I met in Bible college), and
have two sons, Jonathan (who is now in Bible College) and Joshua who is here helping us. We live on our church property, located
right across the street from the San Marcelino District Hospital, and have running water, electricity, hot water in our shower,
an American style washer and dryer, an air conditioner in our room, a self-defrost refrigerator, and an 11 year old Nissan
that needs mechanical work every few months or so, but looks new. We didn't have some of these things during our first term,
and thank God for them.
Our Missions Philosophy
Concerning missions philosophy, I feel a church planter should plant indigenous and autonomous churches which replicate his
sending church on the field, including it's doctrines, Biblical standards and philosophies. I also feel that the longer the
National Church permits herself to remain dependent on US supports, the longer it will take for her to become truly autonomous.
This is why our church has paid for their last three building projects, has salaried their own staff, takes care of all
their operating expenses, helps area national churches, supports local and foreign missions, and has sent out their own church
planter. As a autonomous church, they make their own decisions (self governing), fund their own needs (self-supporting),
and finance their own missions program (self-propagating).
Our Philosophy of Ministry
Doing God's Work, God's Way!
I have never purchased a lot in my own name, have never selected a lot to develop without checking with area pastors in advance
to ensure our location would not harm them, never received a transfer that was under church discipline or without their former
pastor's consent, never went after members of like churches nor solicited them to work for me as paid staff, have never misappropriated
my missions support or falsified my reports, still tithe & give to missions or special needs (to my sending church when
on furlough and my mission church when on the field), never photographed other works to report them as my own, never photographed
kids raising hands for candy to claim it was for salvation, never misrepresented myself in order to gain or keep support,
never mislead my supporters in my reports or testimonies, never sought quick conversions for the sake of reporting (easy to
do this at the high school where I teach), never competed with national churches, never tried to slander the reputation and
work of another pastor, never compromised the Truth for attendance, offerings or support, never joined or associated with
divisive fellowships that badmouth other Independent Baptist preachers.
Since a missionary's support is often linked to how many "church plants" he can "claim" - it can be tempting
to "lay hands" on Nationals who need help, and then claim them as church plants. Do date, I have had to refuse
seven opportunities to claim other church plants, due to unethical ways of conducting ministry.
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What We Do
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
As church planters, our purpose is to evangelize, church plant and teach our converts to do the same. This is being done under the Mother Church Model of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International,
which consists of planting an autonomous church, and then training and sending Nationals out from this church, with the additional
option of turning this church over to a National Pastoral leadership, to continue our church planting efforts.
"The BBFI believes and practices the indigenous system, the establishment of self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating churches.
The BBFI recognizes the 'mother church' model, whereby the missionary establishes and pastors a strong central church, which
replicates itself in other mission churches, or through educational training institutions." (BBFI Mission Policy)
How can I enjoy Salvation?
What We Believe
As an Independent Baptist, I am committed to the Biblical doctrines of the Baptist faith as historically held throughout the centuries by Bible believing Christians: This includes the infallibility of the Scriptures
as originally given by the inspiration of God and perfectly preserved in the KJV and in the Ang Salita ng Diyos NT as the
sole and final authority for English-Tagalog speaking peoples in all matters of faith and practice; the triunity of the One
God Who exists as the Persons of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost; the direct Genesis account of the creation and fall of man
as opposed to any form of evolution; the Deity, virgin birth, sinlessness, vicarious death and bodily resurrection of Jesus
Christ; the total depravity of man, his absolute need of regeneration by the Holy Spirit; the all-sufficiency of Christ's
death who died for all men, and for our salvation which is received by faith alone, the eternal security and the permanent
indwelling of the Holy Spirit in every believer today, the founding of the local, visible church by Christ which was labeled
as Anabaptist during persecutions, the personal, imminent, pre-millennial, re-tribulation rapture, and in the return of Christ
in glory and power, and a literal heaven and hell.
We teach in the literal interpretation of Scripture, that the KJV
is the preserved, inerrant, plenary, and infallible Word of God, that the Hebrew Maseretic Text and the Greek Textus Receptus
are the manuscripts God preserved, that the Wescott and Hort family of manuscripts are corrupt, that Christ died for ALL men,
that God's election was based on His foreknowledge, that whosoever will may be saved, that Christ established His church before
Pentecost, that this church was labeled "Anabaptist" thru persecution, and that "Anabaptists" are the forerunners of many
Baptists today. We reject theistic evolution, neo-orthodoxy, higher criticism, Pentecostalism, hyper-Calvinism, charismatic
bondage breaking, and easy-believism, and are conservative in worship, separated in standard, Biblical in teaching, missionary
in motive, sincere in service, honest in character and peaceful in living.
The courses we teach in our Seminary, reflect our positions, and you can click to our Ministries Page to read what we offer.
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