Statement of Faith

The following represents my personal ministerial and theological convictions, held as an ordained minister of the Gospel and derived from the authoritative teaching of Holy Scripture. These convictions are offered publicly in the exercise of the rights of free religious expression protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and applicable law.

I. Holy Scripture

I hold to the full inerrancy and infallibility of the Holy Scriptures as expressed in the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978). The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, without error in all that they affirm, and remain the final authority for Christian faith, practice, and ministry. All theological positions I hold and all ministerial work I do are measured and accountable to Scripture alone.

II. God

I affirm the existence of one living and true God, eternally self-existent, who reveals Himself in Scripture as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: three distinct Persons sharing one divine nature, essence, and being. God is sovereign over all creation, providentially governing history according to His purposes, and is worthy of the highest love, reverence, and obedience of every creature.

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, who lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary atoning death on the cross for sinners, was bodily raised from the dead on the third day, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return personally and visibly to judge the living and the dead. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is fully God, who regenerates, indwells, and sanctifies all true believers. The Holy Spirit illuminates Scripture, glorifies Christ, equips the Church for ministry, and bestows spiritual gifts for the building up of the Body of Christ. I hold a continuationist position: the gifts of the Spirit described in the New Testament remain operative in the Church today, tested and governed always by the authority of Scripture.

III. Salvation

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. Election is the sovereign and gracious purpose of God by which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. Justification is the declaration of righteousness before God received by faith, not by human merit or works. All true believers are preserved by the power of God and will persevere to the end.

IV. The Church

The local church is an autonomous congregation of baptized believers, gathered under the authority of Scripture, under the leadership of biblically qualified pastors, practicing the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and accountable to Christ as its head. The office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

I hold that the worship of the gathered Church is among the most publicly consequential theological acts the people of God undertake. Congregational song must be evaluated for doctrinal fidelity, pastoral accountability, and the spiritual formation of the whole congregation. The selection, evaluation, and use of music in corporate worship is a pastoral responsibility, not a matter of cultural preference or commercial convenience.

V. Theological Anthropology and Human Dignity

God created human beings in His own image, male and female, as the crown of His creation. The distinction between male and female is a good and permanent feature of God's design, established in creation and not subject to revision by individual self-identification or cultural consensus. Every human being, regardless of background, ethnicity, or condition, possesses full dignity as an image-bearer of God and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

VI. Marriage and the Family

Marriage is the covenant union of one man and one woman, as established by God in creation, affirmed by Jesus Christ, and upheld by the New Testament as a picture of Christ's relationship with the Church. I affirm this definition as the clear, consistent, and authoritative teaching of Scripture, held not as a political position but as a ministerial conviction derived from the Word of God. Sexual intimacy is a gift from God designed exclusively for the covenant of marriage between husband and wife.

VII. Economic Life and Stewardship

God is the source of all things. Work, property, and material blessing are gifts from God entrusted to human stewards who are accountable to Him. I hold to a biblical theology of stewardship and economic life in which the Church, the family, and the individual bear God-given responsibilities that are not to be supplanted by any civil government or ideological system. The Bible's sustained concern for justice for the poor flows from the character of God and is not a mandate for any particular political or economic program.

VIII. Religious Liberty

I believe in the God-given right of every human being to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience, free from coercion by any government or institution. I hold and express my theological convictions as a minister of the Gospel, ordained by the First Baptist Church of Mount Dora, Florida, on January 29, 2023. The views expressed throughout my ministry, writing, teaching, and public work are expressions of sincerely held religious belief derived from Scripture, and are offered in accordance with the rights of free religious exercise protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.