Prophecy resources

Midnight Call (The International Voice of Prophecy) magazines available in PDF for online reading

AmazingBible.org (contains about 5,000 pages of Bible answers, commentaries, doctrine, news, prophecy, statistics, studies, sermons, spiritual warfare, and tracts)

Jack Van Impe's Dictionary of Prophecy Terms

Jack Van Impe's Dictionary of Prophecy Terms, from Crosswlak.com

Jack Van Impe , from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fulfilled Prophecy.com (reports of recent, major fulfillments of Bible prophecy)

War of the Angels (supernatural testimonies from all over the world confirming that the Rapture is near; upcoming movie version of the book)

Bible Watchman (blowing the trumpet of warning in these end days; tracts, sermons, and God's news behind the news)

Sluice Box Adventures (an end-of-the-age AV1611 ministry)

LeftBehind.com (the powerful message of what life will be like during the end times)

Rapture Ready (end times prophecy, but with articles on other Biblical topics)

End Times Bible Prophecy Studies (discover two keys Jesus taught that unlock Bible prophecy's timeline so you can finally know what's coming for sure—even before the Rapture.

Steps Toward the Mark of the Beast (Are you ready for the world's new economic system? Learn about the New Economic Order and how every person needs to prepare as the world takes the final... "Steps Toward the Mark of the Beast")

Faithful Audio Commentary (Listen to trustworthy, nonsensational, verse by verse classroom teaching of the Book of Revelation. Includes detailed audio discussions across Scripture related to the Second Coming and End Times Bible Prophecy)

King James Version resources

Alexander Scourby | MySpace Video | Video URL

IaudioBible.com (KJV Bible and sermons in online audio and print)

Audio Bible Online (narrated by Alexander Scourby; Real Player required)

KJV1611 Search Engine (index of KJV sites)

KJV audio

Concordances

Nave's Topical Bible (Study thousands of subjects in the Word of God with Scriptures listed in the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible

Nave's Topical Bible, from Crosswalk.com (Nave's Topics were originaly produced by Orville J. Nave, A.M., D.D., LL.D. while serving as a Chaplain in the United States Army. He referred to this work as "the result of fourteen years of delightful and untiring study of the Word of God." Nave's topics were originally published in the early 1900's, and consist of 20,000+ topics and subtopics, and 100,000 references to the Scriptures.)

Nave's Topical Bible, from StudyLight.org

Bible words and Topical Index from Nave's Topical Bible, from biblegateway.com

Nave's topical Bible, from godrules.net

Nave's Topical Bible Main Index, from apostolic-churches.net

Nave's Topical Bible, from Christian Classics Ethereal Library

Nave's Topical Bible, from Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia)

Nave's Topical Index, from HTML Bible (consists of 5300 web pages with each scripture reference hyperlinked to the HTML Bible)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, from Crosswalk.com (The Strong's Exhaustive Concordance is the most complete, easy-to-use, and understandable concordance for studying the original languages of the Bible. Combining the text of the King James Bible with the power of the Greek and Hebrew Lexicons, any student or pastor can gain a clear understanding of the Word to enrich their study.)

Strong's Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon, from eliyah.com

Strong's exhaustive concordance search engine, from khouse.org

Strong's Concordance, from Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia)

Bible Concordance (An alphabetical index of Hebrew and Greek words used in the Bible, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and other reference tools), from allaboutgod.com

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

Torrey's New Topical Textbook, from Crosswalk.com (These topical references are from R. A. Torrey's New Topical Textbook published by Sword of the Lord Publishers, P.O. Box 1099, Murfreesboro, TN, 37133. The New Topical Textbook was published with 20,000 Topics and Sub-topics and 30,000 Bible References.)

Torrey's New Topical Textbook, from Christian Classics Ethereal Library

Torrey's Topical Textbook, from StudyLight.org

Torrey's New Topical Textbook (Large Print), from biblehelpsonline.com

Torrey's New Topical Textbook, from jesuschristis.com

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, with over 500000 cross-references; a valuable reference tool for sermon preparation and Bible studies

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, from Crosswalk.com (For generations, the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge has been an enduring cross-reference resource for Bible students worldwide. This highly respected and nearly exhaustive compilation of cross-references was developed by R.A. Torrey from references in the Rev. Thomas Scott's Commentary and the Comprehensive Bible. With nearly 500,000 cross-references it is the most thorough source available.)

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, from StudyLight.org

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, from SearchGodsWord.org

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, from swordsearcher.com

Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, from godrules.net

For other resources on this topic, please surf to Baptistology: The Baptist Search Engine

Protecting our churches and families from online pornography

Pornography in its various forms (magazines, videos, films, online, etc) is a 12 to 13 billion dollar industry that’s wreaking havoc on families and churches. And yet, according to Kerby Anderson’s article “The Pornography Plague” in www.probe.org , “Christian are often ignorant of its impact and apathetic about the need to control this menace.”

Children are the target of online pornographers. According to a 2002 report by the prestigious London School of Economics, “9 out of ten children aged between 8 and 16 years have viewed pornography on the Internet. In most cases, sites were accessed unintentionally when a child used a seemingly innocent sounding word to search for information or pictures.” Sue Bohlin in her Probe Ministries article entitled “Protecting Your Family On the Internet” warns that

Like the tobacco industry used to, the pornography industry aggressively targets young children as consumers. They position their Web sites to be found in seemingly innocent searches using words like toys, Disney, Nintendo, or dolls.” Bohlin’s article further states, “According to NetValue, children spent 64.9 percent more time on pornography sites than they did on game sites in September 2000. Over one quarter (27.5%) of children age 17 and under visited an adult Web site, which represents 3 million unique underage visitors.

Definitions of pornography and obscenity

Jeff Olson in his full-length article “When A Man’s Eyes Wander” from RBC Ministries, defines pornography as,

Pornography is any written or visual material that depicts nudity and/or sexually explicit activity for the purpose of causing sexual arousal. Of course, not all descriptions or photographs of nudity, sexual organs, and sexual activity (such as those found in educational material or medical textbooks) are pornographic. What makes material pornographic is its calculated intent to cause sexual arousal.

According to Anderson’s article, “The 1986 Attorney General Commission on Pornography defined pornography as material that is predominantly sexually explicit and intended primarily for the purpose of sexual arousal. Hard core pornography is sexually explicit in the extreme, and devoid of any other apparent content or purpose.”

Any discussion about pornography includes the term “obscenity.” The Philippine Supreme Court has followed the 1973 US Supreme Court ruling in Miller vs. California in defining what “obscenity” is. According to the Miller case, material is obscene if all three of the following conditions are met:

[1] The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appealsto the prurient interests.

[2] The work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state (orfederal) law, and

[3] The work taken as a whole, lacks serious, artistic, political or scientific value.

Why men get hooked on pornography

Olson’s article for RBC deals extensively with the dangers, effects and ways out of addiction to pornography. Some of the chapters in his article are [1] Why Are Men So Vulnerable To Pornography? [2] Why Do Men Continue To Look? [3] The Payoff Of Pornography; and [4] A Crisis Of Faith And Hope. From these chapters, Olson enumerates the reasons why men get hooked in pornography:

[1] Men are aroused visually.
[2] History of a man's sexualization: early exposure to pornography; repeated exposure to pornography; and childhood sexual abuse
[3] Male affirmation.
[4] Easy relief
[5] Subtle revenge
[6] Personal sabotage
[7] It feels needed: the idolatry within.
[8] It feels deserved: the cynical anger within.

One of my favorite writers, John Eldredge, defines pornography as a “paper harem”. In page 90 of his book “Wild at Heart”, he has a different spin on why men get caught up in pornography:

Why is pornography the most addictive thing in the universe for men? Certainly there’s the fact that men are visually wired, that pictures and images arouse men much more than they do women. But the deeper reason is because that seductive beauty reaches down inside and touches your desperate hunger for validation as a man you didn’t know you had, touches it like nothing else most men have ever experienced . You must understand – this is deeper than legs and breasts and good sex. It is mythological. Look at the lengths men will go to find the golden-haired woman. They have fought duels over her beauty, they have fought wars. You see, every man remembers Eve. We are haunted by her. And somehow we believe that if we could find her, get her back, then we’d also recover with her our own lost masculinity.”

I don’t agree with everything Eldredge says and in the quote above, he sounds as if he is justifying a man’s desire for pornography. However, he clarifies in page 187 the sinister nature of pornography:

Most men want the maiden without any sort of cost to themselves. They want all the joys of the beauty without any of the woes of the battle. This is the sinister nature of pornography – enjoying the woman at her expense. Pornography is what happens when a man insists on being energized by a woman; he uses her to get a feeling that he is a man. It is a false strength, as I’ve said, because it depends on an outside source rather than emanating from deep within his center. And it is the paragon of selfishness. He offers nothing and takes everything. We are warned about this sort of man in the story of Judah and Tamar, a story that if it weren’t in the Bible, you would have thought I drew straight from a television miniseries.

A pastor’s fall from grace; how pornography affects marriages

Christine J Gardner in her article “Tangled in the Worst of the Web” (Christianity Today, March 5, 2001) chronicles the tragic true story of how a nationally known youth pastor in the US destroyed his marriage and ministry because of his addiction to pornography. (Here in the Philippines, I have been told about a pastor who was forced out of his church when his addiction to online pornography which led to an adulterous affair with the church secretary was exposed.)

At the concluding part of Gardner’s article, she cites the devastating effect of this pastor’s addiction to pornography on his wife:

Understandably, many wives have a difficult time surviving the fallout from pornography. One wife who caught her husband looking at pornography on the Internet likened it to a bomb exploding in her heart and marriage. Another wife felt hurt, used, and degraded after she caved in to her husband's demands to watch and reenact a pornographic video. Her struggle to forgive and to believe in him is enormous. Learning to trust her husband again is a long and bumpy process.

Please take note also that sexual violence against a wife under Republic Act 9262 includes “forcing her to watch obscene publications and indecent shows.” The penalty for sexual violence is imprisonment of six years (minimum) up to 12 years (maximum). The maximum penalty is imposed if the violence is committed while the woman is pregnant or in the presence of the children.

Preventive measures and free Internet filters against online pornography

Bohlin’s article for Probe Ministries cites some preventive measures against online pornography, among which are [1} placing the computer in a public place in the home or in the office; and {2] using filters to screen pornographic materials.

Some free internet filtering, parental controls and Christian accountability software you can use are:

[1] TechMission Safe Families We-Blocker internet filtering software from http://www.safefamilies.org/download.php (Free software to block inappropriate material)

[2] X3Watch from http://x3watch.com/ (An accountability software program helping with online integrity. Whenever you browse the Internet and access a site which may contain questionable material, the program will save the site name on your computer in a hidden folder. A person of your choice (an accountability partner) will receive an email containing all possible questionable sites you may have visited within the month. This information is meant to encourage open and honest conversation between friends and help us all be more accountable.)

[3] TUKI from http://tuki.com/ (Web browser designed for children that has parental controls)

[4] Dan’s Guardian from http://dansguardian.org/ (An award winning Open Source web content filter which currently runs on Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Mac OS X, HP-UX, and Solaris. It filters the actual content of pages based on many methods including phrase matching, PICS filtering and URL filtering. It does not purely filter based on a banned list of sites like lesser totally commercial filters.)

[5] Accountability Pal from http://sourceforge.net/projects/accpal/ (Monitors your network and keeps track of who is using the Internet and what they are viewing, downloading, uploading, etc. It emails a report of each user's activity to the person/people you specify. Great for parents and businesses.)

[6] Naomi from http://www.naomifilter.org/ (An advanced internet filtering program. Easy to use and totally free, this is intended for families, and kids in particular.)

Naomifilter.org enumerates the following useful programs in protecting against online pornography:

Care2's Race for Children - click daily (for free) to help provide children in need with food, medical attention and education
K9 Web Protection - a free internet filter
Safe Families - free internet filtering and parental control software
Reveal - a free program for finding if porn files are stored on your computer
File Sharing Sentinel - free parental control tool for blocking file-sharing programs
SurfPass - free version of the SurfPass filter, which also allows time limits, logging, etc.
B Gone - free web filter based on keywords list
NoWorrys - allows access to trusted sites (list) only (see also: PpGuard)
ICRA Plus - free tool, offers control over access to labelled sites
WebWatcher - one of the best commercial parental control tools
X3 Watch - free accountability program (informs about accesses to questionable sites - for PC and MAC)KidRocket - web browser for young kids (limits access to web sites)
Hosts-File.net - easily block scammer, phishing and other malicious websites (Windows only)
LogProtect - prevent your child from transmitting his personal coordinates (can be bypassed, though)
Popup blockers - free software for removing unwanted pop-ups
FraudEliminator - anti-phishing (email frauds) toolbar
SpyBot - free program to remove dialers, spyware, and other malware from your pc
HiJackThis - invaluable tools for removal of hijackers, dialers, and more (download CWShredded and HiJackThis)
Free tools - listing free filters, website is in French
Squid - proxy/blacklisting for administrators
Censornet - a free filter for Linux

Dictionaries

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, from Crosswalk.com (One of the most useful and practical theological reference books in print. With bibliographies for most entries, further study is quite practical. Combined with the power of the Online Study Bible verse search readers can locate theological concepts related to the scripture they are studying.)

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, from StudyLight.org

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, from Christianity.com

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, from biblestudytools.net

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Easton's Bible Dictionary, from Crosswalk.com (Easton's Bible Dictionary was authored by Matthew George Easton (1823-1894). In addition to his Bible dictionary, this Scottish Presbyterian's most significant literary achievements were his English translations of two of Franz Delitzsch's commentaries.)

Easton's Bible Dictionary: Online Bible Dictionary

Easton's Bible Dictionary, from Christian Classics Ethereal Library

Eastons Bible Dictionary Main Index (consists of 4000 web pages with each scripture reference hyperlinked to the HTML Bible)

Easton's Bible Dictionary, from StudyLight.org

Easton's Bible Dictionary, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jack Van Impe's Dictionary of Prophecy Terms

Jack Van Impe's Dictionary of Prophecy Terms, from Crosswlak.com (Presented here is Jack Van Impe's unique perspective on prophecy and the end times. Almost one thousand terms defined by one of the leading authorities on Biblical prophecy.)

Jack Van Impe , from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

King James Dictionary

King James Dictionary, from Crosswalk.com (The King James Bible has stood its ground for nearly 400 years. However, during that time the English language has changed. With it has changed the meaning of some words used in the KJV. Here are over 800 words whose definitions have changed since 1611.)

The King James Dictionary, from StudyLight.org

King James Dictionary, from Blue Letter Bible

KJV Dictionary, from av1611.com

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Smith's Bible Dictionary, from Crosswalk.com (Over 4,500 subjects and proper names are defined and analyzed with corresponding Scripture references. "Smith's Bible Dictionary" has been used by students of the Bible since it's introduction in the 1860's. A trustworthy classic that is more than just a dictionary defining thousands of Biblical words.)

Smith's Bible Dictionary, from StudyLight.org

Smith's Bible Dictionary, from Christian Classics Ethereal Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary, from bible-history.com

Smith’s Bible Dictionary, from christnotes.org

Smith's Bible Dictionary, from Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia)

Study Dictionary, from bible.org (different sources like Hitchcock, Nave's, EBD, Smith's, ISBE, Strong's Greek & Hebrew Lexicon)

For other resources on this topic, please surf to Baptistology: The Baptist Search Engine

China resources

Chinese Women Today (online magazine with great writing in English and Chinese on contemporary issues)

Power To Change (English); with Chinese version

Chinese and English Bibles Online (including an interlinear version)

4 Spiritual Laws tract in Mandarin

Jesus Film in Mandarin, online

World Bible Translation Center, side-by-side Bible translations

Chinese Christian Online Open Library

Resources

More resources

Chinese websites link

Ethics

Music

Devotions

Forum and Christian support

Religious forum

Song of a Prodigal

Chinese literature

Chinese Christian books to download

The True Spiritual Roots for All Chinese

Links to Chinese Evangelism Resources

Audio Bibles from Audio Treasure, The Bible in MP3 Format

The Mandarin Bible (Old and New Testaments narrated by TBI)

Cantonese NT (narrated by TBI)

Encyclopedias

[1] Condensed Biblical Encyclopedia

Condensed Biblical Encyclopedia, from Crosswalk.com (This encyclopedia, written in 1896 by Ashley S. Johnson, founder of Johnson Bible College, was and is designed for busy people who wish to increase their knowledge of the oracles of God.)

Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia, from SearchGodsWord.org

The Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia, from Blue Letter Bible Study Tools

[2] International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, from studylight.org

For other resources on this topic, please surf to Baptistology: The Baptist Search Engine

African resources

African search engines

Woyaa, The African directory

Bwana Zulia's Kenya Travel Guide (Pictures, travel advice and bulletin board)

Kenya Web

Kenya page (African Studies Centre links)

Tanzania Tourist Board

GORP Tanzania Resource Listings

Tanzania page (African Studies Centre links)

Mount Kilimanjaro

African Online Uganda

Uganda page (African Studies Centre links)

Cyber Ethiopia

Ethiopia page (African Studies Centre links)

Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), African Studies Centre links

Democratic Republic of Congo (official government site, in French)

University of Pennsylvania Congo Page

SOON material in Swahili

Articles of Faith

(Note: Review quizzes and activities for Articles of Faith now available)

A Baptist is one who believes in a supernatural Bible, which tells of a supernatural Christ, Who had a supernatural birth, Who spoke supernatural words, Who performed supernatural miracles, Who lived a supernatural life, Who died a supernatural death, Who rose in supernatural power, Who ascended in supernatural splendor, Who intercedes as a supernatural priest and Who will one day return in supernatural glory to establish a supernatural kingdom on the earth.

Of the Scriptures

We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men supernaturally inspired; that it has truth without any admixture of error for its matter; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the age, the only complete and final revelation of the will of God to man; the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions should be tried.

By the "Bible" we mean that collection of sixty-six books, from Genesis to Revelation, which, as originally written does not only contain and convey the Word of God, but is the very Word of God.

By "inspiration" we mean that the books of the Bible were written by holy men of old, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, in such a definite way that their writings were supernaturally and verbally inspired and free from error, as no other writings have ever been or ever will be inspired.

Psalm 19:7-11; 119:89, 105, 130, 160; Proverbs 30:5-6; Isaiah 8:20; Luke 16:31; 24:25-27, 44-45; John 5:39, 45-47; 12:48; 17:17; Acts 1:16; 28:25; Romans 3:4; 15:4; Ephesians 6:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Revelation 22:19

Of the True God

We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

Genesis 17:1; Exodus 20:2-3; 15:11; Psalm 83:18; 90:2; 147:5; Jeremiah 10:10; Matthew 28:19; Mark 12:30; John 4:24; 10:30; 15:26; 17:5; Acts 5:3-4; Romans 11:23; 1 Corinthians 12:10-11; 8:6; 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 2:18; 4:6; Philippians 2:5-6; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 John 5:7; Revelation 4:11

Of the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person; equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God's purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of judgment and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the New Birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer.

Genesis 1:13; Matthew 3:11; 28:19; Mark 1:8; Luke 1:35; 3:16; 24:49; John 1:33; 3:5-6; 14:16-17, 26; 15:26-27; 16:8-11, 13; Acts 5:30-32; 11:16; Romans 8:14, 16, 26-27; Ephesians 1:13-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:7, 13; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 1:2

Of the Creation

We believe in the Genesis account of creation and that it is to be accepted literally, and not allegorically or figuratively; that man was created directly in God's own image and after His own likeness; that man's creation was not a matter of evolution or evolutionary change of species, or development through interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms; that all animal and vegetable life was made directly and God's established law was that they should bring forth only "after their own kind." Since God created mankind into genders distinctly male and female, we believe that the only legitimate marriage is that between a man and a woman. He has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex. We believe that God rejects any attempt to alter one's gender by surgery or appearance.

Genesis 1:1, 11, 24, 26-27; 2:21-23; Exodus 20:11; Nehemiah 9:6; Jeremiah 10:12; John 1:3; Acts 4:24; 17:23-26; Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 11:3; Revelation 10:6

Of the Devil or Satan

We believe that Satan was once holy, and enjoyed heavenly honors; but through pride and ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew after him a host of angels; that he is now the malignant prince of the power of the air, and the unholy god of this world. We hold him to be man's great tempter, the enemy of God and His Christ, the accuser of the saints, the author of all false religions, the chief power back of the present apostasy; the lord of the antichrist, and the author of all the powers of darkness - destined however to final defeat at the hands of God's own Son, and to the judgment of an eternal hell, a place prepared for him and his angels.

Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:14-17; Matthew 4:1-3; 13:25; 25:41; 27:39; Mark 13:21-22; Luke 22:3-4; John 14:30; Ephesians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 1 Thessalonians 3:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-11; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 2:4; 1John 2:22; 3:8; 4:3; 2 John 7; Jude 6; Revelation 12:7-10; 13:13-14; 19:11, 16, 20; 20:1-3, 10

Of the Fall of Man

We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of His Maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless and happy state, in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint, but of choice, and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse.

Genesis 3:1-6, 24; Ezekiel 18:19-20; Romans 1:18, 20, 28, 32; 3:10-19; 5:12,19; Galatians 3:22; Ephesians 2:1, 3

Of the Virgin Birth

We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner; born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born of a woman, and that He is both the Son of God, and God, the Son.

Genesis 3:15; Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Mark 1:1; Luke 1:35; John 1:14; Galatians 4:4; 1 Corinthians 15:47; 1 John 5:20

Of the Atonement for Sin

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace; through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God, Who by appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner's place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ, the Lord, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that, having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all sufficient Savior.

Isaiah 53:4-7, 11-12; Matthew 18:11; John 3:16; 10:18; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24-25; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 2:8; Philippians 2:7-8; Hebrews 2:14; 7:25; 9:12-15; 12:2

Of Grace in the New Creation

We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, not by culture, not by character, nor by the will of man, but wholly and solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life.

Luke 5:27; John 1:12-13; 3:3, 6-7; Acts 2:41; Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:17,19; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 2:1; 5:9; Colossians 2:13; 1 John 5:1

Of the Freeness of Salvation

We believe in God's electing grace; that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial, penitent and obedient faith; and nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel; which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation.

Isaiah 55:1; Matthew 11:28; John 3:15-18, 36; 5:40; 6:37; Acts 2:38; Romans 8:29-30; 10:13; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Ephesians 2:4-5; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 Timothy 1:15; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:2; Revelation 22:17

Of Justification

We believe that the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is Justification; that Justification includes the pardon of sin, and the gift of eternal life on principles of righteousness; that it is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer's blood, His righteousness is imputed unto us.

Isaiah 53:11; Habakkuk 2:4; Zechariah 13:1; Acts 13:39; Romans 1:17; 4:1; 5:1-9; 8:1; Galatians 3:11; Titus 3:5-7; Hebrews 10:38

Of Repentance and Faith

We believe that Repentance and Faith are solemn obligations, and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the quickening Spirit of God; thereby, being deeply convicted of guilt, danger and helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ, we turn to God with unfeigned contrition, confession and supplication for mercy; at the same time heartily receiving the Lord Jesus Christ and openly confessing Him as our only and all-sufficient Savior.

Psalm 51:1-4, 7; Isaiah 55:6-7; Matthew 3:1-2; 4:17; Mark 1:15; Luke 12:8; 18:13; 24:47; Acts 2:37-38; 3:19; 5:31; 17:30; 20:21; Romans 1:17; 2:4-5; 3:22; 5:1; 10:3,9-14; Hebrews 11:1, 6; James 2:23; Jeremiah 17:7; Psalm 34:22; 125:1; 2 Corinthians 5:7

Of the Church

We believe that a Baptist church is a congregation of baptized believers associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel, said church being understood to be the citadel and propagator of the divine and eternal grace; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its officers or ordination are pastors or elders whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures.

We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions of men and women in the home and in the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to hold leadership positions (pastors and deacons) in the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible of licensure and ordination for pastor by the church.

We believe the true mission of the church is found in the Great Commission: first, to make individual disciples; second, to build up the church; third, to teach and instruct s He has commanded. We do not believe in the reversal of this order; we hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that every church is the sole and only judge of the measure and method of its cooperation; on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.

Leviticus 27:31; Malachi 3:10; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 6:5-6; 14:23; 15:22-23; 20:17-28; 1 Corinthians 5:11-13; 6:1-3; 11:2; 12:4, 8-11; 16:1-2; Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:11; 5:23-24; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:1-13

Of Baptism and the Lord's Supper

We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the authority of the local church, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation and to the Lord's supper, in which the members of the church, by the sacred use of bread and the fruit of the vine are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ; preceded always by solemn self-examination.

Matthew 3:6; 3:16; 28:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28; Colossians 2:12

Of the Perseverance of the Saints

We believe that such only are real believers as endure unto the end; that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark which distinguishes them from superficial professors; that a special Providence watches over their welfare; and that they are kept by the power of God through faith unto eternal salvation.

Psalm 121:3; Matthew 6:20; 13:19-21; John 8:31-32; 10:28-29; 16:8; Romans 8:28, 35-39; Philippians 1:6; Colossians 1:21-23; Hebrews 3:14; 1 Peter 1:5; 1 John 2:19

Of the Righteous and the Wicked

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the curse, and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.

Genesis 18:23; Proverbs 11:31; 14:32; Malachi 3:18; Matthew 7:13-14; 25:34; Luke 9:26; 16:25; John 8:21; 12:25; Acts 10:34-35; Romans 1:17; 6:16-18, 23; 7:6; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Galatians 3:10; 1 Peter 4:18; 1 John 2:7, 29; 5:19

Of Civil Government

We believe that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed ; except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ; who is the only Lord of conscience, and the coming Prince of the kings of the earth.

Exodus 18:21-22; 2 Samuel 23:3; Psalm 72:11; Daniel 3:17-18; Matthew 10:28; 22:21; 23:10; Acts 4:19-20; 23:5; Romans 13:7; Philippians 2:10-11; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13-14, 17

Of the Resurrection and Return of Christ and Related Events

We believe in and accept the sacred Scriptures upon these subjects at their face and full value. Of the Resurrection, we believe that Christ rose bodily "The third day according to the Scriptures"; that He ascended "to the right hand of the throne of God"; that He alone is our "merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God"; that this "same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven shall so come in like manner," bodily, personally and visibly; that the "dead in Christ shall rise first"; that the living saints "shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump"; that the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David"; and that "Christ shall reign a thousand years in righteousness until He hath put all enemies under His feet."

Psalm 72:8; Isaiah 11:4-5; Matthew 24:27, 42; Matthew 28:6-7; Mark 16:6, 19; Luke 1:32; Luke 24:2, 4-6, 39, 51; John 14:3; 20:27; Acts 1:9, 11; 1 Corinthians 15:4; Philippians 4:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 2:17; 5:9; 8:1; 9:28; 12:2

Of Missions

The command to give the gospel to the world is clear and unmistakable and this Great Commission was given to the churches.

Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:13-15

Of the Grace of Giving

Scriptural giving is one of the fundamentals of the Faith. We are commanded to bring our gifts into the storehouse (common treasury of the church) upon the first day of the week.
Under grace we give, and do not pay, the tithe. We are commanded to bring the tithe into the common treasury of the church.

1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 8:7; Hebrews 7:2, 4; Leviticus 27:30; Malachi 3:10; Acts 4:34-35, 37; Matthew 23:23

(Note: Review quizzes and activities for Articles of Faith now available)

Creationism

The Creation SuperLibrary is a non-profit, educational, cooperative ministry -- part of the highly popular Christian Answers Network. Information in the Creation SuperLibrary is primarily supplied by its Team Members and staff, Christian organizations generously working together to help others. Its mission is to produce and freely provide high-quality material on Creation/Evolution for seekers and searchers.

Creation Science Evangelism (Dr. Kent Hovind)

Creation Science Evangelism began in 1989. CSE's speakers are some of the most requested on the creation and evolution topic in churches and universities all over the world. With over 30 years of research in Biology, Anatomy, Physical Science, Mathematics, Earth Science and many other sciences, CSE has become a trusted source of information in the creation versus evolution debate. Mirror site, click here.

Answers In Creation (provides support for Christians who believe in Old-Earth Creationism)

Answers in Genesis (Creation, Evolution, Christian Apologetics)

Is There Really a God?

Why Shouldn’t Christians Accept Millions of Years?

Couldn’t God Have Used Evolution?

Don’t Creationists Deny the Laws of Nature?

What About the Gap Theory and Ruin-Reconstruction Theories?

Cain’s Wife—Who Was She?

Doesn’t Carbon-14 Dating Disprove the Bible?

Could God Really Have Created Everything in Six Days?

Does Radiometric Dating Prove the Earth Is Old?

Was there Really a Noah’s Ark and Flood?

How Did Animals Spread All Over the World from Where the Ark Landed?

What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?

Why Don’t We Find Human & Dinosaur Fossils Together?

Can Catastrophic Plate Tectonics Explain Flood Geology?

Don't Creationists Believe Some “Wacky” Things?

Where Does the Ice Age Fit?

Are There Really Different Races?

Are ETs and UFOs Real?

Does Distant Starlight Prove the Universe Is Old?

Did Jesus Say He Created in Six Literal Days?

How Did Defense/Attack Structures Come About?

Is Natural Selection the Same Thing as Evolution?

Hasn’t Evolution Been Proven True?

Did Dinosaurs Turn into Birds?

Does Archaeology Support the Bible?

Why Does God’s Creation Include Death and Suffering?

How Can I Use This Information to Witness?

How Can We Use Dinosaurs to Spread the Creation Gospel Message?

Free graphics and presentations in creationism (zipped PowerPoint files)

Free graphics (please read usage policy)

Astronomy and the Bible
Creation Cloning and Life
Creation/Evolution
Dating Fossils and Rocks
Can You Defend What You Believe?
Facts About Apemen
The Fossil Record
Origin of Life
Origin of Man

Northwest Creation Network (Creation science resource megasite. We offer a variety of free educational material, host discussion forums, and maintain the largest directory of internet references available)

Apologetics

Apologetics Index

The Apologetics Index 'family of web sites' provides 25,000+ pages of research resources on religious cults, sects, new religious movements, alternative religions, apologetics, anticult, and countercult organizations, doctrines, religious practices and world views. These resources reflect a variety of theological and/or sociological perspectives. Its related sites are:

CounterCult.com
Same content as ApologeticsIndex.org.

ReligionNewsBlog.com
News items on world religions, religious cults, sects, Christian denominations, and related issues.

CultFAQ.org
Frequently Asked Questions about cults, sects, anti-cult and countercult approaches, cult apologists, and related issues; definitions of terms, research resources, ex-cult counseling resources, etc.

GraceandMercy.org
Feature articles and links to other resources on the grace and mercy of God - two gifts that set Christianity apart from any other religion.

Eastern Regional Watch (a ministry founded on Ezekiel 33:7, to stand watch and alert the church of heresies outside the walls and to guard against heresies rising up within the church through deception, false teaching and the philosophies of men)

Apologetics resources, from greatcom.org

A Ready Defense
Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in history; How can you believe the miracles in the Bible? What about all those contradictions? Is the New Testament filled with myths? Was Jesus born of a virgin? The historicity of Jesus Messianic prophecies fulfilled in Jesus; The resurrection of Jesus; The Trilemma: Lord, Liar or Lunatic? Is Jesus both Messiah and God? Hinduism; Buddhism; Confucianism; Shintoism; Judaism; Islam; Agnosticism, Atheism and Secular Humanism; Jehovah's Witnesses; Mormonism; Other Popular Cults; The Occult; Satanism and Demon Possession; Astrology; False Prophets; The Authority of the Believer; Questions About God; Questions About Faith and Reason; Is the Christian experience just a delusion? Did you hear what happened to Saul? Martyrs and Confessors; Still changing lives

A Skeptics Quest

Honest Answers to Tough Questions

Short, Concise Apologetic Q&A

Answers For Atheists

Christianity: HOAX or HISTORY?
Back from the Grave; Consider the Facts; e Record Preserved; at it Means Today; e Bible Why It's Unique; Jesus Christ Was He Messiah?

Reasons Skeptics should consider Christianity

Skeptics Who Demanded a Verdict

Jesus A Biblical Defense of His Deity

"67 Apologetic Questions and Answers" (from The Evidence Bible --Bridge-Logos Publishers)

10 Questions For God (with illustrated Biblical answers and quizzes at the end of each section)

A Bible Study Online Religion Library (free Bible studies about religion, Jesus Christ, worship of God, Christianity, Jesus' church, salvation, faith, morality, and eternal life)

A Skeptic’s Quest (Josh McDowell’s own story)

Ankerberg Theological Research Institute (abortion, acupuncture, antichrist, apocrypha, applied kinesiology, Armstrongism, Astrology, Automatic writing, Baha'i, Baptism, Becoming a Christian, Apologetics)

Apologetics (apologetics for the everyday Christian; how to answer those tough questions)

Apologetics (no-compromise apologetic site dedicated to the proclamation and defense of the gospel of the Lord Jesus)

Apologetics and Evangelism

Apologetics Ministry for God, Jesus Christ, Christianity, Atheism, Agnosticism and Skepticism (gives academic evidence for the validity of God, Jesus Christ and Christianity through a variety of disciplines like science, philosophy, history, archaeology, anthropology, the arts.)

Apologetics Press (materials for self study, group study, or evangelistic purposes, with topics ranging from evidences supporting the Christian Faith to highly controversial areas that challenge that Faith)

Apostle Paul's Shipwreck (an historical investigation into the meteorological and nautical evidence surrounding the Acts account of the Apostle Paul's shipwreck)

Articles on The Bible and Science (online collection of articles that demonstrate Biblical apologetics through science)

Bethel Ministries (articles on apostasy, rapture, KJV debate, tribulation, end time prophecy, last days, and other subjects to expose false teaching)

Christian Internet Forum (Bible is the word of God and that Jesus is the son of God. Bible, What is Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God)

Cobblestone Road Ministries (Strictly Biblical answers to tough questions, teaching Christians the fundamental truths found only in the Word of God; Bible prophecy, Rapture, KJV, Apologetics, Bible studies)

Defending the Christian Faith (proof that God's Word has been preserved down through the ages, just like He promised in Psalm 12:6-7)

DEFENDyourFAITH.com: Helping Christians to defend the Truth! (dedicated to helping Christians give a scientific, historical, Biblical, and logical defense of the Christian faith; topics include creation/evolution, defending the person and work of Christ, the Bible, and the Gospel)

DISCIPLESHIP.cjb.net (easy-to-read and quick-to-assimilate material to help answer the challenges Christians face in daily life)

Does God Exist? (provides thinking, seeking people with scientific evidence that God does exist and that the Bible is His Word) http://www.doesgodexist.org/
freegift77 (defending the historic Christian faith against attacks or assaults of religious groups and other non-Christian cults)

GODISNOWHERE (challenges those that make the claim that they are truth seekers or those that claim to know the truth; philosophical approach to metaphysical discovery constrained by the boundaries of consistency, coherency, logic and knowability)

Gospel Outreach Ministries Online (evangelistic articles and numerous essays that apply gospel principles to Christian life. It also contains access to online resources for Bible study; apologetic and evangelistic resources; research on special theological topics of interest; information on some of the major cults of Christianity and counter-cult ministries; and links to other Christian ministries.

Honest Answers To Tough Questions (1. How can Christians say that Jesus is the only way to God? 2. How can I be sure the Bible is really the Word of God? 3. How can anyone trust the Gospel accounts of His life? 4. Why should I believe your interpretation of the Bible 5. How can you believe a Bible that is full of contradictions? 6. What if Christians are guilty of circular reasoning? 7. What about those who have not heard about Jesus? 8. Why won't living a good, moral life make me acceptable to God? 9. How can I be sure Christianity is not just another emotional or psychological experience? 10. How can a loving God allow war and suffering? 11. What about all the hypocrites I see who call themselves Christians? 12. How is Christianity relevant to today's needs? 13. How can I gain assurance of salvation? 14. What place do feelings have? 15. What should happen if Christ has really entered my life? 16. Do skeptics ever believe in Jesus?)

Immanuel Ministries (apologetics ministry linking to important issues concerning doctrinal error and Biblical truth. Reaching out to those who are in error and building the body of Christ.

impactapologetics.com (over 500 high impact books, tapes and videos on apologetics, theology, philosophy, cults and religions. Featuring Christian apologists like Norman Geisler, Gary Habermas, William Lane Craig, Philip Johnson, Ron Rhodes, Ron Carlson and Frank Turek)

In Plain Site (The answers are and always have been in plain sight)

Institute for Biblical Apologetics, Inc. (Apologetic research information and counseling center educating the public about the dangers of cults and the occult thru 1.Evangelism 2.Equipping 3.Mobilizing people IBA serves thru counseling/debate-dialogue/evangelism/research/seminars)

Institute for Christian Defense

Institute for Creation Research (Biblical Creation information regarding the creation/evolution controversy, Noah's Ark, genetic engineering, etc)

MCW Apologetics (Wales) Ever wondered how to successfully defend the Christian Faith to skeptics?

Mega Christian Apologetic Web Site (Countercult, Evangelism, Bible Study)

Mere Christianity.us - God, Jesus and Christianity (features a study of God, evolution, Atheism, the reliability of the Bible, prophecies, Christianity, Gospels, Jesus Christ, the resurrection, the Reformation and the Restoration of the church.

Messianic Literary Corner (a Hebrew Christian / Messianic Jewish ministry offering "grace oriented" teaching, prophetic studies, poetry, books, music, bulletin board, chat and more)

Online Christian research and outreach ministry (designed to help all who are seeking Gods truth for their lives, with articles on Islam, Catholics, Word faith movement, Prosperity gospel, false religions, Mormons, Jehovah witnesses and many more)

Phil Johnson's Bookmarks - Apologetics and Anti-Cult Literature

Questions Kids Ask About God (dedicated to answering questions normally asked by children about God and the Bible; updated weekly)

Rational Christianity (provides multiple answers to objections to Christianity and Bible contradictions)

Reasons Skeptics should consider Christianity
What does "The Bible is inspired" mean? To what extent is the Bible inspired? How could fallible men produce an infallible Bible? Since Jesus was human, was He not also fallible? How do you know that the writings of the Apostle Paul were inspired? How did Jesus view the Old Testament? Didn't Jesus accomodate His teachings to the beliefs of His day? Is everything in the Bible to be taken literally? Many interpret the Bible allegorically. Why do you inerpret it literally? Which version of the Bible should I use? A precaution as a basis for belief Is the solar system really 4.5 billion years old? Is there evidence of instantaneous creation? Is there controversy in the history of the orgin of life? Is there enough time? Are probabilities against the chance formation of large biological molecules? Mechanistic or materialistic universe? Does evolution violate the second law of thermodynamics? What are the assumptions of Darwinian evolution? Are mutations advantageous? Is the fossil record complete? Are there transitional forms: creature to creature? Are there transitions: form to form? Is God unscientific? Is fossilization evidence of a catastrophe? Why don't more scientists accept creationism?

Spreading Light (answers to Biblical questions on contemporary issues that concern us all; theology and sermon sections as well as a page for thought provoking stories)

Sword&Spirit Apologetics (devoted to providing answers to honest, intellectual concerns regarding the faith, by helping to get beyond preconceived misunderstandings and to seriously examine Christianity)

The Absolute Truth About Life (the truth about Absolute Truth, Cults, Wicca, New Age, Mormonism, Islam, Buddha, Jehovah's Witnesses, God, Heaven, The Bible, and more)

The Academy of Christian Apologetics (equipping believers to articulate and defend the historic Christian faith in a way that will stand up to intellectual criticism)

The Truth ToolBox (presents a variety of philosophical, scientific and historical evidences for those examining the truth claims of Christianity by providing "truth seekers" with high quality links and "tools" for their personal journey of faith)

Truth Evangelism and Apologetics Ministry

UK Apologetics (probably Europe's most major source of apologetics and countercult study and research, with several hundred fully searchable informative articles)

Why Jesus? - The Only Way To Heaven

unapologetic apologetics (blunt, uncompromising, unashamed, KJB-believing)

Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (powerful tools and helps for defending your faith and understanding the Bible)

Probe.org (training people to love God by renewing their minds and equipping the Church to engage the world for Christ)

AllAboutGOD.com (great articles defending the Christian faith and teaching Christian truth)

Christian Think Tank (great resource of Christian answers to apologetical issues)

Equip.org (the ministry of Christian Research Institute and Hank Hanegraaff)

Stand to Reason (tools and training for an effective defense of your faith)

Hope and Reason (Christian apologetics, offering evidence for Christianity)

The Trail Of Blood” Following the Christians Down Through the Centuries The History of Baptist Churches From the Time of Christ, Their Founder, to the Present Day By Dr. James M. Carroll

Trail of Blood chart

Old Testament books

Bible Commentary Page

Hundreds of online commentaries; you can study everything from Wesley’s notes on Habakkuk to Calvin's commentary on Zephaniah.

BibleOutlines.Com (Connecting To The Heart of God)

From the Commentary Page, you can select any of the Adobe PDF commentaries on books of the Old Testament that are available. You can then read the commentary online or save it to your hard drive. Each study contains a thorough analytical outline that focuses around the Big Idea of the book. The sections are usually divided into a suitable size for preaching or teaching through the book - with each once again centered around a Big Idea. At the end of every section you will find some Application-oriented questions and helpful notes from other commentators.

Free Bible Commentary (uses NASB, not KJV)

Old Testament Survey (PDF, 305 pages)

Video Commentaries (for dial-up connectio, click here)

Audio Commentaries (MP3)

The Treasury of David

The Treasury of David, from Crosswalk.com

The Treasury of David, from spurgeon.org

Treasury of David, from StudyLight.org

Treasury of David, from grace-for-today.com

Treasury of David Bible, from eword

Treasury of David / C. H. Spurgeon's Commentary on Psalms, from swordsearcher.com

English as Second Language / Foreign Language resources

Better English resources and exercises

Hundreds of links to free interactive exercises in grammar (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections), writing, reading, listening, idioms, vocabulary, speaking and pronunciation.

400-plus interactive exercises on Plain English or Clear Writing (flashcards or matching type with time limit and automatic scoring)

The new version of the Hope ESL curriculum from Roofbreakers.org has been released. This free-to-copy English language CD ROM is being used and distributed around the world by a whole range of people. The vision is to see a copy of this material provided to key people in every country.

Currently Roofbreakers.org has a specific focus on utilizing the massive global English Language opportunity to develop and distribute resources which teach and inspire students. The Hope ESL software curriculum is Roofbreakers.org’s main project.

This software project had its origins in Vietnam where an Australian English teacher developed the educational concept. Later, in partnership with mars-hill productions, roofbreakers was able to produce the Hope ESL software curriculum as a free-to-copy CD ROM including the full Hope film.

Besides the CD, also available for download are (1) The Hope ESL Software Curriculum Guide in PDF; and (2) A few Simple ideas for New Language Learners and Old Ones Needing Some New Life.

The Hope ESL Mandarin support version has been completed and is awaiting approval to be printed in Beijing. The Indonesian support version of the Hope ESL is in the last stage of development.

SOON Online Magazine Learning English Index (Free world-wide easy-English literature programme)

Spoken English Learned Quickly

Free downloads of lessons and books (Learning Spoken English, a 450-page Student Workbook and an Instructor’s Guide) to your computer, iPod, Blackberry, MP3 player or PDA; Lessons on vocabulary, grammar, syntax, and verb tenses using spoken English exercises; Complete lessons contain enough recorded audio lesson material for two hours of study a day, five days a week for nine months.

Olympics ESL exercises and activities, from ESLTower.com (prepare for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games through printable vocabulary puzzles, quizzes, flashcards, game cards and exercises related to Olympic Games, sports and countries)

Olympic sports

“Olympic Sports” Dictionary Hunt

"Olympic Sports" Wheel Search Puzzle

"Olympic Sports" Matching Quiz

Olympic Games word puzzle

What we do in sports crossword verbs puzzle

Olympics Games word puzzle

"Olympic Sports" Spelling Quiz

"Olympic Sports" Multiple Choice Quiz

Olympic Sports Vocabulary Game Sheet

Sports and Olympics - Word Puzzle

Countries, Sports and Athletes

Chat room mnistry

How to keep safe while chatting online

Basic safety tips for online chat rooms

Chat Host Tips (How to share the Holy Spirit, answering difficult questions, etc.)

Evangelize On-Line (Techniques for witnessing on-line)

On-Line Discipleship Chat Ministry (Brief introduction to the chat ministry)

Praying in the Chat Room (Tips for praying in the chat room with other chatters)

Sharing the Gospel (Tips on sharing the Word with others)

Creating Ministry Opportunities in Open Chat

For other resources on this topic, please surf to Baptistology: The Baptist Search Engine

Personal evangelism

Are you for or against the (1) altar call, (2) sinner’s prayer and (3) reasons not to ask Jesus into your heart?





Evangelism Toolbox

Tell it Often Tell it Well

Communications Principles Manual

Turning the tables

Make Your Mark

Thousands of evangelism tips - Stumped about how to share your faith in Christ with others? EffectiveEvangelism.com, a ministry of ChristianAnswers.Net, assists Christians in effectively reaching out to others with love and truth. Learn about the worldview of your audience, ways to share the gospel, read stories submitted by site users, and more.

Power To Change online magazine (English); for other languages, click Arabic; French; German; Italian; Japanese; Malay; Russian; Spanish; Czech; Chinese; and Thai



For other resources on this topic, please surf to Baptistology: The Baptist Search Engine

Evangelism: understanding and using the Engel Scale and Gray Matrix

+5 Stewardship
+4 Communion with God
+3 Conceptual and behavioural growth
+2 Incorporation into Body
+1 Post-decision evaluation
New birth
-1 Repentance and faith in Christ
-2 Decision to act
-3 Personal problem recognition
-4 Positive attitude towards Gospel
-5 Grasp implications of Gospel
-6 Awareness of fundamentals of Gospel
-7 Initial awareness of Gospel
-8 Awareness of supreme being, no knowledge of Gospel

What is the Engel Scale? by Pastor Jason Harper

James Engel wrote a book in 1975 which profoundly changed many people’s idea of evangelism, entitled “What’s Gone Wrong With The Harvest? A Communication Strategy for the Church and World Evangelism” (published by Zondervan).

The Engel Scale has been used to introduce many Christians to a new understanding of evangelism. In the past, people have often seen evangelism only in terms of people being converted.

Understood this way, most of our evangelism must be counted as pure failure. Few people can live with that level of failure, and few survive as evangelists, or even as effective witnesses, for long.

The Engel Scale completely changes this picture. If you understand something of the journey a person must take in order to discover God, then you know that helping someone take one more step towards God is successful evangelism just as much as helping them over the final line. The Engel Scale helps people to understand this journey.

Evangelists have long known the truth of this, but it has not often been taught and understood. Almost everyone who makes a commitment to Jesus has a story to tell of people and events in their lives bringing them closer and closer to the point of total surrender. Some figures indicate that the average length of the journey, from the time people start looking for God to the time they find Him, is four years. However reliable that figure, and whatever it means, it is clear that for most people the journey to God is a long one.

Understanding the Gray Matrix, from Internet Evangelism Day

Engel promoted a revolution. Not Engels the Marxist thinker, but James Engel the missiologist. He first outlined what has become known as the ‘Engel Scale of Spiritual Decision’. This describes the way in which an individual, or by extension a whole group, progress in their understanding of the Gospel, as God’s sovereign grace begins to illuminate their hearts. By understanding the way God communicates, we can become better co-communicators.

+5 Stewardship
+4 Communion with God
+3 Conceptual and behavioural growth
+2 Incorporation into Body
+1 Post-decision evaluation
New birth
-1 Repentance and faith in Christ
-2 Decision to act
-3 Personal problem recognition
-4 Positive attitude towards Gospel
-5 Grasp implications of Gospel
-6 Awareness of fundamentals of Gospel
-7 Initial awareness of Gospel
-8 Awareness of supreme being, no knowledge of Gospel

Don’t be put off because it looks mathematical! For instance, when someone has come to realise they have a spiritual problem, they are at -3 on the scale. If we understand roughly where a person (or a whole target group of people) stand spiritually on this scale, we can adjust the way that we present the Gospel to them. [Detailed graphic of Engel Scale]

Others have suggested different refinements of the Engel Scale. Frank Gray of FEBC Radio, has proposed a horizontal axis of antagonism/enthusiasm to create the Gray Matrix. It is a remarkably simple but enlightening concept because it helps us to visualise important evangelistic concepts. Christian evangelistic communication has often failed to touch people who are low down the scale, because it has been presented in Christian language and thought-forms and has not engaged with those it was intended for. The tragedy is that so often, evangelism is only touching the ’once-churched‚ (those with some Christian background) rather than the ’never-churched‚ (those who know nothing of the Gospel at all). The lower-left oval shape represents a person or group of people who are fairly resistant and lack knowledge. The challenge to us is always to use approaches which reach down as far as possible into the bottom left-hand corner!

The lower-left purple oval shape represents a group of people who are fairly resistant and lack knowledge. Our challenge is always to use approaches which reach down as far as we can into the bottom left-hand corner!

Lessons from the Gray Matrix

Effective evangelism not only requires people to obtain more knowledge – they must also move from a position of antagonism/indifference to a more positive viewpoint. They are unlikely to wish to find out more until they view Christianity more positively.

• Anything which moves people from left to right across the scale is ’evangelistic’. This might include acts of service and friendship, mum and baby clubs, medical and development work – many things which are not apparently 'preaching' but which minister to felt needs. Yet in fact, the word Jesus used when he told us to ’preach the Gospel‚ has a much wider meaning than speech – it refers to communication. (There is a Christian debt-counselling service in UK, where 80% of those helped are eventually converted.) For some people groups, apologies offered for the past historical actions of groups perceived to be ’Christian‚ are also healing hurts and reducing antagonism to the Gospel.

• Relationships are a key to helping people up the scale. Modes of evangelism which do not at some point connect not-yet-Christians in ongoing relationship with Christians, are unlikely to be fruitful. Research has shown that in lasting adult conversions, they reported a spiritual journey taking on average three years to commitment, and the most important factor in that period was a relationship with a praying Christian, who modelled faith to them: more.

• If we can understand roughly where a single person or target group of people is situated on the scale, we can choose an appropriate approach to reach them – and we will need to understand their culture – how they really feel, think, and react.

• If people are near the bottom of the scale, we must not use Christian language and ideas which will mean nothing to them. In fact we must assume they have zero knowledge. We must assess our message through their eyes, not ours. It may also be inappropriate to give a heavy ’preach for a decision‚ at this point. People need time to progress and understand. Instant conversions are rare. A style of presentation which bases everything around 'praying the prayer' without true understanding or preparation is counter-productive. We must also be aware of ways of presenting Christian content which is intensely annoying. Instead, an enticing style of permission evangelism may well be the most effective.

• The Matrix illuminates the importance of using Bridge Strategy web-pages.

• It also allows us to define the positioning of any Christian website, on the X-Spectrum.

• It also validates the use of ’Chronological Bible Storying‚ [Ref 1] [Ref 2] used in many situations where the target group have zero knowledge of the Bible. It also highlights the need to contextualize the message to make it easier to understand for those with no biblical knowledge.

• It is equally relevant in a cross-cultural or local church situation. An Australian church member writes:

  “I love the Gray Matrix. I was wanting our small group to talk about reaching out to the community, and I found the Matrix. Our Senior Pastor took it home and loved it, and used it as a basis for sermons on vision and mission. ’Moving people to the top right‚ has now become the catch-word for a visioning and strategic planning phase the church is going through. Our mission statement has become ’Working together with God, to help people grow from where they are now into fully devoted followers of Christ‚.”

• Pressures of society and culture, and the strategies of the Enemy, will tend to pull people down towards the bottom left-hand of the scale. God's purpose is to draw people to the top right-hand side by His Spirit, through the witness of his people.

These vital issues of how to communicate the Gospel to people at different levels of understanding, in a local church situation, are covered in several of our book recommendations.

It is also very important to understand the ways that people actually learn anything because these closely parallel the way people gain (or fail to gain) spiritual understanding. These principles have important implications for every sort of outreach including Web evangelism. An apologetic approach can be part of effective communication.

More reading

• Detailed explanation of Gray Matrix – Frank Gray's first explanation
• Gray Matrix – a new presentation by Frank Gray
• Explanation of the Engel Scale – plus other theories of communication and a range of related links
• Why we need strategies for evangelism – surely we are just called to preach the message?
• How people learn – important lessons for appropriate presentation of the Gospel
• There is a wide range of hard-to-reach countries for which the Web is one of the keys to effective outreach
• Thirteen keys to Christian ministry [www.donaldmillerwords.com/pdf/thirteenparadigmshifts.pdf] – 13 insightful and biblical principles on how we should relate to non-Christians in ministry.