Johnny!
I am a college student in my sophomore year. I am currently studying Criminal Justice. Recently, I have felt called to become a pastor. God has been opening doors for that calling to be fulfilled in my life, and I am very excited about it. I am dating engaged to the lovely Ms. Olivia Faith, and it is incredible. She is absolutely amazing, and God has blessed me so wonderfully by bringing her into my life.
I came to find Christ through a period of intense scepticism. Though I was raised in Church, I did not submit my life to Christ until my first year at university. I had begun to doubt the claims of Christianity, but through my doubt, God birthed my Faith. I now stand and affirm that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came, lived, died, and was resurrected to Glory. He is, and I am not.
Because of my previous scepticism, Jude 3 is my life verse. God has given me a passion for apologetics, and a fire to engage the culture for the Glory of God. I will not sit idly by and watch as others fall into the same hopeless agnosticism that I experienced. I will always stand ready to give an answer for the hope, and life, that I found (1 Pet. 3:15). If you would like to know more, ask me about it.
Theology:
I am non-denominational, non-cessationist, and non-Calvinist. I am a young-earth Creationist, and I believe that the first 11 chapters of Genesis are just as inspired as the rest of scripture—a literal, historical narrative of the interactions of God with humanity since the beginning of Time.
I believe the Bible in its original form to be the inspired—literally breathed-out (2 Tim. 3:16)—word of God, accurate in everything that it records. While no English translation can do full justice to the beautiful languages in which the Bible was penned, a word-for-word translation is the closest to the original text, and is always to be preferred over a thought-for-thought or dynamic equivalence translation. Indeed, the latter should not ever be used, as it is not an accurate representation of the Word of God, but of the opinions of man.
I believe in Salvation by Grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone. I affirm the Solas of the Reformation:
- Sola scriptura — By Scripture alone.
- Sola fide — By Faith alone.
- Sola gratia — By Grace alone.
- Solo Christo — Through Christ alone.
- Soli Deo gloria — Glory to God alone.
I do not subscribe to religious pluralism, or any permutation thereof. The idea of inter-religious “tolerance” is intellectually bankrupt, and is simply a method of escape for the pagan—a method I will not cede to them. Islam will not save you. Buddha will not save you. Hinduism will not save you. I stand in spirit with Peter, Paul, James, John, and all of the saints and martyrs of old, crying with one voice that there is Salvation in no other name: Jesus is the only hope.
There is also the issue of the true Christ versus false Christs. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the New Age movement all preach a false Christ, reinvented in their image. These Christs have no power. They were warned about by Jesus himself, in Matthew 24:4-5, and I take that warning seriously. Do not be deceived by a counterfeit Christ.
Political Views:
I belong to the Constitutional party, technically, but I list myself as an independent. Our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution to be the supreme law of the land, and I believe we should hold to it as such. I am a strict originalist, and do not believe in any sort of “living document” nonsense.
I am incredibly pro-life. There is no reason that a defenseless child should be put to death. Anyone who says they have an acceptable reason is lying. Anyone who says a fetus does not have a right to life is lying. Anyone who says women’s rights somehow supersede the rights of the child is lying. Abortion is murder.
Contact:
If you have any questions, feel free to ask! If you find something interesting that you think I should see, submit it here. Don’t follow me on twitter, because I never post anything. You can also email me if you like.
In Christ,
Jonathan.
