LIS:Statement of Faith and Doctrine of Gospel Outreach Section 1. Articles of Biblical Faith (1) THE HOLY SCRIPTURES We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12, 13) (2) THE GODHEAD We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--co- eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; 2 Cor. 13:14) (3) THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST a. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. (John 1:1, 2, 14; Luke 1:35) b. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for all mankind as a representative, vicar- ious, substitutionary sacrifice, and that the suffi- ciency of this atoning sacrifice to accomplish the redemption and justification of all who trust in Him is assured by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Rom. 3:24, 25; 4:25; Eph. 1:7; 1 Tim. 4:10; Heb. 2:9, 1 Pet. 1:3-5; 2:24; 2 Pet. 2:1). c. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate. (Acts 1:9, 10; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1, 2). (4) THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT a. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; 2 Cor. 3:6; 1 Cor. 12:12- 14; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 1:13, 14) b. We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth; and, that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (John 16:13; 1 John 2:20, 27; Eph. 5:18) (5) THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved and of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Gen. 1: 26, 27; Rom. 3:22, 23; 5:12, Eph. 2:1-3, 12). (6) SALVATION We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. (Eph. 2:8- 10; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7, 1 Peter 1:18, 19) (7) THE ETERNAL SECURITY AND ASSURANCE OF BELIEVERS a. We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38, 39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:5) b. We believe that it is the privilege of be- lievers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word; which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Rom. 13:13; 14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15) (8) THE TWO NATURES OF THE BELIEVER We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; and, that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are un- scriptural. (Rom. 6:13; 8:12, 13; Gal. 5:16-25; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:10; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 3:5-9) (9) SEPARATION We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord; and, that separation from all religious apos- asy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded of God. (2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-7; 2 John vss. 9-11; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; Rom. 12:1) (10) THE MISSIONS We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by work to the truths of Holy Scripture and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind. (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8, 2 Cor. 5:19, 20) (11) THE MINISTRY AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS a. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and, that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and, that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established. (1 Cor. 12:4- 11; 2 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:7-12) b. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accordance with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7; 1 John 5:14, 15). (12) THE CHURCH a. We believe that the Church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual or- ganism made up of all born-again persons of this pre- sent age. (Eph. 1:22, 23; 5:25-27; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2) b. We believe that the establishment and contin- uance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28- 32; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11) c. We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control. (Acts 13:1- 4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4- 7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4) d. We believe in the ordinances of believer's water baptism and the Lord's supper as the scriptural means of testimony of the church age. (Matt. 28:19, 20; Acts 2:41, 42; 18:8; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) (13) DISPENSATIONALISM We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man's re- sponsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation but rather divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these--the age of law, the age of the Church, and the age of the millennial kingdom--are the subjects of detailed revelations in Scripture. (John 1:17, 1 Cor. 9:17; 2 Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Eph. 1:10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24, 25; Rev. 20:2-6) (14) THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1:6, 7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10) (15) THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST We believe in that "Blessed Hope, " the personal, imminent, pretribulation and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millenial Kingdom. (1 Thes. 4:13-18; Zech. 14:4-11; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-6; 1 Thes. 1:10; 5:9) (16) THE ETERNAL STATE a. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25, 26; Rev. 20:5, 6, 12, 13) b. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; Rev. 20:4-6; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thes. 4:16, 17) c. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment. (Luke 16:19-26; Matt. 25:41-46; 2 Thes. 1:7-9, Jude vss. 6, 7; Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 20:11-15). Section 2. Movements Contrary to Faith We Stand Against: 1. The Ecumenical Movement as a ploy of Satan to form a One World Church and destroy the testimony of Christ. 2. The W.C.C., N.C.C., and related branches which are carrying out the objectives of the Ecumenicalists and Antichrist. 3. The Charismatic Movement as a destruction of the doctrines of the Faith for the convenience of joining hands across denominational lines and counterfeiting Christianity. 4. All Liberalism, Modernism, and Neo-Evangelicism as an attack upon the purity and inspiration of God's Word, our source of Faith. 5. Cooperative Evangelism which compromises the stand of Christ. Regardless of motives the method is regarded as unscriptural. 6. Contextualization which attempts to change the message of the Gospel for the ease of teaching within a foreign culture. 7. Liberation Theology which destroys the standards of God's Word. 8. Hyper-Calvanism that destroys evangelism and thus hinders the work of Christ through the church. OUR HISTORY Gospel Outreach was founded in 1976 by God's grace through Rev. Frank Eberhardt, a converted Roman Catholic who spent four years training for the priesthood in the mission order of St. Vincent De Paul. Based in Northeast Phila., Gospel Outreach was begun out of a Call, Conviction, and Cause. The Call: The Lord led eight godly men of a Roman Catholic background from the East Coast together with the same burden, winning Roman Catholic people. The Conviction: Roman Catholic people have been lied to and deceived for centuries and are in desperate need of salvation. The Cause. The Roman Catholic Church is the third largest church in the world with over 800, 000,000 people. Naming Christ, they deny his power of sal- vation and thus make Him an open shame before their people. God's name have been maligned and souls lost by this very political, pseudo-religious system that desires world domination under the Pope. With the headquarters in the Northeast, the Lord bur- dened our director to personally work among the 98% Italian Catholics of South Philadelphia. After a few years there were more than 100 trained disciples for Christ and a new Bible preaching church established and taken over by a local man. From this experience of overcoming strong family ties, traditions, and church domination through fear, many of the training and soulwinning materials were produced. Gospel Outreach is growing as the Lord wills, and we desire to help you win Roman Catholics to Christ. Let us know how we can assist you. OUR GOALS 1. To see Roman Catholics saved and discipled. 2. To train a dedicated, God led family from each local church to be Roman Catholic missionaries in that church. They would aid the pastor in visitation and home Bible studies. 3. To awaken and alert the local church to the desperate need of Roman Catholics to be saved and to warn the Church of the diabolical program of Romanism. 4. To establish a home where priests and nuns could come after accepting Christ to be taught the Bible and learn to work in the world. OUR METHODS 1. Personal evangelism by our missionaries 2. Evangelistic meetings 3. Practical teaching seminars for Christians 4. Home Bible studies 5. Specialized material for individual preparation a. Books c. Tapes e. Videos b. Pamphlets d. Tracts 6. Aid in training of missionaries to foreign fields OUR ORGANIZATION We are an independent, fundamental, home mission working in and through the local church as the body Christ has organized for the spreading of the Gospel and the administering of His ordinances (Baptism and the Lord's Table). As a mission, we are dedicated to the winning of the 67, 000,000 Roman Catholics in the U.S.A. and the 800, 000, 000 Roman Catholics in the world. Realizing we cannot accomplish this task by ourselves we work through the local church by training the brethren to win and disciple Roman Catholic people. Founded in 1976, we are a newer mission board but one with great stability. Our board is made up of: PRESIDENT Rev. Frank A. Eberhardt, Mission's Founder and Director CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Furie Orlando, retired from his business after 28 years. Since 1982 he has been serving in Bensalem, PA as a visitation pastor. SECRETARY Rev. Francis Champion pastoring in Fortescue, NJ since 1966. Dr. Paul Parr until recently pastored in Philadelphia, PA from 1957. Currently, he is the Director of Brotherhood Mission. Rev. Philip Fisher, Senior Pastor in Philadelphia, PA since March 1989. Prior to this appointment, he was Assistant Pastor from 1966. V.C. Rupp, independent business man, Greenville, SC. Henry Eberhardt, former Roman Catholic saved in 1972 and involved with the Mission since its conception. ADVISORY BOARD Dr. Michael Casillas, Founder and Director of a Bible college and seminary in Puerto Rico. REFERENCE BOARD Dr. Bob Jones III, President of Bob Jones University.