The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his131/cath27.lzh/CATH27.TXT

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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.