Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
It is an absolute privilege to provide the lead pastor role and responsibilities for the congregants of Grandview Chapel in Dawson Creek, BC. By God’s grace, I am committed to this work of God and its impact upon this region and the world!
I am privileged to share the message that I have received and walk with people as they journey along their way, and I would be glad to meet you and walk with you on your journey as well!
At Grandview we have people from various backgrounds: non-churched, evangelicals, reformed, pentecostals, baptists, mennonnites, salvation armyists, charismatics etc. Amidst all of these different backgrounds, we find our common unity in God through His revelation to us via His Word, namely Jesus Christ and His written word, the Bible. Given that every church has congregants who hold various beliefs, it seems that a common extensive belief statement would be misleading as not every congregant would adhere to it, yet, I feel it is possible to provide my personal statements of beliefs and/or provide links to statements that I personally affirm and adhere too.
Please note that the following in no way implies that the other elders and congregants of Grandview Chapel hold similar views or adhere to similar statements of belief, albeit, I’m pretty sure most of the mature believers would assuredly hold to the creeds!
What I believe and teach!
If I can, I’d like to first take the opportunity to share what the Lord has placed upon my heart in relationship to providing the role and responsibility that the Lord has entrusted me with at Grandview Chapel. My desire is to walk with the Lord in fulfilling His call upon my life as He promised to us in Jeremiah 3:15, “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” We recognize that the Lord is our Great Shepherd (John 10:10; Hebrews 13:20), we also recognize that He gives shepherds for His flock, commonly called pastors, and that these shepherds/pastors will have a heart that will both desire the heart of God and reflect the heart of God, their hearts will not be after the hearts of men and women in terms of wanting to look good and acceptable in their eyes, but after God! These shepherds will also feed people whom the Lord has provided for them to feed with knowledge and understanding. I have shepherds in my life who desire God’s heart and feed me with knowledge and understanding, and I desire to be a shepherd who follows hard after God’s heart and out of the abundance of His heart, am able to feed others with knowledge and understanding, by His grace and His empowering Spirit.
When people ask me what denomination I am with or what I believe, I usually describe myself as a reformed-acostal-bapti-menno-matic. I adhere to several historical creeds and statements of faith which have been published and made publicly available, here are some links to my favourites as they reflect my personal beliefs quite well:
Although I wouldn’t classify myself as solely baptist, I do identify with, affirm and promote the doctrinal stances found in this document:
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith
Also:
I also find the following document quite excellent as I concur with most of it:
The Canons of Dort (except FIRST HEAD: ARTICLE 17)
My personally developed and written belief statement regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit and Spiritual manifestations:
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an experience altogether apart from being born again (John 3:5-8) or receiving the Spirit of God (John 20:22), it is an experience whereby the Holy Spirit comes upon a person and is evidenced by being endued with power (Acts 1:8), this power is described in Scripture as a singular and/or successive event where a person experiences something of the following:
• boldness to witness of Christ Jesus and speak the word of God (Acts 1:8b; 4:8, 31; 1 Cor. 12:3);
• manifestation(s) of the Holy Spirit such as words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miracles, prophesying, discerning spirits, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, (1 Cor. 12:7-11);
• seeing visions and dreams (Acts 2:17; 7:55);
• and magnifying God (Acts 10:46).
I also agree with several creeds:
The Apostles’ Creed
1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:
5. The third day he rose again from the dead:
6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost:
9. I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints:
10. The forgiveness of sins:
1l. The resurrection of the body:
12. And the life everlasting. Amen.
Chalcedonian Creed
We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.
Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
For those who prefer info-graphics, please enjoy these:
I have found that the scriptures clearly teach what is commonly referred to as Reformed Theology, and these common tenets have been strongly and clearly promoted and attested to by: Jesus the Christ, Paul the Apostle, Peter the Apostle, James, John the Apostle, Matthew the Apostle, Mark, Luke, all the authors of the Old and New Testaments, and the common views as promoted by St. Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, Jonathan Edwards, John Bunyan (Pilgrim’s Progress), George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, John Owen, Matthew Henry, Charles Hodge, A.W. Pink, Henry Bavinck, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, James Montgomery Boice, and current theologians/preachers such as J.I.Packer, John Piper, R.C.Sproul, John McArthur, Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, Wayne Grudem and Timothy Keller. Given such a historical and contemporary cloud of witnesses to the truths identified as Reformed Theology, I encourage you to explore these great Biblical truths more closely at this website: www.monergism.com!
I pray that the Lord has blessed you as you have read these statements, creeds and info-graphics, as they glorify our Lord and Saviour, the Almighty God. Please remember that my personal beliefs are not shared by everyone who fellowships in the Grandview Chapel community, as a non-denominational church we emphasize growing in love for each other, the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of Jesus as we are taught by the Holy Spirit and the scriptures while sharing this great hope with those around us.
If you would like to discuss any of these things, I would make myself readily available and willing to chat about these wonderful truths in a friendly and prayerfully anointed manner, trusting the Holy Spirit to guide each of us and teach us of the Most High God, our Lord and Saviour!
Blessings upon blessings!
Tony
Personal and Professional Policies:
1. I reserve the right to provide the officiating of marriage only for members of Grandview Chapel who have been active for a minimum of 6 months prior to the request of service.
2. I reserve the right to provide funeral/memorial services only for saints who are/were active members of Grandview Chapel.
It is both a privilege and an honour to serve the Grandview Chapel congregants in these ways.