ps1611 Warrior of The Presence

Faith Statement

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Makala Doulos, editor of Ps 16:11, holds unequivocally to the following statement of faith: 

  • When referring to God in this statement, i am reverently speaking of the Maker of the Universe, the God of the Bible (Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One!); the One who revealed Himself historically and literally to Moses at the burning bush as I AM (In the Hebrew: היה ) His name is (again, I say it most respectfully): the LORD (יהוה ) or transliterated as the tetragrammaton YHWH (sometimes Yahweh), The existing One.  
  • I believe that the chief purpose of all existence is that all creation would bring Glory to God.
  • I believe the Bible is the inspired and infallible and authoritative Word of God. (II Timothy 3:15 -16)

 

 


The Word of God
  • It is sixty six books compiled by God Himself, each book supernaturally orchestrated and selected, every paragraph divinely governed in its construction, every phrase purposely chosen, and every word bearing heavenly significance. I believe that the Scriptural collection of canonized text is perfect in its native state, timeless and un-evolving in its substance, and fully authoritative in its position. I believe that Scripture, though aided in its construction by the intellects, personalities, and pens of men, is nonetheless God’s very words. Just as Jesus was wholly man and yet wholly God, so the text of Scripture bears an identical miraculous nature.

 

  • I believe that the entirety of Scripture is useful for the formation of doctrine and that every doctrine discerned from the Biblical text must prove to be in agreement with the entirety of the sixty-six books and must not be disprovable or undermined by even a single variant reference. I believe the inerrancy of Scripture can be maintained through the process of translation, however, I believe it essential in the process of language translation that individual words in the original language be translated for individual words in the new language, and that editorial interpretation be avoided with great care.

 

  • I discourage use of idea-for-idea translations as primary study texts and oppose the notion that dynamic equivalent and paraphrase renderings of the Biblical text are authoritative representations of God’s unchanging Word. I outright oppose the Emergent notions of our day that challenge the divinity of Scripture and that recast the nature of the Bible as simple narrative. Whereas the Bible certainly includes story, it is much more than a mere testimony of the past, it is an authoritative, governing guide and rule of Kingdom Law for the present and it supernaturally contains a complexity of heavenly Truth that can be trolled only with a humble, contrite, trembling dependence upon the Spirit of Almighty God.
Who is Jesus Christ?
  • I stand in concert with the Nicene Creed on the person of Jesus Christ and wholly agree with the historic defense of Athanasius in claiming Jesus to be God “in substance.”

 


The Cross

 

 

What is the Gospel?
  • I believe that the Gospel (or Good News of God) is represented in Scripture with six distinct elements of Messianic triumph and intent.

 

  1. The Sentence of Death Removed
    Man is imprisoned in his sin – unable to escape the control of sin, the earthly effects of sin, and the eternal penalty of sin. However, the Good News of God is that the triumvirate of sin’s effect has been canceled through the work of the Messiah, Jesus Christ – the wrath of God has been absorbed by the stricken Son of God – divine justice has been served, sin has been condemned in the flesh. Thusly, the guilty rebels of earth (you and me), if we would only accept this act of divine intervention with faith, have the privilege of legal justification before the bar of Heaven. we can be forgiven of our rebellion, self-will, and lifelong resistance to His rule and reign. Such justification and forgiveness, when accepted through faith, creates a way into the very Presence and Eternal Life of God. The guilty conscience of man can be swept clean and filled with unspeakable joy, and the condemnation of Hell that hangs justly over the souls of every human can be wholly removed and replaced with hope of life ever after with God.
  2. The Prison Door to Sin is Unlocked
    Man is controlled by sin. And as a result, the pure and holy things he may esteem with his mind and wish to emulate with his life, he is unable to perform and act out. He finds within his being, a barrier to purity, holiness, and righteousness. However, the work of the Cross, the triumph of our Messiah, has done more than merely remove the sentence of Death from the children of God – in fact, for those who believe, it has removed the barrier to purity, holiness, and righteousness IN a believer. That which has always hindered men from living out the commands of God has been removed. The prison door has been unlocked, and now, the people of faith, have the privilege of walking in the light as our God is in the light, and bearing fruit that evidences a regeneration of the human soul.
  3. The invitation to live in His Presence
    Though man was a rebel prior to coming to the Cross, and though man was saturated with the dark stain of sin when first approaching the throne of Grace, amazingly, Jesus Christ’s work has created the one and only avenue through which sinful man can enter into the presence of the Divine. Not just be forgiven, and not just be freed from the dark oppression of the soul, but actually permitted the privilege of living where the King lives, sharing in the rights and allowances of His Kingdom, the privileges and protections of His Spirit Law, being counted among His people, named amongst His company.
  4. The adoption as sons and daughters
    Amazingly, the blood of Christ goes even further than even these three astounding realities. It doesn’t leave us mere citizens of a Kingdom, washed clean and set on our feet with dignity, it also makes a way for us to be adopted into His very family and to be called amongst His sons and daughters. Beyond mere forgiveness of sins, freedom from sin, and allowance into His Presence, this is the monumental privilege of sharing in the authority of His Name, the pleasures of His person, and the riches of His personal wealth. we are offered a place not just in His salvation plan, but on His very lap, invited to know Him and become a heart-friend of the Most High God – actually free to call Him Abba, Papa, Father. And thusly, we are privileged to actually share in His inheritance – all of it!
  5. The commission to represent the King’s nature and herald the King’s Word to this lost world
    We are also chosen to now represent Him to this lost world, to carry His burdens, to stand for His Truth, to preach His message, and to live as He Himself lived. As the One who has called us is holy, so we are to be holy in everything we do, in order to demonstrate to this world the stunning virtue and excellence of our Champion, Jesus Christ. we are called to be His Body – His very hands and feet to valiantly undergird the weak, His mouthpiece to shout His Gospel, His ears to hear the cries of the needy, and His feet to go into all the world, seeking and saving that which is lost. we are called to follow Him, to do as He did, and to die in similitude to His dying. We are called to absolute purity of heart, mind, and life. we are called to model God’s perfection. And whereas, such a calling is wholly impossible for us to fulfill and carry out, God doesn’t back down in Scripture in clarifying this amazing intent. And this is why the sixth piece to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (see below) is so important – because without it, none of the above features can even be realized beyond a miniscule level.
  6. The privilege of becoming the dwelling place of God
    The Cross was about far more than forgiveness. It was about more than men being set free, invited into the Kingdom of their King, being adopted as His very children, and being commissioned to represent His Truth to this world. Shockingly, the Cross also purchased the way for us to find the fullness of Life. The Cross created an avenue through which the awesome, all-powerful, consuming fiery Life of God can actually enter into the bodies of believing men and women and make the entirety of this Gospel (as mentioned above) a living, breathing reality. God desires to live inside us, to speak through us, love through us, feel through us, hear through us – live, move, and have His being in and through us. Just as Jesus did nothing but what His Father in Heaven was doing (He only spoke that which His Father spoke and only did that which His Father did), so we are to be baptized with the very living presence of God within, enabling us to do precisely the same thing (speaking only that which Jesus is speaking and do only that which Jesus is doing). Our life is not our own, it’s been bought with a price. And when we yield to this indwelling Life of God, suddenly it is no longer just a human attempt at imitating the magnificence and perfection of God, but it is the magnificence and perfection of God at work within us demonstrating His Life to this onlooking world.

Further, Makala holds to the following seven  principles:

  1. GOSPEL
    God is after a people. And I believe that the Lamb that was slain is worthy of the reward of His suffering. He is worthy of all the glory and all the honor, and therefore, we desire to bring the pure, unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ to this world as our means of giving Him His due, expressing our sincere love and devotion, and in hopes of seeing the purchase of the Cross fully realized.
  2. SCRIPTURE
    We believe that the eternal Word of Truth is sacred and should be treated with the utmost reverence. However, it is under attack in our day on a number of fronts. we believe that Scripture is the primary directive for the church of Jesus Christ and, therefore, must be defended and preserved. Under the unction of the Holy Spirit, we believe it has the efficacy to transform the heart and enable the believer to fully live its precepts. As a result, we don’t just teach the Scriptures, but how others might rightly divide them, live out their grand themes, and fight to protect their integrity.
  3. DISCIPLESHIP
    We believe that God’s model for passing the baton of Truth is through the means of discipleship. While the Bible school classroom is a wonderful vehicle for teaching Truth, we believe that the Word of God is also meant to be conveyed through the process of intensive, personal discipleship: reproving sin, correcting error and training how to live a life which glorifies and pleases God.
  4. PRAYER
    We believe that all soul-transforming work happens as a result of prayer. Indeed, the greatest need in the world today is praying saints! People who know how to lay hold of heaven; who refuse to let go until their heart-wrenching cry for souls is answered; who understand what it means to devote large portions of time to the energizing work of wrestling prayer.
  5. COMMUNITY
    We believe that the First Century Church was a vibrant community which operated under an authority structure handcrafted by God, led by on-fire saints of God, where believers were held to a high standard of life, where believers humbled themselves to God and to each other, where Jesus Christ alone was exalted, where people truly loved and honored each other. we are committed to create such a community at Ellerslie.
  6. PROCLAMATION
    We hold to the fact that unless those that know the Truth actually live the Truth, expound the Truth, preach the Truth, publish the Truth, and teach the Truth, that according to God’s economy, there will be a famine of Truth in our generation. Therefore, we labor to not only preach the Truth to those that are in our midst, but those that we cannot reach physically as well. Through whatever form of media God may design, we will make the Truth of Christ’s Kingdom felt, heard, and known, by the Grace of our God.
  7. RESCUE
    Jesus Christ was Love incarnate, moving through wretched humanity, sacrificially giving of Himself to meet the enormous need around Him. As emissaries of Christ, it is our privilege to carry on His ministry to the orphaned, widowed, poor, imprisoned, oppressed, enslaved, and outcast. it is our job and privilege, as we labor in the Father’s business, to be Christ’s hands and feet to such as these.

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