Posted on 06/13/2015 11:06:42 AM PDT by kinsman redeemer
AWANA Clubs international is a Bible-centered youth ministry with 30,000 charter "clubs" around the world.
Their statement of faith describes a sound doctrine.
I invite you to take a look.
We believe that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is supernaturally inspired, so that it is inerrant in the original manuscripts and preserved by God in its verbal and plenary inspiration, so that it is a divinely authoritative standard for every age and every life. (Matthew 5:18; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21)
God
We believe in one God that eternally exists and reveals Himself in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - having each the same nature, attributes, and perfections, worthy of the same worship and confidence. (Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; John 1:1-2, 14, 10:30, 14:15-17; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
We believe in God as absolute and sole creator and sustainer of the universe, and creation was by divine command, from nothing and not through and evolutionary process. (John 1:3, 10; Acts 17:24-25; Genesis 1:1)
We believe that God, by His sovereign choice and out of love for men, sent Christ into the world to save sinners. (John 3:16, 1 Timothy 1:15, 1 John 4:14)
God the Son
We believe that Jesus Christ was fully God in the flesh and fully man, that He was born of a virgin and that He lived a sinless life, in which He taught and performed mighty works and wonders and signs exactly as revealed in the four gospels. We believe that He was crucified, shed His blood, and died to pay the penalty for our sins and was raised bodily from the dead on the third day. Forty days later He ascended to Father's right hand where He is head of the church and intercedes for believers. From there He is coming again personally, bodily, and visibly to this earth to setup His millennial Kingdom. (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Hebrews 1:1-2, 7:25; Luke 1:30-35; Ephesians 4:8; John 1:1-5, 10-14, 14:3; Colossians 2:9; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 1:3,11; Revelation 20:4)
God the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person and is God, possessing all the divine attributes. He convicts of sin, regenerates, indwells, baptizes, and seals all believers at the moment of their salvation, filling them in response to yieldedness with the goal of conforming them to the image of Christ. (John 3:5, 16:7-11; Acts 5:3-4; Ephesians 1:13, 4:30, 5:18; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 12:13)
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. We believe that all men are morally corrupt, and of themselves utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 1:18, 3:23, 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12)
Salvation
We believe that salvation is a gift of God and is received by man through personal faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for sin. We believe that man is justified by grace through faith apart from works and that all true believers, once saved, are kept secure in Christ forever.(Acts 13:38-39; Romans 4:5, 6:23, 8:1, 38-39; John 10:27-29; Ephesians 2:8-9)
The Church
We believe that the true church is composed of all persons who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit through saving faith in Jesus Christ, and that they are united together in the body of Christ of which He is Lord and Head, and are commissioned for the God-given tasks of worshipping, fellowshipping, teaching, evangelizing, and exercising the spiritual gifts.(Acts 2:42, 47; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:23-24; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2)
We believe that the establishment and continuance of the local church is clearly taught in the New Testament Scriptures. (Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28-32; 2 Timothy 3:1-13, Titus 1:5-11)
We believe that the local church is autonomous and free of any external authority or control. (Acts 13:1-13, 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16, 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4)
The Ordinances
We believe the ordinances for the believer are water baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper as a memorial. They are, however, not to be regarded as a means of salvation. But both of which are an evidence of obedience and fellowship with the Lord. (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 2:38, 41, 8:12, 35-38; Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-29)
The Christian Life
We believe that a Christian should walk in holiness and not after the flesh, with the goal of being conformed to the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a new creation, walking in the Spirit, the Christian learns to grow in faith, in obedience to Scripture, in prayer, in fellowship with the saints, and in a life of service. We believe that the Christian will stand before the judgement seat of Christ and have his life evaluated according to his deeds. (Galatians 5:16-26; Hebrews 10:25; Ephesians 4:20-24; Hebrews 11:6, 12:1-2; John 17:17; Ephesians 6:18; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15)
The Second Coming
We believe in the personal, premillennial, and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead, of the believer to everlasting glory and the unbeliever to judgement and everlasting conscious punishment. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Titus 2:11-13; John 14:1-6; Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:11-15; 2 Peter 3:10)
Gee, I did not know Donald Awana B. POTUS Trump really believed anything.
Bump
**We believe in one God that eternally exists and reveals Himself in three persons**
Um, problem there.
He doesn’t reveal himself in three persons.
God IS three persons.
This is a text book example of the heresy of modalism.
I’ve been an AWANA volunteer at our church for 3 years. It’s a great ministry and for some of our kids whose parents don’t go to church on Sunday, it’s the only spiritual teaching they ever get.
depends on what the definition of is, is
depends on what the definition of is, is
Awana is a good program for kids.
OK, give me a definition that makes that statement orthodox.
(Mormonism doesn’t count)
Gamecock is right here. The AWANA statement smacks - perhaps unintentionally - of Modalism.
http://jamedders.com/modalism/
Try this for orthodoxy:
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 his 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;
And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and Giver of Life,
who proceedeth from the Father and the Son;
who with the Father and the Son together
is worshipped and glorified
Yep this is an issue.. AWAN's are basically Baptist I think... so I m guessing this is not intentional..
Full discloser here ..I took 2 of my granddaughters to Awana for years..
What is Little Flowers Girls' Club?
Little Flowers Girls' Club® is a Catholic program for girls ages 5 and up based on learning Catholic virtues through the lives of Catholic saints, Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Developed by a Catholic mom of eleven, Rachel Watkins, and based on Fr. Lasance's Catholic Girls' Guide, the Club strives to bring the Catholic faith alive and inspire the girls to become authentic Catholic women.
Nine virtues are included in each of three different Wreaths or years of study. A fourth year, studying the fruits of the Spirit is also available. The format of the Clubs is flexible, with groups meeting monthly, bi-monthly or weekly. Badges for the virtues are earned by studying the saint associated with the virtue, memorizing relevant scripture verses and studying the Catechism. The program is flexible enough to use with a variety of age groups. Little Flowers Girls' Club® has also been successfully implemented in the family. Sashes, vests, skirts, bandanas, t-shirts and other items are extras that add to the experience, but are not necessary to running a successful Club.
The Leader's Guide for each Wreath offers suggestions for running meetings, planning crafts and activities, talks on virtues and other relevant information.
The Member's Guide includes the activities, saints' biographies, pictures of the saints, and prayers for each girl. Each of the girls in the Club should purchase their own Member's Guide.
Other items that leader's find useful are the Memory Verse CD/Cassettes, the Tea and Luncheon Manual and the Craft Companion and Merit Certificates.
Leader's should have fun with the program and use the flexibility to choose the items that are right for your group's needs.
God bless you in your work for His work!
This is a text book example of the heresy of modalism.
Or, more likely, just sloppiness in articulating their SOF..
Maybe.
But what else are they sloppy with?
I forgot to post the Little Flowers Girls’s Club website.
http://www.littleflowersgirlsclub.blogspot.com/
But what else are they sloppy with?
Good question.
I wonder if it's heresy or simply sloppy doctrine. It's one in the same but the first is deliberate and the second shows little caring of precision. The second leads to the first.
There’s only so many ways of expressing the concept of the Trinity and how God has reveals Himself to be.
Considering that they appear to be dead on with everything else, I can cut them some slack when it comes to wording.
I’d hazard a guess that the average person on the street is not going to get that, considering that I doubt any of them have ever heard of modalism.
If they’re bringing people to Christ, God can straighten out their theology.
If anyone thinks they truly understand and can articulate I would stay away from that person.
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