Throughout his life, Adrian Rogers was known as a strong voice in the defense of biblical inerrancy and the truths of the Gospel, which was exemplified through his leadership in the Southern Baptist Convention. He was a man of courage and conviction and did not shy away from difficult issues.

His positions were clear and unwavering since his foundation for decision-making was the Word of God. And so it is with Love Worth Finding Ministries.

Several issues have come forward that have been points of discussion and perhaps even some uncertainty of what Scripture says about these issues. Scripture admonishes us to “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” (1 Peter 3:15)

Love Worth Finding offers you this Statement of Faith and Beliefs with the Biblical references included for your information, consideration and meditation. We pray God will use these verses to help you “be ready always…”

Love Worth Finding Ministries, Inc.
November 2015

God

We believe that there is one God who exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus

We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, was born of a virgin, was wholly God and wholly man, lived a sinless life, died in our place as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind, was buried, arose bodily from the grave, and ascended into Heaven.

Christ's Return

We believe that Jesus Christ will literally return to earth.

Holy Spirit

We believe that God the Holy Spirit is active in convincing unbelievers of their need for salvation, and is the Comforter and Guide Who lives in every believer.

Bible

We believe that the Bible is the Word of God without any error, the sole authority for life and faith.

Man

We believe that man is a special creation of God, made in His image, but that through the sin of the first man, Adam, mankind fell so that all men are sinners and need salvation.

Salvation

We believe that salvation is a gift received through repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Assurance

We believe that every person who is truly saved is eternally secure in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Eternity

We believe that those persons who die in their sins without Christ spend eternity in Hell and those persons who die with their sins forgiven through Christ spend eternity in Heaven.

Baptism

We believe that water baptism is an act of obedience to the command of Christ and is by immersion after salvation.

Church

We believe that the church is a local body of baptized believers with the Lord Jesus Christ as the Head.

Prayer

We believe that each believer has direct access to God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Government

We believe in the separation of church and state, but not in separation of God and government. Christians are salt and light in society.

Marriage and Human Sexuality

Preamble

• We believe that all matters of faith and conduct must be evaluated on the basis of Holy Scripture, which is our inspired, infallible, and inerrant guide (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Since the Holy Bible does speak to the nature of human beings and their sexuality, it is imperative that we correctly understand and articulate what the Bible teaches on these matters.
• We are committed to the home and family as set forth in Holy Scripture. We believe God has ordained and created marriage to exist between one man and one woman, with absolute marital fidelity. The Bible sets forth specific home and family values, which include the distinct roles of husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, and children. It is our firm conviction that we uphold the dignity of each individual as we embrace the unchanging and longstanding principles of scriptural truth.

Religious Beliefs

Based on Holy Scripture and the historic moral teaching of the universal Church, we believe:

• Marriage — Love Worth Finding Ministries defines marriage as the permanent, exclusive, comprehensive, and conjugal “one flesh” union of one man and one woman, intrinsically ordered to procreation and biological family, and in furtherance of the moral, spiritual, and public good of binding father, mother, and child. (Genesis 1:27-28, Genesis 2:18-24, Matthew 19:4-9, Mark 10:5-9, Ephesians 5:31-33) 

• Sexual Immorality — Love Worth Finding Ministries believes that sexual acts outside marriage are prohibited because they are sinful. Consequently, Love Worth Finding Ministries employees and volunteers must resist and refrain from any and all sexual acts outside marriage — including but not limited to adultery, fornication, incest, zoophilia, pornography, prostitution, voyeurism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, sodomy, polygamy, polyamory, sologamy, or same-sex sexual acts. (Exodus 20:14, Leviticus 18:7-23, Leviticus 20:10-21, Deuteronomy 5:18, Matthew 15:19, Matthew 5:27-28, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-13, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Hebrews 13:4, Galatians 5:19, Ephesians 4:17-19, Colossians 3:5) 

• Sexual Identity — Love Worth Finding Ministries believes that God created mankind in His image: male (man) and female (woman), sexually different but with equal personal dignity. Consequently, Love Worth Finding Ministries employees and volunteers must affirm their biological sex and refrain from any and all attempts to physically change, alter, or disagree with their predominant biological sex — including but not limited to elective sex-reassignment, transvestite, transgender, or non-binary “genderqueer” acts or conduct. (Genesis 1:26-28, Romans 1:26-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11) 
• Sexual Orientation — Love Worth Finding Ministries believes that God created and ordered human sexuality to the permanent, exclusive, comprehensive, and conjugal “one flesh” union of man and woman, intrinsically ordered to procreation and biological family, and in furtherance of the moral, spiritual, and public good of binding father, mother, and child. Consequently, Love Worth Finding Ministries employees and volunteers must affirm the sexual complementarity of man and woman and resist any and all same-sex sexual attractions and refrain from any and all same-sex sexual acts or conduct, which are intrinsically disordered and sinful. (Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-6, Mark 10:5-9, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Ephesians 5:25-27, Revelation 19:7-9, Revelation 21:2) 

• Sexual Redemption — Love Worth Finding Ministries believes that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and should seek redemption through confession, repentance, and faith in Jesus Christ. Consequently, Love Worth Finding Ministries employees and volunteers must welcome and treat with respect, compassion, and sensitivity all who experience same-sex attractions or confess sexually immoral acts but are committed to resisting sexual temptation, refraining from sexual immorality, and conforming their behavior to Love Worth Finding Ministries Statement of Faith. (Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:1-10, I Corinthians 10:13, Hebrews 2:17-18, Hebrews 4:14-16) 
• Celibacy — Love Worth Finding Ministries believes that Holy Scripture grants two life-enhancing options for human sexual behavior: (1) the conjugal “one flesh” marital union of one man and one woman, and (2) celibacy. Either is a gift from God, given as He wills for His glory and the good of those who receive and rejoice in His gift to them. Celibacy and faithful singleness is to be celebrated and affirmed within the Love Worth Finding Ministries. (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:18, 21-24; Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:5-8; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Corinthians 7:1-8; Matthew 19:12; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Romans 12:10; 1 Timothy 5:1-2)

Holy Scripture

Marriage and Human Sexuality Genesis 1:26-28 Genesis 2:18-24 Genesis 19:5-10 Exodus 20:14 Leviticus 18:7-23 Leviticus 20:10-21 Deuteronomy 5:18 Judges 19:22-24 Matthew 5:27-28 Matthew 15:19 Matthew 19:4-9 Mark 10:5-9 Romans 1:26-27 1 Corinthians 6:9-13 2 Corinthians 5:21 Galatians 5:19 Ephesians 4:17-19 Ephesians 5:25-27 Ephesians 5:31 Colossians 3:5 1 Thessalonians 4:3 Hebrews 13:4 1 Timothy 1:8-10 Jude 1:7 Revelation 19:7-9 Revelation 21:2

Pastoral Care Matthew 11:28-30 Romans 3:23 Ephesians 2:1-10 1 Corinthians 10:13 Hebrews 2:17-18 Hebrews 4:14-16

Application 

All of our employees and volunteers of the ministry must affirm and adhere to this Doctrinal and Religious Absolute statement on marriage and human sexuality to qualify for involvement with the ministry. This is necessary to accomplish our religious mission, goals and purpose. Behavior or counter-witnessing that does otherwise will impede and burden our integrity and religious mission. We believe that God’s grace can wipe the slate of guilt and sin, though the consequences are still incurred.

Authority

The Bible is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God, acting as the source of authority over morality, our beliefs, Christian lifestyle and conduct. Love Worth Finding Ministries Board of Directors is charged with the ministerial responsibility of Biblical interpretation and promulgating religious policy. On behalf of the ministry, Love Worth Finding Ministries Board of Directors will determine life application as well as final matters relating to organizational theology, philosophy, Christian practice, faith, divine truth, morality, and theological and doctrinal resolutions.

The Sanctity of Human Life and Abortion

Preamble

• We believe that all matters of faith and conduct must be evaluated on the basis of Holy Scripture, which is our inspired, infallible, and inerrant guide. (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Because Holy Scripture speaks to creation and human life, it is imperative that we correctly understand, articulate, and abide by what Holy Scripture teaches on this matter.
• We believe that God has created mankind in His image (Imago Dei) and that human life begins at fertilization. God, in his infinite sovereignty, uniquely formed human beings and gave them a special dignity, personal freedom, and individual accountability among all the works of creation. Human beings have been made for relationship with God and to be good and faithful stewards of creation. God created each person’s inmost being, knitting each person together in his mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13). As God’s individualized and personal creation, each person is fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14). God has ordained all the days of each person’s life before they came to be. (Psalm 139:16).

Religious Beliefs 

Based on Holy Scripture and the historic moral teaching of the universal Church, we believe:

• From the moment of fertilization until natural death, every human life is sacred because every human life has been created by God, in His image and likeness.
• From the moment of fertilization, every human life must be recognized, respected, and protected as having the rights of a person and the inviolable right to life.
• The right to life and physical integrity of every unborn human life is inviolable —it is not a concession made by society or the state, but is instead inherent to the unborn human life by virtue of its creation in the image of God.
• Because human life begins at the moment of fertilization, it is against our religious and moral conviction to formally or materially cooperate in the termination of unborn human life.
• We are strongly committed to the preservation and defense of unborn human life, which compels our religious, moral, and ethical duty to defend unborn human life from destruction, whether by surgical abortion or use of drugs, devices, or services that have the intent, design, effect, or risk of terminating unborn human life or preventing its implantation and growth post-fertilization.
• The Church and all her ministers and ministries should publicly witness to society and to the state regarding the intrinsic, inherent, and inviolable dignity of all human life, from fertilization to natural death.

Holy Scripture 

In standing against abortion, Love Worth Finding Ministries incorporates by reference the following Holy Scriptures, which are cited in the statements, resolutions, commentaries, or doctrines of Christian denominations that are expressly and vocally opposed to abortion: Some examples include, but are not limited to, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Presbyterian Church in America, and the Southern Baptist Convention.

• Genesis 1:26-27 
• Genesis 25:21-22
• Exodus 20:13 
• Psalm 22:9-10 
• Psalm 139:13-16 
• Isaiah 44:1-2 
• Isaiah 49:5 
• Job 10:8-12 
• Jeremiah 1:4-5 
• Luke 1:39-45 
• John 1:14

Historic Church Statements on the Sanctity of Human Life and Abortion

“You shall not procure (an) abortion, nor destroy a newborn child.”  —The Didache

“Thus, you read the word of God, spoken to Jeremiah: ‘Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee.’ If God forms us in the womb, He also breathes on us as He did in the beginning: ‘And God formed man and breathed into him the breath of life.’ Nor could God have known man in the womb unless he were a whole man. ‘And before thou camest forth from the womb, I sanctified thee.’ Was it, then, a dead body at that stage? Surely it was not, for "God is the God of the living and not the dead."  —Tertullian, De Anima

“It is not permissible for us to destroy the seed by means of illicit manslaughter once it has been conceived in the womb, so long as blood remains in the person.”  —Tertullian, Apologia

“Why sow where the ground makes it its care to destroy the fruit? Where there are many efforts at abortion? Where there is murder before the birth…. Why then dost thou abuse the gift of God, and fight with His laws, and follow after what is a curse as if a blessing, and make the chamber of procreation a chamber for murder, and arm the woman that was given for childbearing unto slaughter?”  —John Chrysostom, Homily 24

“[T]his lustful cruelty, or if you please, cruel lust, resorts to such extravagant methods as to use poisonous drugs to secure barrenness; or else, if unsuccessful in this, to destroy the conceived seed by some means previous to birth, preferring that its offspring should rather perish than receive vitality; or if it was advancing to life within the womb, should be slain before it was born.”  —Augustine, De Nube et Concupiscentia

“Therefore brothers, you see how perverse they are and hastening wickedness, who are immature, they seek abortion of the conception before the birth; they are those who tell us, ‘I do not see that which you say must be believed.’”  —Augustine, Sermon 126

“Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born.”  —Barnabas, Letter