TENETS OF FAITH AND DOCTRINE | catevaministries

BYLAWS OF

CATEVA OUTREACH MINISTRIES, INC.

TENETS OF FAITH AND DOCTRINE

The Organization accepts the Scriptures as the revealed Will of God, the all sufficient rule of faith and practice, and for the purpose of maintaining general unity, adopts these Statements of Fundamental Truths and Doctrine.

Section 1. The Scriptures Inspired.

The Bible is the inspired Word of God, a revelation from God to man, the infallible rule of faith and conduct, and is superior to conscience and reason, but not contrary to reason. (2 Tim. 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:23-25; Heb. 4:12)

Section 2. The One True Godhead.

The triune Godhead is comprised of three (3) separate and distinct personalities, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, who are eternally self-existent, self-revealed and function as one entity. Jesus Christ, who is God manifested in the flesh, is the second member of the Godhead, co-equal and co-eternal with The Father and The Holy Spirit.

Section 3. Man, His Fall and Redemption.

Man was created good and upright, for God said, "Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness". But, man, by voluntary transgression, fell and his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ the Son of God (Genesis 1:26-31, 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-21).

Section 4. The Salvation of Man.

Man's only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. On the cross Jesus Christ became sin and sickness providing both salvation and divine healing for all mankind (Psalm 103:3), being justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. For by grace we are saved through faith. "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart--that is, the word of faith which we are teaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation" (Romans 3:24; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 10:8-10).

Deliverance and Repentance. Repentance is a walk of faith and humility into the valley of brokenness. Unless we take this walk, we are too rigid and hard to be molded in the hand of God. More than just simply being powerless before God, repentance leads to a brokenness before Him where we have been made to see our sins as God sees them. Repentance is the process whereby we have come to realize deep within, that our sins have hurt the Father. Only then, does the sinner receive salvation. Therefore, I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin (Ezekiel 18:30). Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee (Acts 8:22). And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping (Ezra 9:13-14).

The evidence of Salvation. The inward evidence to the believer of his salvation, is the direct witness of the Spirit (Romans 8:16). The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness. "And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us" (1 John 3:23).

Faith and Works. Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and not by human works; however, our works will determine the rewards in eternity (Romans 10:9-1 and II Cor. 5:10).

Section 5. Evangelism.

We believe that evangelism is an essential and necessary part of the commission, function, and purpose of every New Testament Organization. While some Organizations may have as central to their vision an evangelism center, all Organizations should be active in training the saints to share their faith with others. This is a command and not an option. Evangelism in its simplest terms is telling others about the power of God through Jesus Christ to save them from their sins and from the consequence of sins. Evangelism is a function of the saints as they go about their daily lives. Evangelism is a function of the marketplace, "as you go make disciples of all nations." (Matthew 28:18‑20)

Section 6. Baptism in Water. The ordinance of baptism by a burial with Christ should be observed as commanded in the Scriptures by all who have really repented and in their hearts have truly believed on Christ as Savior and Lord. In so doing, they declare to the world that they have died with Jesus and that they have also been raised with Him to walk in newness of life. (Matt. 28:19; Acts 10:47, 48; Romans 6:4).

Section 7. The Lord's Supper.

And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, 'This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.' Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup" (I Cor. 11:24; 25, 28).

Section 8. The Promise of the Father.

All believers are entitled to, and should ardently expect and earnestly seek, the promise of the Father, the Baptism in the Holy Ghost and Fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian Organization. With it comes the endowment of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry. (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-8; 1 Corinthians. 12:1-31). This wonderful experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth

(Acts 2:38; 10:44-46; 11:14-16; 15:7-9).

Section 9. The Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

The full consummation of the Baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is evidenced by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance, and by the subsequent manifestation of spiritual power in public testimony and service (Acts 2:4; 10:44-46; 19:2, 6; 1:8).

Section 10. The Organization.

The Organization is the body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the general assembly and Organization of the firstborn, which are written in Heaven (Ephesians 1:22; 2:19-22; Hebrews 12:23).

Living Organism: We believe that the Organization is the Body of Christ expressed as the Organization individual (a specific Organization), the Organization local, and the Organization universal and invisible (all saints of all places and all times united together under one Lord). As such, we believe the Organization to be more than just a building or a gathering of people. It is a body living in relationship and harmony under the direction of the Head, Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 6:15; 2 Corinthians 1:1;1 Peter 2:45; Ephesians 2:19‑22; 1 Corinthians 12:12‑31; Romans 12:4‑5; Ephesians 4:11‑16).

Visionary And Government: We believe that there is to be an individual who is the presiding overseer on any leadership team raised up by God. That person will be the first among equals ‑ the president of the Leadership Team. We believe that individual will have an ascension gift calling. The president will be that person through whom the main vision of the Organization is received, articulated and developed. That president will have the final responsibility and decision‑making authority in all matters concerning the spiritual direction of the Organization. That individual will be recognized by the grace, anointing, ability and vision given by God (Numbers 27:15‑22; Acts 13:1;1 Corinthians 12:18; Ephesians 4:11) God will raise up overseers and other ascension gifts to function with and in relationship to the visionary. We believe that there will be mutual submission within the leadership team consisting of the visionary and ruling overseers. We believe that, within the team, there will submission of the visionary to the others in the governing leadership and that there will be submission of the others to the visionary. We believe that the team members are to seek the mind of God together for the Organization in all areas of its affairs.

Organization Discipline: We believe in Organization discipline administered within the Organization in a spirit of meekness and confidentiality. The purpose of such discipline is the restoration of the one subject to the discipline and/or the purification of the Organization. The steps of discipline are: private confrontation, private confrontation with witnesses, and finally, exposure to the Organization or the Leadership Team for judgment leading to restoration or separation. (Matthew 18:1520; Galatians 6:1; Romans 16:17; 2 John 9‑11; 1 Corinthians 5; 2 Corinthians 2:6‑8; 1 Timothy 5:20).

Autonomy and Relationship: We believe that the local Organization, although autonomous, will be related to other local Organization and ministries through fellowship and formed relationships. In particular we believe that there are foundational ministries of apostles and prophets that transcend the local Organization and that the local Organization should be in a relationship with such a ministry or ministries for the purpose of advice, counsel, oversight, encouragement, and help. Such ministries are designed by God to provide connection and relationship in the universal Body of Christ between and among local fellowships and to provide spiritual covering, protection, accountability, and identity for local leadership.

Section 11. Total Prosperity.

We believe that it is God's will to bless His people. Prosperity is that condition of being prosperous and having good success. Prosperity involves the following areas:

Spiritual: Spiritual prosperity is that blessing of eternal and abundant life. John 3:3,11; 2 Corinthians 5:1721; Romans 10:9‑10.
Mental: Mental prosperity is that condition of having peace and soundness of mind. (2 Timothy 1:7; Romans 12:2; Isaiah 26:3)
Physical: We believe the blessing of God extends to the physical body. This includes the promise of divine healing. We believe God may use any method He chooses to heal His people, including medical science. (Isaiah 53:4,5; Matt. 8:17; 1‑Peter 2:24)
Financial: It is God's desire to bless and prosper His people financially. The Scriptures teach that God delights in the prosperity of His servants and that He wants them to have sufficiency in all things, plenty for every good work, and seed for sowing. (3 John 1:2; Malachi 3:10‑11; Luke 6:38; 2 Corinthians 9:6‑10; Deuteronomy 28:1‑14).
Social: Social prosperity speaks to the fact that God want His servants to have peace even with their enemies. (Proverbs 3:4)

Section 12. Blessed Hope.

Jesus is coming again to gather all His Saints to Heaven (I Corinthians 15:51-52; I Thessalonians. 4:16-17; and II Thessalonians 2:1).

Section 13. The Lake of Fire.

Those who have not accepted the redemptive work of Jesus Christ will suffer eternal separation from the Godhead. The devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life, shall be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. This is the second death, the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20; 20:10-15).

Section 14. The Millennial Reign of Jesus.

The return of our Lord Jesus Christ with His Saints from Heaven to rule and reign for one thousand years on earth as the Scriptures promised (Romans 11:25, 27; 2 Thessalonians. 1:7; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-7). After this, there shall be a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21).

Section 15. Christian Life; Scriptural Conduct.

Personal Ethics: "I can do anything I want to if Christ has not said no, but some of these things aren't good for me. Even if I am allowed to do them, I'll refuse to if I think they might get such a grip on me that I can't easily stop when I want to" (I Cor. 6:12 LB). "We can always 'prove' that we are right, but is the Lord convinced?" (Proverbs 16:2 LB) "And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you" (I Thessalonians 5:12).

Obedience to Law: "Obey the government, for God is the one who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow" (Romans 13:1‑2 LB). "Obey the laws, then, for two reasons: first, to keep from being punished, and second, just because you know you should. Pay your taxes too, for these same two reasons. For government workers need to be paid so that they can keep on doing God's work, serving you. Pay everyone whatever he ought to have; pay your taxes and import duties gladly, obey those over you, and give honor and respect to all those to whom it is due. Pay all your debts except the debt of love for others ‑ never finish paying that! For if you love them, you will be obeying all of God's laws, fulfilling all his requirements. Another reason for right living in this: you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for the coming of the Lord is nearer now than when we first believed" (Romans 13:5‑8,11 LB).

Family; Household: "Honor your father and mother, that you may have a long, good life in the land the Lord your God will give you" (Exodus 20:12). "For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Organization of God?" (I Timothy 3:5) "The men you choose must be well thought of for their good lives; they must have only one wife and their children must love the Lord and not have a reputation for being wild or disobedient to their parents. These men must be of blameless lives because they are God's ministers. They must not be proud or impatient; they must not be drunkards or fighters or greedy for money" (Titus 1:6‑7 LB). "That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. "Their wives must be thoughtful, not heavy drinkers, not gossipers, but faithful in everything they do" (I Timothy 3:11 LB). That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children" (Titus 2:2‑4). Children, obey your parents; this is the right thing to do because God has placed them in authority over you. Honor your father and mother. This is the first of God's Ten Commandments that ends with a promise. And this is the promise: that if you honor your father and mother, yours will be a long life, full of blessing. And now a word to you parents. Don't keep on scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather bring them up with the loving discipline the Lord himself approves, with suggestions and godly advice" (Ephesians 5:22‑31, 33‑6:4 LB).

Control: "....For a man is a slave to whatever controls him" (II Peter 2:19 LB). "Even if we believe that it makes no difference to the Lord whether we do these things, still we cannot just go ahead and do them to please ourselves; for we must bear the burden of being considerate of the doubts and fears of others ‑ of those who feel these things are wrong. Let's please the other fellow, not ourselves, and do what is for his good and thus build him up in the Lord" (Romans 15:2‑3 LB).

Adultery & Immorality: "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14). "...try hard to live without sinning; and be at peace with everyone so that he will be pleased with you when he returns" (II Peter 2:14 LB). "You shall not commit adultery. But I say: Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27‑28 LB). "...Don't fool yourselves. Those who live immoral lives, who are idol worshipers, adulterers or homosexuals will have no share in his Kingdom ..."(I Cor. 6:9 LB). "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer (foul tongue), or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat" (I Cor. 5:11 LB).

Drunkenness & Drugs: "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and won't obey; he is a worthless drunkard. Then the men of the city shall stone him to death. In this way you shall put away this evil from among you, and all the young men will hear about what happened and will be afraid" (Deuteronomy 21:20‑21 LB). "...envy, murder, drunkenness, wild parties, and all that sort of thing. Let me tell you again as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:21 LB). "Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God" (I Cor. 6:10 LB). "Don't drink too much wine, for many evils lie along that path; be filled instead with the Holy Spirit, and controlled by Him" (Ephesians 5:18 LB). "For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags" (Proverbs 23:21).

Smoking: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple are ye" (I Cor. 3:16‑17). "Haven't you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that He lives within you? Your body does not belong to you. For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God, because He owns it" (I Cor. 6:19).

Homosexuality: "You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22). "...God let go of them and let them do all these evil things, so that even their women turned against God's natural plan for them and indulged in sex sin with each other. And the men, instead of having a normal sex relationship with women, burned with lust for each other, men doing shameful things with other men and, as a result, getting paid within their own souls with the penalty they so richly deserved. So it was that when they have God up and would not even acknowledge him, God gave them up to doing everything their evil minds could think of. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness and sin ...." (Romans 1:26‑29). "Don't you know that those doing such things have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who live immoral lives, who are idol worshippers, adulterers or homosexuals will have no share in His Kingdom... "(I Cor. 6:9‑10).

Pro-Life: We believe that life is the most basic gift of a loving God--a gift over which we have stewardship but not absolute dominion. We have a moral obligation to care for our own life and health and to seek such care from others, recognizing that we may seek to use any available medical and homeopathic procedures in any set of circumstances. But you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days (Exodus 23:25-26). Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, “What are you making?” Does your work say, “He has no hands?” Woe to him who says to his father, “What have you begotten?” or to his mother, “What have you brought to birth (Isaiah 45:9-10)?”

Concerning abortion and partial birth abortion: Abortion deals specifically with the destruction of innocent life. The status of the unborn as voiceless and most vulnerable adds a further dimension to discussions of the morality and gravity of abortion. Though all life is precious, moral theology has always differentiated the destruction of “innocent life” as particularly heinous and always and everywhere worthy of condemnation. Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin (Deuteronomy 24:16). Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man (Genesis 9:6). You shall not murder (Exodus 20:13). If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise (Exodus 21:22-25).

Concerning contraception: The choice of abstinence for single people and Natural Family Planning for married couples are choices that are healthier, safer, and more effective than contraceptive use. Chastity before and during marriage promotes self-respect, as well as self-control and other virtues needed for a fulfilling lifelong marriage. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered (1 Peter 3:7).

Concerning euthanasia: Tradition clearly and strongly affirms that as a responsible steward of life, one must never directly intend to cause one's own death, or the death of an innocent victim, by action or omission. "Euthanasia and willful suicide" are "offenses" against life itself. He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Mat 24:13; 10:22; Mark 13:13). Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise (Hebrews 10:35-36).

Outreach Ministry: For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me’ (Matthew 25:35-40). Anyone who says he is a Christian but doesn’t control his sharp tongue is just fooling himself, and his religion isn’t worth much. The Christian who is pure and without fault, from God the Father’s point of view, is the one who takes care of orphans and widows, and who remains true to the Lord—not soiled and dirtied by his contacts with the world (James 1:26-27). “Jehovah your God is God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great and mighty God, the God of terror who shows no partiality and takes no bribes. He gives justice to the fatherless and widows. He loves foreigners and gives them food and clothing (Deuteronomy 10:17-18).