• I need help now, who can I contact? learn more
• What do we believe? learn more
• What mission has the Lord given us? learn more
• With what church/denomination are we affiliated? learn more
• Is listening to the Spirit about speaking in tongues? learn more 
• How does a person listen to the Spirit of God?  learn more 
• Are we a "cell group?" learn more 
• Isn't knowledge of the Scriptures sufficient to live for God? learn more

 

•  I NEED HELP NOW, WHO CAN I CONTACT?

If you have had or are having some especially traumatic experiences in your life, then you are highly encouraged to seek counsel with a professional therapist or counselor. If your situation is abusive in nature, consider also seeking legal advice. In both cases, make the effort to seek out a professional that you feel comfortable with. If you desire, share your interest in Keys to Understanding Life Series and request the input from the professional(s) which takes into account the uniqueness of your situation. The wisdom which comes from such brave steps may significantly assist you in gaining the immediate help you seek in your life and contribute to the growth you seek with Keys to Understanding Life.

While practical application and spiritual growth skill sets are relevant to connecting with God to get through traumatic, extremely painful and/or awful life experiences, Feelings 101: Pain to Peace, and Keys To Understanding Life Series in general, does not focus on crisis management or short-term solutions. Material provided by Keys To Understanding Life, and its authors, is intended for those who:

a.      Want to be better prepared to transform during difficult situations.

b.     May be experiencing a "crisis" but have a frame of mind that permits them to work through the process of growing spiritually, which sometimes takes time.

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•  WHAT DO WE BELIEVE?

Used by Permission

Churchleadership.org (Francis Schaeffer)

Statement of Faith By ITW Staff
Note from Keys To Understanding Life webmaster: a couple of the longer passages are not available to read here simply due to length, we trust you will appreciate that limitation and consider reading them in your Bible.

"STATEMENT OF FAITH"

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (John 14:26-15:26). The Triune God has created humanity in His own image and has called us to manifest and reflect personal holiness through trust and obedience to His Word and commandments. Because humanity has purposely and woefully fallen from a perfect relationship of trust and obedience with God, man's response subsequently entered us into a state of moral corruption and depravity, resulting in our exceedingly lost state; thus, it separated and estranged us from our Creator (Romans 3:19-26).

Because of the profound "agape" LOVE for His creation of humanity, God has initiated a plan of redemption that He has accomplished on our behalf through temporal history (His-story!) (Acts 4:12). The apex, our redemption, is centered upon the historical incarnation of God in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We believe Jesus to be the Christ of Old Testament prophecy, being fully God and fully Man.

We believe in His virgin birth, His sinless life, and His miracles. Jesus, through His replacement and substitutionary atoning death and bodily resurrection (John 5:28-29), has provided the incredible, undeserving, meritorious justification on our behalf, which is grace that we receive by faith alone (1 Peter 1:18-19).

We believe in the ascension of the risen Christ, who has sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of all believers, effecting our regeneration and operating in our sanctification and personal gifting (1 Cor 12-14). The Holy Spirit has been given to empower us for service and bears witness to the kingdom of God (Acts 2:38). The Holy Spirit has been given to us to form a corporate community of believers.

We believe that Christ has established a visible church, which is called to live a life of holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit, under the regulation and authority of Holy Scripture, who guides the exercise of the church in discipling, disciplining, administering the sacraments, and proclaiming the Gospel of Christ.

We believe that the Bible is in its entirety, divine revelation, and the only infallible, inerrant and authoritative Word of God. We are to submit to the authority of Holy Scripture, acknowledging it to be carrying the full weight of God's authority (2 Timothy 3:16).

We are committed to the implementation of the social and cultural implications of God's commandments for humanity and His environment. We believe our faith should be visible and a concrete model of Christ in all that we do. We seek to be faithful disciples of Christ our Lord, enduring in love and obedience until He consummates His kingdom. We firmly adhere to the historical confessions of our faith, such as the Westminster and Heidelberg Catechisms.

We believe in the spiritual unity of all believers through our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:3).

The above are fundamentals held by our confessing reformed and evangelical theology. The following are essential to the Christian walk of faith, in which we all strive to our fullest to obey and practice daily:
 

- A caring, effective love relationship with Jesus Christ.

- A lifestyle dedicated to obeying God's will with joy.

- Daily devotional times, prayer, and study of God's Word.

- A joyful love and willingness to serve our Lord, even through personal sacrifice.

- A witness for Christ without hypocrisy.

- A firm desire to be God's child, through trust and obedience.

- A working faith in God's promises for all our needs and daily situations.

RICHARD JOSEPH KREJCIR
Into Thy Word Ministries Founder and Director

www.churchleadership.org/

©2007 - 2009 Institute of Church Leadership Development - All Rights Reserved.
Used by Permission

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• WHAT MISSION HAS THE LORD GIVEN US?

To help Christians, each of whom are a disciple of Christ, to develop and improve their Christian living skills in hearing and listening to God with the heart, and to share with non-Christians the practical, personal, and divine nature of having a relationship with God as a disciple of Christ.

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•  WITH WHAT CHURCH/DENOMINATION ARE WE AFFILIATED?

We are not affiliated with any single church group or denomination. The Scriptures address believers on the basis of what unites them in the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:10-13 and all of chapter 12), not on the basis of what separates them. We allow for differences, but focus on agreement whenever doing so can enable us to work in harmony with one another, or at least to be able to wish each other well in the service God. We are eager to work with anyone that is interested in spiritual growth and development by learning the Biblical teaching of how to listen to the voice of the Spirit and how to interact very personally with the Lord. We believe the Spirit of God seeks to communicate with believers, as individuals, through both His written Word as well as through the believer's heart regarding the issues in one's unique life. Our spiritual warfare books and materials focus on the aspects of discipleship that deal with developing the spiritual skills associated with hearing His guidance clearly and consistently, as it pertains to one's own real-life trials.

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•  IS LISTENING TO THE SPIRIT ABOUT SPEAKING IN TONGUES?

No, that is a different kind of experience of the Spirit. Listening to the Spirit of God is about understanding and intentionally changing our hearts, minds, and actions during real life, challenging situations when the Spirit provides guidance and counsel that specifically addresses those changes.

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•   HOW DOES A PERSON LISTEN TO THE SPIRIT OF GOD?

The short answer has to do with the relationship and proper functioning of our conscious thoughts, UNconscious thoughts, and our hearts. To help us in this, we can draw upon God's written Word, the Scriptures. Also available to us is the counsel and guidance offered by the Author of the Scriptures to our hearts during trials. Every believer has heard the counsel of God's Spirit very clearly in some spiritual trial or another, but in other trials it seems more difficult. There are reasons for this, and discipleship beyond the elementary teachings of Christ focuses on assisting believers in recognizing the spiritual dynamics behind their spiritual battles and working with The Teacher within (the Holy Spirit) to transform as He sees fit. In so doing, we can be discipled in our real-life trials and experience the proper functioning of our minds and hearts. More thorough and complete answers may be found in Feelings 101: Pain to Peace, which brings together Old and New Testament Scriptures that are relevant to hearing the Holy Spirit's counsel more consistently and clearly. Feelings 101 also presents practical self-examination questions and exercises that illuminate the dynamics behind hearing with one's heart - the application aspect of discipleship is critical to interacting with the Spirit of God in real-life trials. For additional information on the kinds of questions and issues Feelings 101 addresses, visit Questions Feelings 101 Answers.

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•  ARE WE A "CELL GROUP" OR A "HOME CHURCH?"

This question sometimes arises because in our spiritual warfare materials, we often talk about fellowship for discipleship, which can be highly effective in small groups. Most cell groups are usually affiliated with a particular institutional church or denomination. Home churches often function as intentionally smaller, independent, but less institutionalized local bodies. To an extent, there are some similarities between the discipleship environment we may write about and that of home churches and cell groups. Regardless of what the idea of these distinctions may mean to you personally, it must be clear that we are not in any way against institutionalized church bodies.

Fellowship for discipleship is about assisting believers within a church Body to interact together in ways that help them to work on improving in their individual parts of being discipled by The Teacher, the Spirit of God within. Fellowshipping for the purpose of seeking to better understand the Spirit's counsel in a trial is to work in concert with worshipping the Lord and among the church Body. When fellowshipping together to improve in our parts of being discipled (or learning) in trials, it is very helpful and most necessary to have spiritual intimacy between the believers involved. Small groups are vital to creating the regular interactions and relationships among believers that are so important to assist us in modeling the constructive, personal feedback and training we witness among 1st century believers.

Our mission is to enhance and encourage any church body or individual believer to go beyond the basic teachings of Christ (see Hebrews 5:11-6:3 for Scripture and note), and to explore and develop the spiritual skills associated with being discipled through real-life experiences and application opportunities. We focus on providing materials and training in discipleship in real-life, spiritual development, Christian living and spiritual growth skills, as well as teaching believers how to support one another in cultivating those areas of our walk with Christ. We focus on practical application of God's written Word in real-life, particularly during trials. We focus on the tasks associated with being discipled, which includes learning, studying, training, examining and improving how we live God's written Word in normal everyday life. All these tasks include learning to interact with the Author of the Scriptures, Who speaks to us often in our hearts.

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•  ISN'T KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCRIPTURES SUFFICIENT TO LIVE FOR GOD?

No; the Pharisees, Sadducees, etc. are examples of individuals having a grasp of Biblical truth without a heart that is toward God. The Scriptures indicate that even believers encountered situations (trials) during which their hearts were not transformed and so sinned because they did not listen to God. Creating misconceptions in one's mind and misinterpretations of one's heart disturbances are Satan's primary means of attacking us. The heart must be involved in order for the mind and thinking to change during trials when sin seeks to claim us. The first step in being discipled by the Spirit is doing our part to work with the Spirit within, thus becoming more spiritually skilled at recognizing when we are in trials and aren't doing too well at transforming. Remember, Satan isn't called the Deceiver because we usually notice when he seeks to influence and deceive us. The Scriptures bear out that even when one's Biblical knowledge is strong; lack of change in the heart is what leads to sinful action during challenging life situations (trials).

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