“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” II Timothy 2: 1, 2.

In the salvation of man, man’s benefit is a byproduct, not the prime product, of the greater end to which God is working. The end for which God redeemed lost man is the glory of God. How then is God glorified? God, according to Jonathan Edwards, is glorified two ways. First, He is glorified by making Himself known unto man. Secondly, He is mightily glorified when man not only understands that which God has revealed of Himself, but when he responds with joy and satisfaction in who God has revealed Himself to be. So then, man is to pursue a greater understanding of God in such a way as not to produce legalistic worship for duty’s sake, but joyful worship and obedience as an overlfow of satisfaction in God. In so doing, man joins God in His great work of exalting His name and extolling His nature.

Before one can find his satisfaction in God, he must first have a sound understanding of who God is. Due to God’s transcendence, which makes Him unknowable except that He chooses to make Himself known, the acquisition of such knowledge can only be obtained through proper exposition of Holy Scripture. Not only does Scripture alone provide the source of true knowledge of God, but Scripture alone instructs man how he is to express his satisfaction in God through Biblical worship; that is, music that exalts His name and messages that extol His nature.

How then should we live in light of these truths? We at International Church Planters believe it not to be lawful to separate theology from methodology. As such we seek out faithful men to whom we may commit through expository teaching the grand doctrines of our faith, instruction in Biblical worship, and equipping to teach others; all to the end that God is glorified among the nations of the earth.

Practically we do this beginning with prayer. We pray that God will providentially raise up an indigenous church planter of like faith, theology, and methodology as ourselves. God has been faithful to do so now in South America, Asia, and Eastern Europe. Through the vital help of this man, we establish an institute lasting six weeks where we train six men in Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Leadership, Biblical Hermeneutics, Biblical Homiletics, Evangelism, and Church Planting. Once the institute has been completed, these six men go and plant six new churches. Many of these go on to plant several new churches and recruit new men for the next institute. In the case of South America, many doctors and dentists have volunteered their time and skills to conduct medical and dental clinics in the towns and villages were our new graduates plan to plant new churches. Both in South America and Eastern Europe volunteers have aided in evangelism projects aimed at planting new churches by beginning home Bible studies that are intended to become new churches. After training these six men we maintain a level of accountability by requiring them to submit to us monthly a record of their daily activities for one year. Also, we return quarterly for one year to provide further instruction in the areas of Systematic Theology, Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and Stewardship.