Lamp English Ministry is…

Biblical in heart. We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are God’s Word. As such, these 66 books of the Bible are inspired by God and thus are without error. They are a true and constant authority for all humanity’s belief concerning God, the way of salvation through Jesus Christ alone, and how we ought to glorify God in all that we do. For more information on the Bible’s inspiration and inerrancy, we suggest reading the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.

Reformed in theology. As a church, we hold to the distinctives of the Reformed tradition. We believe a concise statement of biblical teaching is found in the Westminster Standards, i.e., the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. This standard is not God’s Word, but rather a helpful summation of His Word, and thus subordinate to the inspired Word of God. As a Reformed Church we understand that God’s covenant promise stands central not only to Scripture, but to our lives as well.  In addition to this emphasis on covenant theology, we affirm the doctrines of grace with their emphasis on scripture alone, salvation by faith alone, through grace alone, in and through Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. For more on how reformed theology is covenant theology, we highly recommend Richard Pratt Jr.’s article, “Reformed Theology is Covenant Theology.”

Redemptive-Historical in approach.  We believe the Bible is history, i.e., his story. As such, the central character of Scripture is our great deliverer, Jesus Christ, who was first promised as the savior of God’s people in Genesis 3:15.   For this reason, we do not read the bible as a moral codebook by which we are taught to live. Rather, we believe Scripture is one continuous story comprised of 66 chapters (i.e., the 66 books of Scripture), progressively unfolding throughout biblical history and culminating in the salvific work of Jesus Christ at the cross and through the empty tomb. We, as God’s people, desire to honor him and his story by continually reflecting upon his work and its application to our lives. To Christ alone be the glory, forever and ever.  For more on this approach to scripture we highly recommend Sinclair Ferguson’s short work, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament.

Presbyterian in government. We believe that the biblical model of church governance is Presbyterianism.  The bible teaches a representative form of government, whereby the congregation elects godly men to shepherd and care for them in a God-honoring fashion. These shepherds, known as elders, are responsible before the Lord to uphold the truth of Scripture, care for the congregation, and guard the faith.

As a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America,we are determined to be “faithful to the Scriptures, true to the reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.” For a simple explanation of presbyterianism, we suggest the following, helpful article by E.C. Scott, Presbyterian Government. In addition, the PCA Book of Church Order (the official handbook of church polity in our denomination) is made available here as a pdf, PCA-BCO-2012.

Evangelical in outlook. We desire to be evangelical in the best sense of the word. We maintain that the calling of the Church is to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ among all peoples of all nations. We are committed to sharing the gospel with those who have not come to and rested in Christ as their savior, regardless of whether they are near or far. Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). For a wonderfully concise word on our view of missions, see the following devotional from Ligonier Ministry’s Tabletalk Magazine, The Biblical Basis for Missions.