That Thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations..

Our philosophy of ministry is to do our best to share the burden of Christ. Christ had a burden for evangelism as expressed in Matthew 28:19-20 and II Peter 3:10. We believe Christ has a burden for all to be saved. We want to reach our world without compromising in the areas of separation or Biblical preaching to do so. There are many tools that are valuable in getting people in a position where they can be impacted by the power of the Gospel. This ministry is not about basketball, but about Christ---and seeing those needy souls come to Him. Basketball is just a simple tool.Our burden is to give the Lord glory in the excellence of our program. We want to be able to shine as lights in the community with an excellent program, equipment, and staff.Our burden is to help the local church reach THEIR community. We are not interested in operating on our own, but know that the strength of Christianity lies in the local church, as God's design. We partner with local, likeminded churches that could be described as sound in doctrine, both in faith in practice, and believe in the sufficiency of Scriptures.

Home Church/Sending Church: External link opens in new tab or windowInternational Baptist Church, Spartanburg, SC


Statement of Faith

  • We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, and the preservation of the inerrant, infallible, and authoritative Word of God.
  • We believe in the Trinity of the Godhead; that there is only one true God, eternally existing in the three Persons of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
  • We believe in the deity, eternal sonship, incarnation and virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, and imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
  • We believe in the personality of God the Holy Spirit, Who convinces men of sin, righteousness, and judgment; by Whom believers are called, regenerated, baptized into the body of Christ, indwelt, sealed, gifted, filled, and empowered for service.
  • We believe in the creation of the universe by the direct act of God, from nothing, in six literal days.      We believe in the personal existence of angels as created beings. We believe in the personality of Satan and the demonic angels who rebelled against God, and though defeated by Christ at the cross, continue to oppose God and His work until their ultimate judgment.
  • We believe that man was created in the image of God, but through Adam's disobedience fell from his original state; that now every man is born with a corrupt sin nature, and is personally guilty before God as a sinner.
  • We believe in the salvation of man by grace alone on the basis of the vicarious, redemptive death and shed blood of Jesus Christ, which is made effective to man upon the exercise of personal faith in Jesus Christ, which faith is not in any way a meritorious work or act of personal reformation.
  • We believe that one who is truly born again will be kept saved forever.
  • We believe that positionally every believer is in Christ and is completely set apart unto God, but that experientially he retains his potential for sin, thereby necessitating his continual dependence on the unhindered power of the Holy Spirit for progressive sanctification, whereby the saved person grows in Christlikeness in his practical experience.
  • We believe that every Christian should live in a manner that honors and glorifies Christ, separating himself from the world and the things of the world.
  • We believe in the local church, as God's ordained institution for the advancement of His work in this age. We believe that it is the responsibility of the local church to glorify God, to edify itself, to evangelize the world, and to observe the ordinances of believer's baptism and the Lord's Supper. We further believe that the two offices of a New Testament church are those of pastor and deacon.
  • We believe that the Bible commands separation from all forms of religious liberalism, apostasy, and doctrinal compromise, as well as separation from disobedient brethren.
  • We believe in ecclesiastical separation and partner with fundamental, independent, Baptistic or Bible churches.
  • We believe in the bodily resurrection and pretribulational rapture of all believers. We believe that at the close of the seven-year Tribulation Period, the Lord Jesus Christ will establish His Millennial Kingdom. We believe that after the Millennium, the redeemed shall enter into a state of eternal bliss in the presence of God. We believe that the unsaved of all ages will be resurrected bodily, judged at the Great White Throne, and cast into the Lake of Fire, suffering everlasting conscious punishment.

 

Vision:

 There are teens, referees, coaches, and family members that may never visit a Bible-preaching church on a normal day. Their religion or their sin would keep them from doing so. Yet, many would be quick to come to a basketball tournament---a basketball tournament that could make a difference in their lives because the Gospel is preached clearly. We have many opportunities to reach our world for Christ and we must take advantage of them.
Our Burden is to also do our part in impacting teens and their families with the truths found in simple discipleship. This is life changing for the new believer! Our vision is to use camps  with the purpose of using the week not only for basketball training but for intense Biblical Discipleship.