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It’s probably a
good time to
share a little information and history of the church that has so
recently made
such a difference in our lives.
The name is Open
Door Baptist Church and it was founded by a relatively young
pastor by the name of Bruce Stewart who was only a few
years out of Bible College.
He actually
began his ministry in Pennsylvania but was soon led by the
Holy Spirit to move to Lake
County Florida to plant a new church.
So
in 1982 he along with his wife Wanda and their four month old daughter,
Leah,
headed south.
It wasn’t long
thereafter that
they held their first tent meeting in Clermont and decided that this
was the
place God wanted them to be. Since
that
time, the church has expanded greatly from the first eleven individuals
who had
their first meeting in the living room of a close friends home. Today the church consists
of a main sanctuary
which holds up to 250 people, a Sunday school building and a
prophet’s chamber
for visiting pastors/missionaries.
The
church is located on twenty-two acres right on US Highway 27, a main
artery
through Clermont.
You’re right
when you say this
is a relatively small church, but it’s a church packed with
some very friendly
people and more importantly, the Holy Spirit is definitely working in
the lives
of everyone there. We
noticed the
differences immediately upon walking in the doors the very first time
we
attended. The
preaching was something we
had not heard for years, probably since we had attended a Billy Graham
crusade
in the mid 80’s. It
was straight
forward, directly from the bible, and you could tell the man behind the
podium
taught with a passion and loved the Lord.
The second thing we
noticed was
that the children were all nicely dressed and so well mannered. There was no crying out
during the service
and those who were old enough to talk with you always used the words
“Yes Sir” and
“No Sir”, and were very respectful, something else
we had not seen in a very,
very long time.
I guess it’s
only fair to say we
fell in love with the church immediately.
From the very first day, a peace had
finally come over my wife and me and
we knew immediately this was the place God wanted us to serve.
So why are they so
different?
Well, the main reason is
that
they are an Independent Baptist Church, meaning they work
autonomously as taught by Jesus’
disciples. They
don’t take direction
from some large convention where you find all kinds of give and take
going on
to try to please everyone. The
church
seeks to please God and God only!
The fact that they are a New Testament Church that believes the bible
as the infallible Word of God
also is very important. Once
you start
questioning the Word of God as to whether or not it is true or having error, you open the
doors for Satan to
enter. For
instance, some versions of
the bible today not only question, but leave out any reference to the
God Head
or to the virgin birth. Once
this
occurs, you know you have headed down the wrong path.
If Jesus wasn’t God in the
flesh and if he
did not come into this world without sin, how could he possibly die on
the
cross for our atonement? It
required a
perfect sacrifice to erase our sin and only God in the form of man
could
achieve such.
Along with this being
said, the
church believes that the King James Version of the bible is the
inspired Word
of God. Not the
NIV, the Darby Version
or the English Standard Version. Only
the King James Version can be relied on as being without error. All other versions have
been corrupted over
time starting with the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in the 3rd
and 4th centuries.
If you
don’t agree with this, we would strongly suggest you study as
much history of
the bible as possible. It
should become
evident, but if not, feel free to contact us.
Next, the church practices
what
it preaches. Men
are the leader of the
household and God is always put first followed by the wife, children
and
finally their personal lives such as work, play, etc.
For this reason, the families are
committed
to Christ’s church. In
doing so, they
try to raise their children God’s way, teaching them
constantly from God’s word
and exhorting them as God does His own children.
We use to think that this
was
great for some, but not for everyone.
My
wife’s brother and wife have raised their children this way
since they were
very young and we use to say, just wait until they get out in the real
world. But you know
what? We were being
very foolish in the sight of
God. God expects us
to raise our
children this way and not to allow them to control us.
What an advantage a child would have in
life
by being raised per the Word of God, directed in His path and His ways!
We have children as young
as 5 years
old in the church learning God’s word.
They take part in bible quizzes around
the country and often place among
the top of their peers. They
learn to
study His word, how to pray, how to conduct themselves in all aspects
of
life. Most are home
schooled simply
because our country has taken God out of our schools.
It’s a shame, but its fact,
our country is
slowly but surely turning away from God and teaching our children the
ways of
the world. Just think of the impact
this would have if
all children were raised in the way of the Lord!
Another thing this church
is
highly involved in is evangelism.
From
its very beginning they began to take on missionaries with like beliefs
who
were looking to serve our Lord around the world.
Today we have over 70 missionaries that
are
supported through the church and once a year the church tries to bring
a number
of them to Florida to share their needs and
experiences with us. What
a blessing!
I guess we could go on and
on
regarding the church but it’s not necessary.
There are many other like churches out
there across American and those
who are blessed enough to be close to one know what we are talking
about. There’s
also colleges such as Pensacola Christian College in north Florida which were founded and
thrive today on the same
principles. These universities turn out young men and women each year
trained
in the ministry, as doctors, engineers, teachers and just about any
other
discipline that you can think of.
If
you have never attended such
a church, we would highly suggest you check out what may be in you
area. And if you are in our area, or just want to
listen to
some great weekly messages (yes we still do meet 3 times a week) check
out the churches website by clicking on the church name below.
You will not be sorry you did…
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