Jay Crout There is but only one God. That is, there is only one eternal being who existed before creation itself – the God of the Bible. There is only one creator of the universe – the God of the Bible. There is only one redeemer of sinful mankind – the God of the Bible. And there is only one judge who sits in authority over everything that exists – the God of the Bible. Simply put, there is only one God – and He is the God of the Bible.
The beliefs we hold as a church are not just things that we might like to happen one day. They are not things that we tell ourselves are true just so we can feel better. They are not even things that we feel most confident about but could see some variant truth turning out to be right as well. They are, instead, things that we know with 100% certainty. They are the things that are true whether anyone ever acknowledges them or not. They are the things that, when all is said and done, will turn out to have been right and true all along. And we are unashamed to say that we know these certain truths.
Our church holds the certain conviction that the Triune God of the Bible is the one living and true God. The full comprehension of that statement is something that our finite minds are wholly unable to grasp in this fallen world. But sometimes the best way to understand the Trinity is by stating what the Triune God is not. There are specifically three things that give us a balanced picture.
When we initially came up with our core values, the list only included seven. The one missing? This one. I am actually pretty embarrassed to admit that, but it’s true. Our first seven core values represent the things that we want to establish inside our church and the things that we believe will nourish our … Read more
One of the hardest things to say in life is “No”. Who really wants to be the person who is known for saying no all the time? We want to be the person who says “Yes!” At yet, every “No” has a hidden “Yes” behind it. And every “Yes” has a hidden “No” behind it. … Read more
I remember standing outside of my sales office early one morning in November 2010. So much had gone through my head the previous 12 hours – ever since a co-worker of mine shared her testimony with me. I had heard the gospel before, and I had heard testimonies before. But this time it was different. … Read more
So far we have looked at half of our eight core values. And whether you have noticed it or not, there is a flow to how these core values are structured. We tried to envision the way a person would engage with our church from their first time as a visitor through, Lord willing, many … Read more
I cannot not remember when I became a Clemson fan. I remember when I first became passionate about swimming. I remember when I first became passionate about concerts. I even remember when I first became passionate about American Gladiators, which my mom remembers too! But I cannot remember when I first became passionate about Clemson … Read more
Whenever I bring up our third core value, I am often met by a number of different responses. You see, many of our core values are relatively self-explanatory. While it is important for me to fill out exactly what I mean with each core value, there is usually some common starting place to begin. Not … Read more
I distinctly remember the feeling that I had back in May 2010. I was sitting in an old musty pew at our denomination’s conference center for a Sunday morning worship. I hadn’t been to church very often since I finished high school in 2003, but for whatever reason I felt the conviction that this was … Read more