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Letter
from Our President
There are a growing number of para-Church organizations, that is, ministries
being done outside the local Church, who care for people in different ways. CRM is one of those ministries,
bringing the love of Jesus in its various forms to
a broken world. Such love wasn’t limited to a person’s
spiritual well-being. He was equally concerned about
one’s physical and emotional health.
CRM is doing its best to follow this model, helping others,
one person at a time. As Jesus brought a sense of purpose
to those He touched, our goal is to “go and do
likewise.” (Luke
10:37)
After ten years in the pastoral
ministry, Mark, our Executive Director, felt called to leave
the local Church to begin “working the fields.” Over
these years, it has been a real honor for him to live and work among
the people. Click here for the context out of which CRM emerged. This link also explains a good portion of our work as we prepare the way for people to meet Christ.
Our overall vision is simple. Not only do we seek
your support, but we've sensed for a while we should
be assisting others who share our same passion. Most
of all, however, join us in prayer as we respond to God’s call on our lives. If you would like either Mark or I to care for you in whatever capacity, or would like us to come and introduce our work to your missions group or congregation, we invite you to contact us. The Lord bless you.
Carl Fasnacht
President |
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STATEMENT
OF BELIEFS
We believe THE HOLY
BIBLE is the rule of faith and life. We also fully embrace it
as “the Word of God.”
(1 Thessalonians 2:13)
We believe THE HOLY BIBLE reveals God’s
Son as His unique Word to us.
(Hebrews 1:1-3)
We believe The Holy Spirit inspired the human
writers of THE HOLY BIBLE.
(2 Timothy 3:16)
We believe an early profession of this faith
is summarized in THE HOLY BIBLE.
(1 Corinthians 15:3-5)
We believe in apostolic Christianity and “contend
for the faith once for all entrusted to the saints.”
(Jude
3)
We believe The Apostle’s Creed is a faithful summary of the apostle’s faith.
We believe The Nicene Creed is a concise summary of the
nature of the Trinity and the person and work of Jesus Christ.
We believe everything necessary for salvation
and holy living is found in THE HOLY BIBLE as The Holy Spirit
opens our minds “to understand the Scriptures.” (Luke
24:45)
We believe we must live out our faith by
caring for others, leading them to Christ and nurturing their
spiritual formation. |
Do you have a written creed, statement of faith or summary
of beliefs?
Country Road Ministries, Inc., is committed
to apostolic and orthodox Christianity, to “the faith once for all delivered
unto the saints.” (Jude 3) Paul summarized this faith
in a very brief way to the Church at Corinth. (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)
Through the centuries, many professions of faith have been
developed in response to various issues of the day like the creeds
of the apostolic and ancient churches and the professions
of faith that emerged from some of the ecumenical Councils. Among all of them,
two occupy a special place in the history of the Church upon which CRM stands. We believe that The Apostle's
Creed is a faithful summary of the apostle’s faith. We also
believe The Nicene Creed draws its great authority from the
fact it stems from the first two ecumenical Councils at Nicea
in 325AD and the one at Constantinople in 381AD. Its purpose
was to settle unequivocally some of the most fundamental questions
of doctrine on the nature of the Trinity and the person and
work of Jesus Christ. Both the Councils of Ephesus in 431AD
and Chalcedon in 451AD reaffirmed The Nicene Creed. Accumulatively, therefore,
it is upon these two statements of faith that
CRM rests.
Do you have a formal code of doctrine and discipline?
The body of law and behavior, which
governs both the Board of Directors and Board of Advisors
of CRM, is THE HOLY BIBLE. In an age of increasing theological, doctrinal
and ethical relativism, it is particularly important to make
it emphatically clear our full dependence on THE HOLY BIBLE as the rule
of faith and life. Throughout its books, CRM
finds its nourishment and its strength, for we welcome it
not as a human word, “but
as what it really is, the Word of God.” (1 Thessalonians
2:13)
Relying on the faith of the apostolic
age, CRM embraces as sacred and canonical the books of The
OLD AND THE NEW TESTAMENT, confessing that God’s Son
is its unique Word to us. (Hebrews 1:1-3) Although written by human
authors, it is clear that The Holy Spirit
inspired them. (2 Timothy 3:16) We also unequivocally assert that the whole of Scripture
teaches the truth, and everything necessary for salvation
and guidance in ethical living is contained within it.
It is also important, however, to note
that CRM does not merely believe in a mere “religion of the book.” Along with apostolic and orthodox Christianity, we know we possess
the religion of the “Word” of God, not a written
and mute word, but an incarnate and living one. Furthermore,
if THE HOLY BIBLE is not to remain a dead letter, we must allow
Christ, the eternal Word of the living God Himself through the work
and power of the Holy Spirit, to “open our minds to understand
the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:45)
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More Q & A and those who can verify our organizational information
These questions are just two of a sampling of questions The Internal Revenue Service required us to answer when we applied to become a Registered Charitable Organization. Click here to go to the Q & A section for some of the additional answers that were given that will provide a broader understanding about how this organization emerged. Parenthetically, a little material has been added to make the answers current.
The names and numbers of those who can verify our Incorporation, our status with both The IRS and The PA Department of Revenue can be found in the "News Archives." Click the News page to go there. Immediately below these contacts, you will find the information which verifies our Executive Director's credentials.
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