Living Water of Washington DC

Who We Are

• Our Purpose
• Background
• Statement of Faith

Our Ministry

• Online Journal: Read About What We Do
• Street Homeless Ministry
• Construction Training
• Disaster Relief
• Church Planting

Our Operations

• Our Operations
• Donate: Through You, God Helps Us Help the Homeless
• Learn About Volunteering

Articles

• The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) (NEW): perhaps the real message of the parable, or at least an extraordinary take.
• Greetings from Escondido, California: reflections on poverty and on homeless outreach in Washington, DC.
• The Wide Gate (Matthew 7:13): the one world-religion and The Da Vinci Code.
• Another gospel: The Da Vinci Code: things you should know about the book, and the movie.
• Fools Mock at Sin (Proverbs 14:9): sin, which brings death, is not taken seriously in our culture today.
• The Enduring Servants of Mammon: the unbridled power of the issuers of currency and credit.
• Overcoming Evil With Good: God's grace and perfect justice are not the same.
• The Home Front: Rallying the Armies of Compassion (Part 1) (Part 2): the "fine print" of the Faith-Based Initiative.
• Changing the Argument, or, Anatomy of the Dialectic: the real debate on embryonic stem cell research.
• We Will Obey God: our position on the Faith-Based Initiative.
• The Perfect Freedom: what the Bible has to say about today's "freedom" and "slavery".
• The Beginning of the End of History (Part 1) (Part 2): history which began with the Fall will soon reach its ultimate resolution.
• Defining Evil: today's understanding, or misunderstanding, of evil is a direct consequence of the Fall.
• Word to the Wise: the wisdom of humankind taken to its natural conclusions, into Postmodernism and beyond.
• Word to the Wise Part 2: human wisdom is a stumbling block to salvation, but is overcome by faith in the Risen Christ. Scriptural support from 1 Corinthians.
• The Living Water Minute: highlights from the journal of our Street Homeless Ministry.
• Baptism: the Bible teaches us about this sacred ordinance.
• The Problem of Suffering: the great enigma is explored from a Biblical perspective.
• The "Least of These" (Matthew 25:40): an exposition of some of our ministry's important foundational scriptures.
• Bible Versions: What's All the Fuss About?: side-by-side comparison of the KJV and NIV illustrate trends in modern bible translation.
• The Sinful Nature of Mankind: man's sinful nature makes Christ's passion and crucifixion 100% necessary.
• Justification, Sanctification - What Do They Mean?: an article that gives clarity to the oft-confused terms.
• Are There Rules in the Gospel of Grace?: we obey God's commandments not to become saved, but because we are saved.
• Preaching the Gospel to the Poor: Jesus commands us to do so.

Reviews

• Another gospel: The Da Vinci Code: specious arguments riddle Dan Brown's bestseller.
• The Passion of the Christ: a review of Mel Gibson's blockbuster.
• Wild at Heart: interesting review of the popular book by John Eldredge.

Contact Us

• Send Us E-mail
• Support Our Ministry

Statement of Faith

SCRIPTURE
We believe that the 66 books of the canonic Bible are the inspired Word of God, authoritative, and inerrant in their original manuscripts. We believe that the Bible is the final authority in matters of faith, day-to-day life, and doctrine.
GOD
We believe that the Bible reveals the one true God and that He exists eternally as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
GOD THE SON, JESUS CHRIST
We believe that the Lord, Christ Jesus, became a man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. We believe in His miracles, His shed blood as atonement for sin, His bodily resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His imminent personal return with power and glory.
JESUS CHRIST, SAVIOR OF THE WORLD
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Messiah, and that He came into this world to manifest God to mankind, to fulfill prophecy, and to become the Redeemer of the lost world. We believe that the Lord Christ dwelt in a human body and that He lived a perfect life on earth, committing no sin.
CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION: ATONEMENT FOR SIN
We believe that Christ Jesus voluntarily accepted His Father's will to be the divinely provided sacrificial Lamb for the redemption of mankind, the Savior of the lost. We believe that He died on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins according to Scripture and that He bore the judgment against sin that God requires; thus making it possible, by God's perfect plan through the Son Christ Jesus, for God to justify the sinful, who would otherwise be eternally separated from Him, while He remained absolutely and eternally just.
CHRIST'S RESURRECTION: FIRSTFRUITS
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, that His body was glorified, and that His resurrection body is the pattern of the body that all believers shall inherit. We believe that He ascended into heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as the High Priest of the Church and the Mediator between God and mankind.
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit baptizes true believers into the one true Church and unites all Christ's own into one body, which is His Body: the believer is part of Christ's bone and flesh (Eph. 5:30), being "one spirit" with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit, which indwells every true believer, is to glorify and testify to the Lord Jesus Christ, to instruct and guide believers into the Truth, to convict men of sin, to regenerate the believing sinner, and to empower the believer for godly living and service.
THE CHURCH: THE BODY OF CHRIST
We believe that Christ Jesus is the Head of the Church and that the Church comprises His Body. We believe that all who are united to the risen and ascended Son of God are members of the true Church that is the Body and Bride of Christ.
GRACE GIFTS
We believe that God bestows by His sovereign will, through the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts upon believers, and that it is the privilege of the believer to yield to the Spirit in order that the believer is used in any capacity for His glory.
FALLEN MAN
We believe that man was created originally without sin in the image of God, but that mankind fell into sin in Eden and lost both spiritual life and physical life as a consequence, incurring both physical and spiritual death. Thus mankind became separated from God, condemned to death in sin. We believe that sin and death have been transmitted to all humanity, and hence that every child of Adam is born into this world with a nature that is inherently sinful, in need of regeneration, essentially and unchangeably lost and incapable of providing redemption for himself apart from divine grace.
SALVATION OF MAN, BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH
We believe that because of the inheritance of sin and consequent death, no person can enter the Kingdom of God unless the person is born again, and that no amount of works can earn for the sinner the new life that makes him a Son of God. We believe that salvation, which cannot be obtained by human works, occurs by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. We believe that true believers in the Church don't work to get saved or work to stay saved; rather, they work (Eph. 2:10) because they are saved (Titus 2:14, John 3:21). We believe that those who by faith alone receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior are miraculously born again of the Holy Spirit and become children of God, partaking of the Holy Spirit and of eternal life.
REPENTANCE
We believe that repentance for sins necessarily accompanies salvation, and that the saved obediently repent for their sins.
SATAN
We believe that God created hosts of spiritual beings we call angels, and that one among the highest of angels sinned through pride and became Satan, taking other angels with him. We believe in the existence of Satan in the world today, his complete opposition to God, and his power over the unregenerate as "god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4).
THE ETERNAL STATE
We believe that the saved believer shall arise from death to the resurrection of eternal life. We believe that the souls of those who are saved in the Lord Jesus Christ are resurrected into the glorified body, whereupon soul and glorified body united shall be associated with Him forever and will become perfectly conformed to His image. We believe that the lost and unbelieving go after the first death to Sheol or Hades, where they remain until they arise to the resurrection of judgment and are brought before the great white throne for final judgment after the close of the millennium. Those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life are cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:15).
BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER
We believe that two ordinances, neither of which is essential to salvation, are to be observed by all believers in the Church in obedience to our Lord until His return: water baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper.
THE COMMISSION OF THE RISEN CHRIST AND EVANGELISM
We believe in the commission of the Risen Christ, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:19-20 KJV)