“Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me,
in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”
-— 2 Timothy 1:13-14 (ESV)
Mission
Our mission is helping Christians navigate today’s challenging world by presenting Biblical patterns of truth (2 Tim. 1:13).
Vision
Our vision is to build a repository of biblically sound teaching in print, audio, and visual formats that encourages the Christian in personal spiritual growth, equips them for service, and strengthens the fellowship of believers.
Our Core Values
Authority: The confidence that we can know and communicate truth because God, the source of truth, is committed to making it known even through us.
Accuracy: The commitment to provide teaching that faithfully addresses all aspects of reality—spiritual, emotional, and physical—because it is truth, not opinion or speculation, that redeems and heals.
Applicability: The readiness to address relevant issues, emphasize the relevance of a teaching, and enter into controversy as necessary—because truth must be tested and experienced if it is to be accepted and applied.
Amicability: The recognition that truth cannot be discovered and apprehended without continual interaction with others—especially those who see life differently than we do—because God has called us into relationship with Himself and with those whom He loves.
Accountability: The determination to be known and open to correction—because truth is a result of honesty and humility.
Accessibility: The resolution to provide solid teaching and scholastic resources in modes and methods that are readily apprehended by everyday people—because that is the responsibility of a teacher.
Academy: The conviction that genuine scholarship, regardless of the source, is a means of glory to God and blessing to people—because truth derives from God alone.
Artistry: The desire to pursue, understand, and express truth through the arts—because God is creative and chooses to express truth in the context of the literary, visual, and performing arts.
Our Beliefs
Patterns of Truth Ministry exists to point to the Living God—Jesus Christ. We endeavor to bless all people by communicating truth for the benefit of the hearer. The statements below seek to summarize our doctrinal beliefs. No statement of beliefs can adequately outline the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) perfectly expressed in the Holy Bible. These statements are neither meant to be exhaustive nor authoritative but only serve to give a general sense of what we have learned from the Holy Scriptures. For more information we encourage you to read further at STEM publishing or to contact us with your questions and thoughts.
— Scripture —
We believe the Bible is the Word of God. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are God’s written revelation to humanity providing a faithful account of God’s being, nature, ways, and purposes to every reader. Only these books were “God-breathed” and penned without error. They are the miraculous, exceptional product of the Holy Spirit’s work through human authors, resulting in a complete and irreplaceable communication of God to all people. The Bible is the supreme and final authority in all matters that it addresses. No creed, statement of faith, or other human endeavor could ever supplant or even serve to supplement the Scripture.
— God —
We believe that God is one eternal, self-existent spirit who is all-powerful, ever-present, and all-knowing. The only true god, He rules without rival, peer, or counselor. God is flawless in nature and character, upright and perfect in every action, and is the source of all good. God has always existed as one deity expressed in three co-equal persons: the Father, the Son—Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. These persons are distinct in their features and activities yet work in perfect harmony to manifest God’s glory and accomplish God’s purposes in creation, revelation, and salvation.
— The Person of Christ —
We believe that God chose to be manifested to humanity through and in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the Christ—the Messiah, or Anointed One, that was promised to humanity in the prophecies of the Old Testament. He has always existed as God, the Son, but willingly humbled Himself by taking a human body and walking in our world. The virgin birth emphasizes that Jesus was exceptional in that He never had a sin nature and could not sin. He was and still is fully man and fully God. As man, He lived a perfect life and died an atoning death. As God He worked unparalleled miracles and rose from the dead.
— The Person of the Holy Spirit —
We believe that God works actively yet quietly in the person of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is present and active in creation and in every act of revelation to humanity. The Spirit inspired the composition of the Scripture and superintended its canonization. God works through His Spirit to give life and faith to a person, granting them the ability to believe the Gospel and to be saved from God’s judgment. The Spirit indwells every Christian, giving them the assurance of God’s presence, promises, and power.
— Humanity —
We believe that humanity—man and woman—have dignity and inestimable worth as beings that are created and loved by God. In the beginning, man and woman were created in God’s image, bearing the qualities of spiritual beings. This image was marred through sin when the first man and woman chose not to believe God’s goodness and sought to do their own will. Consequently, all humanity has become estranged from God and unable to live to His glory. Christ came as the perfect man—a kinsman redeemer. Christ put away the old man through his substitutionary death on the cross. In resurrection, Christ is the Last Adam, providing a new creation and a new identity for all who believe on Him.
— Salvation —
We believe that all people need the saving work of Jesus, the Christ. Men and women are born in sin, having a nature that is unable to submit to God and expresses itself through open rebellion to God’s righteous requirements. God’s holiness and righteousness demand judgment upon sin, and this places the sinner in danger of eternal damnation. Christ came with the express purpose of redeeming humanity from the guilt and power of sin. His subtitutionary death on the cross atoned for sin once and for all and provides the basis for men and women to be reconciled to God. All who choose to put their confidence in Christ as the atoning sacrifice are immediately pardoned of their sin, declared righteous, indwelt by the Spirit of God, adopted as children of God, and glorified as joint-heirs with Christ. Though saved on earth, they undergo a process of renewal and growth that finds its fulfillment in a bodily resurrection and heavenly blessing. Though shrouded in human weakness, salvation is eternal, unassailable, and irrevocable. It always overcomes demonic resistance and human failure, ushering the believer into heaven and bringing eternal glory to God.
— The Church —
We believe that the Church is the spiritual body of believers that exists solely on account of the atoning work of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Before time began, God purposed to gather a people, called out from all nations and backgrounds, unto Christ. The Church is a people that is purchased by Christ’s blood, united by God’s Spirit, destined for heaven, and serving as Christ’s present testimony on earth. As a spiritual body, it grows and develops only through the working of the Holy Spirit and under the direction of Christ, its Head. The Church—when willingly led by the Spirit of God and submitted to the Scriptures—does not fail to manifest the glory of Christ to the world. Though divided by human failure and infiltrated by false teachers, the Church endures by God’s wisdom and power and will be glorified with Christ when He comes.
— Resurrection —
We believe that the present creation provides the platform for the fulfillment of God’s ultimate purpose: a new creation. To this end, God has purposed all history and works every aspect of believers’ lives for the completion of mature, complete children of God, conformed to Christ’s image and fit for eternity. Christ’s bodily resurrection is a historical event that demonstrated His deity, announced the efficacy of His atoning sacrifice, and displayed the future state of every believer. The certainty of a personal resurrection provides hope in the midst of present adversities, promising victory over sin and death, the completion of God’s purposes in the believer, and the believer’s reception into eternal glory with Christ.
— Future Things —
We believe that the Scripture provides a clear and reliable testimony regarding this age and the ages to come. Christ will soon appear to the Church and gather every believer—past and present—to Himself in
resurrection and rapture from this present evil age. Every Christian will be rewarded by Christ for the service that was done for Him during their life on earth. Israel will be tested and refined in the fires of the Great Tribulation. After this, Christ will return to earth with His saints to execute judgment upon this world and to fulfill the promises made to Israel. The marriage supper of the Lamb, the millennial kingdom of Christ, the judgment upon every unbelieving soul at the Great White Throne, the dissolution of this present creation, and the establishment of a New Heaven and a New Earth are all clearly foretold in Scripture for the benefit of every believer and the warning of every unbeliever.