Loving the Word at Faith Christian
Places of faith
By Angela Randazzo Special to the Acorn

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers Pastor Glen Jackson

Faith Christian Church
of Simi Valley
1925 Royal Ave.
Simi Valley
(805) 581-0938
www.faithchristiansv.org
Pastor Glen Jackson
Founded: 1976
Size of congregation: 125
Denomination:
Independent Christian
Service: Sunday school
10 a.m., service 11 a.m.
Foundation of beliefs:
"We're loving fundamental
ists," Jackson said. "If we
are truly going to be Chris
tians, there are certain things
we have to believe. We have
to believe that the Bible is
the Word of God. We have to
believe that Jesus was born
of a virgin birth. We have to
believe that Jesus died on the
cross for our sins and rose
from the grave. These are the
fundamentals of the faith."
Fun fact:
The church holds an annual
golf tournament as a
fundraiser.

Questions of Faith

(answered by Jackson):

What is the purpose of life?

A short cataclysm says the purpose of life is to love God and enjoy Him forever.

What must humankind do to get into heaven?

I believe what Jesus said: "No man comes to the Father except through me." Our task is to proclaim the truth. We believe in a loving way that unless a person has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ they cannot get into heaven. Heaven is God's home. Whatever conditions God has said this is what you must do. We need to find out what those conditions are and follow them.

What is your belief in heaven or hell?

Jesus understood there would be people separated from God. It's not that God is sending people to hell. We believe in a loving God who has done everything He can to keep people from that terrible place. The Bible says hell was not made for people; it was made for Satan and his angels.

However, for those who turn their backs on Jesus Christ they have to go somewhere. I put it this way:

The purpose of heaven is to praise God forever. If you hate God and have to praise God- that would be hell to you. God said if you don't want to praise me forever, I've provided a place for you where you don't have to think about me again. It changes the perspective. God is not casting people into hell.

How important is it that congregation members get involved in the community? What kind of things do you do?

We support the Samaritan Center (a drop-in shelter for the homeless) and our members do other charity work. We participate in National Prayer Day and we meet weekly with other churches in Simi Valley for prayer.

Does your church believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible or are we free to draw our own meanings from those writings?

When people hear "literal" they get squeamish. You have to understand within a literal belief, there are figures of speech. When the Bible talks about heaven or hell- pearly gates or flaming fires- these are figures of speech. Heaven is a spiritual place, so (figuratively) the entrance into heaven comes through Jesus being wounded like the way a pearl is created from a wound within the oyster.

What is the church's view on gay rights and abortion?

We are pro-life. We support the Crisis Pregnancy Center here in town. We have two standards: 1) We have a perfect standard that we must proclaim that abortion is always wrong and 2) God offers perfect forgiveness. For those who have had abortions, they can seek forgiveness. We believe marriage was intended for a man and a woman.

What is women's role in your church?

We don't ordain women. We have women's ministries. Our children's director is a female. We have women in our worship teams. The role of the woman is support and caring for the needs of others, under a male leader. It's not an oppressive thing. If women stopped working, no church could function.

What is your view on ecology issues?

God told us when He created the world . . . in His case the garden (of Eden) . . . to take care of it. We are not to worship the Earth. That's one of the problems in the ecology movement today. We're worshiping the created instead of the Creator. The Earth becomes more important than people. As Christians, we do need to be stewards of the world.