Zepfanman.com (Stylesheets Off Version)

Before you begin, take a look at the SPIRITUAL LAWS section; it could change your life; if I got rid of every other page on Zepfanman.com, it would still remain.   For some of my personal (gender) beliefs, check out my statement.  Like the rest of Zepfanman.com, this Beliefs section is mainly a source of useful links , but I have been compiling a Bible Curiosities page for a few years. It's basically a page of the most meaningful verses I've found in the Bible, and what they mean to me.

I attended the First Baptist Church of Media in my Pennsylvania hometown and then transferred my membership to Woodmont Baptist Church (part of the Tenn. Baptist Convention) in Nashville.  After church hopping my first semester while attending Vanderbilt, I settled at WBC in '99.

Jesus - Many people don't realize that there is undeniable evidence of his existence on earth, whether or not you believe he is Immanuel (God with us).  I have found that the power of his ministry and his life are enough to believe that he is indeed the Messiah!  Christ led a perfect life, he suffered and died for all of our sins, and he will always give eternal life (Romans 6:23) to all who believe in his resurrection. God in Christ and the Holy Spirit loves to be exalted because that is what gives believers the most joy in their lives.

Church - The Biblical "church" is not a building, but a group of believers gathering together.  Having fellowship with other believers gives hope to, provides support for, and builds up an individual in the way God wants that person to be.  What a privilege God has given us that we can have a hand in people's lives (almost) as much as the Creator alone!  While denominations almost split Christians as much as different religions do the whole world, I believe it is important to realize what your church believes. Daily time in the Word of God is just as important as fellowship, too....

Religious Studies - My first semester (fall '98) I took a non-spiritual Hebrew Old Testament (OT) interpretation class where we looked at OT passages and commented on how and why they were written. This has increased my already curious mind's desire to learn more about the Bible. I've since taken a number of courses and am actually double-majoring in RLST and Computer Science (CS).

<< Sand sculpture!  See my Yahoo! Photos page for images of Jesus' face and the Last Supper, too.  A visitor to my site informed me these were created by Randy Hofman on South Padre Island on Beach Reach (the same type of mission trip I made to Panama City Beach, FL in 2000 and 2001).  This may be true, but most of his sand sculptures are actually in Ocean City, NJ.  I finally discovered that he has a website, and I've verified the TRUTH of the urban legend.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. - Philippians 4:8

Ever since our church back home was searching for a pastor, I have been particularly interested in Bible translations. One of the visiting pastors insisted that we use the King James Version in everything. This wouldn't be so bad if he didn't enforce it so much. From the reading I've done on the subject since then, I've realized that any English version is simply a translation. Since none of the English Bibles are in the languages scripture was originally written (Hebrew, Greek, & Aramaic), one English version isn't better than all the others (although diff. translations do have different viewpoints and pros and cons).
The above last edited '04Aug9

My Core Values (ChristianAnswers.net is a detailed source which usually coincides with my beliefs):

• Good News - I believe that, for all people, faith in Jesus Christ is our only access to the fullness of God and salvation.  The legitimacy of Jesus' claims lies in the power of his resurrection.  All have sinned (made mistakes) and our only redemption is to believe that Jesus died to take the place of all these sins!  What a gift!  "Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." ^{Rom. 6:4}  Fortunately, God alone judges us - our salvation does not depend on what other people think about us, where we go to church, what race or culture we consider ourselves to be a part of, nor the good (or bad) things we do in life.  Faith in Jesus is the only requirement.

• God(s) - I believe that there is one god whose name is Yhwh (Hebrew; often translated "LORD").  At just the right time, this same god appeared on earth as Jesus Christ.  Again, mysteriously, this same god is also active all over the world as the Holy Spirit.  These three "personalities" are usually called the Holy Trinity even though this concept is only alluded to in the Christian Bible.

• Authority - I believe in the perfect truth of the Christian Bible.   I do not believe in "literalism" (interpreting passages only explicitly), but instead that God authored every letter of the Hebrew and Greek Bible (Protestant canon) through the hands of people.  The Bible is God's living message to the world which points to Christ from beginning to end.  John 1 describes Jesus as logos (Greek; often translated "word").  The Bible also charges us to follow its teachings and to spread the gospel (the message of Christ) accordingly.

• World Philosophy - I believe in choice.  God wants everyone to have salvation, but God is also patient.  God is present in everyone's heart, but only gives salvation to those who choose to receive it.  While we clearly live in a Post-Modern world (belief that there is no one truth), I feel that if one adheres to the Christian beliefs of the Bible, that person cannot logically follow Post-Modernism.  This is a very exclusive and offensive claim to most, but again, only God can judge the inner thoughts and intentions of people. For this reason, I myself have no right to condemn or judge other people's beliefs and actions even though I claim that Christianity is the only truth.