"...at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established." (Deut. 19:15)

"Moreover he must have a good report of them

which are without..." (1 Tim. 3:7)

"Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips" Proverbs 27:2

By God's grace, this is what others have said about this ministry....

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On Recommendations:
by Rev. Kevin S. Johnson

Recently I read a well intentioned comment from a well known author regarding "taking honor from one another in the church." The gist was that we should not allow praise from others because we lose our rewards in Heaven. I found it a little amusing because in his newsletters and on the cover of his books are recommendations and praises of his ministry either contained in "letters to the editor" or in endorsements of his books on the covers. In fact, I was approached by this same man's publisher to write a recommendation for one of his books, which I gladly did because I believed in what he had written.

His admonishment is well taken though, if what he means is that our motives for service must never be unrighteous gain or the praises of men. If we live for the praises of men then we are in violation of Scripture and are committing the sin of idolatry.

Most Christian ministries that take tough stands are unpopular and hated by most people. Thus, if living for the praises of the world were what motivated you to go into honest and real Christian ministry, disappointment and discouragment would be your constant unhappy lot in life. We don't need the approval of men to be content or happy. Our peace must come from the Lord alone. For this reason we mustn't live for the praises (or financial donations) of the Church either.

There is a different reason for sharing praise and background information including titles or honors (like Rev. as a title) that the world or church bestows. These things may mean greater pragmatic opportunity for the Gospel. The Apostle Paul made mention and use of an honor bestowed on him by the pagan world in the form of his Roman citizenship. This actually allowed him to preach in Rome to the Pretorian guard of Caesar (see Acts 25:11-28:19). I'm sure he didn't take "pride" in his Roman citizenship or standing as a Pharisee (see Philippians 3:8) or Apostle (see 1Corinthians 15:9) or feel any of it made him "better" than anyone else.

If the world bestows an honor on you it may mean something to someone who, in turn, may open a door for ministry or work. This is why Christians pursue the honors afforded them by secular degrees in college or vocational schools. For instance, if my being listed in "Who's Who in America" makes it easier for someone in a secular Rotary Club to convince others that I should come in and share about the cults or the occult, then it is worth letting them know about it.

On this website is a lot of background information for the purpose of allowing you to get to know us. We provide the following recommendations of our ministry in the same way a builder would provide affidavits or letters of testimony to the efficacy of his workmanship to someone who may want to avail himself of his services. We live in a fallen world where this sort of thing is necessary to establish credibility. Even the Apostle Paul found it necessary to speak about the merits of his ministry (1 Corinthians 9:1,2; 2 Corinthians 12:12) and he also spoke of his background see Philippians. 3:5).

We are sinners saved by grace and any good thing we have done is the result of the intervention of God through His Gospel and His Holy Spirit. All good deeds, therefore, ultimately goes to His credit and not ours ("Where then is boasting?..."Romans 3:27). "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world." -Galatians 6:14

I believe the five crowns mentioned in Scripture can be earned only through the grace of God working through us ("Work out your own salvation in all fear and trembling for it is God Who is at work in you both to will and to do His good pleasure." Phil. 2:13 -emphasis ours). The crowns ultimately belong to God! I see them being thrown at His feet in the book of Revelation as only a fitting recognition of this fact (see Rev. 4:10).

We offer this entire website as a way for you to get to know us and what we at ICA stand for. We hopefully do this in the spirit of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." We hope it helps you think through some of the pressing issues of our time and moves you to join with us in the great evangelistic and apologetics endeavor we are all called to undertake (See Phil. 3:17).

Mount Carmel Outreach

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