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Introduction

The truths contained in the Christian Scriptures are literally life-transforming and will set people free in every area of life, just as Jesus declared in John 8:31-32, but we have to know these truths, believe them and apply them in order to fully experience such freedom. This is a process, of course, and explains…

The Mission of Fountain of Life

A couple of notable passages in Colossians reveal the mission of this ministry:

I have become [the church’s] servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:25-27

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ

Colossians 2:2

These verses emphasize knowing & teaching the Word of God “in its fullness” and “the full riches of complete understanding.” Fountain of Life is dedicated to achieving this in order to set people free. Speaking of which…

Our Focus: The 7 Areas of Freedom

Fountain of life is devoted to proclaiming and encouraging freedom in these seven areas:

  • Freedom to know and walk with God.
  • Freedom to soar in the spirit.
  • Freedom from the flesh or sinful nature.
  • Freedom from the yoke of dead religiosity, i.e. legalism.
  • Freedom from curses of the law (Deuteronomy 28).
  • Freedom from false doctrine and error in general.
  • Freedom from doubt and unbelief.

There’s hardly anything more grievous than seeing dear brothers and sisters in the Lord hindered in one or more of these areas:

  • They know about God but don’t know the Creator on a personal level.
  • They’re so bogged down in the realm of the mental that they’re unable to soar in the spirit.
  • They’re hindered by bondage to the flesh in one or more areas, including the less overt sins like arrogance, envy, jealousy, malice, gossip, slander, strife and greed.
  • They’re bound-up by legalism in one form or another, i.e. lifeless Pharisaical-ism, which includes unhealthy sectarianism.
  • They’re hampered by one or more curses of the law.
  • They’re limited by false beliefs, usually due to rigid sectarianism and erroneous religious tradition.
  • They’re simply crippled by unbelief.

Fountain of Life was launched for the purpose of ridding the body of Christ and the world of these seven ills — it’s our passion, our goal, our assignment and our obsession (in a good way).

Statement of Beliefs

The beliefs of the Fountain of Life Teaching Ministry are simple: We believe what the Bible teaches with the understanding, of course, that believers are under the superior New Covenant through Christ and not the inferior Old Covenant that the Israelites had via the Law (see Hebrews 8:6).

For example: Does the Bible teach that Jesus Christ is Lord and spiritual regeneration is necessary for salvation? Then that’s what we believe (Philippians 2:11 & Titus 3:5). Does the Bible plainly teach that New Testament believers are not under the Mosaic law, but rather under the law of Christ ? Then that’s what we believe (1 Corinthians 9:19-21 & Romans 7:6). Does the Bible clearly convey God as Father/Son/Holy Spirit? Then that’s what we believe.

A great starting point for all believers, as far as foundational beliefs go, are the six basic doctrines of Christianity covered in Hebrews 6:1-2: (1) Repentance, (2) faith in God, (3) the three baptisms — baptism into Christ, water baptism and baptism in the Spirit, (4) the laying on of hands, (5) the resurrection of the dead, which includes both the righteous and the unrighteous, and (6) eternal judgment.

Sadly, there’s widespread ignorance in the body of Christ on these “elementary teachings,” as they’re called in the passage. You can read more about these six chief doctrines here. These six basic doctrines are the “statement of faith” of this ministry.

Fountain of Life’s Non-Sectarian Approach

Since the emphasis of Fountain of Life is freedom, we’re obviously dedicated to the truth (that is, “the way it really is”) because Jesus said it’s the truth — reality — that will make us free. As such, we don’t teach from the Scriptures with a sectarian eye or biased mindset since this would hinder the discovery of truth and therefore hinder freedom.

Fountain of Life is dedicated to serving believers and searchers worldwide regardless of what tag they choose to go by, whether Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Mainline, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Reformed, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, Charismatic, Emergent, Adventist, heathen, agnostic, atheist or otherwise — even those who are Bohemian Orthodox Roman Baptacostal. (That’s a joke).

Ministry Goal and Methodology

The goal of Fountain of Life is to share the life-transforming truths of God’s Word and bless people. Please note that we share “God’s Word” and not religious tradition or extra-biblical data to prove vital doctrine. This is in keeping with the Spirit-led principle embraced by Paul & Apollos: “Do not go beyond what is written” (1 Corinthians 4:6). Whenever dear brothers & sisters in the Lord stray from God’s blueprint for Christianity — the God-breathed Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17) — they end up getting stuck in the tangled web of human religion and the half-truths, falsities and confusion thereof.

Our criteria for discovering and teaching truth from the Scriptures are the four common-sense rules of hermeneutics, that is, Bible interpretation:

  1. Context is king: Meaning the surrounding text reveals the (usually) obvious understanding of each passage.
  2. Scripture interprets Scripture: Meaning every passage must be interpreted in light of the context of the entire Bible with the understanding that the Bible itself is its best interpreter. In other words, one’s interpretation of a passage must gel with what the rest of Scripture teaches on the topic in question; the more overt and detailed passages obviously expand our understanding of the more sketchy and ambiguous ones.
  3. Take the Bible literally unless it’s clear that  figurative language is being used: In which case you look for the literal truth that the symbolism intends to convey.
  4. If the plain sense makes sense – and is in harmony with the rest of Scripture – don’t look for any other sense lest you end up with nonsense: This includes the “plain sense” of the whole of Scripture on any given topic. In other words, if an individual or group comes up with an interpretation that is opposed to the plain-sense meaning that all the passages in the Bible obviously point to on that subject then it must be rejected. This fourth rule helps to screen-out weirdo interpretations and is essentially the other three combined.

These “rules” are really just common-sense guidelines for discovering truth and we here at Fountain of Life observe them in studying and teaching from the Scriptures (here’s a 16-minute video on the topic for anyone interested). Although the Bible is simple enough that the simplest of people can receive from it and be blessed, it’s also deep and complex, which means that as believers grow in the Lord they naturally grow in knowledge, understanding and wisdom.

As such, one believer might have a grasp on a passage or topic and another might have a fuller understanding. A good example of this can be seen in Acts 18:24-26 where Apollos, a very learned man and powerful speaker, had a limited understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What he knew was good and accurate, as far as he understood it, but it wasn’t a full or complete understanding. Aquila and Pricilla discerned this when they heard him speak; so they took Apollos aside and “explained to him the way of God more adequately” (verse 26).

Since believers may be at different levels of understanding we may not agree on every jot and tittle. Disagreements may also be attributed to sectarian allegiances (faction-based biases), false doctrines or simply limited and faulty understanding. Disagreements can also be attributed to the believer’s current stage of spiritual development (which you can read about here).

Although Fountain of Life is committed to teaching the truth, enlightening people and exposing false doctrines, there will always be disagreements between genuine believers on this side of glory. No one linked to this ministry is expected to agree on every detail. But we DO agree that “God is the Fountain of Life and in his light we see light” (Psalm 36:9); hence, we try to get people hooked-up with the true Fountain of Life. In fact, this explains our name!

It has been said, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity” and that’s a great saying to live by for everyone in the worldwide body of Christ. For more details, please see the article Berean Spirit — What is it? How Do You Cultivate It?.

A Humble Admission Plus an Open Invitation in the Event of Disagreement

No one at Fountain of Life claims to know it all. We are humble servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you think we are in error or partial-error on any given issue then please contact us  and explain your position, providing support from God’s Word. Like the Bereans in Acts 17:10-12, if we discover that you are correct and we are in error, we will change accordingly, and humbly & excitedly so.

This is a genuine open-ended invitation and is especially applicable to the “doctrine police” in the body of Christ who like to rashly slander and condemn other believers or ministries as “heretics” because they happen to disagree on an issue that their camp considers orthodox. If these dear brothers & sisters in the Lord are so correct then their position (on whatever issue) must be pretty obvious in the Scriptures, right? Fountain of Life humbly invites such people to the table of fellowship & discussion and away from the sin of gossip/slander. We’ll hammer-out the issue on the anvil of balanced scriptural dialogue and honest criticism. Amen.

Fountain of Life Teaching Ministry

As our name indicates, Fountain of life is a teaching ministry. Our focus is fulfilling the great commission of Jesus Christ by making disciples of Christ from all nations through teaching them the liberating, enlightening, empowering Word of the LORD unhindered by sectarian biases and entanglements (Matthew 28:19-20). Please notice that we are dedicated to making disciples of Christ and not some particular sect. Also, remember: We “Do not go beyond what is written” (1 Corinthians 4:6); see this article for details.

We are in essence a “church without walls” headquartered in northeast Ohio serving people all over the globe. We are all about setting the captives free, healing the sick & brokenhearted (Isaiah 61:1-3) and empowering believers to walk in newness of life. In short, this is a worldwide Christian outreach and we’re reaching thousands all over the world on a regular basis! Here are the nations we’ve served in 90 days through the ministry of the Word:

Fountain of Life Is a Teaching Ministry, Not Pastoral

It should be emphasized that Fountain of Life is not a pastoral ministry and so, generally speaking, we don’t personally oversee individual believers all over the globe. That’s the purpose of Bible-believing, Bible-teaching local assembles with genuine pastors (overseers/under-shepherds), the more non-sectarian the better.

As a teaching service, Fountain of Life does not concern itself with “mother-henning” believers. We teach from the Scriptures and believers are then responsible to (1) practice what they learn or (2) live in light of the revelation they receive. Each individual is accountable to conscience, the God-breathed Scriptures and the leading of the Spirit.

Beyond the studious teaching of the Word of God as rightly-divided as possible, it’s not our business to nose into the affairs of Christians and correct every little (possible) sin and minute flaw they might have. Each believer has to work these things out in their ongoing relationship with their Creator, which is a lifelong journey (Philippians 2:12-13). Of course pastors, teachers & other fivefold ministers are available to assist them as needed (Ephesians 4:11-13), which includes this ministry.

Fountain of Life Is a Teaching Ministry, Not a Bank

We are in contact with believers from around the world on a daily basis. The bulk of them are wonderful people who are interested in feeding from the awesome riches of God’s Word, which is what this ministry is all about. But there are some, now & then, who are only looking for… money. This is reminiscent of the crippled beggar at the Temple gate who was solely interested in the apostles for how much money he could get from them. Here’s how Peter responded:

“Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth…”

Acts 3:6

This is likewise our humble response to those who meet new Christians and automatically see dollar signs, which — truth be told — smacks of phoniness and greed. These mammon-loving ‘Christians’ will use gimmicks to manipulate believers into giving cash ASAP, like sending pics of supposed orphans under their care and implementing condo & bondo tactics.  Fountain of Life has great riches to give, indeed, but they’re not of the lucre variety. As such, those only interested in acquiring easy money are encouraged to go elsewhere.

The launching of Fountain of Life in December, 2011, coincided with the completion of Dirk’s book, The Believer’s Guide to FORGIVENESS & WARFARE. All of our books are available here.

A recent photo of Carol & Dirk Waren in Youngstown, Ohio.