Where we Go & Don’t Go -DCox

Where we Go (and don’t go) and Where we Stand

by David R Cox

Page Summary: This page is for people considering us (David and Tule Cox – Missionaries to Mexico City) for financial support. The purpose of this page is to make sure the people who are supporting us are of the same beliefs, practices, and position as we are. I do not want churches or individuals supporting us that are of different position and practice from us. We have a strong belief that God will provide for us through good Christian people!  This is not to say that you are wrong if you differ from me, there is room for discussion at times within the issues of Christianity, but if you are different from us, you should know what our position is, and we are not moving from it. This is what we believe and practice.

Please note, if you have additional questions relating to me or any missionary, send them to me  and I will answer them and place a link to it on this page. Send questions, requests, etc to [email protected]

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PLEASE READ THIS PAGE! This promotional material is intended to filter out potential supporting churches who are not in agreement with us. It is a waste of your time and ours if you do not agree with us, or we do not agree with you, so in order to not waste your time and mine, please do not consider us for financial support if you would disagree with our stand, position, and practice: Why do you have these issues so strongly stated?

(1) We are Fundamental, Separatists.

If your church sponsors or participates in ecumenical activities such as Billy Graham crusades or Promise Keepers, any activities or fellowships dealing with multi-denominational unity type groups or ecumenical groups (World/National Council of Churches), then we do not want support from your church. To me, being Fundamentalist centers on focusing on the Bible and its authority, as well as not working with non-biblical groups, such as the Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, etc.

Additional Studies:

What is a Fundamentalist?   
What does it mean to be a Separatist?

(2) We are independent Baptists.

If your church is not baptistic (not necessarily Baptist in name, but Baptist in principle, likewise even though you are Baptist in name, you should also be Baptist in principle), or if you are part of a denomination (including the Southern Baptist Convention) we do not go to non-baptistic churches or convention churches. We are also not interested in churches that do not believe and practice the biblical autonomy of a local church.

Additional Studies:
What’s in a name? (Especially the Baptist name)
What is the distinctive of the Baptists?  What is soul liberty?
What is a self-propagating, self-supporting, and self-governing local church?
Do you frequent non-Baptist churches ( that do not have “Baptist” in their name)? Yes, Why?
What is an autonomous local church, and why is it so important? Why the local church is so important?

(3) We are against Christian Contemporary Music. 

If your church uses modern worldly type music with Christian words, or if your church uses electric guitars and drums in your services, or if your church prefers music which is popular with unsaved people, (including country type Southern Gospel), then we do not want support from your church. Just apply a simple test, turn the volume up, and walk outside the church. If it sounds like something you would hear in a bar, discothèque, night club, on MTV, or what unsaved people would like to hear, then IT IS WORLDLY MUSIC, because it appeals to the carnal man. Just because it has the name of God or Christian words sung by people claiming to be Christian, does not mean it is Christian music. The unsaved use the name of God daily in swearing and it is blasphemy. If music is the type that the world uses to seduce and invoke sex, to blaspheme, or to arouse the carnal nature or to arouse sinful thoughts and actions, it is wrong no matter what the words or music may be. If the song is a godly hymn but sung by ungodly people, or Christians with poor testimony for Christian then it is also wrong.

Additional Studies:

What is the different between doctrine and convictions?
What does the Bible say about music standards?

(4) We are against Contempory Worship Styles

Our belief is that praise is the recognition of God’s work in our lives, and in the lives of our brethren. Worship is the recognition of God for His essential attributes. Both of these are legitimate within the Sunday worship services. We are against the emotional, touchy-feely praise worship of today which exalts man’s emotions. These tendencies lean toward an exhibition or show of music, drama, dramatic video, showmanship, and other such Hollywood elements that have their place better in bars and casinos than in God’s house. What impresses me is when Isaiah came into the temple of God and fell mute and death-like because of his great reverence to his awesome God. Our services seek to show a great reverence before God for who He is, and it is not about “us feeling good” afterwards.

(5) We are against the Emergent Church Philosophy

Although we should not have to comment on this, because the Emergent Church philosophy is about opposite of separated Fundamentalism as you can get, but we are against the Emergent Church. The foundation of this philosophy of church and ministry is that the New Testament form and style of church and ministry “is broken” and no longer applicable to modern 20th century church. They seek to adapt, change, and surplant the New Testament form of church and ministry with their own creation. Typical of this movement is an exchange of terms, forms, structures, etc found in the New Testament, and changing what these terms mean, or changing the terms themselves and defining new terms. Rick Warren is an example of this with his Saddleback Church, in which “church” is redefined based on the popular concepts and desires of unsaved men as expressed in a poll. Where Rick Warren sees that as his authority, we denounce him and see God’s holy Word as our authority, and we adhere to the New Testament instructions and examples in that of church and ministry.

(6) We use the King James Version.

We do not visit churches with the purpose of debating or convincing people concerning this issue (respecting each pastor’s authority to impose a common Bible version in their own church), but we make it our practice in general to raise support from churches who use the version of the Bible we use (King James Version). Churches are not always forthcoming as to their positions, and we in general do not go to churches which openly recommend any modern Bible version. In Spanish we use the Reina Valera, 1960 version. Note that we do not hold to Peter Ruckman´s extremes in this area. We believe that the King James is a good, faithful version of the Bible, and we recommend and use it in our ministry when we preach, teach, witness, memorize Scriptures, or have devotions in English. We have no plans to move to any other version.

Additional Studies:

What is your position and practice regarding inspiration and the King James Version?

(7) We are local church missionaries, not under a mission board.

If your church does not accept for consideration missionaries sent out like the Apostle Paul, sent under and funded by local churches, or if your pastor is on the board of a mission board, or your church is exclusively one mission board (or nearly exclusive), then we do not want support from your church. Please do not waste our time and yours by allowing us to come to your church.

Additional Studies:

Why are you under a local church and not under a regular mission board?

(8) We are missionaries to Mexico.

If you church already has missionaries in Mexico and do not seek any more missionaries in Mexico, then do not waste our time by having us come. There is nothing wrong here, just find another missionary on a different field.

Additional Studies:

What are the biblical principles that a a church should look for in a missionary before supporting him?

(9) We are not hyper Calvinist.

If you or your church are not serious about and actively involved in the evangelism (carrying the gospel to and pleading with the unsaved) through witnessing, preaching, missions, and prayer, then we do not want support from your church. We do believe strongly in the sovereignty of God, but we do not disobey God on other counts (zeal for evangelism, missions, and prayer) because of theorizing and suppositions related to Calvinism. For example we consider the hyper-calvinist position of denouncing any kind of decision as “the heresy of Decisional Regenerationism” as being heresy itself. For seek for decisions in our people for both salvation, and for repentance and abandonment of sin.

Additional Studies: What is wrong with Calvinism?

(10) We are evangelistic but not easy-believism. 

If your church does not stress true repentance (remorse over and turning from sin) along with the plan of salvation, or stresses numbers and an immediate verbal profession (a work) instead of a true understanding and God wrought Holy Spirit conviction, then we do not want support from your church. Please note, if you are a Hyles-Anderson graduate, I believe that the Jack Hyles style of evangelism is another gospel, and should be dealt with as a works salvation, because they remove biblical repentance, change faith as the only basis of true salvation, and trust in the work of repeating a prayer for salvation. To confound things worse, they stress that the believer cannot lose his salvation to people who are not really saved, but have prayed a prayer. We do not promote or practice this kind of evangelism. We do not see great numbers of saved either. We want each person to truly get saved, that is our goal. Along with that goal, God wants those saved to be functioning members of a local church. You cannot separate the one from the other.

Additional Studies:

What is wrong with the Jack Hyles easy-believism?
What should be the proper biblical position towards evangelism?

(11) We hold to high personal standards for those in the ministry. 

If you accept divorced men or overlook improper or poor personal testimonies among pastors and church workers in the ministry (or allow women preachers or women in authority over men), we differ greatly from you, and cannot come to your church.

Additional Studies:

What are the requirements and standards for those in the ministry?
What is your position on divorce and remarriage?

(11) We hold to a single pastor as leader of the local church, with co-pastors (or assistant pastors) and other godly men (elders) as supporting leaders.

We believe that the biblical standard is that there is always one man who is personally responsible to God for the stand, practice, teaching and preaching, and individual Christian lives of the members of that church. This does not deny the fact that in every church there should be a plurality of elders (other godly men and assistant pastors) that support and work with that pastor. Decisions are made jointly (with input and recommendation from the rest as well as the church at large). But the pastor is singularly responsible to God more than anyone else. Whatever is wrong, it is the job and ministry of the pastor to fix it.

(12) We believe and hold highly the local church over any other religious organization, ministry, or methodology. 

Simply put, God’s approved plan for doing the work of God and the will of God is the concept and implementation of the local church. Men devise ways to work around the local church because it “hinders” their ideas, plans, visions, and dreams. But none of these ways are biblical. God has placed checks and balances in the local church concept, and this works if we will only let it work (stick to God’s plan).

We are against spending money, prayer, efforts, energy, etc. in all kinds of ministries which do not fulfill the Great Commission of getting people saved (biblical evangelism) and getting them discipled and participating in a biblical New Testament Church. I do not deny these other ministries their existence, but they should not be the bulk of our missions budget. They should be minor, and biblical missions (evangelism and church planting) should be our priority, both locally and on the foreign field (and in our budgets).

(13) We are not Baptist Briders. 

We have nothing against each person believing what they want to believe. But I see the Baptist Bride tracing Baptists through the years a.k. Carroll’s book on the Trail of Blood, as a protestant version of the Catholic doctrine of apostolic succession. It doesn’t work for the Catholics, and putting a Baptist face on it doesn’t work either. Moreover, John the Baptist was not the Bride of Christ, but a friend of the bridegroom, someone who was not part of the Bride of Christ, i.e. the Baptist in this imagery is not the church, but the OT saint introducing Christ and the Church.

We practice open communion (those who are saved but not members of our church may participate in the Lord’s Supper).

(14) We are trying to raise financial and prayer support. 

If your church has no possibility for financial support,AND you are unwilling to pray for missionaries that you do not support financially, then we do not want to visit your church. (If there is a future possibility of support, we will still come if you allow us.) If you are willing to seriously pray for us each month, then we will come and present our work in your church so that we will introduce ourselves to you and your people.

Note: This page is from my old website, which has been posted since the late 1990s. I am in the process of transfering over the “Additional Studies”, so please check back.