We are lost sheep that have been found and saved by His Grace and walk in newness of life through our Lord, Christ Jesus.
More specifically:
We are long-time students of perhaps the greatest theologian of our times, the late Dr. Gene Scott, our teaching-Pastor for over 20 years. In February 2005, Dr. Scott went home to be with our Lord and joined the other great saints of God that have gone on before him. However, we continue to learn from his teaching and exposition of God’s Word daily. We have had the privilege of serving on the front lines during Dr. Scott’s tenure and we willingly and joyfully continue to support the ministry through his widow and our pastor, Pastor Melissa Scott, Ph.D. In the nearly seventeen years since Dr. Scott’s homegoing, the Lord has worked wondrously through Pastor Scott, and as we oft tell our guests to the Cathedral and now Faith Center, “Amazing things happen around here, starting with the woman you just heard preach.”
Therefore, to say that either of us have been anything other than highly influenced by Dr. Scott or Pastor Scott’s teaching would be an understatement of monumental proportions. Quite frankly, if it was not for Dr. Scott’s teaching, we wouldn’t be here to tell you about it or the love and mercy and grace of God and the Resurrection of His Son, our Lord Christ Jesus. The Scottisms start at the front door, so deal with it.
Now for the nitty-gritty. As for me, my background is diverse.
I was raised Presbyterian and bailed on the traditional church scene in my teens when I realized that everything was a bit too “same time-same place” (to use a Dr. Scottism), and that congregation of my youth was ill-equipped to deal with my burgeoning psychic abilities. I am an empathic clairvoyant: a gift from God that has been evolving since the age of 9. I think most of the traditional set would call this “havin’ the gift of discernment,” but I can only wonder if they fully understand what Paul was talking about, but that is a subject for another section of this website.
I have studied Astrology, and believe that God has His message there too if we’d take the time to look past the horoscope aspects. In my wanderings, while trying to get to sort out my Faith and gain an understanding and control over my abilities, I studied Wicca and other “new age” beliefs and have had some interesting stories in that department as well. Let’s just say I know way too much for my own good and “let it alone at that” (to use a Pastor Scottism) . . . the things we do to try the understand the gifts God gives us when everyone around you thinks you’re nuts or are just plain afraid of you. As a result of my studies in these nontraditional areas and 24 plus years of Dr. Scott’s teaching, I have come to believe that if there’s some truth that God wants to reveal to His people, Satan will be there to corrupt it so that no one will look at it.
I also firmly believe that God speaks to us in ways that we can understand and by doing such, He will sometimes use pop culture to get His message across to us when we’re being too dense to get it any other way. One only has to take a look at the Bible and see that scattered throughout both the Old and New Testaments, He spoke through His prophets and Apostles by use of analogy and allegory. Jesus, Himself, spoke in parables. I have had more insights into this walk of Faith by watching Sci-Fi on TV, or at the movies, or by observing the animal kingdom than one can imagine. I can hardly think of a universally better way than to use something that we’ve all seen or heard 10,000 times as a benchmark to help expound on a point of spiritual truth.
Educationally speaking, I was originally headed to Seminary in my late teens prior to bailing on the traditional church (I was on the fast-track to BIOLA as a matter of fact, for the curious), but I ended up going to a fashion show-slash-recruitment drive between my junior and senior years in High School and wound up with a degree in Fashion Degree instead. In May of 2005, God opened up a door that I thought was forever closed and after a nearly 30-year detour, I finally have my Bachelors of Christian Ministry and was doing research for my combined Masters and Doctoral dissertation. While it humored me to no end that should our Lord tarry long enough, I’ll get to put a DBS behind my name, but as I began to realize the extent of what I was doing per the school’s dissertation guidelines (that they changed midstream), that they were asking me to re-write Hailey’s Bible Handbook and we only need one of those; so I threw in the towel on that endeavor.
I am not a preacher, nor do I plan to be one, notwithstanding that, I was briefly a licensed, ordained Minister of the Gospel and member and was in good standing with my fellowship. I left that fellowship when it became quite apparent that they had nothing but contempt for the ministry that I had devoted my life to, so it was hasta la vista, babe.
In all honestly, I’m just someone in love with God, His Word, and gratefully for His mercy and for what Jesus did for me when He went to Calvary, and I want to share what I’ve learned in the hopes that others will have eyes to see the same Light.
As for the other half of the equation and (hopefully) sometimes writer, proofreader, and co-webmaster, his background is simple. The Lord graciously let him live the first half of his life in ignorant heathen bliss until one late-night bus ride home changed his life forever.