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Thanks for your responses to the questions. We have a lot of people who write to us. we do have a desire to work with those that the Lord brings to us. Our position for volunteers (which is open to you) is mostly a writing position, but we will address that in a moment...

What we usually tell people is that the more sure they are about themselves, the more they will like working with us. What we mean by that is that the more they know about

a) what they believe

b) what the reasons are for their own beliefs

c) how to defend their faith,

the less likely they are to be shaken by the questions or comments that people throw our way. That does not mean that we expect people to be sure of themselves when they first come to us (though it is fine if they are). It simply means that people should know that this one of our goals for them...in time.

We are always happy when people wish to be of assistance. But we want to be sure that their own faith either is (present tense) or will become (future) a mature faith.

Part of having a mature faith is being exposed to many point of view, and still knowing what the Biblical position on critical issues is, and why this is the case.

The lack of Biblical knowledge within Evangelical/Christian circles is something that alarms us. According to Josh McDowell (author of Evidence that Demands a Verdict), 93% of Christian Teenagers who currently regularly attend churches today, are planning – when they leave home – to stop attending churches.

In other words, Churches are so "effective" [actually Not effective] at meeting people’s needs, that churchgoers are jumping ship. We don’t really blame them, because people are starving for spiritual truth and spiritual depth, and they are not finding this within the 4 church walls.

Finding Christianity online is one of the fastest growing trends. We hope to be a resource for those seeking truth and depth.

Regardless of who writes to us or who volunteers, we treat almost all people as spiritual beginners. That is not because they actually are. It is rather because we do not know who knows what – Biblically or spiritually speaking.

It used to be that the people who went to church would have a certain knowledge base, about basic Christianity, how to grow spiritually, etc.

Sadly, this is no longer the case. We do not propose that simply reading books can automatically connect someone to God. And we do make a difference between ministry and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

A relationship with Jesus Christ is something that Christians have, but it must be nurtured and fed, on a continual basis.

There are many people who are in ministry today that do not have much of a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is not that they do not know Christ. It’s just that they do not know Him well.

We will get to the part (further below) where we ask you to read several books over a period of time.

It’s not that we believe that the books will be a complete answer to a Christian’s individual walk with the Lord, but we do want to be sure that a Christian starts to understand How to walk with the Lord, in a mature way.

From our point of view, part of the books that we recommend are designed to show the reader just how many people went off-track within "Christianity", deciding to follow teachers & teachings that were not Biblically sound. In other words, many people today follow anti-Christian teachings ...thinking that this is Christianity (Ken Copeland comes to mind). However, we want to learn both side of the issue: 1) why people allowed themselves to be misled and 2) how to have and cultivate a strong and deep personal faith.

So we want those who work with us to have an extremely high level of spiritual discernment, and we will constantly seek to develop that within those that work with us.

One of the questions that naturally can arise is: How can you tell that we (XOFC) are on track spiritually ?

Hopefully our website provides many of those answers. And that is a good start. But another way that you can tell is by the books that we recommend. These are books that are known by most Christian leaders. They are familiar authors and familiar publishing houses. That is not a guarantee of truth and authenticity (automatically), but it is one more step in that direction.

In other words, one of the ways that you can check our theology in many areas is by the books that we recommend.

Something else that we seek to do, is to help our volunteers understand History. Most people today know almost nothing about history. We believe that there are many events and Christian leaders in the past – that we can learn from.

Many of those old Christians were spiritually much stronger than most of us are today. Learning how to have their strength, can be something that can spiritually strengthen and encourage us as well.

However, another benefit for those who want to minister professionally – is that learning about the Historical Record helps them to know for sure...that what we profess Christianity to be today (speaking of True Christianity) is ALSO what Christians 500 years ago also professed and understood.

We have found that the more we look into History, the more encouraged we are, and the more heroes and positive examples (both men and women) we have found that we could recommend as role models for us today.

Most Christians in the old days were not nearly as distracted, as we have allowed ourselves to become today. They focused on their families, their communities, and their relationships. We hope to provide – in small amounts – examples to Christians today that Christianity can represent true community instead of fragmentation.

However, Churches that do not preach doctrine in depth cannot build communities, because community is usually made up of those who share common standards, common assumptions, common teachings and a common worldview. The Church is supposed to provide this, but if the church does not, then the consequences are that churches experience too much diversity (including false teachings) because of an absence of any standard.

XOFC is a community online. We don’t have formal teaching (yet) online, but we do try to foster personal self-development, learning, and helping to ground Christians in the truths of the Historic Christian Faith around the world, to those who write and share with us.

We know that this is a large task. But we do not propose to share everything the first day. Some people learn faster than others. Some are more comfortable at a bit slower pace. Each person is different.

Our First goal is to help our volunteers grow in discernment. Our next task is to help our volunteers understand some of the more technical aspects of the media.

By "technical aspect", we mean that we want our volunteers to understand how the Media and the News & Information outlets manipulate data, the contents and the conclusions that viewers/listeners reach.

Our goal is to help and encourage our volunteers to become media-savvy, in order to learn how to Resist being manipulated by the media. It’s not something difficult. It just takes time, thinking, and exposure to some good books.

After that, its mostly a question of practice.

We really attempt to approach all that we do as "Ministry". We hope to minister to you, but we also hope that you may want to minister to others (as your letter to us indicated).

For those interested in Seminary, we can share that usually, our volunteers are very well prepared for seminary, through their work with us.

As people have the chance to read the material that we have recommended, this also affects their outlook. Some find it discouraging. Most find it Encouraging, to learn how the Lord can protect us, despite the false teachers and false doctrines that do abound.

This is an age of great spiritual confusion (that will continue to grow). If we have played a small part in encouraging those who work with us to be more steadfast in their faith and more spiritually grounded, then our efforts will not have been in vain.

Our position for volunteers is mostly a writing position, even though it may only come after reading.

 We would encourage you to think if this is something that it of interest. Once volunteers get through our material (the books that we recommend) – we often ask them to write articles or book reviews.

At that point, we assess their writing skills. It is for this reason that we suggested that if you have done writing in the past, that you would consider forwarding this to us in an email (something between 200 and 5000 words).

Some volunteers have the right spirit, the right knowledge, and are willing to read widely, but then have trouble writing. (We do help where this is possible & realistic). If you want to send us a sample or write an article so we can get a better picture of what your abilities are, send us what you have already done, or write back and ask us to assign a topic or subject to you.

There is a lot that we do with people - that we are still developing behind the scenes and expect to release this year. This site is not nearly as complete as it will be. We expect to have more articles on site and we will also be offering additional books. We expect the size of our site to double this year (at the very least).

Normally, we would recommend a timetable of "10 books to 3 months", meaning that volunteers should be able to read the 10 books that we recommend initially within 3 months.

But we do understand that this is not always possible. It is seems more reasonable to have a flexible schedule.

This letter may simply have overwhelmed you. But if we hear from you again (which we hope to), why don’t we start with you choosing 2 titles out of the books that we previously suggested to you – and read those, and then let us know what you think or what you have learned, and then we can go from there.

We encourage your questions and comments.

Please allow 3 to 4 days for a reply [as usual] even though we try to respond sooner. We are currently working on book projects under deadline, so that is why we cannot answer email as fast as we can. Although we say that we want 3 or 4 days (or 5 to 7 days) to answer email, we try to answer it within 24 hours...if we can.

We also want to ask for your prayers. We can surely use them. Our influence continues to grow, and spiritual enemies have a vested interest in trying to slow us down or stop us. (three steps forward, two steps back...is still One Step forward). But we know who wins in the end. But we can always use all the prayer we can get.

In Christ,

Marc

XOFC Staff Coordinator

XOFC

P.S: We have experienced a great upsurge in our email since we first began mailing this out. Please allow anywhere up to 4 days for an initial response and a week or two for a more detailed response.

The volume of people contacting us from the U.S. and outside the U.S. continues to grow. And the sophistication of the emails we receive means that this ministry is constantly working to keep up. Our resources are strained. It seems as though the more information we post, the more email we receive. (Praise the Lord for all of the email we receive - That is what we are here for). If you wish to help us, please pray for us for wisdom, strength, endurance, and guidance from the Lord, as well as Spiritual Protection.

IF you wish to speed the process of your review faster, simply send us an email with information about you and your hope and/or vision. The more you share, the better we will know you. And if we do not respond, or forget to respond, please don't take it personally. We are often up until 3 or 4 am, and by that time, we can easily forget to respond to what we had intended. Simply send us an email reminder every 5 to 7 days.

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 xofcbooks2@yahoo.com

The Best way to help us - whether you agree with us or not -  is by praying for our ministry: Have the courage to stand with us in Prayer: Lord thank you that I am able to learn more about you. Thank you for saving me and continue to help me to not take that for granted. I pray that you would help the team of people who established and are working on this website, and who are trying to help others to understand your love and kindness. I pray that you would give them great spiritual discernment, to know how to have the wisdom to communicate the gospel in truth and love without sacrificing accuracy in the process. I pray that you would continue to help them communicate the truth that only by going through Jesus Christ alone and no one else - can anyone be truly reconciled to God....I pray that even if I do not have much time, that you would send to them spiritually strong and aware Christians who will pray for their ministry regularly and often, and that their impact would be glorifying to you... I pray that you would protect them spiritually and continue to meet their needs and concerns, so that they would be able to continue to help others. Give them the knowledge, the information, the resources and the wisdom and discernment which they need.  Please bless their work and encourage them spiritually and help them to continue to be strong and to Want to follow you. I thank you for your goodness and ask all of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  Thank you for praying for us. We greatly appreciate it. We will be posting this in quite a few places on our website, since not everyone visits the same pages or topics. The more people pray for us, the more that we can do to help others.