In an age overwhelmed with information yet under-nourished with wisdom, Christians and the undershepherds who lead them need reliable resources that are faithful to Scripture. To that end, Christ Over All exists to edify the church with evergreen content that will help the church think in biblical categories and apply Christ’s preeminence to all areas of life.
For those wondering who Christ Over All is, we are a fellowship of pastors and theologians who teach, preach, write, and speak from a conviction that the issues confronting the church are theological in nature. In response to our postmodern culture, we believe that biblical and theological solutions—not psychological and pragmatic programs—bring true repentance and fruitfulness. Moreover, we believe that true truth is transcendent, absolute, abiding, and incarnate. The one who is truth himself is Christ over all.
From these convictions, therefore, Christ Over All aims to produce theological content for pastors and local church leaders that is faithful to the text of Scripture. Whereas the challenges faced in ministry arise in the context of political, economic, sociological, moral, or relational struggles, at the core all of them are theological. Accordingly, the church is called to confront the culture with truth, so that the weak and wandering might find the One who is the way, the truth, and the life. Truly, this evangelical mission is the task of every faithful congregation and every parachurch ministry that longs to see the church built up in love. In this way, therefore, we are glad to say that Christ is over Christ Over All. Our ministry is one that seeks to amplify the message of Christ, so that his disciples might see how all of Scripture applies to all of life.
The Present Need
In our current culture, accommodation often drives decisions, while fake news repeatedly hides the good news. In this confused context, even “Christian” voices can become a mixture of truth and error. By God’s grace, Christ Over All will seek to avoid such accommodations. Our goal is to be rigorously biblical, conversant with the best of Christian thought, and manifesting biblical winsomeness and prayerful courage.
To say it differently: words matter. Why? Because words communicate life and interpret reality. Our desire then is to make sure that our words find support in the Word. Although our culture deconstructs words and strips them of meaning, Scripture teaches us better. God created the world with his word (John 1:1–3), Christ upholds the world with the word of his power (Heb. 1:2), and the Spirit grants salvation through the word (James 1:18). In short, to be under Christ’s rule requires submitting to his word. This is how Christ Over All will seek to let Christ preside over all that we write.
As pastors and leaders in the local church, we acknowledge that no good thing came come without God’s Word. Moreover, there will be judgment that includes every word we speak or write (Matt. 12:36). For that reason, Christ Over All seeks to publish words that will honor Christ. This honoring of Christ includes providing you his undershepherds and servants with consistently reliable resources to equip you to confront the issues of the day. In fact, this is what the church needs and has always needed.
An Historic Example
To give an historic example, Christ Over All builds upon the legacy of a ministry started in the late 1990s by Pastor Tom Fillinger. If the name looks familiar, it is. Tom, my father who is now with Lord, passionately loved Christ and his bride, the church. After decades of serving multiple churches, he continued to have a zeal for equipping pastors and lay leaders to serve the local church with fidelity to Scripture. His first response to most questions from congregants or fellow pastors was, “What does the text say?” He sought to minister with fidelity to the text and excellence so that a local church would be a healthy organism, and not an organization chasing the latest church growth fad.
In the late 1990s, he collaborated with a few other elder-pastors to form a ministry named Nero’s Broken Fiddle. He compared the response of the local church to the challenges of the day to Nero fiddling while Rome burned. In the early 2000s, the organization became known as IgniteUS, Inc. The name was based upon imagery from 2 Timothy 1:6, “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”
Shortly before his death last year, we began transitioning the ministry to the care and oversight of three elders of Occoquan Bible Church (myself, Jared Bridges, and David Schrock). Providentially, God was assembling a group of men with a passion for a common manifesto—Christ Over All. This ministry is a partnership between pastors and theologians dedicated to helping the church see Christ as Lord and everything else under his feet. Indeed, this desire is shared by all the men now on the board of Christ Over All, and it is the driving force that animates all that we do.
This passion for Christ Over All in the local church led Pastor Tom Fillinger to begin a ministry to pastors. Rather than pastors pursuing the latest church growth fad or attending conferences that created an initial excitement that was not sustainable in the day-to-day challenges of a local church, he desired to equip pastors and leaders to base their ministries upon the all-sufficient Word of God. Transformational change was his mantra because such Spirit-empowered change, more than any man-made program, exalts Christ as the one who is over all.
Through his service, pastors throughout North America, Africa, Asia and Europe were strengthened in applying the truth of God’s Word to their ministry settings and making disciples—fully formed followers of Christ. The prayer of the board of Christ Over All is that in the content that is provided you will find encouragement from resources that are faithful to “what the text says.” We pray that you will be passionate to instill the desire to proclaim Christ Over All in word and deed, whether from the pulpit, the classroom lectern, or the counseling chair.
An Enduring Passion
Truly, Christ Over All exists to help pastors, Bible teachers, elders, and other servants in the local church to pray and apply all the Scriptures to all of life. Christ is over all and we believe with a passion that the systematic and consistent application of truth by godly leaders will bring God’s blessing upon his bride. May our Lord be honored and glorified as we carefully use our words to proclaim his headship over his bride.
