Mount Zion Salvation Ministries Profile

1.0 Introduction

About Mount Zion it is said to be a place where Yahweh, the God of Israel, dwells (Isaiah 8:18;
Psalm 74:2), the place where he is king (Isaiah 24:23) and where he has installed his king, David
(Psalm 2:6). It is thus the seat of the action of Yahweh in history. Zion can be called heaven, a
place devoted to God, Jerusalem, or the land of Israel. An example of Zion is a mountain near
Jerusalem.

According to Patheos.com, Zion also means “mountain,” another term for “governments or
nations,” but biblical writers often mean “the mountain of the Lord, the Rock of Israel” from
Isaiah 30:29. Mount Zion represents “the Kingdom of God” in Revelation 21 and “looks ahead to
the New Jerusalem that will descend out of heaven.”

The Bible has two different ways of speaking about two objects of God’s love: Israel and Zion.
Israel is masculine, and Zion/Jerusalem is feminine. The difference between the two is more
visible in Hebrew which distinguishes masculine and feminine in the verbs as well as in the
adjectives.

With this in mind we are trying to say that: Salvation is a free gift that not only do we not
deserve, but we also can’t earn it. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not
of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
If we remain unrepentant sinners, we will die. This is talking about the second death, death of the
soul or eternal separation from God. However, if we repent of our sins, and accept Jesus Christ
as our Lord and Savior, we will have eternal life. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Salvation history seeks to understand the personal redemptive activity of God within
human history in order to affect his eternal saving intentions. In other words, it means
redemption from the power of sin. In practical terms, God’s salvation is what we need to get to
heaven attain eternal life.
In our daily life we need to relate the subject matter of Ethics and the bible teachings for the
common good of our society. It is understandable that Ethics and the Bible teachings can help
people “you and me” to form our lives to become better people in the society.

The human being is a Christ-centered and culturally relevant in the society of believers
committed to the cause of Christ. We are consistent and intentional in struggling to become
better informed, more responsible followers of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of Loving God. We
are purposeful in our effort to demonstrate the love of God to others, by presenting the gospel in
our words and our deeds in our everyday life in the society.

1.1. Mission (the mission comes first before the vision, and this mission isn’t clearly stated. I
think that the mission tells the main activity of the organization)
 Thinking of Mount Olive Salvation, the first thing we should be assured is God loves us
unconditionally. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Next, we
admit our sinful nature to God, because this is what separates all of us from Him. ”For all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

1.2. Vision (what is the differential of this ministry comparing with others?)
 To be a ministry of which promotes salvation preaching basing on the ten
commandments, love of Christ, and love thy neighbor principle to the entire universe;
 To be a ministry where people share and grow deeper in spiritual maturity and develop
spiritual gifts in order to mobilize people to participate in the cause and mission of the
ministry to all nations;
 To be a ministry which trains and multiplies leaders who are equipped to further
propagate the Word of God worldwide;
 To be a ministry which shares the love of Christ by bringing good news to the poor and
oppressed, caring for their needs for justice and compassion as expressions of the Gospel;
 To be a ministry which networks together with other Christ-honouring ministries to fulfill
God’s plan to proclaim the gospel to all nations (Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10);
 To be a ministry which promotes spiritual renewal and effective evangelism by offering
training, salvation prayers and resources to equip and encourage other ministries;
  To be a ministry which equips, resources and sends out teams to the far and beyond to
start new ministries and that become self-supporting, self-governing and self-
propagating;
 To be a ministry focusing on the youth training for church roles and leadership,
employment opportunities and entrepreneurship.

2.0 Statement of Faith, Ideology

Faith is the divinely inspired human response to God’s historical revelation through Jesus Christ
and, consequently, is of crucial significance. Modern theologians agree in emphasizing the total
existential character of faith, distinguishing it from the popular conception of faith that identifies
it with belief as opposed to knowledge.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Through faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were
not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by
it he being dead yet speaks.

The human being is a Christ-centered and culturally relevant in the society of believers
committed to the cause of Christ. We are consistent and intentional in struggling to become
better informed, more responsible followers of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of Loving God. We
are purposeful in our effort to demonstrate the love of God to others, by presenting the gospel in
our words and our deeds in our everyday life in the society.

We believe in the one only true and living God, our Creator and Sustainer of all things, who is
infinite, eternal, unchanging, and is revealed in nature, and in scripture. We believe that He has
been revealed to us in Holy Scripture as the God, the Father, the Head of the Trinity (Father, Son
and the Holy Spirit). We believe in God the Son, the promised Messiah of the Old Testament.
We believe that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and walked the earth in
human flesh, always fully human, and always fully divine. We believe in God the Father, God
the Son, God the Holy Spirit; one God in three Persons.
We are not only called to believe in God but we must also put his commandments in practice, we
should do and show what we assume that we believe, we can do that to the ones who surround
us, we can do that showing our freely participation in the church we belong to by creating our
own ways of glorifying and developing our skills contributing our talents to the common Good.

We can notice some creativity ways such as:

• Unhealthy churches consume. Healthy churches create.
• Unhealthy churches are stuck on the same songs. Healthy churches develop new ones.
• Our job is to understand our part and help others with theirs.
• When we play out our gifts and passions, the art we make benefits others.

In addition, we can try creating small group Bible Study considering some steps for reaching the
lost in our communities. Small-group Bible studies can offer a secure and non-threatening
opportunity for people to study God’s Word and build authentic relationships. The key, however,
is creating quality, intentional Bible study group experiences that grow out of a clear
commitment to make them work

3.0 Religious Leaders and Officials

Every religious tradition has individuals who perform specific religious tasks and duties. Each
religious tradition has special titles for religious officials-rabbi, imam, minister, pastor or priest.
A religious leader is one who is recognized by a religious body as having some authority within
that body, the leader of a religious order. In Catholicism, any of a number of individuals,
including priests, Cardinals, Bishops, and the Supreme Pontiff.
Religious leaders are often the most respected figures in their communities. Especially at the
family and community level, religious leaders have the power to raise awareness and influence
attitudes, behaviors and practices. They can shape social values in line with faith-based
teachings. Especially at the family and community level, religious leaders have the power to
raise awareness and influence attitudes, behaviors and practices. They can shape social values in
line with faith-based teachings. (So how does the mount Zion salvation ministry call their
leaders?)
 3.1 The Role of Religious Leaders and Faith Communities

Religious leaders are often the most respected figures in their communities. Buddhist, monks and
nuns, imams, pastors, priests, punjaris, and leaders of other faith communities play a powerful
role in shaping attitudes, opinions and behaviors because their members trust them. Community
members and political leaders listen to religious leaders and they are entrusted with the following
roles:
• To become aware of optimal breastfeeding practices and motivate their congregations to
promote mothers’ right to breastfeed.
• To motivate and educate followers to adopt other healthy behaviors that is compatible with
religious teachings.
• To facilitate communication within families to create a more supportive environment for the
woman who is breastfeeding.
• To promote and support public policy that protects the health of mothers, children, and
families. In the advocacy arena, religious leaders can: Magnify the voices of the poor where
laws and policies are made; Influence the Ministry of Labor to make it easier for working
women, for example, to exclusively breastfeed for six months.
• Religious leaders and faith communities can and do speak out for children. They are well
placed to add their moral and spiritual leadership to the local and global effort to save lives
by improving breastfeeding practices.

4.0 Grace and truth

We live in a day when the church’s influence in our culture and community is waning at an
alarming rate a time when we find ourselves as a people increasingly marginalized,
criticized, and distrusted. The stats are shocking, but also clear. In a moment like this, we
have to ask ourselves, “How do we as Christ-followers live out our missional calling in a
context that is becoming rapidly unchurched and progressively opposed to Christian values
and beliefs?” Scripture gives us an abundance of answers and examples, but perhaps none so
compelling as we find in John’s description of Jesus in John 1:14-17 “And the word became
flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the
Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of
whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me because
from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through
Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ).

4.1 Living in grace and truth

We have to learn what it means to live at the intersection of grace and truth. Grace is
beautiful. It’s powerful. It inclines the world to listen to our story. But compassion alone is
not enough. We must also have the courage to speak hard truths without harshness
(Ephesians 4:15). We must use the relational bridges we build through grace to share the
message and hope of the Gospel. The challenge is to be full of both grace and truth. We
don’t get to pick either/or. It is a distinctly both/and proposition. If we speak truth
disconnected from grace, we have everything to say but likely no one to say it to. The
converse is also true: if we exhaust ourselves showing grace but never speak the message of
truth, we may cultivate an audience but in the end, have nothing of eternal value to say.
The only way to be effective and faithful to the example of Jesus is to be both an image of
grace and a voice of truth.

4.2 The Trinity

A depiction of the Trinity consisting of God the Father along with God the Son (Jesus) and God
the Holy Spirit. To Trinitarian Christians God the Father is not a separate God from God the Son
(of whom Jesus is the incarnation) and the Holy Spirit, the other hypostases of the Christian
Godhead.
As a member of the Trinity, God the Father is one with, co-equal to, co-eternal, and
consubstantial with the Son and the Holy Spirit, each Person being the one eternal God and in no
way separated: all alike are uncreated and omnipotent. Because of this, the Trinity is beyond
reason and can only be known by revelation.

4.3 Image of God

Whenever we see a man or woman we see the image of God, the respect we have to God we
should have the same one to our neighbor. The phrase “image of God” does not appear many
times in the Bible, but the importance of the concept is emphasized by its repetition in the
Genesis 1 account of creation: Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our
likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock
and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created
mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created
them (Genesis 1:26-27).

5.0 Religion
Being raised in a religious home can have some powerful effects on your life and relationships.
Religious institutions can provide moral and ethical education, emotional support and social
interactions. Often, they also teach specific ideas about gender and the types of relationships that
are “acceptable” and “not acceptable.” Unfortunately, sometimes these ideas lead to attitudes of
control and dominance in relationships, and those aren’t healthy parts of any relationship,
regardless of your religious affiliation. Religion can be such an important part of many people’s
lives. Faith centers can be a source of comfort and guidance, a place to make friends, a place to
become more educated about your religion’s history, and even a place to meet a partner who
shares your beliefs. But religion should never be used to control or abuse another person. Abuse
is never okay or acceptable, regardless of your religious beliefs.

5.1.1 The Purpose of Religion

The purposes of the practice of a religion are to achieve the goals of salvation for oneself and
others, and (if there is a God) to render due worship and obedience to God. Different religions
have different understandings of salvation and God.
 5.2 The God’s love
God’s love is shown by justifying us (or declaring us innocent) by grace through faith in Christ.
Christ is treated as if he were the sinner, and the sinner is treated as if he were the righteous one.
God’s justifying love allows us to stand accepted before Him.  God loves us with Adopting love.
The concept of True Love is the most central part of Unifications theology: The central value in
human life, which we may term true love, means that which seeks the best for others and the
betterment of human in all its dimensions. True love means living for others, giving without
thought of a return.

5.3 How to grow spiritually

Becoming a Christian is the beginning of a new life, a new friendship and relationship with God
the creator of the world, and it is important to know how we can draw closer in our friendship
with God, and live a life that pleases him. Here are some ways to help in our pursuit of knowing
God and living for him.
Here are some steps that can help us to grow spiritually
• Spending time with God: The most important one is spending time with God, studying and
reading the Bible, and praying to him – telling him of our questions, worries, concerns.
Praying for help and guidance to live for him and in understanding what being a Christian
means. Matthew 6:6, James 4:8, Psalm 1:1-6, Mark 1:35-37.
• Asking forgiveness: as human beings we are all sinners, and even after becoming Christians
we sin sin, even though we have started a new life, because we still have an enemy who hates
us, and hates God. So when we know that we have displeased God, we need to stop doing
that which is wrong, and ask for God’s forgiveness and cleansing. 1 John 1:8-9, Psalm
32:5, Proverbs 28:13.

5.3.1 How we help teenagers grow spiritually? What should our goals be?

Spiritual habits are the decisions, behaviors, and rhythms that help us grow spiritually over time. 
If we are like most people, the first things that pop into our heads when we hear “spiritual habits”
are probably reading the Bible; praying; and going to church. Sure, reading, praying, and going
to church are important spiritual habits. But they’re not the only spiritual habits that matter. we
 can organize and categorize and define spiritual habits in a number of ways, but feel free to steal
list if we think it’s helpful. It’s a list of the four spiritual habits we can use to help kids,
teenagers, and adults grow spiritually.
1. We can give them a Bible. Preferably one written in words they can understand – and would
actually say.
2. Help them memorize Scripture. Our students might be good at memorizing movie quotes,
Drake lyrics, and whatever that Cash Me Outside girl was trying to say, but memorizing
Scripture probably doesn’t come quite as naturally. That’s why it’s so helpful for us to give
teenagers simple, practical tools for memorizing Scripture. For us, maybe that means starting a
texting or social media campaign, creating wallpaper for their phones, or even handing out a
good old-fashioned note card.
3. Teach them to pray. If we have been talking to God for a while, it’s easy to forget how strange
prayer can seem to someone who hasn’t been talking to God for an entire lifetime. In middle
school and high school, teenagers need us to model conversations with God and teach them how
to have conversations of their own. So regularly we pray out loud with our students before we
start and after lesson, teach them about prayer, and give them opportunities to talk to God
alongside you. You might even give them simple strategies to pray, like my four favorite prayer
prompts: Please, Thanks, Sorry, Wow. 
4. Help them discover their spiritual wiring. Gary Thomas’ book Sacred Pathway s is one of the
best resources that can help people identify the unique ways they are wired to connect with God.
Some of your students will connect with God by going outside. Others will love to worship Him
through music, or dance, or the arts. Some will love to learn, some will love to serve, and some
will love to sit quietly with God in solitude. If we want to help our students grow spiritually, it’s
so important that we teach them to connect with God in the many ways they are uniquely wired
to connect with Him – not just in the ways we prefer to connect with Him.

5.4 Share your story

Our students need to learn how to talk about God. But this spiritual habit is way bigger than just
knowing how to share the story of our salvation – although that’s part of it. 
Sharing our story is the spiritual habit of making faith a regular, every day, go-to topic of
conversation in our lives. Inviting missionaries to do the testimony of their life.
 It’s about discovering God in every aspect of our story; it is all about our past, present, and
future.
Because when we talk about God and His place in our story (or, more accurately, our place in
His story), it helps us believe, helps us understand, and helps us take ownership of our own faith.
That’s why sharing our stories is such an important part of growing spiritually.

5.5 We help teenagers share their stories

• Create consistent small groups. 
• Small groups are the answer to pretty much everything. When small groups are done well, they
become safe places for teenagers to process their beliefs, their questions, and their experiences;
they can “clarify their faith.” And one of the primary ways they do that is through small group
conversations.
• Share your stories. When we teach, be intentional about sharing stories from our own life and
faith journey.
• Invite students and volunteers to share their stories.  Our stories, youth pastor, are really
important, but they’re not the only stories that matter.

5.6 Some ways to Strengthen Ministry our Youth:

• Appreciate and validate youth as persons of sacred worth with legitimate spiritual needs and
responses.
• Understand young persons as participants in ministry, not objects of ministry.
• Don’t make young people be like you before they can be like Jesus.
• Don’t guess at young people’s needs. Solicit input and feedback from teens themselves, not
just parents and adults leaders. Invite them to suggest ways the church can help them grow in
faith.
• Appreciate that youth ministry is more than youth group. Encourage youth to be involved in
all aspects of church life.
5.7 Happiness

Aristotle enshrines happiness as a central purpose of human life and a goal in itself. All human
beings desire “happiness,” an active, engaged realization of their innate capacities, but this goal
can be achieved in a multiplicity of ways.

Evaluating happiness in the common view, it can just last some hours, days weeks, months, or
even years. We always hear expressions such as: “tomorrow I will be happy”; “yesterday I was
happy”; “today I am happy”, For Aristotle, happiness is a different kind of reality: it is the
virtuous activity of the intellect, hence it is something permanent. Happiness is found in
Contemplation since we are fit for continuous contemplation than for any other activities. If we
understand happiness in an Aristotelian way, we see that some people are excluded from being
happy. So, it is not the kind of happiness for everyone, and those who have a Christian
background would disagree with him.

The happiness portrayed by Aristotle is for those who are wise, who are free and can make
choices or those who were trained and educated. Many disagree with Aristotle that the best life is
that of the scholar or sage, and that women, slaves and children cannot be happy, or that man is
happy here on earth only. Many believe in life after death. Perfect happiness is attained in heaven
where we are going to see God face to face and enjoy his presence.

Furthermore, we can see how can achieve happiness and how can it fit with the Christian Ethics.
We may ask questions such as: why are you doing this? The reply can be “because I need this”
the questioning can be continued until we reach a point of wanting to know the ultimate purpose
towards which our action is pointed. At this point we are likely to say “I’m doing this because I
want to be happy.” Then, there is no longer a question to be asked because this is the ultimate
end for us all.

For St. Thomas of Aquinas in the Christian view sees happiness as the supreme good which we
call God. St. Augustine makes a similar attribution to God who alone is the supreme Good, and
the one to be enjoyed. St. Thomas as a Christian finds happiness in the attainment of the supreme
good which is God. On the other hand, Aristotle that was never a Christian but a pagan was far
from attaining happiness in God. For him happiness is a rational activity of the soul in
accordance with virtue, and this activity is intellectual contemplation. God alone constitutes
man’s happiness; He is the ultimate end of man and, indeed, of all other things. Eternal life is
said to be the last end, as is clear from (John 17:3): “This is eternal life, that they may know
Thee, the only true God.

We see delight as the main tool required for happiness, in the same way that heat is necessary for
fire. What is also required for happiness is rectitude, as in the Gospel is written: “blessed are the
clean of heart; for they shall see God”. (Mt. 5:8). Rectitude of the will consists in being properly
ordered to the last end. Happiness consists in the vision of the divine essence, which is the very
essence of goodness. So that the will of the one who sees the essence of God, necessarily loves
whatever God loves and this makes the will right. It is evident that there cannot be happiness
without a right will.

In the commandments we are taught to love our neighbor, our parents or in all whoever is close
to us because we cannot love God without loving first those who surround us. the way to achieve
goodness and true love of God (happiness) is first to love, respect, take care, help everyone in the
society doing that we will realize that these good deeds we will be already creating a common
good and preparing an everlasting happiness which is contemplation of God.

6.0 Baptism
Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration and initiation into the church. we are struggling to
becomes the folowers of Jesus and to be in God’s grace, so it is trough Baptism. Baptism is a
public confession of our faith, and commitment to Jesus Christ. Baptism helps us to immerge
into salvation through repentance and faith and is an important foundation for the Christian, it
symbols Christ’s burial and resurrection. Our entrance into the water during baptism identifies us
with Christ’s death on the cross, His burial in the tomb, and His resurrection from the dead.

6.1 Who should be baptized?

Every person who has made the decision to believe in Christ should be baptized. When Paul
writes to the believers in Rome, he assumes that all of them have been baptized (Romans 6). The
one requirement for baptism is belief in Christ! “Those who accepted his message were
baptized” Acts 2:41. “But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the
kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” Acts
8:12.
7.0 Holy Spirit

The term spirit means animating or vital principle in man and animals. Words translatable as
'spirituality' first began to arise in the 5th century and only entered common use toward the end
of the Middle Ages. In a Biblical context the term means being animated by God, to be driven by
the Holy Spirit, as opposed to a life which rejects this influence. The spiritual gift of speaking in
tongues remains controversial in our day and is a subject deserving of our close attention. This
short article is not designed to argue that tongues are still valid but simply attempts to describe
the nature and function of tongues speech.

Some insist that the tongues in Acts 2 were not human languages. Acts 2 describes not the
hearing of one’s own language but the hearing in one’s own language. At the same moment that
“other tongues” were spoken through the Holy Spirit, they were immediately translated by the
same Holy Spirit into the many languages of the multitude (J. Rodman Williams, Renewal
Theology, 2:215). Thus, there is both a miracle of “speech”—other, different, spiritual tongues—
and a miracle of “understanding,” each facilitated by the Holy Spirit

This gift is not a human language that one might encounter in some foreign country, but a Spirit-
empowered capacity to speak meaningful words that are only understood by our Triune God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (unless, of course, God provides the interpretation through the one
speaking or through another believer. Paul says that the one who speaks in a tongue “speaks not
to men but to God” (1 Cor. 14:2). This means that tongues is a form of prayer. See especially 1
Cor. 14:14. Tongues is also a form of praise (1 Cor. 14:15) and a way in which we give thanks to
God (1 Cor. 14:16-17).

7.1 Bible Verses for Healing Mind, Body and Spirit

In times of need we turn for encouragement, prayer and support into Bible. It’s filled with
passages to increase our faith and encourage us to pray when we or someone we know is ill.
Throughout the centuries, men and women found solace, healing and strength in the biblical texts
that call out to God when their bodies and minds fell to illness, troubles and despair. And we too
can use them in prayer today. The following are a few of the many biblical texts to turn to for
healing:
1.  “…I am the Lord who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26)
 2.  “I will restore you to health and heal your wounds ‘declares the Lord…” (Jeremiah 30:17)
3.  “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you;…” (Isaiah 66:13)
4.  “…Jesus graciously welcomed them and talked to them about the kingdom of God. Those
who needed healing, he healed.” (Luke 9:10-11)
5.  “Lord, you know how I long for my health once more. You hear my every sigh.” (Psalm
38:9)

4.2 What is soul healing?

Soul healing is an energy healing system that may be similar to Medical Qi Gong, Reiki or
Healing Touch, with one major difference, Soul healing is healing at the Soul level that goes
even beyond energetic or physical healing. It has a direct and powerful impact on all aspects of
life, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

8.0 Justice 

Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or
equity. It is also the act of being just and/or fair. The Church’s Role in Social Justice beginning
by calling attention to a distinction that is essential to thinking clearly about the issue of the
church’s engagement of social issues: the distinction between the church as an institution and the
church as an organism . This distinction is between two ways of thinking of the church, and thus
two ways of speaking about it. Neither one of these ways is right and the other wrong, nor one
proper and the other improper—they both have their legitimate use.

The church as an institution is formal organization that sets out to accomplish a specific purpose.
It is an agent. It can do things; it can say things; it has its own voice. As an institution, it has its
own purposes and plans, its own structure and officers, and its own mission. It has its own proper
sphere.

The primary work of the institutional church is to open and close the kingdom of God and to
nurture the Christian faith. This it does primarily through the pure preaching of the gospel, the
pure administration of the sacraments, and the exercise of church discipline. This is not to say
that the institutional church should never promote social justice or speak out on behalf of the
victims of injustice.
The church should speak out and work for a society that protects all its citizens against acts of
violence. But normally, the church should not take it upon itself to entertain the political question
of how a particular society can best achieve this goal. That is, the institutional church should, in
general, avoid policy statements.

The institutional church should speak out against preventable poverty but, in most cases, must
not recommend exactly which social policies will best reduce poverty. So, the institutional
church may plan the broad goals or ends of social policy but normally should not endorse
specific policy proposals. However, on some occasions, the church should speak out against a
particular social policy. It should do so when the policy is clearly immoral. A policy can be
immoral either because the goal of the policy is evil, as in the case of ethnic cleansing, or
because the policy is itself immoral, although the goal is morally desirable. Legalized abortion
may be one way the government hopes to reduce poverty, a worthy intent, but the church ought
to oppose abortion and speak out against it.

9.0 Human Kind, Social life and Dignity (So what are the teachings of mount Zion salvation
ministry)

The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human
person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This belief is the foundation of all the
principles of our social teaching. In our society, human life is under direct attack from abortion
and euthanasia. The value of human life is being threatened by cloning, embryonic stem cell
research, and the use of the death penalty. The intentional targeting of civilians in war or terrorist
attacks is always wrong. Catholic teaching also calls on us to work to avoid war. Nations must
protect the right to life by finding increasingly effective ways to prevent conflicts and resolve
them by peaceful means. We believe that every person is precious, that people are more
important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or
enhances the life and dignity of the human person.

The Church’s social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living
lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. Modern Catholic social teaching has
been articulated through a tradition of papal, conciliar, and episcopal documents. The depth and
richness of this tradition can be understood best through a direct reading of these documents. In
these brief reflections, we highlight several of the key themes that are at the heart of our Catholic
social tradition. (What is highlighted above is about the Catholic Church teaching, then what are
the teachings of the Mount Zion Salvation Ministry?)

10.0 Rights and Responsibilities of the church in society (the rights and responsabilities
written below are from the catholic church, so what are the responsibilities of the
Mount Zion Salvation Ministry in the society)
The Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can
be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every
person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency.
Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities--to one another, to our families, and
to the larger society. We are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic,
and ideological differences. We are our brothers and sisters keepers, wherever they may be.
Loving our neighbor has global dimensions in a shrinking world. At the core of the virtue of
solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace. Pope Paul VI taught that if you want peace, work for
justice. The Gospel calls us to be peacemakers. Our love for all our sisters and brothers demands
that we promote peace in a world surrounded by violence and conflict.

11.0 Christian service: serving others and seeking social justice

Christians believe that it is part of their duty to act in a moral way, and this involves helping
others around them. For “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you
gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you
clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me”
Matthew 25:35-36. Some Bible verses on caring for the poor, marginalized and disadvantaged
“Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy
honors God, if you mistreat the poor, you insult your Creator” — Proverbs 14:31.

The Church can play a vital role in helping Christians and non-Christians. Some of the Christian-
focused services the Church provides are:
1. Food banks –a place where food is supplied free of charge to people living in poverty.
 2. Helping the needy – the Mount Zion Salvation Ministry is a Christian denomination that
provides help to those who are suffering.
3. Helping the homeless –Housing Justice is a Christian charity that tries to ensure
everyone has a home. Jesus taught people about the importance of helping others who are
less fortunate than themselves. This is why the Church has these extra functions.

12. Holy Spirit (speaking in tongues)

The term spirit means “animating or vital principle in man and animals”. It is derived from the
Old French espirit, which comes from the Latin word spiritus “soul, courage, vigor, breath”, and
is related to spirare, ‘to breathe’. In the Vulgate the Latin word spiritus is used to translate the
Greek pneuma.

The spiritual gift of speaking in tongues remains controversial in our day and is a subject
deserving of our close attention.

This gift is not a human language that one might encounter in some foreign country, but a Spirit-
empowered capacity to speak meaningful words that are only understood by our Triune God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (unless, of course, God provides the interpretation through the one
speaking or through another believer.

Paul says that the one who speaks in a tongue “speaks not to men but to God” (1 Cor. 14:2). This
means that tongues is a form of prayer. 1 Cor. 14:14. Tongues is also a form of praise (1 Cor.
14:15) and a way in which we give thanks to God (1 Cor. 14:16-17).

Tongues are also a way in which we edify or strengthen ourselves. Paul writes, “The one who
speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church” (1 Cor.
14:4). Self-edification is a good thing, as we are commanded edify ourselves in Jude 20: “But
you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep
yourselves in the love of God.” Self-edification is only bad if it is done as an end in itself. It is
good to take whatever steps you can to edify yourself, to build up and strengthen your soul, so
that you might be better able and equipped to build up others (see 1 Cor. 12:7).

13. The commandments of God

The Ten Commandments concern matters of fundamental importance in Judaism and
Christianity: the greatest obligation (to worship only God), the greatest injury to a person
(murder), the greatest injury to family bonds (adultery), the greatest injury to commerce and law
(bearing false witness), the greatest inter-generational obligation (honour to parents), the greatest
obligation to community (truthfulness), the greatest injury to movable property.
The Bible indicates the special status of the Ten Commandments among all other Torah laws in
several ways:
• They have a uniquely terse style
• Of all the biblical laws and commandments, the Ten Commandments alone are said to
have been written with the finger of God (Exodus 31:18).
• The stone tablets were placed in the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:21, Deuteronomy
10:2,5).[59]
As the name makes clear, there are ten commandments. These are preceded by an introduction:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery”
(Exodus 20:2). In this introduction, God presents Himself as a personal God, the Lord of Israel.
This is explained in a reference to His major act of salvation for Israel: their exodus out of Egypt.
This introduction provides the background for God’s laws.
The first and second commandment are about God’s uniqueness and incomparability. The third
is about treating God’s name with respect, and the fourth is about keeping the Sabbath – a time
of rest and celebration to reflect upon God and his works. The last six commandments are more
interpersonal in nature, they are about people’s attitude towards other humans.

14. The meaning and purpose of the Ten Commandments

Throughout Israel’s history, these Ten Commandments should form the legal, moral and spiritual
foundation of the nation’s life. They were Israel’s institution. But there was more to it, since
those commandments were the terms of Israel’s covenant with God. Failing to obey them thus
was not just a problem for society, but also for the personal and communal relationship with
God. And it is clear that nobody ever managed to obey these commandments fully all of his life.
“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20).
It is impossible to earn God’s favor and your own salvation by obeying these commandments.
But the Ten Commandments do help people gain insight in the problem of their sinful hearts
(Romans 3:20). That should bring them to repentance; it should motivate them to ask God for
forgiveness (Psalm 32:5). The apostle Paul concludes: “So then, the law was our guardian until
Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). Even before Jesus
Christ had actually come to earth, the Israelites were saved not by obedience to God’s
commandments but by faith in Jesus.

Written by the Evangelist Dr Francis Chiwande Chibwe (PhD)