Salvation Through Believing; Blessed Through Obedience

About The Author, Jimmy Kitchens

While a sophomore in high school, Jimmy felt the call of God to pursue ministry as a youth pastor, and preached his first sermon in a youth service shortly thereafter. The next year, Jimmy started teaching Sunday School at his parent’s church, and playing guitar during worship. During his junior and senior year of high school, he served in leadership for his school's on-campus Bible club.

In 1988, Jimmy Kitchens moved off to university to prepare for full-time ministry. He completed a degree in pastoral ministries with a focus on youth. Also, Jimmy used his electives for courses in church doctrinal studies, Chrisitan education and church administration. Since graduation, Jimmy continues to study a wide variety of subjects.

In October 1988, Jimmy and DeAnna Anderson met at a small church in Texas, pastored by DeAnna’s father. They discovered they were attending school together, and quickly became friends. Jimmy co-taught the college-age Sunday School class at the church. The next school year brought the opportunity to become a youth pastor in the small town of Cleveland, Texas, near the college. DeAnna worked with Jimmy to provide worship for the youth group. In this same year, 1989, Jimmy officially became a minister with the Assemblies of God. On June 2, 1990, Jimmy and DeAnna partnered together for the rest of their lives in marriage. In 1995, they were blessed with the birth of their son, Taylor.

Jimmy and DeAnna’s ministry not only includes 8 years of youth ministry, Christian education and worship on a local and regional level, they spent 8 years pastoring a church in Kansas. During this time, they poured their lives into the church, helping people develop their relationships with God, and finding ways to build God's Kingdom together. Under Jimmy's leadership, over 80% of church members worked in some type of ministry, and the church averaged over 30% of gross income going to missionaries and missions projects each year. Over the years, the church shared Christ face-to-face with thousands of people throughout our city.

With a wealth of experiences to draw from, increased education and time spent continuing education in a personal way, the Kitchens accept new challenges to reach and help people around the world through Clear Vision Ministries, Inc. CVM exists to give the world a clear vision of Jesus Christ through work, word and worship. They have worked with children, senior adults and all ages in between in a personal way in 35 countries to date. The Kitchens enjoy encouraging and empowering missionaries and ministers to keep up the good work, and fulfill the vision God gave them. Jimmy and DeAnna strive to make sure CVM is easy to work with and everyone works hard to make projects successful.

Quotes

Various quotes from the book Salvation Through Believing; Blessed Through Obedience by Jimmy Kitchens

Videos Coming Soon

Do we have to live by the 10 Commandments?	Jesus teaching vs. rabbis of the day
Salvation through believing or grace	Are Christians a branch of Judaism?
Confirmation bias and the Bible	Converts or Disciples

What culture do we follow?	Revival - God wants it more than you do

Podcast Episodes

Podcast episodes coming soon to further discuss topics in the video section.

Book Reviews

Book reviews coming soon.

Did you add the cross to the picture?

No, I did not add the cross to the picture. We saw the cross on the ground created by the sun shining on a nearby church at just the perfect angle. Amazingly, when I stood at the base of the shadow, my shadow seemed to disappear, and the shadow of the cross showed. We happened to be at the right place at the right time, and took some pictures.

What is the road on the cover and where is it?

The road in the picture gets a lot of visits in Romania. It is the "Road of the Transfiguration."

This road appears in many television commercials. Throughout the year, camera crews shut down the road for filming. This incredible road has all kinds of different turns at various degrees and angles, on purpose. We enjoyed seeing the road, and we really enjoyed traveling the road. Of course, we would have rather been in a sports car or motorcycle instead of a van.

Why does this book exist?

Over the last decade or two, millions upon millions of people quit attending churches across all denominations in the USA. In Europe, you can visit many stunningly beautiful churches that are half-empty during church service times. Leaders seem dazed, shocked and confused at this massive exodus of people, many of whom still claim to be spiritual or Christian. More and more people seem to be disappointed and disillusioned with church. In studying the teaching systems of many Christian groups, I found the Western Church (and others) focus a lot on differences in beliefs and doctrines that sets one group apart from another.

I looked at all kinds of different Church literature from many different groups, both with and without denomination affiliations. I looked at Christian literature and topics aimed at various grade levels from kindergarten through doctorates. I found a lot of great topics and teachings but very little directly from Jesus. Seminaries provide great catalogues of education and all brands of theology imaginable, but true discipleship remains in the hands of each individual.

We must put Christ back into CHRISTianity. The

only expression of love Jesus demands is obedience to HIS words.

What makes this Bible study workbook about discipleship different from all others?

The Bible study workbook portion of this book focuses solely on specific directions and instructions Jesus clearly says that leave little room for doubt. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus tells people to hear and obey HIS teachings; this book gives people a guide to hear/learn from Jesus in order to truly obey HIS words.

After finishing this book, I looked at many discipleship books, books about salvation and various Bible study guides. So many discipleship books teach great ideas and lessons from people like Paul, King David, Elijah, Moses, Peter and many others, but these books have very few actual and complete statements from Jesus Christ, the only Son of God and our Eternal Rabbi.

To be true disciples of Jesus, we must become direct copies of Jesus. Just like the first-century disciples, we must know all of Jesus' teachings, obey all of Jesus' teachings and tell others how Jesus' teachings apply to their lives to provide the best life possible.

Why doesn't the title of the book say "Salvation by Grace?"

Initially, I planned to name the book "Salvation by Grace; Blessed by Obedience." However, I ran into a big problem: Jesus never actually says anything about salvation coming by or being given through grace. After searching through various English Bible translations, I found Jesus doesn't even say the word "grace." Over and over again, Jesus tells people to "believe." This bible study workbook focuses on what Jesus explicitly says, not our further interpretations or the explanations coming from other writers in the New Testament. Of course, Jesus freely offers salvation to everyone who believes. The title reflects Jesus' literal words.

Where were the pictures in the book taken?

In 2010, our family traveled to Israel. The various pictures in the book and on the back cover come from places we visited in Israel. My lovely wife, DeAnna, took these pictures and over 2,000 more. I highly recommend all disciples of Jesus to save up the funds to take a tour of Israel.