HUMBLEHEART MINISTRIES: Reaching the Lost and Teaching the Found

Our Mission & Ministry

Doctrinal Statement

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GOD (THE HOLY TRINITY)

There is but one true God. He is infinite, intelligent, Spirit, Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth. He is immutable, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, holy, righteous, and just. In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.-(Psalm 147:5, John 14:24, Ephesians 2:18, Revelation 4:11, Genesis 1:1, Hebrews 11:3, Psalm 90:2, Isaiah 43:10-11, 44:6.)

JESUS CHRIST

We believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, without human father, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, the only Saviour of mankind. We believe that He is equal with God in all things; that He died and rose again bodily from the grave to save us from our sins. We believe in the substitutionary atonement of Christ; that He, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man. By His death on the cross a complete and perfect sacrifice for sin was made. We believe that redemption is only through Him. (Isaiah 9:6, John 1:1-3, John 10:30, Colossians 1:16-17, Matthew 1:23, 1 John 2:2, Hebrews 9:24.)

THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead, and is associated with the work of God in all ages as Creator and Sustainer in all things. In this dispensation, the Holy Spirit is reproving the world of righteousness, of sin. and of judgment. The Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of the Christian and guides him in the way of truth. (I Corinthians 3:16, I Corinthians 6:11, Romans 8:16-17, Job 33:4, John 16:8-11, John 16:13-14.)

THE BIBLE (THE HOLY SCRIPTURES)

We believe that the Holy Scripture is the record of divine truth. We believe the Bible to be divinely inspired in its source, selection, and preservation. We believe, that the teaching of the Bible is the standard of Christian doctrine and the only true rule of faith and practice. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error for its matter. It reveals God's eternal plan of salvation and the principles by which He will judge mankind. The Bible alone contains adequate information as to the origin and destiny of the human soul. (Jeremiah 1:9, John 14:26, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:21.)

SALVATION

The only way of salvation is through faith in Christ Jesus. God was holy, man was sinful, and something must be done to make it possible for sinful man to regain fellowship with a holy God. This preparation must come from God. It did come from God when He gave “His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Christ, by His death on the cross, as God had appointed, bore the sins of all who believe in Him as God's appointed way of salvation or reconciliation to Himself. (Acts 4:12, Romans 10:9-11, Hebrews 7:25.)

SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

Scripture teaches the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh. He will come as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The purpose of the second coming of Christ is to raise up the Christian dead; to change the natural bodies of living Christians and to receive them all unto Himself that they may reign with Him. (Acts 1:11, I Corinthians 15:51-58, I Thessalonians 4:13-16.)

RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

The Bible teaches the resurrection of the dead, both the righteous and the wicked; the righteous to be raised at the time of the second coming of Christ, and the wicked at the time of the “great white throne” judgment. (John 5:28, I Thessalonians 4:13-16, Revelation 20:5.)

HEAVEN

Heaven is the place prepared by God to be the eternal habitation of the redeemed of all ages where those who have been saved and washed clean by the blood of Christ, will enjoy fellowship with Him. It is a place of joy unspeakable and full of God's glory. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. (John 3:13, 14:2, 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, Revelation 21, 22.)

HELL

Hell is the place of eternal punishment for Satan, his angels, and sinful men. Men do not go to hell because of their sin but because of their rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. One need not do anything bad to go to hell; just keep on neglecting to be saved, that is all. It is not the will of God that any should perish but that all may turn unto Him and live. Hell is at the end of a Christless life. (Matthew 18:9, 23:33, 25:41, Luke 16:19-31, Revelation 20:14-15.)

MISSION STATEMENT

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We are an extended outreach of the Christian church seeking to reach the lost, especially those ensnared by false teaching and non-Christian cults. We inform and encourage Christians to protect their families and friends from cults that try to mimic Biblical Christianity. Our primary focus is “Cult Evangelism & Christian Apologetics.”

Officially we are a “Charitable Religious Teaching Organization.” We hope to refresh or revive the foundational doctrines of our Christian faith. Those doctrines essential for salvation. We encourage believers to fulfill their ministry, and to faithfully practice without compromise sound Bible doctrine.

We minister through music, teaching, writing, workshops, concerts & albums. We publish a monthly newsletter called, “The Humbleheart Journal.” Our ministry maintains a research library, and provides Biblical counseling for people affected by cults.

Humbleheart Ministries is a ministry of Music, Cult Research, Evangelism, and Christian Apologetics. Rick found Jesus Christ as Savior while working on a Church steeple in 1987. Having been raised under the influence of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Rick falsely believed that everyone but faithful "Witnesses" would be destroyed and that only the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society held the key to the truth.   He now finds that very sad because he knows that Jesus Christ is the key, and Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life for all who call upon His name for Salvation.   His passion in life is now to rescue people out of manipulative organizations that try to mimic Christianity.

   Rick is a registered Author, Composer, and Publisher. He is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. Through music, spoken word, teaching materials, and other writings, the ministry touches many lives.

“The Humbleheart Journal” compares Christianity with many aberrant teachings. It is geared toward that end that has proved to be helpful when dealing with door to door visitors presenting a false gospel. When it comes to cult research, Humbleheart Ministries is referred to    by various international ministries as an outreach for Northwestern Pennsylvania.

   The musical end of the ministry is gaining popularity throughout Pennsylvania and bordering states. Rick has three albums. The first album was recorded in February of 1992 entitled, “When Jesus Comes”. The second was recorded in February 1995 entitled, “Go And Tell My Children”. Both albums were re-mastered and are included on one CD entitled, “Collection One” which was produced in the winter of 1998. His latest album was recorded in February and released in April, 2000. The album is entitled, “Sail On.”

The music ministry helps support our overall mission, opens the doors for sharing the gospel, builds up the church, and helps more Christians become aware of ways they can learn to protect themselves, and their loved ones from a world filled with non-Christian cults and false teachers.

All proceeds from concerts, albums, royalties, or any other types of revenue go directly to Humbleheart Ministries, Inc. The ministry is currently overseen by a fifteen member Board of Directors. All financial contributions to Humbleheart Ministries including other various donations of appraised value are tax deductible.

TESTIMONY

It was a quiet summer evening as I felt the breeze blowing across the roof tops. High in the air, I stood on top of a 126-year-old steeple. A local Baptist Church had hired me to restore all the wood that could no longer hold paint. Because of the heat rising up from the black shingles of the Church roof, I worked mornings and evenings which were cooler. Driving spikes into the pillars that formed the octagon base of the steeple, was my job this certain summer evening. While reaching into my pocket and pulling out my wallet I began to smile. Because I was raised under the influence of the Jehovah's Witnesses, I was thinking about how crazy this Church was for paying me so much money to restore their steeple, when in the end, they would only be destroyed by Jehovah God.

Now in the midst of those thoughts, something happened to me. Friends were passing by on the streets below with horns honking from time to time. This night seemed as though everyone was out and about. Placing my wallet back in my pocket, I felt a little strange from the thoughts I had about this Church. The people there seemed so friendly. I began to feel bad about their destiny, but then again, who was I? What was I doing with my life? After all, it had been a good six months since I had attended the Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall. Just then a few more of my friends passed by below. I was thinking about all the friends that I had and then I thought about my age. “You know Jesus was around my age when he was crucified here on earth. He had a lot of friends, and His friends saw Him put to death.” As I continued with my work, I kept thinking about how sad that must have been for those who were close to Jesus.

Suddenly, my ears began to hurt each time my hammer hit the head of a spike. The sound would echo across the air and repeat itself through the streets. I stopped for a moment holding the hammer in one hand and the spike in the other. As I looked at the thickness of the spike, I imagined what it would be like to have it driven through my wrist and then to hang on it with my body. I became very uneasy and fear was on my face. At the same time I was ashamed. I put away my tools, climbed down from the steeple and headed home.
For two weeks I couldn't get it out of my mind. I was embarrassed to tell anyone about it. Finally the night came that changed my life. I went out into the backyard and looked up through the darkness of the sky. “ I give up! I know it's you! I don't know for sure what your name is... Jehovah! Jesus! Lord! Yahweh! God! I surrender! What ever you want me to do I will do it. What ever you are going to do to me, please do it. Amen!”

I returned to bed and told my wife what I had just finished doing. Her eyes began to fill with tears and she said, “Two days ago I got on my knees and asked Jesus to come into my heart. I have been talking to our Christian neighbor, she led me to Christ. Look what He's done Rick, He's called us at the same time!” Then we both cried. I told her that we should start attending that little Baptist Church and she agreed.

I remember attending our first Sunday morning service there. I followed through each scripture that was quoted by the Pastor. For many years I was told that these kinds of Churches were of the devil. Even though I had not dismissed those thoughts, something compelled me to keep listening and learning. Each week I became more excited about what I would hear in the sermons. Always testing what the Pastor would teach became the main event in our home. There were times when our entire Sunday afternoons and evenings, were spent seeing if what he said was true. We finally felt confident enough to tell someone that we both had asked Jesus to come into our hearts. I made a comment one day to the assistant Pastor about the similarities between the JW's and the Baptist Church. It seemed to me that both religions emphasized the importance of Bible study.

It was then that he handed me a booklet. It described differences between the King James Version of the Bible, and the JW's Version of the Bible called, “The New World Translation.” I was convinced, then ashamed, hurt, mad, and finally humbled. I called all of my JW friends and relatives. It was then that I found myself being shunned. They told me they could no longer speak with me. And so we started over in our new life. For the old friends had gone, and the new friends were coming. We found a new home in our Church.

Learning how the Jehovah's Witnesses had changed certain scriptures to match their doctrines, was the point in which I became a believer in the doctrine of the trinity. It was very simple. I found the scriptures that the Watchtower had changed when compared to the original Greek or the King James Version. Many of those changes occurred in the passages that support the truth, that is, Jesus is God! I had been deceived for all those years by the teachings of the JW's. So I prayed and asked God to illuminate me in the scriptures. I never wanted to be deceived again.

I have never yet left my Bible reading. I pray that I never lose the desire to stay in God's word. My passion in life is now to rescue people out of manipulative organizations that try to mimic Christianity.