Pastor Mike Spaulding
Mike Spaulding has planted two Calvary Chapel churches - Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as pastor.
Mike holds an undergraduate degree in Organizational Management, a graduate degree in Theological Studies, and just finished his PhD in Apologetics. He is the author of “Leadership and Organizational Vision,” “Servant Leadership,” and “The Ministry of Teaching” all published by Lifeway Publishers. His teaching ministry is featured on the radio program “The Transforming Word.”
Mike’s professional memberships include the Evangelical Philosophical Society, the American Society of Church History, and the International Society of Christian Apologetics.
Mike has been married to his lovely wife Kathy for 26 years and together they have four daughters and four grandchildren.
Scripture and the Authority of God in the 21st Century
By Mike Spaulding
This is a research paper exploring the subject of “Scripture and the Authority of God in the
21st Century.” Research will be presented utilizing scholarly articles, books, and book reviews
related to this topic. Part one will discuss the authority of God understood within Christian
theism generally and historically. Part two will discuss the authority of God historically within
American culture. Part three will consider God’s authority within 21st century postmodern
America as that philosophical system increasingly dominates most scholarly activities today.
Part four will be a Christian theistic response to the conditions discussed in part three. Read more. . .
Spiritual Formation as Spiritual Deception -
Beware of Peddlers of Grace
This is a research paper that will investigate the biblical teaching of the sanctification of the
believer in light of current spiritual formation teaching. Research will be presented showing that
the historic Christian theistic understanding and teaching concerning sanctification has been
obfuscated today by the so-called spirituality of spiritual formation teaching. Part one will offer
an analysis of the importance of the biblical teaching on sanctification. Part two will present the
ways that sanctification has been understood in the church historically. Part three will detail the
recent re-interpretations of sanctification from within the spiritual formation perspective. Part
four will suggest a corrective to the current path of teaching on spirituality and suggest a return
to biblical sanctification. Part five will present a summation of what is at stake for the church if
it does not heed this call. Read more....
THE DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT
By Mike Spaulding
In his epistle to the Church in Rome the apostle Paul wrote to encourage them in their
evangelistic efforts, especially among his Jewish brethren. His series of questions in chapter
ten are aimed at instilling within the believers in Rome an understanding that they must carry
the message of Christ with them in their lifestyles and in their words.
Because we find ourselves living in a time and culture inundated with postmodernist
thought and forms it has become necessary to add another question to Paul’s questions in
Romans 10. That question is, “How can they understand if the haven’t got a clue as to what
we’re saying?” This paper seeks to give clear answers to the questions surrounding the
doctrine of the atonement for a postmodern culture. This is no small deed given the
challenge of literary criticism that has had the effect of pulling textual meaning into an abyss
of ultimate subjective and therefore non-objective meaning.
Read More...
BOOK REVIEW
By Mike Spaulding
This paper is a review, analysis, and critique of Gene Edward Veith’s book, Loving God With All Your Mind: Thinking as a Christian in the Postmodern World. Veith has chosen to update his previous work to include new material related specifically to postmodernism. The first edition release was 1987 and was not able to address the significant paradigm shifts from modernism to postmodernism that emerged shortly thereafter. In the 2003 edition Veith tackles the ideas of relative truth and culturally created values within a postmodern view.
The author has divided his work into three parts. Part one is devoted to laying a foundation for the Christian pursuit of education. Veith makes the case that pursuing knowledge is foundational to Christianity. The Christian faith according to Veith provides a basis for learning and encourages the “life of the mind,” a legitimate God-pleasing calling. In part two the author discusses the prominent current secular framework of assumptions and characteristics that explain why secularism remains adrift and how Christians can contribute to discussions within all fields of knowledge. Part three is devoted to laying out a Christian worldview that is seen to be intellectually superior to secular counterparts. Read More...
Gene Edward Veith Jr.,
Loving God With All Your Mind: Thinking as a Christian in a Postmodern World (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2003).
The New Atheism - Another Skimish with a Twist
By Mike Spaulding
A Paper
Presented to
The Annual Meeting of the International Society of Christian Apologetics
Deerfield, Illinois
The year was A.D. 17 and the Roman Empire was once again flexing its muscle along the vast European wilderness. A young Roman general by the name of Germanicus was swiftly becoming a favorite son of the Romans due to his bloodline and reports of his military victories in Germania. A great-nephew to Augustus, he had the inside track to the throne and imperial power. A last minute appeal by the wife of Augustus secured the throne for her son Tiberius. As a concession to naming Tiberius heir to the throne, Germanicus was formally adopted as a son by Tiberius and declared successor to him. Read More...
Resurrection in Pauline Literature - Did Paul Incorporate Greco-Roman Apotheosis Mythologies By Mike Spaulding
Modern scholarship has increasingly insisted that Paul borrowed heavily from Hellenized
Greco-Roman sources for the formulation of his teaching concerning the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. This paper will argue that the evidence does not support a belief that Paul
developed his resurrection teaching based on Greco-Roman mythologies. Part one will
discuss apotheosis in Greco-Roman culture. Part two will discuss Paul’s theology of
Christ’s resurrection. Part three will consider potential and alleged relationships between the
two subjects. Read More....
God with Us: Glory and Fire Motifs in the Old Testament
Mike Spaulding
This is a research paper that will focus on the significance of glory fire in the Bible. Research will be presented utilizing scholarly articles, books, and book reviews related to this topic. This paper will also discuss different ways that glory fire is understood and utilized within the broader academic debate. Read More....