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About

OUR VISION

Our vision is of a world inhabited by mature believers who live like Christ did. We define this Christ-life by describing the way that Jesus related to the Father, His disciples, and the world:

  • Intimately connected to the Father.
  • Discipling, empowering, and unifying our brothers and sisters.
  • Demonstrating unconditional love and absolute dominion to the world.

OUR MISSION

The mission of Authentic Joy is to promote, accelerate and support the spiritual growth and maturation of the body of Christ.

The Authentic Joy Growth Model focuses on 8 elements:

  • Love
  • Intimacy with God
  • Identity
  • Responsibility
  • Wholeness
  • Resilience
  • Competence
  • Purpose
  • Community

Our Motto: Your spiritual growth is our passion!

OUR VALUES

Intimacy with God is the one thing

For us, the Christ-centred life is not about doing things for Him but being with Him. Like Lazarus’s sister, Mary, it is our #1 priority to sit at His feet. Everything else is secondary. We will forsake all else just to be with Jesus.

There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her. ~ Luke 10:42 (NLT)

 Love is the most powerful force in the universe

We believe that the unconditional, lavish, sticky, fierce, pursuing, jealous, covenant-keeping, longsuffering love of God is unstoppable! We believe that His love for us, our requited love back to Him, and the overflow of love for each other is the dynamic that changes the world. There is no situation too hopeless, too far gone, or too dark for the love of God to turn around.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (NKJV)

Hearing God’s voice is not optional

We have a tremendous value for hearing God’s voice. We believe God is always speaking and that we are hard-wired to hear His voice. We also believe that it is a lot easier than we think. His sheep hear His voice! We cannot afford to not hear His voice. We must hear His voice to walk in obedience, purpose and to wage an effective warfare against the enemy. To be clear, we do not mean only that we must read the Bible, but that we must hear the live, personalized rhema word of God. The only offensive weapon against the enemy is the rhema sword of the Spirit. We build our faith by hearing the rhema word of God. Our very life depends on hearing God!

But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ~ Matthew 4:4 (NLT)

The world conforms from the outside in, but Christ transforms from the inside out

We are about transformation. We are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that no lasting change comes through external means such as rule-keeping, sin-management, or behaviour modification. Transformation starts with the Holy Spirit re-connecting our spirit with Christ, progresses through a heart regenerated by His love, a soul made whole in his loving care, a mind renewed by beholding His glory, and finally ends in an incarnated Christ-like life. The imperative for transformation then is not more education, more willpower, more effort, or more external motivation (whether through fear, shame, or the approval of men) but rather more encounters with God (the only one who can truly change us).

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. ~ 2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

 Never stop growing

As long as we remain connected to the Vine, we will be undergoing spiritual growth. The moment we become satisfied with how much of God we have experienced, or the price to pay is too much, is the moment we disconnect from Christ and begin to die. In this life, we are always on a journey of healing, growth, transformation and maturation. We cannot afford not to grow, both for our sake and for the sake of the world. The Father is looking for fruit and only mature trees bear fruit!

I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. ~ John 15:1-2 (NLT)

 Be yourself - a facet of God that only you can display to the world

God only makes originals. The physical diversity displayed throughout God’s creation reflects the diversity of personalities-gifts-passions-strengths that He also wants in His sons and daughters. Similarly, the abundant thriving life that we see in ecosystems with high diversity will also happen in the body of Christ when we each fully express who we were uniquely called to be! We believe that people must be absolutely free to be different from what we expect or prefer. We refuse to control or manipulate others into our preferred mold. We want to see every human fully embody their facet of God’s multi-faceted glory that He created them to display to the world.

He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. ~ Ephesians 4:16 (NLT)

The fight is in the head, but the treasure we fight for is in the heart, and we share the spoil with the hands

We fully subscribe to C.S. Lewis’s view that our desires are not too strong but too weak. We are on a constant mission to convert head knowledge about God, to heart knowledge of the Lover of our souls. We want to live lives of deep desire, fully alive to God, and dead to the trifling pleasures of this world. We want to move from commitment to a God-idea (theology), to instead be enthralled by a divine being who reveals Himself to us daily. Yes, we want sound doctrine (head). Yes, we also want a mission-focused church that meets the needs of the world (hands). But without the heart, we will either get insular believers puffed up with knowledge or burnt-out believers serving others out of duty. It is when our hearts are set ablaze for God, that we become laid-down lovers serving the world joyfully with hearts overflowing with the love of God!

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” ~ Mark 12:29-31 (NLT)

 Joy is the atmosphere of heaven

Without the joy of God, life is hard and dry. There is a reason that oil is used as an analogy for joy. Joy lubricates the friction of life and makes us supple and resistant to the harsh environments we will encounter. Without joy, we can’t endure the hardships of life well. Where there is freedom, there is joy. Where there is fellowship, there is joy. Where there is God there is joy! If joy is missing, something is blocking the flow of heaven to earth – either the enemy has us in bondage or we have broken fellowship with God or each other. Jesus came to reconcile us to the Father, heal the broken-hearted, and set the captives free. Our mandate is the same.

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. ~ Psalm 16:11 (NLT)

We are on a mission of dominion

The dominion mandate that God gave Adam and Eve in Genesis is still ours today in Christ. We are not on planet earth simply to bide time until Christ returns. We have a mandate to make kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven! We are on a mission of kingdom governance! We shall not remain gathered together sheltering from the ills of the world. Oh no! We are not on the defensive, we are on the offensive! Establishing the kingdom of God every geographic territory and every sphere of society and culture. Every saint in our community is being trained for rulership in the sphere of influence allotted to them by God. This is not to be confused with trying to Christianize our nations. That is not the mission. We have come to destroy the darkness of sin, sickness and bondage with the light of Christ that brings people into righteousness, health and freedom!

Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” ~ Matthew 16:17-19 (NLT)

OUR LEADERSHIP

Authentic Joy is a kingdom business. For us, that means it’s not just a normal business run by Christians but a business initiated, directed, and prospered by Jesus Christ. Therefore, in a very real sense, Jesus is our CEO.

Matik Nicholls and Tricia Celestin-Nicholls co-lead Authentic Joy. They are both employed full-time in the oil and gas industry. Their blended family of five children resides in the beautiful twin-island republic of Trinidad & Tobago. Matik holds the title of Chief Fire-Starter and does most of the writing and training. Tricia holds the title of Director – Soul Care and takes responsibility for individual and group coaching.

WHAT WE OFFER

We fulfill our mission through the following:

Contact us for more information on any of these offerings.

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