Who We Are

Hi, I'm Vince Kluth, founder of Holding Fast, and a disciple of Jesus Christ for over 35 years, being mercifully saved by the Lord Jesus Christ sometime in the Fall of 1989.  During that time, I also worked at BAE Systems, a defense contractor, serving in various roles such as systems engineer, project lead, systems administrator, executive technical director and chief engineer.  You can read about that on my LinkedIn page.

 

Shortly after God saved me, I came under the lengthy personal tutelage of the late Mr. Bernie Alper (see photo from 1995), a seasoned Christian shut-in who spent his time searching the scriptures, listening to many Bible-based sermons, and holding regular weekly Bible studies.  It was Bernie's dying request that I continue to prepare and hold weekly Bible studies, which has been done since 1996, both at my house and in the homes of other gracious participants.  

 

When asked, I've taught and preached at various churches in California and Maryland, where my family (wife and three children) have lived. You can watch my testimony below from a May 2019 interview with Bro. Vidal Moreta, founder of Lord of the Harvest.

 

I prepare Bible studies, teach and record them, then post for serious discipleship-minded students.  Holding Fast exists to: find those interested in discipleship in and around Montgomery County, Maryland, support those not already in a discipleship group, and feed the spiritually hungry and isolated.  One might categorize this work as both conservative and fundamental, based on the doctrines of grace. 

Holding Fast is a non-profit, home- and Internet-based Bible teaching ministry. It is neither a church nor a 501c3 ministry.  Resources are made available freely and without undue restrictions, as the Lord enables and permits.

The studies are aimed at those who desire greater depth of teaching, and enjoy audio studies along with notes or interactive slides.  I also provide study notes to help other teaching ministries.

 

About Our Logo

There are several parts to the logo:  the Bible, the anchor, three phrases encircling the seal, and the tagline.  Maybe you've already figured it out, but just in case ...

 

The anchor is firmly attached to the Bible, our only source of spiritual truth. The anchor tilts to the left, to keep disciples from floating "left" into liberalism. Furthermore, this ministry is firmly entrenched in three (3) key doctrines, all of which relate to each other.

 


1. Verbal Plenary Preservation. This means that we have everything God said and wants us to have, it was written, and is in fact still in our possession. We reject modern textual criticism proffering a corrupt underlying set of native language known as the "critical text". It is a Frankenstein collection of bits and pieces which the world never saw collated before 1861. The Authorized Version, or received text (aka "Textus Receptus") has an abundant amount of textual evidence --over 99% of all extant manuscripts-- and exhibits an extraordinary degree of consistency. It is the Word of God, and currently has the KJV as the best publicly available translation. The Geneva Bible, Greens Literal translation, Young's Literal translation, and others which are based on the Textus Receptus, are also faithful translations, but do not match the precision, splendor and majesty of the KJV.

 

2. Six Day Creation.  Because we have the word of God preserved without error, this buttresses and shores up our next pillar, which is six day creation. The Bible is abundantly clear that God created the entire universe and everything in it ex nihilo (Latin for out of nothing), using only His Word as the divine tool for construction. Genesis chapters 1 and 2 evidently read as historical narrative.  There, we find numbered days, followed by evening and morning, to convey a sequence of single-solar-day (aka 24-hour) events understandable to any tribe or race on this planet.  In so doing, God created the concept of history upon which subsequent histories (such as the history of redemption) would be based.

That world was marred by sin, and later destroyed by a universal catastrophic flood, which accounts for all of the paleontological evidence we find today, such as thick water-based deposits around numerous rapidly-buried fossils. We reject any kind of evolutionary theories, as they are utterly foolish and non-scientific, having been neither observed, nor demonstrated, and certainly not reproduced. Six day creation is a faith based assessment that the Old and New Testament writers took at face value.  Though six day creation is not a salvation issue, it is most definitely a gospel issue, as Jesus spoke of this at critical times in His ministry as historical fact. Six day creation fits all of the Bible's accounts, and available scientific evidence, the best by far.

 

3. Sovereignty In Salvation.  This leads to the third pillar of our ministry, which is God's sovereignty in salvation.  Many evangelicals and conservative Christians believe God is sovereign, however they do not allow Him to be sovereign in His most important work, the work of salvation. The Bible clearly teaches that God is in charge of His salvation program, and that includes the scope, the breadth, the work and effects of regeneration, redemption, and all that is required in salvation.  As Jonah said, Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9).

 

Our tagline refers to Titus 1:9, where the Apostle Paul exhorted a disciple named Titus to hold fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

 

The above three doctrines are crucial to establish a solid foundation upon which all other Bible doctrine and teaching is derived. These three are precisely where the attack of the enemy is aimed at the church, her leaders, and the seminaries today.  Many call themselves reformed or calvinistic, but utterly fail in at least one of these points.  We exist to help others resist the fall into catastrophic error.

Updated October 27, 2023 (photo update, minor grammatical corrections.)

Updated July 15, 2021 (removed reference to Reformed, which carries too much baggage.  No change in theology, though!)