Joshua Cole has been the Lead Pastor of Praise Generation Church since 2013. With 20 years of experience leading others as a worship leader and executive pastor, Joshua is a multifaceted leader dedicated to excellence and growing deeper in the love of Jesus.
He has a passion to heal, draw, and impassion people by leading them to know the love of Jesus and grow into their fullest potential.
When he's not spending quality time with his beautiful wife or four kids, you'll find him serving the community by coaching local leaders in business, healthcare, and government.
Our Team
Joshua Cole
President / CEO, Pastor
Scott Brown
Worship Arts & Tech Director
Candice Cochran
Trustee Board Secretary
Jessica Hickman
Office Manager, Welcome Department Director
Jennifer Lantz
Hospitality Director
Joy McCoy Monk
Children's Department Director
Rick Van Buren
Vice President / Treasurer
Mission, Vision, and Values
Mission: We equip people to follow Jesus.
Vision: We want to see generations influencing their communities to advance God's causes.
Values: Praise Generation Church is Loving, Biblical, Generational, Empowering, Authentic, and Generous.
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Loving
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We value people.
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We value second chances; we practice forgiveness.
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We value dignity; we practice blessing.
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We value love in action and word as described in 1 Corinthians 13.
Biblical
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Teaching and Preaching is Accurate and Accountable to the Bible.
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Every doctrine taught must be supported throughout the Bible; anything else is acknowledged as a personal opinion or preference.
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Every sermon or lesson is accessible and practical application is a priority.
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Teaching and Preaching exults God’s Word and empowers believers to obey it.
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Generational
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We equip families to do the work of God through a generational lens—whoever is leading will one day pass leadership to the young.
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Our worship is youthful and exuberant.
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We embrace change as the generations age.
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Children are as valuable as adults.
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We empower husbands and wives to unite.
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We empower parents to raise whole-hearted children.
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We empower families to operate as a team.
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We support singles through community and opportunities to fulfill their purposes and pursuits.
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Empowering
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We are a team-oriented church.
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We encourage the individual callings, gifts, and ideas of individuals.
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We make time for people to operate in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
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We believe in the equality of men and women ministering and leading.
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We believe in the equality of races and nationalities.
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Our leadership is humble, accessible, and serving.
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We encourage each other to volunteer for service.
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We encourage each other to keep daily, weekly, and yearly rhythms of rest, delight, and contemplation.
Authentic
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We believe that our work is an extension of who we are; therefore, who we are is more important than what we do.
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We freely admit to our limits and embrace our griefs.
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We foster safe places that encourage honesty because we value the true thoughts and opinions of others.
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We genuinely celebrate God’s goodness and blessings even while acknowledging the troubles of this life.
Generous
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We believe that God is a cheerful giver and pray and worship like we believe it.
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We invest time and resource into the believers God has planted here.
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We give generously.
Our Beliefs
About the Bible: The Holy Spirit inspired human authors to write the books of the Bible. God Himself chose every word of Scripture. The Bible is God’s love letter to all of humanity and is the final authority in every issue it communicates. It is complete Truth, and we can trust it for all matters in this life and eternity.
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About the Godhead: Scripture teaches that God created everything we can see (and even everything we can’t see) out of nothing. He is one, yet has existed since the beginning of time as three distinct and equal persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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About the Father: God the Father is the greatest of all. He is the source of the Word. The ultimate purpose of all humans is to have a good relationship with Him.
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About Jesus: Jesus Christ is God’s Son and an equal of the Father. He existed with God in the beginning, yet lived on earth during the first century A.D. Throughout His earthly life, He was completely God and completely human at the same time. After living a perfect, sinless life, Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for every human being who has ever lived by dying on a Roman cross. After three days in the grave, He defeated sin and death by rising from the grave. He then ascended to Heaven and will return to earth one day to reign as King.
About the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is a full and equal part of the Trinity. He works in the world to make all people understand their need for Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit lives inside every follower of Jesus from the moment they decide to follow Him. The Spirit is our power source for life, ministry, and spiritual growth. To tap into that power, we must continually yield to the Holy Spirit.
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About Salvation: Our disobedient nature has eternally separated us from our Creator. No matter how hard we try, we can never earn our way back into God’s presence. Our only hope is to trust Jesus as God’s provision for our disobedience. Whenever you make that decision, you step into the eternal and abundant life Jesus promises for all believers.
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About Eternity: God made you to exist forever. Heaven is a perfect place, and since none of us is perfect, we are all headed for an eternity of separation from God. That’s why God sent Jesus: to pay the price for our sins so that we can spend eternity with Him. What you decide about Jesus Christ in this life will determine where you will spend eternity. If you reject Him, you’ll be eternally separated from God in Hell. If you accept Him, you’ll spend it eternally connected with Him in Heaven.
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About the Church: The Bible tells us that the church is the body of Christ in the world today. The New Testament tells us the church is a local body of baptized believers. The head of the church is Jesus Christ. The biblical purposes of the church are worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, and ministry to others.
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About Christ’s Return: God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth, the dead will be raised, and Christ will judge all men in righteousness.
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About Water Baptism: We baptize in water by immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit after someone has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. It is an outward action that symbolizes an inward reality.
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About Holy Spirit Baptism: All believers should expect and seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit which opens up an ability to speak in other tongues and power to operate in the gifts of the Spirit.
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About Sanctification: Believers are preserved as holy even as they live imperfect lives because of the work of Jesus’ blood. Believers have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved. However, the proof of this process of sanctification is fruits of repentance throughout the believer’s life. Sanctifying grace does not give license to do what we want but power to do what we ought.
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About Divine Healing: Our physical bodies and souls can be healed of diseases, disorders, traumas, demonization, and handicaps because of Jesus paying the penalty for our sins. It is often prayers of faith accompanied by the laying on of hands that are the vehicle for divine healing.
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About Communion: Throughout the year, we worship Jesus Christ through the ritual of Communion. The bread represents Jesus’ broken body and the cup represents the new covenant in His blood. It is only for believers to participate in Communion because anyone who participates without first believing in Jesus Christ’s death for their sins, burial, and resurrection cheapens the act. Their life doesn’t reflect the meaning of the ritual; thereby dishonoring what Jesus did.
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About Human Sexuality: We believe that every person was created by God as either a male or a female; although we do acknowledge the difficulty of intersex ambiguity.
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We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Gen. 2:18-25). We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.
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We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, or use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Matt. 15:18-20; 1 Cor. 6:9-10).
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We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of Praise Generation Church as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to Praise Generation Church’s members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by Praise Generation Church in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality (Matt 5:16; Phil 2:14-16; 1 Thess 5:22).
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We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Generation Family Church.
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About the Sanctity of Human Life: We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. (Ps. 139).