Category Archives: Theology

The Divine Institution of Marriage Video

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To supplement yesterday’s post on Chick-fil-a’s stand against homosexual, I turn to a lyrical description of the institution of marriage as prescribed by God. I believe this is one of the best understandings of what God meant for the husband and wife union to be a picture of Jesus and the Church.

Maybe the style of this video is not your thing, but listen to the words. Hear the plea for the Lordship of Christ in this incredibly necessary institution. Hear the sound theology undergirding the lyrics of this man’s view of marriage.

Your fellow worker in the field,  Adam

Chick-fil-a Takes Stand Against Homosexual Marriage

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With the recent “coming out” of Oreo, JC Penney, and other businesses in support of homosexual marriage, the lines are being drawn. (Apparently it hasn’t worked out to well for JC Penney so far.)

Chick-fil-a has addressed the issue publicly also. In a day when being politically incorrect can tank a business, President Dan Cathy, son of founder Truitt Cathy, emphatically aligned his restaurant chain with the conservative view of traditional marriage.

“I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,'” Dan Cathy, the company’s president and chief operating officer, said in a recent radio interview. “I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.”

In an interview with the Baptist Press published this week, Cathy doubled down on his stance against same-sex unions.

“Guilty as charged,” Cathy said. “We are very much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”

“We know that it might not be popular with everyone,” he added, “but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”

Find this quoted section in the full article as reported by Yahoo News, HERE.

I have to say, Good Job for standing up for what you believe in! I love how Cathy draws attention to the right in the United States to operate your personal and business lives according to the values you believe in! While the LGBT community champions this right for themselves, it works both ways. Conservative people and business owners have the right to operate according to their own belief systems too.

I honestly wish that this was a non-issue. I wish fast food chains didn’t have to declare a stance on heated moral issues. But these are the days we live in.

Chick-fil-a has communicated with nothing but kindness and respect while standing firm on their beliefs, yet they are recieving a lot of grief because of it. With a quick google search there are already tons of images being adjusted and turned into weapons against Chick-fil-a as the one posted to the right. There is talk of the LGBT community boycotting that golden fried chicken and waffle fries. We will see what impact this has on the bottom line of the company. But I know one thing for sure, my support of and respect for this restaurant will continue as normal, if not be increased.

Thank you Dan Cathy for standing your ground in difficult times.

Your fellow worker in the field, Adam

The Unspeakable Comfort Of Being Known By God

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“What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it – the fact that he knows me.  I am graven on the palms of his hands.  I am never out of his mind.  All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained initiative in knowing me.  He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when his eye is off me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters.

This is momentous knowledge.  There is unspeakable comfort – the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates – in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good.  There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me.”

— J.I. Packer, Knowing God, 41-42

100 Missions Quotes

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1. A man may die leaving upwards of a million, without taking any of it upwards. 
– William Fetler

2. A nation will not be moved by timid methods.
– Luis Palau

3. Anywhere provided it be forward.
– David Livingstone

4. As long as there are millions destitute of the Word of God and knowledge of Jesus Christ, it will be impossible for me to devote time and energy to those who have both.
– J. L. Ewen

5. Can’t you do just a little bit more?
– J.G. Morrison (pleading with Nazarenes in the 1930′s Great Depression to support their missionaries)

6. Christ alone can save the world, but Christ cannot save the world alone.
– David Livingstone

7. Christ not only died for all: He died for each.
– Billy Graham

8. Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.
– William Carey

9. Go straight for souls, and go for the worst.
– William Booth

10. Go, send, or disobey.
– John Piper

11. God had an only Son and He made Him a missionary.
– David Livingstone

12. God isn’t looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him.
– Hudson Taylor

13. God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him.
– Hudson Taylor

14. God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.
– Hudson Taylor

15. He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.
– Jim Elliot

16. I am destined to proclaim the message, unmindful of personal consequences to myself.
– Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf

17. I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to evangelize all the yet unreached tribes of the earth. It is not God who does not call. It is man who will not respond!
– Isobel Kuhn, missionary to China and Thailand

18. If God wills the evangelization of the world, and you refuse to support missions, then you are opposed to the will of God.
– Oswald J. Smith

19. HUDSON TAYLOR – THE PROGRESSION OF A MISSIONARY CALL:

As child, at age 5:
When I am a man, I mean to be a missionary and go to China.

As a young man:
I feel I cannot go on living unless I do something for China.

Late in life, as a veteran missionary:
If I had 1,000 lives, I’d give them all for China.

– Hudson Taylor, Missionary to China

20. I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.
– John Keith Falconer

21. I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ.
– Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf

22. I have seen the vision and for self I cannot live; Life is less than worthless till my all I give.
– Oswald J. Smith

23. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.
– Oswald Chambers

24. I pray, and I obey.
– David Yonggi Cho

25. I want to be where there are out and out pagans.
– Francis Xavier

26. I would rather die for Christ than rule the whole earth.
– Ignatius

27. If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?
– David Livingstone

28. If God’s love is for anybody anywhere, it’s for everybody everywhere.
– Edward Lawlor, Nazarene General Superintendent

29. If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.
– C.T. Studd

30. If missions languish, it is because the whole life of godliness is feeble. The command to go everywhere and preach to everybody is not obeyed until the will is lost by self-surrender in the will of God. Living, praying, giving and going will always be found together.
– Arthur T. Pierson

31. If ten men are carrying a log — nine of them on the little end and one at the heavy end — and you want to help, which end will you lift on?
– William Borden

32. If the Church is ‘in Christ,’ she is involved in mission. Her whole existence then has a missionary character. Her conduct as well as her words will convince the unbelievers and put their ignorance and stupidity to silence.
– David Bosch

33. If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big; they are too small.
– Pat Morley

34. If we have not enough in our religion . . . to share it with all the world, it is doomed here at home.
– David Livingstone

35. If you don’t have a definite call to stay here, you are called to go.
– Keith Green

36. If you found a cure for cancer, wouldn’t it be inconceivable to hide it from the rest of mankind? How much more inconceivable to keep silent the cure from the eternal wages of death.
– Dave Davidson

37. If you take missions out of the Bible, you won’t have anything left but the covers.
– Nina Gunter

38. In no other way can the believer become as fully involved with God’s work, especially the work of world evangelism, as in intercessory prayer.
– Dick Eastman

39. In our lifetime, wouldn’t it be sad if we spent more time washing dishes or swatting flies or mowing the yard or watching television than praying for world missions?
– Dave Davidson

40. In the vast plain to the north I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been.
– Robert Moffat

41. It is possible for the most obscure person in a church, with a heart right toward God, to exercise as much power for the evangelization of the world, as it is for those who stand in the most prominent positions.
– John R. Mott

42. It’s better to obey God rather than men.
– Brother Andrew

43. Let my heart be broken with the things that break God’s heart.
– Bob Pierce, World Vision founder

44. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing!
– Helen Keller (she wasn’t a missionary, but this is an inspiring mission-minded thought!)

45. Life is precarious, and life is precious. Don’t presume you will have it tomorrow, and don’t waste it today.
– John Piper

46. Live God LOUD!
– Ron Luce, TeenMania

47. Lost people matter to God, and so they must matter to us.
– Keith Wright

48. Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love.
– Roland Allen

49. Missions is not just for missionaries; God’s call is for all.
– Ann Dunagan, The Mission-Minded Family

50. Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. – John Piper

51. Missions is practicing God’s presence until His passion compels us to obey.
– Ann Dunagan, The Mission-Minded Family

52. Missions is the overflow of our delight in God because missions is the overflow of God’s delight in being God.
– John Piper

53. Never pity missionaries; envy them. They are where the real action is — where life and death, sin and grace, Heaven and Hell converge.
– Robert C. Shannon

54. No reserves. No retreats. No regrets.
– William Borden

55. Not, how much of my money will I give to God, but, how much of God’s money will I keep for myself?
– John Wesley

56. Oh, that I could spend every moment of my life to God’s glory!
– David Brainerd

57. Oh, that I had a thousand lives and a thousand bodies! All of them should be devoted to no other employment but to preach Christ to these degraded, despised, yet beloved mortals.
– Robert Moffat

58. One Way: Jesus! One Job: Evangelism!
– T.L. Osborn

59. Only as the church fulfills her missionary obligation does she justify her existence.
– Unknown

60. Our God of Grace often gives us a second chance, but there is no second chance to harvest a ripe crop.
– Kurt von Schleicher

61. Some wish to live within the sound of church and chapel bell. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell!
– C.T. Studd

62. Someone asked, Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved? It is more a question with me whether we — who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not — can be saved.
– Charles Spurgeon

63. Tell the students to give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ.
– Francis Xavier

64. The best remedy for a sick church is to put it on a missionary diet.
– David Livingstone

65. This generation can only reach this generation.
– David Livingstone

66. Sympathy is no substitute for action.
– David Livingstone

67. The Bible is not the basis of missions; missions is the basis of the Bible.
– Ralph Winter, U.S. Center for World Mission

68. The Christian is not obedient unless he is doing all in his power to send the Gospel to the heathen world.
– A. B. Simpson

69. The Church must send or the church will end.
– Mendell Taylor

70. The church that does not evangelize will fossilize.
– Oswald J. Smith

71. The mission of the church is missions.
– Oswald J. Smith

72. (Related to the previous quote.) God’s mission for the family is expanding God’s family.
– Ann Dunagan, The Mission-Minded Family

73. We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first.
– Oswald J. Smith

74. The church which ceases to be evangelistic will soon cease to be evangelical.
– Alexander Duff

75. The gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.
– Carl F. H. Henry

76. The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed.
– Hudson Taylor

77. The Great Commission is the Great Adventure of Christianity.
– Ron Luce, TeenMania

78. The history of missions is the history of answered prayer.
– Samuel Zwemer

79. The light that shines farthest shines brightest nearest home.
– C. T. Studd

80. The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity.
– Mike Stachura

81. There is nothing in the world or the Church – except the church’s disobedience – to render the evangelization of the world in this generation an impossibility.
– Robert Speer

82. The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become.
– Henry Martyn, missionary to India and Persia

83. The supreme task of the Church is the evangelization of the world.
– Oswald J. Smith

84. The will of God — nothing less, nothing more, nothing else.
– F. E. Marsh (also attributed to Bobby Richardson)

85. To know God and to make Him known.
– Loren Cunningham, YWAM

86. To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map.
– William Carey, pioneer missionary to India

87. Untold millions are still untold.
– John Wesley

88. Walk away from your own preoccupations . . . and see the perishing multitudes.
– K.P. Yohannan, Gospel for Asia

89. We are debtors to every man to give him the gospel in the same measure in which we have received it.
– P.F. Bresee, founder of the Church of the Nazarene

90. We can reach our world, if we will. The greatest lack today is not people or funds. The greatest need is prayer.
– Wesley Duewel, head of OMS International

91. We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God.
– John Stott

92. What can we do to win these men to Christ?
– Richard Wurmbrand, The Voice of the Martyrs (referring to the men who were persecuting him)

93. Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice, before everyone has heard it once?
-Oswald J. Smith

94. Will you go to His feet and place yourself entirely at His disposal?
– William Booth

95. Will you shed your tears for the souls of the nations?
– Wendi Stranz, Pastor’s wife

96. World missions was on God’s mind from the beginning.
– Dave Davidson

97. You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving.
– Amy Carmichael

98. You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.
– Oswald J. Smith

99. You must go or send a substitute.
– Oswald J. Smith

100. You have one business on earth – to save souls.
– John Wesley

Quotes from Harvest Ministry Blog.

Worldly Values Flipped Upside-down: The Beatitudes

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Have you ever read through Matthew 5 and saw the completely opposite way in which Jesus describes what it means to be a Kingdom citizen as opposed to a citizen of this world!?! It is truly striking when you dwell on these words. What our culture tells us to pursue, Jesus flips it totally on its head! It is no wonder unbelievers consider us fools. Look at the subjects of each sentence. The worldly man has no desire to be characterized by such words, it would be an insult and an embarrassment.

  • 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  • 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
  • 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
  • 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
  • 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
  • 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
  • 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
  • 10“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Josh Harris, the senior pastor at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD, is preaching on this very topic and let his creative energy flow. He wondered what it would look like if these were rewritten from the worlds perspective. Here is his artistic interpretation.

  1. Blessed are the self-confident because they rule the world.
  2. Blessed are positive-thinkers because they don’t need anybody’s comfort.
  3. Blessed are the cocky and assertive because they get what they want.
  4. Blessed are those who hunger for fame because they get reality TV shows.
  5. Blessed are the vengeful because they get respect.
  6. Blessed are the impure, pleasure-seekers because they see a good time.
  7. Blessed are those who beat their opponents because the victors write the history books.
  8. Blessed are the popular because everybody loves them.

As you read these, note how they correspond with the way we really see people living in our schools, jobs, homes, and society. Note also how they are the inverse of the biblical text as quoted above. It is scary to see how our culture values the exact opposite of what God says is truly valuable. The world, and our own sin natures, push us to live in these anti-biblical ways. It is hard to go against the flow. But when we allow God’s words to fill us up we find His strength to live out His plan.

Be counter-cultural today!

Your fellow worker in the field, Adam

Stop Motion Photography of Engine Rebuild

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You are a work in progress. Isn’t comforting to know that God completes what He begins. You won’t be stranded or forgotten. You won’t be given up on or scrapped. God has a plan and is working it out piece by piece. In this video we see in stop motion photography the complete restoration of an engine. Impressive.

As Christians we have a long way to go. No one has arrived. But thankfully God does not stop a project once He has started. Philippians 1:6 says, “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Maybe today you are getting torn down. Maybe you are being cleaned up and reassembled. Wherever you are, aren’t you glad He promises to keep working till the job is done?

Your fellow worker in the field,  Adam

Beauty – A Compass Pointing to Something Bigger

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In this flashmob organized in Sabadell, Spain an unsuspecting courtyard is bombarded with beauty as an orchestra slowly materializes out of thin air with a majestic rendition of Beethoven’s 9th symphony. It is moving and powerful. A crowd develops around the musicians realizing they are beholding something rare and beautiful. Children are dancing, adults are swaying, everyone is captivated by the beauty of the moment. Time stands still.

In the middle of busy schedules why did these people stop to listen? I believe it is rooted in our innate yearning for beauty. John Piper describes this desire that is in every person.

“I do believe that deeply rooted in every human heart is a longing for beauty. Why do we go to the Grand Canyon, the Boundary Waters, art exhibits, gardens? Why do we plant trees and flower beds? Why do we paint our inside walls? Why is it man and not the monkeys who decorated cave walls with pictures? Why is it that in every tribe of humans ever known there has always been some form of art and craftsmanship that goes beyond mere utility? Is it not because we long to behold and be a part of beauty? We crave to be moved by some rare glimpse of greatness. We yearn for a vision of glory.”

We long for something bigger than ourselves. Whether that is in the arts, nature, or daily life, when we catch a glimpse of it we stop in wonder. We realize there is more to this life than what we can see. We seek out beauty because we are created to have a relationship with the Author of beauty. Because of image of God imprinted in us, all humanity has a void in our souls that resonates with true beauty. This resonation of beauty lures us to its source. When we behold beauty it acts like a compass. It points us beyond the momentary glimpse of beauty to the source of all beauty. The compass does not show us our destination, it is just a guide. It keeps us grounded in reality, understanding where we are in this world. The sunset and the orchestra in themselves leave us wanting. They are not the destination. While they are beautiful for a moment, we desire more than these things can offer.

“And we can know that our desires are remnants of this urge for God because everything less than God leaves us unsatisfied. He alone is the All-Satisfying Object of Beauty. Only one vision will be sufficient for our insatiable hearts—the glory of God. For that we have been made. And it is for this we long, whether we know it or not.”    -John Piper: Jesus is Precious because We Yearn for Beauty. (both quotes)

When you and I encounter moments that take our breath away, whether a sunset or a work of Beethoven, let it remind us that, yes, there are amazingly beautiful things in this world, but they are mere shadows of the true beauty that is God Himself. How do we get to know God? Through His Son – Jesus Christ.

Your fellow worker in the field,  Adam

Confession of Faith within The Star Spangled Banner

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Did you know The Star Spangled Banner has more than one verse? It has four in fact. If you read over these verses you will gain even more insight into the fabric of our nation.

Verse 1:

O say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Verse 4:

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

While I will in no way will make the argument that our nation is a Christian nation, for those of you like myself who want to see this generation come to know the hope and purpose found only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is helpful to refer back to markers of Christian heritage in our country. Within the national song is a clear confession of faith. Note the reference, unashamedly, to praising the “Power” (note the capitalization indicating a person) that makes and preserves nations. Wow. And what a motto; “In God is our trust”. If only more individuals would have such a motto in their own lives.

As we celebrate our freedom on this fourth of July, would you recognize that Jesus offers a freedom that will last for eternity. Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Nations will rise and fall, but freedom in Christ is TRUE freedom. John 8:36 says, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Find your freedom in Him today.

Your fellow worker in the field, Adam

6 Myths of Success

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In ministry it is easy to get hung up on the wrong things. As humans we are bent in our nature to
misunderstand the things of God and chase after lesser things. Pastors are tempted to rate success by the criteria of this world rather than from our God. When applied to student ministry this reminds me of my article, True Success in Student Ministry. Here are 6 myths that can creep into a pastor’s mind according to Scott Thomas of the Acts 29 Network.

  1. “Success is a result of my great faith.” God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45). He is sovereign.
  2. “Success comes after hard work.” Paul warned to put no confidence in the flesh, and whatever redeeming merit Paul experienced, he counted it as trash (Phil. 3:2–11).
  3. “Success brings me love.” Success, or the lack of success, is a false indicator of God’s love for me (Job 10:12–13).
  4. “Success proves my level of spirituality.” Your spirituality is not validated by your success or evident because of it. Our spiritual life is only because of Jesus Christ’s completed work (Rom. 3:21–28).
  5. “Success makes me happy.” Success can never be satisfied; it always craves more (Eccles. 5:10).
  6. “Success is achieved through strength.” God intentionally chooses the unlikely so that all success can be ascribed to God. (1 Cor. 1:26–31). God’s grace is illuminated in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).

Your fellow worker in the field,  Adam

NEW Visual Theology Info-graphic: The Atonement

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Check out Tim Challies’ NEW info-graphic: The Atonement. To see all of his info-graphics click on the Visual Theology tab in the above menu bar. Aren’t these things great!? They draw you in visually but speak volumes of information on hard to understand topics! I love ’em.