How Teens View Social Media

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Interesting lessons within this graphic…from my perspective:

  • Even after the admission of most teens being “addicted” to thier social media devices teens still prefer face to face contact. This tells me that no matter how many texts or FB messages I send, that personal contact is the only way to build deep meaningful relationships. The texts and other stuff can supplement that or be convenient, but without face to face time you will never get to really know a teenager.
  • Facebook is dominate. I think this is because of the combination of messages, photos/video uploads, status updates, and the infamous “like” button. Facebook has it all. But be warned, what you put on FB will be seen. No matter how deep in some obscure album that picture is, someone will comment on your behavior or associates. People do read into status updates and know what you have been saying on FB. Just as in all of life we must guard our integrity on FB and live in a way not to bring shame to ourselves and our God!
  • Teens (really, all of us) need a break from social media sometimes! We need to encourage teenagers (and ourselves) to unplug once in a while and spend some undistracted time alone. Preferably with God. Remember that verse, “be still and know that I am God”. It is getting harder and harder to be still in our media driven culture. Take some time everyday to reflect and unplug and allow yourself not to be a slave to social media, and encourage this in teens in your lives.
  • Social Media highlights the insecurities of some girls and adds pressure to be perfect. 57% of girls feel left out after seeing photos of friends without them, 45% of girls worry about others posting “ugly” pictures of them online, 28% of girls have edited photos of themselves before posting it online. These stats reinforce the truth that we need to guard our daughters hearts! While it is also true for the guys, it is crucial for the girls. We need to train them that they will only truly be satisfied in Jesus Christ and His love for them, everything else will fall short. We need to constantly be saying and living the fact that true beauty comes from within. We need to remind them that Psalms 139 says we were “fearfully and wonderfully made” in exactly the way God intended, and God doesn’t make mistakes! The Gospel tells girls (and everyone) that God loves us despite our imperfections and has made a way for us to have the one relationship that will truly satisfy us. The Gospel proves that we are priceless in the eyes of God! He sent His perfect Son as a sacrifice for us. And because of Jesus’ victory over death we can overcome all things!

These are the times we live in. We need to see our culture through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus, and social media is no exception. Social media is a great tool, but like any tool, it can be used to build up or tear down. I strive to be biblical in all that I do, even in how I interact with social media.

Your fellow worker in the field, Adam

Hilarious Clip On Church Childcare

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If you have kids like I do you will appreciate this clip from Bob Smiley. Maybe you have dropped your kids off at the nursery and had some similar experiences. All joking aside, I do thank God for faithful volunteers who watch over our kids. We are especially blessed at 3BC with amazing workers who love Jesus and love children!

Saturdays With C.S. Lewis: A Moral Law Beyond Ourselves

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If the Moral Law was one of our instincts, we ought to be able to point to some one impulse inside us which was always what we call ‘good,’ always in agreement with the rule of right behaviour. But you cannot. There is none of our impulses which the Moral Law may not sometimes tell us to suppress, and none which it may not sometimes tell us to encourage. It is a mistake to think that some of our impulses–say mother love or patriotism–are good, and others, like sex or the fighting instinct, are bad. All we mean is that the occasions on which the fighting instinct or the sexual desire need to be restrained are rather more frequent than those for restraining mother love or patriotism. But there are situations in which it is the duty of a married man to encourage his sexual impulse and of a soldier to encourage the fighting instinct. There are also occasions on which a mother’s love for her own children or a man’s love for his own country have to be suppressed or they will lead to unfairness towards other people’s children or countries. Strictly speaking, there are no such things as good and bad impulses. Think once again of a piano. It has not got two kinds of notes on it, the ‘right’ notes and the ‘wrong’ ones. Every single note is right at one time and wrong at another. The Moral Law is not any one instinct or set of instincts: it is something which makes a kind of tune (the tune we call goodness or right conduct) by directing the instincts.

~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Chapter 2 (1952)

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.

Student Ministry Road Trips: 5 Underestimated Benefits!

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Today I am loading up the vans and cars and taking a group of teenagers and chaperones to an amusement park. Yes, it’s a lot of work to organize the rental vehicles, contact group sales for the discount, plan our meals, find chaperones…yada yada yada. Is it worth it?

I sat down to think about that very thing. My conclusion was… yes. While we are not engaging in deep bible study or conducting service project I believe there is value in the fun times. God created us for fellowship, both with Him and with each other. So what are some of the benefits of a well run, smoothly executed day trip off somewhere with a group of teenagers? Here are my thoughts:

  1. Building Group Unity – A very real aspect of living the christian life is to live it within community of other believers. This is no different with teenagers. They need each other. In fact, teenagers seek out and and hunger for that social side of life more than adults! As a ministry we need to provide opportunities for our participants to really get to know one another and begin to love one another. By this love unbelievers will know that we are for real in our faith. As a group shares experiences together they bond in special ways. They develop an identity. I’ve heard a hard nosed football coach say “the team that pukes together stays together”. I believe the principle of that is the same for positive experiences. You want a cohesive student ministry that gels and sticks together through the years, provide ample opportunities for shared experiences. Build unity through action: Do stuff together!
  2. Earning Respect of Parents – With each trip you take, parents will begin to see that you are a responsible leader. (…assuming things go smooth and you really are responsible.) They will also see that you really love those kids. With every trip you will build respect and trust with the parents. All student ministers need to remember that we are working with the most precious things in these parents lives! Prove that you take that responsibility seriously. Behind every successful student ministry are parents that really buy into what is happening.
  3. Individual Relationship Building – When you go on a trip together, not only does your whole group bond, you have opportunity to deepen those relationships with individuals. Students need to know you care for them. When you sit down next to a teenager and relive “that time you lost your phone on the roller coaster” or “when GPS got possessed by the Devil and…” your relationships will soar to that next level. They know you and trust you. Only then will they be willing to come to you when the hard times hit. Create environments to really get to know students. That can’t happen from a pulpit.
  4. Antidote to Apathy – When the stats for hours per day spent on gaming or internet browsing are staggering, going on a trip together is just the thing we need to spark some interest! Show the teens in your area that you are up to SOMETHING! Most of the time teenagers will get into trouble simply because they had nothing better to do. Fight the apathy in those teenagers you have influence on, go on some trips!
  5. The Front Door of our Ministry – Lets face it. Most friends get invited to an activity before they come to a bible study or the small group setting. These activities are open doors to meet the other teenagers in the group, meet the adult leader, all in a neutral setting. If you INTENTIONALLY use your events as a way to gain prospects for your regular programming you can gather some good intel! Take it for what its worth.

So I plan regular trips to get out of the normal routine and just be together. We are living life together. When we share the good times it makes it easier to get real and share the bad time too.

Pray that I don’t lose my cookies on the coaster. 🙂

Your fellow worker in the field, Adam

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

Saturdays with C.S. Lewis: Are the Gospels Legend?

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“Another point is that on that view you would have to regard the accounts of the Man as being legends. Now, as a literary historian, I am perfectly convinced that whatever else the Gospels are they are not legends. I have read a great deal of legend and I am quite clear that they are not the same sort of thing. They are not artistic enough to be legends. From an imaginative point of view they are clumsy, they don’t work up to things properly. Most of the life of Jesus is totally unknown to us, as is the life of anyone else who lived at that time, and no people building up a legend would allow that to be so. Apart from bits of the Platonic dialogues, there are no conversations that I know of in ancient literature like the Fourth Gospel. There is nothing, even in modern literature, until about a hundred years ago when the realistic novel came into existence. In the story of the woman taken in adultery we are told Christ bent down and scribbled in the dust with His finger. Nothing comes of this. No one has ever based any doctrine on it. And the art of inventing little irrelevant details to make an imaginary scene more convincing is a purely modern art. Surely the only explanation of this passage is that the thing really happened? The author put it in simply because he had seen it.”
-C.S. Lewis, “What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?” (1950)

Best Arguments Against Theism?

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This is Greg Koukl. He is the founder of Stand to Reason, an organization committed to a clear articulation and defense of the Christian worldview. He is a crisp thinker and a good communicator.

Here is 5.5 minutes of informative video on what the best argument against theism may be. One great snippet from the video is that atheists don’t ague to much on this point because they “think” it is settled. They believe they are the majority position when in actuality 98% of the WORLD population is theistic. Less than 2% really holds that there is no God. Interesting. Check out the video and learn about defending your faith.

Thanks Greg for being a stand up guy. I’d like to shake your hand someday.

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