A Philosophy of Missions

I think it's a good idea for everyone who believes in the missionary spirit (should be every Christian) to have a personal philosophy of missions. It's ok to use your church's philosophy if you agree with it, or the philosophy of a mission agency you support if it matches your personal values. Still, I think that owning the philosophy helps create a passion for reaching the lost for Christ.

As I look at options for future ministry, I started developing the following as a personal philosophy of missions:

1.  We have 1story to tell...just 1...we preach Christ crucified (1 Cor 1:23). It isn't about what he can do for someone, but what he already did. To some, that logic is insurmountable. To others, it is archaic nonsense. But to some, it is the power to become the sons and daughters of God (John 1:12).

2.  How do we get to tell this story? That is the only problem. America, indeed the world, has changed. Hard, fiery preaching and crusade/revival work is considered ineffective and inappropriate. yet we must, at some point, preach (Rom 10:14-15).

3.  So whatever we do, it must be done in order to tell our one story. Whatever is needed in order to tell that story we must do (I Cor 9:19-23). So we become poor to reach the poor. We become broken to reach the broken. We become scarred to reach those with scars.

4.  We build trust with those we want to preach to. So we serve them with an eye to opportunities. We pray hard for God to provide opportunities. Our desire is to show true religion in order to reach the lost (James 1:26).

I'm sure that, over time, my philosophy will mold to meet the continually changing landscape of missions in America and overseas. Yet here it is for now. I'd love to hear your comments about it!

Praise for The Navy Christian Bullet on Gluttony

As a fledgling writer, it's always fun to read the reviews that my writing receives. Sometimes, I'd rather not, but I find as someone starting out that people generally say nice things when they can. I was overjoyed when I read a recent review of Gluttony: A Study of Overeating in the Bible, which is the second Navy Christian Bullet.

Here is the reviewer's remarks: "Honest and sound advice. Many good strategies to put into practice. Perfect use of scripture for application. Hard topic but well done!" The reviewer gave me five stars too!

I don't pay reviewers to look at my work, so while I don't know G. Davis, I'm grateful for the review. I'm also grateful that my writing has helped someone and that they have gleaned useful information from my work.

If you're struggling in the fight against gluttony, or otherwise unhealthy eating habits, please pick up a copy of Gluttony: A Study of Overeating in the Bible today! I think it will help you as much as it helped my reviewer.

Navy Christian Bullet #3: As Lighting from Heaven

 For the 3rd installment of The Navy Christian Bullet series, I've stepped away from practical theology (gluttony) and back toward a more academic study. I spent some time studying Satan during my graduate studies, and I've expanded that research in this volume. It is not my desire to settle the issue of Satan in this short, $0.99 book, but just to get your engines going. I aim to go deep enough to get you started, with resources noted in the end notes, but not so deep that I lose folks just getting started in theological research.

From the book: " Many people refuse to see Satan as anything but a pitch-fork-wielding, red-bodied, horned-and-hoofed animal. This is unfortunate at best, and destructively misleading at worst. " This is why I wrote the study on Satan's work and his fall.

We do know that Satan is a powerful being, though how powerful he is is up for debate. He does prowl around like a lion (I Peter 5:8) seeking who he can devour. That alone should encourage a believer to study about him as a sports team might study their opponent or a general might study his adversary. Satan is, after all, our enemy.

This short work can be picked up for any Kindle app or device whether it's a Kindle  tablet or an Android or iOS tablet with the Kindle App. The links are below to help you in that endeavor. Thank you!

Buy "As Lighting from Heaven" Here
Get the Kindle App for Android or iOS

Military Prayer Week 2015

I know what you're thinking... "Don't you usually do Military Prayer Week in November?"

Yes, I do, and Navy Christian will be hosting it this November too. Yet I'm writing this now to let you know about some things coming this year that are going to make it the best one yet. Here they are:

1.  An e-book on praying for the military, which will include a small amount of writing re-purposed from the blog, but will also include mostly new work on the issue of praying for military believers. The book will be entitled, "30 Days of Prayer for the Military" and will be available at major retailers.

2.  Church involvement is so crucial. I plan to reach out and enlist churches to make the effort this year as bodies of Christ to go to God in prayer for those who are in the military. In short, I'm hoping this year's MPW goes from being a ministry with scattered individuals to an outreach opportunity for churches!

3.  This year will include several new prayers, as years past have. This year, however, will be slightly different because I will be focused on a theme. This year's theme is: Spiritual Development. Some of the new prayers you'll take part in this year include prayers for scripture memorization among others.

Since I first started using this blog to help get the word out about praying for the military, I've seen some really neat things happen. Yet we're also so very far away from the revival I had hoped for. I do think that prayer is the path to revival, however, so I will continue to pray. I hope you will join me as many of you have since 2009. Let's make year six something to remember!