Welcome
Welcome to my site. The focus of this site is now what is most important to me, my relationship with Jesus Christ, the gospel, and the Word of God. I will sometimes write journal articles that are my reflection on something going on in the culture and how I believe the Bible calls me to respond to it. Or to condense it down into a concise "mission statement," I hope the content both that I've created and linked to helps you and others you know in the areas of Evangelism, Apologetics, and Discipleship. It seems to me these are the "big three" that Jesus called His disciples to:
1) Proclaim the gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16:15)--That is Evangelism
2) Be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16)--That is partly the work of Apologetics (though there are other verses that give us a more specific call to defend our faith)
3) Make disciples--baptizing and teaching them to obey everything He commanded us (Matthew 28:18-20)--This is Discipleship
So, these will be the three big things that the website will focus on.
I wish for all this to be done while helping you learn how to study the Bible and correctly interpret it (which I understand can only truly be done with the help of the Holy Spirit). God meant for His message to be clearly understood and obeyed by those who are His children. That is why Jesus so often asked "Have you not read?" The implication is that those who had copies of the Scriptures were supposed to have read and understood them because the message was written clearly. It is only because our hearts and minds don't like the message that we often try to say that it is unclear and confusing. Therefore I will attempt to keep a high view of Scripture which in turn will keep God in His proper place and man in his proper place. It should also encourage orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right behavior). It is imperative as those who call ourselves "Christians" that we have integrity and that our message and our lifestyle work in concert to proclaim the gospel.
I hope by letting you see my journals that it encourages you to also study the Bible daily--even if it's only a small passage of Scripture each and every day like I have been doing on the website. The Daily Discipleship Guides for the Gospel Foundations and The Gospel Project curricula can help you with this if this is a discipline and habit you are trying to form. The questions provided there should also help you learn to meditate on what you read, and the application questions at the end of the lessons should help you to apply the truths of Scripture to your thoughts, attitudes, and actions. "You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." The questions there sometimes also help us with the Second Greatest Commandment, "You will love your neighbor as you love yourself."
From time to time, I'll tackle issues related to worldview and apologetics. That is, I'll tackle questions of Origins, Meaning, Morality, Destiny and Identity as well as what we should believe about God, Man, and Nature under the umbrella of "Orthodoxy" (Right Belief), and I'll apply these truths to the areas of Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy, Ethics, Law, Politics, Economics, History, Theology, and Biology (Origins) under the umbrella of "Orthopraxy" (how to live out what we believe). I also hope to answer very real questions that you'll encounter for why we can be sure that our faith is reasonable, for we are called to always be ready to give an answer/defense for the reason for the hope that we have. This is a passion of mine, and while I realize that not many people are won over to the gospel by these logical arguments, there are some even in this community that have that exact story.
If you were arrested and put on trial for being a Christian and asked to defend your faith, would you be ready? Would there be enough evidence against you because your life clearly matches what you claim to believe? The day will come when many of us will be arrested by the leaders of the world and put on trial and we will be given a platform to share the gospel and let people know that we are not believing in something we haven't examined. We need to be certain of what we believe and why we believe it so that we can share it when God gives us the platform to do so.
I hope this gives you a little more information about the purpose, mission, and vision for the website and community. You can find more specific details about what I believe in the "What We Believe" category (the "We" is because these are all statements of faith and covenants that I've entered into as part of being a member of my local congregation, and this website and the associated ministry are an extension of our local church).
Thanks,
Daniel Westfall
1) Proclaim the gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16:15)--That is Evangelism
2) Be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16)--That is partly the work of Apologetics (though there are other verses that give us a more specific call to defend our faith)
3) Make disciples--baptizing and teaching them to obey everything He commanded us (Matthew 28:18-20)--This is Discipleship
So, these will be the three big things that the website will focus on.
I wish for all this to be done while helping you learn how to study the Bible and correctly interpret it (which I understand can only truly be done with the help of the Holy Spirit). God meant for His message to be clearly understood and obeyed by those who are His children. That is why Jesus so often asked "Have you not read?" The implication is that those who had copies of the Scriptures were supposed to have read and understood them because the message was written clearly. It is only because our hearts and minds don't like the message that we often try to say that it is unclear and confusing. Therefore I will attempt to keep a high view of Scripture which in turn will keep God in His proper place and man in his proper place. It should also encourage orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right behavior). It is imperative as those who call ourselves "Christians" that we have integrity and that our message and our lifestyle work in concert to proclaim the gospel.
I hope by letting you see my journals that it encourages you to also study the Bible daily--even if it's only a small passage of Scripture each and every day like I have been doing on the website. The Daily Discipleship Guides for the Gospel Foundations and The Gospel Project curricula can help you with this if this is a discipline and habit you are trying to form. The questions provided there should also help you learn to meditate on what you read, and the application questions at the end of the lessons should help you to apply the truths of Scripture to your thoughts, attitudes, and actions. "You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." The questions there sometimes also help us with the Second Greatest Commandment, "You will love your neighbor as you love yourself."
From time to time, I'll tackle issues related to worldview and apologetics. That is, I'll tackle questions of Origins, Meaning, Morality, Destiny and Identity as well as what we should believe about God, Man, and Nature under the umbrella of "Orthodoxy" (Right Belief), and I'll apply these truths to the areas of Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy, Ethics, Law, Politics, Economics, History, Theology, and Biology (Origins) under the umbrella of "Orthopraxy" (how to live out what we believe). I also hope to answer very real questions that you'll encounter for why we can be sure that our faith is reasonable, for we are called to always be ready to give an answer/defense for the reason for the hope that we have. This is a passion of mine, and while I realize that not many people are won over to the gospel by these logical arguments, there are some even in this community that have that exact story.
If you were arrested and put on trial for being a Christian and asked to defend your faith, would you be ready? Would there be enough evidence against you because your life clearly matches what you claim to believe? The day will come when many of us will be arrested by the leaders of the world and put on trial and we will be given a platform to share the gospel and let people know that we are not believing in something we haven't examined. We need to be certain of what we believe and why we believe it so that we can share it when God gives us the platform to do so.
I hope this gives you a little more information about the purpose, mission, and vision for the website and community. You can find more specific details about what I believe in the "What We Believe" category (the "We" is because these are all statements of faith and covenants that I've entered into as part of being a member of my local congregation, and this website and the associated ministry are an extension of our local church).
Thanks,
Daniel Westfall