Adam's Faith

Above: me & my wife on our wedding day

What is Adam's Faith?

1. I am an Evangelical Christian & believe in the Bible.

2. Love is very biblically important & faith helps me to love.

3. I admit that I too often do not practice that which I cognitively assent to.

4. I value & seek wisdom.

5. I seek excellence.

6. I am candid.

7. I prioritize hard work.

8. I'm open about some other beliefs that vary among Christians.

1. I believe in the Bible, and identify as an Evangelical Christian.

That said, I have some beliefs that don't align with typical US Evangelical Christians on a wide variety of topics (i.e. masks). I believe in the primacy of Scripture above tradition, a foundational element of the Protestant reformation, and accordingly, believe that it's important to research/test that which is provided from others prior to adopting it as a belief in many cases theologically (Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1).

2. I strongly believe that the 2 greatest commands in Scripture, as stated by Jesus, are to love God & to love (charitably - Greek Agape) my neighbor as myself (Matthew 22:36-40). The Bible provides details on how to best love others & God (Matthew 22:40; Romans 13:18-10;  Galatians 5:14).

If I spend my life doing great things, but lacking in charitable love for others, what I do is relatively meaningless (1 Corinthians 13). "If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20)."

While faith is critical (Hebrews 11:6), I believe what the Apostle Paul stated when he said that charitable love was even more important than faith (1 Corinthians 13:13). My love is fueled by faith & by God (1 John 4:7-21).

3. Hypocrisy: I too often do not practice that which I cognitively assent to, and need to abide with the source of life, to "abide in Christ". I remain inadequate to live a Christian lifestyle apart from closeness with God according to His Word as evidenced by love, with the fruit of joy, the ability to leave the world a better place during my short tenure in it (John 15:1-17), freedom from the bondage of hatred, prejudice, oppression of others, & other sin, & enabled to enjoy the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 13-26). I think that Jordan Peterson makes some good points on how identification as Christian should not be taken lightly in light of the implications of what it means on everday life. There are passages in the Bible along these lines as well of people who claim to follow God and did things in the Name of God yet who did not know God as evidenced by their life.

4. I believe that it's critical to seek truth & to seek wisdom in life (Proverbs 2; Proverbs 3; Proverbs 4; Colossians 2:2; . I believe in "blind as a bat faith", and that the call to "blind faith" is not a call to willful ignorance, but is in part a call to see that which is not obvious through more than one lens. Reason & faith can & should co-exist. When reason is cast aside for the sake of faith, false religious beliefs and other bad things happen. When truth is abandoned for the sake of "sloppy love", it is not loving. Truth is critical, and it's worth defending, even if done very directly.

5. I believe that it's critical to seek excellence in all the work that I do (Ephesians 6:7; Proverbs 22:29).

6. I am a candid person, and appreciate others' candor with me (Proverbs 27:6).

7. I prioritize hard work that many other agents are unwilling to even attempt ( (1 Corinthians 15:10). I believe that self discipline is critical in life (Proverbs 6: 6-11; Proverbs 12:1). I am thankful to God for giving me my work ethic.

8. Beliefs that vary among Christians:

   1. I seek to avoid real estate work save limited urgent matters on Sundays. I have great support from other experienced agents to fill in the gap for me for showings when needed.

   2. I am a continuationist, not a cessationist. Cessationism is popular among some Protestants, including some Evangelicals. It became popular during the Protestant Reformation as a reaction against Catholic apologists who pointed to supposed miraculous activity within the Catholic Church as a reason to not become Protestant. I believe in the active work of the Holy Spirit in healing & other gifts of the Spirit today (Mark 16:14-18; 1 Corinthians 12; 14:1, 39).

   3. Despite the high volume of Scripture that points otherwise, there is a minority yet substantive % of Evangelical Christians who state that the "mission" of the Church is exclusively evangelistic and discipleship oriented. While I believe in these 2 things as they're supported biblically (i.e. the Great Commission), an exclusive mission of those elements goes directly against some of the passages I referenced on love, can lead to the neglect of personal holiness, & can result in the kind of religious spread of something bad with good intentions referenced in Matthew 23:15. I'm wide open to talking about God, especially in certain contexts like when people ask, in juvenile detention centers in El Salvador & Honduras with Counterract International that my father started, in writing and via videos. However, I believe that some people hammer people with evangelism out of the blue in an overly aggressive & combative way that gives them a negative reputation among the very people they seek to reach when they should be doing a lot more living out of the gospel. While it might seem far fetched, I remember an occasion in December 2011 where I was talking with another Christian about faith and a bounty hunter close by interrupted the conversation who appeared very antagonistic to the faith & to my new friend & I's conversation even though we had only been talking with each other before his interruption. He put a knife up to my neck and asked me if God would save me if he tried to kill me. Right after I defended him when security heard of it from someone, he asked me if I could go outside and talk to him while he smoked. There he shared with me about his life and explicitly asked me if I could talk to him about Jesus, to which I obliged.

   4. There are some cases where data backed responses align with faith that you might see me write about. For instance, I do not recommend that an unmarried couple buy a house together with the intent to move in together before marriage. I provide the data on why that's not a best practice from a mostly non-religious perspective with a brief faith based integration yet also provide a disclosure about my faith bias as well as sharing how to limit liability if doing it anyway.

   5. When help of the poor & those in physical need is neglected, even for the sake of evangelism and discipleship, it doesn't align with the Bible's teaching. Among other causes, I strongly believe that well drilling should be a stronger focus among Christians due to the high impact in the 2/3 world on reducing disease. For specific examples in the Bible, see:

      1. Jesus parable of the "Good Samaritan" (Luke 10:25-37), where a question about how to inherit eternal life started out with loving God & neighbor & led Jesus to talk about a priest & someone in full time ministry (a Levite) neglecting to care for someone who who had been robbed and who might die without assistance. Conversely, a Samaritan, someone of different ethnic and religious origin, stopped, cared for the person, and paid for their expenses to recover.

      2. In Paul's commissioning, that was most known for its evangelistic & discipleship orientation, James, Peter, and John, the leaders of the Church at the time said, "they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do (Galatians 2:7-10)."

      3. Many forget that Stephen, the 1st martyr of the Church after Jesus, was put in ministry with others because widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food etc., with him and others being commissioned to help ensure that the widows got enough (Acts 6-7).

Many of my other life philosophies are based on faith. These are just a small sampling.

How Does Adam Treat Those of Other Faiths & Belief Systems?

No matter what religion you are or what lifestyle you have, I believe that it is very important for reasons of faith to love all people, to seek to help others no matter their beliefs or practices, and to protect victims of oppression.

See Jeff Rich's recommendation in case my faith, which is very important to me, is a concern in case you have had negative experiences with Christians:

"Although so much of Adam's life has been devoted to his Christian faith, Adam is open to all. I am an Atheist and Adam has never shown one iota of judgement toward me in the many years since we become friends. He is interested in my thoughts and has asked me to write about them, for him. Atheists can be judged very harshly in this society. I appreciate his friendship. My recommendation to any potential customers who may not share his beliefs is to hire Adam because he is a good person and expect to be treated with respect."

Jeff Rich

While another person who gave me a review didn't share his other religion explicitly in the review (so I won't repeat it here for the privacy of his faith), one of the top 3 best reviews I've received came from someone who knew about my faith and who was of a different faith.

Life Verse: 1 John 4:16

1 John 4:16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

Adam was a Youth Minister for Over 4 Years

Initially, when I started at Garrett Realty Partners, I was a youth minister. I remained a youth minister for over 4 years while at Garrett Realty Partners. Eventually, I left the ministry to focus more on my marriage and my real estate career. I was thankful that my pastor's last task for me was for me to find my replacement and I've been blessed to come back to the church to preach and teach once & asked again subsequently since then when my replacement wasn't available.

It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, but one of the most important ones. My career had plateaued for years 2-4. After I left the ministry, my first full-time year away from the ministry, my career experienced a 50% production increase. The year after that, it more than doubled from the prior year. I hope to someday return to the ministry, but in a better place financially than I ever was. Finances always restricted what I could do in ministry.

Volunteering

• Around 20 mission trips, starting at the age of 11 for a trip to Southeast Asia, including a week in a Christian Nepali orphanage (1) & around a dozen trips with Orphan Helpers (now Counteract International) in El Salvador & Honduras.

• Ministry to the homeless (1, 2)

• Years of children's ministry at churches

• Travel hacking ministry

• Ministry in my church on the "pastor's counsel" as an elder.

Adam's Christian Education

• Bachelor of Arts in Christian Education with a Minor in Bible - Wheaton College

• Master of Arts in Practical Theology - Regent University

• Mini Bible College, aka Foundations (180 approx 25-30 min sessions)

• I typically read through (listen mostly) the Bible once a year in the Bible App's (Youversion) 1 Year The Bible Project plan with integrated video. When doing so, & like to research various topics as I go.

Invitation to My Faith Based Group on Facebook & Bible Study

• If you'd like to join my FB group where I share more from a faith-based perspective, go to Seeking Jesus in Love, Spirit & Truth

• I also co-lead a Bible study once a month based on a 1 year Bible reading plan in Youversion with videos from the Bible Project. Let me know if you'd like to join and I can send you a link. We start every January 1st.

More Faith-Based Articles from Me

I have done some writing of faith-based articles, i.e., the following:

• Should I Purchase a House with my Girlfriend, Boyfriend, or Others I'm not Married to?

• Finding peace,

• Freedom from sin,

• Favorite Quotes

• Stories from mission trips and some other writing starting from the bottom article on this blog

  
  

  However, a relatively low number of views of each of those articles after a year or multiple years discourages the prospect of many more articles like them. I attribute that number in part to my need to shift out of Wix Classic, no paid ads, the need to reach out to more people who might be in a good position to share articles directly, and work more on SEO so that something like that is less likely for future publications.