About Us and our Ministry
Welcome to the ad Dei Gloriam Ministries website. “Ad Dei Gloriam”, pronounced “ahd DEH-ee (or “DAY”) GLOH-ree-ahm” is a Latin phrase meaning “to the Glory of God”. We hope and pray that our ministry will live up to its name so that in everything we do, God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen (1Pe 4:11).
Our website was created in December of 2006 in order to build up and equip Christians (including ourselves) in our daily walk. We believe the best way to accomplish this is by promoting Bible literacy through studying the Bible and Biblical Christian literature. Another primary purpose is to share with others the good news of salvation (eternal life) through our Lord Jesus Christ. We also strive to be a positive influence on the culture and our society.
- Our Purpose / Mission Statement
- What We Believe
- Contact Info
- About the Webmaster
- Frequently Asked Questions
Our Purpose / Mission Statement
As we stated above, we have a three primary purposes, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, equipping believers with the heart and head knowledge of the Word of God, and positively impacting our culture. We’re living in the days prophesized by the Apostle Paul in his letter to Timothy “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (1Tim 4:3-4). Opponents of Christianity are attempting to re-write history based on their own worldview, eliminating any reference to God in an attempt to legitimize their immoral lifestyles. Bibles and prayer have practically been outlawed in our schools and other public places. Is it any wonder that Bible illiteracy is at an all-time high, even among Christians? This leaves those vulnerable to be “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” Eph 4:14).
Therefore, our website ministry will concentrate primarily on teaching sound conservative Biblical doctrines. The majority of our personal writings will also fall into this category. Even when writing about social, cultural, historical or ethical issues (or any other topic), we attempt to base our conclusions on Biblical principles. We also place a major emphasis on our Christian Heritage and classical Christian literature. We believe that a great mistake is made by many of the modern liberal theologians who ignore the wisdom and knowledge that the Holy Spirit has imparted to the saints throughout history, and attempt instead to reinvent the wheel based entirely on their own experiences. Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher used to say “It seems odd that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others.” We believe the classic “old-fashioned” doctrines are still much more relevant than the latest trend or “fad of the month” currently infiltrating many of our churches. A good knowledge of Christian writings throughout the history of the church will greatly supplement Bible knowledge and equip the believer with the discernment required to stand against those subtly attempting to introduce non-biblical teachings.
When we refer to our Christian Heritage, it is not meant to be restricted to the religious sense only. If Christianity is truth, it must also be true in the realms of history, philosophy, science, economics and all other spheres of life. It has only been in the last century or so that Christianity has, for the most part, been confined to only “religious” and “spiritual” issues. Thus, we hope to re-introduce believers to our rich intellectual legacy.
Finally, we hope to have a positive impact on our society. Of course, the best way to bring about lasting change is by spreading the Gospel and making disciples, but we also attempt to keep Christians informed on some of the important cultural challenges and issues that we face. To aid in this objective, we provide articles and blog posts on current religious, legal, moral, ethical and political topics from a Christian worldview, along with links to many fine ministries and action organizations from whom you may obtain additional information.
If you're new to our site, please see the FAQs below for more information. We're not sure where God will eventually take this website, but we hope to be obedient to His leading. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain (Psalms 127:1).
What We Believe
Our beliefs are consistent with the Apostles’ Creed, and mostly consistent with the Westminster Confession of Faith 1647 and the Baptist Confession of Faith 1689. For our specific beliefs, please see our What We Believe page.
Contact Info
Email: mail@addeigloriam.org
About the Webmaster
Webmaster (left) and Sons
Hello, my name is Royce. I live in Plano, Texas (just north of Dallas) with my wife Melody. Our oldest son Jeff is a graduate of SMU and is a Project Manager at an international structural engineering company. He continues to be involved in several high-profile projects, both local and international. Our younger son Justin is a US Marine who has returned to civilian life after two tours of duty in Afghanistan and currently runs his own small construction contracting company. The only kids we have left at home are our Golden Retrievers Calvin and Gracie, and our German Shepherd Kara Mia.
I was blessed with a godly mother who carried me to church every Sunday from the time I was in diapers. Twelve years later, solely by the grace of God and faith in the Person and works of Jesus Christ, I became a Christian. In addition to this ministry, I'm currently employed with an international Engineering and Construction company, and currently designing electrical substations and transmission and distribution facilities for several marine shipping terminal ports on the east coast. In the recent past, I completed electrical substations and communications for several industrial cities that are now under construction in the Middle East. In the fall of 2021, after several years of talking about it, I finally cut back from full to flex time in order to dedicate additional time to our ministries.
In the past, I spent many years residing at various jobsites during the construction phases of the projects, so I didn't have the opportunity and privilege of a formal seminary education. Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I was able to use a portion of my travel incentives and per diem to finance a huge library of biblical, theological, historical, apologetics and other related books and lecture materials. In addition, the nights and weekends at the various hotels offered plenty of quality study time. Thus, God worked things out for good by providing the means by which I could obtain an informal education while simultaneously supporting my family. When God calls, he is always faithful to equip.
Even today, I enjoy studying the giants of the faith such as St Augustine, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, the Puritan writers and many others. I also enjoy reading some of the more contemporary authors such as AW Pink, Norman Geisler, Alfred Edersheim, GK Chesterton, Adrian Rogers, RC Sproul, AW Tozer, Frances Schaeffer, Nancy Pearcey, Alister McGrath, D James Kennedy, and John MacArthur among many others. I hope to always remain teachable and to continue learning.
This website is primarily written, coded and maintained by myself, along with a few friends and colleagues who contribute to the ministry and website in various ways. I typically write in a conversational style. My primary goal is to clearly explain the topic rather than attempt to impress the reader with literary style. This comes natural since English was never my best subject. A large portion of the material comes from classes that I’ve taught over the years (Sunday School, Bible Study, Home Groups etc). Other articles originate from correspondence with various friends and colleagues (which will remain anonymous unless permission has been granted), researching topics of interest, and from life experiences.
Although I often come up short, I attempt to maintain a proper balance between charity and conviction. I believe there can be no compromise on the essential doctrines of the Faith, but there is certainly room for respectful debate on matters of conscience. We welcome your thoughts and comments, even when you disagree with us on a particular subject. I often receive invaluable insights from folks that may differ theologically on some issues. I’ve also found that most folks with whom I've disagreed were not my “enemy”, but were sincerely seeking the truth, just like myself.
Below are some FAQ’s that provide additional information on our ministry and website. Please email us with any additional questions, comments, suggestions, complaints etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who is your intended audience?
- How do I find stuff on this site?
- When are you going to “modernize” the look of your site?
- Is a “mobile” version of your site available?
- Why is “God” sometimes written as “G-d” on your website?
- Is ADGM a non-profit organization?
- Is ADGM affiliated with a church or denomination?
- Is ADGM Reformed?
- Can I copy or link to ADGM (Copyright Policy)?
- Can I submit writings for publication?
Who is your intended audience?
We created this website for anyone who shares our passion of wanting to know more about the Christian Faith (this includes “heart knowledge” as well as “head knowledge”). We attempt to offer sound teaching based upon conservative biblical principles, along with some social and cultural information of interest to Christians and others who hold to traditional moral values. Many of our writings do contain technical theological terms and “Christianese”, but we attempt to define these terms as we go. I think one of the highest complements a theological writer can receive is “His/Her writings are scholarly, but I can understand them without having to look up every other word in a dictionary”, but just in case we fail, we also have our online dictionary. We hope that everyone from non-Christians and new believers to seminary students and pastors will be blessed by visiting our site.
That said, we realize that we'll never be as popular as the “tickle the ear” celebrity religious sites who compromise and distort the Word for their own profit and popularity. While we do offer some lighter writings and “bridge” pages in an attempt to attract those who would not typically visit a Christian site, we pray that we will always write to please God rather than man. Thus in reality, our audience will often be limited to the “remnant” seeking to go deeper into the Word.
How do I find stuff on this site?
In January 2018, we added “drop down” menus with links to our major sections. These menus are now located just below the top header on almost all our pages. If you are new to our site, we suggest also visiting our Site Map which contains additional descriptions with links to these major sections. If you’re looking for a specific topic, you might also want to utilize our Search Engine. In addition, all sections can be reached via links at the bottom of the home page.
Many of our articles can be reached from multiple locations. For example, articles may be listed by Bible Book, by Theological Doctrine, by other Authors, or by many other categories.
When are you going to “modernize” the look of your site?
Actually, we get this question in many forms, along with well-meaning advice such as “fancy up” and “add some bells and whistles”, usually from some of our closest friends. We certainly appreciate the input (even the occasional good-natured ribbing from our friends) and have no objections to “modernizing” the look of our site. For several years, I dropped out of engineering design and ran a computer graphics firm, so I love working with graphics. I also enjoy coding and programming, but unfortunately, most of the fanciest bells and whistles requires flash plug-ins, various scripts etc. The more features that are added to a page, the more computing power is required for loading.
This is generally not a problem to the reader using the latest equipment and browsers, and the fastest internet connections, but a substantial portion of our readers access our site from developing and third world countries. We’ve been informed by missionaries from South America and the Far East that there is a shortage of available “dial-up” and “slow connection” compatible Christian sites in their ministry areas.
In addition, our time is limited, so our primary attention is given to content and efficiency. Thus, we primarily aim for simple and clean but pleasing layouts rather than the slower loading fancy stuff. That said, we’re still adding additional features while attempting to maintain a good balance between aesthetics and functionality, and honoring our commitment to those with older equipment and slower internet services.
We recently (January 2018) finished re-coding the entire site in HTML5/CSS to add additional features without sacrificing loading speed and efficiency (most should actually load faster). The upgrade also includes enlarged text (approximately 15%) for easier reading, a new navbar for improved inter-section linking and browsing, and other enhancements.
Is a “mobile” version of your site available?
When we originally created our main website back in 2006, programming for a handful of the most popular monitor resolutions covered 95% of the desktop and laptop computers in use, so we initially chose to set our pages at a fixed width for ease of printing on 8.5” x 11” paper. In the past several years however, there has been an explosion of display devices from widescreens to tablets to mobile phones. Therefore, we re-coded our pages to accommodate these devices.
In April of 2014, we completed the conversion of our pages from fixed widths to “fluid” widths with text and image wraps. This allowed our pages to be responsive to the diverse sizes and types of reader devices by automatically re-sizing such that horizontal scrolling is minimized or eliminated on most devices.
In August of 2016, we began re-coding all pages with HTML5 and CSS3 (completed January 2018). This coding includes media queries to recognize the screen size of the user's device and automatically make certain display adjustments to our page accordingly for mobile phones, i-pads, kindles etc. These upgrades should eliminate the need for separate “mobile versions” but we may create some for select pages in the future.
Our blog, the Real Issue does have a separate mobile version.
Why is “God” sometimes written as “G-d” on your website?
This custom derives from years of studying the Jewish roots of Christianity. For many Jews, this is a way of showing respect and reverence, and actually being in awe of the names of G-d. We must however, avoid writing G-d in a mechanical or legalistic sense, but every time we write G-d with a dash, it should remind us of the holy sacredness of the Name. On this website, we usually limit the practice to some of our Hebrew heritage writings.
Is ADGM a non-profit organization?
Yes, but not officially. We have not filed for 501(c)3 non-profit status due to concerns that government regulations might limit our activities and ministry. We currently fund the ministry from our private resources and have never solicited monetary donations. We suggest you reserve the primary portions of your giving for your local church.
The most important thing you can do to support us is to pray. If the apostle Paul felt the need to constantly ask for prayer, how much more do we? We do offer resources for purchasing through our Resource Shop which benefits our ministry. Please see our Support Us page for more info.
Is ADGM affiliated with a church or denomination?
Our ministry is not officially affiliated with any specific local church or denomination.
Is ADGM “Reformed”?
A large portion of our beliefs generally line up with the classic reformed positions; however we arrive at these interpretations by utilizing the Bible as the ultimate authority. In other words, we attempt to allow the inspired writers of Holy Scripture speak for themselves, rather than attempting to force the meaning of the text into a particular position or creed. We should avail ourselves of wise and competent teachers of the Word that God has raised up throughout history (Eph 4:11-13), but also be like the Bereans in comparing all we hear with the Scriptures.
Personally, I dislike labels other than “Biblicist”, but would probably be considered a conservative reformed protestant. Several close friends and family members are Roman Catholic. Even though I personally disagree with some of their doctrinal interpretations (we have some very interesting discussions), I greatly respect their stances on many moral and social issues.
Speaking of Ecumenism (unity among church denominations) vs Polemics (debates and disputes), I believe we can work together with those of differing doctrinal stances on issues such as the right to life, but at the same time, the Truth can't be compromised. There are certain doctrines that we consider non-debatable such as the Inerrancy of the Bible, the Trinity, the Deity, bodily Resurrection and Return of Christ, Salvation by Grace through Faith, and the Gospel message itself (see What We Believe). On these, we write with conviction, attempting to speak the truth with love and respect. On the secondary and tertiary issues (where the Scriptures are silent or legitimately open to interpretation), we attempt to write with charity, giving a balanced account of differing beliefs and interpretations.
Can I copy from or link to ADGM?
Please feel free to link to any of our pages. We also have a very liberal policy regarding copying and posting for personal, church or non-profit use. Please see our Copyright Page for additional information.
Can I submit articles for publication?
Please do. See our Guest Posting Guidelines for additional info.