Adam Ramsey pastors Liberti Church in Australia; serves as the director for Acts 29 Asia Pacific; is the author of several books – including Truth on Fire and Faithfully Present; is in the final stages of writing his PhD dissertation on theological convergence in the ministry of Martyn Lloyd-Jones; and is very serious about joy.
How did you become a Christian?
I am grateful to have grown up in a family where my parents brought me to church every Sunday. Two important moments stand out: the first was as a five-year-old, realising I needed to be saved from my sin and that Jesus really did love me and came to do that. The second was as an 18-year-old, realising that I was the older brother in Luke 15, and needed God to save me from my self-righteousness. The latter was really the moment when God’s grace became “Amazing Grace” to me.
What lessons have you learnt since that you would want to pass on to a younger Christian version of yourself?
Oh my. There are so many. Probably to learn the art of resting in the Lord – daily in prayer, weekly in the joys of a sabbath, strategically through regular spiritual retreats – and remembering that if the gospel is the defining centre of my life, then I have lots to do and absolutely nothing to prove.
How would you describe your prayer life?
I don’t know anyone whose prayer life is where they want it to be, and I am certainly no exception! I find myself communing with God throughout the day, and have set reminders in my phone at various intervals (e.g. 11:50am) that pop up saying “Selah” – it’s an opportunity to pause, be still before God, give thanks for that portion of the day and seek His strength for the next.
Which two or three Christian books apart from the Bible have most influenced your faith?
Dynamics of Spiritual Life (Richard Lovelace). Desiring God (John Piper). The Imperfect Pastor (Zack Eswine).
Who or what have been your biggest Christian influences?
Charles Spurgeon shaped my preaching in profound ways. Tim Keller helped me to learn to see the gospel in everything.
Ray Ortlund has become a friend and mentor to me over the past decade, helping me to see how “gospel culture” is as non-negotiable as “gospel doctrine,” for any church that takes faithfulness to Jesus seriously. I think Ray is probably the most underrated evangelical voice on the planet.
What are the main challenges you believe Christians face today?
Fear of the world that would silence our witness, but also a “fleshy” response to the world in which we lose our integrity and credibility by making it about ourselves, instead of taking up our cross and following Jesus. Both are ultimately the results of small-god theology that forgets the One who is simultaneously on the throne, and with His people.
Francis Schaeffer’s diagnosis is still the best one for us to remember: “The central problem of our age … is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, individually or corporately, tending to do the Lord’s work in the power of the flesh rather than of the Spirit. The central problem is always in the midst of the people of God, not in the circumstances surrounding them.”
What encourages and what discourages you?
I am encouraged by God’s faithfulness and God’s promises revealed in Scripture. I teach our church regularly that “you don’t know a single person on earth who is feeling too encouraged right now,” and I am blessed to have more than a few incredible people that God has placed around me who are genuine life-givers and joy-renewers.
I am discouraged by the low level of importance that so many believers place on John 13v35 in our present day: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
What makes you laugh?
Almost all the ridiculous Instagram reels my daughter sends me!
What would you want to say to the wider evangelical world?
These words from my first book, Truth on Fire: “If the gospel is true, if Christ is risen, if the Spirit that raised him from the grave is really within you, if the unrivalled King of glory has promised that he will be with you until the end of the age, then your resources outnumber your difficulties by infinitude. In Christ, you are loaded. You can say with the poet of Psalm 118v6, ‘The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ So take heart!”
Which Biblical person (other than Jesus) do you most look forward to meeting in glory and why?
Elijah. The prophets of Baal scene? Outrunning Ahab’s chariot on foot? Being taken to heaven in a whirlwind? Getting to stand with Jesus during His transfiguration and hearing Peter stumble all over himself with offers of building-projects? That guy has got to have some killer stories to tell, for sure.
