“Preach the gospel, die and be forgotten. ” – Count Zinzendorf
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Luke is a pastor-theologian living in northern California, serving as a co-lead pastor with his life, Dawn, at the Red Bluff Vineyard. Father of five amazing kids, when Luke isn’t hanging with his family, reading or writing theology, he moonlights as a fly fishing guide for Confluence Outfitters. He blogs regularly at LukeGeraty.com and regularly contributes to his YouTube channel.
Great quote, albeit slightly misquoted, Luke, since even Wikipedia remembers who Zinzendorf was. His actual words referred to advice about attitude to new Moravian missionaries in the early 1700’s, as listed in this article on Zindendorf:
Zinzendorf had an influence on Charles and John Wesley, William Carey, and a long line of people down to today, as he was a strong supporter of missions (including Turkey, Ethiopia, Greenland, and the soon-to-be US) and the Moravian prayer movement.
Cool guy.
Hmm. I’m not sure trusting Wikipedia is the wisest thing to do 🙂
At any rate, apparently Zinzendorf must have made both statements… (cf. Benge’s Count Zinzendorf: First Fruit) 🙂
Benge’s book is chalk full of wonderful things that Zinzy did and said. I’m also a fan of Anderson’s The Lord of the Ring. If you are going to purchase a book on Zinzendorf, get Anderson’s 1st and then Benge’s. Red Moon Rising also has some neat little insights into the Moravians, though it is more about the 24-7 Prayer Movement. I have a couple other books on the Moravians, but I borrowed every last one of them to a friend and I have not seen them for about a year 🙁
On a somewhat related note, you can get the Moravian Daily Text @ http://www.moravian.org/daily_texts/ which is one of the most popular daily devotions in the world (1.5+ users). Eccumenical and Orthodox 🙂
Actually, I didn’t get his quote from Wiki, but I am still amazed when Wikipedia shows up in a search result, when I’m searching for someone like him. It’s amazing the stuff you can find on the Internet!
One of my past customers in Watertown, WI is a retirement village run by the Moravians, so there’s a building named after him. While I was working out there, I got to read a little about his background (and met Carl F. H. Henry, who retired there).
Anderson’s The Lord of the Ring? I thought that was Tolkien?! lol
Don’t lie.. you get all of your theology from wikipedia! 🙂 jk.
You met Henry? Wow, that had to have been pretty cool. I would go Moravian if they weren’t so “Lutheran” in their baptismal practices 🙂
No way, Wiki is WAY too highbrow for me! Heck, I’m already learning too many new words from this site! 🙂
There’s a funny story associated with Henry, as well. The retirement center in Watertown is a very nice place with a nursing home, assisted living apartments and independent living condos. The story, as I heard it, was that one potential resident was visiting and was encouraged to check out the activities. He sat in on one of the Bible studies and was really impressed with the leader, as the guy leading it, Carl, seemed to really understand the background to the passage. After the study, he learned the full name of the bible study leader and, as the story goes, signed up for one of the apartments that same afternoon!