Dan Breeding: Creatively Teach the Drama of Redemption

Folks who know me are aware of my love for animals. We have three cats, two dogs, and a snake at my house. I have a boa in my office, and at the moment an 11 foot burmese python. The big boy (he could kill you) belongs to my friend Dan Breeding, who has one of the coolest and most unique ministries anywhere.

Dan has given his life to using God’s creation, particularly animals, for the Great Commission. Whether a gibbon or a baboon, or a gator or porcupine, he uses the animals to show the wonder of God’s work. Dan’s message actually illustrates how we must increasingly focus our gospel-sharing on, as D.A. Carson puts it, worldview evangelism. So many who do not know Christ have an alternate worldview to Christianity. They must understand the totality, or the metanarrative, of the Christian gospel to grasp it conceptually and personally. So, while many can still be reached by a simple presentation of the work of Christ on the cross, and while we must NEVER forget that at the center of our faith is the cross, for more and more we must help them see the great drama of redemption:
Creation–that God created everything and put creation together in a wonderful way, and in the middle of that He made us in His image;
Fall–sin entered the human race, and all creation has been broken as a result. We, though in His image, have been separated by sin;
Redemption–God did not abandon us, but came to live among us in Christ, who suffered and took our sin as our substitute, and then rose from the dead;
Restoration–Christ will return, and God will bring a work of restoration to all He has made, and we who have been redeemed shall worship Him for all eternity!

Dan has a way of sharing this that is compelling. He takes an animal, say a gator, and shows how it does what it was created to do, and does it well, from the membrane over his eye serving as goggles, to the way his scales heat his body. Creation manifested. Then, Dan notes the only thing in creation that does not do as it was intended is man. Why? Because of the fall. That is why we need a savior. So Dan moves from an educational experience with wild animals (and you can make pictures with them!) to the gospel.

I encourage you to use Dan in your ministry, whether in a whole church, or to students or children, at camp or VBS or Sunday services. And I encourage you to tell of his ministry, so some of the many animal lovers in our churches may be led to support him. dantheanimalman@gmail.com is how to contact him.