As Christians we are called to love and serve God with every aspect of our being. In Mark 12:30 Jesus quotes an Old Testament commandment when He says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
In my city alone there were 9,116 confirmed cases of child abuse last year. That averages out to one child every hour helplessly victimized by those ultimately responsible for providing the care and nurturing they really needed.
Sometimes my kids' artwork is really bad. It's nothing but scribbles on a page, their misspelled names, mismatched colors or an abysmal failure to stay within any semblance of a line. But I love it all, every time, no matter what. Not because it is artistically brilliant but because it is deeply thoughtful.
My work with The Arrow Foundation involves engaging churches nationwide with resources to equip and mobilize the people of God to care for abused, neglected and orphaned children. Our mission is to see the Church go "All IN" for the cause of fostering, adopting and providing alternative forms of care for those whom God the Father is uniquely concerned - the orphan.
There's an old pastor's one-liner that goes something like this: Ministry would be much easier if it weren't for people. Of course there would be no ministry without people, but this cheeky statement is a "half-joking" way of saying something serious - ministry can be difficult because people can be difficult.
The imagery of adoption is used throughout Scripture to paint a vivid picture of the Gospel - God’s rescuing and redeeming love for us in Jesus. The list could be much longer, but here's 3 ways our care of orphans vividly demonstrates God's care for us in Jesus:
When I was in high school tennis was my life. I tried football in junior high but quit after the first season. I hated it. Aside from getting run over by mammoth 13 year olds twice my size I also suffered from severe asthma - I would literally hide an inhaler in my shoulder pads and pull it out while face down in the grass to sneak a puff or two without anyone noticing.
Perhaps we have overcomplicated the process of trying to figure out what "God's will is" for our lives when really it can be much simpler. Maybe it's not a formula to dissect or a mystery to uncover but rather the process of understanding how God made us and trusting in the purpose for which He did.
Being a pastor's wife is a great honor that often comes at a high cost. While it can be incredibly rewarding it can also be very, very hard. I've obviously never been a pastor's wife but I have been married to one for almost 12 years. Much of what I will say has been learned by watching her handle the role with dignity, strength and grace.
It was never God's intent for children to be without a family. Among the unending evidences that we live in a fatally sin-scarred world, this particular consequence uniquely pains the heart of God. This is why Scripture says He “executes justice for the fatherless” (Deuteronomy 10:18) and He assumes the role of "the father of the fatherless" (Psalm 68:5). This is the heart of God, a good, loving and gracious Father.
We mean well, don't we? But sometimes our attempts to say something spiritual actually come out unbiblical, or at a minimum, not very helpful. Here's the 5 I hear the most...
The story of creation, fall and redemption is the most compelling human story. It’s a storyline woven throughout the fabric of all of life, from nature to art to film to relationships. The rhythm of scripture itself flows along the creation, fall and redemption current, orchestrating a captivating telling of the course of human history...
We met her for the first time in a downtown courtroom - the same place we would see her for the last time nearly one year later. Although we most likely will never know her beyond that, a piece of her will always be a part of us - literally. It was the first court hearing since her baby girl had been removed from her custody by Child Protective Services and placed in our care a few weeks earlier.
Christmas is the story of a good Father going to extravagant lengths to adopt those who were once separated from Him. It is the celebration of God seeing the plight of His people and responding with the greatest gift of love this world has ever known - Jesus.
If I had a dollar for every time my family went to Target, I might actually be able to afford to go there as much as we do. Without exception my kids want to peruse the toy section just to "get ideas" of what they like, and without fail it always turns into a "Daddy I want to buy this" and "No sweetie, we're not going to buy that" tug-of-war match. I usually win. :)
I recently spoke at a church in Alaska where there are more than 700 children waiting to be adopted state-wide. Earlier this month thousands of churches recognized "Orphan Sunday" where they prayed for and called their people to respond to the crisis of the nearly 150 million orphans worldwide.
I have four daughters, and with that, an inordinate amount of estrogen and emotion pumping through my home at all times. But I love it. When I was 19 I asked God to only give me daughters, and He was gracious enough to oblige. There is something special about the relationship between a dad and his little girl - I'm blessed enough to have this four times over (and possibly more in the future!).
The people of God have historically thrived in oppressive, resistant and hostile societies. The Israelites lived under the cruelty of an abusive Egyptian king, yet "...the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread..." (Exodus 1:12). Despite the systematic attempts of indoctrination into an Egyptian worldview, Daniel refused to compromise his allegiance to God and in the end "...the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom..." (Daniel 6:3).
When I was nine years old I learned that the man I had grown up knowing as Dad was actually not my biological father. While this naturally produced many questions in me, it certainly answered one that had always confused me - "Why do I look nothing like my dad?" Now, I knew why.
We recently sat with friends over dinner who shared with us that God was calling them to adopt. They said they always had a sense this would be in store for them, but were hesitant on timing - life had become comfortable for them again with good jobs, two children and an overall healthy rhythm for their family. However, while the benefits of comfort had settled in they began to question to what end. Where would a comfortable life ultimately lead them?
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