Sailors, Saints, & Sinners

Our Adoption: It’s a Boy … x 2!

Last week we got a call from our adoption agency … a call we have been waiting on since we began this process one year ago.  The call was our “official referral” to adopt two orphaned brothers from Ethiopia!!

We have spent the past week looking at pictures and reviewing all the information provided to us about these children.  We have prayed, asked follow-up questions, talked to our families, and prayed some more.  AND today, we mailed our official acceptance, signifying our desire to adopt these brothers and bring them legally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually into our family.

The oldest brother is 3 years old; his younger brother is 4 months old.  We can hardly stop looking at their pictures, thinking about them, and praying for them … BY NAME!  We can’t wait to travel and bring them home

We cannot share much more (pictures, names, locations, etc.) at this time about them because of privacy and confidentiality agreements designed to protect children.

What happens now?

1. We get a court date.  In court an Ethiopian judge must legally make these children ours.  As of now, we do not have a court date but expect one sometime in February.  {Nothing is guaranteed until we pass court.}
2. Once we pass court, then we arrange travel to Ethiopia to pick them up.  The trip is about a week long and involves meeting the children, their caretakers, visiting birth relatives (if possible), and obtaining visas at the American Embassy.
3. PLEASE PRAY FOR THESE 2 BOYS and FOR US!!!

My New Position: An Example (Part 2)

{You can read Part 1 here}

Our doing and working are but the fruit of Christ’s work in us.  It is when the soul becomes utterly passive, looking and resting on what Christ is to do, that it’s energies are stirred to their highest activity, that we work most effectively because we know that He works in us. {From Andrew Murray’s, Abide In Christ]

The other day I was tempted to sin by saying something I shouldn’t say.  The comment would have been funny and the people I was with would have laughed; however, it would have also been sarcastic, at someone’s expense, and generally not very encouraging.

For several months in my time with God I have sensed Him stirring in me to watch my words and to be more encouraging as the Bible instructs in Ephesians 4:29.  Unfortunately, after my Quiet Time these words are quickly forgotten.  Scripture memory, “will power” and trying harder have yielded little results or fruit because they are the products of my own power.  Jesus’ words “apart from Me you can do nothing” expose the faults in my strategy.

But now because God is stirring me to remember my position, claim who I am in Christ, and let Him work through me a different result occurred.  When the tempting situation happened, I sensed God saying “Abide in Me”. I rested in that thought, I yielded to that truth, and God’s power working in me overcame the power of the temptation to speak words that would not encourage.

This same thing happened when I was tempted to feel anxious about something at church and then feel burdened to act on anxiety rather than on God’s work.  Again, “Abide in Me” and the anxiety was averted and I rested in the God who never sleeps to be my peace because of my position in Christ.

The believer can each day be pleasing to God only in that which he does through the power of Christ dwelling in Him.  The daily inflowing of the life sap of the Holy Spirit is his only power to bring forth fruit.  The believer lives along in Him and is for each moment dependent on Him alone. [Andrew Murray, Abide In Christ]

My New Position (Part 1)

This holiday vacation was much needed for me.  Like a car, I needed a spiritual tune-up.  God, like a trustworthy mechanic, was more than eager to help.  What were the symptoms of my condition?

• My sense of duty for God was high but my love for Him was low.
• My heart was growing insensitive and impatient with people and with God’s ways.
• I was carrying burdens and feeling anxieties God never intended for me to carry.
• I had forgotten or was ignoring God’s promises which left my faith vulnerable and my heart unguarded.

Then I began a slow study of John 15 and these verses grabbed my soul:

⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. ⁵“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

My position is NOT to worry, NOT to carry heavy burdens.  My position is to remain (or “abide”) in Christ.  My position is to draw life FROM Him and then give TO others. When I draw on my own reserves, I will dry up, wither, worry, and waste away.  But His reserves are limitless and unending (see John 7:38) and my position is to receive everything from Him.

These words from Andrew Murray’s classic, Abide in Christ, really spoke to me:

“God had destined [me] to something better than short-lived blessedness, to be enjoyed only in times of special prayer, and then to pass away … He has prepared for [me] an abiding dwelling with Himself, where [my] whole life and every moment of it might be spent, where the work of [my] daily life might be done, and where all the while [I] might be enjoying unbroken communion with Him.”

Murray goes on to say that “the whole Christian life depends on the clear consciousness of our position in Christ.”

This is how this is translating in my life:

1) I begin each day with a yielding of myself to Christ. I must remind myself that I am100% dependent on Him and Him only, surrendering my self-confidence to Him as my Source, my Vine.

2) I remind myself constantly that I am IN Christ. The world wants to get me out of position.  God simply wants me to realize my position: in Christ I am fully accepted, fully righteous, and fully His.

3) I look to where God is working in me and cooperate. I don’t have to make things happen. I don’t have to force things.  God is working, stirring and moving.  I simply wait, watch, and discover God’s work.  When I pray now, I seek to discern how and where God is working.  When I read the Bible, I read not looking for mere information, but looking to see what stirs my spirit in God’s direction for I am IN Christ.

Twilight: What Can the Church Learn?

In an attempt to learn about our culture so we can better minister to our culture, I will stay on the Twilight bandwagon for one more post (first post is here).  This time let’s see how we in the church might learn from this series.

1)  People like a good story and the Bible is full of them.  Bible & boring do not belong in the same sentence.

2)  People are starved for people they can identify with and relate to and will even pursue pseudo-relationships with fictional characters.  Church & the opportunity for meaningful relationships should go hand-in-hand.

3)  People want a hero.  Jesus is the ultimate and only real hero.

Why Is Twilight So Popular?

{Forgive me for this momentary lapse in my blogging to comment heavily on pop culture, of which I try to study or at least be somewhat aware …}

The #’s are in and they are shocking: Twilight New Moon took in $140.7 million dollars on its opening weekend (#3 all-time)!!  It was the biggest Fall opening in history.  And what is even more remarkable is the storyline seems so, well, so outlandishly freakish: girl falls in love (nothing new there) … with a vampire (Whoa!) … who is opposed by a pack of guys who become wolves (What!?!) … one of whom likes the girl who fell in love with the aforementioned vampire (Say that again!).

So here’s my question: Why is it so popular and why did I, of all people, get drawn into this freakishly weird love-gone-wrong story?

1) People like realistic love stories. I know the vampire-wolf part is not “realistic” but love is never easy, is way more complicated than we care to admit, is opposed by forces often outside our control, and takes a lot of effort to work.  At the core the Twilight series is a love story … the vampire-wolf stuff is just part of the “complications”, as Edward would say.

2) There is a character in the story that most people can easily identify with. Again, look past the vampire-wolf mythology to the heart of the characters.  We all want someone who understands us, someone who shares an experience, a struggle, a hope or a dream that we have.  This is the power of a good story … fiction or not, realistic or fantasy … it does not matter.  People will flock to something they can relate to either personally or emotionally, either in real life or only in their dreams.

Do you struggle with a habit? Do you have a “fatal flaw” that sometimes holds you back? Are there things about you that you wish you could change?  Then look no further than everyone’s favorite vamp, Edward Cullen.

Have you ever fallen in love with someone or something that you couldn’t have … or have in the way you wanted? Ever had your heart broken?  Ever struggle with where you fit into life’s big plan?  Then you’ll identify with Bella Swan, the main character who tells us this story.

Ever compete for something you valued and lose?  Ever feel like you’re always a day late and a dollar short? Ever feel like the nice guy who always finishes last?  Jacob Black is your guy!

{Incidentally, regarding points 1 & 2 … this why I love the Bible: full of real people experiencing real life! I can relate!}

3) The plot line is anything but predictable and routine. Most stories fall into a predictable pattern that has the audience or reader guessing with incredible accuracy how everything will end.  Not so in this book.  The twists and turns are virtually non-stop.  This is why we see the two camps: Team Edward and Team Jacob emerging.  People are pulling for their guy, but unless you read all the books you really never know who Bella will choose or how or why she will make her choice.  This is creative story-telling at its best because routine is death to creativity.  Now some will say that this creativity is too much and is big-time “jump the shark” stuff.  That criticism may be fair but the audience is so desperately hooked on getting to the final answer, they tolerate and even enjoy it.

4)  Twilight scratched an “itch” by finding a good niche. This series has proven that teenagers and women are a powerful bloc of people who were ripe for a blockbuster made for them.  80% of all ticket sales on opening weekend were purchased by women!   A film, book, or movie rarely succeeds by trying to be all things to all people.  It’s wise to know your target audience.  It’s also wise to know that your target audience will bring people outside of your target audience with them for the ride (i.e. the husband or boy friend).

5) For whatever combination of reasons Twilight has reached a cultural “tipping point”. Tipping point is a term that basically means unstoppable momentum.  People on the outside of this momentum can’t understand it, they criticize it, question it, mock it, and even hate it … but they are powerless to stop it.  Think about the emergence of social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).  Many of these tools have reached a tipping point where now we see CEOs, football coaches, and politicians updating their status and sending out “tweets”.  Only in hindsight do these waves become explainable.  So it is with Twilight — we can’t really explain it … yet.

Whose Approval Am I After?

Let’s face it, we are all approval addicts.  We want to be accepted, approved, and validated.  The two big questions we must ask are “Where do we go to get the approval we so desperately want?” and “What is the cost of gaining that approval?”

Most of the time we look to other people for this approval and much of the time this will lead us to compromise a conviction, change our beliefs (to fit in), or be manipulated by the fear and insecurity of losing someone’s approval.

The Bible warns in Proverbs 29:25 that “fear of man will prove to be a snare [a trap] but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” In other words, only in God do we find the approval, acceptance, and security our hearts want and need.  And the good news is this … that because of Jesus we have God’s approval and acceptance!!

So how does this shake out in our lives?

• It means that we can obsess and stress over what others think about us and therefore, forget what God thinks about us.
• It means criticism must be filtered through God’s Word more than the sting of the critic.
• It means I can labor endlessly in a futile attempt to please everyone or I can rest peacefully in the pleasure of God’s unfailing love.
• It means that sometimes relationships will be lost as you follow God’s leading and pursue His mission.
• It means that your source of approval will ultimately be the authority in your life.

As a young church planter/pastor, many times I stressed over what people thought of me, the sermon, our church, etc.  I was easily shaken and upset.  People’s opinions & comments were where I sought approval causing me to make some mistakes, forget who I am in Christ, and at times disregard the voice of God.

To overcome this I had to develop some basic principles, and here’s what they are:

• I must preach “the whole counsel of God” and do it “in season and out” which won’t always be popular or well-received.
• I must have sources of wise counsel and accountability in my life whose voices I can trust as either encouragement or constructive criticism (Thankfully, I have incredible Elders, a staff that seeks to hear from God, and a godly wife).
• The bottom line for me is to obey God.  Beth & I never would have started Rock Bridge if we took a poll or listened to our critics (and there were/are a lot).
• I will listen to critics and what people have to say, seek to learn, practice humility, but those voices do not have the final say … God does.  Therefore, all voices must be filtered by God’s Word, godly counsel, and prayer.
• I will readily admit when I am wrong, sin against another, or make a mistake and seek forgiveness.
• I am who God says I am, period (I Corinthians 15:10).

Adoption Update #2

• Adoption Update #1

Once again Beth & I thank everyone for their prayers and encouragement as we continue in our adoption journey from Ethiopia.  We are so excited yet praying hard for patience as we must trust God’s timing.

However, we did receive some exciting news last week.  Our case worker sent us a personal email (that’s a very big deal) telling us that we are now “first in line” to receive the next set of siblings that comes into our agency’s care through the Ethiopian government!!  She said that the actual referral could still be “weeks or months” away (praying for weeks) but this is still big news for us.

Here’s a rough outline of what will happen:

1. Children (in our case siblings) are made available for adoption through our agency.
2. Our agency contacts us with this information.  We have several days to accept or decline this referral.
3. Once accepted, the children’s case is sent to Ethiopian court where a judge will award parental rights to Beth & I.
4. Once this decision is handed down by the court, Beth & I will travel to Ethiopia (after we get several vaccinations) to pick them up!
5. We come home with a bigger family and a blessing from God!

Our minds simply cannot handle how awesome this journey has been.  Just to think that right now, God has children who are orphans that He is sovereignly working to place in our family … God is so BIG … I cannot fathom Him or His ways … but I trust Him and know that He is with us!!

Do We Need Revival?

Having grown up in the south I’m very familiar with the word “revival” and all its different meanings. Yet this morning while praying the thought came to me “Do we need revival?” Usually the good Christian answer is “YES!”  But before I go there, let’s look at a couple of things.

First, what is revival?  It is something more than a series of meetings at a church.  It is something more than an event that lasts a few days.  It is something more than passionate worship and powerful preaching.  Revival is an awakening to the reality and presence of God.  It is dead people coming to life.  It is hard hearted individuals being broken by their sin and healed by God’s grace.  It is when a group of people become God’s people (Jeremiah 17:7) and are changed forever.

Second, what does it take for revival to occur?  I think more than a spot on the church calendar, revival requires a fresh move of God brought about by the cries of God’s people, a strong conviction of sin, and mighty wave of repentance.  This means revival won’t always be pleasant or comforting, but rather challening and purifying first, following by the joy of the Lord.

Based on all of this I think it is clear that we need revival but perhaps the better question is “Do we want revival?”

Psalm 85:6

Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?

Summer Blockbusters … a look back

It’s no secret that Beth & I love movies (our first date was STAR WARS: Episode I)!  This summer there have been lots of blockbusters and we’ve gotten to see most of them.   My number one criteria for a good movie (as you will see) is NOT the plot’s believability or some powerful “moral” theme; I just want the movie to be entertaining, the acting to be good, and the plot to move at the right pace.

Honorable Mention: The latest in the Harry Potter saga.  I had never seen these movies before or read any of the books; however, I have to say the creativity and special effects were amazing!

#4 — The Proposal — my summer’s best “chic flick”:  funny & entertaining with solid acting.

#3 — TRANSFORMERS part 2 — lots of action, good special effects and entertaining

#2 — G.I. JOE — some nostalgia here as I collected and played with these action figures when I was little … the movie was full of action and the plot moved quickly; good effects.  This movie was a close second to …

#1 — STAR TREK — how surprised I was at this one!  I had never seen a Trekkie movie before and WOW!.  The story was compelling, the acting excellent with lots of good action and timely humor.  All of that combined have made this movie one I’ll see again … sometime in the not so distant future.

Adoption Update (late July ‘09)

Beth & I have been overwhelmed by all the support, prayers, and encouragement that we have received regarding our adoption process from Ethiopia.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Many of you have asked how things are going and where we are in the process ...

Right now we are basically just waiting for what is called a “referral“.  Our adoption agency, WACAP, will contact us to “refer” children to us that match what we have requested.  For Ethiopia this referal process takes many months.  For some countries this process can take months and even years.

Why does it take so long? Beth & I ask ourselves this question a lot, especially with almost 150 million orphans in the world!  However, there are few factors that drive the wait:

• The sheer bureaucracy involved (two governments and multiple agencies), much of which is necessary to protect children and families from corrupt practices.
• The “rainy” season — Ethiopia is in the tropics and has a 6-8 week long rainy season from mid-July to September.  Many government services and agencies have to close and rolling blackouts are common in the cities.  Travel is limited.
• Court — the court has to investigate and be satisfied that each child is in fact an orphan and is best served through adoption.  The process takes time, court dates have to be scheduled, and appropriate parties have to all be present.