My Kids Are Running In Church

It is basically a weekly occurrence.  When church is over, the older members of my family get the younger members of the family from their classes and return to the auditorium.  Before leaving, my wife and I try to talk to different people and build relationships.  Meanwhile, my nearly four year old boy and three year old girl are running around the auditorium, climbing the steps on the stage, jumping off the stage, crawling under pews and anything else they can think of to embarass me.

I feel bad.  Children should not be running in church.  Worse, my children should not be running.  This is not acceptable.  But, if I am going to talk to people after church, my kids are going to run around; it is unavoidable.  I can only stop the running by leaving, which essentially consists of dragging the kids to the van.

I feel bad that my kids are running in church.  I judge myself.  I did not used to let my children run in church, but I can't stop these kids.  If you are wondering, there is a reason that I now let my children run in church.  My older children, the non-runners, are my biological children, so I could effectively discipline them and stop their running.  These running children are foster children.  So, everything I do with them is regulated by the State.  Discipline is especially regulated.  These regulations make it impossible to effectively discipline.  The result is often chaos, as seen when they are running in church.

At this point, I have learned to accept the running so that I can do other important things, like build relationships.  Also, I use their running to remind me that I need to pray for them.

I ask that people in church who see them running will also pray for them.  In his book Adopted for Life, Russell Moore explains that the church needs to develop a culture of adoption.  While many things go into developing a culture of adoption, one item is praying for adopted and foster children.  Not only can the running children remind someone to pray for the children, it can also spur them to pray for other nations.  He writes, "The children running through your church halls can be a perpetual signal to pray and labor for the nations to know Christ."  In my case, it is surely perpetual, as these kids are perpetually running.

When you see my children running in church, please pray for them.  Don't just pray for their behavior.  Pray for my sanity, and my wife's sanity, as we raise these very active, strong-willed children.  More importantly, pray for their salvation.  And the salvation of their mother.  And the salvation of their sisters who do not live in our home.  And the social workers who oversee the children.  And the attorneys who represent the State, the children, and the mother.  You get the idea; there are many people to pray for.  While we can address their physical needs, like behavior, it will mean nothing if they spend eternity in hell.  My goal in raising these foster children is not to save them from hell on earth, but to save them from a literal hell when their lives end.  For this, they need prayer, and less judgment by me.

Beginning the Year With The Passion Conference

Like the last two years, my family started 2013 by watching the Passion Conference online.  Here are some of my thoughts from opening night.

First, it is a joy to see my children excited about watching Passion.  All four of my children (ages 18, 15, 11, and 8) could not wait for it to start.  Throughout the day, they were playing Praise and Worship music for Passion Prep.  During Giglio's message, the oldest three were taking notes.  Yes, three children were taking notes and this was without any parental persuasion!  After the message, my kids were quoting their favorite lines from the message.  As a parent, I love the fact that my kids love God and are passionate about Him.  I pray that this will continue.

Second, I pray for the salvation of my Foster Children, especially the oldest one, who is nine.  He has not accepted Jesus as his Saviour; although, he has been presented with the gospel numerous times.  While we watch Passion, he is with us.  Having an unregenerate heart, he does not understand or experience it like the rest of us do.  I am glad that he is being exposed to the Word again and in a different format.  He is getting an opportunity to see our family, and thousands others, getting excited about Jesus.  He is hearing that, no matter your past or what enslaves you, Jesus can give you a new life and freedom.  These are things that he needs.  I pray that God's word will not return void.

Third, when God is working, Satan will be opposing.  With the Georgia Dome only able to hold 60,000+ young adults worshipping God, the Conference is streamed on the internet so people all over the world can join in the worship.  When the conference started at 7:30, we could not get the stream.  After checking around online and on Twitter (the first time I have ever checked Twitter), we learned that the Conference was having techical difficulties (perhaps too many people wanting to worship for human technology?).  Eventually, they fixed the stream and we were able to participate.  Personally, I saw this as an attack by Satan.  The last think he wants is hundreds of thousands of people around the world worshipping God and being energized to let God work through them.  I also found it ironic how upset Christians (presumably) got when they could not get their "religious" program.

Fourth, God can do more than we can imagine, as Giglio preached.  God is the all powerful creator of the world and can do anything.  But, we limit His power in our lives.  Instead, we choose to be a slave to sin and to be satisifed with ordinary, mundane lives.  We need to ask God to do more in, and through, us.  He wants to do it, we just need to ask and have faith.  When we lack faith, we should pray that He will help our unbelief.

Spiritual Adoption, Human Adoption, and Russia's Anti-Adoption Policy

As a Foster Parent, who is hoping to adopt four foster children, God has taught me a lot about spritual adoption.  It is truly amazing that God would choose to adopt me, especially when I was an enemy of God.  He did not choose to adopt me because of any merit that I had.  He simply chose to love me and make me a part of His family.  He loves me unconditionally.  By making me a part of His family, I have all of the rights and benefits of being a child of the King.  i have an incredible inheritance, heaven, ahead of us.  I can call the Supreme Being, "Daddy".

Adoption by human parents is a similar way to show God's love.  The children I hope to adopt were not chosen, because of merit.  Often, they misbehave and are not very lovely.  One has even been called "rotten"; I was not even offended because too often the child merits that description.  Yet, I love them anyway, unconditionally.  They get all of the rights and benefits of being a part of my family.  They even get to call me "Daddy".

As I have learned the significance of spiritual adoption, I have gained a greater passion for human adoption.  I love it when people share God's love through adoption.

With this background, my heart is broken to hear that Russia has stopped all Americans from adopting Russian children.  From a human perspective, it is terrible that these children will now remain in orphanages, with very poor care.  Some are disabled and will get very little care in a society that has limited resources for orphans and little interest in disabled children.  My heart breaks for adoptive parents, especially those who were in the the process of adopting.  Many had already visited Russia, met their future child(ren), exchanged pictures, and would finalize the adoption after a waiting period.  Now, these adoptions will not happen.

More importantly, many of these children would have been adopted into Christian homes, heard the gospel in these homes, and accepted Christ as Savior.  Now, many of these children will not get this chance.  I know God is sovereign and He can reach these souls in other ways, but my heart breaks knowing that these children will not be in Christian homes.

I am praying, and urging you to pray, that Russia will change its plans.  I know there are many different causes to pray for; it is impossible to be interested in every cause.  I know my passion should not necessarily become your passion.  But, part of me thinks that God has a special interest in human adoption because the Bible talks so much about spiritual adoption.  In addition, Jesus paid special attention to the little children and the Bible speaks often of caring for orphans.  For these reasons, I hope you will at least pray for these orphans and adopting parents.

For those unfamilar with the adoption situation in Russia, Russia recently stopped all Americans from adopting Russian children.  As I understand it, they claim to have taken this action because some Russian born children have suffered after being adopted by Americans.  I do not know any details, but have read claims that a couple of children died and one child was returned to Russia, alone, on an airplane.  If such things happened, these are tragedies and efforts should be made to proect these children.  In reality, it appears that this is only an excuse for Russia's actions.   Russia's anti-american adoption policy is really political.  I understand the US is going to label Russia a violator human rights.  Russia is responding with this policy.  Meanwhile,  thousands of children are being harmed as Russia uses them as pawns.

I pray that soon the orphans will stop being pawns, can be adopted by Americans who can provide for their physical needs, and share the gospel with them.

Best Books I Read in 2012

I thought I would take some time to highlight some of the best books I read in 2012.   These are in no particular order.

The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller.  Keller is becoming one of my favorite authors and this is one of the best books on marriage that I have read.  It seems like many marriage books contain similar material and very little original thought.  This book takes a unique approach, which is probably why I liked it a lot.  As the title implies, Keller explains the biblical foundation of marriage.  Understanding the foundation on of marriage helps with the practical day to day aspects of marriage.  I highly recommend it for singles - yes a marriage book for singles.  Keller preaches to many singles in his church and he specifically addresses singles in this book. For example, he explains why marriage is better than living together.  Again, understanding the foundation of marriage helps singles find a spouse and have a godly marriage.

Weird:  Because Normal Isn't Working by Craig Groeschel.  Groeschel is also becoming one of my favorite authors.  Here, he explains that most Christians live normal, ordinary,  mundane lives and this is not what God intended.  Instead, God intends for Christians to live extraordinary lives of faith.  This is a great challenge and a must read for everyone.

Sun Stand Still by Furtick.  In some ways, this book is similar to Weird, but it is a challenging in its own right.  Using the example of Joshua asking God to make the sun stand still, Furtick challenges Christians to look for God to do extraordinary things in their lives.  He says we should pray for, and expect, God to do seemingly impossible things in, and through, our lives.  How many of us actually expect God to do the impossible in, and through us?  This book is a faith builder.

A Tale of Two Sons by John MacArthur.  Here, MacArthur provides an in depth understanding of the Prodigal Son.  As I said before, Timothy Keller has become a popular author and many have read his book, Prodigal God, which examines the Prodigal Son.  While Prodigal God is good, I think MacArthur's book is better.  I think MacArthur includes everything that Keller included, but MacArthur includes a lot more, which should not be surprising since MacArthur's book is more than twice as long.  This book caused me to see the Prodigal Son in a whole new light and how it applies to everyone, even to Christians.  We can really see ourselves in the life of the Prodigal and the older son.  I especially like his "tragic" ending of the story, which I had never heard before, even in Keller's book.

Bonhoeffer by Metatexas.  This is a good biography of someone that I had heard of, but knew very little about.  It is fascinating how he, early on, saw the dangers of Hitler and Hitler's influence on the church.  Then, how he tried to combat Hitler, even to the point of being part of a plot to kill Hitler.  I have some questions about how accurately Metatexas portrays Bonhoeffer's theology, but the book is very good.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.  Fascinating biography of Zamperini, who was a wild child, ran in the 1936 Olympics, survived an airplane crash in the Pacific in World II and weeks on a raft, was a POW tortured by the Japanese, returned home a broken man, and accepted Christ at a Billy Graham crusade.  It gives a good understanding of World War II in the Pacific - heartbreaking. A little long, but that probably helps the reader understand the torture that Zamperini lived through.

What reading recommendations do you have?

Faith and Expectations (a personal struggle with faith)

To understand this post, please read my prior post about Praying For a Miracle.

I am writing this the night before the court conducts a mediation for my foster children. The purpose of the mediation is to convince the mother of my foster children to allow us to adopt her four children, which would also terminate her parental rights.  From a human standpoint, the mediation will be a waste of time and nothing will change.  But I am praying for a miracle, praying that God will change the mother's mind and it will be obvious to everyone that God performed a miracle.

Now my dilemma.  Can God perform this miracle?  Absolutely yes.  I have absolute faith and confidence that He can perform this miracle.

But, I do not know if He will perform the miracle. 

Do I have faith or not? 

Since I know He can do the miracle, should I expect Him to do the miracle?  Since I don't know if He will perform the miracle, how can I expect Him to perform the miracle?  If I know He can do the miracle, but do not expect Him to do the miracle, do I have faith? 

Your thoughts . . .

Praying For a Miracle

God has been teaching me that He wants Christians to do great works of faith for Him.  I recently studied the life of Joshua and saw God do many miracles when Joshua and the people lived by faith, rather than fear.  Unfortunately, most Christians are satisfied to live a normal, mundane, average life that does not require them faith or a reliance on God.  Instead, they are content to rely on their own strength and talent.  My family has chosen to live a life of faith that stretches us and requires us to rely on God.  For us, this life of faith led us to raising four foster children, currently ages 8, 3, 2, and 1, and has required us to look for His mighty acts. 

Again, we are looking for God to act in a mighty, miraculous way.  For several months, the status of the foster children has been at an impasse.  The State wants to terminate parental rights and have us adopt the children. The Mom wants her children back. If the Mom does not give in, there will be a trial and the matter is heading toward a trial, with lawyers obtaining experts and preparing.  Prior to trial, the Court is making a last ditch effort to reach a resolution; a mediation will be conducted tomorrow, Friday.  At mediation, a strong attempt will be made to have the Mom agree to allow us to adopt the kids. From a human standpoint, it seems impossible for the Mom to consent. The Mom is, understandably, very bitter and angry.  While she is happy that they are in our home, she will not cooperate because she wants her children returned to her.  Apparently, mediation will be in vain.

God is greater.  God wants to do things that are beyond us.  He wants to do things that we cannot do.  He wants to do things that no one can do.  He wants to do things that are so outrageous that all who see it will admit that only God could have done it.  Joshua saw the Red Sea divide and collapse on the
Egyptian army, saw water come from a rock, saw God daily provide manna and quail for food, saw God's presence spare him for being stoned when he opposed the ten spies, saw the Jordan River divide, saw the great walls of Jericho fall, saw God rain down hail to kill enemy soldiers, and saw the sun stand still so that his army could complete a victory.  Every one of these events was clearly a miraculous act of God.  I believe God wants to continue to do such miracles, both in my life and in the life of other Christians. 

So, I am praying for a miracle.  I want to see, and have others see, God perform a miracle.  From a human perspective, tomorrow will be a stalemate.  Nothing will change.  Everyone will continue to walk down the road to a trial.  But, God can change the heart of the mother.  I pray that this will happen.  I pray that He will perform a miracle tomorrow.  This miracle will allow us to forever raise four young, needy, unsaved children with the goal of having them accept Jesus as their personal Savior and grow to be godly adults.  This miracle will be good for the children. 

More than that, this miracle will be a witness to many.  Several social workers and attorneys are involved in this case.  They all believe the mediation will be hopeless. But, we have continually told them God is working.  They wonder why we would be so crazy that we would take four difficult foster children.  They wonder why we would obtain waivers to accept two children more than we should have according to state rules.  They wonder why the children are growing so well in our home.  They wonder how my wife does so much, raising the four foster children and home schooling her own four children, etc., etc., while maintaining such peace.  We openly tell everyone that this is a work of God.  Even though we tell them, I don't think they really get it.  Tomorrow, I pray that they will get it.  Tomorrow, I pray that God will work such a miracle (Mom will consent to the adoption) that everyone will know that God acted.

I am looking forward to seeing God act.

HE CALLS ME "DADDY"

About 10 days ago, a young boy moved into my house.  I don't believe he has ever known his father.  During his young life, the State removed him from his mother on two occasions.  He has spent over one-third of his life in foster care.  Even while in foster care, I don't think he ever had a strong relationship with a man.  Almost immediately after moving into our home, he started calling me "Daddy".  In fact, he does not just call me "Daddy", he calls it over and over.  It is to the point where he almost over uses the term.  He says it so often that it almost gets annoying. The fact that he started calling me "Daddy" so quickly and says it so often indicates, I think, that he likes to call me "Daddy".

He has never really been given the chance to call anyone "Daddy".  As he called it out yesterday, Father's Day, I thought that this boy really needs a dad; this is my chance to be a dad for him.  This was my 19th Father's Day as a dad, but this one had a little different meaning as I thought about this boy needing a father and calling me "Daddy".  God has given me a chance to be a father, not just to my children, but to the fatherless.  I will resist getting annoyed when he calls it out over and over because I know that, during his entire life, he has not had many opportunities to say it.  I pray that I will have a meaningful impact on his life and that, for many years to come, he will still be able to call me "Daddy".