Yesterday we began our challenge to raise $5000 for orphans. Marcel and Mya are SUPER excited to be apart of it and have decided that they can be responsible for raising $1000 all by themselves. We're hopeful to use this money for families within Roosevelt who want to adopt internationally.
We came up with the idea of getting 10 of their friends to join them in raising money for orphans. They have several ideas to help each of their friends raise $100. We ordered bracelets to sell, they are going to have a "wash your neighbor's windows" day, and an "orphan meal." All the details about that will be coming up soon. In the meantime, if you're kids would be interested in joining our group of 10, contact me. We will be having a party in a few weeks to kick things off (a sibling group within your home can all work together to raise $100).
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
A Challenge Now that You are Home
I have challenged 50 people to join me in doing something to get the message of orphan care out to people not currently involved in orphan care. Read about it and sign up to participate here (also, if you sign up you will be entered into a contest to win a great prize).
I will be updating on this blog as I try to do all 3 things I challenged 50 people to join me to do at least one of.
I will be updating on this blog as I try to do all 3 things I challenged 50 people to join me to do at least one of.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Tim Chester and Relaxing in Trinitarian Love
Tim Chester is a pastor of the Crowded House in Sheffield , England
Most of the other talks I have summarized and posted my thoughts, but for this one I’m just posting my notes (my blogging while listening skills are fading J). I tried to type as fast as possible, so it’s as close to “quotes” as I could do. After listening to Tim a few times this week (and reading You Can Change and using the Porterbook curriculum) I’ve decided that I’m going to read everything he’s written. This is good stuff people...read a taste of it below.
Tim Chester reminds us that the TRINITY is foundational to understanding why God adopted us.
Tim says if God wasn’t trinity then that would mean there was a time when God was not Father, not loving, not communicating…but for all eternity God was loving and communicating within the trinity.
God did not create us because he was deficient in himself. He did not need the world or need anything in the world. He created out of love because the very essence of God is LOVE.
Tim says, “God is not a ruler who becomes a father or who sometimes does fatherly-like things. No, first and foremost God is a God who loves us.”
God forgives us, but also does so much more. He loves you and adopts you and calls you his child.
Salvation is adoption because God is a Father. Before creation, God was not a frustrated ruler looking for someone to rule or a frustrated lover, looking for someone to love. No, God was a father who had been loving his son for all eternity.
--You cannot be claiming to be “god-like” if you are adopting out of need. That is not why God adopts us, so we should not adopt children to meet some human need for a child. If you adopt out of your emotional need to feel complete then you cannot love your child with the God-like love we have been loved with.
--What is true life? It is not having a child, but being a child of God.
God created us for his good out of the overflow of his love and glory. In eternity, the father and son share glory in the father’s presence.
God’s glory is God’s perfections pouring out of him, like the light radiating from the sun. Jesus reflects the glory of God. The light of God’s glory is perfectly reflected in the image or mirror of the Son.
On a sunny day, we never worry about the sun running out of light or heat. We know that light and heat will pour out of the sun without fail. In the same way, God’s love is like the sun, pouring forth his beams of love. Our job is to sit and enjoy the warmth and energy of the warm sun. We are to relax in Trinitarian love.
Your first job as a Christian is to do nothing except to soak in the light of God’s love.
We live in a cold, graceless world and our job is to step out into the warmth of God’s love and be filled from him.
It is for God’s great pleasure that he loves us, adopts us…THIS is true grace. He isn’t just being “nice” to us, but salvation comes out of the overflow of God’s love.
Jesus wants people to be where he is. Where is the son? At the Father’s side. And that is where he wants his people to live.
Jesus knows the father and makes him known to us.
The greatest unkindness you can do to God the Father is not to believe he loves you.
–John Owen
The WHOLE plan of salvation has as its goal your adoption by God.
Tim quoted from 1 John 4 and I thought it fitting to end this post with these great words from God our Father:
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.
(1 John 4:10-19 ESV)
Vermon Pierre on the gospel and trans-racial adoption
Just got to listen to my favorite preacher talk about race and trans-racial adoption (he's also pretty cute too ;)). Vermon is the lead pastor of our church in downtown Phoenix, Roosevelt Community Church, and we have a wonderfully diverse church of white, black, Asian, African, native, and Hispanic brothers and sisters in Christ.
I love hearing my husband talk about adoption and I love hearing him talk about race. Everything he said was right on. The session was taped and I will post the link once it is up on here because it is worth listening to every word.
Here are my favorite parts:
Some of the problems that happen when white parents adopt cross-ethnicity is the family emphasizing race too much or too little.
1. Families who talk too much about race.
-saying we want our kids to be "black" doesn't work. Black culture isn't monolithic. There are subcultures within the black culture so we need to make sure that we do not expose our kids to our one idea of black culture.
-sometimes the family views their white culture as negative for their children and so they over compensate based on, often, stereotypical views of what it means to "be black"
2. Families who talk too little about race
-there is a problem with divorcing your child completely from their culture. Your kids ARE your children, but they were not always your child. They have a story and they came from somewhere.
-the idea that your kids don't notice that the way they look is different from everyone around them is ignorant. Especially with the black/white reality...the history of racial separation was not that long ago.
-when your child from Korea gets adopted by your Idaho farming white family, she doesn't just become an Idaho white girl, but your family also becomes Korean. This is what Christ did with us...he became human so we could become righteousness.
If you adopt a child of a different race then your child WILL have tension. The tension is not a bad thing. It is nieve and ignorant to ignore that tension and it missed out on an opportunity to point your child to the gospel.
When we become believers we are placed IN Christ. We are not lost in Christ....but we are placed INto Christ. We do not become born into a people that makes my ethnicity insignificant. In Christ, our identities are redeemed and redeemed in a way that unites us to other people.
Many more great thoughts, but I can't post his manuscript, so just make sure you watch the video.
Here are his 4 take away points:
1. Know the theology of adoption. Knowing that God has adopted us to a family changes the way we see race. Revelation 7 paints a picture of every nation crying out to God from every tribe. When John lcoks at the multitudes of people he doesn't see one shade. He sees all sorts of different ethnicities. Ethnic designations remain in eternity, but all submitted under Christ.
We can help our children's identity issues by having a robust theology of salvation and how that relates to adoption.
2. Don't be afraid to talk to your children about race.
3. Your identity as a diverse family will be helped the more you are in diverse community.
4. Point out good historical role models from their racial/ethnic background AND their adoptive family background
5. Give your kids a gospel love for other cultures. Give your children Multi-cultural competency. They are citizens of heaven and that heavenly race is diverse.
I love hearing my husband talk about adoption and I love hearing him talk about race. Everything he said was right on. The session was taped and I will post the link once it is up on here because it is worth listening to every word.
Here are my favorite parts:
Some of the problems that happen when white parents adopt cross-ethnicity is the family emphasizing race too much or too little.
1. Families who talk too much about race.
-saying we want our kids to be "black" doesn't work. Black culture isn't monolithic. There are subcultures within the black culture so we need to make sure that we do not expose our kids to our one idea of black culture.
-sometimes the family views their white culture as negative for their children and so they over compensate based on, often, stereotypical views of what it means to "be black"
2. Families who talk too little about race
-there is a problem with divorcing your child completely from their culture. Your kids ARE your children, but they were not always your child. They have a story and they came from somewhere.
-the idea that your kids don't notice that the way they look is different from everyone around them is ignorant. Especially with the black/white reality...the history of racial separation was not that long ago.
-when your child from Korea gets adopted by your Idaho farming white family, she doesn't just become an Idaho white girl, but your family also becomes Korean. This is what Christ did with us...he became human so we could become righteousness.
If you adopt a child of a different race then your child WILL have tension. The tension is not a bad thing. It is nieve and ignorant to ignore that tension and it missed out on an opportunity to point your child to the gospel.
When we become believers we are placed IN Christ. We are not lost in Christ....but we are placed INto Christ. We do not become born into a people that makes my ethnicity insignificant. In Christ, our identities are redeemed and redeemed in a way that unites us to other people.
Many more great thoughts, but I can't post his manuscript, so just make sure you watch the video.
Here are his 4 take away points:
1. Know the theology of adoption. Knowing that God has adopted us to a family changes the way we see race. Revelation 7 paints a picture of every nation crying out to God from every tribe. When John lcoks at the multitudes of people he doesn't see one shade. He sees all sorts of different ethnicities. Ethnic designations remain in eternity, but all submitted under Christ.
We can help our children's identity issues by having a robust theology of salvation and how that relates to adoption.
2. Don't be afraid to talk to your children about race.
3. Your identity as a diverse family will be helped the more you are in diverse community.
4. Point out good historical role models from their racial/ethnic background AND their adoptive family background
5. Give your kids a gospel love for other cultures. Give your children Multi-cultural competency. They are citizens of heaven and that heavenly race is diverse.
Jeff Vanderstelt, the gospel, missional living, and adoption
Jeff Vanderstelt is the pastor of Soma Community church. This is my 7th or 8th time hearing Jeff speak on missional living & the gospel and I am struck by how relevant and meaningful his words are each time he speaks.
You can read a fuller summary of Jeff’s talk at ZachNielson’s blog and below are some of my take-aways and thoughts:
Jeff says that we are MOTIVATED to love because we were first loved and that we love in a SPECIFIC kind of way because of HOW God loved us.
We are a chosen people. If we don’t remember who we were before we were in Christ, we won’t appreciate who we are now in Christ. We will never care for the "least of these" like Jesus did until we realize that we were the least of these.
Who were we?
We are, by nature, children of wrath. We were sin. Enemies of God. Hated.
Who are we, because of the cross?
We are children of God, we are righteousness, friends of God, LOVED….in Christ.
This is part of why I love talking to my children about the reality that they were orphans, like ME, but if we believe in Christ then we are orphans no more… I don’t like using the word orphan to just describe a desperate physical state, because it is also a desperate spiritual state. It is vital that we remember who we were when we were spiritual orphans.
I was really moved by Jeff’s words to love like God because we understand and know God’s heart of love. For the nations to know God’s loving mercy, I need to know God’s heart for his people. Jeff says that knowing the heart of God’s love for you enables and empowers you to love people all around you like brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers. Let’s show the world God’s great love for the fatherless.
Brilliant words on Race from Bryan Loritts
Bryan Loritts is a pastor in Memphis, TN and just spoke on “The Church as the Theater of Transracial Adoption”
Matthew 25:31-46
It is going to take me the rest of the weekend to craft my thoughts on Bryan Loritts talk (and stop crying when I think about the history of race in our country). I am so used to talking to white American’s about race and getting blank stares and lots of objections as to why the black/white thing doesn’t matter anymore. Brothers and sisters, it matters!
It was so good to sit in a room full of white reformed folk and hear Bryan BRING IT as he opened up the dusty history books and showed the rippling effects slavery has had in our country. Here is a small excerpt of my notes that still has me in tears…I’m quoting it as closely as I can remember…I’ll post his video here once it’s up:
The issue of fatherless, abortion, and orphans is our 21st century issue of slavery. NO ethnicity owns the market on fatherlessness and orphans. Black families are not the only families creating orphans…its everywhere. At the same time, people KNOW your American history. One of the things that slavery bequeathed to the 21st century today is the brokenness of African American history. The whole HISTORY of slavery was built on the division of separation of families. Almost every African American can trace their family back to a broken family. ORPHANS have been a part of the history of African Americans from day one in this country as a result of the injustices of what happened in American history.
Honestly, I am so tired of people who don’t want to talk about race and who don’t want to talk about the injustices that were threaded throughout our short 200 year history that has had devastating consequences. I’m tired of people acting like the reality of slavery and the rippling effects of racial discrimination that was everywhere even 30 years ago does not matter anymore. I’m tired of the explanation that we are all one color…we are and we’re not…lets appreciate the tension.
Maybe it is Americans, maybe it is western culture, or maybe it is just the post-modern generation, but I find that most people I speak to my age have no understanding of history, especially African American history. And this isn’t just my Caucasian friends, I am appalled that my black friends are clueless too.
BUT GOD, and this is the hope that we see in the church. The church SHOULD BE the theater for trans-racial adoption. When we look at the history of black and whites in America (or Native Americans! Or the Japanese during WW2, I can go on if you'd like...) there is NO reason that we should have families that look like mine. There should NOT be interracial marriages, there should not be trans-racial adoptions, BUT GOD... And the church should be a picture of restoration and healing...racial reconciliation in American can and SHOULD happen within our churches!
Alright, other great things Bryan
“Any Christ follower that does not question how they can care for the “least of these” is living a Christianity not compatible with the gospel.” He goes on to say that it does not mean we are SAVED because we care for the orphan, it means we consider the orphan BECAUSE we are saved.
He quoted Wayne Grudem, “The Bible is the transcript of the heart of God.” And says that there are 2000 verses that reflect God’s heart for the poor, widow, fatherless, and alien. How can we claim to have God’s heart if we don’t have his heart for that?
Bryan says that American Christianity sends the message that you can make all the $ you want, live in whatever zip code you want, send your kids to whatever school you want, and spend it how you want…. And still follow Jesus. But this isn’t the call to discipleship we see in scripture.
Donna Theonnes on REST for the Weary Mom....
Yesterday was such a rich day for me. T4A was kicked off with a pre-conference for adoptive and pre-adoptive mamas (about half of the women were waiting for their "babies" of all ages to come home).
Dr. Theonnes spoke about rest for the weary mom and her talk, in and of itself, brought me rest. First of all, I LOVE hearing women speak from God's word about God's word. I have to admit, I'm not big on women's ministry functions because sometimes they barely scratch God's word. I mean, I know these fellowship times are important, but I also know that God has gifted women with gifts and abilities to open up his word and bring it to bear in our lives and I think women need God's word more then anything else. Dr. Theonnes is one of those women he has gifted to speak from his word and help us apply it to all aspects of our life.
The topic of REST is something that is relevant and meaningful for every mother and woman. God's word powerfully speaks to us when we find ourselves weary or heavy laden. I love how Donna refreshed us with the gospel as she reminded us of the necessity for REST.
Donna spoke from Ephesians 2: Ever considered that a "how to mother" passage? I can say I never did before listening to Donna's talk, but I think I am beginning to realize how much of these passages that point us back to the gospel are really a "how to" for everything. How do you find rest? In the reality that we were dead BUT God.
Here are some of Donna's very practical and biblical points:
How Do you find Rest?
Rehearse the gospel. Remind yourself that your righteousness comes from JESUS, not you. You cannot prove your righteousness through your "mothering" or through your children's successes.
Establish boundaries. If we are rehearsing the gospel to ourselves constantly, then we will be able to set boundaries. We don't have to say "yes" to prove ourselves and we don't have to do everything. Our righteousness is not determined by being the best coach for our children's volleyball team, homeroom mom, all-star home school parent, and ministry leader at our church. God gives gifts to the church so that one of us doesn't have to do it all.
Satisfied with God's will. This gives us freedom from wanting something that isn't ours. God is in control of all aspects of our life which allows us to rest in where God has us.
Trust God with our children. Donna reminded us: "You are not the primary influence of your child's life." Jesus is. You have to be faithful to love your children like Jesus, but you can never change their heart. It is God's doing, not yours. This is not an excuse to be inactive, but a truth to rest.
Dr. Theonnes spoke about rest for the weary mom and her talk, in and of itself, brought me rest. First of all, I LOVE hearing women speak from God's word about God's word. I have to admit, I'm not big on women's ministry functions because sometimes they barely scratch God's word. I mean, I know these fellowship times are important, but I also know that God has gifted women with gifts and abilities to open up his word and bring it to bear in our lives and I think women need God's word more then anything else. Dr. Theonnes is one of those women he has gifted to speak from his word and help us apply it to all aspects of our life.
The topic of REST is something that is relevant and meaningful for every mother and woman. God's word powerfully speaks to us when we find ourselves weary or heavy laden. I love how Donna refreshed us with the gospel as she reminded us of the necessity for REST.
Donna spoke from Ephesians 2: Ever considered that a "how to mother" passage? I can say I never did before listening to Donna's talk, but I think I am beginning to realize how much of these passages that point us back to the gospel are really a "how to" for everything. How do you find rest? In the reality that we were dead BUT God.
Here are some of Donna's very practical and biblical points:
How Do you find Rest?
Rehearse the gospel. Remind yourself that your righteousness comes from JESUS, not you. You cannot prove your righteousness through your "mothering" or through your children's successes.
Establish boundaries. If we are rehearsing the gospel to ourselves constantly, then we will be able to set boundaries. We don't have to say "yes" to prove ourselves and we don't have to do everything. Our righteousness is not determined by being the best coach for our children's volleyball team, homeroom mom, all-star home school parent, and ministry leader at our church. God gives gifts to the church so that one of us doesn't have to do it all.
Satisfied with God's will. This gives us freedom from wanting something that isn't ours. God is in control of all aspects of our life which allows us to rest in where God has us.
Trust God with our children. Donna reminded us: "You are not the primary influence of your child's life." Jesus is. You have to be faithful to love your children like Jesus, but you can never change their heart. It is God's doing, not yours. This is not an excuse to be inactive, but a truth to rest.
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