Humble Orthodoxy

It is very seldom that you can find such profound truth explained so thoroughly in such a small book.  However, that is what I have found in Joshua Harris’s new book, Humble Orthodoxy.  Joshua takes a look at the importance of adhering to orthodoxy for us as followers of Christ.  His ultimate idea is summed in this statement found on page 5, “truth matters…but so does our attitude.  This is what I mean by humble orthodoxy: we must care deeply about truth, and we must also defend and share this truth with compassion and humility.”  How true are these words?  With our current cultural landscape being one where you find either those who are arrogantly boastful of their command of knowledge in orthodoxy, or the exact opposite where you find those who are nearly heretical in their unorthodoxy, a book like this is vitally important.

I love the fact that this book is so accessible.  It is short enough that you can read it in and hour or so, but it is practical enough that you can take what you learn and immediately apply it. It was very thoughtful in its approach to pointing out the fact that our attitude is a huge part of the way that we teach, correct, and inform others in orthodoxy.  It is very easy to fall into the trap of becoming overly critical of those who disagree with “your” orthodoxy.  It is so true when Joshua writes on page 26, “if being right becomes more important to us that worshiping God – then our theology is not really about God anymore.  It’s about us.”  This is an integral idea of the entire piece.  Humble orthodoxy is all about Jesus, and really has nothing to do with us.

Harris ends the book with a challenge.  What are you going to do when your orthodoxy comes into question?  He writes on page 61, “We must be humble even as we contend for the truth and seem to be losing.  God hasn’t commanded us to win.  He has told us to trust him and do as he has taught.”  It is difficult sometimes to keep this mindset when you are so ardently passionate about the truths of God, but God doesn’t need us to fight the battles for him.  Overall, Humble Orthodoxy is a great book.  I would highly recommend it for those who are ministry leaders and those who are sitting in the pews from week to week.  It is good for every Christian to understand how to defend our faith in a way that draws people to our Savior, not offend and push them away.

Right here, Right NOW

That’s how you feel after the home study is finished- you want the child RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!

Recently, He-wood and I were part of a panel of adoptive parents with an audience of prospective adoptive parents. Sharing the journey of adoption is hard but necessary. God has been so faithful to us throughout the whole journey and we know he will continue because in all honesty it doesn’t end when we finalize the adoption.

One of the questions we got and we’ve heard before is what do I do to prepare. My heart sinks because 90% of what you would do to prepare while you are carrying a child or your wife is carrying a child is the exact same as for an adopted child. You have certain things you will always need to do. Obviously you need to get supplies- car seats, sleeping arrangements, supplies to feed whether its a toddler or a baby they need these things. I stockpiled diapers because I knew we were set on an infant. If you are getting an older child maybe buy a gift card once a month to a shoe place or clothing store so they can help influence the clothing choices once they are in your care. A pediatrician is needed along with childcare if both parents will be working. If one is planning to stay home after the child comes then maybe start living off one income and saving the other for finances of the adoption.

Things that are adoption specific- maintaining an active status with the adoption agency and keeping paperwork up to date. Finding an adoption attorney- someone who specializes in this an understands the laws. Note about pediatricians- if at all possible find one that is pro-adoption and consider the race of the child. We were blessed with a practice where the two main doctors we always see one is an adoptive mom herself the other is African American which is key to helping our transracial family. If you have an older child- particularly of a different race- consider where they will get their hair done. I am looking forward to Wee-Wood 3 having a great relationship with a barber- Lord and budget willing. Speaking of budget- adoption can be costly. Ask your HR rep if there is adoption assistance. Have a Both Hands project like we did to raise funds. Sell stuff, garage sell, make stuff to sell…etc to help you afford adoption. Also explore the tax laws on adoption tax benefits since they change from year to year.

Another aspect is education- while you may not be reading “What to Expect While You are Expecting” doesn’t mean reading should be crossed off your list. Grab books, blogs, etc about how to educate yourself on the many different facets of adoption. Help your family understand how to be part of the process and allow them to know how to answer questions people ask. People will ask the grandparents crazy things just like you.

Prayer and Patience- You can never pray too much for the birth parents of your child. I can do a post on open verses closed adoptions later but lets just say we grieve (and know our child will too) that right now I cannot tell Wee-wood 3 what his birthmom looks like. What his birthfather’s favorite sport is…does he even like sports? What would make them proud of him? I pray she chooses to have openness one day. Also pray for their safety and support during this tough time. While it’s a very happy time for you it’s one of the hardest decisions they have ever made.

There is so much to be done and this child is just coming into your family in a different way,  but preparation is still so similar. I’m a firm believer that whether you are walking out of a hospital with a biological baby or out of an adoption agency with an adoptive child you are never fully going to be prepared…but I think that’s God’s plan. If we were fully prepared we wouldn’t NEED him.

Dug Down Deep Review

I received a copy of Dug Down Deep to review some time ago, and I am just now getting around to reviewing it. It was a great read. It was very accessible. Being that it is a book about theology, I wondered if it would be a book that was very academic or if it would be one that would appeal to a wider audience. It has a very wide audience and it will appeal to many different types of people.

Dug Down Deep is the type of book that a brand new Christian would just soak up, but at the the same time it is a book that can remind the veteran Christian of the things that make the Lord great that they have experienced in their lives already.

I would recommend this book to church leaders and lay people alike. It is a great resource to add to your library.

I need you. Lord, I need you…

I’d like to pose a question.  Here it is: If the power of the Holy Spirit DID NOT move in our worship services, would anyone know or recognize the difference?  I read this in a book the other week, and I was immediately cut to the quick.  I had to begin to wonder if this was true in our services at our church.  Are we, am I, more concerned with the service itself, the songs themselves, the sound, or the atmosphere in the room that I lose sight of the only thing that really matters?  It has affected the way I plan a worship service each week.

Think of how vitally important the Holy Spirit is in everything that we do as Christians.  Without the Holy Spirit to guide us, we are lost when it comes to how to interact with God the Father.  My mind is taken to the words of Moses in Exodus.  Moses has already been up on the mountain to receive the 10 Commandments once.  He came down the mountain to the sight of all the Israelites worshiping the Golden Calf.  He breaks the first tablets from God and punishes the people according to what God commands.  He goes back up the mountain and receives a second set of tablets.  At this point, God commands Moses to gather all of the people of Israel and leave from Sinai.  Moses and God then have this conversation:

Moses said to the Lord, “See you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.  You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore,, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.  Consider too that this nation is your people.” And [God] said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And [Moses] said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.  For how shall it be known that I have found favor in you sight, I and your people?  Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

It is God’s presence that makes us, as Christians, unique from every other people on the face of the earth.  If God’s presence is not with us when we gather for worship to sing, read Scripture, and hear the Word preached, then we are doing it all for nothing.  Our songs are just songs.  The words are just words.  If God’s presence is not with us, if the Holy Spirit does not move, then we are simply singing and preaching for no reason.  However, when the presence of God is there, when the Holy Spirit moves, it is a glorious thing that happens.  Humans can commune with the Creator of the universe.  Simple people can interact with Almighty God.  Lives and destinies can, and are, changed for eternity.  When God shows up, in the form of the Holy Spirit, things are drastically different to the Glory of God the Father!

I pray for God’s Holy Spirit to descend on each of our services every week.  Because I want to take the position that Moses takes, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.”

You’re the one that I want…

Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat, I have an awesome wife!  We just all have to go ahead and agree on that, cause it’s the truth.  That being said, I think I need to tell you a little about her.  She is, quite simply, amazing! She is an awesome friend, a great mother to our children, a throw down chef, and a good teacher.  She is truly my helpmate, and exhibits the characteristics of a Proverbs 31 woman.

My desire is that I can be the husband back to her that God has called me to be.  Paul lays it out for me in the letter to the Church at Ephesus when he writes, 

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”
(Ephesians 5:25-33 ESV)

I want to love my wife sacrificially.  I want to put her before myself.  I want to encourage her and lift her up.  I want to help her to grow into the follower of Christ that God has called her to be.  However, the fact of the matter is that I can’t do those things for her.  But, Christ in me can!  Thank God for sending His Spirit to help me (and all Christians for that matter) to be the people that He created us to be.  I pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit I can be the husband that She-Wood needs.  She is a wonderful woman, and I love her madly.  I want to honor her as my wife and the mother of our children by being the type of husband that is described in Ephesians.

Should old acquaintances be forgotten, And never brought to mind?

This morning I was reading John 12:24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

The book by Beth Moore talked about that as a child of Christ if part of me has died, in time it would produce many seeds. 

This sparked me to think about the things of the last year. January was pretty rocky…we were living 80miles from He-woods work, about to move, kids were on and off sick, and then we met a birthmom, 3 weeks later cared for her child for 38ish hours then she decided to parent. The rest of 2012 was pretty crazy, trips to see family, a big move, terrible trouble with the renters in our house, and adding our precious We-wood 3!

However, we had a choice about We-wood 3. You see back in January we had the option of not continuing the adoption process. It was hurtful…just as hurtful as our miscarriage before We-wood 1. We choose to continue, we chose not to be bitter and to let the seed that God had planted in our hearts many years prior to grow. We could’ve uprooted that seed and said God I’ve been hurt too much but we didn’t. We tended to the garden, prepared the soil some more, and slowly watered that seed. It was a frustrating seed to grow, slow to grow and at times painful and full of tears. Certainly not lacking in fears either of how the fruit would turn out. 

So for a “resolution” for 2013 I’m going to try to have fertile soil and nourish the seeds that God wants to grow. I will try and not rip those seeds out as weeds when I am frustrated and hurt. I will try my best to not grow bitter to what 2013 throws at me. 

 

My hope is built on nothing less…

“because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel” Col. 1:5

As I think back over the events that our country has gone through over the past week, I have come to some conclusions and made some observations.  According to many people, our world is coming to an end in just over 24 hours.  If we believe the Mayan prophecy conspiracy theorists, the apocalypse is imminent.  However, we as Christians know that no one knows the day or time when the end of this world will be over.  Also, we are now dealing with living in the wake of the incredible tragedy that occurred in Newtown, CT last Friday.  Such unthinkable evil occurred to such innocent children.  It made me hug my children a little tighter, and wonder at what good God would be able to bring from the situation.

Now there are many people who are saying that all hope is lost and the world is coming to an end.  There are those who will say that God has forgotten us, or that God has turned away from us to let all sorts of bad things happen to us.  But, as I heard a pastor say earlier this week, which God are we talking about?  Are we talking about a god that we can put in our back pocket and bring out to make us happy whenever we want?  Are we talking about a god that we can control and will give us everything we want to make us happy?  Are we talking about a god who bends to our every whim and is solely concerned with making sure that we are comfortable?  Or are we talking about the God and Creator of the universe who is bigger than we could ever imagine, more awesome than we could ever think, and more sovereign than we could ever comprehend?  This is the God whom I worship.  This is the God in whom my hope is found.  As Brother Paul preached tonight from Isaiah 8:17:

I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I WILL HOPE IN HIM.

I hope in a God who is faithful beyond measure.  I trust, and hope, in a God who teaches me to trust beyond my understanding.  I trust in a God who I have watched bring my wife and I through the process of adoption and see him be faithful to the end as we finalized it legally earlier this week.  I hope in a God who has blessed me with the three greatest kids a dad could ask for.  I hope in a God who blessed me earlier this evening with the incredible privilege of serving communion to my wife.  I hope in a  God who allowed me to experience the joy that my daughters got from picking out gifts for me at Journey and then seeing the joy on their face as I opened the present.  I serve a good God.  I serve a God and hope in a God who loves me and cares for me.  I also know that God allows us to go through tough times, and yes even times of suffering, in order to form us into the image of his son.  As Paul writes in in Romans 5:3-5:

“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

This is not a god that we can control and manipulate to do as we please.  A god that you can control is a god that is too small to have the power necessary to help you in the first place.  As C. S. Lewis wrote, “He is dangerous, but He is good!”  We, as Christians, serve a good God!  He is more awesome, terrifying and wild than we could ever imagine, but his love for us is more ferocious and fierce than we could ever fathom.

Let’s place our hope in the God of all creation.