Learning from the Whole Church

Sinclair Ferguson lectured,

"if you are having trouble finding a good church fit, then, learn to be taught by the whole church of Jesus Christ. Learn that you belong to the church catholic. Learn that it is not only the teachers that are alive today that God has given to the church."

I add two more suggestions. Consider that Christians in most of the world have much poorer choices than you. Be patient, reformation is more likely to be enjoyed in your grandchildren's time than in yours.

I have a growing interest in Lutheranism and finally took the time to visit our neighborhood LCMS congregation. It was a good week to visit; the sermon aimed to explain the Lutheran view of communion to those outside of their circles.

In other Lutheran/Presbyterian news, I'm very excited to announce that Dr. Gene Edward Veith (of WORLD magazine, etc) will lecture at the OPC-sponsored Reformation Conference in March here in Dayton. His topic is "God at Work: The Reformation Doctrine of Vocation."

Forgotten Passages

Thanks go to Rev. Balthrop for turning Job 29:12-16 from a "forgotten passage" into a "memory verse".

When Job wanted to make his case to his friends (and His God) that his hardship wasn't due to his sin, he emphasized righteous acts. And Job wasn't referring to how he skipped a popular R-rated show, or had quiet times every day that week, or that he turned down a friend's offer to grab a beer.

When Job wanted to make his case, here's what he could say:

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

Oh how I want to be like this. To be others-centered in my Spirit-empowered righteous acts, and not just run my checklist.

Adoption Update

We just overnighted our portfolio to a single birthmother here in Ohio that delivered at 27 weeks. We're not sure how many other families may also be seeking to adopt this very little (3 lbs 6 oz) girl. We should know tomorrow if we're matched and would appreciate your prayers.

Spoiling Birthmoms and Ruining Babies

One of the most disturbing things we've learned about the adoption process is the foolishness of many birthmothers. Many of the babies up for adoption now aren't open to us because the birthmothers have insisted they will only consider adoptive families with requirements like:

- Loves Backpacking
- Doesn't live in a city
- Doesn't have any other children (is infertile)
- Is an inter-racial couple
- Has that "Ken and Barbie" look

Except for the last item in the list, these are all birthmother-placed conditions on adoptions we heard about this week. The adoption agencies enforce these preferences, most likely out of concern that the birthmother may abort.

This is sad, but I become (justifiably) enraged when I hear the rest of the story. I have been appalled at how many of the birthmothers "care" for their babies during pregnancy. You would be dismayed to hear how many birthmothers, under the care of an adoption agency, are daily taking crack hits, drinking heavily, smoking marijuana, refusing prenatal care because the doctors make them "feel bad", etc, etc. They are maiming their own children all the while expecting a "Ken and Barbie" family to show up and care for their retarded, handicapped child. When I read descriptions of the suffering of these poor children, I long for God's justice!

Is it Wisdom or Just a Lack of Faith?

For years I've wrestled with the relationship of wisdom and faith.

Is it wisdom to stop having more children due to a risky medical condition, or is it just a lack of faith?

Is it wisdom to acknowledge our limitations and so not adopt a special needs child, or just a lack of faith?

I live like an atheist! How can I honestly claim to believe in God's sovereignty when I don't trust Him with anything I consider difficult? When I fight to have things my way, how can I claim to believe that God knows my needs better than I do?

I am no man of faith. But I can be a man of repentance, and cry out "help my unbelief!" This, I think, would be true wisdom.

Adoption Update

There's a good ending to this situation, not exactly what we were hoping for, but a good ending none the less.

This baby was born to a lesbian lady. The pregnancy was a bitter reminder of unfaithfulness in her partnership. She thought the father was black but this little girl is light-skinned. The lesbian's partner is very controlling and was somehow kept unaware of the pregnancy until the birth. This surprise was very unwanted; it's remarkable she survived.

As it turns out, we were back-ups to a family who had already been working with an adoption lawyer. This is who the hospital contacted with the urgent need. If they could not raise the money needed by today we would adopt the child. We are delighted to learn that although they couldn't pay the bill, their church will. So it appears that God has called out this child and for that we are very thankful.

We are also thankful for your prayer support and look forward to what our Faithful Father has in store for us.

While We Wait

Faithful Father, this prayer is for a little lady--an orphaned lady-in-waiting. Lay her in the arms of a safe, loving family. Here we are. Send us! We long to make the orphan’s heart sing for joy!

Hear us as we call on you. Even though we are undeserving, we make our case before you. We will love this child as you have loved us. This will not be us rescuing a child, but you bringing a lost sheep into the fold. We will rejoice as the waters of baptism ingraft her into Christ. My church will take her as their covenant child. My daughter will love her with sisterly affection. My sons will protect and defend her. My wife and I will humbly seek your help in raising her into a godly young lady.

Hear our heart’s petition, O Lord. Will this be the day?

Amen.

Adoption Update

[See previous post for context]. Instead of hearing by 10pm tonight, we've just been told that we won't know until tomorrow afternoon. Also, there's another family who may be interested that seems to have "right of first refusal". When they decide tomorrow, then we'll know. If you read this in time please pray for us.

Adoption Update

PRAY! PRAY! PRAY! We just received a call. A baby girl was born in Florida today and is without a mother. The hospital went to work to find a home for this baby and we said YES! YES! YES! There are still lots of things to work out, but I'm told that we'll know by 10pm tonight whether this will be our new daughter! If it works out we'll hop in the van as soon as possible and head to Florida!

[Edited version]

Doing Splits

Reformed Presbyterians are foremost authorities on the most painful way to plant a church: splitting up. No matter what part of the country we are living in, during our short stay there we always meet someone who has given up on the local reformed churches and decided to plant a little different flavor of reformed Presbyterianism. It’s now happening here (again).

I’m in no position to cheer or pooh-pooh these actions or to weigh the reasons behind the split. All I know is that too many reformed-types are dissatisfied with their church, and too many try to plant a greener pasture. At least the hope is it’ll be a greener pasture. Usually what happens is a few sheep get shuffled around and the existing reformed churches get weaker.

When I look through the publishing houses of “reformedom” there’s nothing in-print on this. What we need is a wise reformed leader to take on this topic and address questions like, “what are the valid reasons to leave a church and what is only majoring on the minors?” This issue would make a great book project or conference and, if well done, would certainly promote the peace and unity of local reformed churches across this country.

Gagging the Relief Workers

This AP journalist is upset with the evangelism efforts of Christian relief agencies. He sympathetically quotes Nihad Awad, director of the Council on American-Islamic relations, "just when our nation's [America's] image in the Islamic world was improving as a result of the outpouring of American aid in the tsunami disaster area, we hear from those who would exploit the tragedy to advance their own extremist agenda."

It seems to many that Christian "proselytizing" is of more concern than even the murder threats of the Muslim "relief" officials. Hasri Husan, director of a Muslim relief shelter warns, "we will chase down any Christian group that does anything beyond offering aid," and then makes a slashing motion across his throat.

Feeling the pressure to either be gagged or lose your head, we should pray for the Christian relief workers to boldly offer Christ along with His blessings of food, water, shelter and medicine.

Encouraged by the Heidelberg

I do not doubt God will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father. All things, in fact, come to me not by chance but from his fatherly hand. I can be patient when things go against me and have good confidence in my faithful God and Father. All creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.

I trust him alone, look to him for every good thing humbly and patiently, love him, fear him, and honor him with all my heart. I give up anything rather than go against his will in any way.

I do whatever I can for my neighbor's good; I work faithfully so that I may share with those in need.

I rest on this unshakable foundation: even though I do not deserve it, God will surely listen to my prayer because of Christ my Lord. That is what he promised in his Word.

Help us one and all to carry out the work we are called to, as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven.

Adoption Update

In my last adoption update I wrote of our hopeful expectation that we would adopt a baby this month. Sadly, it now appears that it is falling through. There were several situations that looked like near shoe-ins, but one-by-one each of those birthmothers surprised the adoption agency and us by changing their minds about adoption after the baby's birth.

We are somewhat dejected today but want to avoid the impatience of Sarai (remember that episode with Hagar?). Please pray for us.

Study Compares Home- and School-educated Children
from MARS HILL Audio Addenda

A new study published in the Journal of Early Childhood Research compares the intellectual development of children who have been home-educated with that of those who have been school-educated.

Home-educated children, it reports, "demonstrated high levels of ability and good social skills"; they tested higher in many of the tests than did school-educated children. Speculating about why this would be the case, the article describes home-education and how it differs from school-education:

"Home-education is best described as an individually tailored education (ITE) whereby the children work from a home base but often spend a large amount of their time away from the home itself, instead attending group get-togethers and activities, visiting parks, museums, friends' houses, libraries and 'after school' groups. In general this is an education gained through 'living and doing' . . . ."

The article advocates individually tailored education and the elements of which it consists—such as high levels of attention from parents and family members and a pace of learning gauged to each child—to schools that wish to reform their education programs.

There's always somebody with a worse job...

Pentagon spurned plan to initiate enemy homosexuality
Reuters

The U.S. military rejected a 1994 proposal to develop an "aphrodisiac" to spur homosexual activity among enemy troops but is hard at work on other less-than-lethal weapons, defense officials said Sunday.

The idea of fostering homosexuality among the enemy figured in a declassified six-year, $7.5 million request from a laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for funding of non-lethal chemical weapon research.

Another reason to never volunteer for any "special prjoects" in the military!

Reading Recommendations

Each year we exchange Epiphany gifts. It used to include a gift-wrapping competition, but that was the dumb part (my thoughts only, Kristin likes it). We always give each other books which we would try to disguise as different things. Now we just hand each other the box as it comes in the mail and you get bonus points if it arrives on-time.

This year Kristin gave me the latest edition of Operation World. Note: Kristin says if you order from this site, it will take 3 weeks to arrive by FedEx! She speaks from experience (but the bonus point thing is just made up anyway). Besides being the best available prayer tool I know of concerning the spread of the Gospel throughout every nation, tribe, and tongue, it's also a refresher on geography, world history, economics and government from a Christ-is-King-of-All perspective. It's now part of our family worship liturgy.

Some of the articles I gave Kristin were duds, but some were homers. The best was Rachel Ball's thesis on adoption titled "Defenders of the Defenseless" (thanks so much Valerie for putting me in touch with her). I wish Ms. Ball's work would be published so it could be available to a wider audience. Here's an excerpt from her preface,

My family has been involved in foster care and adoption for nearly my entire life. After adopting four of my siblings and having over twenty-five foster children pass through my home, we have learned much about the system and have been able to see the family backgrounds that are so typical to these children...

A look at the history of adoption provided the affirmation I had been dreading - Christians, who had at one time been the leaders in the care of needy children, had now settled into a comfortable oblivion. The children who needed care were no longer supported by Christian families; rather, they had become children of the state. Because of this, adoption today has become a governmental and industrial ministry. However, with a look at the biblical teachings on our spiritual adoption and the direct commands for Christians to care for the orphans and fatherless, it has become clear just where the Christians ought to stand.

Thank you Ms. Ball (and your parents) for showing us what it means to love the defenseless.

Road Trip

A waterpark in Ohio in January....these Northerners know how to do winter right. We're there.

Back on Monday.


Here we come...

A Sticker or a Label?

A friend of mine at Harvard Business School (HBS) sent me this note as an example of the craftiness of those seeking, not to just legitimize an immoral lifestyle, but to ostracize any who would dare object to it.

Think back to your first days here at HBS. You were probably nervous about what impression you would make, the types of people you would meet, and if you would fit. Now imagine that you had to deal with the additional discomfort of some people being shocked by or disapproving of your life. Remember the first three questions that you had to answer almost 900 times during foundations: where are you from? where did you work? are you in a relationship? That relationship question can present a major dilemma for many gay, lesbian, and bisexual students. Responding honestly can seem very risky.

If statistics prove true, there should be at least 4 or more gay, lesbian, or bisexual people in your section. Why don't you know who they are? Chances are that those people have not felt safe or comfortable to "come out" and risk a negative reaction from their classmates. So tomorrow, members of the Open For Business Club invite all members of the HBS community to take a risk. Come out and show that you support a welcoming and inclusive community by the simple act of wearing a sticker which will be given out in your classrooms. You will risk some people thinking that you are gay, and you will risk some people disagreeing with your willingness to advocate equality for all students at HBS. However, this is a small, one-time risk that will make a big difference.

Stickers featuring a large equal sign will be distributed in each RC classroom and available from many EC students as well. The equal sign represents the equality that all people hope to enjoy in our community. This is also the symbol for the Human Rights Campaign.

The trap is set: you must choose between a sticker or a label. Wear the sticker to show support, or refuse their sticker and be labeled as a hate-filled religious bigot. Which will it be for you?

Neither! But given your choices, how do you avoid their "stereotype-trap" without advocating their cause?

"Hi Atta, What Did You Learn in School Today?"

If you think your child's curriculum is deliberate and God-centered compare it to what approximately 1.7 million children are learning across Pakistan's 10,000 madrassas today.

First Year
Biography of the Prophet (Syrat), Conjugation-Grammar (Sarf), Syntax (Nahv), Arabic Literature, Chirography, Chant illation (Tajvid)

Second Year
Conjugation-Grammar (Sarf), Syntax (Nahv), Arabic Literature, Jurisprudence (Fiqa), Logic, Chirography (Khush-navisi), Chant illation, (Tajvid)

Third Year
Koranic Exegesis, Jurisprudence: (Fiqh), Syntax (Nahv), Arabic Literature, Hadith, Logic, Islamic Brotherhood, Chant illation: (Tajvid), External study (Tareekh Millat and Khilafat-e-Rashida – these are Indian Islamic movements).

Fourth Year
Koranic Exegesis, Jurisprudence (Fiqa), Principles of Jurisprudence, Rhetorics, Hadith, Logic, History, Cant illation, Geography of the Arab Peninsula and other Islamic countries)

Fifth Year
Koranic Exegesis, Jurisprudence, Principles of Jurisprudence, Rhetoric, Beliefs (Aqa'id), Logic, Arabic Literature, Chant illation, External study (History of Indian Kings)

Sixth Year
Interpretation of the Koran, Jurisprudence, Principles of Interpretation &
Jurisprudence, Arabic Literature, Philosophy, Chant illation, Study of Prophet’s traditions

Seventh Year
Sayings of the Prophet, Jurisprudence, Belief (Aqa'ed), Responsibility (Fra'iz), Chant illation, External Study (Urdu texts)

Eighth Year
Ten books by various authors focusing on the sayings of the Prophet.

As can be seen from the above list of subjects, there is no mention of modern sciences, such as chemistry, biology or mathematics. According to congressional testimony, madrassas that tried to propose the teaching of these subjects so that their students would have some marketable skills were strictly forbidden to do so by their financial sponsors in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Students are inculcated with the feeling of nationalism and the glorification of war. In addition, history begins with the fall of Spain in the hands of Moorish prince Tarik Bin Ziad and emphasizes that the "English" were always the enemies of the Muslims.

Not very comforting is it? And that's just one Muslim country...

President vows no women in combat, but watch how "combat" is defined

According to an article today in the Washington Times, President Bush's policy on women in ground combat takes just four words to articulate: "No women in combat."

He has no intention of sending women into ground combat, a mission for which they are banned under Pentagon policy. But he added, "Having said that, let me explain, we've got to make sure we define combat properly: We've got women flying choppers and women flying fighters, which I'm perfectly content with." Ewww. We have President Clinton to blame for lifting the ban in 1994 on women in combat aircraft and ships after receiving reports of women excelling during Operation Desert Storm.

The Washington Times has reported on internal Army memos that show some officials are pushing the Pentagon to lift the ban so that mixed-sex Forward Support Companies (FSC) can collocate with armor and infantry battalions within a "unit of action."

A recent briefing portrays the Army in a bind. If it collocates FSCs with combat teams and keeps them men-only, then it "creates potential long-term challenge to Army; pool of male recruits too small to sustain force," the Army documents stated.

Let's pray that the gender-based recruiting quotas that have caused the apparent shortages in male soldiers won't lead to more loosening of what is defined as "combat" and send more women further into harm's way.