We're adopted AND we're wanted!

I've been recently preaching about our Identity in Christ..."we're adopted by Him!"  Now I realize I'm going to need to qualify this description by adding..."and we're wanted by him."

I discovered some disturbing facts about a child trafficking problem in America - it's called "re-homing."  Internationally adopted kids who are no longer wanted are shopped online to anyone who will take them without any screening and it's legal if there's no money involved.  Of course you can guess the type of people who are trolling for kids on these web sites.

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/08/20389259-inside-americas-underground-network-for-adopted-children?lite

Here's an except - 

When she arrived in the United States, Quita says, she thought she was “coming to a nicer place, a safer place. It didn’t turn out that way,” she says today. “It turned into a nightmare.”

The teenager had been tossed into America’s underground market for adopted children, a loose Internet network where desperate parents seek new homes for kids they regret adopting. Like Quita, now 21, these discarded children are often the casualties of international adoptions gone sour.

Through Yahoo and Facebook groups, parents and others advertise unwanted children and then pass them to strangers with little or no government scrutiny, sometimes illegally, a Reuters investigation has found.

It is a largely lawless marketplace where the needs of parents are often put ahead of the welfare of the orphans they brought to America. One government official alerted child protection workers across the United States that the practice is “placing children in grave danger.” Even so, no laws specifically address it, and no government agency monitors the bulletin boards.

The practice is called “private re-homing,” a term typically used by owners seeking new homes for their pets. Based on solicitations posted on one of eight similar online bulletin boards, the parallels are striking.

Is Fantasy Football Killing Your Marriage?

At our Fantasy Football Draft I reminded the guys that every time we take on a new hobby, diversion, commitment, etc. something else has to give.  I see people all the time who sign themselves or their kids up for one more activity without giving any thought as to what other priority they will cut back on to create the space to add something to their life.  Oftentimes these new activities are "fun" or "valuable" so we are quick to add it because we want it or need it.

But when we add a new "fun" or "valuable"priority without having the space to add one more thing, what we thought was good turns out to be bad for us or our family.  For instance, when men make college and NFL football a big priority or they play Fantasy Football, something else loses out and oftentimes that "something else" ends up being their marriage.  

One way to prioritize your marriage men, is to buy and read the book called:  For Men Only Revised and Updated Edition: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women, by Shaunti Feldhahn, Jeff Feldhahn.  This book will help you be a better husband which hopefully will counteract the temptation to be a worse husband for the next 4 months.  I'm giving this book to all the guys in my fantasy football league as part of their buy-in.  It's an easy read and will be an eye-opener as to what our wives need from us!

I Have A Dream

At nighttime when I’m tucking in my four boys I often pray that they have “good dreams.”  As their father I have “good dreams” too…for each of them and their futures.   Martin Luther King Jr also had four children and a dream for them,

    

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

50 years ago on August 28^th Dr. King gave his infamous “I Have a Dream” Speech that took him less than 17 minutes to deliver.  Watching it, I’m moved by its emotion, impacted by it’s content, and inspired by its vision. 

God gave Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Nehemiah and Mary (among others,) visions of the future that seemed unrealistic and even foolish.  Fortunately each of these people acted in faith to accomplish their dreams and fortunately for America, many people have been mobilized by the dream of Dr. King.

Like a loving father, God has a dream for each of us...that everyone would know him and experience shalom peace.  God has also given me a dream... to reach people in Buckeye who are lost and to care for people who are hopeless, helpless, and hurting.

Buckeye is growing and the number of people who don't know Christ is also growing.  How can we reach them and lead them to follow Him? Our vision has always been to reach out to people who aren't already in a Bible teaching church.  There are many people who are new to town, or who gave up on church, or who don't feel worthy to be in a church...that's who we must reach and there are many thousands yet to be reached.

A Dream

We just passed the milestone 50th anniversary of Dr King's famous "I have a Dream" speech.  If you haven't watched it in its entirety you need to along with your family and friends.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs        

Sunday in church I talked about this dream (vision) that Martin Luther King Jr. had for a country that wasn't segregated by the color of our skin.  I didn't grow up seeing the legal segregation that used to be prevalent, but I have friends in our church who have shared with me stories of how they experienced   it and still face racism today.  Largely because of this infamous speech and the courage of so many of our citizens who chose to speak up and to peacefully demand equality, we no longer have legal segregation in our country.  That doesn't means that segregation is dead...in fact I see it alive and well in many churches.  What is causing this?  What is it that our church is doing differently that has enabled us to be an ethnically and economically diverse church?

Dr. King's dream was a catalyst for significant change in our country which reminds us that it's important to have a dream...especially one that God has given to you.  What's your dream?

  

I'm a Struggling Pastor of a Struggling Church

29 years ago this week I and 100+ other boys went out for the freshman football team at Horizon High School.  The coach said on day one that he wasn't going to cut anyone and he was true to his word.  Yet, when the season started we had a team of 50.  The reason was "hell week."  That whole season was a struggle leading to more defections and my own weekly temptation to just quit.

Struggle is a part of life.  An athlete struggles to train and prepare to win a contest and a business struggles to earn customer trust and market share.  A church struggles to impact people's lives and meet expectations.  A marriage struggles to endure the trials and remain fulfilling.  I could go on with examples, but the point is that any goal oriented person or organization is going to struggle as long as they have a vision for more.

The past 5 years I've been struggling with how to be an effective leader without the benefit of the resources and momentum that I've always had in the past.   I already know I can lead when I have a pool of capable and mature people from which to recruit leaders and money to hire staff and create programs and facilities for meetings and events.  I've done it at 3 different churches.  However,  I've never been in this situation before.  My options are to "struggle" by faith toward the vision God has given me or to quit in the middle of "hell week."

The mistake I see so many people make is that they quit in order to escape "struggle."  God's alternative to quitting is called Sabbath.  The biblical principle of Sabbath requires a regular temporary rest from our struggles.  So, we should structure our schedules and demonstrate trust in God by taking periods of diversion, rest, and reflection.  But otherwise we're called as children of God to accept and even embrace struggle.   It may not be the struggle you expected, wanted, or chose, but because of the curse of sin, until we're in heaven we'll always face internal and external struggles.

If you need help embracing your struggles I recommend a study of Paul's "thorn in the flesh" (2 Cor 12:7.)

A Diversification of Kingdom Multiplication

Did you lose money in the 1990’s when the tech bubble burst on Wall Street or from the recent real estate market collapse?  If you didn’t pay attention in economics class then life has certainly taught you that diversifying your investments is the wise way to go.  That's why I'm excited that a mega-church just started a new campus 1 mile away from my church! 

Having spent 17 years on the staffs of a couple large churches and now pastoring a small church, I’m seeing something I never saw before… healthy churches of all sizes and styles are needed to reach the many people who don’t yet follow Christ.  That’s why I love to see a diversity of new churches started and new mega church satellite campuses launched.  One size doesn’t fit all.  Some people will visit one type of church but couldn't be bribed to visit another type.  

The church I pastor has reached many dozens of people who weren't reached by other churches in town nor by any churches out of town.  In fact, I've learned that mature Christians will drive as far as needed to attend the church that's right for them, but non-believers will rarely drive out of their community to visit a church.  So the more churches and the more variety of styles, sizes, and flavors, the better.  I recognize that there are many people in our town that we haven't been able to reach because of the type of church we are.  

The reason I refuse to be territorial is that I've learned that there’s a correlation between the number of healthy churches and the number of people who come to Christ…more churches = more disciples and less = less.  Numerous studies have shown that the best way to reach unreached people in America is through new churches of all shapes and sizes.  As long as a church has Godly leaders together with a body committed to reaching the lost and teaching them how to follow Christ, that church, no matter the size or flavor, will make an impact for the Kingdom!  

I've seen this happen in the churches I've served in and consulted... together they represent a wide variety of resource potential and wildly ranging populations.  I've seen tiny churches and mega churches reaching people.  Traditional, contemporary, non-traditional, cell churches all reach people.  Churches with multi-million dollar budgets and churches with no budget reach people.  If there is a Godly leader who is called and who is biblically qualified teamed up with a group (any size) of people who are willing to invest their money and abilities together, that is a church that can and will reach people with the Gospel.  

Of course the scale of impact and production is radically different between mega and small churches.  That being said, don't be surprised to find that based on percentages, many smaller churches are outpacing larger churches and the younger ones are reaching more people than the older ones (based on return per member and per dollar.)  This is an important point not to fuel rivalry but simply to encourage those who are called to lead or serve in a smaller or newer church...don't lose heart and remember, you're helping create a diversification of Kingdom multiplication.