Severance

I just realized that I had yet to put up an update on our boys. Their biological parents had their rights severed late last month. Now the boys are wards of the state and there are only a few more hurdles and they will be available for us to adopt. There was some mix up with the baby and the biological father’s name was left off the birth certificate. So they now have to put an ad in a local paper for a John Doe that may have had “relations” with the biological mother sometime around the New Years of 2009. No kidding. Nothing ever comes from these things but it will be a few more months until we can make the adoption complete. Right now we are hoping for the official adoption to be in April of next year.

We’d appreciate and covet your prayers for us through this. It’s been a great comfort to us to know that many of you have been praying for us. The next few months are going to be busy for us. We have sold our house and are renting an apartment for the next 6 months. It’s too soon to comment but we are already thinking about what’s next for us and our family.

Tags: severance

Rick Warren and “Angry Calvinists”

This week is full of controversy in the blogospere and it’s been making me think a lot about “doing” ministry. Motivations and methods have been at the forefront of my thoughts. We are in the early stages of planning a possible big life change. It started me thinking outside the box about ministry. Here’s my big question. What do you do if you move to a place that lacks any discernable presence of believers who are both mission orientated in mindset and reformed in theology? I asked Acts 29 guy Darrin Patrick about this and his response to this lack of churches from our team was “plant one.” Of course, his new book is titled “Church Planter” so how could answer anything but still, Could I? Could we? Should we? Am I equipped, gifted, and called? I don’t really know the final answer but I’m seeking wise counsel. Certainly, I’ve been the recipient of some of the best non-seminary theological traing and I can teach and am reasonably effective doing so. But am I called? This is even further clouded by the fact that I’m persona non-grata with the local Acts 29 church planting guru. It’s a long story and not fit for public consumption.

I’m getting off topic though. I’m starting to notice the nuts and bolts of “doing” ministry more and more. Thinking, plotting, scheming. What would work in our context? How might we be effective ministers of the Gospel? Both where we are at and where we might be heading. Still straying but I’m coming back right now. This weekend is the annual Desiring God National Conference. It’s like the Haji for reformed Christians. John Piper’s church in Minneapolis puts it on and it’s usually a who’s who of our little sect. Sure there are other conferences but this is one, along with Ligionier’s conferences, are really the old timers in the reformed world. This year they brought in Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren. If you don’t know Warren you should come out of the rock that you’ve been living under. He’s the Purpose Driven Life guy. There’s not a whole lot I like about that book but overall I think Warren is a good guy who truly desires to see God Glorified. Do I agree with all his methods? Not even close. When you see him on national media outlets like Larry King Live, amongst others, he’s often vague even on issues that Scripture is clear about. In other more “christian” settings he seems to become crystal clear. Enough with the critisicm though. The point is that this guy clearly loves Jesus and wants to see him Glorified in our world. That’s the bottom line.

So Rick Warren, gets asked to come to John Piper’s Desiring God conference and the “truly” Reformed hitmen in the blogosphere go nuts. I mean they are ready to go crazy over the whole deal. Since the announcement there’s been a slow building critiscm of him and of Piper leading up to his talk on Friday night. There’s been a steady stream of chum put into the water in anticipation. Warren regretfully wasn’t able to appear in person and had to do a videotape presentation due to some family issues and by all accounts was rather non-controversial. Except, that wasn’t good enough for some of the “angry calvinists” as some of these guys have been dubbed. There was quite the twitter fest attacking Warren. So much so that Ed Stetzer posted the following tweet:

Disappointed to see the trolls out during the @RickWarren #DGNC message. Get a new “ministry.”#TiredOfAngryCalvinists

This got Stetzer both a lot of retweets from fans and a lot of rebukes from the “Angry Calvinists.” Normally I’d find it all fascinating if not for the fact that there seems to be a clear lack of love. The “Angry Calvinist” will argue all day that love isn’t tolerance and that they must stand on the truth that is God’s Word. Hey, Rick Warren might just be a heretic. They are wrong, of course, but don’t let that stop them. Some folks use these guys jerky behavior as a reason to reject reformed theology. I think that’s poppycock. That’s like the old Gandhi quote saying he likes Jesus but not his followers. Deal with the reality of Jesus, Mr Gandhi not his followers. Rabbit trail again. Back to Rick Warren. What I admire about Rick Warren is that he gets one of the most important things about doing ministry. He gets that the world is a dying place desperately needing Christ and the Life he brings. Even better, he’s committed to bringing Christ to the World. Imperfectly, yes. Sometimes poorly, but he gets it. How many of us “Angry Calvinists” don’t even take our exalted Christ to the world? Somehow we run this get hospital called the church and only invite the healthy to come into it. It’s like having the only taco stand for 1,000 miles and telling starving people they need shirts and shoes for service knowing full well that our gift shop is the only place in town with shirts and shoes to wear. Ok, that analogy is getting way out of control but you get where I’m going. Go into this world, love the people in it, serve them like Jesus served them, and proclaim the richness of His Grace to us. Call them into the hospital to be made well or the taco stand to get a belly full of taco goodness. Why don’t we get this? Warren totally gets this and for that I totally respect the guy. Sure, I groan at some of the stuff he says. Whatever path my life and ministry takes I’d be more effective and pleasing to my Lord if I was a bit more like Rick Warrent and a bit less like my “Angry Calvinist” friends.

There’s a lukewarm review of Warren’s talk over at the Gospel Coalition blog HERE. I think it’s accurate even if it might be a bit clinical.

One last thing. XIANITY is my favorite guy on twitter and he had the best tweet concerning the whole affair. This hits the nail on the head:

CONFERENCES: Upset that @RickWarren wasn’t there in person, angry Calvinists spend hours arguing with LCD projector. #DGNC

The Hearing

The court hearing went as expected today. Neither boys parents showed up and the case plan was indeed changed to severance and adoption. This is great news. Over the next 90 days there will be several more hearings and a trial to complete the process. Obviously nothing is complete yet but this is a huge step in the process. There are two things that I wanted to share.

First, the boys great grandmother and aunt were at the hearing. Great Grandma is perhaps in her mid 70s. Small and frail she grabbed Susan at the end and asked to talk to her. Susan freaked out a bit and said she had to go. The CPS worker also told us that legally she had no right to information about the case. In retrospect both Susan and I had wished that we had interacted more with her. She had requested the boys be placed with her but her home was deemed unfit due to all kinds of unseemly stuff. Putting all that aside she obviously is someone that was hurting and seeing her flesh and blood separated from her family. Even though we can’t speak much of the boys, I hope she comes to the next hearing. I want her to know that they are doing great and that they are loved by us and all of you. This brings us to the aunt. She would be an attractive young lady if not for the fact that she has sores on her face and weighs about 90 pounds. She looks like a model for one of those meth billboards you see around town. It’s gruesome and heartbreaking. My eyes are full of tears as I’m praying that God would deliver her from this drug and the death sentence that it brings.

In our home we’ve started talking about adoption. We have always been open with Paige about her adoption. We frequently talk about the reality that God brought us together for His Glory as a forever family. We also talk about the nature of adoption and that our family is a picture of God’s adoption of us through his Son. Ethan, Paige, and I started talking adoption by looking at pictures of Paige’s adoption day photos. We talked about Ethan and Bubba’s day and what a great day that will be. We also talked about names. Bubba’s name will be Mark Haddon. Mark after my brother and Haddon in tribute to 19th Century Pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon. We will call him Haddon. Ethan is still under discussion. We want him to be involved with the process. Susan likes Ethan James(my middle name) and calling him EJ. He also thinks this is really cool. I like Scott Ethan. We’ll see where it goes. Feel free to suggest names.

Here’s a fun photo from Paige’s day. We hope to have a complementary one for the boys in early 2011.

Tags: adoption, Court, drug addiction, sin

It’s Court Time Again

It is most certainly court time again for the boys. On Wednesday(8/11) there will be a permanency hearing where the case plan will be changed from reunification to severance and adoption. This is, of course, unless something really strange happens and the case plan doesn’t change. Nothings ever really a done deal with the state until it’s done. I remember being very anxious to complete Paige’s adoption for this very reason.

Currently the boys mother is involved with a drug and prostitution ring is Southern California and told the case worker that she is not going to pursue the keeping the boys but is trying to reunite with an older child that she had. The father is still here but has continually refused to do anything that the court has asked(ie. drug tests, psychological evaluations, etc.) I expect the father to contest the proposed severance. If that is the case a trial will be held. The outcome is somewhat certain. Neither parent has shown any aptitude or real effort to parent the boys.

Those are the facts but it says very nothing about what’s going on in our hearts. We are, at this point, heartbroken for these two. I can’t imagine anything that would keep someone from doing whatever they had to do to care for these two special little boys. I have no clue what it’s like to be mentally ill and addicted to drugs so I will refrain judging them harshly. What I do know is that true deliverance from these things can only come through Christ and we are praying fervently that God would deliver both of them.

I’ve said very little about the boys so I’ll share. Elijah(Bubba as we call him) turns One next week. We are very excited about this. Some of you have asked why we call him Bubba. There are at least a few answers. First, it was somewhat funny to call a 4 pound baby Bubba. God, it seems, thought so as well and developed him into a chunky little Bubba. Second, we will change his name if and when he’s adopted anyway. There’s also a long line of little boys in my family being called Bubba including myself. Beyond the name, he is a pure joy. I prepared a little video of his first year for his upcoming party. You can see it here. All boy, all the time he loves to yell, pinch, and bite. He’s entirely destructive and is starting to leave quite a trail in his wake. He does, however, have his moments and loves to cuddle with Mommy. Although he does throw a head butt or two in there to remind everyone how tough he is. Even with a name like Bubba he’s a ladies man enduring himself to all the college girls at church, especially the blondes. He’s pulling himself to stand, has two teeth, and is eating all kinds of big people food. God has been very good to him bringing him from a 10 week early drug exposed baby to a normal 1 year old.

It’s been a tough year for Ethan. He’ll be Four in October. He was ripped from the only life he’s ever known and dropped into our crazy little world. He basically got a twin sister with way more personality than any child should be allowed to have and us as his wacky parents. He really is a trooper. He had to have dental surgery with something like three crowns and eight cavities filled this spring. He didn’t know what a tooth brush was when he got to us. His speech was also almost unintelligible when he arrived. Being with a talkative sister has helped greatly with that. His doctor recently remarked that he couldn’t believe he was talking to the same little boy from late last year. He is a very bright little boy. I suspect more gifted in math, science, and engineering than the liberal arts. He’s got a mind geared toward problem solving. Ethan also is quite a little athlete. He took to the pool this summer and is an excellent swimmer. He starts Karate soon. I’m sure he’ll do great.

To say that Ethan and Elijah are our family is beyond obvious and an understatement. They aren’t ours though. They are God’s. The last thing in the world that we want to do is hold onto them tightly. Like Abraham with Isaac we want to offer that which is most precious to us to Him. Trusting that He alone is good and He alone can provide. We would ask for just a couple of prayers from you. First, please pray that God would grant mercy and knowledge of Himself to the boys parents. Second, please pray that the severance and adoption process would go smoothly if that is God’s will. Finally, please pray that all of us would find our contentment and joy in Jesus alone.

Tags: adoption, Foster Care

Resolved 2010

We trekked from hot Phoenix(111) to a slightly less hot Palm Springs(105). Believe it or not we noticed the difference. It’s one of those strange desert dweller things. It was an uneventful ride over with 20 or so Young Adults from CBC. This is a great opportunity to get to know them better while getting some great biblical teaching.

For those of you that don’t know Resolved is the brainchild of College Pastor Rick Holland at Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, CA. In addition to Rick we’ll be hearing from Steve Lawson, Al Mohler, CJ Maheny, and John MacArthur. It’s a great lineup and I’m excited for our students and myself to be able to hear from these great American Theologians/Pastors.

Why Resolved? In addition, to being a cool one word title(aren’t all conferences these days) Resolved refers to the 70 resolutions that a 19 year old Jonathan Edwards made that changed his life, the life of America, and the face of Evangelicalism profoundly. While the conference isn’t primarily a celebration of Jonathan Edwards but rather a desire that this generation of young people would “resolve” to live their lives in a radical and biblical way transformed by the Grace of God and Truth of His Word. The theme this year is Jesus and Rick shared with us that two of Edwards’ resolutions guided their direction. here they are:

53. Resolved, to improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer.
48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or no; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of.

The Conference stands out among the plethora of other conferences out there. There were no breakout sessions. None of the sessions were about the 14 Steps to Being a Leader or the 7 Principles to Converting your Friends at the Tattoo Parlor and amazingly enough not one session titled Beer & the Glory of God. It was five men preaching(often for more than an hour) on Jesus and it was good. I must admit that it’s been a long time since I sat under such a sustained barrage of the Son of God. Our group missed the last day as we had to return to Phoenix but I look forward to listening to the final 3 sessions on the Internet. All the sessions are available at Resolved.org. I would especially recommend CJ Maheny’s “I Wish I’d Been There.” His exposition of Mark 5 was amazing. I realize that I am given to superlative but that might be the best sermon i’ve ever heard.

Tags: Al Mohler, CBC, CJ Maheny, College, Conference, John MacArthur, Rick Holland, Steve Lawson

Get Your Own Dirt!!

I don’t know if you’ve seen it yet but Scientists have “created” life this week. It’s getting quite a lot of press here.

The whole thing reminds me of a story….

The world’s eminent scientists have decided that they have solved all mysteries of the unknown and go before God to relieve him of all responsibilities. The scientists proceed to review their many amazing accomplishments as proof of God’s obsolescence. God is suitably impressed with their work. He proposes that they have a little contest of creation. Since man is God’s highest created being he proposes that both he and the scientists create one. God goes first. He picks up some dirt off the ground and fashions it into the shape of a man. He breaths life into the man and he lives. The scientists all huddle together impressed by God’s work but are confident in their ability to duplicate the feat. The scientists begin to gather up soil from the ground for their man. God immediately stops them and responds “Whoa, Excuse me, get your own dirt.”

Ripping apart biological materials and putting them back together again isn’t creation. That isn’t to say that there aren’t many ethical concerns that we should be thinking about as this sort of work becomes more prevalent but one thing that their work isn’t, is creation, at least in the proper sense. Sorry scientists, get your own dirt.

Cancer and Zac Smith

You probably don’t know Zac Smith. I don’t know him either but I recently came across a video of his that was on the internet. Zac was, up until Sunday May 16th, fighting cancer. You can view this awesome video here…

The video got me thinking about cancer. I can’t think of a scarier word that I know. Cancer is a dreaded word and in many ways it is synonymous with death and suffering. It’s certainly touched our little corner of the world with multiple family members succumbing to it. I’m thinking though that cancer tells a bigger story than even we often think about. I’m not an expert but cancer is basically normally cells that change and multiple at astronomical rates thereby destroying surrounding tissue. In other words they are good cells gone bad with excess. That seems to me to be a good picture of the world we live in. We live in a world full of good blessings from God that are twisted and whose importance is grown to excess bringing death and destruction to us.

The Good News is that it’s not permanent. Both the cancer that infects people and the cancer that infects our world are only temporary. Zac Smith’s body is destroyed but he lives on and is with the One that won’t let either the cancer in our bodies or the cancer in our society exist forever. That’s really Good News.

I almost forgot. Here is a link to Zac’s blog. Check it out. It is clear that he understands the Good News.

One more thought. People talk about bucket lists and I guess that’s fine if you are into that sort of thing but it seems like a waste to me. Why would you want to be satisfied with temporary things that will not last? I’m going to make a post-bucket list. It will be a list of things I want to do after they bury me. One of the items on that list is to make friends with Zac Smith.