We are taught to be careful and guard yourself. We often quote the verse “Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” I think we have gone overboard and misinterpreted the depth of that verse.
Its difficult seeing my actions summed up and defined in such a simple, yet convicting way. After watching this video I just dropped my head in shame. Why do I think and live this way?
Rob Bell recently did an interview with Christianity Today and had some great insight into the depth of tithing:
“When I prepare to teach a text there are a few questions I always ask. First, “What’s the thing behind the thing?” and “What’s the truth behind the truth?” So if we’re talking about tithing, we’re really talking about generosity and participation. And if we’re talking about generosity and participation, then we’re really talking about whether you view the world as a scarcity or as a world governed by a Trinitarian God. Is the universe at its core a sliced-up pie where you grab your slice and then protect and defend it? Or do you believe that at the core there is an endlessly self-giving, loving community of God we are invited to step into?
So you can talk about tithing—giving your 10 percent. Or you can wrestle with a scarcity versus a Trinitarian view of the universe with tithing perhaps being an implication at the end of the message.”
There is so much depth to this truth. Why do we treat our world as if God made it a scarce commodity or that He is holding back from us?
Stories are the basis for much of life. A story invites you into an experience instead of rattling off a bunch of facts. Stories capture your heart and mind.
Jason’s story of being healed from Leukemia twice, although unique and remarkable, is universal in nature. We are all broken, sick people in one way or another who need a healer. Whether it is physical, spiritual, or emotional healing; we find ourselves all in the same boat. Jason’s story is one where Jesus healed him from Leukemia, but your story is one where Jesus healed you from addiction, asthma, anger, stroke, selfishness, cancer, moralism, or __________ (name it!)
Healing leads us to the Healer, or at least it should. However healing only postpones the inevitable so what is the point? In, John 11:41-42 Jesus teaches on what the point of healing is. The fact that He is healer has already been established, now he answers the ‘what’s the point?’ “So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” The phrase ‘on account of’ shows the point of healing. The point is the people around you. That they will see and believe Jesus as healer of the physical, emotional, and spiritual. This catapults a life of faith in Jesus as healer in all situations, with all hope, and purposed in pointing to Jesus.
All of us are story-formed people. We enjoy story, understand story, inspired by story, and ultimately changed by story. Healing occurs to demonstrate the true author of your story. Like any story, your life is purposed more for the people around reading it than the people in it. We are called to capture people in the story of Jesus.
Below is a letter I wrote to my family earlier about our journey:
Tiffany and I have been on an incredible journey the last few years (apart from planting a church). For some this information is new, while others it will be filling in the gaps, rumors, and unknowns that we have not been meaning to leave you with.
A little less than a year ago Tiffany and I began trying to have children. We knew God was calling us to be parents and began to build a family. A year later with no luck we began pursuing medical advice on where the issues were. Many doctor visits, co-pays, tests, and shots later we were faced to make decisions on the initial call of becoming parents and starting a family.
It was during this time that we also started to wrestle with James 1:27 ‘Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.’ As one who has devoted my life to ‘religion’ this wasn’t something that settled to easily with me. That in tangent with Romans 8 and the fact that the Gospel is one of adoption began to clarify the call of starting a family and being parents. With these few things beginning to shape the call and direction we began to pursue adoption.
Choosing adoption is one of the simpler decisions to make along this journey. The ‘what’s next’ is much more difficult. Tiffany and I began to read, read, read, read, read whatever we could get our hands on. We continue to read everything we possibly can on what exactly adoption is, what it entails, and how we can be the best parents in the world to these children. We have attended a few meetings with Tapestry (a ministry of IBC focused on adoption & foster care). They held an information meeting called “Adoption: Myths & Realities” as well as give us an open invitation for more information and support as we began to pursue what this looks like. A large part of these meetings is not always ‘pro-adoption’
I do want to clarify some things that we have heard. First, we are not adopting just because we cannot have our own kids. We are adopting because God called us to be parents and have a family and this is the road He has called us to. Secondly, we are not adopting to be a savior to a child in need. Although this might happen, we again want to be parents not saviors. Thirdly, adoption is not weird, messed up, or wrong; but simply a different kind of normal. Bonding with a child occurs through love, time, and commitment; not biological or chemical. If that was not the case no marriage relationship would work.
I finish by letting you know where we are on the journey and where we are headed. Tiffany and I continue to pray and seek where He is guiding us inside the realm of adoption. We are currently looking at ‘Private/Independent’ which means we will be without an agency and letting people know that we are interested in adoption. This is the riskiest yet cheapest form of adoption. We are not necessarily choosing it just for money reasons. There is a huge need for this kind of adoption. It keeps the child out of foster care and ‘the system.’ We are also looking into foreign adoption. However, as of Tiffany and I only qualify to adopt from four countries: Columbia, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Ethiopia is the shortest wait period which is 12-18 months and around $20,000. Due to both of these facts that is the second option or the ‘down the road’ option. We did receive a call the other day that said there were two children whose mother died and the aunt was giving them up for adoption. We did send our name and number and said we were interested; however we have not received a call back. That is often the way private/independent works. We continue to pray, seek, and
Hopefully this allows you to join our journey. Please know that we are not giving up the hope of having our own biological kids, however we are pursuing a call that we have on our lives. When we adopt they will be our children, no questions asked. We will not view them in any other light other than the fact that we chose them. We went on a journey to call them to our family and we will love them the same.
You can join us by:
Know that we love each of you and thank you for hearing our story. Please feel free to email, call, etc to ask where we are on the journey and what all is going on. Lastly, listen to this song about a guy who adopted a boy named Moses. He wrote this while he waited for his boy to come home. This song has really resonated in my heart and hopefully it will see where we are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4eZybIXpm8
Feel free to forward this along to anyone who would like to hear our story.
When I see information like this it excites me to dream bigger, anticipate further, and prepare harder for what God is bringing to our forefront.
http://www.updatedallas.com/2010/01/05/construction-cranes-dot-las-colinas-landscape/
Begin praying now for how God wants to use you and Urban Hills to “be the change you want to see in the world.” Get excited UH, big things are in store for our area!
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