Yesterday in the message, I cited a couple of things and wanted to make sure to share them here on the blog. I do a lot of reading and anytime I come across something worth passing on, I want to take a sec to make note of it. First up, RELEVANT Magazine.

I’ve been subscribing to this for 3 years now. Love it. Their aim is to bring God, Life, and Progressive Culture together issue by issue and hash it out. Not everything is overtly Christian, so if you’re offended by an open article that might have “heart on your sleeve” “unfiltered” ideas & words- it might be safer for you to stick with Good Housekeeping. If Rolling Stone Magazine, Tribe Called Quest, Picaso, the Newsboys, and the Bible were thrown into a blender and cranked all the way to 11… you’d have RELEVANT.

Second, “Jump Into A Life of Further And Higher” by Efrem Smith

I love this book. Even though Mr. Smith and I don’t see eye to eye on some doctrinal issues, he does a great job creating a dialogue about engaging God on “God’s terms.” It’s a good read. Many people think you can only read people who you theologically agree with. I say that’s an awful idea. Here’s why: If I spend time with, hang out with, listen to, and take advice from people who are only like me… I will only get a very small perspective of life and faith. I strive to read, listen to, study from, and engage authors and speakers from a much broader arena – through a filter. Not every word that man spouts and carries is God’s truth. So, I listen & read, and then measure it according to the message of the Bible. If it fits, sweet. If it doesn’t, it begins to train me to be discerning as to why this was said, what can I learn, how can I test & measure my faith against ideas like this.

I encourage you to be a student.
Always stay in the habit of learning, reading, and submersing yourself into thinkers and dreamers work.
It will stretch you.
I promise.

*jdel

(photo progress here)

*jdel



This Week: Faith To Change Lives
Speaker: Jason Bedell, Teaching Pastor
Theme: With the power of the One and Only Almighty God, we can do anything. Join in as we explore what role faith plays in our relationship with the Creator of the Universe.
You can listen on our website via your computer or mobile device.
Click here for the RSS feed, or…
Click here to view the podcast via iTunes

The message from James last week will be posted soon!

*jdel

Over the holiday, my family and I received some very special gifts from individuals at Forefront. We’d just wanted to take a minute to say, “Thank you.” From books and gift cards, to meals and more- you all definitely honored my wife, two little girls, and myself. We cannot say enough how much we love serving here with God’s Church at Forefront.

On a completely different note: I never get mail. Well, let me rephrase that… I never get mail that matters much to me. I do get lots of junk mail, bills, sales ads, bills, more junk mail- you get the idea. Yesterday though, was quite the turn of events. I got mail- and it wasn’t junk, bills, or sales ads. I received this:

One line in the letter read, “I’m writing you with good news today. Someone who knows you and loves you requested that we send you a very special gift of appreciation.” And, enclosed was a CD with some great mp3 messages, a short book on things James MacDonald has learned in his 2 decades of preaching, and some other goodies.

I have no idea who this was, but thank you. When Carrie and I look at the resources God has entrusted us with each pay period, the last thing we think about is how to cultivate ourselves more. We immediately default to you all at Forefront, helping other families, the Crisis Pregnancy Center, etc. We justify it by saying, “We have our Bible’s and a few books we like- we don’t need any more stuff compared to what others need.”

While some might read that last paragraph and go, “You’re just trying to pat yourselves on the back” or “Man, they have a heart for God. Good for them”… the unfortunate part is, we should also be putting more of an emphasis on diversifying our spiritual growth than we do. Don’t get me wrong, Carrie and I are in the Bible, reading books, teaching our children, praying, searching after Him, etc. But, I think in the place we’re in, in the leadership God has called us to- it’s time to invest more than we have in previous years into reaching new levels. It’s one of our goals in 2011. And to this nameless individual who requested this packet of resources in appreciation for all we do…

Thank you. This keeps us aimed at our goal.

*jdel

You’re welcome.

*jdel

I follow a bunch of blogs & RSS feeds on Google Reader. Some help with ministry planning, some encouraging, some about the geeky tech stuff I like to be in the know about. One of the posts on Monday really struck a cord with me. It’s something I see growing more and more popular in our “consuming culture.” The culprit: “church hopping” or “church shopping.” Check out the post below:

Church Hopping & Shopping, by S. F. (full article here)

One of the things that really troubles me about the church today is the phenomenon of church hopping and church shopping. It’s a consumeristic mindset towards the body of Christ that grieves the heart of God.

It’s time for us to stop the hop. This isn’t Christianity. Jesus didn’t die so we could sample different churches like varieties of meat on a party platter. Jesus died to establish His church as the most powerful entity on the planet.

We are alive at the greatest time in history for the advance of the gospel. We have so much going for us.

We have the ability.
We have the resources.
We have the people.

What we don’t have is them committed to a place where they can actually be used for their God-ordained purpose.

If this generation doesn’t make the impact it should, it won’t be because it didn’t have the resources. Or even the passion. It will be because it was too busy hopping to different churches to stop and commit to one where its resources and passion could actually find an outlet.

The church is the change the world is waiting for. God help us if we keep the world waiting for us while we try to find the perfect church for us.

If you’ve fallen into the trap of church hopping, let me encourage you: embrace your place somewhere where God can use you. At the end of your life, God’s not going to be impressed or pleased that you saw what He was doing at ten different churches. He’s going be more pleased that you were a part of what He was doing at one church.

And you’re never going to find the perfect one, so give up looking. If the church you’re visiting doesn’t have what you’re looking for, it might be because God wants you to provide it.

Let’s all commit together to begin a campaign to stop the hop.
Find a place to get planted. Embrace it. And start changing the world.

The question of our day isn’t if God wants to do incredible things through the church. The question is will we be in place to experience it?

“Late night motivation. Thank you Mr. Wallpaper for your Vince Lombardi ‘esk pep talk.”

(photo progress here)

*jdel

After seeing many friends take on the daily photo challenge for an entire year, I decided to give it a shot. What I didn’t understand or know at the time, is how it would change the way I look at life day to day. I don’t know about you, but if you’re like me- you get in a rut every once and awhile. The routine begins to chisel away at you, things become automatic with out even thinking, and the interaction you have becomes more robotic than it is quality/engaging.

This project has started to flip a switch in me. Each day I’m looking at the moments to capture and seeing my surroundings differently. The mundane is slowly being replaced with the vibrance and freshness that has always been there – I just wasn’t paying much attention.

I love what the writer pens in Psalm 19:8 “The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.”

When I walk closely with God and faithfully obey His teachings, there is a newness to life above all else. I see things more clearly, my day is fresh again, my interaction with people is more rewarding. It’s living in His joy and grace that makes me smile.

Learning a lot. All through a little lens…

*jdel

(photo progress here)

*jdel

On Sunday, Aaron & Sherry Wolfe shared their families story of adopting a child from China and the whirlwind that God brought them through in having kids. You can watch their story here. I got a chance to sit down with Aaron & Sherry and ask them a little more about adoption, God’s leading, and what plans are in store for the future.

If you’ve ever thought about adoption, worried about how you could do it, or just wished someone could give you some insight, this interview is for you. We posted Part 1 yesterday, the interview continues below.

Interview Part 2:

You mentioned your son, Luke. How has he adapted to having an adopted sister?

Aaron – He was 3 when we brought Jacinda home.  We had left him at home with his grandparents while we were in China.  It was hard for him to have us gone for 2 weeks and then come home with an almost 2 year old sister!  It was a very difficult adjustment for all of us.  Luke was adjusting to having a 2 year old sister.  We were adjusting to having 2 toddlers at once (We’re sure it’s a hard transition to have a toddler and a newborn, but having 2 toddlers at once is all kinds of interesting!)  Jacinda was adjusting to having her entire world turned upside down.

Sherry – Now, they have the normal sibling rivalry issues.  Jacinda just adores her big brother! We’re not sure Luke really understands the adoption process yet, but he thinks of her as his sister.  He doesn’t really notice that she looks different from us, she’s just his sister and he loves her.  He also doesn’t treat her any differently because of her special need.  It doesn’t seem to bother him that her speech is delayed.  She’s just his sister.

What has been the response of your family? Friends? Church?

Sherry – For the most part, everyone has been very supportive.  We’re very open with our infertility struggles, so everyone knew why we were adopting.  We think that most people have been just as excited as if we were having a baby.

A lot of people have said that we are doing such a great thing by adopting from China.  We adopted Jacinda because we wanted to add to our family.  We don’t have some great notion that we’re saving the world.  Yes, it’s a good thing that Jacinda has a family and we think every child should have a family.  But we did it for us, and not to be seen as special or anything like that.  We’re just normal people who had infertility issues and this was the only way for us to have the family we knew God had promised us.

In all of this, what have you learned about yourself? Your relationship with God?

Aaron – We have learned that God keeps His promises.  We knew that we wanted a large family and we had no idea how that would happen.  Sherry has a rare infertility disorder and we knew that God would have to step in and create our family.  Our faith has definitely been put to the test and God has proven Himself faithful, as He always does.  Our faith is stronger now and we are looking forward to our next adoption and maybe even more after that.

For someone out there thinking about adoption, what is a word of advice you’d love to encourage them with?

Aaron – Just do it!  Don’t let the money scare you.  Yes, it can be expensive, but if it’s something you’re supposed to do, God will provide the way.  There are some options that are not expensive, though.  Ask lots of questions and get as much information as you can.  Adoption is not an easy road, but the result is worth it all.

Sherry - If you can’t adopt, there are lots of ways to get involved and support adoption.  Some of these are: praying for families, sponsoring a child in foster care overseas, donate time or money to a family or an agency, and just learn about adoption and get to know families that have adopted and don’t treat them or their kids any different.

We’re happy to help out as much as we can.  If we don’t know the answer, we’ll find someone who does.

Other thoughts?

Sherry – We are in the early stages of adopting again from China!  We are excited, but we are trusting God even more this time to provide the money.  It will be a true test of our faith.  If you’d like to follow our journey, our blog address is:  http://scbusf.blogspot.com

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Wolfe Family, thank you so much for taking the time to share your story and open many people’s eyes to the joys of adoption. If you would like more information, you can go to their blog. Thanks again.

Until next time,
*jdel