I stole this from you Lisa, do we owe you $5...?
*******
Before the earthquake there were 143 million orphans. That number has greatly risen in the past two weeks. Most of us, if we look around at our lives have the room and the resources for one more child. We can all fit one more. Even me. I can fit one more. I can feed, clothe, and love one more. And I already have ten.
Did you know that if only 7% of Christians took in one orphan, there would be no more orphans in the world?
Imagine a world without orphans.
People think adoption has become popular, fashionable even. That could not be further from the truth. I believe it is the product of an outcry of prayers from those of us who desire to see every orphan have a home. It is a movement in the body of Christ sparked by a spiritual awakening. It is so much more than saving a child's life. It is evangelism in it's very simplest form. Think about it. A child is taken into your home. He once lived in a place where the gospel was not preached. He lived in darkness and oppression. In your home he comes to understand salvation. Think of all of the lives that will be changed from his testimony. It is so much more than saving a life.
Supporting orphanages is not a solution. While orphanages serve a purpose, they do not solve the problem. God's best for a child is a family. A mother and a father. Not growing up in an orphanage. Most orphanages are over crowded. They turn away children because they cannot meet the need. And don't get me started on the foster care system. That is most certainly not a solution. Children need families. God's best for a child is not foster care or an orphanage. It is a family.
More now than ever before we need to come forward. We need to take action. We cannot stay silent and turn a blind eye. In the coming weeks, more and more Haitian orphans are going to need families. But, they aren't just in Haiti. They are in Russia, Africa, and right here in your city. They are all over the world. You can make room for one more. I am sure of it. If I can, you can too. This isn't about waiting until you have all of your ducks in a row. This is about taking action.
Love is an action word.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Fly Right
A reality check from 1 Peter 1:13-22
Fly right, or you are going to crash, a message from James MacDonald that uses four gauges, found in the cockpit of an airplane, to help our walk with Christ.
A good pilot, a family man, will refer to these indicators frequently.
Hope. Hope is the fuel gauge of the Christian life -- is the the equivalent to the fuel gauge in your air plane. No hope means that your plane is going to crash quickly. Hope is the confident expectation of something better for tomorrow.
5 Things that believers place their hope in, but shouldn't.
1) Health, beauty, physical fitness, nutrition
2) My situation, my setup, finances, houses, home, your lawn, stuff of this world
3) Church, the fellowships and the friendships.
4) Family, or marriage, or children.
5) Abilities, smarts, talents, hard work, being a man of action
These are all worthwhile...but the Bible says:
v.13 -- set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Holiness. Holiness means "set apart." If someone asks you a spiritual question like, "what you are you working on in your life?", Holiness, that's what you are working on. Holiness is the altimeter which tells you "where you are" when you are working within the two parameters essential for flight: 1) outerspace, and 2) the ground.
Written to mean an on-going process, you have to ask yourself what can I do differently so that I'm not conforming to this world? (Romans 12:2)
v.15 -- but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct
Fear. This is more than respect for the authority of God. Fear seeks a right relationship, a favorable outcome with the fear source. The attitude display indicator in an airplane similarly tells the pilot his position with respect to the horizon. Are your wings level? Is the nose up? Or, is the nose down?
v.17--If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;
Love. As the air speed indicator tells the pilot how fast they are traveling, check how you are loving. Peter is prescribing to put some effort into it. This is more that just being a good person, for anyone can be a good person! He says to love earnestly (NET), fervently (KJV), intensely (NLT) and deeply (NIV).
v.22 -- So love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
Fly right, or you are going to crash, a message from James MacDonald that uses four gauges, found in the cockpit of an airplane, to help our walk with Christ.
A good pilot, a family man, will refer to these indicators frequently.
Hope. Hope is the fuel gauge of the Christian life -- is the the equivalent to the fuel gauge in your air plane. No hope means that your plane is going to crash quickly. Hope is the confident expectation of something better for tomorrow.
5 Things that believers place their hope in, but shouldn't.
1) Health, beauty, physical fitness, nutrition
2) My situation, my setup, finances, houses, home, your lawn, stuff of this world
3) Church, the fellowships and the friendships.
4) Family, or marriage, or children.
5) Abilities, smarts, talents, hard work, being a man of action
These are all worthwhile...but the Bible says:
v.13 -- set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Holiness. Holiness means "set apart." If someone asks you a spiritual question like, "what you are you working on in your life?", Holiness, that's what you are working on. Holiness is the altimeter which tells you "where you are" when you are working within the two parameters essential for flight: 1) outerspace, and 2) the ground.
Written to mean an on-going process, you have to ask yourself what can I do differently so that I'm not conforming to this world? (Romans 12:2)
v.15 -- but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct
Fear. This is more than respect for the authority of God. Fear seeks a right relationship, a favorable outcome with the fear source. The attitude display indicator in an airplane similarly tells the pilot his position with respect to the horizon. Are your wings level? Is the nose up? Or, is the nose down?
v.17--If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;
Love. As the air speed indicator tells the pilot how fast they are traveling, check how you are loving. Peter is prescribing to put some effort into it. This is more that just being a good person, for anyone can be a good person! He says to love earnestly (NET), fervently (KJV), intensely (NLT) and deeply (NIV).
v.22 -- So love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
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