Adopting Love

Recently I was on the air with my good friends John and Sherry of K-Love Radio. I never know what the conversation will be about, I just know it’s always a whole lot of fun! As we got on the air, John and Sherry told me that they were celebrating their daughter Lexi’s second anniversary. The anniversary marks two years that Lexi has been part of their family since they adopted her from China. I shared that my family also had just celebrated my son Rudy’s second adoption anniversary just a few weeks before. We then continued to discuss the beauty of adoption. We talked about how it mimics the gospel and becomes an act of worship for believers. The listening audience was challenged to look into the wonderful world of adoption which is exactly what happened following the interview. Thank you for your overwhelming interest!

Many of you have requested information and I wanted to post some trustworthy agencies that deal with adoption. These are people we know first hand and can vouch for wholeheartedly. So whether God is call you to begin the process of adoption or He is leading you to just get more informed so you can pray for these children, it will be time well spent.

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
Ps 68:5

http://www.familylife.com/hopefororphans

http://members.shaohannahshope.org

http://www.lifelineadoption.org

http://www.bethany.org

Myrtle Beach/Atlanta Fest

Last week I spent Monday through Friday hanging out with nearly 1,500 students at StudentLife Camp at Myrtle Beach, SC. For me, when I think about the beach, South Carolina is usually NOT the first place that pops into my mind! I’ve been to Myrtle Beach before and although the beach is beautiful, the change of environment seems to be a bit on the redneck side. My motto has always been “Myrtle Beach…Hey! Even rednecks deserve the ocean!” But all kidding aside, I found out last week that Myrtle Beach is a wonderful place!!

First, let me tell you about the amazing accommodations! Sheridan was the hotel attached to the Convention Center where the event was held. Pound for pound it rivals any Ritz-Carlton anywhere! It’s a beautiful hotel with great beds and great food! It sure didn’t feel like we were at a camp, but as if we were on vacation! I had my family along as well as my in-laws.

On a much more important topic… the spiritual aspects of camp were amazing. The StudentLife Beach Crew is a well-oiled machine that makes sure everything is done in excellence. Starfield led our worship. They made sure that session after session the worship was authentic and effective. I got in some quality hang time with students and it was very encouraging to hear how the messages God has put on my heart are connecting on many different levels.

Early Friday morning, (and I mean early, as in 4:15 a.m.!) I got up to head to the airport to fly to Nashville for an all-day meeting. Not much on that except to say that a great partnership opportunity seems to be on the horizon.

Saturday was spent at Six Flags in Atlanta, Georgia where I had the opportunity, for the fifth year in a row, to speak at one of my favorite festivals – Atlanta Fest. I spoke three times and although the day was physically hot and long, spiritually God’s presence was really evident. The highlight for the day on a personal note was that my friend Rick Stanley came to hang with us. Another highlight was getting to catch here and there my friends from Building 429 and Casting Crowns. Both bands have really mastered their summer sets with great ministry and precision. All in all, Atlanta Fest was amazing this year. Also, thanks to my friends Frances and Terri for helping at my merch table!

Hyperbole

This week, I spent four nights with 1500 students at a StudentLife camp. The great folks at StudentLife always go above and beyond in serving youth ministries by putting on amazing camps. Tree63 led worship and All Things To All People led in drama as well.

Wow. What a great week. Day after day, we saw God do amazing things. The lost became found. The wounded became healed. And the hope entered the hopeless.

Here are just a few highlights and thoughts:

Monday: I had lunch with some StudentLife staffers and the Tree63 guys. I really enjoyed getting to know them. These guys are the real deal and they have a passion for the church to worship God. At lunch we talked about movies, family, South Africa, and vegetarian dishes. It was random, but fun!

Tuesday: We saw God do amazing things Tuesday night. The campus was transformed into a counseling haven. Everywhere after the service, students were in circles weeping and praying. God set many students free that night. I counseled with several students that night, one on one. If you’re reading this... (you know who you are), know that I am praying for you specifically this week.

Wednesday: Great things happened all day. On a recreational level I got to play tennis with my new friend Kenneth. He is a solid player, and frankly a stud. He attends one of my favorite churches on the planet (Eastminster Presbyterian Church). It was fun but luckily we ran out of time! I was running out of steam and he was just getting started after an hour or so. I’m such an old man!!!

Thursday: The only thing that was kind of weird was that on the last night a bat flew into the Conference Center. It was distracting to say the least! Everyone freaked out for a minute and then we got focused again in what God was saying through His Word.

All in all… it was a great week. The new messages seemed to really resonate with people and the summer is now officially started. Hyperbole. (Inside joke for campers!)

Meeting Jesus

I recently received a personal journal entry from my friend Wendy Garner that was so encouraging to me. She didn’t put two and two together until long after her journal was written. When she realized that the young man she journaled about back in December was in fact my brother Benjamin, who has Down Syndrome, she forwarded me her journal entry. I was moved by it and wanted to post it today in hopes that you would be moved to become more simple-hearted as well.


Meeting Jesus

What would Jesus look like today if He walked the earth? Would we recognize Him? I believe I saw Him in the eyes of a very humble man.

Scripture tells us, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him,” Isaiah 53:2. I guess that means we’d only recognize Him by His heart.

My story is one of many frazzled mothers of preschoolers. I’ve been blessed with two boys, 22 months apart. Cole is 4; Reece is 2. Little angels or double trouble; from day to day, moment to moment I never really know which I’ll get. Let’s just say on this day their halos were quite askew!

It was the middle of the Christmas holiday rush. I thought I could “dash” into Family Christian bookstore with two preschoolers in tow. I’d pick up the items I needed and we’d be on our way. (Call it a mother’s amnesia. The last time I was able to “dash” into a store I was also able to talk on the phone uninterrupted and sleep through the night. Some things will never be the same!) Everything went as expected. A few, “don’t-touch-that-put-that-downs” later it was time to check out and we’d be on our merry way. But alas it was the holiday season. The checkout lines were long. We’ll have to wait. My arms were full of merchandise. Not a free hand in sight, which is delight to the eyes of a preschooler. You can almost see their little minds putting the pieces of the puzzle together: mommy’s trapped, she can’t get me, I can do what I want and best of all… I have an audience!

I should say, separately my boys are saints. Sweet, good-natured, mild mannered, but when they’re together it can be like a pack of wild dogs. A gang mentality takes over as each tries to one- up the other in devilish delight. They start with picking through (and trying to put in their pockets) the knick-knacks that are at the checkout counter, thousands of little bracelets, rings and crosses. You know, the merchandise that’s just at eye level for a pre-schooler, a mother’s nightmare. With my hands full, the only weapon I have is my voice. “Stop that!” “Cole!” “Reece!” “Put that down!” Then they start running circles… around me, then around the customers. A kind lady behind me says, “I remember those days. They know when your hands are full.” Then she told me about how she carried a fly swatter around in her purse for just the occasion. (Note to self!) Then I hear it, “Ding dong!” “Ding dong!” “Ding dong!” I look and my two year old has the door chime in his hand! Every move he makes, it chimes.

This time I have no choice but to step out of line long enough to repair the store’s security system. When I step back in line, more chaos ensues. That’s when I see him. I had noticed him a few minutes earlier but in my frazzled state paid little attention. A brown haired man around the age of thirty, bent down. I instantly recognized his distinct features. He had Down’s Syndrome. But while his handicap caught my attention, his heart captivated my children.
While kneeling down to their level and looking intently in their eyes he started first with small talk, then the sweetest words. “Jesus wants you to obey your mommy,” he said. For a moment my children were spellbound. I think I and the other customers in line around me were as well. He went on to tell them about Jesus and His love.

Who was this man? His sweet spirit and kind words to my children brought peace to a frustrated mother’s heart and broke through the mad holiday rush. You could feel the tension in line relax, as if in an instant we were all reminded to slow down and cherish the true meaning behind the season. Then as if scripted to ease the depth of the moment and provide comedic relief, he announced, “If you obey, then your mommy will get you ice cream!” Fellow parents in line joined me with a chuckle.
Soon after, I made it to the cash register and completed my purchase. As I loaded my kids and Christmas gifts into the car I couldn’t get the man out of my head. A man, who despite his disability, was an inspiration. Who was he? I felt like he was a gift from God, as Christ-like a person as I’ve ever met.

So would we recognize Jesus if we saw Him? I believe I did through the eyes of a very humble man. I saw Jesus in his heart.

12/05 wg

Great Men and Women

(I wrote this over the holiday and even if it's late, I still wanted to post it in honor and memory of the great men and women who have served in the American Armed Forces.)

If we are not careful Memorial Day will become for most of us nothing more than a day off from work or a long weekend that marks the beginning of summer. In reality, Memorial Day is a day to remember those who have lost their lives in service to this great country.
Much like communion when we take the bread and the wine to remember the sacrifice and high cost of our spiritual freedom, on Memorial Day we remember the great sacrifice of our Armed Forces so that we can have physical freedom in America.
Just to interject a thought here: Whenever we think of soldiers dying we think of men, but many women have lost their lives in service, many children have lost their mothers, all for the high cost of freedom. As an American and a Christian, I exist in a free country, able to freely worship Jesus Christ because of these sacrifices.
Memorial Day, however, is not just for those who live in this country, but about freedom all over the world. With over 2,500 American casualties in the Iraq war to date, we are reminded that freedom for the Iraqi people is coming at a high price for the American people. When Iraq was invaded, over 500,000 Iraqis were found in mass graves alone. Conservative estimates tell us that Saddam Hussein’s army killed over one million people. That is 1/24 of an entire nation. Just think of how many people Saddam would have continued to kill had he stayed in power.
Our soldiers represent freedom, not just here in the states, but everywhere. I know that I speak, not just for myself, but for everyone on our staff when I say “Thank you and that we remember you.”