Adoption Sunday at OCBC

We had an adoption emphasis Sunday at Oak Crest today. I was able to share in the morning and my wife shared some in the evening, while Jennifer Walker from Texas Baptist Home of Waxahachie, TX shared about the services and ministry of the Home.

We have been foster parents for about 8 months and adoptive parents for about 2 months. This ministry is not for the faint of heart! It has been difficult, trying and painful, yet it is also rewarding, refreshing and has taught me much about God and myself.

There are two items I wanted to mention this morning but did not get a chance too.

#1 - While not everyone is able to be a full time foster parent, many, many people can be a foster parent who provides respite. This is where you provide relief for a regular foster parent for greater than 48 hours. You might watch the kids for a weekend or a week for the regular foster parents. Yes, there is a training commitment but once you are licensed it is minimal and the information provided is great and applicable to many situations.

#2 - One of the greatest revelations to me since becoming a foster parent about the state of the family in Texas is that we are in deep weeds. That is a technical term. (just kidding). God first established the Family as the core institution that has a relationship before him. You can read this in Genesis chapter 2. The family was established before the church. The family's relationship with God was fractured during the fall just like our personal relationship with God was fractured. So not only was our personal relationship severed but our corporate relationship was severed. Through His covenant with Abraham and His election of a people for himself, God sets about restoring the relationship between man and Himself. In the process, the Family is again set as the primary corporate body for Discipleship (Deut. 6). These relationships are finally reconciled in the birth, life, death, resurrection & exaltation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

I outlined that to say this, the family is under siege and being fractured again and again in North Texas, the whole state and the whole country. This is evident after you spend just a short time as a foster parent. With each child we have helped, we have come face to face with the brokeness and depravity of families in pain. It is very hard for me to stomach this reality. Why? Because so much of our time and effort as a church does not address or minister to the families that are imploding under the weight of sin. I do not want to turn the church into a parenting center, but it is foolish for us to act like we are reaching out to the community if we are not reaching out to the most at risk people in our community: the children of at risk families (and the unborn).

We can get involved in many ways, personal witness & testimony, Manna House, but I think the most direct ministry I am aware of is Texas Baptist Home. They put a face on the problem. You can go there, get involved materially, physically and spiritually. If nothing else, you can pray for the work and ministry of the TBH. This is just a start. Ultimately, we need to get out in the community and truly share the Gospel one on one, starting with the areas of Midlothian, and the metroplex that we probably do not want to go. But that is where the families at risk are.

I don't want to elevate ministry to children and families at risk over ministry to prison inmates or to the suburbs for that matter; however, I can only tell you where I see the greatest need and opportunity and that is with the at risk children and at risk families that TBH (and other missions like them) minister too. The families of North Texas are being fractured at an alarming rate. We have the solution God gave us and commanded us to share: the Gospel.

-dt

Radical Sacrifice

This is a sermon from John Piper back in 2008. This is a repost from 2008.


Have you ever wondered what type of service we have been called too? What it is supposed to look like and be about?

I had the opportunity to listen to this message from John Piper from Hebrews. I highly recommend it.

"Radical Christian Sacrifice"

Let me know what you think? You can read it or watch it as well.

-dt

Re:Lit

If you have never checked out the Re:Lit site, I highly recommend it. You can free E-books and other books for purchase.

Re:Lit

-dt

Transition

As most of you know by now, the Tennery's have graciously accepted the invitation to lead the collegiate group. They are excited and I would ask everyone to pray for them and support them in their new ministry.

I have been dealing with the thought of stepping back from teaching to focus on my family for several months now. We have a new ministry with fostering that takes up an enormous amount of time. We have an adoption to finalize and a new son to bond with and parent. I have a an employer that deserves my best shot every day and I have school obligations. On top of all of this, my wonderful daughter is going through her final year of school. We want to be with her full time to help her focus and transition on becoming a fruitful Christian young lady that is ready to leave our home and start her life on her own in the next couple of year.

In looking at all these competing priorities plus others, I decided to step back from teaching and mentoring for the time being. Next year after we have Tyson settled, Taylor through high school and our foster kids in a more determined situation, I will prayerfully re-evaluate what I can fit on my plate at that time.

I have grown very close to the young men and women in the class and have enjoyed the fellowship and friendship. We are still here for you but just in a different capacity.

Have a great year.

-dt

Some Thoughts on Romans 12:1-2

(From my meager attempts at journaling this week, these passages had something new for me -dt).

I appeal to you therefore brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2 ESV)

Transformed, not conformed.

My first problem is that I do not spend anytime focusing on the transformation part and I just try "not to conform". I cannot even think of a good analogy. I think of a caterpillar that knows it needs to morph into a butterfly, but instead of building a cocoon, he just spends time telling others what a butterfly looks like, and points out to the other caterpillars how they are not butterflies either; however, he is just too busy to build that darn cocoon and go through the process. Ultimately, how this manifests itself in my life is my attempts to improve my self through self righteousness instead of the relying solely on the righteousness imputed to me from Jesus Christ. I don't think I am alone in this. I suspect that millions of American Christians do the same thing.

Renewing our minds is a call to the Word and serious disciple making activity in our own lives. Renewing our minds is a way of studying the Word and desiring to know God that is not driven by our own attempts at self righteousness. It is driven by a humble love of Christ and desire to better know God that comes from deep within us. This desire is stripped away of our own selfish, prideful motivations.

The type of learning that will renew our minds requires sacrifice, but not sacrifice driven by self righteousness. The sacrifice required is driven by that humble love of Christ mentioned above and a proper perspective of the holiness of God the Father. Sacrifice to learn. We have made a mockery of this type of learning by trying to dumb down Scripture and make learning "easy". That generally means we stay away from the "hard" scriptures and focus on shallow attempts at disciple making. We use the latest curriculum that can be fit into 25 to 45 minute segments that entertains us, or we just dive into the next popular franchise of books written by our favorite author. We do not want to take a shovel, roll up our sleeves and get into God's Word and God's Word alone. It has to be packaged.

My second problem? I am plagued by my own attempts at self righteousness, even though I know better. This leads to repeated bouts of frustration and guilt when I, inevitably, fail. My trust in God is weak, and my passion for His Holiness is weak. I consistently take God's mercy for granted and I foolishly forget the work of the cross. How can the Holy Spirit work in such a sinful monster? I know the answer and it is the one that gives me the hope of my life: The radical love of God & the incredible grace of God. Only God's love & grace through Christ can overcome my sin and make me something useful. This process does not stop at salvation, we participate in it every day. We do not stop being sinners the moment God saves us, we become worse sinners, because we know the truth, and then we get the joy of practicing repentance, turning from our sin and towards God.

How is this going to change me?

• I am recommiting to the Word. This process started earlier this year, but now I know why I have been driven to study the way I have been studying. (Renewing my mind, not just reading the Bible).
  
• I am going to stop pretending to be OK when I am not. I wish my brothers and sisters in Christ would join me; however, I don't expect it. (Self Righteousness).
  
• I am going to take a season to relook at my goals & commitments. I have agreed to do somethings for the wrong reasons, the expectations of others instead of what I knew to be right. (More Self Righteousness).
• Ultimately, this may mean a change in directions for my ministry efforts, possibly even a change in my degree plan.
  

This is not my most polished post, but it did come from my journal. My hope is that some of my Church family might be encouraged to examine their own lives in light of Scripture, and take a season to focus on where they are in regards to the "transformation" process God is working on in them.

-dt

Reflections on the Alaska Mission Trip

Alaska is a harsh place and beautiful place. The people are very rugged and the size of the state is hard to comprehend. It makes Texas look like Rhode Island and Colorado look like a rock garden. It is also a place in which the church is in need of help. The missionary we worked with said to treat the Alaska mission trip like an international mission trip. I would agree. Culturally, Alaskans put up with conditions that would send the rest of us packing and they have adapted.

We met some sweet, godly people in Alaska. We met many more people who have no knowledge of the things of God and who have had some unifying cultural bad experience with the church. I am not sure what it was but it was clear that many people were leary that Christians want something from them materially. That is tragic. However, in speaking with people in Alaska, as long as you are clear that you expect nothing in return, they will listen to what you have to say and are very interested in your story.

I am not sure of the eternal value of what we accomplished, only God does. However, I think we were obedient and loving. The communities around Kenai saw that. Continue to pray for Alaska as a mission field. Pray for Christians to be obedient when it is clear that God is sending them to Alaska. The needs I saw:

1) for Christians to move in and be the church in the local context of Alaskan communities.

2) for leadership and direction in the churches.

3) for people with the gift of organization and administration to match the passion of the missionaries to step up.