The general session audio from our 2010 conference in Austin is now available for free download!
We will add the audio from our 50+ breakout sessions within the next few weeks.
Showing posts with label Together For Adoption 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Together For Adoption 2010. Show all posts
Friday, January 07, 2011
Together for Adoption 2010 - Audio
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Together For Adoption 2010 - Exhibitor Spotlight - Lifesong For Orphans
LifeSong for Orphans - These guys have been a supporter of this blog for a long time. Take a second and check out their website to see how you can finance your adoption and mobilize your church for orphan care as well.
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Together For Adoption 2010 - Session Six - Matt Carter - The Church as the Champion of Social Justice
Why is God so passionate about the fatherless? Ever thought about why?
The Bible speaks of “the fatherless” all the time, especially in the Old Testament.
Many people are afraid of emphasizing these things because we might forget evangelism and the Cross. They speak of a slippery slope.
We can’t do that, and we won't do that if we understand the grand storyline of the Bible.
All through the Old Testament it is God making a B-line to the cross. "This is what my love for you looks like."
Quote from Matt - “I am convinced that the global orphan crisis is one of the main barriers to seeing the great commission fulfilled.”
Your experience with your earthly father has more to do with your understanding of your heavenly father than anything else. Earthly dad colors the way you look at your heavenly Dad.
Imagine what is says to a kid who has no father. We are dealing with millions and millions of kids that have this perspective.
Why does Hollywood have more of a voice for adoption than the church does?
We have to see a movement of the Holy Spirit in the church to wake us up.
**We ended the whole conference by gathering in small groups and praying that God would empower his church by his Spirit for the sake of the orphan. It was a very fitting ending.**
The Bible speaks of “the fatherless” all the time, especially in the Old Testament.
Many people are afraid of emphasizing these things because we might forget evangelism and the Cross. They speak of a slippery slope.
We can’t do that, and we won't do that if we understand the grand storyline of the Bible.
All through the Old Testament it is God making a B-line to the cross. "This is what my love for you looks like."
Quote from Matt - “I am convinced that the global orphan crisis is one of the main barriers to seeing the great commission fulfilled.”
Your experience with your earthly father has more to do with your understanding of your heavenly father than anything else. Earthly dad colors the way you look at your heavenly Dad.
Imagine what is says to a kid who has no father. We are dealing with millions and millions of kids that have this perspective.
Why does Hollywood have more of a voice for adoption than the church does?
We have to see a movement of the Holy Spirit in the church to wake us up.
**We ended the whole conference by gathering in small groups and praying that God would empower his church by his Spirit for the sake of the orphan. It was a very fitting ending.**
Stats on Orphans from Dave Gibbons Message Yesterday
(http://cssr.berkeley.edu/ucb_childwelfare/default.aspx)
• In a point in time study (July 2009) there were 2,633 kids in the care of the county of orange social service agency
From Childrens Law Center LA (http://www.clcla.org/facts_overview.htm). If you go to this page you can see where they pulled the data from. Good sources.
1. On any given day, half a million abused and neglected children and youth are in foster care in our nation.
2. More than half of foster children spend at least two years in the foster care system, and nearly 20 percent wait five or more years for a safe, permanent family.
3. On average, children in foster care move through three different foster care placements, frequently with little or no warning.
4. 118,000 of the children currently in foster care are waiting to be adopted.
5. About 19,000 older youth “age out” of foster care each year without a permanent family to support them.
As a result, the future – for many of these youth – is anything but bright. According to research studies:
6. Over a third of foster youth earn neither a high school diploma nor a GED.
7. Fewer than half of young adults were employed 12 to 18 months after aging out of the foster care system.
8. One third of youth who age out of the foster care system evidence mental health problems, the most prevalent diagnoses being Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, alcohol or substance abuse, and major depression.
9. Approximately one third of foster children will receive some form of public assistance shortly after aging out of the system.
10. About one fourth of foster youth will be incarcerated within the first two years after they leave the system.
11. Over one fifth of foster children will become homeless at some time after age 18.
(HT: Dave Gibbons)
Together For Adoption 2010 - Session Five - Karyn Purvis - Counting the Cost: Preparing Churches for the Adoption Journey
You can save a child in an instant but the process of healing is most-likely a journey.
We have to be prepared for the journey. Parenting a child from the hard places is a different matter completely. Business doesn’t happen as usual for these children.
We have to count the cost. For those who are called to wade into these deep waters with these children we have to count the cost. Your life is going to have to slow down and you have to treat them differently. We have to count the cost.
There was a study recently done with 57 children who were fostered or adoption. Average age was 10 years old. They were found to have a developmental age of 4 years old. We have to understand this is a marathon not a sprint.
We can’t have a “law and order” mentality in our churches when we are dealing with children who have altered brains due to starvation and other horrors they have endured.
If you are seeking to adopt but you are not connected to a loving community, the church, you are going to have a hard time in your process.
We have to be prepared for the journey. Parenting a child from the hard places is a different matter completely. Business doesn’t happen as usual for these children.
We have to count the cost. For those who are called to wade into these deep waters with these children we have to count the cost. Your life is going to have to slow down and you have to treat them differently. We have to count the cost.
There was a study recently done with 57 children who were fostered or adoption. Average age was 10 years old. They were found to have a developmental age of 4 years old. We have to understand this is a marathon not a sprint.
We can’t have a “law and order” mentality in our churches when we are dealing with children who have altered brains due to starvation and other horrors they have endured.
If you are seeking to adopt but you are not connected to a loving community, the church, you are going to have a hard time in your process.
Together For Adoption 2010 - Session Four - Robert Gelinas - A Story of Orphan Care at the Local Church
Robert is here to tell the story of the church that he leads in Denver CO and how it intersects with orphan care.
Robert tells the story of his conversion. He had no Father as a child but when he was baptized he keyed in on the words of the baptismal rite, "In the name of the Father..."
He soon discovered James 1:27 in his bible reading a boy. There is a kind of religion that makes God smile.
He has been married for 16 years and they had a heart to begin adopting children. They adopted three times domestically and then decided to be done having children of their own.
Then they got an email from an agency in Ethiopia and began that process. They were struck with the question, how do you fly halfway around the world to a country with millions of orphans and only bring home one? They decided to adopt two.
What if the church came together on behalf of orphans?
19,000 children age out of the foster care system per year in our country. Not sure where they are going to go or what to do. Does the church rise up?
If he is a father to the fatherless then God has a wife. Who is the wife of the Father? The bride. The church. Who is caretake of the fatherless? The bride of the father.
Six years ago he stood before his church and started a ministry called Project127. They wanted to solve the foster care system in Colorado. They sought to organize the body of Christ. He met with the lieutenant governor in Colorado and told her that they would take care of 10% minimum in the Colorado foster care system.
What do we mean when we say "I can't afford to adopt." What we are saying is that God is a deadbeat Dad. We can trust that God will take care of his children. He is a really good Daddy.
136 children has been adopted through Project127 in Colorado. There are dozens of churches that have come together in Colorado. They are just a few years away from eradicating the foster care system in Colorado. When they started there were 856 kids waiting for homes. Today they have cut that number roughly in half. God's church has come together to do what he wants them to do.
Robert tells the story of his conversion. He had no Father as a child but when he was baptized he keyed in on the words of the baptismal rite, "In the name of the Father..."
He soon discovered James 1:27 in his bible reading a boy. There is a kind of religion that makes God smile.
He has been married for 16 years and they had a heart to begin adopting children. They adopted three times domestically and then decided to be done having children of their own.
Then they got an email from an agency in Ethiopia and began that process. They were struck with the question, how do you fly halfway around the world to a country with millions of orphans and only bring home one? They decided to adopt two.
What if the church came together on behalf of orphans?
19,000 children age out of the foster care system per year in our country. Not sure where they are going to go or what to do. Does the church rise up?
If he is a father to the fatherless then God has a wife. Who is the wife of the Father? The bride. The church. Who is caretake of the fatherless? The bride of the father.
Six years ago he stood before his church and started a ministry called Project127. They wanted to solve the foster care system in Colorado. They sought to organize the body of Christ. He met with the lieutenant governor in Colorado and told her that they would take care of 10% minimum in the Colorado foster care system.
What do we mean when we say "I can't afford to adopt." What we are saying is that God is a deadbeat Dad. We can trust that God will take care of his children. He is a really good Daddy.
136 children has been adopted through Project127 in Colorado. There are dozens of churches that have come together in Colorado. They are just a few years away from eradicating the foster care system in Colorado. When they started there were 856 kids waiting for homes. Today they have cut that number roughly in half. God's church has come together to do what he wants them to do.
Friday, October 01, 2010
Together For Adoption 2010 - Session Three - J.D. Greear - The Gospel and Church-Centered Orphan Care
Just because you may have not adopted or don’t feel called to adopt doesn’t mean you are not involved in orphan care.
Think about all the stats about adoption and foster kids that we hear all the time. That is not a number. It is a number of individuals who are created in the image of God who have the same needs that we do. When we reduce it to numbers we grow numb to what is really is. These are real people. We can’t forget that.
It is easy for our churches to be social clubs and be served. It is easy for us to gather around those who are just like us with our same interests.
Why is that our churches are known more for political posturing than for laying down our lives for those who are broken and in need?
If we understand our liberation we will pursue those who have not been liberated. We will lay down our “rights” and our lives for those who are needy and have not heard about this Jesus.
Once you get this you will naturally pour our your life for those in need. This will be your trajectory. Our lives are not our own. We have been rescued, thus we rescue. The sign of our message for Jesus is our laying down our lives for those in need who don’t know him yet.
When was the last time you amazed someone who doesn’t know Jesus with your generosity? This is how the world will learn that we are for real. It’s all talk until we act.
What makes the church grow? What makes a cynical society look with wonder at the church? Love on display is the ultimate apologetic.
Adoption is different than going to the soup kitchen. This is a life for lifelong. Only God can sustain you when you take on another’s life.
God has placed in the church the power to rescue the fatherless. The apostles saw Jesus feed the five thousand. Bible says he did this to test them to see if they knew what he would do. They failed the test. Jesus takes the bread and fish and makes a “Hebrew Happy Meal”. (Direct quote). This scene would be burned in their minds and they would have to know that they can’t handle all those situations they would face, but they would know that God takes what they give and does more than they ever thought possible.
It will be the same for us.
Think about all the stats about adoption and foster kids that we hear all the time. That is not a number. It is a number of individuals who are created in the image of God who have the same needs that we do. When we reduce it to numbers we grow numb to what is really is. These are real people. We can’t forget that.
It is easy for our churches to be social clubs and be served. It is easy for us to gather around those who are just like us with our same interests.
Why is that our churches are known more for political posturing than for laying down our lives for those who are broken and in need?
If we understand our liberation we will pursue those who have not been liberated. We will lay down our “rights” and our lives for those who are needy and have not heard about this Jesus.
Once you get this you will naturally pour our your life for those in need. This will be your trajectory. Our lives are not our own. We have been rescued, thus we rescue. The sign of our message for Jesus is our laying down our lives for those in need who don’t know him yet.
When was the last time you amazed someone who doesn’t know Jesus with your generosity? This is how the world will learn that we are for real. It’s all talk until we act.
What makes the church grow? What makes a cynical society look with wonder at the church? Love on display is the ultimate apologetic.
Adoption is different than going to the soup kitchen. This is a life for lifelong. Only God can sustain you when you take on another’s life.
God has placed in the church the power to rescue the fatherless. The apostles saw Jesus feed the five thousand. Bible says he did this to test them to see if they knew what he would do. They failed the test. Jesus takes the bread and fish and makes a “Hebrew Happy Meal”. (Direct quote). This scene would be burned in their minds and they would have to know that they can’t handle all those situations they would face, but they would know that God takes what they give and does more than they ever thought possible.
It will be the same for us.
Together For Adoption 2010 - Session Two - Dave Gibbons - The Church as the Answer to the Foster Care Challenge
Do we have illusions when it comes to the church? How would Satan paralyze a church? Keep us busy thinking we are doing things when we are really doing nothing?
Do we live in an illusion?
Francis Chan gives the analogy from his family. He says, “What if I asked my daughter to go clean her room and I simply said, ‘Please go clean your room.’” What would you think if she came back and told me that she organized a small group and they talked quite a bit about what it means to clean a room. Or she came back and said that she knows what “cleaning” means in the Greek. Or that she went to a huge conference and got really pumped about cleaning her room yet failed to ever actually clean her room.
Is this the church?
At this point Dave had us all stand up and lift up one foot off the ground. This is a Jesuit practice. It was a symbolic gesture to demonstrate that they were always ready to go. They were always ready to move wherever God wanted them to go.
Why did Christianity rise so quickly in the early few centuries? When there was a pandemic in a city everyone would leave. The Christians stayed. They had one foot raised. They were actually doing it.
Who are we supposed to love?
Luke 10 - Who is my neighbor? It is someone actually not like you. That is your neighbor. Samaritans were not like Jews. That is why Jesus told them that story. They were to draw near to those not like themselves. This is how we should define “neighbor”.
Matt. 28 - We are called to love the nations. The nations are not all like us. We are to reach out to those who are far from us and very different from us.
Isaiah 58:4-7 - God calls us to pursue righteousness and justice. This is the kind of “fasting” that he desires. We can’t go through the religious motions.
James 1:27 - What is genuine religion? Caring for the weak. Orphans and widows. The second half of that verse talks about “the world” and the Greek word implies the value system of the world. If you are focused on the weak, then you will be able to fight the influence of the world in your life. Vice versa will be true as well. If you are influenced by the world you’ll be selfish and won’t care about the weak.
On any give day 1/2 million children move through the foster care system.
We can march for pro-life but what about those kids who do get born? Who is stepping up to care for them? Do we really embody James 1:27?
The new goal for the church should be zero orphans. Zero kids waiting for foster care. Zero widows suffering in isolation. Who cares how many people are in our churches if these number keep growing?!?! This is the metric we should be paying attention to because it shows that we actually understand true faith.
Do we live in an illusion?
Francis Chan gives the analogy from his family. He says, “What if I asked my daughter to go clean her room and I simply said, ‘Please go clean your room.’” What would you think if she came back and told me that she organized a small group and they talked quite a bit about what it means to clean a room. Or she came back and said that she knows what “cleaning” means in the Greek. Or that she went to a huge conference and got really pumped about cleaning her room yet failed to ever actually clean her room.
Is this the church?
At this point Dave had us all stand up and lift up one foot off the ground. This is a Jesuit practice. It was a symbolic gesture to demonstrate that they were always ready to go. They were always ready to move wherever God wanted them to go.
Why did Christianity rise so quickly in the early few centuries? When there was a pandemic in a city everyone would leave. The Christians stayed. They had one foot raised. They were actually doing it.
Who are we supposed to love?
Luke 10 - Who is my neighbor? It is someone actually not like you. That is your neighbor. Samaritans were not like Jews. That is why Jesus told them that story. They were to draw near to those not like themselves. This is how we should define “neighbor”.
Matt. 28 - We are called to love the nations. The nations are not all like us. We are to reach out to those who are far from us and very different from us.
Isaiah 58:4-7 - God calls us to pursue righteousness and justice. This is the kind of “fasting” that he desires. We can’t go through the religious motions.
James 1:27 - What is genuine religion? Caring for the weak. Orphans and widows. The second half of that verse talks about “the world” and the Greek word implies the value system of the world. If you are focused on the weak, then you will be able to fight the influence of the world in your life. Vice versa will be true as well. If you are influenced by the world you’ll be selfish and won’t care about the weak.
On any give day 1/2 million children move through the foster care system.
We can march for pro-life but what about those kids who do get born? Who is stepping up to care for them? Do we really embody James 1:27?
The new goal for the church should be zero orphans. Zero kids waiting for foster care. Zero widows suffering in isolation. Who cares how many people are in our churches if these number keep growing?!?! This is the metric we should be paying attention to because it shows that we actually understand true faith.
Breakout Session Two - Solving the Global Orphan Crisis Through Church Planting - Jason Kovacs
There is an overwhelming need for new churches in the world and an overwhelming need for adoption and orphan care.
We have to declare the Gospel and demonstrate that we believe that Gospel in the way we live. Theologically speaking, adoption is the pinnacle of our salvation. We are not just declared to be forgiven, but we have a new Father and a new family.
Adoption is a huge way to demonstrate the reality of the Gospel that has taken shape in our lives. James 1:27 is a huge implication of the Gospel.
We are also called to make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:18-20. This is our call to church planting. God never intended for us to do the Christian life solo. We have always been called to do it in community. God’s call to mission is really a church planting mission. We are all called to make disciples. A call to make disciples is a call to plant churches. We are all called to see God’s visible body to increase through our efforts.
The church is the instrument to bring the Gospel to the nations. The Gospel is the hope for the nations. God’s people are called to spread his glory through all the world. In light of this, the least of these will be cared for (Matt. 25).
There are 4,000 new churches being planted in the U.S. each year. Imagine if the churches we planted had a burden for the orphan.
We have to declare the Gospel and demonstrate that we believe that Gospel in the way we live. Theologically speaking, adoption is the pinnacle of our salvation. We are not just declared to be forgiven, but we have a new Father and a new family.
Adoption is a huge way to demonstrate the reality of the Gospel that has taken shape in our lives. James 1:27 is a huge implication of the Gospel.
We are also called to make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:18-20. This is our call to church planting. God never intended for us to do the Christian life solo. We have always been called to do it in community. God’s call to mission is really a church planting mission. We are all called to make disciples. A call to make disciples is a call to plant churches. We are all called to see God’s visible body to increase through our efforts.
The church is the instrument to bring the Gospel to the nations. The Gospel is the hope for the nations. God’s people are called to spread his glory through all the world. In light of this, the least of these will be cared for (Matt. 25).
There are 4,000 new churches being planted in the U.S. each year. Imagine if the churches we planted had a burden for the orphan.
Breakout Session One - Missional Orphan Care - Michael Stewart
What does missional orphan care mean?
We read the Bible like we go to Wal-Mart. What does the Bible say about (blank)? We are looking for something particular and once we get it we just move on.
Problem is that it becomes centered on me. We go to Wal-Mart to get our needs met. Meeting my needs. The Bible is not primarily about us. The Bible is more than fire-insurance and going to heaven.
We need to look at the Bible and see the whole story. The Bible is a story from beginning to end. God is telling us a story. It is the story of God. It can be summed up in Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation.
Colossians 1:19-20:
Jesus taught us to pray for the renewal of things now ("on earth as it is in heaven").
The Bible is all about God's mission. His mission is to save sinners and ultimately the whole creation. He has come to redeem and restore through the work of Jesus.
Four implications:
1. History is all about the mission of God. Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation.
2. If you understand this story salvation becomes more than fire insurance. We join God in his mission to redeem and renew when we do good deeds in the name of Jesus.
3. We can never separate word and deed. Justice, mercy, orphan care are always linked to our salvation.
4. We are to join God in his mission to redeem and renew.
Four applications:
1. What is doing justice? - According to the OT, God's justice means to share food, shelter, resources, etc. with those who have less than we do. Doing justice is something setting things right, the way they should be according to God.
2. Who should do justice? - Anyone with the resources, power, connections. We think of justice in terms of "what I deserve". You get what you deserve. The Biblical idea of justice is that we owe one another what we have. We should never withhold our resources from those in need.
3. How do we do justice? - Proverbs 11:10 - The righteous are those who are willing to disadvantage themselves to advance the community. The wicked are those who are selfish.
4. How can you do justice for orphans? - More on this to come in the following breakouts...
We read the Bible like we go to Wal-Mart. What does the Bible say about (blank)? We are looking for something particular and once we get it we just move on.
Problem is that it becomes centered on me. We go to Wal-Mart to get our needs met. Meeting my needs. The Bible is not primarily about us. The Bible is more than fire-insurance and going to heaven.
We need to look at the Bible and see the whole story. The Bible is a story from beginning to end. God is telling us a story. It is the story of God. It can be summed up in Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation.
Colossians 1:19-20:
[19] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.God is redeeming and renewing. The Gospel is not just a wonderful plan for my life, but a wonderful plan for all of creation. Gospel centered people don't just urge people to be converted but to also see peace and justice in our cities. We seek the shalom of the city.
Jesus taught us to pray for the renewal of things now ("on earth as it is in heaven").
The Bible is all about God's mission. His mission is to save sinners and ultimately the whole creation. He has come to redeem and restore through the work of Jesus.
Four implications:
1. History is all about the mission of God. Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation.
2. If you understand this story salvation becomes more than fire insurance. We join God in his mission to redeem and renew when we do good deeds in the name of Jesus.
3. We can never separate word and deed. Justice, mercy, orphan care are always linked to our salvation.
4. We are to join God in his mission to redeem and renew.
Four applications:
1. What is doing justice? - According to the OT, God's justice means to share food, shelter, resources, etc. with those who have less than we do. Doing justice is something setting things right, the way they should be according to God.
2. Who should do justice? - Anyone with the resources, power, connections. We think of justice in terms of "what I deserve". You get what you deserve. The Biblical idea of justice is that we owe one another what we have. We should never withhold our resources from those in need.
3. How do we do justice? - Proverbs 11:10 - The righteous are those who are willing to disadvantage themselves to advance the community. The wicked are those who are selfish.
4. How can you do justice for orphans? - More on this to come in the following breakouts...
Together For Adoption 2010 - Session One - Dan Cruver
The Gospel has to be at the center of the global orphan crisis.
The primary concern for Dan is what will happen fifty years from now and beyond. We have to have a vision for the long term when we meet. We can't solve it all this weekend.
What lens are looking through as we view the global orphan crisis?
The local church being engaged in the orphan crisis is the focus. This cannot happen unless we are looking through the right lens.
Romans 8:23 - we are eagerly waiting for our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
Your lens is essential when seeking to address the millions of orphans in our world.
The lens through which we must look is the lens of The Godhead himself, the Trinity.
The Trinity is the answer to the global orphan crisis. There is no greater answer to the global orphan crisis than The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Trinity has a mission and that mission is adoption as sons. It is bigger than the universe because it is as big as who God is. We don't just get one person of the Godhead, we get all three persons of God. This text clearly shows this.
Adoption is anchored deeply within the eternal relationships of the three persons of the Trinity. Our adoption is rooted the character of God himself. Our adoption is God sized.
We resonate with God as his children now. In light of this we are propelled forward to minister to orphans.
The primary concern for Dan is what will happen fifty years from now and beyond. We have to have a vision for the long term when we meet. We can't solve it all this weekend.
What lens are looking through as we view the global orphan crisis?
The local church being engaged in the orphan crisis is the focus. This cannot happen unless we are looking through the right lens.
Romans 8:23 - we are eagerly waiting for our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
Your lens is essential when seeking to address the millions of orphans in our world.
The lens through which we must look is the lens of The Godhead himself, the Trinity.
The Trinity is the answer to the global orphan crisis. There is no greater answer to the global orphan crisis than The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Gal. 4:4-7 - [4] But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. [6] And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” [7] So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.We have been freed through adoption.
The Trinity has a mission and that mission is adoption as sons. It is bigger than the universe because it is as big as who God is. We don't just get one person of the Godhead, we get all three persons of God. This text clearly shows this.
Adoption is anchored deeply within the eternal relationships of the three persons of the Trinity. Our adoption is rooted the character of God himself. Our adoption is God sized.
We resonate with God as his children now. In light of this we are propelled forward to minister to orphans.
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