Adopted For Life

I scurried to read the first chapter of Russell Moore’s new book, Adopted for Life, knowing that I would be introducing Dr. Moore that evening at a Sojourn event.  My wife Ginger has been reading this book and is almost finished.  She continues to give me snippets and I enjoy hearing them.

But after reading the first chapter, it felt like I was constantly fighting back tears and beginning to feel a deeper weight of the status of orphans around the world.  And this was the testimony of many people Wednesday night.  We were moved and tears were frequenting people’s eyes as Dr. Moore shared his family’s experience of adopting two boys from Russia.  The story shone forth God’s providence, God’s love, God’s mission and God’s gospel.

So what does this mean for Sojourn?  With 137,000,000 orphans in the world today, it definitely means that we cannot stand idly by.  Though not everyone is called to adopt, the Scriptures command that we all be about orphan and widow care.  As James writes, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:26-27 NIV).

I would encourage everyone to listen to the audio from this event and ask God for a few requests.  “Lord, please let the truth of You adopting me as a precious child be further worked into my life.”  And then ask, “Lord, what would You have me do as a result of Dr. Moore’s message?”  And then, get up and move in faith.

For us, it means taking the next steps in moving towards adoption.  For you, it might be clicking on some links to financially support those being led to adopt.  It might be building a relationship with a hospital where crack babies are born and abandoned by their mothers.  You might simply go and hold these precious children.  The list goes on and on.  Listen and be encouraged.

Listen to Dr. Moore: “Christ In An Orphan-Making Culture”

Read Pastor Simon Groce’s PDF “Adoption 101: God’s Heart and Our Call”