Adoption...the latest

Ironic that I just posted about spiritual warfare and now about the adoption process "stuff". Here's what's happening....

• The opinion from our evaluations that were done here in Poznan was great. After being completed it was sent to the court.
• The court sent the evaluation, along with ALL of our documents, to a different agency in Warsaw for approvals.
• That agency (we found out last week) sidestepped their involvement in this and said that we needed to work with the first agency...the one that wrote the damaging letter several months ago after having ZERO contact with us prior. Yes, ZERO.
  
• Our lawyer called this first agency to talk with their director and got the same story as before, even though the evidence has grown (and incidentally is 100% Polish now...before a lot of evaluations were foreign...they can't use that excuse any longer as they did before). The director said even with all of this proof she will not change her opinion. Keep in mind that she has NEVER met us NOR the kids. Read my spiritual warfare post if you'd like more info on this one.
• Our lawyer was writing a letter at the end of last week to the judge asking him to make this decision without the involvement from Warsaw since they are obviously set up against us and will not even consider the evidence that is before them.
• The kids' case worker will be trying to meet with the judge either today or tomorrow to talk about this issue as well. She is working with the judge in the same way the lawyer is...trying to get this resolved as quickly as possible.

That's the long story of it all. We are waiting (sound familiar) for some phone call that will hopefully come today or tomorrow. We have gone a long time without any word but now that we are approaching an ending we all really want to hear something.

We'll send out an email and post something when we hear. Please pray for the judge. Really everything rests on his shoulders now.

Thank you all so very much!!

Conversation about spiritual warfare

Vicki and I have had several conversations about spiritual warfare. The idea came up Sunday night and again this morning concerning dreams. It came up in my mind yet again a few minutes ago when I found out that we won't be having our Alpha group tonight.

As I do here often, I'd just like to put some thoughts out here and have a little pretend conversation time (I guess with myself). It's sort of funny but I actually do have some of your faces in my mind at times when I blog about certain things. Funny things bring certain faces to mind...spiritual things bring other faces...family things, etc. Interesting how my mind works. I guess I know many of you well enough to have these pretend conversations, thinking about what you'd have to say. Think I need some more community or something?? Man!

Anyway, do you think that we underestimate the reality of spiritual warfare? Do you think it's something that most people ever even consider...outside of church anyway? And when it is brought to mind (by ourselves or others) what is our reaction? Do we think..."yeah, that's exactly what's happening?" -or- "I guess it's possible...anything's possible" -or- "interesting thought...let me go get your straight jacket!"

I know there have been times in my life when I've heard people talk about SW (let's call it that for my fingers' sake) and I've thought that they are over-spiritualizing the coincidences or circumstances of the given situation. Or I've thought maybe that they're playing the SW card too quickly or too often. But I've got to tell you that my mind has been changing on this a great deal (maybe that's even too lightly put) over the past few years.

Eph. 6:12 says "For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms". But think about who we blame for the situations we get into. It's not too often that we are quick to say that it is the demonic world warring against us to destroy our lives.

We face some strange things here. I've blogged about just a few of them. Other colleagues, friends, and Christian family face the same and worse things. There are times when these could be explained due to normal, challenging circumstances. But when you look at the core of what has happened...or maybe if you try to look at what has resulted in what transpired...you can see something truly evil. And admittedly it's scary at times (even thought that fear is not of the Lord). Often I think that we have not been adequately prepared to deal with these kinds of attacks. The Frank Peretti books...the sermons on Eph 6...Sunday School lessons on demons weren't enough. Why is that? Could it be because we just never accepted it for real?

I Peter 5:8 refers to Satan as a roaring lion prowling around looking for someone to devour. The first part of that verse tells us to be alert...careful...ready, prepared for the lion's attack to come. I remember listening to a CNN report about some of soldiers in Iraq who commented about how their heads needed to constantly remain on swivels during their patrols. This is an awesome example for us as we engage in SW with our lives. In Iraq it is often an unseen threat. With our Enemy it is the same. On either front it would be vastly different if we could see the enemy wouldn't it? The fight would be much easier. But with such an enemy to let your guard down would mean death.

If we could really talk I'd love to hear of your experiences...how you are engaged in battle wherever you find yourself. Maybe that's something that would really help us all out...hearing how we all see it happening around us and how we have learned to resist the Enemy. Maybe that would be what's needed to help other Christ followers identify spiritual attacks better instead of just seeking out other "worldly" explanations that in the end take our focus away from the true source of danger.

Comment if you'd like on this one. I pray for you today. I pray for victory. Resist the lion, through the power of the Living God that courses through you, and he will flee!

Another antichristos

Jesus: Tales from the Crypt

This is the title (and link) of an article I read last night. It's about director James Cameron's upcoming documentary about supposedly finding Jesus' tomb, complete with body and "evidence" that he fathered a child.

At first I was irritated if not angry about this whole thing. I didn't have but a few seconds to think about it, though, before going to a meeting last night with some great guys from our church. After getting back home and showing the article to Vicki I've thought about it some more and basically I just think it makes sense. [someone in the audience says "what'd he just say?!"]

It makes sense the things like this happen and will continue to happen. Some might think that I overspiritualize by saying this but I see the people that make such attacks as antichrists. Incidentally, the Bible does not just speak of one Antichrist, in the singular...but also antichrists in the plural. [Take a look here for a breakdown of the Greek term along with passages using this term in the New Testament.]

I've been trying to bang out a closing paragraph to this post for about 10 minutes but honestly it's just too loud and crazy around here. So, let me just close by encouraging us to think about this issue. Consider what your faith rests in? Topics like this are great when discussed with others (iron sharpening iron thing). So maybe you need to grab some friends and have a deep spiritual discussion about the foundations of your faith.

2 Peter 3:15 says this "...if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it." What if you find yourself asking? Or a friend? Or culture as a whole after watching a movie? Are you...are we ready to give an answer and stand by it no matter? It appears we have yet another chance to find out.

Spiritual warfare or coincidence?

Generally I wouldn't write about these kinds of things. No particular reason. But I thought that maybe it would be interesting reading for someone out there...it's definitely a part of life, so why not share it right?

We had a somewhat tough morning today. We continue to grow and develop as a family and we all know that growth is not possible without growing pains. All of us feel those "pains" in one way or another. No need to go into any details...just the normal adjustments, etc of family life. But it was a little emotional.

Generally, when we face these kinds of challenges we try our best (sometimes we fail) to figure out how to face up to whatever it is through God's strength. For sure that's not easy in the "heat of battle". But we try. Today we, ourselves, took a time out to pray together to ask God to help us through...to let us have a fresh start. We left that short prayer time feeling good and ready to move on.

This is where it gets interesting. We said goodbye to our oldest boy as he went to school and loaded the rest of us up in the van to take Maciek to school. As we drove up to a nearby traffic light I noticed the guy in the car next to us staring at us (one of those weird "someone's watching me" moments). I looked back a few times thinking that would wake him up and end his fascination with whatever it was he was staring at. It didn't...he persisted. I smiled at him and did the manly nod thing we guys do. No reaction...he continued staring. I finally waved at him. At that moment he gave me the Polish hand signal used to call someone an idiot...several times. The light turned green and he drove on.

Spiritual warfare or coincidence? The enemy and his forces (sounds sci-fi but folks it's real) know what we are doing...they know what we struggle with...they hear us prayer asking for help to overcome certain challenges, prepare ourselves, etc. I am not saying that that strange man was "the enemy". But things like that are used day in and day out to throw us out of whack...to start us down the path toward sin -- be that in our thoughts or actions.

There was ZERO reason for that guy to do that this morning. ZERO! Z-E-R-O!! But following our morning's issues...which we're fought off through the power of prayer and our dependence on God...this subtle attack came and was almost effective in tearing me down again. But it didn't. As Vicki took Maciek into preschool I threw in a praise CD and began reciting Scripture (loudly) resisting the devil (see James 4:7). Thankfully that resistance has led to a wonderful rest of the day. I really feel great, thankful for those victories.

It's really a daily thing though. People think they can get away (let me back up..."I think that I can get away") with going it alone. Sometimes Christians think that picking up The Book every now and then and reading a few passages here and there...praying a prayer now and again before a meal...going to church...that these things will bring victory in one's life. It's a crock. It's a crock when I have times of living that way. We are absolutely nothing apart from Christ (see John 15:5). Nothing. No chance. We've (I've) got to be prepared everyday for whatever "flaming arrows" are flying my way. If I'm not...if I decide to go into battle naked...then I'm going to get hit. No question about that.

On a final note...it's interesting talking to people overseas about spiritual warfare. Honestly there's just some reason that it feels more "real" here. Maybe because it's not always so subtle like in the states where it comes through commercialism, materialism, and other such "isms" that our culture doesn't perceive as a threat any longer. It's easy to let our guards down, isn't it? There have been so many instances like this morning...that come out of nowhere and catch us off guard. These are not too subtle. And sometimes they're even downright scary. It makes me wonder if when the time comes for us to return to the states I'll be more aware of spiritual attacks there.

Risk, Care, Dream, Expect

Risk more than others think is safe.
Care more than others think is wise.
Dream more than others think is practical.
Expect more than others think is possible.
(Cadet maxim, West Point Military Academy)

Aren't those inspiring words? They were at the beginning of chapter 10 of Organic Church by Neil Cole. May we, as Christ followers, be that driven in our mission!

Still nothin'

If you've been checking back here to find out if we have heard anything from the court, the answer is a resounding NO. It's pretty frustrating as our entire household (ok, well maybe Maciek has no idea what's going on) is waiting some word on this.

Maybe this week!

Kids are something

Maciek has problems every now and then with behavior at preschool. He's into attention and often does whatever necessary to grab that attention from his teachers and the other kids. Unfortunately sometimes that has meant spitting on kids, trying to "rule" over his teachers, and even once knocking a kid off a small ladder (yes that's my son).

We have been diligent in talking to our sweet 4-year old about how God wants us to treat others so that he can begin understanding that there is more to life than just what mom and dad think or want. We also pray with him before preschool, asking God to help him remember to do the right thing.

I'm blogging about this because this morning was one of those great moments in my short time as a parent. Maciek walked into the office and said beautifully "daddy, can you please pray with me and ask God help me at school?" Of course it's not just sweet because of his developing language skills (truly amazing!) or the way he says "daddy". It's also sweet...in that same way that the Word is as sweet as honey...how he is already beginning to acknowledge God's involvement in his life.

I'm so thankful to have grown up with a family that led me toward Jesus. And I'm even more thankful that I can be a part of leading these three wonders to Him as well!

It's Your Life!

Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua son of Nun. When Moses had finished saying all these words to all Israel, he said, "Take to heart all these words to which I give witness today and urgently command your children to put them into practice, every single word of this Revelation. Yes. This is no small matter for you; it's your life. In keeping this word you'll have a good and long life in this land that you're crossing the Jordan to possess." (Deuteronomy 32:44-47 The Message)

I had the opportunity to preach again yesterday morning at Genesis. Actually I decided to preach the same message I preached a few weeks ago at the International Church about our perspective on God's Word as compared to King David's, seen through an analysis of a passage in Psalm 19. I think it's a good message (not mine in particular but definitely God's through David) as we all need a reality check from time to time...or maybe more often than that.

I've been reading through Deuteronomy over the past week or so and finished up this morning. It's a dramatic book chronicling a lot of the journey of the Hebrews as they moved toward ultimately crossing the Jordan to claim the land God had promised their people for generations. The writing is beautiful. I wish I could hear it read (and understand it) in the language that God inspired it to be written in. How much more beautiful...sweeter...might it be?

I wanted to draw my own (and maybe our) attention to the few words that I highlighted above: "it is your life". No matter which translation you look at they are all together on this one...no other way to say this. God's Word is your life. The original Hebrew, while it this statement is seemingly all one word (chay), is equally clear. It's as if our very lives hang in the balance...all dependent on the Word of God. Talk about perspective!

How is it that it has become so easy to appropriate God's Word to use only in the church building (ie Sunday School or Worship Services)? Why is it so easy to neglect? Worse, why is it so easy to ignore and live in complete contradiction to Scripture?

Reality check: if you find that your life is dependent on any single other thing than God and God alone you are a dead man walking. There cannot be life in you. To spin that to the positive side...there is life to be had in God, in His Word. There is real life to be discovered as when we submit ourselves *fully* to His reign.

Incidentally this message is for everyone...Christ followers and otherwise. Even Christians can lose sight of God's reality in their lives (the passage in Revelation 3 about Jesus standing at the door and knocking is directed to the Church at Laodicea not to unbelievers).

Another adoption update

As most of you know we have been waiting to hear from "someone" about the results from our interviews and testing. We finally found out that the opinion was sent to the courts on January 22 and it was extremely positive!! (...and there was much rejoicing!)

Now then...the judge sent the opinion, along with our other documentation, to a different agency in Warsaw to be reviewed and to get their "seal of approval". This is not the agency that hosed us many months ago. According to the kids' case worker (who I talked to a few minutes ago) the situation is completely clear now and there should be absolutely no reason why the Warsaw agency would not approve us.

Speaking to timeline (which I know all of us are interested in)...the agency has one month to respond to the court. The case worker, Sylwia, told me that she doesn't believe they will take that long (may be wishful thinking...but I'm game for that). After the court receives their response, and providing that it is positive, the final adoption hearing will be scheduled. When the judge approves the adoption there will then be a mandatory 21-day waiting period after which the adoption will be finalized.

Exciting stuff, huh?! We continue to ask God to help us all being patient through this, looking to keep His perspective on the whole waiting game. Of course we also ask Him to ward off the enemy's attacks on this process.

When we get the next update we will be sure to fill you all in!!

Some thoughts about Deut 13

Have you ever been invited by someone to worship another god (could write another post on gods-du-jour in our contemporary cultures)? You might have to think hard on this one. The question might sound like a trick, but really it's not. Has another believer ever tried to entice you to do something that would put that "something" ahead of God (upper-case G this time) on your priority list for life? Was it a relative...a friend...a minister?

I was reading Deut. 13 this morning and thinking about this question. I was also thinking about whether or not I've ever taught or preached something that didn't reflect the character of God fully. I pray that I haven't as it would be devastating to me to know that I'd led someone astray.

Wouldn't that be something if we were still called to practice the laws that God gave us in Deut. 13 regarding people who lead others to worship other gods? Action was to be swift and resolute: stoning to death. It didn't matter if that person was a relative or a stranger. It also didn't matter if an entire village was responsible for leading others astray. In the case the difference was that the entire village (including livestock and "plunder") was to be destroyed completely.

As we live in a time that focuses almost exclusively on God's grace we don't think about issues like this with much severity in mind. Why wouldn't God still hate it when one of His children is led down the wrong path by some "false prophet or dreamer"? Surely He does.

So, maybe the question needs to be turned around now. Have you ever invited someone to worship another god? Have you ever invited someone else to re-arrange their priorities in life so that God was not in that vital first position?

God is so serious about our devotion to Him. It is to be pure and unpolluted by other devotions...to Him alone. Anything else is plain unacceptable. He is also serious about how we have influence on others' devotion to Him. And while we no longer live under the "yoke" of the Law, it is good for us to examine ourselves in the light of these truths.

The theology of waiting

Waiting is something that fills our lives. Sometimes I feel, especially lately, like I'm in that terrible place Dr. Seuss calls the "waiting place...for people just waiting." But even though waiting is an old friend I still have problems getting along with him.

Of course most are aware that the most recent wait for us is the whole adoption "thing". I say "thing" because sometimes I'm not sure what else to call it. There have been so many turns and twists in the process that it no longer appears to resemble a "process". But I guess it's sort of like the whole notion of order within chaos. Even with all of the circles we somehow continue to move toward the goal (I hope).

Anyway, I'm not really prepared to give you a full theology of waiting. Sorry if I misled you. But I did want to challenge us to think about how we wait and consider where God fits into it all. It seems that waiting has been going on for a long time. I've been reading through Deuteronomy and man did the Hebrews have to wait! Of course they waited in Egypt (although history is in a different book), they waited during the exodus (think how they must have been thinking "are we there yet?"), they waited 40 years as they wandered, they waited for instruction on going to war after the long 40 year wait....waited, waited, waited. And that's just a minuscule part of the big picture.

Fast forward to today and you blaze past historical record after record of people having to wait. And of course we come to think about what they were waiting for and if they ended up with whatever it was they were waiting for in the first place. And it's my opinion that God is in the very center of all of this. Of course that opinion brings with it all manner of questions...like "why does He make us wait?", "why don't we get what we're waiting for sometimes?", and others.

If I tried to answer all of those questions (my own questions) here...well, let's just say I'd probably end up with just one reader (have I mentioned my mom reads my blog?). :-) Instead of answering I'll just challenge us to be thinking about this and trying to find the answers for ourselves in God's Word. I think they're there. And I believe that boiling it all down we can see how God so deeply desires our utter, pure faith in Him and in Him alone. Sometimes it's in the midst of "the wait" that that faith is perfected...when we stop trying to make "it" happen using our own creative drive, abilities, and strength. It's then that we are able to turn 100% to Him...full dependence and submission.

My patience is growing steadily through all of this waiting and when I submit to Him I actually feel so much more stable and empowered. Of course there are times that I "run ahead" on my own...I end up freaked out by the giants in the land and generally tuck tail and run. I know that waiting is not going away. But I pray for all of us that we are able to learn how to endure it...to grow through it...seeing how God is transforming us in the process.

My mind feels a little scattered this morning...so hope this makes sense!