// Together for Adoption

When Christians see the word adoption in Scripture, they tend to think primarily, if not exclusively, about God’s work to bring us into his family. While child-placement is an essential facet of Scripture’s teaching on adoption, it certainly is not the only facet.
Scripture’s multifaceted presentation of adoption has serious implications for how the church addresses the [...]

Adoption agencies all over the country have been inundated with people calling in to inquire about adopting Haitian orphans. As I’ve noted before, the complexities of Haiti’s orphan crisis are enormous, especially when we add the question of adoption to the mix. In light of these complexities, I think it’s safe to say that it [...]

I’m grateful for the media’s coverage of Haiti’s crisis. It confronts me with graphic images of human suffering. Where I live, life is simple and safe. I have more than enough to eat each day and a comfortable place to sleep each night. Compared to most everybody else in the world, my life is very [...]

Adoptive love is incarnate love.
Don’t let that first sentence pass through your mind too quickly. Let it sit there for a few minutes. If you do, I think you’ll find that God’s adoptive love is both scary and assuring.
When God sent His Son to redeem us so that we might receive adoption as sons (Galatians [...]

The above quotation was taken from page 2 of our e-book, Our Adoption in Christ: What It Means for Us and for Orphans. Help us spread the word about this free resource.
Our hope and prayer is that God will use it to equip the church to care for orphans.

RHB is selling books leftover from our 2009 conference at 50% off. Here are some of the titles available:

Adopted for Life – Russell Moore Retail: $16.00, RHB: $8.00
Adopted Into God’s Family – Trevor J. Burke Retail: $22.00, RHB: $11.00
As We Forgive: Stories of Reconciliation from Rwanda – Catherine Claire Larson Retail: $16.00, RHB: $8.00
Ministries for [...]

Steve Burchett, a pastor of Christ Fellowship of Kansas City, writes:
Does this mean that every Christian should adopt? Definitely not. The church is one body made up of members with a variety of gifts and callings. However, the “body life” language of the New Testament reveals that though you may not adopt personally, you will [...]

Listed below is what I’m asking God to do in the church in 2010 for the sake of the orphan. Will you join me not only in praying but also in striving to be an answer to our own prayers? I am praying that:
1. 10 pastors in each state will preach a sermon for the [...]

Adoption made Collin Hansen’s Top 10 list of theology stories for 2009 (Collin is a Christianity Today editor-at-large). He even refers to our conference:
6. Adoption Push Gains Steam. Adoption is a practical, sacrificial way that Christians live out their pro-life convictions. It also happens to be one of the most important Christian doctrines. We “groan inwardly as we [...]

Justin Buzzard:
If you’re a Christian, you’ve been adopted. God is your Father. You have all the benefits of sonship. You are now a son or daughter of God. Yet, do you still live like an orphan?
I’ve been helped recently by working through World Harvest Mission’s checklist, Orphans vs. Children. One of my favorite authors, Jack [...]

1. Caring for Orphans While Soaked with the Sense of Exile
2. What Orphans Need: Christians Who Live in the Joy of Their Father’s Delight
3. Orphan Care is Gospel Reenactment
4. Orphan Care: An Opportunity to Make Much of Jesus
5. George Whitefield, the Gospel, and Orphans
6. Does Adoption Adequately Address the [...]

As you celebrate the birth of Jesus, take some time to reflect upon the relationship between the incarnate love of God and the church’s responsibility to care for the fatherless. Ultimately, it is God’s incarnate love that moves us outward “to visit orphans in their affliction” (James 1:27). The love we celebrate at Christmas [...]

About this picture:
“War-orphan Faustin Mugisa, 8, who has machete scars on his head and body, stands at the Kizito orphanage in Bunia in northeastern Congo February 24, 2009. Mugisa was left for dead in a pile of corpses when ethnic Lendu militiamen hacked to death his mother and seven siblings in 2003. Mugisa’s father discovered [...]

According to James 1:26-27, the practice of true religion manifests itself in what we do with our words (v. 26), our service (v. 27), and our hearts (v. 27). James’ description of true religion is indicative of God’s original intention for our humanity. God created us in his image to speak words that build up, [...]

Miroslav Volf:
Consider the true gift we celebrate at Christmas, God’s advent into the world. Here is how the apostle Paul told the story of Christmas: “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might [...]

Mike Pohlman, Executive Editor for The Gospel Coalition, recently invited me to be a regular contributor to the TGC blog. I was humbled and honored by the invitation. The TGC blog is committed to promoting gospel-centered ministry within the church, whether it’s discussing the Bible, theology, church history, books, culture, or orphan care and adoption. [...]

“Without the gospel, your self-image is based upon living up to some standards—whether yours or someone’s imposed upon you. If you live up to those standards, you will be confident but not humble. If you don’t live up to them, you will be humble but not confident. Only in the gospel can you be both [...]

Tim Challies announces his favorite book of ‘09:
Adopted for Life by Russell Moore. The topic of adoption has been gaining increased attention in the church of late and for this I am very grateful. Moore’s book is a strong contribution to the discussion. I said in my review that I felt like Moore “left [...]

Yesterday, I was deeply moved by something that I read in a letter that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote to his son Christopher. As I reflected upon his words, it occurred to me that he touches on something that is profoundly relevant to the global orphan crisis. Tolkien writes:
“We all long for [Eden], and we are constantly [...]

I have lived long enough to learn from experience that if I am not actively locating my identity in the Gospel, I will locate it somewhere else. If I am not consciously—and, therefore, intentionally—living in light of the grand story of redemption, we will in light of some other story. There is never a moment [...]