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 [...]

If you want to see grace at work in a family’s stories of adoption, you’ll want to check out David and Judith McNeely’s blog. One of the reasons I’m grateful for their blog is that they share not only their struggles along the way but also God’s grace at work in the midst of them.
David serves [...]

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 [...]

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Michael Franti’s adoption story on Faith Hill’s special, “A Home for the Holidays.” Powerful story.

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 [...]

This Wednesday (1:00 PM EST) on “Knowing the Truth” Kevin Boling and Ryan Messmore will be discussing social justice. Ryan is the William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Society at The Heritage Foundation. If you are able, let me encourage you to listen to the program, whether live or by downloading the audio afterwards. [...]

I discovered this moving music video at Harmony of Hearts, a ministry that serves Christ, his Church, and the poorest of poor through worship and music. Since I was thinking about Jesus as the great Servant of the poor when I watched it, I found the 2:32 minute mark unusually powerful. It brought me to [...]

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. [...]