Four men, one calling: To serve and protect.  

 

In the Family Student Movement our goal is to see our families, students and children "Share Life Together;" to do this we like to lead by example, show, teach, and walk through with our students and children on how to be "Self-Feeding Christians".  We encourage them to do things that will drive them to the Word of God, to be in relationships that hold them accountable to God, to know that God is the source to feed their soul, encouraging them to keep Christ at the center of their lives, and rejoicing with them when they see fruit from their relationship with God and their relationships with others.  These actions and disciplines will have an impact on their lives directly and over time we hope they will become "Self-Feeding Christians."  Check out the following profiles to hear what some of our own are saying about being a "Self-Feeding Christian."   CLICK HERE to read on. 

As I reflect on the Biblical command to care for orphans, I see several parallels between God's love for us and the love we as parents share with our children.  Romans 8 tells us about these qualities of love.

When we choose to adopt or foster parent a child, we as Christians show them a new level of love.  We make them members of our family, with full protection.  Likewise, God's spirit does not make us slaves, living in fear, but adopts us as sons of God into his family (Romans 8:15).

You can become a foster or adoptive parent.  Many children need the level of love you can give.  When my wife and I first went to the adoption agency, they dropped a huge, thick book on the table with a thud, and said, "Tell us the kind of child you want."  This was a book of hundreds of pages filled with the smiling, hopeful faces of children.  We looked back at them and said, "We want a child who needs a loving home."

The Spirit of God rescues us from the certain death that comes as a penalty for sin and gives us life because of Jesus' righteousness (Romans 8:10).  Similarly, you can come alongside a child living without love and without hope and give them a better life.  Just as we can't guard ourselves against the Evil One who wants to destroy us, children without parents can't guard themselves against hunger, fear, and the lack of love that result from being alone in the world.

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When you read this article, it will be 2011 or close to it! A new decade is beginning.  So, I say to each and every one of you, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  May God shower His blessings upon each of you and those you love.

 

Sometimes when I write, I ask the question, "Am I the only one who is thinking ________?"  But this time, I KNOW I am not the only one thinking, 'Where did the last 10 years go?' I am sure each of us could come up with a list of things we have done or things that have happened, and that list would be a mile long; no really, at least a mile long. We could also come up with a list that perhaps is not so long of the things that we wished we had done - you know, things like travel the world, lose those extra pounds that we keep finding, write a book, create an artistic masterpiece - things like that and more. The clock is ticking and every minute that goes by is a lost minute, a lost choice that we will never get back. Many live lives at a frantic pace, trying to pack it all in.  But is frantic living, a life lived with a sense of urgency?  As I write this, there are 10 more days until Christmas, 10 shopping days until Christmas, 9 if I don't count our day of rest.  While I have most of my shopping done, those hard to buy for or the few last gifts that I have been meaning to get are stirring in me a sense of urgency.  The deadline for this article was yesterday, and I am sensing an urgency to get this article in my email outbox before the sun rises today.  My grandchildren each day are growing and changing and I am sensing an urgency to impart to them Jesus and His wonderful news of God's love for us before the world begins to lull them into all the possibilities of life. Raymond and I will be celebrating his 50^th birthday in a few months by taking a cruise to Alaska and I have an urgency to lose those extra pounds before we go.    Now a sobering fact - every 5 seconds someone in this world has died.