Perspective

On the recommendation of friends, my wife and I have checked out the show “Switched at Birth”, I’m not here to give a review (although so far we’ve found it interesting). I was caught a little off guard at my reaction to the show.

If you are unfamiliar with the show, it revolves around the revelation that two girls, who are now 16, were switched at birth (hence the title of the show). The two families are have a rough start trying to figure out what this means to them and their respective daughters. But what really blew me away was how the parents of one of the girls immediately seemed to assume ownership of their biological daughter, trying to weigh in on decisions about how to raise her, and even considered pursuing their legal options to have her real parent’s parental rights removed. This struck me as down right evil.

Let me preface that with, I in no way know how I would react to such a thing, at present it is unthinkable that this amazing little girl isn’t mine, especially when she is being really stubborn :). But it bothered me, and it bothered me that it bothered me. And I think I know why, it took awhile, and I think it was the Holy Spirit who revealed it, but the reason it bothered me so much was, because I’m adopted.

Every time I saw the way the girls on the show reacted to their parents insensitivity, I could see myself in their shoes. Their sense of security shattered, always question what could have been, and who they really were. And yes I know it’s a TV show, but when I was younger these questions and doubts were a part of my life.

God has guided me through a lot of these twists and turns, and there’s still a ways to go. But seeing this all again has reminded me that regardless of the toughness adoption brings to life, I was and am awesomely blessed to have been adopted by two truly amazing parents.

Our only comfort today, tomorrow

Question:  What is your only comfort in life and in death?

Answer:  That I am not my own
but belong—
body and soul,
in life and in death—
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven;
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.

The Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 1.

Via Ray Ortlund

Promises

“16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said:
“I will live in them
and walk among them.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers,
and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord.
Don’t touch their filthy things,
and I will welcome you.
18 And I will be your Father,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”
Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.”

2 Corinthians 6:16 – 7:1 NLT

Costly Grace

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: ‘Ye were bought at a price’, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer (The Cost of Discipleship)

Why do we experience pain

Seth Barnes posted this great blog today:

One of the toughest questions in life is the problem of pain. Why does my loved one struggle so? Why do we have to go through hard times?

Sometimes, I’ve had so much pain in my life, I’ve just wanted to howl at the moon. No great answers, just a kind of continual struggle. You can get depressed. People go neurotic. People get mad at God and reject him. They give up. And the philosophical answers often don’t connect with our heart.

That said, there are answers. Joy Dawson describes God’s seven purposes for allowing difficulty or pain:

1)To melt hard substances and produce brokenness.

2)To destroy anything in our lives that is useless.

3)To reshape us and make us pliable for more use.

4)To make us more like Jesus, who is our example.

5)To endow us with more power. “Fire, glory and power are always linked.”

6)To experience for ourselves the “fellowship of His sufferings.”

7)To teach us how to mentor and help others, by learning more about ourselves and our own responses to the night seasons.

 

fight

our fight is not with…
liberals or conservatives
gays or lesbians
prostitutes or pimps
jews or arabs
atheist or witches

instead we fight…
darkness with light
worry with peace
lies with truth
oppression with freedom
hate with love
sadness with joy
despair with hope
hunger with food
sickness with healing
death with salvation