Adoption Travel Plans and Prayer Requests

We leave for Uganda in two days to pick up Judah!  Yesterday Cindi sent out the below email to paint a picture of our trip and to give specific prayer requests.  Our main plea to the Lord is that we would walk by the Spirit.  If we do, He will lead us to respond with spiritual motivations and biblical wisdom to all the unpredictable and uncontrollable events that we couldn’t possibly prepare for or pray about beforehand.  We believe that intense and humble Godwardness is the best preparation.  We are grateful — more than you can know — for your prayers.

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Dear Family and Friends,

This Saturday, we are leaving to go to Uganda. :)  We wanted to fill you in a little bit more on the details so you can pray and understand what our plans are when we are there.  If you don’t want to read all the details, you can read the bold parts!

Everything in this email is if the Lord wills.

We leave Los Angeles at 9:10am this Saturday.  We have two stops — Houston and Amsterdam.  Please pray for safety.  We will arrive in Uganda on April 1st around 8:30pm.  Amani Baby Cottage (ABC) is about three hours away from the airport so we will not be going there right away.  We will spend our first night with our missionary friends Shannon and Danielle Hurley.  We will leave the morning of April 2nd and go to ABC to see Judah for the first time!  Please pray for Judah to bond with us (we are obviously already very attached to him!).  We will be staying at the Hotel Triangle for our 3.5-week stay.  Jinja (where ABC is located) is quite the tourist town because it’s at the source of the Nile, so we imagine things to be fairly easy to locate and get to.

Our court date is scheduled for April 4th (in the U.S. it will be late in the evening on April 3rd).  We do use the word “scheduled” very purposefully.  There have been several instances in the past where the judge will decide he does not feel like working that day or doesn’t want to hear “that case,” etc.  So far, this has happened to all three of the families that have gone before us.  Please pray for the judge to decide to hear our case!

Assuming that our judge is there and decides to proceed with our court case, here are the details:  We will enter into the judge’s chambers and our Ugandan lawyer will do all the talking.  We hear that it only takes from 10-30 minutes for the whole thing.  We will leave with a general understanding of the ruling but the actual ruling itself will not be drawn up for 7-10 days.  The written ruling must state that we are “bringing Judah to the U.S.A. for full and final adoption.”  If that phrase is not in the ruling even though we have been given an approval, we will be denied a visa for Judah.  Please pray that the ruling will state that we intend to bring Judah to the U.S.A. for full and final adoption.  If the above statement is not included, we will enter the appeals court process.  We do not want to enter this!  The appeals court basically functions in a “six weeks on, six weeks off” fashion, with the same African mindset of working when they desire.  Two out of the three families that have gone through adoptions from ABC have been placed into this process.  Neither took less than a year from the original court date (meaning that we would likely be looking at another year if we get placed in the appeals court process).

After our court date (and assuming the judge was favorable), we will apply for a visa for Judah to enter the U.S. and we will be taking him to a doctor to get a check-up.  Please pray that Judah will be given an “OK” to travel to the U.S. based on health and visa.  Judah’s passport is ready but is not being released for some reason.  Please pray that the government will give us his passport.

Outside of getting things done to bring Judah home, we will be spending a lot of time at ABC.  We want to see how Judah has been raised the first sixteen months of his life.  We also plan to spend a lot of time with the other children at ABC.  Several of their families are coming soon after us and a lot of them are friends of ours.  Please pray for the six families following us in the months of April and May.  They will all be going through the same process.

That’s our trip to Uganda in a nutshell.  Right now we are scheduled to return to the States on the morning of April 23rd.  If things get delayed on any level, Gunner will still return on the 23rd and I will stay in Uganda as needed.  Please pray that we can return together on the 23rd, with Judah, and that he won’t cry the whole plane ride home!

We are so incredibly excited and know that the Lord is already directing the hearts of the people we will contact over there.  We go knowing very well that the Lord does as He pleases in all things.  Please pray that our lives would be an example of trusting and treasuring Jesus above all things.

Many have asked about updates.  Currently we will be posting updates on Gunner’s blog.  We will try to send out email updates, but internet and electricity in Africa are not very reliable.  We will do what we can.  We will also have a cell phone in Uganda and both of our moms have the number if anyone wants to call us. :)  We will also be using MSN Messenger (with our webcam) if anyone would like to talk with us (and see Judah!) that way.

Thank you to all of you for your constant love and prayers.  God never ceases to be good and gracious to us all.

Feel free to pass along this email.

Gunner & Cindi

Wit and Wisdom from John Hannah (12)

These are loose quotes from two of John Hannah’s lectures on (1) Edwards’ preaching and (2) Edwards’ work entitled A Treatise on Grace.  The latter was tremendously helpful to me in understanding the nature and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  But as you may suspect, not all of these quotes are just about preaching or just about the Holy Spirit.

Typical church service in Edwards’ day:  The typical service began with 45 minutes of pastoral prayer, where everyone caught up on the news, just like we do today.  The sermon would go on for an hour or two.  At the end, 15 minutes of prayer.  Then an elder would critique the sermon.  You didn’t get away with much in those days.

Goal of preaching:  You’re not stirring up a discussion.  You’re stirring up a decision.

Evaluating people:  If your perspective on people is from a distance, it will be distorted in proportion to how far away you are.

Regeneration:  Why does Edwards stress the non-gradual nature of regeneration?  Because it’s a miracle.  Edwards has ripped away man-made moralistic strivings after redemption.  There is certainly preparation, but that preparation does not account for the event of life-giving regeneration.

Uncomfortable in the world:  When God saved me, He turned a trick on me.  The world which was comfortable to me has become uncomfortable.  Because there’s a new world in my heart which is more real to me than the one in which I live.

Simple power in preaching:  Edwards learned from Locke that the mind thinks in simplicity, not complexity.  He didn’t depend on gestures.  He depended on the power of his words to form an image in the mind of his hearers.  He wanted to lead them to truth so that they could deduce it themselves and therefore own it.  The question in preaching is: How do I get them to own my idea?

Terror sermons:  “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is an example of a “Terror” sermon, though it is not Edwards’ best.  Take a look at “Torments of Hell Are Exceedingly Great.”  You don’t want to read this one at night.  Read this one on the beach in broad daylight.

Edwards’ mental power:  He’s not showing off his mind to show off.  He’s using his mind to create a response by revealing beauty.

Edwards’ preaching:  This guy could come after you, and he would never let up.  He would overload your mind with images and you would either surrender or run.

Growing up in a Christian home:  God has no grand-children.  Growing up in a Christian home may vantage you, but not redemptively.

Application in sermons:  I think that sermons today are too applicational.  They leave people out.  They’re too specific.  Allow God to apply the truth to His people.

Persuasion, manipulation, and self-authentication:  As a preacher, I struggle with the line between persuasion and manipulation.  The only way to deal with this is to talk to yourself and to ask, “What is my motivation?”  For Edwards, the issue in any motivation is always the same: motive and object.  You know when you’re trying to get results just to authenticate yourself.  I don’t need results to get affirmation as a minister.  A large church is no evidence of my godliness.  Derelicts have both small churches and large ones.

Reactionary theology:  We always frame our theology based on what we’re reacting to, and therefore it’s wrong on all sides.

Christian IQ:  Redemption doesn’t cure IQ.  Once dumb, always dumb.  That’s why we go to school — to hide it.

What people will remember:  People won’t remember what you said.  They’ll remember who you are and what you value, without you telling them.  They’ll read you like a book.  They’re smart people.

Responses to preaching:  When you throw a stick into a pack of dogs and one barks, you know which one you’ve hit.  Same is true in preaching.

Part 1 – Monday’s quotes
Part 2 – Tuesday’s quotes
Part 3 – Wednesday’s quotes
Part 4 – Thursday’s quotes
Part 5 – Friday’s quotes
Part 6 – Saturday’s quotes
Part 7 – Quotes from biographical lectures (1)
Part 8 – Quotes from biographical lectures (2)
Part 9 – Quotes from lectures on Edwards’ early writings
Part 10 – Quotes from lecture on Religious Affections
Part 11 – Quotes from lecture on Edwards’ Trinitarianism

John Piper and Television

Abraham Piper recently searched the DesiringGod website for the word “television” and compiled a short list of his dad’s quotes that contain the word. 

It’s sad to me that when concerned Christians speak about the spiritual effects of American TV culture and the foolishness of imbibing it with regularity, the word “legalistic” is often part of the response (but without much in terms of biblical explanation, cogent argument, or even thoughtful consideration).  Perhaps we understand neither holiness nor legalism as we should.

May the Lord grant us a heart for things greater than the typical sitcom.

RA Interview Questions

Resident Assistants (RA’s) are student leaders here at The Master’s College.  Each RA gives peer oversight to a wing of 20-30 students.  It’s a position that I don’t take lightly. I’ve experienced and seen the impact that an RA can have on someone’s spiritual life, and these are the students that I work most closely with.  I love them and respect them.

We’re currently in the process of interviewing RA applicants for the 2007-2008 school year.  Five of us sit in a room with one applicant and basically ask tough personal and ministerial questions for an hour.  It can be an intimidating but very beneficial experience for those applying.  I’m always challenged by some of the questions that are asked, too, even though I’m one of the ones asking.  A good, penetrating, humbling, sanctifying question is hard to stop thinking about.

Here are a few questions that were asked over the past few days.  I share them because perhaps one or two may be worth thinking about extensively.  At least it’s profitable to consider the benefits of sitting down with friends and leaders and allowing them to delve into your life and ask you the hard questions that will challenge your thinking and expose your weaknesses and encourage your strengths and cause you to press on to know the Lord.  It’s easy to remain spiritually stagnant, with the dark recesses of your heart and life unexposed to the community of believers that ought to be such a source of encouragement and exhortation in your life.  Never underestimate the power of a good question.

1. Are you hard to lead?
     
2. What are some things that you know well but you’re not putting into practice?
    
3. Tell me why I should follow Christ.
    
4. How do you fight against apathy when you’re consistently in a Christian environment?
    
5. Are there any fractured relationships in your life right now?
    
6. What makes you laugh?
    
7. How do the people around you know that you love them?
      
8. How do you think the Lord has humbled you the most over the past year?
    
9. How would you minister to people who are spiritually comfortable and who don’t care about things of the Lord?
    
10. What have you risked for Christ?