Category: Adoption

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Adoption is War part five

joshnmarda

We have been looking at the importance of putting on the helmet of salvation.  By putting on the helmet of salvation we mean, protecting our thinking from lies by remembering and enjoying what God has accomplished for us through Jesus Christ.  To help us get a picture of what it looks like to do this, we have begun working our way through several lies that Christians are tempted to believe. A second lie we are tempted to believe is that we are too big a mess to ever be able to do what God has called us to do.    … Continue reading Adoption is War part five

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Adoption is War part three

joshnmarda

Since Satan can’t force you to give up your salvation, he is going to do everything within his power to keep you from appreciating your salvation, because he knows that failing to appreciate your salvation is going to produce all kinds of practical problems in your life. This is one reason why throughout the book of Ephesians Paul is constantly praying that God would help us to understand and appreciate the resources that we have in Christ. If you look back at Ephesians chapter one and verse 18 this is how Paul begins praying for the Ephesians. He says, verse … Continue reading Adoption is War part three

Adoption, MercyLeave a comment

An Apologetic for Orphan Care part five

joshnmarda

You sometimes get the feeling when you begin to talk about adoption with some individuals that they feel like you are talking about a lightweight doctrine.  Not so!  Adoption is one of the highest and most significant privileges the gospel reveals.  In fact, J.I. Packer once said if he were asked to summarize the New Testament message in three words his proposal would be “adoption through propitiation and I do not expect to ever meet a richer or more pregnant summary of the gospel than that.”  If you are able, we would love to have you come and explore why … Continue reading An Apologetic for Orphan Care part five

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An Apologetic for Orphan Care part four

joshnmarda

It is hard to believe Together for Adoption is less than two weeks away.  We are looking forward to a missions team from the United States coming at the end of this week, then a trip to Lesotho to help build a church facility and bang, the conference is here!  Please be praying that God will use this conference to encourage his people and to help fuel a movement. And oh yeah, if you haven’t registered yet, this is the week!  To motivate you, we have been working our way through James 1:27, trying to understand why James brings up … Continue reading An Apologetic for Orphan Care part four

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An Apologetic for Orphan Care part three

joshnmarda

Compassion that doesn’t flow out of knowledge of God doesn’t flow out for very long. It is a wonderful privilege to serve children who are in need, it is also hard work. This is part of why we are holding a conference called Together for Adoption in Pretoria on March 1 and 2. We want to provide a strong biblical basis for those who are energized for showing deep biblical love to those in need. In order to prepare us for the conference, I have been looking at several reasons from the Scripture orphan care is important for believers to … Continue reading An Apologetic for Orphan Care part three

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An Apologetic for Orphan Care part two

joshnmarda

It is one day closer to our first ever Together for Adoption conference here in Pretoria, South Africa.  We are hoping God will use this conference to increase our joy in our adoption and spark a theologically driven adoption movement here in South Africa.  I began yesterday working through several reasons we are convinced that it is vitally important we as believers reach out to orphans with the love of God.  The first reason had to do with the character of God.  Here are reasons two and three: ——————————————————————————- Second, a lack of concern for the orphan and widow is … Continue reading An Apologetic for Orphan Care part two

Adoption, Mercy2 Comments

An Apologetic for Orphan Care part one

joshnmarda

We are excited to be able to host a Together for Adoption Conference here in South Africa on March 1 and 2nd.  It is a great deal of work putting on a conference and is requiring a great deal of faith as well, trusting that God will make His name look great through our feeble efforts.  Over the next several posts, I thought I might share some reasons why we believe the way we respond to the orphan crisis in our midst is such an important topic for us to consider.  —– If you wanted to test the reality of … Continue reading An Apologetic for Orphan Care part one

Adoption, Missions & Evangelism2 Comments

More than you might think…

joshnmarda

We are really looking forward to hosting a Together for Adoption conference here in South Africa. Sometimes though when we talk about this conference people seem to think it is only for people who are about to adopt or who are in a place where they are able to adopt. What we hope to express is that the conference is really about something even bigger than that. I recently read this explanation over at Together for Adoption’s web-site that I think gives great insight into part of our motivation behind this conference. “Adoption’s recovery would enable us to express the … Continue reading More than you might think…

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Wanted…

joshnmarda

One of the great pictures that the apostle Paul used to help us understand what has happened in our salvation is that of adoption. He speaks of being adopted five times which may not seem like a lot but is actually more than he even speaks of regeneration. Add to that the fact that he describes every member of the Trinity being involved in the adoption process and that Paul traces our adoption from before the foundation of the world to the end of it and you begin to see that this is an important idea. To be a Christian … Continue reading Wanted…