My friend Randy Bohlender, in his post “Coming Out Religious” discusses the way that politics and religion seem to collide on the campaign trail. On the one hand, politicians want to be seen as men and women of faith, of strong moral character and of deep conviction. On the other hand, they’ve been conditioned to get as many votes as possible at any cost. The result, as Randy points out, is a “total separation between church and mind”.

I’ve always thought these kinds of “I believe [fill in the blank] but it won’t affect the way I govern” statements were silly. I understand that someone may hold a certain belief but not feel like that belief should be legislated onto others, but I don’t think anybody really felt like Mitt Romney was going to legislate that we all become Mormon. I get why a politician would want to distinguish between personal faith and national legislation, but to say that something as central as one’s faith has no bearing on the decisions that an individual makes day in and day out is ridiculous. Equally as ridiculous are the ardent supporters (be they on the right or left) who will justify those kinds of comments from their candidate, yet flog the other side’s candidate for similar remarks. Conservatives and many Christians tripped over themselves during the primaries to explain to us why Mitt Romney was a great candiate “even though he’s Mormon”. Not that there’s anything wrong with standing up for a candidate (and I believe that someone can be a strong leader and govern effectively even if I disagree with their theology) but I have a hard time believing that these same conservatives would be as willing to let the whole “he’s a Mormon” thing slide if Mitt had been a Democrat. As a matter of fact, it would have probably been a central talking point on Fox News and talk radio for months. (See every “Is Obama a secret Muslim?” discussion.)

You see, the problem with politics is that it has become way too WWE and not nearly enough DIY Network. Politicians and those who support them are so focused on painting themselves (or their candidate) as the the “good guy” and the opponent as “the bad guy” – or better yet, “the incarnation of evil and all that is wrong in the world” – that they’ve lost site of the work that is supposed to be done in Washington. They’re pointing fingers and yelling, threatening to pull out the metal chair and smash in each other’s head. Meanwhile, our home is in disrepair and in need of a little DIY fixing. On one had we find the “separation between church and mind” and on the other hand, the “unbalanced application of rage”. In the end, whatever your guy says is evil, twisted and manipulative and whatever my guy says is good, honest and pure.

In reality, we’re talking about politicians. And every politician I know of is a human being (except maybe the Governator). And every human being I know fails to be 100% pure anything. We are all partially right and partially wrong, part good and part bad. Therefore, to offer our allegiance to a person or party or even a set of ideals without allowing ourselves to question or challenge that person, party or set of ideals is to walk blindly into the future. It is, in essence, a robotic life controlled by a political machine – a machine that has become very good at picking out “one issue voters” and playing to them, a machine that has discovered the power of even the slightest nod toward a particular group, cause or belief and a machine that can nuance a message so that people on both sides of just about any issue will feel like they’re being heard and that this candidate might change something in their favor.

I would love for politicians to let their “yes” be “yes” and their “no” be “no”. But until then, I determine to read between the lines and refuse to be pandered to by the crafty salesmen on the right or the left who think they can manipulate me into following them blindly.

Recently, all of those thoughts (and the thoughts spawned off of those thoughts) have been colliding in my brain like a nuclear reactor. They’re good thoughts – thoughts that, if organized, could lead to great things personally, professionally and ministerially. Organizing them, however, is a little more challenging. This kind of thought-bouncing can drive a person crazy…or, it can drive you to action.

When thoughts collide, sometimes they reveal a piece of your heart that has been, up to this point, hidden. When I look back on my journey thus far, I realize that most of the things that I’ve done in my life that I would call “significant” have come from these thought collisions. When I felt like God was calling me into ministry, but that I couldn’t do it unless Melody was there with me, I proposed to her. When I knew that God wanted me to become a better musician and also a better leader, we moved our newly formed family from Tennessee to Ohio and dove headlong into church planting. When I felt the urge to take a break from full-time church ministry but still felt like I should be involved in whatever it was that God was doing in worship, we again moved our family – this time to Texas so I could work for Vineyard Music.

When I think back to these moments, they were all preceded by a level of discontent and a period of hyperactive thought. And here I am again. But this time, it’s different. This time, frankly, it’s less about me. I would like to hope that it’s partially because I’ve matured some over the past 10-15 years, but whatever the reason, I’m not so concerned about what I “do” in the future or where I “end up”. I’m way more focused on how we – me, Melody, Lucy, future kids, the Church, our friends, our family, etc. – can further the cause of Jesus in the world. In many ways, I’m thinking about much larger things. At the same time, my thinking is less grandiose and more practical.

I think a lot less about the millions of details that may be involved in “God’s will” and a lot more about the two things I know he has asked of me…and of you: to love Him and to love other people. It is “Jesus 101″ and yet I fail at it over and over every single day. I fail in small ways, by not being considerate toward my wife or not paying attention to the person that takes my order at the restaurant. I fail in big ways, by turning a blind eye to the plight of the poor or judging entire people-groups without ever seeking to understand them. And so, I’ve begun to think on those two simple commands. Love God and love others.

Who knew it would be such a Pandora’s box? You know what it means to love God and love others? It means everything. Jesus said “the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” To think on these two ideas means that you think about loving the Father, Son & Holy Spirit and loving the people they love. You think about how you spend your time, your energy and your money. You think about how you invest in people, how you treat people, how you love them – if you love them at all. You think about inequality and injustice, poverty and human trafficking, clean drinking water and clean streets. You think about disease, famine and natural disasters. You think about politics, religion and the strange bedfellows that they make. If you truly want to love God and love all of his people (and if you’re a thinker), you start thinking about all of this and more.

And the more I think about it, the more I come to the same conclusion. Yes, there are a million things that I could and should be doing. There will be many moments now and later where I am forced to choose whether I really mean it when I say I love God and love people – when I will be required to put my money (and my time, and my energy) where my mouth is. There will be opportunities for me to do a lot of good and to impact a lot of people. But no matter how much I do, if I’m the only one, it will only be a drop in the bucket.

That’s where the community of the Church comes in. In my lifetime, I can only adopt or foster so many kids. I can only take so many mission trips. I can only donate so much cash to a limited number of causes. But the Church? The Church can adopt tens of millions, foster hundreds of millions, canvass the world with the Good News of Jesus and absolutely end poverty, hunger and slavery at home and around the world. The Church has the manpower and the resources to change the world almost overnight. So what are we waiting for?

We must end the navel-gazing, the in-fighting and the finger-pointing. We must unite under the banner that we can agree on – the banner of Jesus – and march forward. We must stop constantly arguing the minutia of theology if it gets in the way of us obeying the very basics of our faith. We must do the stuff of God. And, as Valentine’s Day approaches, it seems appropriate to note that it all comes back to love. Of God. Of People.  Jesus 101

You see, for me to be confined to the house for a day makes me a little gloomy. Two days – irritable. Three or more days sends me on a downward spiral toward a state of Eeyore-ness. (Yes, the donkey from Winnie the Pooh.) So, getting out of the house today offered me the opportunity to get some life back into my bones. Of course, it’s cold and rainy, so maybe I didn’t get as much life as I wanted, but it’s better than it was.

I got out of my cave, but then I realized something. It was a self-created cave. There is nothing miserable about our house – actually, it’s a great house. Sure, I was sick, but it’s possible to be sick and happy. I got to spend most of those days with my wife and baby. I didn’t have many responsibilities to worry about (a luxury only afforded to those who are sick) and I had lots of time to think or dream about whatever I wanted to. Instead, I chose to go to an unhealthy, gloomy place where dreams for the future, hope for today and even the whispers of the Almighty choose not to tread (or where I choose not to see and hear them).

Nevertheless, I went there, but now I’m back. From outer space. And…um…I will survive. Here’s to all of you who have had or are having similar cave experiences. Go outside, take a deep breath and remind yourself that your cave is your own creation. Go deconstruct it!

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Genesis 50:19-21

As I listen and watch the news reports coming out of Haiti, I am struck by the number of people eager to help the people of this shaken country. Countless numbers of people are responding to this devastation by opening their wallets, their homes, their expertise and their hearts. Many of these people are followers of Jesus – doing the kind of stuff that he told us to do. Many others are not followers of Jesus. Perhaps they follow a different religious philosophy or are simply driven by their human nature to help those in need. Whatever the case, those on the ground in Port-au-Prince aren’t picky. We’ll help people now and sort out the stories of faith later.

Back home, it’s a different story. Here – far removed from the realities of a devastating earthquake – we have radio talkshow hosts trying to politicize the catastrophic loss of life (and our response to it), TV show hosts claiming that the people of Haiti brought this on themselves, newspaper columnists who feel this is a great time to talk about how the culture in Haiti is one of irresponsibility and countless numbers of others who are having vehement arguments over whether or not it’s “our responsibility” to take care of “those people”.

OK, fine. Everybody has the right to say whatever they want to say – even if what they want to say is completely ignorant and potentially dangerous (see, I just did it right there…said what I wanted to say). My main beef is not that they said what they said, but that all of the examples sited above claim or have claimed in the past to be “Christian”, which presumably means that they ascribe to the teachings of Jesus Christ – although the term is often applied to mean “American” or, perhaps “Republican”.

I sometimes wonder if these Christian titans have bothered to read the “Good Book” at all. If they have and if they believe what it says, I wonder why they’re asking the questions and making the statements they’re making. Should the question be “What political advantage will my opponents get from this?” or should it be “How can I come together – even with those of vastly different philosophical or political opinion – to help these people in need?” Should the question be “Did these people get what was coming to them?” or “How can I (someone who has been fortunate enough to NOT get what was coming to me) get these people the supplies they need to live?”

You see, in the story of Joseph told in the book of Genesis, not too many of us would have blamed Joseph if he had sent his brothers away with a harsh rebuke and empty hands. After all, they had left him in a pit and then sold him to a band of gypsies. He had every right to be angry and, at one point in the story, seems to be tempted to do them harm. But in the end, Joseph realizes what we all should realize: I’m not God!

It is not my place to decide whether these people “deserve” to live or die. It’s not my place to decide to help or not help them based on what advantage I might stand to gain from such assistance. I am not called to be judge or jury. I’m not even called to be the police. Indeed, we are all called to be paramedics – not looking to place blame or to investigate the situation, but to assess the needs and respond accordingly.

Let’s do what David did and reassure the people of Haiti and speak kindly to them. Let’s use our power and position (yes, we all have it) to accomplish the work of God, “saving many lives”.

It was a favorite expression of my mom when I was young. Having a son with a flair for the dramatic and the ability to blow just about anything out of proportion, my mom had her fair share of mole hill battles. As I look at the world today, I see that so many things in life are just mole hills, but we give them so much importance as to make mountains out of them.

There is the mountain of infertility that so many couples (Melody & I included) try to overcome. Yet, once we got to the other side and embraced the call to adopt, the idea that we may never have a child biologically becomes very…um…mole hillish. Likewise, once we had made the decision to adopt a child, the mountain of fostering seemed like one we would never top. Then we came to the stark realization that we could choose to risk heartbreak (which we could endure if we had to) for the sake of providing a loving home to a child, even if temporarily. Suddenly the risks of foster care seem like mole hills.

Then there are the financial mountains. Every month, most weeks and some days, we face that giant mountain of bills that threatens to consume us. Yet, in the midst of that battle, we commit $30 to an orphanage in Kenya, give $20 to relief efforts in Haiti and continue to faithfully write our tithe check to the church. Seeing the results of dozens, thousands and sometimes millions of like-minded people making the same small gifts we made somehow causes that mountain to shrink. If I am rich enough to provide someone else with clean water to drink, then I certainly have “enough”.

Of course, we are surrounded by mole hills – mole hills that we’ve elevated to mountain status. In scaling the insurmountable in front of us, we so often are able to look behind us and see how diminutive our past challenges really were. Here’s to all of the mountains we have yet to climb…and to discovering just how many of them are actually just mole hills.

The adoption journey that we have been on has been a long one, but it has taught us many things.  We have tried, through it all, to remain open to all possibilities and to stretch and grow in the process.  As a result, we have wrestled with many of the tough questions of adoption: “What are the challenges of having a multi-racial family?” “How do we handle the unknowns of a child’s medical or psychological history?” “Are we willing to do what is necessary for our child to develop emotionally and physically, even if that means making a greater sacrifice than we’re even currently aware?”

The answer to the last question is a resounding “YES!”  You see, we’re not adopting just because we want children, although we do.  We’re not adopting through CPS because it’s less expensive than other means of adoption, although we’re happy it is because it allows more opportunities for more families to adopt and more children to find permanent homes.  We’re not looking to adopt a child of another race because “that’s what’s available”, though we are fully aware of the high number of minority children entering the system every day.

The reason we desire to adopt a minority child through CPS is that we care for these children.  We have a loving home ready and waiting for a child who is in desperate need of a loving home.  We understand that raising a child, no matter what his or her  background is or needs are, presents parents with daily challenges that sometimes seem insurmountable.  And yet, we look to the great examples of our friends and family who have walked through incredible adversity to make a way for their children to grow up in a loving, safe and nurturing environment.

We don’t see the world through rose-colored glasses.  We don’t view children as constantly laughing, smiling and playing.  We understand that every child brings with him or her a personality that will range from euphoric to enraged, a body that will regularly produce dirty diapers, runny noses and physical ailments and a mind that will grasp some things easily and struggle with others.  Furthermore, we understand that every child is a “special needs” child and that it is up to the parents and, many times, medical and psychological professionals to help determine just what those needs are and the best course of action to take.  We understand that raising a child means taking on the responsibility of another human being’s life and we take that responsibility very seriously.  Yes, we are aware of the gravity of the condition that some of these children are in.  That is the very reason that we want to rescue them.

In this journey, we are fortunate to be surrounded by family and friends, not only to lend encouragement and a helping hand, but also to advise us on the special circumstances of our family.  In our immediate circle of friends, we have 10 multi-ethnic families, 7 of which are adoptive families.  We have adult friends who were adopted into multi-racial families and who are very open about sharing their experience with us from the child’s perspective.  We have a church family who has embraced not only multi-ethnic and adoptive families, but who have embraced the mission of adoption and caring for orphans.

Very close friends of ours have been adoption advocates for years. They recently set up a non-profit organization to help other families adopt and have raised tens of thousands of dollars in the past year alone to help fund adoption.  Into their otherwise Caucasian family, they have added an African-American/Caucasian little girl and twin Asian/Caucasian girls. Other close friends recently adopted an African-American girl into their home.  Other friends have adopted multiple African-American children.  The bottom line is that we are a part of an incredible multi-ethnic community that not only accepts, but encourages and embraces diversity in our community and within our families.

As for us, we have spent the last three years discussing what it means to be a multi-ethnic family.  We talk about it with our family and friends.  We ask questions of other families and spend time with their kids.  In our minds, we have made a shift to multi-ethnicity even if we don’t yet have children of a different ethnicity.

For us, however, it goes way beyond ethnicity.  We are called to help children out of bad situations and out of “temporary” situations into a permanent, loving home.  We take this responsibility very seriously.  When we say “yes” to a child, it is a full-throated “YES” backed up by all the books we’ve read, prayers we’ve prayed, conversations we’ve had and children we’ve held.  It is a “YES” to a long future with that child, whatever complications may arise.  It is a “YES” to sleepless nights and tiring days, a “YES” to challenges and obstacles and a “YES” to the hopes and dreams of that child – hopes and dreams that may or may not be achieved, but which are always worth fighting for.

We have no illusions that this road will be easy, but we know it is worth it.  We know we can’t rescue all the world’s orphans, but we can rescue some of them.  We know that trials and pitfalls are in front of us, but we stand resolute to hold tightly to each other, to our children and to our God to see us through.  This is why we are adopting.  This is why our answer is “YES”.  To that 2 year old, set of twins or group of siblings, our answer is YES.  Please let them all know that our answer is YES.

The story of Hezekiah found in Isaiah 38 and 39 makes me chuckle.  This guy actually reminds me of a certain former president of ours with his self-confidence and his glass-half-full outlook on life.  First, in chapter 38, he is told that he is going to die, to which he replies, “Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.”

First, who of us could say that with a straight face?  Second, who of us would say that and risk being struck down?  I guess if you’re at the point of death, you don’t have much to lose, but Hezekiah’s boldness and self-confidence just make me laugh.

Then, in chapter 39, he shows the envoy from Babylon all of his riches – a pretty boastful thing to do – after which he is told that ALL of his riches, “everything in [his] palace” will be carried off to Babylon.  Now, I don’t know about you, but if somebody told me that somebody was going to come, steal all my stuff, empty my bank accounts and haul my family off to another country, I doubt I would have the same response as Hezekiah.

“The word of the LORD you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.”

Wha?  Either this guy is the most over-confident dude ever, or he has his priorities mixed up – probably both.  To Hezekiah, peace and security were more important than his people who would be dragged away and made eunuchs (look it up…not a fun process).  Peace is good.  Security is good.  But at what price?

I think we make the same mistake sometimes.  Maybe we look at financial security and are willing to sacrifice our families for it.  Maybe we look at peace in our relationships and are willing to leave conflict unresolved to maintain the illusion that everything is OK.  Whatever the case, we ignore or diminish the cost and celebrate or look forward to the achievement.  But in the end, a wealthy but neglected family doesn’t feel secure.  A relationship with no outward conflict, but with unresolved issues is anything but peaceful.  But by the time we see the true cost of our actions, it is often too late.

My take?  Peace and security have gotten in the way of a lot of people’s pursuit of God.  May we not make the same mistake.