A Change Of Heart

“ You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me.” – Acts 20:34 

I admire and thank God for the people who are willing to become foster parents. It is not easy. It is an exciting adventure. No doubt about it. It also has its fair share of trials. To be honest, it can be like boarding a rollercoaster with so many twists, turns, and loops that you feel it’s never coming to an end. 

But every day foster parents across this country are opening their doors to children, guiding them and helping them reach their potential. Every day they invest their love, energy and prayers to give these kids the home they need. And when you watch from a distance, the sacrifices these parents make to first reach these kids, see their progress and witness their development, brings a smile to your face. Foster care is just as much about changing the story of the child, as it is changing the story of the foster parents.

It is easy to view foster care as simply bringing a child from an unstable place into a better one. While that is in part the case, it is more than that. When a child is welcomed into a foster parent’s house it is actually the child that is inviting the parents into their story. Foster parenting has the ability to warm your heart and turn your life upside down all in one. 

You will become attached. It happens all the time and it won’t take long for it to happen. You can try to fortify your heart, because it would make it easier for you to detach from them when the time came for them to return home. It probably won’t work. Foster parents have told me that it was nearly impossible not to love the children they are caring for. It just happens. You get hooked and that’s not a bad thing. You cannot have these precious children in your lives and not be moved by them. You cannot open your heart to them and not have it transformed by them. The experiences and memories will always be a part of you, and a piece of you is now always a part of them. Mark 9:37 says, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”

The need for foster parents is great. Yes, there can be challenges, but there’s an overwhelming need for loving people to step up to the plate. There are unexpected blessings if you do. You could be positively rewriting the story of a child’s life while rewriting your own. 

Discussion Questions

  1. John 14:18 says, “No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.” What does that mean to us today?
  2. What, in your view, are the qualifications of being a foster parent?
  3. Do you believe the child or the foster parents receive the bigger benefit?

Where The Action Is

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.“ –  James 2:14-17.

We believe that only the church can truly change the reality of orphans around the world. First, we need to be educated on the needs both locally and globally. Then we need to move from learning to action. Whatever your skills and experience, and however much time you can offer, there are ways for you to make a difference. It is just a matter of where and what. I encourage you to suspend reality for a moment and see what is possible. But if we are to be the solution, we need more than good intentions. 

Doing something in the area of orphans may cost you. Maybe some money, certainly some time, definitely some energy, and more than likely some emotion, convenience, comfort and normalcy. No one ever said, “Yes, I want to get involved, but I don’t want that involvement to change any part of my life. The reality is nothing will be the same, everything will change.

There will be costs, but it is important to stress that it is worth the costs because of the gains the child may receive. A child is always worth the process and more valuable than the costs. Always. 

This is not for everybody, but maybe, just maybe it is for you. The Bible urges us to care for orphans, and provides some context as to why we should. In James 1:27, we are told that of all the measures by which our faith can be demonstrated, caring for orphans in their distress ranks among the highest and purest. “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” Why does God rank caring for orphans among the highest expressions of our faith? Perhaps because caring for orphans is not only one of the clearest expressions of the heart of God, but also a tangible demonstration of the Gospel. Or maybe it is a beautiful continuation of the redemption story of God and a vivid demonstration of the love of Jesus extended through us.

Let me end with this: If you’re someone who keeps wondering about it, talking about it and praying about it then you’re probably someone that just needs to do it…and most likely somebody that would be great at it. And I understand this post may not be written to your particular circumstances right now. No book, blog or article ever can address the uniquenesses of everyone’s situations. But please pray about the orphans in this world that need a family. We have a job to do, and that job is being God’s Plan A for people without families.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What comes to mind when you hear the word “orphan?”
  2. Caring about orphans is a way to define your faith. Agree or disagree and why?
  3. “God sets the lonely in families.” (Psalm 68:6 NIV). How does He do that? What might your role be in His plan?
  4. What steps can you take to make your heart more like God’s with regard to orphans?

Is There Someone Out There Who Cares For Me?

“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” – Zephaniah 3:17

Imagine that you are a child that was unwanted from the time you were born. Everything about you was wrong. Born to the wrong parents, wrong gender, wrong size, wrong disposition, wrong intelligence; everything is wrong. Your parents never stop criticizing, constantly telling you to be quiet, telling you that you are stupid, that you are an embarrassment and finally saying, “I can’t stand the sight of you, I wish you had never been born.”

Yes, that is an extreme case, but the reality is that there are millions of kids out there who are at this moment wondering if anyone truly cares. And many of those kids who feel abandoned and betrayed are wondering, where’s God? To them, He feels like a distant, impersonal force? Nothing could be further from the truth. God’s love for the orphan is visible throughout the Bible. It is very clear where His heart lies and that He’s called us to join Him to help the orphans all over the world. But here’s the thing. It takes getting involved. Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you take an active interest. But once you do, everything changes.

Saint Augustine said this: “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has the eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” We cannot change the world. Only Jesus can do that. We can, however, change the world for one person. We can show an orphan in our area that somebody does care and that there is a God that loves them more than they can know. 

Many people wonder what true religion really is. The Bible leaves no doubt. James 1:27 says,  “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you”

Once we realize how much God loves us and what He went through to adopt us into His family, we really have only two responses. First, it’ll clarify to you how much your life matters. Second, it should make us sensitive to the plight of orphans around the world.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are the needs of orphans today? Have those needs changed over the years?
  2. Why do you think orphans and widows are mentioned in James 1:27?
  3. What steps can you take to make your heart more like God’s with regard to orphans?

The Heart of The Matter: God Cares About Every Orphan

“True justice must be given to foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never accept a widow’s garment as security for her debt.  Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from your slavery. That is why I have given you this command. “When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do. When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don’t go over the boughs twice. Leave the remaining olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. When you gather the grapes in your vineyard, don’t glean the vines after they are picked. Leave the remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.” – Deuteronomy 24:17-21. 

There is a superhero movie coming out every week. The formula is the same; watching these powerful, superheroes defeat their fiendish arch-villains plotting to destroy the planet, or the universe. These movies fall in line with our fascination with the powerful, the rich and the popular. The Bible has a different perspective. The Bible has stories of the meek, the humble, and the disenfranchised. These stories would not be riveting superhero movies, that is for sure. 

We see God’s interest in people on the margins on nearly every page of Scripture. God selected a nation of slaves to be His special people. God chose sheep-tenders to be the first to hear news of the Savior’s birth. But perhaps nowhere do we see this reality more clearly than in God’s passion for the orphan. 

Just think of the contrast for a second. We see God, the indescribable, powerful and self-sufficient creator of all things, concerned about the least powerful and self-sufficient — the orphan in distress. “He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice…” (Deuteronomy 10:18). The Prophets echo the same truth: “No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy.” (Hosea 14:3b). And, again, in the Psalms, “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families…” (Psalm 68:5-6).

In this, we see the beauty of God’s heart. He cares not only for the orphan, but for each of us as well. He pursued us when we were poor and alone. He adopted us as His children. He invites us to call him “father” and to live as His daughters and sons. Of course, we must not miss the fact that God calls His people to do the same. We are to live out “pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress…”  (James 1:27).

As we do this, we reveal God’s heart to the world. Whether by adoption or foster care or mentoring or supporting the local church in care for orphans in our area, we display that astonishing reality that God cares passionately for the least of these, the least of us.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What does God’s consistent concern for the orphan tell you about His character?
  2. What does it reveal about how He feels about you?
  3. In what ways might you be able to reveal God’s peculiar, beautiful sense of priority to the world?
  4. What can we do this week to help orphans around the world? 

Diversity Starts Here

“We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity. We need to give each other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion.“ – Max Dupree

Business has long understood the value of diversity. Corporate America recognizes that diversity is not a luxury, but a business necessity. The latest research finds that companies who rank high in gender, racial and ethnic diversity, are more likely to have financial returns above the industry average. Diversity is a competitive differentiator that shifts market share toward more diverse companies over time. Diversity makes a company better. Diversity also has the ability to make our churches better. 

Think about what happens when you don’t have diversity. But there’s more to diversity than the color of the skin. There’s gender and age, geographic upbringing, personal interest, language, family structure, education, spiritual gifts and personality traits to name a few. What happens when you are not diverse? Consider this scenario: You clone yourself hundreds of times and once you have at least a hundred you start a church. Several hundred you’s may be interesting, but it would tend to be uninteresting and predictable, possibly even boring. There would be no one to fill in the gaps in your knowledge, experience or abilities. There would be no unique ideas or suggestions.

God created us as a diverse people and He wants us to work together to further His kingdom. That’s why He gave us different skills and strengths so that we would recognize our need for one another, while still appreciating our individuality. God made us different to make a better whole. And His love for variety is not just visible in us, but in all aspects of His creation. There are approximately 4,740 species of frogs around the entire world, not including the 120 species that went extinct over time. 

Diversity enriches the Christian experience. We learn from those whose experiences, beliefs, and perspectives are different from our own. Diversity can go a long way to challenging stereotypes and preconceptions. It also encourages critical thinking and helps us learn to communicate with people of varied backgrounds. It fosters mutual respect with each other regardless of color, ethnicity, or culture. 

Diversity is embracing and following the original blueprint of the early church. The early church came to realize that followers of Jesus may not look alike, act alike, sing alike, and we are all in need of the love of Jesus Christ. 

Discussion Questions

  1. Do you believe diversity is Biblically mandated? Do you believe cross-race relationships enrich our lives?
  2. Do you see value in greater diversity in the church? Why or why not?
  3. Do you believe diversity will help with our prejudices? Why or why not? 

Prejudice Someone

“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” –  Audre Lorde

Most of us would like to believe that discrimination and prejudice ended in the 60’s. It is difficult to believe that prejudices have any place in modern America. But the truth is, we are a long way from being free from prejudice, and we need to face any prejudices we have because it has no place in Christianity. 

While there are many kinds of prejudice, the one that comes to mind is racial prejudice. If you are white, you may never totally understand what it feels like to be treated prejudicially simply because your skin is not white. Even so, as Christians, we have the personal obligation to root out any prejudices toward other races, and to work toward understanding and relating to everyone regardless of any differences.

Jesus made a point of ignoring the racial prejudices of His day and teaching His disciples to do the same. For example, when He chose to talk to the Samaritan woman at the well, He shocked the disciples because Jews hated Samaritans and considered them to be second-class citizens. A Jew never talked to a Samaritan unless they had to, but Jesus chose not only to talk to this Samaritan woman, but to reveal great and marvelous truths to her and lead her to become His follower. And then there is the story of the Good Samaritan who helped the wounded person. To the Jews of his day, it was a message loud and clear against prejudice.

God wants us to see people as individuals, created and loved by Him, of equal importance and value. We must, by His grace, root out the prejudice within us so that we can show the world what God’s love is like. This is especially important within the church, and I pray that we will get serious about facing our own prejudices and asking God to forgive us and teach us to see others as He sees them. That’s the secret—looking at the world through the eyes of Jesus. Because we are prone to judge others according to outward characteristics, rather than to accept them as individual human beings on an equal par with us.

Here’s a radical prayer request: Ask God to show you your prejudices. When He does, obey Him by putting your prejudices to death and by showing His love to those whom you might not naturally be inclined to like. 

Discussion Questions

  1. Do you have fears or reactions based on prejudicial stereotypes?
  2. Consider talking to people of another race and ask them what it’s like to experience racial prejudice. 
  3. Ask God to show you where you have prejudicial attitudes.

Love and Accept Those Who Are Different

“Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.” – Romans 14:1-3. 

I don’t think there’s anybody who would deny that the greatest teacher that ever lived, the person who has impacted history more than all others is Jesus. Not just by how He lived, and not only by the resurrection, but His teaching. The last night before He died, Jesus said, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:34)

Surely, Jesus didn’t mean to love everybody. Jesus’ expectations are a little too high. Jesus never saw the way people treated me in high school, or the way my friends abandoned me or the degrading way my boss treats me. If so, surely He’d know that it’s not so easy to love everybody. 

But here is what we know: everyone is created in God’s image. So if we are worthy of love, so is everyone else because of who made them. Sin made us unloveable, but Christ changed the rules by offering love, grace and forgiveness (Romans 5:8). If God can love us, surely we can love those around us. Our commitment to accept one another transcends race and prejudices. We don’t have to agree with people that look or think differently. But we need to love them and we need to accept them.

Jesus accepted people unconditionally and indiscriminately. It didn’t matter what their gender was, it didn’t matter their race, didn’t matter their political persuasion, it didn’t matter if they were the worst of sinners. He was a magnet. People were drawn to Him because He did not judge them. You know why? Jesus was better than everybody else but He never treated anyone like He was better than them. He made every single person that came in contact with Him feel like they really mattered, even though they didn’t believe they mattered. Jesus did not place a standard on the kinds of people He would love and care for.

See, if you want to learn how to accept people, be like Jesus. Start by evaluating how you view others. It might be that to be more like Jesus, you have to look at people differently. Try to view people in light of eternity rather than their skin color, appearance, possessions, status, or behavior. Look at the presumption and prejudices you may be carrying against some people. Try to understand them better, try to unconditionally, indiscriminately accept each person and you will see compassion and empathy start to boil to the surface. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. Are there people or groups of people that we undervalue? Why?
  2. Do I only surround myself with people who think like me, act like me, or believe like me?
  3. Do I say I love people who are different from me, but never invite them into my life? 
  4. Do I love first and judge second? Or vice-versa?
  5. What can I do this week to be more accepting of people?

Open Hearts. Open Minds.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  Galatians 3:28.

If you were attending a church worship service in 1966 and then returned to the same church in 2016, the changes would be noticeable, but not dramatic. For example, you will in many cases no longer see or hear a choir. Another is that people dress more casual and third, you will see more technology such as projectors, screens and sound systems. If you attended a church in 1966 as a visitor, you would probably hear the words, “Will all our visitors please stand?” The intention was good, but people who were brave enough to walk through the doors of your church, the last thing they wanted was to be singled out. Today, we try to walk up to to them, introduce ourself and learn their name.

Most of the changes were designed to create a more welcoming church. We changed worship styles, we trained greeters and ushers, we wore name tags, we percolated coffee, we honed our skills at hospitality. All this was not about getting the world into God’s church; it’s about getting the church into God’s world. It is about being a church unchurched people love to attend. A church where everybody is welcome. 

You are welcome if you are single, married, divorced, gay, rich or poor, whether you speak english with a Boston accent or yo no habla Ingles. It does not matter if you are a newborn, four score and seven years old, or a teenager growing up too fast. You are welcome if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or sound like a water buffalo blaring over a PA system. You are welcome if you just got out of jail or haven’t been in a church since your infant baptism. You are welcome if you believe or if you have real doubts about organized religion. You are welcome if you work too hard or don’t work. 

You are welcome if you have a theology degree or if you got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. And you are welcome if you are black, brown, yellow, or white.

At one time the primary division in the church was between Jews and Gentiles. Some Jews who had joined the movement of Christianity were trying to force non-Jewish (Gentile) believers to perform the Jewish rituals. They argued that to be a good Christian, they had to do all the right Jewish religious activities. Paul addressed the subject in Romans: “Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him.” (Romans 10:12).

We don’t determine people’s value; God does. That is because we were all leveled at the cross.  The gospel is the great equalizer. There is no place in the Church for discrimination or prejudice as we strive to become more like Jesus.

Discussion Questions:

  1. All people are leveled at the cross. Agree or disagree and why?
  2. Should every Christian be seeking to reach those who are culturally different or is this just the gift of some?
  3. What are some of the culturally different groups in our city that the Lord might want us to reach? What should you do?

Know Different

“And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” – Revelation 5: 9-10. 

How often have you heard someone end a sentence with ”… but I know different” or “they are different from” or “different than.” Of course there are differences in our backgrounds, experiences, cultures, and the color of our skin. But are we all that different?  

Our parts are interchangeable. If you need a blood transfusion in another part of the world, chances are someone has your blood type. We all laugh. We may not laugh at the same things and a smile may be harder to coax from one individual than it is from another, but there are things that make us happy. We all cry. We all feel pain whether physical, psychological or emotional. When someone close to us dies we feel a sense of loss. We all want to feel important and accomplished. Not necessarily to be Nobel Laureates, but to feel like we matter. We all want something better for our kids regardless of our color, religion, culture, or geographic location.  

We all find it easier to love those like us than for those we perceive as “different”. So the sooner we begin to see how much we are alike, the better for us all. How can we do this? The risen Jesus commands his followers to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28.19-21). This is a mandate for Christians to carry the gospel banner into all nations and to all people groups. The Bible does not say we can dismiss or ignore people because of our prejudices and biases or the color of their skin.  

It is pretty clear that Jesus died for all people. What would it look like if Christians refused to love, serve and preach to people who did not look, sound, or live just like them? Could we be unintentionally opposing our mission of helping the whole world find and follow Jesus because of prejudices or because or racial bias? These are hard but necessary questions. 

Why do we judge by the exterior? Why are we prejudiced? Why do we have biases? Being a Christian is not about exclusion. Being a Christian is not about separation or discrimination. As Christians, we are called to have compassion for people in situations that we may not understand. How can you love people if you can’t look beyond the outside and accept them right where they are at? What every Christian can pour into the life of others is the powerful passion of love regardless of how different they may be.  

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you find it difficult and/or scary to enter into the conversation about diversity and racial issues? Why or why not?
  2. What kind of conversations do you think that Christians need to have that will lead to racial reconciliation and encouragement?
  3. How does being “in Christ” change the discussion of race? How might thinking of others as made in the image of God change your views of people who are different? 
  4. Where do we go from here? How do you begin to implement the needed changes in order to love those who are different? 

The Poor and Discipleship

“Entering the battle for justice, then, will require at least two basic things of us. First, it will require a willingness to see the scriptures as they really are: it will require of us the willingness to understand that God sees and cares deeply about the plight of the oppressed. Second, it will require our willingness to hear in our sacred texts the compelling call to move outside our small worlds and actually see and experience the world as it really is-inclusive of the suffering and pain that we could easily avoid noticing in so doing, we will experience the invitation of God to engage the world at its point of need and to be transformed in the process.”  Jim Martin, The Just Church

Discipleship is and always will be the core purpose of Northstar. The goal is to do all the things we do such as worshiping God, creating meaningful environments, reaching lost people, etc., through the lens of discipleship.

We tend to make the connection between reaching the lost and discipleship quite easily. But do we connect discipleship and serving the poor?  It can be easy to give the necessary attention to spiritual matters, while pushing the physical into a secondary role. A reading of the Law, Proverbs, Prophets and New Testament will clearly show that God advises His followers to actively care for the poor while cautioning against any indifference toward the needy. For example, Proverbs 31:8-9 says: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.” Or Psalm 41:1: “Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The Lord rescues them when they are in trouble.“

Discipleship at its most basic is having a heart orientated to others. Discipleship is about faithfulness, desire, and opportunity. We know what we are called to do, we just need to see the opportunities that God has placed before us. In that context the Lord has placed us in a community that has poor and homeless people. When we evaluate what we are called to do and what we need to do it becomes clear that we should serve and help this community. My prayer is that we will pursue this opportunity, but not without working through first what God has called us as His disciples to do. 

I am reminded that I am blessed to be a blessing. This carries a responsibility to be a helping hand and share my unique resources with those in need. Very rarely does one leave poverty without the support of someone outside of poverty. God has placed us in community so that we can support, help, encourage and disciple one another.

A person in poverty is waiting for you to choose to come and connect with them. We do not need to neglect spiritual needs for physical ones. Those two areas are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, Christ demonstrated care for the whole person, body and spirit.  As His followers, we must demonstrate the same, not allowing other areas of discipleship to prevent us from addressing the needs of the poor in our areas.

Discussion Questions

  1. Do you believe a part of discipleship is helping the poor? Why or why not?
  2. Do you have relationships with those who come from a background of poverty?  If so, how are you involved with them?
  3. Do you actively seek to understand the plight of the poor and marginalized?
  4. After hearing the message, how has your perspective on the poor changed?