Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 30, 2010
Closing talk is John Piper, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. Things I like
1. He pointed out something that I have been trying to tell people…. they should not exclude the last part of James 1:27… “remaining unstained by the world.” He and I disagree about what James was saying, but the concept is close enough. People should not forget that part.
2. The point of his talk is “acting through faith”. This is so true… it is not us, but Christ working in us. We must walk by faith. He uses Hebrews 11 to make the point that it is going to be tough and painful… but that is the “risk” of faith.
3. He’s got a dynamic presentation quality.
Things I don’t like….
1. He seems to be using a form sermon. You know, take the sermon and fill in the ministry of the group you are talking to in the blank. It doesn’t make it any less true, but still.
2. He closes his eyes too much. 
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He’s going through something in his life, I am not sure what it is, but it seems to be eating him to the core. He is taking a ministry break to “reexamine his soul”. I hope and pray things go well.
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I’m sitting here listening to a Ukrainian pastor talk in the last general session through an interpreter. He is pretty cool. He has 3 points…
1. Adoption is critical
2. National adoption is critical
3. Christian adoption is critical
These are so true. This should be the goal in orphan care ministries for all children. He makes a great point about connecting with children. We can throw money at the problem, but it’s like buying a kid a lot of toys and that’s it… they really want you.
Favorite comments -
“When we don’t have enough faith, we pray a lot”
“My wife dragged me to the hospital”
“Things move a lot faster when a pastor adopts”
Posted by Patrick Corkum on
I love when someone re-looks at a problem and goes to the source of the problem. Foster Care is a reactive solution to a problem. Foster Care is a state-run system where they take seriously at-risk and/or abused children and take them from their family and put them into another family. There are SO many problems with this. The gentleman speaking just told everyone about a story where someone had said that children are safer in their current bad situation than if they were put into Foster Care. I don’t want to go into the reasons to that here, I will do that some other time.
What are they doing in Illinois that has helped reduce the Foster Care system from almost 60,000 kids to 16,000 kids? Safe Families. Here’s the idea, get Christian families, put them through training and allow parents to voluntarily put their children into a Safe Family. Then they help those parents recover and turn around so that they can get their kids back. Orphan/Foster child prevention rocks!
More people should try to find better ways of doing things instead of just going down the status-quo. We need people to be pro-active, not re-active. How do we keep kids out of the system?
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My fifth session is not with Michael Monroe. Instead, I am in a session entitled “6 Things Every Church Can Do For Orphans” being given by Saddleback Church members. Elizabeth Styffe was supposed to be doing the session, but I don’t see her anywhere. Why 6 things and not 7, 8 or whatever? They like acrostics…. there are 6 letters in ORPHAN. Now there is Saddleback for ya!
It is true though, each church… each person in each church can do something. I like, although I have to give it some more thought before I endorse it, is a statement in the notes… “Define your faith by your care for the orphan.” We are all orphans… God has defined his holiness to us as his love and care for us.
Words that I keep hearing around her…. “relationships”, “connections”, “infect”.
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This is now the third breakout (out of four) that I have been in with Michael Monroe of Tapestry. It is the second one that he has done with his wife Amy. I LOVE these guys! They are so passionate not only about helping families around them, but helping other ministries. They have so many materials out there to help you do what they do.
This session is the session that I have been most looking forward to as it really relates to where I am right now, knowing that there is a huge need around us (and for us) in the Maryland area. This session is about post-placement support. What is post-placement support? Well, your adoption agency typically helps you through the adoption process and right up until the adoption is finalized. What then? They try to tell you about things that you might encounter, but there is no way to REALLY prepare you.
Adoption comes with problems that are unique to adoption and there is a huge gap out there helping people with these problems. The church does not do a good job, partially because they just don’t know that there is a need and partially because they are not equipped. We have heard so many times that people wish that there was help, they wish there was someone to help them through the post-adoption process (which is life-long).
I can’t wait to watch the video series called Empowered to Connect that they have created with Dr. Karyn Purvis! Check out the videos they created here.
Posted by Patrick Corkum on
I am sitting in the General Session this morning, typing this blog post as people all around me are standing, clapping, kneeling, raising hands and all kinds of stuff. Now don’t get me wrong, I love to stand and sing (my wife would probably not call it singing), clap, and all that stuff like the person next to me. What I don’t particularly like is when someone tells me to go putting my hands on someone else. Okay, so why do I not like it and why do I not like this so-called “spirituality”? Well, a couple reasons.
First, it is an emotional in-the-moment kind of false “spiritual high”. I am not saying that God doesn’t meet you there, but I AM saying that he doesn’t need singing and hand-raising to meet us, he wants holiness. He is the God that draws near, but he requires us to be holy. He makes us holy and it’s not when we’re raising our hands, singing. If people want to praise God that way, I have no issue with it. Just reflect as to why you do it.
Secondly, it creates an uncomfortable atmosphere for others. Now, I think most Christians that are not into the whole thing are going to just get over it and think that you are weird. Those that are used to it are just going to not even realize that not everyone else does this kind of thing. However, what about the non-believer who has never experienced this and has showed up to see what this is all about. What are they going to think? I know what I would think…. “they’re crazy! Why would I ever want to be doing this stupid stuff? These people freak me out. If I don’t do what they do, which I am not going to,because it is awkward for me, I’m am going to be judged and looked down to as ‘not spiritual’” Why do I say this? Because it is what I think. I just get over it, because I know better and am more accepting of other people’s culture. But what those who aren’t like me in that way?
Now, I know that some people are not going to agree and may take it personally. Please don’t, I am not attacking anyone. I would love your comments, just please don’t be inflammatory.
Anyway, I really have enjoyed the music here. Peder Eide has a really nice sound and some awesome music. He also has a great sense of humor. I can’t wait for the rest of the day!
Posted by Patrick Corkum on April 29, 2010
So I am back at my hotel after day one of Summit VI. It was an excellent, yet emotionally draining day. I met some awesome people with big hearts for God and kids. It is weird telling people what you’re up to and not have to explain why you’re not crazy… they all get it. It’s especially awesome because so many of these people are celebrities to me. Most people have been caught up in the celebrities of Hollywood, but I’ve spent the last year listening to these people speak on the radio and in recordings. They’ve caught my attention and inspired me over the past year…. so I’m a little star struck.
In the closing general session of the day, MaryBeth Chapman spoke, followed by a question-answer session with her and her husband, Steven Curtis Chapman. Then she got off stage and Stephen performed a short set for us, which was pretty cool. My favorite part of it was probably missed by most people, but when he got up on the stage to do the Q&A, he sat in the chair next to her, realized he was much too far away from her and scooted nice and close to her… mad me think of what I wish I was doing with Melissa (sadly she is not with me).Marybeth also shared a little secret about her adopted daughter Stevie Joy. She is going to be in a veggie tales Christmas special about adoption. Marybeth hopes that she will be portrayed as a Chinese cabbage .
Can’t wait until tomorrow!
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So, the session that I am in is supposed to be a session about how people in all stages of life can help orphans in their own unique ways. So, that has been part of it. However, the most interesting part is Lisa Feist who started OK Foster Grads. She started this organization to help kids who age out of the foster system. As part of her talk, she told her story of how she grew up and the struggles that she went to. Let’s just say that I don’t think I can stand hearing another one of these stories.
So, this has made me think…. why are there so many people who have been so low helping others? I think the answer is simple…. they know what it’s like to be there and don’t want others to have to go there. Read Deuteronomy 24:19-22… God has been using this for a long time… Remember that you were slaves in Egypt….
The real question is… do you really want to wait until God brings you so low?
Posted by Patrick Corkum on
In this morning’s general session, a man told a story about a girl by the name of Anya. She was in an orphanage and was brought to a motel where she had met some men who treated her very well, gave her some money, food and the like. She came back the next day and was told that she owed them for all that they had done. Since she obviously could not pay, they told her that she would have to have sex with men to pay off her debt. She refused, was taken to a back room, was beaten and horrible things were done to her while an axe was held to her neck. She escaped and went directly to children’s hope chest, where she was helped. The man speaking then showed a picture taken 10 days ago of the hotel where this happened and is presumably still happening to others. He then held up a red hand-towel, which he took from that same hotel.
Anger… out-right furious anger overcame me. Yes, this was what he was trying to do, and it worked. I later went out to the hope chest exhibit… and there was the towel. Again, anger overwhelmed me to the point where I almost broke down and cried. This world is sick and perverted, and not enough is being done. The thought struck me… if I am this angry over a stupid hotel towel, I can’t imagine God’s anger….
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Before I hit up the session, I want to comment on how God uses humble people in amazing ways. Sharen Ford, whom I met between sessions, is an amazing woman and is the head of the Colorado Foster Care system. I seriously doubt that she truly understands the impact that God is having on the foster care system throughout the entirety of the US through her.
Also, as I was waiting to talk to her, I met someone from So. NJ who is trying to do the same thing that we are doing. I can’t wait to get in touch with her after the conference.
So the Monroes (Tapestry) are speaking and have a truly powerful statement. He truly has a passion that is quite similar to mine. He believes that the churches should be doing the work of orphan care, not so much the para-church organizations. Those organizations should be supporting the church instead of the other way around.He strongly believes that the church is uniquely positioned to handle certain aspects of the orphan crisis.
Also as a note, he made a comment as to how God cares for all orphans, not just those around us. He recognizes that adoption is not the right solution in all cases and in most cases it probably is not the right solution. He pointed out that only a fraction of a percent of the millions of orphans worldwide will be adopted and that there needs to be other methods used to handle the orphan crisis.