Overcoming SOME injustice through Adoption

            Kimberly and I have been convinced for nearly a year that adopting a child is one way to “Live out the Gospel” in a world that devalues life, primarily through abortion, but also through child neglect or abuse. Little prayer was needed in order to understand that believers must be involved in caring for the poor and the afflicted. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 140:12, “I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted and justice for the poor.” Children are amongst the most afflicted in our society as such pursues selfish endeavors by living out an individualistic, materialistic, and consumeristic philosophy of life. David Platt described our cultural landscape by stating that it is “marked by materialism, characterized by consumerism, and engulfed in individualism.” Abortion, Sex Trafficking, and Child abuse/neglect, among many, are injustices resulting from this ungodly philosophy of life. The love of Christ compels believers to wage war against such injustices that Christ might be magnified and glorified throughout the entire world.

            Such being said, followers of Jesus seek, like their Lord, to overcome the injustices of society by engaging in the warfare. As ambassadors of Christ and ministers of reconciliation, our dutiful pleasure involves participating in combating the injustices of the world through Gospel Living. How, you might ask, can we engage in this warfare? How can we take part, as the church, in overcoming the injustices of society? Prayer serves as our first line of defense; however, in praying, we must be willing to personally be engaged in the warfare. We must pursue Spirit led practical ways to combat the injustices. In doing so we represent the heart of our King by overcoming evil with good.

            One avenue of defense involves Christian families adopting abused and/or neglected children. James writes, “A religion that is pure and stainless in the sight of God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27). Adoption provides believers with an opportunity to manifest the beauty of the gospel as an “adoptive” gospel. The Scriptures describe children of God as being “predestined to adoption to Himself through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:5). God the Father adopted us into His family as an act of love and grace. Christian families adopting children reflect this God-like love and grace as they lavish their love on children who are not biologically their own.

            Kimberly and I, being convinced that adoption afforded us the opportunity to “Live out the Gospel,” thought it would be a few years before we began the adoption process; however, God in His sovereign plan knew otherwise. In recent days the opportunity has arisen for us to adopt two children ages five and two. Michael (5) and Abby (2) have lived in an unstable home since their birth. Knowing the circumstances, because we know the birth parents, we knew that the Father had provided us the opportunity to lavish our love upon them as He has lavished His love upon us. We understand there are financial, emotional, mental, and physical sacrifices that must be made to facilitate the adoption; however, we also understand that these are the demands of the gospel. Loving others in the manner that Christ has loved us is costly and sacrificial. Though we cannot adopt every abused or neglected child, we can participate in providing a stable, gospel-centered environment for Michael and Abby. The Father does not ask us to “Do It All,” but rather, willing participation in His kingdom work. His kingdom work involves seeking to overcome the injustices of the world. How are you engaging in the warfare between righteousness and unrighteousness? How are you actively participating in manifesting the glorious beauty of the gospel to the world? My prayer for the Bradsher family and you is that we would be actively involved, through sacrificial and costly love, in overcoming the injustices of the world. O that the gospel would rule us in such a manner that our very lives reflect its power and glory.

Your Fellow Servant in the gospel,

Joel Bradsher

           

           

Enjoying Freedom in the midst of Suffering

For to the just all the evils imposed on them by unjust rulers are not the punishment of crime, but the test of virtue. Therefore the good man, although he is a slave, is free; but the bad man, even if he reigns, is a slave, and that not of one man, but, what is far more grievous, of as many masters as he has vices; of which vices when the divine Scripture treats, it says, “For of whom any man is overcome, to the same he is also the bond-slave.”

Augustine of Hippo. (1887). The City of God M. Dods, Trans.). In P. Schaff (Ed.), A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series, Volume II: St. Augustin’s City of God and Christian Doctrine (P. Schaff, Ed.) (66). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.

St. Augustine made this statement in his famous City of God. Upon reading this statement I could not help but consider the life of the Apostle Paul. Though he was bound in chains often, he lived freely. Though seen as a prisoner in his culture, he was a free man. How could such be? How could he live "freely" while being "imprisoned?" The greatest imprisonment known to mankind is the imprisonment of sin - the bondage of sin. Sin renders man incapable of serving God freely and pleasureably. God created, designed man to live unto Him, thus only in "living for Him" are we free. Paul experienced freedom in the real sense, he experienced freedom from sin through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gospel had set him free! The Truth (Jesus Christ) had set him free from the great bondage of sin; therefore, when he suffered persecution for righteousness sake, for doing good or being a good man (as Augustin said), he experienced true freedom while being bound. The soul set free from sin is FREE indeed regardless of the physical suffering or imprisonment one may experience. The righteous man, the one set free through the gospel, knows the punishment he faces is a "test of virtue" rather than punishment for sin. He who lives righteously resulting in persecution enjoys the greatest freedom and pleasure known to man, that of living to God. Paul experienced Freedom while in prison because he understood that true freedom, freedom from sin, was obtained and experienced in Christ and not in the lack of physical suffering. Want to live freely? Want to enjoy freedom and pleasure even in suffering? Such a life is only obtained through faith in the one who conquered death - the Lord Jesus Christ. "And you shall know the Truth (a person, not a mere proposition), and the Truth shall make you free." John 8:32 By the way, such is conditional upon our abiding in His Word - John 8:31.

Mission Vermont

One of the most unchurched states in the US is the northern state of Vermont. Layndon Warren, one of my closest and dearest friends, serves as the North American Mission Boards church planting coordinator for the New England territory. 6.5 yrs. ago Lyandon informed me that he was moving his family to Vermont for a life-long investment of planting churches. His commitment to planting churches in the New England Territory has resulted in the planting of two functioning churches along with many others in the planning process. Click here  Would you pray about partnering with the Lyandon to reach Vermont with the gospel?

Here is the website: http://www.vermontchurchplanting.com/

Here is a copy of his newsletter:

May Highlights
Wow, what an exciting month May has been! For starters, our leadership at Founda-tion Church prayed and decided that two services were needed in order to accommodate our growing congregation. Therefore, on Mother's Day, we started a 9 and 11 o’clock ser-vice and it was indeed a success. We have been able to accommodate more people in the two services and as a result, we’ve noticed a rise in guest attendance. Our people are catch-ing a vision for reaching the un-churched and inviting their friends and family. We praise God for the new faces and look forward to seeing many more in the days to come. Also, we are planning to have our first Baptismal Service of the summer in June. Two people who have given their lives to Christ over the winter, are now ready and excited to move for-ward in Believer’s Baptism. Please pray for them. I know this act of obedience will en-courage their lives and be a witness to their friends and family who attend the celebration.
Church Planting Highlights
May has also been an exciting month for my work with NAMB. I, along with a few other of my colleagues were able to facilitate a Church Planting training in Nor-wich, CT. We had 35 men in attendance. Five of those men were from Vermont and are planning on starting new churches within the year. I am so excited to see God an-swering our prayers and raising up indigenous leaders from within our state. I had several great conversations with these men about their plans and helped them to see that they were not alone in this endeavor.
Special Prayer Requests & Needs
1)Please pray for our Church Planting Picnic on July 13th. We are planning on hav-ing a day of encouragement for our VT planters and really want this to be a great day for them. We are looking for some partners to help us raise at least $500 to help with food and recreation for the day. It would be a true blessing to have you help with this much needed ministry, so please pray about helping us bless our Front Line Kingdom Soldiers.
2)Awareness has been the biggest “Achilles Heel” for church planting in Vermont over the past several years. Therefore, God led me to create a Church Planting website to broadcast our needs, at a much more rapid pace. It has been working, but your help is still needed to continue to put our states needs before others. Would you please consider part-nering with us to raise $2000 to give our website a continued renewal of video and blog posts? The money raised will enable us to make more recent videos of current needs and
highlight places of opportunity from around the state. In addition, we will also be able to have someone post weekly blog articles about Church Planting that will keep people viewing our website often and sharing the articles that they find interesting. Please pray about partnering with us to support this vital avenue for church planting.
Donations for the planter picnic or the website can be made out to Foundation Church 153 Main St Poultney, VT 05764 and please indicate on the memo line what the gift is to be used for. Thank you.
3) Partnerships for two parsonage projects are needed in Vermont at the current time:
Jerry Frey in Pownal, VT is building the first GMBA parsonage. He was given money from the GMBA to buy the materials for the parsonage, but he needs ministry teams to help build the actual building. If you are interested please contact him and inquire about opportuni-ties for service. 802-236-9373
Also, Keith Bodwell, a church planter in East Hubbardton, VT could use some help with his parsonage project. Keith is new to VT and has a church building , but no house to live in. Currently, Keith, his wife and three kids live in a camper. We would like to see this circumstance change for Keith, so would you pray about coming to VT and helping Keith with his parsonage project? His number is 802-839-5735.
4) Last, we have several churches in Vermont that have Church Planting Intern positions open and ready to fill, but no one to fill them. Would you pray that God would raise up plant-ers to fill these ministry positions and that towns in Vermont that have no evangelical witness, would one day have a church planter move into them and begin to share the Word of God. We need willing people to move to Vermont with a vocational skill that will enable them to work and do ministry, so please pray that these people will say yes, when God presents them with an opportunity to serve Him here.
Thank all of you so much for your prayer and continued financial support. It is all mak-ing a noticeable difference in the country’s most un-religious and un-churched state. Little by little, we will see Vermont won for Christ, but it is going to take much prayer and many boots on the ground . So, keep that precious support coming and know that we appreciate it more than words can say. God bless you all.

Zoo Time

Last week was super busy for the Bradsher nation. Kimberly and I had to travel to Wilmington, NC to meet the two young children: Michael and Abby, that we are adopting along with their foster parents. Prior to our leaving on Saturday, I had planned a Zoo trip for my family in order for us to have some educational and entertaining family time. Below are a few pictures from our adventure.

Here are My monkeys hanging with The Monkeys! 

The fastest, flightless bird on the planet! We were amazed at his height!God's creatures are amazing to see as they display His creative brilliance. 

The super-tall giraffes were hanging with the Ostrich. Nathan and Rachel were wowed by their height and "spotty" beauty.

The Harbor Seal and the Polar Bear were both enticing attractions. I found it fascinating that the Polar Bear can "sniff out" his prey (the Harbor Seal) 20 miles away. This poor fellow has to  smell the Harbor Seal daily within about 100yds of where he is; yet, he can never reach them Talk about torture :) 

Hopefully this will entice you and your family to visit the NC Zoo in order to see God's magnificent animals. 

The Source of Christian Joy

The foundation of Christian joy is not circumstantial, but rather the character and nature of God Himself. The personhood of God provides the follower of Jesus with indominable, eternal joy that surpasses the circumstances of the day. O the rejoicing that arises when one recognizes the source of the Christian joy is God Himself. "If I cannot so behold the excellencies and perfections of God as to cause  to rejoice in Him for what He is in Himself, I have no solid foundation of joy." - David Brainerd 

"Swan Song" of a Godly leader

     Incumbent upon every leader is the responsibility of preparing for his departure. He can rest assured that there will come a time that he will no longer be able to lead in the capacity which he at present is enjoying. All men are mortal beings whose earthly lives, at least the present one, one day will end; thus, a good leader must invest and instruct another to serve in his stead. Reading 1 Chronicles 28-29 reminded me of the necessity as a leader in my home and church to be proactive preparing for my departure. Is that soon? Well hopefully not :) However, I hold that leaders must be visionaries which leads to proactive preparation. Furthermore as a father my children will one day leave my home to build a home of their own. In 1 Chronicles 28-29 the reader encounters King David's "Swan Song." David recognizes that his time as King is coming to an end, thus he prepares Solomon to reign in his stead. Therefore, he instructs Solomon to "know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches the heart and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek, He will be found by you; but, if you forsake Him, He will forsake you forever." David in so many words reminds Solomon of the primary Law, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Duet. 6:5). David desired Solomon to know that all decisions have consequences: the decision to love and obey God have fruitful consequences and the decision to disregard and disobey God has destructive consequences. King David had experienced both in a major way during his reign. He desired better for Solomon, thus he instructed him to love and obey God.
     After having instructed him to "love and obey God," David instructed the arising new King to courageously do what God placed in his heart to do - build the Temple. David had planned to build the temple, yet God revealed that Solomon was destined to perform this task. Therefore, knowing what God desired Solomon to perform, David exhorted Solomon to courageously accomplish the task of building the Temple, reminding him that God would be with him. Solomon's courage would arise from the presence and power of God, not Solomon's position. David desired Solomon to know that godly leadership which sought to fulfill God's mission rested on the presence and power of the Lord and not the mere political position of king.
     David proactively prepared Solomon to reign in his stead. David instructed him to "love and obey God," as well as, "rest in His power and presence" in order to accomplish His mission for the King. What conclusion can we draw? How can we learn from this text? 1) Kingdom leadership involves proactively preparing others to carry on obedient kingdom leadership upon our departure. 2) Kingdom leadership always, always, always is founded upon obedience to the Lord and His abiding presence and power.

Meet Charley Dalebout, a young lady who is passionate about serving King Jesus in her home state of Utah. I had the distinct pleasure of Charley and her mom, Gloria, stopping by my office last week so I could ask them some questions about Christianity in a primarily Mormon context. Charley recently finished a year of studies at Bob Jones University, and is now moving home in order to pursue training in Education. Charley has a desire to be a Public School Teacher in her home state of Utah. She models what I would consider to be the Christian endeavor, "living out the gospel wherever I am in order to influence my culture with the gospel." Every believer is a missionary, one who is on Mission for God, regardless of your location or occupation. Our mission is to Make disciples of Jesus Christ, thus we are on mission. Charley and I discussed how Matthew 28:19 states, "While you are going, you make disciples..." She stated that though being in the "Southern Bible Belt" was comfortable, she desired to be back home influencing her family and friends with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Charley provided me with much insight into the Mormon faith and how growing up in a Mormon context resulted in a deepening of her faith in Christ. I asked Charley how we as followers of Jesus Christ can best influence Mormons with the gospel. Here are a few take aways:

1) Build relationships. Charley has friendships that began as a young child that exist to this day in which they converse about the diversity of beliefs between Christians and Mormons.

2) Know and understand the difference in terminology. Though terms like "grace," "salvation," "redemption," etc. may sound the same they do not carry the same meanings. She strongly encouraged followers of Christ to understand the difference when conversing with Mormons.

3) Live out the gospel wherever you are. Charley reminded me by her decision to purposely move home to Teach school that we as followers of Christ must recognize our DNA as missionaries. Did Charley see or describe herself as a missionary? No. But has she and is she living out the missionary life? Yes! I call her a missionary to Utah because she is seeking to make followers of Jesus Christ in her home state amongst her peers.

Thanks Charley for stopping by to encourage and exhort a fellow follower of the King!!!

Just had a crying spell after reading an email from a "mother in the faith" to Kimberly and I. She has been battling stage 4 cancer for quite sometime now; however, her attention and energy has been focused like a laser on God's kingdom work in the world. Though various treatments have been used with some success resulting in the extension of her life, her hope is not in the science of overcoming cancer nor in the mere extension of her days; but rather, her hope and prayer has been that God would keep her faithful to the task of "Making Disciples" until her last day. The Mission of God consumes her time, efforts, and energies. I have seen days that she was weak and weary from treatments, yet not one word of complaint while endeavoring to be obedient to her calling. She recently received a bad report from a Pet Scan and she stated the following:

 "We've finished processing the latest PET scan results, and can now fully report to you.  The 'good news' is that one bone spot has 'died' and the cancer has not spread to my abdomen.

The 'other news' is that there are new spots in my lungs, and the old spots are bigger, and 2 chest lymph nodes have it, and there are now 4 bone spots.  And I now have some pleural effusion (a collection of fluid between the right lung and the rib cage), with a new cancer spot in the midst of that area.

As my oncologist says "This is significant progression of the disease."

Is the electro-medicine working?  Maybe.  But it's obviously not working enough.

The only thing medically available to me is a return to the Gemzar chemo that I was taking last Fall.  Radiation cannot offer anything except pain control.

So that's for the PET report.    But I forgot to tell you the bottom line in the report (legible only to Christ-followers): "God is still on His Throne ordering the affairs of man in love & goodness."

I'm feeling good..only a little dull discomfort from the pleural effusion.   Looking at me,  you'd never guess the PET results.

We've discussed & prayed about things....and feel that we will continue onward with the electro-medicine.  But we will increase the exposure & change the settings.   The next scan will be the mid/end of July.

In other news, our Ethiopia Team continues to be prepared for its July trip.  Maple Ridge (a shelter for those in ministry) is almost ready for service.  The India work moves forward; we are really looking forward to our trip there in October!

Keep on praying for us, that we will faithfully use each day and each speck of energy for His service.  He is worthy of such!"


Such has been her mindset from the beginning. Do I cry this morning due to her bad health, maybe some, but what really caused me to weep this morning is my lack of resilience in the gospel. I am challenged by her insistence upon living every moment, with every ounce of energy for the gospel. What a reminder that our life here is brief and purposeful; thus, we must use every moment and utilize every effort to further His kingdom. Will you pray that I will be resilient in the gospel? Will you pray that I will not be distracted or discouraged by trivial, temporary matters but rather consumed with Him and His kingdom work? 

The Addiction of Porn

Internet Porn has led and is leading to the demise of many a follower of Christ. The ease of access coupled with the perversion of natural attraction creates a situation in which many have become and are becoming addicted to pornography. The question arises as to why is such so addicting? What about us scientifically causes the addiction? Here is an informational blog post that aids in answering that question. I urge all men to read such.