Does God Exist?

Does God exist? That's the topic of the debate between The Rational Response Squad founders Brian Sapient and his girlfriend Kelly (who are atheists) and evangelical Christians Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort, of The Way of the Master ministry that aired on May 5, 2007. The debate was on ABC and was moderated by Nightline correspondent Martin Bashir. I found an interesting page on MySpace produced by Todd Friel, who is also on "The Way of the Master" team, entitled "I Deny Brian Sapient".

These videos are thought-provoking to say the least. If you are a Christian I hope they help you "to be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." (1 Peter 3:15) If your faith needs a boost, I hope you this helps. If you doubt God's existence, I hope the gentle and respectful way in which Ray and Kirk present the gospel, as well as the case they present for a Creator will serve to help you change your mind and heart about the God of the Bible.

Meeting about J------

Well Folks, here she is. This is a picture of a picture of J------ at roughly 6 months of age. We haven't seen her yet, but we are scheduled to go and visit with her for the first time next Thursday the 24th.

Friday morning, we went to the DFACS office, and had a "staffing". In other words, we met with our case worker, her supervisor, and 2 ladies who will help with the adoption process. They told us all they knew about J------'s history, her mom's history, how they came to have J------, and so on. They kindly answered all of our questions. We felt they really cared for everyone involved.

What can I say to comment on what we learned? Well, I'll say this. It made our hearts heavy to hear the story of J------'s mom and all her troubles. For example, she had been raised in a foster home herself for some of her life. Later, an Uncle adopted her. We are so happy about getting J------. But at the same time, we can't help but feel agony as we think of how her mom must have felt as she signed the parental rights termination papers. J------'s birth mom is in prison for breaking and entering. She may be there for several years. Please pray for J------'s mom, and for so many people like her who make bad choices and have to go through so much pain. I can't imagine what it's like to lose a child in this way.

On the brighter side, we will meet our future daughter next Thursday at her foster home. It has to be during working hours because DFACS staff members will be there. But I think future visits can be on weekends or early evenings and will be scheduled by the foster mom and us. We will get used to J------, she will get used to us, and fairly soon, she will come home with us to stay.

Baptism Day!

On Saturday, April 28th, Kwon-Moon Lee and Young-Ju Jung were baptized at Stone Mountain Park in the lake! These boys have both recognized that a life without Jesus is simply no life at all. Please pray for them as they return to South Korea on May 19th.

If anyone would like to contact them, here is their contact information in Korea.

Kwon-Moon Lee Chung-Gu Apt 108-802 Jecheon City, Choong Buk 390-772 REPUBLIC OF KOREA Phone number: 82-43642-5993

Young-Ju Jung Chung-Gu Apt 108-102 Jecheon City, Choong Buk 390-772 REPUBLIC OF KOREA Phone number: 82-43644-2823

Adoption News

Two years ago, Duk-Sun and I took the DFACS (Dekalb County Family and Children Services) course to become adoptive / foster parents. We opted to wait for a child that was under two years old. Well, at long last an e-mail came about a child who would possibly be available for adoption. Her name is J------. She is14 months old. She is currently placed temporarily in a good foster home, so she is being well taken care of. We had to update some records for DFACS, and that took a couple of weeks because we had to get new physical exams.

Last Friday, there was a hearing on behalf of J------, and during the hearing the judge terminated the mother's rights. Next, there will be a period of 60 days in which the county will place an advertisement in the newspaper, allowing her biological father to come forth and claim her if he wishes. We were told that it is highly unlikely that he will, but that it is a legal step we must go through.

Next week, we will meet with our case worker, and schedule visits with J------. As time goes on, we will take her to our home for day visits, and later for overnight visits. And this will lead to the final hand-over, perhaps in July after the 60-day advertising period is over. It is best to do it this way for all who are concerned, but especially for the baby. A gradual transition will be much better for her. It must be very traumatic to change families.

We are excited to see Lord answering our prayers and are eager to welcome this child into our home. We welcome your prayers as we go through this process.

Kwon-Moon & Young-Ju

It is a privilege for us to host students from overseas from time to time. This school year we have Young-Ju Jung (10) and Kwon-Moon Lee (12) . Young-Ju's mother and Duk-Sun have been friends since college. We know Kwon-Moon through the Jung family. Their home is in Chechun, South Korea.

These are two very likable kids. It's been truly amazing how fast they have learned to speak English and keep up with their schoolwork. They both attend the school where I teach--The Heiskell School. They have been a welcome addition to our family. Their plan is to stay one year or perhaps a year and a half. We will miss them when they return to South Korea.

Conflict Resolution

Tonight in small group we discussed "The Art and Care of Correction".
As a teacher, I very often find myself helping children deal with conflict and getting along with each other. But kids aren't the only ones who struggle with this. My wife says all the time, "Jobs are easy enough. It's getting along with people at work that is the challenge." I think this is true. As long as people try to accomplish things together, there will be conflicts.

I asked my school chaplain for anything he had on Conflict Resolution, since he teaches such courses to kids at The Heiskell School. He gave me a book that was put out by The Institute for Christian Concilliation. This led me to their website. For free articles on this topic, click here.

I particularly found the Slippery Slope article interesting.
They also have a section just for Christian Schools.

The Matthew 18 Principle article is a good one. Much easier said than done. Still, all this reading makes me want to get better at it. Can't do it alone. But with God, all things are possible. :)

Chuch Music

I sing because I'm happy
I sing because I'm free
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He watches me.

I have been doing some research about church music. This is a fascinating subject, and I found some articles that made me think and gave me insights into the reason church music has changed so much over the years and how to think about it. I love music of all kinds, and I was convinced that God does, too. But after reading the article series, "Hope For Christian Music", I am not so sure anymore. Read it and see what you think. This is the more conservative of the articles.

Here is the viewpoint of a man in Australia who takes a different side on the issue. It's called, Loud Music And The Church: A Response .

And this article comes from a sound man. The title is self-explanatory. It's called, "Hearing is Priceless".

I hope you will read the articles and come away with new insights regarding church music.