March 30, 2010
Unadoptable File
The Bible

EARS TO HEAR is the radio ministry of FAMILIES. BY GOD. For EARS TO HEAR, here’s Tim Glisson.

All of us have experienced being rejected. Whether it’s being cut from the team, left home from the prom, not getting our choice of college or not getting the job at all, the message to us is the same: you’re not wanted.

And although it hardly defines us, it may influence how we define ourselves.

That’s the case for many kids exiting the Child Welfare System.

Every county in this country has a version of an “unadoptable” file: A compilation of kids who have been in care so long their workers contend they can never live in a family setting.

The major thrust of the argument is that institutional living is so different from typical family life that kids pass the point of adjustability – and thus, adoptability.

But that’s not how the kids see it, or themselves. They’ve grown up thinking they weren’t smart enough, nice enough, pretty enough, or just plain good enough, to be wanted.

As Christians we need to reach out to these kids – now adults. We need to find them; and tell them how much God loves them, how much He has planned for them, and how much Christ paid for them to prove to them how much He wants them.

And we need to do it today: out of gratitude for God’s grace and mercy – to us. Because if there were ever an unadoptable file in heaven, you and I would both be in it.

If you have EARS to HEAR the cry of the child, please visit our website at FAMILIESBYGOD.org or call 315-687-5322. For EARS TO HEAR, I’m Tim Glisson.

March 25, 2010
What’s In A Name?
Deuteronomy 6:1-9

EARS TO HEAR is the radio ministry of FAMILIES. BY GOD. For EARS TO HEAR, here’s Tim Glisson.

What’s in a name? Plenty. More than just an identity, our names note our reputation, often preceeding us, and most certainly trailing us. While making a name for oneself can be seen as the epitome of success, a bad name can also note your demise.

Names define us: call someone Einstein, Hercules or Ruth and all will know you’re talking about brains, brawn or baseball.

Conversely, not knowing one’s real or birth name can harbor a hollow feeling. American slaves of past centuries often lamented not knowing who they really were: Alex Haley’s novel and movie ROOTS spoke to this.

But sometimes even knowing your name isn’t enough if you don’t know the person you’re attached to. That’s often the plight of the fatherless. Although you may be William’s son, Jeff’s son or John’s son, if you don’t know William, Jeff or John, kid’s don’t make the connection and feel empty anyways.

Millions of kids in America today are growing up without a dad to pass on the family name which often leads to disconnects; to family, to community, to God.

God’s strategy for victory is the family: Is God calling you to stand in the gap for one child by lending him your name through adoption?

If you have EARS to HEAR God’s call for the fatherless, please visit our website at FAMILIESBYGOD.org. For EARS TO HEAR, I’m Tim Glisson.

March 24, 2010
Family Court Judges
1 Samuel

EARS TO HEAR is the radio ministry of FAMILIES. BY GOD. For EARS TO HEAR, here’s Tim Glisson.

Perhaps the toughest job in the Child Welfare System is that of Family Court Judge.

Consider the difficulties: high caseloads, little and often faulty information, conflicting goals, young lives in the balance, deliberating compassion versus tough love: the list goes on and few cases are similar.

The existing solutions for all these dilemmas rest in our laws. Yet, often is the time, laws conflict or compete and thus aren’t all that helpful.

That results in another problem. When laws create unclear situations, judges are hamstrung. In other words: no decision, which is not good for an incredibly backlogged system in the first place.

Time is of the essence in a young child’s development. Kids can’t afford to be in limbo for a few days much less a few years. Questions regarding their lives need to be decided safely, surely, and swiftly: which takes the wisdom of Solomon.

So what’s they key? God, naturally. The book of James tells us over and over that God is the source of all wisdom and He’ll share it with us liberally if we’ll only ask.

On behalf of all the children from the Child Welfare System who land in Family Court won’t you please pray for wisdom for each and every Family Court judge? Remember, it was God who gave wisdom to Solomon in the first place.

If you have EARS to HEAR please visit our website at FAMILIESBYGOD.org. For EARS TO HEAR, I’m Tim Glisson.

March 23, 2010
Equal Partners
Galatians 4:1-7

EARS TO HEAR is the radio ministry of FAMILIES. BY GOD. For EARS TO HEAR, here’s Tim Glisson.

There’s absolutely no question that caring for the fatherless is important to God. Scripture is clear in that He considers himself to be Father to the fatherless. He declares himself their defender and their sustainer. He listens to their cries and he tells us that caring for them is what He considers religion to be all about.

How we are to care for the orphans of the world tells us a great deal about how God cares for us.

No Godly couple would ever consider adopting a child only to withhold from them the comforts and pleasures they give their birth children. It would be mean, cruel, and dishonoring to God not to treat adoptive and birth children as equal partners.

So it is with our relationship to God. Galatians chapter 4, verses 1 through 7 explain to us that not only has God adopted us, but because of the work of our Savior, we are an hier of God through Christ. No longer slaves, but sons. And equal partners at that.

James tells us that it’s not enough to be hearers of the Word only, but to be doers as well. God wants us to adopt children who have no fathers – just as He adopted us. It’s that clear.

If you have EARS TO HEAR the cry of the child please visit our website at FAMILIESBYGOD.org. For EARS TO HEAR, I’m Tim Glisson.

March 22, 2010
Pro-Choicers Against Abortion
Proverb 8:1

EARS TO HEAR is the radio ministry of FAMILIES. BY GOD. For EARS TO HEAR, here’s Tim Glisson.

Here’s a question for you. Why in the greatest democracy of all time, the United States, do we constantly belittle the will of the majority in order to appease the sin of the vast minority?

For example: How many people actually think putting more money into public education will help fix America’s woefully underachieving schools? Not many.

How many people honestly believe gay marriage is good for our kids or our culture? Very few.

How many people really think abortion should be legal?

We actually have some numbers on the abortion issue. Poll after poll, one as recent as last week, show that overwhelming majorities of people are against abortion some by a plurality of 80 percent. Rarely do pro-choice respondents reach 30 percent. In fact, studies show that most pro-choicers are actually opposed to abortion, they just simply want to make sure that if even one young woman wants one it will be safely performed.

In other words, we know better, we desire better, we’re just willing to do worse.

How can that possibly make any sense? How can a Christian nation allow this? How can we honestly look ourselves in the mirror and not see the faces of millions of unborn children staring back at us?

80 percent of Americans are opposed to abortion and yet it’s the law of the land. Does not wisdom cry? And understanding put forth her voice?

If you have EARS to HEAR God’s heart for His children, please visit our website at FAMILIESBYGOD.org. For EARS TO HEAR, I’m Tim Glisson.