Rick and Denise in Ukraine

Most who follow this blog are aware of the Morton's journey to Ukraine to adopt children, but in case you have not followed their story, below was the last entry (you can follow it at www.mortonadoption.com):

Great news!!!!!
Wow! what a day!!!!! Before I get into details, I just want to have a little worship service right here on this blog. We serve an awesome God, and I am standing in amazement of His lovingkindness. God has gone before us and made the way smooth. It's is an amazing feeling to be caught up in something that you are completely aware is beyond your control but in His hand. Honesty begs that I tell you that I was a weepy mess for a little while yesterday dealing with the enormity of the choice we were about to be faced with and our complete lack of a sense of direction. All in all, it was a good opportunity to be brought face to face with the reality of God's grace. Our God showed himself today.We got up late this morning as a result of a night out with Joel and Mary Ellen Ragains. The big hurdle for the morning was no water in our flat. Not a big deal, just a little reminder of how different this is from home. Just past noon, we met Yana, our facilitator, and had a little lunch. Then we were off to the SDA for our appointment. It was about a 20 minute walk from our flat. On the way, we passed St Sophia church in the Kyiv Rus (the oldest part of Kyiv and the original center of ancient Russia.). That where God gave us a little moment of reassurrance in His reach. As we were crossing the street in from of St. Sophia, I looked ahead and caught a glimpse of a familiar face. I called his name and sure enough it was "Edward" (what we call him in English), a young professor from Kyiv Theoloigcal Seminary and the first translator Tony and I had here in 2007. What are the chances? In a city of 4.5 million people, I see one of less than a dozen people I know!!! And, he is a brother in Christ! And, we have a few moments of fellowship in the middle of the city!! What are the chances? It's a cinch when you put God in the middle of our circumstance. I really think seeing Edward was God's tangible gift of a reminder of His presence and his faithfulness. Wow!Then, we get to the SDA. Shortly, we are ushered into an office where we met with a psychologist. She was young and very nice. I also think she spoke better English than she let on since she laughed at a couple of my jokes. The office was dark because the power was out (more on that later). After some preliminary discussions including one more check to rule out a biological sibling for Erick (none found), she came back into the room with a stack of files. She began with a boy named "N." He was born in Sept 2001 and he is in the Odessa region. He is reported to have some mild developmental delays nad is quite shy. I have to admit, my heart lept when I heard his name and saw his picture. To make a long story short, we were presented a number of files, but "N" was it. As we conferred for a moment after we heard the files presented, Denise and I had the same reaction. We just knew. I can't explain it, but I know it. The details we have been given tell us that a Canadian couple began to pursue "N" for adoption but had a family emergency that required them to end their pursuit of him. Wow! Please pray that he will be receptive of us. I know that it will likely be hard for him to trust us because of his past experience. I want him to know that he has a family that will not quit on him. BTW, Erick (our little electircian) told them they needed to get the lights fixed, and flipped the light switch. About 30 second after he did it, the power came on. All the ladies in the SDA office got a big laugh over that, and said he needed to visit more often if he could get results like that!We are supposed to pick up our referral paperwork tomorrow afternoon and then we will travel by bus to Odessa on Sunday (and on to the town where "N" is). Thanks for praying!!!!! Please keep on...Blessings,Rick

Religion vs. The Gospel

The following is an edited list, taken from Mark Driscoll on the difference between Religion and the Gospel. We must seek, by God's grace, to be Gospel-driven, Gospel-saturated believers.

• Religion says, if I obey, God will love me. Gospel says, because God loves me, I can obey.


• Religion has good people & bad people. Gospel has only repentant and unrepentant people.


• Religion values a birth family. Gospel values a new birth.


• Religion depends on what I do. Gospel depends on what Jesus has done.


• Religion has the goal to get stuff from God. Gospel has the goal to get God.


• Religion sees hardships as punishment for sin. Gospel sees hardship as sanctified affliction.


• Religion is about me. Gospel is about Jesus.


• Religion believes appearing as a good person is the key. Gospel believes that being honest is the key.


• Religion has an uncertainty of standing before God. Gospel has certainty based upon Jesus' work.


• Religion ends in pride or despair. Gospel ends in humble joy.

Praise God for the Gospel! May God help us to preach the Good News.

Adoption Stories

For some inspiring reading on the call to adopt, Baptist Press has some neat articles today: http://www.bpnews.net/

This is a picture of Dr. Russell Moore's family. He teaches theology at Southern Baptist Theological seminary. His two adopted boys are from Russia.

Even the Wind and the Sea Obey Him!

Here's a little clip from a devotion on the Sea of Galilee. It is based on Mark 4, when Jesus calms the storm, and shows the disciples that He is Lord over all things. This provided them, and us, with great awe and holy peace.

Sea of Galilee

This is a little video clip that I took while in Galilee. I have a clip like this for every site that we visited. I hope to post them all at some time.

Israel Update

Top Five Highlights So Far

The Israel pilgrimage has been amazing. I really needed this renewal time. I could go on for days, but I will provide a quick top ten list instead of writing a book.

1. I baptized four guys in the Jordan River. Not everyone on the trip is associated with the seminary as a student or professor. Some of the guys on the trip had never experienced believer’s baptism.

2. The boat ride on the Sea of Galilee at 9:00 a.m. was spectacular. The view and weather could not have been better.

3. Capernaum is an amazing site because of the 4th century synagogue that was built on top of the 1st century synagogue, in addition to other great sights. Jesus lived in Capernaum, and 5 of the disciples were from there, and I believe that 6 of the twelve actually did, according to the text. Capernaum is mentioned the second most times in the Bible of any place, next to Jerusalem. You know you are walking where Jesus walked and taught, when you are in Capernaum.

4. The hike to Dan was awesome. We read Psalm 42 which speaks of the deer panting for water. In this Psalm, David speaks of Mt. Hermon, which is a majestic mountain about 8,000 ft high. It feeds the three rivers in Jordan, including Dan. Hermon stays snow capped year round. But we actually went to Dan to see the alter of Jeroboam, the ancient city gate, that Abraham would have came through, and the ancient city as well.

5. Caesera Philippi really makes Matthew 16 come alive in several ways.

I will post more pictures later. I also have a one minute or so video teaching at every site.