Season 1 | Episode 13 | Justice | TBN
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Season 1 | Episode 13 | Justice

Watch Season 1 | Episode 13 | Justice
November 27, 2018
26:35

Jesus the Game Changer

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Season 1 | Episode 13 | Justice

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  • - Who are these kids?
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  • And she said in Colorado there's over 800 kids
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  • available for adoption and nobody knows about these kids.
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  • And it was something that just,
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  • I couldn't get it out of my head.
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  • It was an injustice that angered me.
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  • And...
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  • And I kept thinking, God,
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  • somebody needs to do something about this.
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  • This is a problem and somebody needs to step up.
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  • And God slowly put it on my heart that,
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  • do something, try and do something.
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  • (upbeat electronic music)
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  • - This is the famous Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
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  • On the twenty-eighth of August, 1963,
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  • 250.000 people gathered in front of the Memorial
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  • and around the reflecting pool to call on the nation
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  • to end segregation.
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  • It was a call for the nation to live out
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  • the Declaration of Independence which said that
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  • all people were created equal.
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  • One of the speakers that afternoon was
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  • Dr. Martin Luther King, he was a Baptist pastor
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  • from Montgomery, Alabama.
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  • He led the bus boycott movement
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  • and he became a national spokesman for what
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  • they were trying to achieve here that day.
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  • That afternoon, King gave what's potentially
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  • the greatest speech of the modern era,
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  • his I Have a Dream speech.
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  • It was founded on his faith and belief
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  • in Jesus that all people were created equal
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  • and ought to be treated equally.
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  • He was calling on this nation to
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  • treat people equally.
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  • It was a call for justice.
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  • (pulsing guitar music)
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  • Obviously one of the heroes of the African-American Church
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  • and blacks in America is Martin Luther King.
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  • What do you understand about his motivation
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  • for what he did?
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  • - Well, I know his motivation was to glorify God.
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  • There is a story that King tells,
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  • I heard it on audio, about
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  • after he got his death threat that said,
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  • I'm gonna kill you, we're gonna blow you up,
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  • and he gets concerned about his wife,
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  • his family.
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  • He goes down to his kitchen table,
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  • sits there with a cup of coffee and he says,
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  • "Lord, I know my father knew you.
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  • "I knew my grandfather knew you."
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  • He began to think about all of you
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  • that really knew God.
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  • And he says, "Lord, I gotta really know you
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  • "for myself!"
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  • This is a doctoral student, yet to finish his dissertation,
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  • who is pastoring a church, but saying,
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  • "God? If you're out there? I need to know you're real"
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  • kind of a thing.
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  • His testimony is this: that he had heard a voice say to him,
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  • stand up for righteousness and justice,
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  • and I will be with you 'til the end.
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  • And suddenly, the fear began to subside.
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  • (thoughtful guitar music)
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  • - I think that Martin was chosen to be in that place
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  • because he had a level of courage.
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  • I've read many of his writings.
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  • And it's not because he wanted to rise to the occasion.
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  • I think like any man, as he said,
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  • longevity has its place.
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  • He didn't have any desire to have his home bombed,
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  • he didn't want to put his children in harm's way.
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  • But he knew the Word of God.
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  • And when you know the Word of God,
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  • you have been saved by the Word of God.
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  • You know when God is calling you to a moment
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  • that is beyond your own strength.
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  • - I believe that King's example was amazing.
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  • After his house was blown up,
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  • standing in front of his house,
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  • people gathered.
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  • 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama,
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  • and all kinds of former soldiers, et cetera,
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  • military people, gathered with weapons in their hands,
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  • and he said, "No, we're not gonna fight like the world.
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  • "Today we're gonna forgive."
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  • "Today we're gonna turn the other cheek."
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  • That whole nonviolent movement came into play
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  • and, I believe God will grace us.
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  • And the Bible says clearly,
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  • if the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
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  • but they're mighty through God
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  • to the pulling down of strongholds.
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  • - Thinking about the issue of justice,
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  • and care, as you say, for the least of these,
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  • - [Bishop Jackson] Yes.
  • 00:05:15.070 --> 00:05:16.140
  • - What did Jesus have to say about justice that
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  • impacted you a lot?
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  • - Well, he had a lot to say about justice.
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  • I think the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount,
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  • is the Christian Magna Carta
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  • and the charter of liberation.
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  • There's a special grace that comes to people
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  • that make peace, who create justice,
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  • we are to let our lights shine before men,
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  • that they may see our good works
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  • and glorify our Father in heaven.
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  • - You know it's interesting when we look at the Gospels,
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  • when we look at the Old Testament,
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  • and we look at the New Testament,
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  • justice is a consistent theme throughout it.
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  • Especially in books like Amos, if we want to choose
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  • Amos 5, or Micah 6:8 which we love to quote.
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  • Isaiah is probably the seminal work that we look at.
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  • But it is because of Jesus, it was because of the way
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  • that he chose in the face of power,
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  • to give dignity and respect to the least of these,
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  • to the lepers,
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  • to the prostitute that could have been stoned.
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  • It is because of them that Jesus lived an
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  • impeccable life of justice,
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  • that we now have a theology of justice
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  • that we can now pattern our lives after.
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  • The Bible says that we know that we have passed
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  • from death to life because we love the brethren.
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  • In other words, one of the proofs that we are born again,
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  • is that we discern and see the Kingdom
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  • because of the changed heart within us.
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  • But also, there's a transformation,
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  • a heart transformation, a heart revolution that goes on,
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  • and I was stuck somewhere.
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  • And the Lord helped me to repent of that,
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  • and to get that right and in His communion service
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  • in a deep southern city that I was in.
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  • When I went back to the small little group that we had,
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  • and I faced my racism,
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  • I faced my issues,
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  • all of a sudden that little church began to blossom.
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  • It began to grow.
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  • And all of a sudden, when I couldn't communicate,
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  • (exhales loudly)
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  • verbally,
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  • was communicated by the Spirit.
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  • So the Lord taught me how to love Him more
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  • by seeing His face
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  • in the face of those He assigned me to.
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  • (peaceful piano music)
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  • The litmus test of whether we've received grace from God,
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  • I am absolutely convinced we are only saved
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  • by grace.
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  • Not my me being a nice person.
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  • No way!
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  • If I could have been saved by being a nice person
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  • there was no need for Jesus to die on the cross.
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  • But the litmus test that you have received
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  • that grace from God,
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  • is it begins to change your relationships.
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  • It transforms the way that you treat other people.
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  • So, in other words, this relationship that we've got
  • 00:08:05.170 --> 00:08:08.080
  • with God, to love the Lord our God with all our hearts
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  • and all of our mind,
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  • that is demonstrated, that is proved,
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  • in the way that we then love our neighbor or not.
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  • And if we don't love our neighbor,
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  • then we don't love God.
  • 00:08:18.200 --> 00:08:19.250
  • - There are thousands of people
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  • whose names we do not know,
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  • who, I think believe and know that they felt
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  • the same call to rise up as Martin did that day.
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  • And I think we all know that
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  • the life that we're living today,
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  • the reason you and I sit across from one another today,
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  • is because of the courage of a few
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  • that allow the many today to live the life that we live.
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  • And so today we must have the same kind of
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  • courage that they had.
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  • We're dealing with ugliness today as they did then.
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  • And we have to stand only in Jesus.
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  • There's no other way forward.
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  • Very early in Jesus' ministry,
  • 00:08:58.060 --> 00:09:00.030
  • he was at his home town and in his home synagogue,
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  • which is the Jewish church,
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  • and he was asked to read the Bible,
  • 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:06.110
  • the Old Testament scripture.
  • 00:09:06.110 --> 00:09:08.030
  • We're not sure if this was the reading of the day,
  • 00:09:08.030 --> 00:09:09.290
  • or Jesus went looking for it,
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  • but he un-scrolled the scroll of Isaiah
  • 00:09:11.280 --> 00:09:15.050
  • and he got to Isaiah 61 and Jesus reads these words:
  • 00:09:15.050 --> 00:09:19.060
  • "The Spirit of the Lord is on me
  • 00:09:19.060 --> 00:09:20.280
  • "because he has anointed me to preach
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  • "good news to the poor,
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  • "He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners,
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  • "and recovery of sight for the blind,
  • 00:09:27.220 --> 00:09:29.220
  • "to release the oppressed,
  • 00:09:29.220 --> 00:09:32.010
  • "and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
  • 00:09:32.010 --> 00:09:35.260
  • Jesus actually started a small riot
  • 00:09:35.260 --> 00:09:37.250
  • because He said that He represented that reading.
  • 00:09:37.250 --> 00:09:41.110
  • In other words, He was the Messiah.
  • 00:09:41.110 --> 00:09:43.100
  • But what's also instructive is
  • 00:09:43.100 --> 00:09:45.050
  • what Jesus is saying the Messiah had come for.
  • 00:09:45.050 --> 00:09:48.160
  • What does He say?
  • 00:09:48.160 --> 00:09:49.230
  • It's to preach good news to the poor,
  • 00:09:49.230 --> 00:09:52.160
  • freedom for the prisoners,
  • 00:09:52.160 --> 00:09:53.290
  • recovery of sight for the blind,
  • 00:09:53.290 --> 00:09:55.270
  • release the oppressed.
  • 00:09:55.270 --> 00:09:58.110
  • Jesus is saying that He's come for the poor,
  • 00:09:58.110 --> 00:10:01.070
  • the needy and the marginalized,
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  • and he's come to bring justice.
  • 00:10:02.280 --> 00:10:06.040
  • Jesus is teaching us that this was
  • 00:10:06.040 --> 00:10:08.200
  • a key part of what he was called to do.
  • 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:11.030
  • And it's also a key part of what
  • 00:10:11.030 --> 00:10:13.110
  • all of his followers are called to do as well.
  • 00:10:13.110 --> 00:10:16.060
  • (relaxing piano music)
  • 00:10:17.090 --> 00:10:20.140
  • (birds chirping)
  • 00:10:23.230 --> 00:10:26.160
  • - [Karl] You got involved in foster care.
  • 00:10:30.290 --> 00:10:32.120
  • What was your motivation to do that?
  • 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:34.110
  • - Yeah, my motivation, my journey began
  • 00:10:34.110 --> 00:10:37.110
  • back when I was sixteen and going on a youth group trip
  • 00:10:37.110 --> 00:10:41.110
  • to Mexico to work on an orphanage
  • 00:10:41.110 --> 00:10:44.150
  • and going down there just really,
  • 00:10:44.150 --> 00:10:49.010
  • seeing the kids broken and lonely
  • 00:10:49.010 --> 00:10:53.160
  • and not having families,
  • 00:10:53.160 --> 00:10:56.010
  • something, God just spoke to me
  • 00:10:56.010 --> 00:10:57.250
  • and did something in my heart
  • 00:10:57.250 --> 00:10:59.090
  • and I really felt Him saying,
  • 00:10:59.090 --> 00:11:03.000
  • care for orphans, care for orphans.
  • 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:05.180
  • And then fast forward,
  • 00:11:05.180 --> 00:11:08.000
  • we were married, had two little girls,
  • 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.030
  • they're off to school now in grade school
  • 00:11:12.030 --> 00:11:14.130
  • and I just came to this time of
  • 00:11:14.130 --> 00:11:17.170
  • feeling really lonely and lost
  • 00:11:17.170 --> 00:11:20.070
  • and really wanting to serve God
  • 00:11:20.070 --> 00:11:24.000
  • and know what my purpose is
  • 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:25.140
  • and just kept praying, God, help me know what my purpose is.
  • 00:11:25.140 --> 00:11:29.040
  • I just, I want to be sold out,
  • 00:11:29.040 --> 00:11:32.070
  • but I don't know what that is.
  • 00:11:32.070 --> 00:11:33.260
  • So I started working at a thrift store
  • 00:11:33.260 --> 00:11:36.050
  • and all these foster kids were coming in
  • 00:11:36.050 --> 00:11:38.170
  • and just learning about this life
  • 00:11:38.170 --> 00:11:40.120
  • and started asking the people who worked there,
  • 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:42.150
  • so why are all these kids in foster care?
  • 00:11:42.150 --> 00:11:45.180
  • What happened?
  • 00:11:45.180 --> 00:11:46.250
  • She said, oh, well, most of their parents
  • 00:11:46.250 --> 00:11:49.000
  • have abandoned them or they're in jail,
  • 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:51.180
  • or they've been abused, they couldn't care for them,
  • 00:11:51.180 --> 00:11:55.050
  • and all of a sudden it was like, aha!
  • 00:11:55.050 --> 00:11:59.290
  • In other countries we call it orphanages.
  • 00:11:59.290 --> 00:12:03.040
  • In the United States we call it foster care.
  • 00:12:03.040 --> 00:12:06.000
  • Same type of kids, we just name it something different
  • 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:08.270
  • in the United States and it was like,
  • 00:12:08.270 --> 00:12:11.000
  • that is what I'm supposed to be doing
  • 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:13.030
  • is caring for these kids in foster care.
  • 00:12:13.030 --> 00:12:15.160
  • Taking in children that are broken,
  • 00:12:15.160 --> 00:12:18.180
  • you're gonna get your heart broken.
  • 00:12:18.180 --> 00:12:20.160
  • And it was beautiful how God was helping me
  • 00:12:20.160 --> 00:12:25.080
  • with their lives, but it was changing my heart.
  • 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:28.060
  • - So, Brian, Julie comes home to you and says,
  • 00:12:28.060 --> 00:12:31.140
  • God's put it on her heart.
  • 00:12:31.140 --> 00:12:32.270
  • Julie doesn't take in foster care children,
  • 00:12:32.270 --> 00:12:35.110
  • you both do.
  • 00:12:35.110 --> 00:12:36.110
  • - [Brian] Yeah.
  • 00:12:36.110 --> 00:12:37.090
  • - [Karl] How is your response?
  • 00:12:37.090 --> 00:12:38.160
  • - Yeah, it's like they had an announcement,
  • 00:12:38.160 --> 00:12:40.020
  • congratulations, you're gonna be a foster dad,
  • 00:12:40.020 --> 00:12:42.080
  • and you're like (laughing) oh, okay!
  • 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:45.020
  • I was reluctant and I think that is actually typical
  • 00:12:45.020 --> 00:12:50.020
  • that this tends to be a woman-led thing.
  • 00:12:51.060 --> 00:12:54.230
  • They're more sensitive to God in this issue.
  • 00:12:54.230 --> 00:12:58.100
  • But, when we had the first child come into our lives who,
  • 00:12:59.220 --> 00:13:03.210
  • he was a baby, we got him when he was six months,
  • 00:13:03.210 --> 00:13:06.260
  • I was surprised.
  • 00:13:06.260 --> 00:13:09.000
  • I fell in love with him and
  • 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:11.110
  • I think God used that moment with
  • 00:13:11.110 --> 00:13:14.140
  • this little boy to say, you can love kids
  • 00:13:14.140 --> 00:13:19.140
  • that aren't biologically related to you.
  • 00:13:20.160 --> 00:13:22.160
  • But I used to call him my boy, my son.
  • 00:13:22.160 --> 00:13:26.020
  • - [Karl] Wow.
  • 00:13:26.020 --> 00:13:26.270
  • - [Krish] Well, my wife and I, we had three kids
  • 00:13:31.060 --> 00:13:33.190
  • in three years, and we were under thirty.
  • 00:13:33.190 --> 00:13:35.150
  • That wasn't a plan, you know by the grace of God
  • 00:13:35.150 --> 00:13:38.130
  • we were enabled to have children and
  • 00:13:38.130 --> 00:13:40.140
  • my wife says to me that she thinks we still had
  • 00:13:40.140 --> 00:13:43.070
  • capacity to love children.
  • 00:13:43.070 --> 00:13:45.060
  • And I'm going, yeah, yes we do.
  • 00:13:45.060 --> 00:13:47.040
  • Was busy with three, but yeah, I hear you.
  • 00:13:47.040 --> 00:13:50.070
  • And so she suggested we become foster parents.
  • 00:13:50.070 --> 00:13:52.230
  • And I thought fostering was a great idea.
  • 00:13:52.230 --> 00:13:55.030
  • - We should be interviewing your wife
  • 00:13:55.030 --> 00:13:57.050
  • - You definitely should. - She went off to Albania,
  • 00:13:57.050 --> 00:13:59.010
  • and she's got three kids and that's not enough.
  • 00:13:59.010 --> 00:14:00.210
  • - She's the hero in my life.
  • 00:14:00.210 --> 00:14:02.050
  • For sure. (Karl laughing)
  • 00:14:02.050 --> 00:14:03.180
  • - Apart from Jesus, she's the hero of my life.
  • 00:14:03.180 --> 00:14:04.170
  • - What a wonderful picture!
  • 00:14:04.170 --> 00:14:06.050
  • So she want- - She wanted to do more!
  • 00:14:06.050 --> 00:14:08.270
  • And I'm thinking, that's a great idea.
  • 00:14:08.270 --> 00:14:10.180
  • But for other people?
  • 00:14:10.180 --> 00:14:11.250
  • That's gonna mess up some of my plans.
  • 00:14:11.250 --> 00:14:13.150
  • There are great reasons to have kids close together.
  • 00:14:13.150 --> 00:14:17.000
  • Because if you have your kids close together,
  • 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:18.170
  • there's a chance, sometime in the future,
  • 00:14:18.170 --> 00:14:20.170
  • they might all leave together.
  • 00:14:20.170 --> 00:14:22.230
  • And that it will be back to the old days.
  • 00:14:22.230 --> 00:14:24.040
  • Me and the wife, we could go on those
  • 00:14:24.040 --> 00:14:25.280
  • little city breaks that couples do.
  • 00:14:25.280 --> 00:14:27.250
  • That was in my head.
  • 00:14:27.250 --> 00:14:29.290
  • And then she was saying, what about extra kids?
  • 00:14:29.290 --> 00:14:32.010
  • And I'm going, those city breaks won't be
  • 00:14:32.010 --> 00:14:33.240
  • quite as romantic if we're pulling a scooter along,
  • 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:36.240
  • or we got nappies with us, or a baby.
  • 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:39.020
  • - So we had this little baby
  • 00:14:39.020 --> 00:14:41.180
  • that we had picked up from the hospital,
  • 00:14:41.180 --> 00:14:43.160
  • and we had him until he was nine months old
  • 00:14:43.160 --> 00:14:46.150
  • and working with his birth parents
  • 00:14:46.150 --> 00:14:48.000
  • trying to get him back home and get him healthy again,
  • 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:51.090
  • and one day the case worker called and said,
  • 00:14:51.090 --> 00:14:54.040
  • Julie, we have to talk, I need to come over,
  • 00:14:54.040 --> 00:14:56.250
  • something's changed.
  • 00:14:56.250 --> 00:14:57.230
  • I said, okay.
  • 00:14:57.230 --> 00:14:59.060
  • So she came over, we're sitting at the kitchen table,
  • 00:14:59.060 --> 00:15:01.290
  • and she goes on to say that he
  • 00:15:01.290 --> 00:15:04.240
  • wasn't going to go back home,
  • 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:06.100
  • he was going up for adoption and wanted to see
  • 00:15:06.100 --> 00:15:09.010
  • if our family would adopt him.
  • 00:15:09.010 --> 00:15:11.030
  • And I was excited because we loved this little baby,
  • 00:15:11.030 --> 00:15:14.260
  • But, at the same time, I had all these questions
  • 00:15:14.260 --> 00:15:17.130
  • running through my head and I said,
  • 00:15:17.130 --> 00:15:20.240
  • what would happen if we said no?
  • 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:23.230
  • What happens to this little guy?
  • 00:15:23.230 --> 00:15:26.100
  • And she said, oh my goodness.
  • 00:15:26.100 --> 00:15:28.140
  • There's a whole line of families waiting for the babies.
  • 00:15:28.140 --> 00:15:32.100
  • I just wish there were families waiting
  • 00:15:32.100 --> 00:15:34.140
  • for all the other kids.
  • 00:15:34.140 --> 00:15:35.270
  • I said, well, what other kids?
  • 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:40.140
  • Who are these kids?
  • 00:15:40.140 --> 00:15:41.280
  • And she said, in Colorado, there's over 800 kids
  • 00:15:41.280 --> 00:15:44.170
  • available for adoption, and nobody knows about these kids.
  • 00:15:44.170 --> 00:15:48.230
  • And it was something that just,
  • 00:15:50.190 --> 00:15:52.080
  • I couldn't get it out of my head.
  • 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:53.210
  • It was a, it was an injustice that angered me.
  • 00:15:53.210 --> 00:15:58.130
  • And, um, I kept thinking, God,
  • 00:15:58.130 --> 00:16:03.150
  • somebody needs to do something about this.
  • 00:16:04.270 --> 00:16:07.100
  • This is a problem.
  • 00:16:07.100 --> 00:16:08.230
  • And somebody needs to step up.
  • 00:16:08.230 --> 00:16:11.070
  • And God slowly put it on my hear that,
  • 00:16:11.070 --> 00:16:15.200
  • do something, try and do something.
  • 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:18.130
  • - Brian, you're first told that you're
  • 00:16:18.130 --> 00:16:20.190
  • gonna bring a baby home, and be a foster dad,
  • 00:16:20.190 --> 00:16:23.180
  • - [Brian] Yeah.
  • 00:16:23.180 --> 00:16:24.240
  • - Now your wife's got a passion for 800.
  • 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:26.080
  • (all laughing)
  • 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:28.290
  • - Yeah.
  • 00:16:28.290 --> 00:16:30.060
  • - How are you responding to a passion for 800?
  • 00:16:30.060 --> 00:16:32.170
  • - Yeah, that was tough.
  • 00:16:32.170 --> 00:16:35.150
  • But God was doing something in my life at the same time.
  • 00:16:35.150 --> 00:16:38.090
  • So, we live in one county, and I worked in another.
  • 00:16:38.090 --> 00:16:40.230
  • I worked at a church, Life Bridge Christian Church,
  • 00:16:40.230 --> 00:16:44.000
  • very community oriented,
  • 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:45.270
  • and I had someone from Child Welfare in that county
  • 00:16:45.270 --> 00:16:50.170
  • call and say, can I meet with you?
  • 00:16:50.170 --> 00:16:53.220
  • I said, sure, so this lady, Cindy came a few days later.
  • 00:16:53.220 --> 00:16:58.070
  • I met her in the lobby.
  • 00:16:58.070 --> 00:16:59.050
  • The first thing she said was,
  • 00:16:59.050 --> 00:17:00.150
  • thanks for meeting with me.
  • 00:17:00.150 --> 00:17:02.010
  • I been trying to meet with a church for a few years.
  • 00:17:02.010 --> 00:17:03.150
  • You're the first one to say yes.
  • 00:17:03.150 --> 00:17:05.080
  • So I apologized that that had been her experience.
  • 00:17:05.080 --> 00:17:08.170
  • We go back to my office and
  • 00:17:08.170 --> 00:17:11.230
  • she explains that she had been a nun for 20 years,
  • 00:17:11.230 --> 00:17:15.210
  • but then met a priest, and they became Episcopalian
  • 00:17:15.210 --> 00:17:18.210
  • and so (laughing) that was funny, and so
  • 00:17:18.210 --> 00:17:21.190
  • but she said, Brian, I really came here
  • 00:17:21.190 --> 00:17:23.020
  • just to tell you one thing.
  • 00:17:23.020 --> 00:17:24.090
  • She said, in the 26 year history of
  • 00:17:24.090 --> 00:17:26.280
  • Child Welfare in this county,
  • 00:17:26.280 --> 00:17:29.040
  • there has never been one day, not one,
  • 00:17:29.040 --> 00:17:32.210
  • where kids haven't been waiting
  • 00:17:32.210 --> 00:17:35.080
  • for grownups to care for them.
  • 00:17:35.080 --> 00:17:37.170
  • Not a day where kids haven't been waiting for families
  • 00:17:37.170 --> 00:17:40.040
  • to open up their hearts and homes.
  • 00:17:40.040 --> 00:17:41.260
  • And she said, I have a challenge for you and your church.
  • 00:17:41.260 --> 00:17:46.010
  • Help me change who waits.
  • 00:17:46.010 --> 00:17:48.230
  • Help me recruit so many families who care about these kids
  • 00:17:48.230 --> 00:17:52.100
  • that they're on the waiting list,
  • 00:17:52.100 --> 00:17:54.040
  • not the kids.
  • 00:17:54.040 --> 00:17:56.060
  • So all of a sudden I'm like sitting here,
  • 00:17:56.060 --> 00:17:58.090
  • I have this former nun
  • 00:17:58.090 --> 00:18:00.100
  • challenging me to help orphans.
  • 00:18:00.100 --> 00:18:03.090
  • I know if I say no I'm gonna go to hell,
  • 00:18:03.090 --> 00:18:05.100
  • (all laughing)
  • 00:18:05.100 --> 00:18:07.090
  • Out of self preservation.
  • 00:18:07.090 --> 00:18:08.230
  • Naw, actually, I think I sensed at that moment
  • 00:18:08.230 --> 00:18:13.000
  • that this challenge from this woman
  • 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:15.140
  • was beyond her.
  • 00:18:15.140 --> 00:18:16.280
  • And that God was saying this is my challenge to you.
  • 00:18:16.280 --> 00:18:20.040
  • I want you to change who waits.
  • 00:18:20.040 --> 00:18:22.270
  • And so, I accepted the challenge,
  • 00:18:22.270 --> 00:18:26.000
  • and within a year we had helped fulfill that goal.
  • 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:29.050
  • So what had not happened in 26 years
  • 00:18:29.050 --> 00:18:32.090
  • was able to be fulfilled in a way that He was
  • 00:18:32.090 --> 00:18:34.070
  • working on Julie, like, this is an injustice,
  • 00:18:34.070 --> 00:18:37.270
  • the Church needs to step up and care for these kids
  • 00:18:37.270 --> 00:18:42.270
  • who have felt unwanted,
  • 00:18:43.190 --> 00:18:45.250
  • who have been hurt, and the Church needs to
  • 00:18:45.250 --> 00:18:49.240
  • step in there and care for these kids.
  • 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:52.000
  • - [Karl] Wow, so how many children were taken into homes?
  • 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:55.150
  • - [Julie] In that timeframe, it went from 800
  • 00:18:55.150 --> 00:18:58.060
  • down to 280.
  • 00:18:58.060 --> 00:18:59.210
  • Wasn't it 280?
  • 00:18:59.210 --> 00:19:01.090
  • Yeah.
  • 00:19:01.090 --> 00:19:02.100
  • So it was just beautiful.
  • 00:19:02.100 --> 00:19:04.110
  • - [Karl] How do you understand God's heart word
  • 00:19:06.090 --> 00:19:10.140
  • in this for you?
  • 00:19:10.140 --> 00:19:12.000
  • - [Brian] Yeah, so, you start having eyes for this
  • 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:15.080
  • as you're reading scripture and the famous verse
  • 00:19:15.080 --> 00:19:18.160
  • for this issue is James 1:27, that religion
  • 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:23.130
  • that God considers pure and faultless
  • 00:19:24.190 --> 00:19:26.050
  • is to care for orphans and widows in their distress.
  • 00:19:26.050 --> 00:19:28.240
  • But, that's not so much a command as it is
  • 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:32.060
  • just saying this is how it ought to be.
  • 00:19:32.060 --> 00:19:34.270
  • And I actually think, in my opinion,
  • 00:19:34.270 --> 00:19:37.250
  • James is referencing Isaiah 1,
  • 00:19:37.250 --> 00:19:40.180
  • where God is tying together worship and justice
  • 00:19:40.180 --> 00:19:44.090
  • and saying pure worship only comes through justice.
  • 00:19:44.090 --> 00:19:48.280
  • And again, reading scripture, I started realizing
  • 00:19:48.280 --> 00:19:51.190
  • I think righteousness and justice,
  • 00:19:51.190 --> 00:19:53.200
  • what you see throughout the whole Old Testament,
  • 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:56.130
  • is shorthand for love God, and love your neighbor.
  • 00:19:56.130 --> 00:20:00.270
  • - God says, James 1:27, here,
  • 00:20:00.270 --> 00:20:02.290
  • this was a game-changer verse for me,
  • 00:20:02.290 --> 00:20:05.140
  • true religion that God our Father accepts
  • 00:20:05.140 --> 00:20:07.290
  • as pure and blameless is...
  • 00:20:07.290 --> 00:20:10.160
  • For a lot of churches that is bible study,
  • 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:13.190
  • prayer, singing, all of which
  • 00:20:13.190 --> 00:20:16.090
  • are lovely, wonderful gifts,
  • 00:20:16.090 --> 00:20:18.190
  • but they're not the test of what
  • 00:20:18.190 --> 00:20:20.020
  • true religion looks like.
  • 00:20:20.020 --> 00:20:21.170
  • True religion says God is to care
  • 00:20:21.170 --> 00:20:23.220
  • for widows and orphans in their distress.
  • 00:20:23.220 --> 00:20:25.100
  • So all that prayer, all that bible study,
  • 00:20:25.100 --> 00:20:28.040
  • all that singing, needs to translate into action,
  • 00:20:28.040 --> 00:20:31.150
  • into the lives of the most vulnerable people.
  • 00:20:31.150 --> 00:20:33.230
  • And that's not just a one-off verse.
  • 00:20:33.230 --> 00:20:35.050
  • You read the book of Isaiah, time and time again,
  • 00:20:35.050 --> 00:20:37.260
  • God is saying, I've had enough of your singing.
  • 00:20:37.260 --> 00:20:40.220
  • I've had enough of your offerings.
  • 00:20:40.220 --> 00:20:42.010
  • Stop your meaningless gatherings.
  • 00:20:42.010 --> 00:20:44.180
  • Contend for the cause of the widow and the orphans
  • 00:20:44.180 --> 00:20:46.120
  • and that just seems to be important.
  • 00:20:46.120 --> 00:20:48.160
  • - I love Psalm 89 verse 14, it says that
  • 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:51.020
  • righteousness and justice is the foundation
  • 00:20:51.020 --> 00:20:53.230
  • of God's throne.
  • 00:20:53.230 --> 00:20:55.190
  • In other words, Jesus comes as were sitting here,
  • 00:20:55.190 --> 00:20:59.130
  • and he can find a seat, a throne,
  • 00:20:59.130 --> 00:21:03.050
  • a place of expression, if we'll let righteousness,
  • 00:21:03.050 --> 00:21:06.180
  • right-standing and personal holiness, and justice,
  • 00:21:06.180 --> 00:21:10.150
  • a desire to do good,
  • 00:21:10.150 --> 00:21:12.000
  • a desire to do the best,
  • 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:14.040
  • a desire for equality and fairness,
  • 00:21:14.040 --> 00:21:17.070
  • exude from our lives, our laws, our policies, our culture,
  • 00:21:17.070 --> 00:21:21.100
  • to help people who are disadvantaged,
  • 00:21:21.100 --> 00:21:24.040
  • the widow, the poor, the orphaned in our culture,
  • 00:21:24.040 --> 00:21:27.280
  • righteousness and justice will allow Jesus
  • 00:21:27.280 --> 00:21:30.250
  • to sit down in a church.
  • 00:21:30.250 --> 00:21:32.270
  • Sit down in a community,
  • 00:21:32.270 --> 00:21:35.110
  • and begin to rule and reign
  • 00:21:35.110 --> 00:21:37.260
  • as the Great Lord and the Great King that he is.
  • 00:21:37.260 --> 00:21:40.080
  • - I'd say fostering is one of the most
  • 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:46.170
  • difficult things our family does.
  • 00:21:46.170 --> 00:21:48.190
  • When you're sat with a child whose
  • 00:21:48.190 --> 00:21:50.160
  • just arrived in your house.
  • 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:52.080
  • I remember one lad, he turned up on our doorstep.
  • 00:21:52.080 --> 00:21:54.250
  • It was a really tall boy and a pink suitcase
  • 00:21:54.250 --> 00:21:57.090
  • which obviously wasn't his.
  • 00:21:57.090 --> 00:21:58.160
  • He'd been given it by a social worker,
  • 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:00.210
  • and there was a big gash on his face
  • 00:22:00.210 --> 00:22:02.170
  • that I though someone had attacked him with a knife
  • 00:22:02.170 --> 00:22:04.150
  • and it turns out a family member had attacked him
  • 00:22:04.150 --> 00:22:07.060
  • with her own fingernails.
  • 00:22:07.060 --> 00:22:08.270
  • And he'd just come from accident and emergency
  • 00:22:08.270 --> 00:22:10.200
  • and he's on our doorstep and he's shellshocked.
  • 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:13.290
  • And he's now sitting around our dinner table
  • 00:22:13.290 --> 00:22:16.040
  • and he can't say very much.
  • 00:22:16.040 --> 00:22:17.290
  • And when the food arrives, we'd cooked sausages that day,
  • 00:22:17.290 --> 00:22:20.190
  • we didn't know if he liked sausages or not,
  • 00:22:20.190 --> 00:22:22.070
  • they don't come with recipe cards with
  • 00:22:22.070 --> 00:22:23.290
  • what to feed a foster kid.
  • 00:22:23.290 --> 00:22:25.280
  • But he then grabbed all of them,
  • 00:22:25.280 --> 00:22:27.100
  • all the sausages ended up on his plate,
  • 00:22:27.100 --> 00:22:29.160
  • and I'm thinking, what has happened to this lad?
  • 00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:32.010
  • That soon as he sees food he needs to protect it.
  • 00:22:32.010 --> 00:22:35.130
  • And he begins to tell us a little bit of his story.
  • 00:22:35.130 --> 00:22:37.280
  • And those stories are absolutely heartbreaking.
  • 00:22:37.280 --> 00:22:41.050
  • And so you are exposed to some of the
  • 00:22:41.050 --> 00:22:42.220
  • darkest sides of our culture,
  • 00:22:42.220 --> 00:22:45.140
  • some of the worst moments of abuse and neglect and violence
  • 00:22:45.140 --> 00:22:49.100
  • and sexual crimes and you're meeting the victims of that,
  • 00:22:49.100 --> 00:22:53.060
  • so it's definitely dark.
  • 00:22:53.060 --> 00:22:54.120
  • But when you see the transformation,
  • 00:22:54.120 --> 00:22:57.160
  • so when this little lad is playing with my boys,
  • 00:22:57.160 --> 00:23:01.130
  • and he won't say very much,
  • 00:23:01.130 --> 00:23:03.120
  • and my boys say to him, well why don't we use
  • 00:23:03.120 --> 00:23:06.180
  • a therapeutic tool called an X-Box,
  • 00:23:06.180 --> 00:23:09.090
  • and so they start playing and just the words
  • 00:23:09.090 --> 00:23:12.230
  • that my boys, my slightly older boys, were saying to him,
  • 00:23:12.230 --> 00:23:16.040
  • nice shot mate! Well done!
  • 00:23:16.040 --> 00:23:17.240
  • And they're using words of love and honor and dignity to him
  • 00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:21.160
  • and watching this little lad
  • 00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:23.090
  • of all the brokenness in his life,
  • 00:23:23.090 --> 00:23:25.000
  • just begin to stand a bit taller,
  • 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:27.060
  • a sparkle returns to his eye,
  • 00:23:27.060 --> 00:23:28.160
  • that is a real blessing.
  • 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:30.160
  • And we really feel a part of God's mission
  • 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:32.280
  • as we do that.
  • 00:23:32.280 --> 00:23:33.240
  • - [Julie] There's something about
  • 00:23:38.280 --> 00:23:41.030
  • being broken seeing these children.
  • 00:23:41.030 --> 00:23:44.010
  • It's just having eyes for these kids
  • 00:23:44.010 --> 00:23:48.000
  • and whether it's going to a hospital
  • 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:51.070
  • and seeing kids that are being weened off of drugs
  • 00:23:51.070 --> 00:23:55.200
  • and hearing them cry,
  • 00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:57.170
  • or being at your house and hearing children crying
  • 00:23:57.170 --> 00:24:02.150
  • because you literally hear them saying,
  • 00:24:02.150 --> 00:24:04.240
  • I miss my mom.
  • 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:06.000
  • I just want to be with my mom.
  • 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:08.040
  • Or hearing teenagers just rage with anger
  • 00:24:08.040 --> 00:24:12.160
  • because they're so lonely and so lost.
  • 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:15.240
  • And it's just a small touch of what I experience at home
  • 00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:20.220
  • and knowing the big picture,
  • 00:24:21.180 --> 00:24:22.250
  • just nationally and around the world,
  • 00:24:22.250 --> 00:24:25.000
  • just with these orphans.
  • 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:26.160
  • God cares so deeply about these children.
  • 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:30.150
  • - I believe that organizations can do big things,
  • 00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:36.240
  • but they do them with little love.
  • 00:24:37.290 --> 00:24:40.090
  • And that's the government, the state.
  • 00:24:40.090 --> 00:24:42.250
  • And I think individually, we can do little things.
  • 00:24:42.250 --> 00:24:46.260
  • But we can do it with big love.
  • 00:24:46.260 --> 00:24:48.130
  • The church, the saints, the people,
  • 00:24:49.170 --> 00:24:53.270
  • together, we can do big things with big love.
  • 00:24:53.270 --> 00:24:57.140
  • And that's what Jesus started.
  • 00:24:57.140 --> 00:24:59.150
  • (uplifting music)
  • 00:24:59.150 --> 00:25:02.120