Pan Dulce

Don’t Forget to Remember

This week I gave a sermon a work out. I preached at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio on Sunday and then spoke at the Monday morning devotional at Buckner International. Since I was an impromptu speaker I had this sermon locked and loaded already. Today I am blogging on the basic idea of the message and I have once piece I forgot to share during the devotional.

This is the time of the year when I take several days to reflect and review what has taken place in the last year. I review my personal life, finances, relationships, marriage, health, recreation, vocational goals, and intellectual goals against my mission statement: To develop Kingdom leaders from my circle of influence to the ends of the earth. I look at last year’s goals and then project for the next year. That is what I do during the in-between week: between Christmas and New Years Day. But what happens when your reflection produces memories that you cannot celebrate? King David helps us here with a self-exhortation in Psalm 103:1-5…

Praise the Lord, O my soul (Literally, bless the Lord, I tell myself).
All that is within me, Praise his Holy Name (Literally, from my throat, my heart, and my intestines, if you were Hebrew. His Holy name is his transcendent name, beyond my understanding and comprehension).
Praise the Lord, O my soul and do not forget all of his benefits (In other words, remember!).

He is the One who forgives all your sins.  When was the last time He did that for you? If you can remember, its time to bless his name.

He is the One who heals all your diseases. When was the last time God healed you?

He is the One who redeems your life from the pit (literally the grave). When was the last time He pulled you out of the pits or a near death experience?

He is the One who infuses your total existence with Good. How many blessings can you count today? Its time to “Bless the Lord.”

He is the One who crowns you with loyal love, pardoning love and compassion. Have you felt and known God’s love recently.

God does this for us so that our youth will come back, just like the eagles. Now here is the exciting part. The American Bald Eagle replaces all its feathers when it reaches full maturity so that it is like a newborn eagle. The best way to stay young is to remember what the Lord has done.

My Two Quetzales…Looking Back to Go Forward

Yesterday I talked about the Two Quetzales that sit on my desk as a reminder of my Guatemalan friends and colleagues, the economy there, and the ministry we have among the children in Guatemala. Two Quetzales are the equivalent of about 25 cents in US Currency. So these are my Two Quetzales worth of reflection…

I came to Buckner about 2 years ago as green as they come. I brought with me some rich experiences in business, pastoral ministry, church planting, and higher education administration. My venue for ministry had changed from higher education to serving children and families. My life purpose of developing leaders from my circle of influence to the ends of the earth shifted from working with emerging ministry leaders to the leadership potential of Buckner staff, orphans, at risk children and families. I am doing the same mission I wrote down in 1992 at a conference at Church on Brady in Los Angeles, California and set out at that time to live this purpose out each day.

The journey required a move from Baptist University of the Americas and the city of San Antonio to Dallas, Texas. This is not a foreign place to me, however. Belinda and I lived here in the 1980’s and I took my first job while I was in seminary in downtown Dallas at US Telecom as a service rep working at the Mobile Building, home of the flying Pegasus. So coming back to downtown Dallas almost 20 years later is a full circle experience for me. Since coming to Buckner I have become more acquainted with a world of ministry through social service in Texas, the USA, and literally around the world. This was a bit of a conversion experience for me theologically and biblically. For some time prior to my move to Buckner, the Lord was dealing with me on passages related to the poor, the orphan, the sick, the prisoner, etc. While I had seen these verses before, I had never really allowed the message to sink in. Coming to Buckner afforded me the privilege of working with servant leaders such as Ken Hall, Felipe Garza, Randy Daniels, Melissa Opheim, Michelle Harris, and JoAnn Cole. The team later added Victor Upton, Kenton Keller, and Arnie Adkison. There is a whole army of support staff that work diligently behind the scenes of BCFS providing philanthropic leadership, communications, financial management, information services, human resources, and elder care ministry.

If more churches and pastors only new the impact that Buckner is making in Texas, across the nation, and around the world, we would see a movement arise that could not be stopped. Given the announcement of our affiliation with Dillon International we are poised to make some significant in-roads through adoption ministry and humanitarian aid. Christian churches of all stripes and individual Jesus followers are joining us to pursue this “Jesus Agenda.”

Our vision is to maximize Christian resources and leadership to serve children and families around the world. I’m looking back to look forward to what lies ahead in 2009.

My Two Quetzales Worth

Two Quetzales are prominently displayed on my desk as reminders of my friends in Guatemala and the economic conditions in that country. They remind me of the freedom we have to offer our opinions, reflections, and ideas. You know, like putting in my two cents worth into the discussion. Since my coins are Guatemalan Quetzales I am offering my Two Quetzales worth (equivalent to about 25 cents) in my blog today. So here goes…

I recently visited Baptist University of the Américas www.bua.edu in the last week or so to renew our Collaborative Agreement with them. We will continue to maintain our presence on the campus in San Antonio. This collaborative relationship provides office space for Patty Villarreal, Director of Community Ministries for Buckner. In that role Patty teaches classes in Social Work Ministry, mentors students, introduces ministry students to the social work field, and supervises community ministries in San Antonio.

BUA is a place where dreams are made and where bridges are built for students who are emerging leaders. While I was there I learned about BUA’s re-accreditation by the Association of Biblical Higher Education. This re-accreditation affirmation accredits BUA for another 10 years. The staff is to be commended for the 17 commendations that it received as a result of this milestone. BUA is also pursuing accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The administration reported a record enrollment and two new degrees in Cross-cultural business leadership and Spanish that have begun on campus. Fred Loa, a tenured professor at Baylor University for 18 years, and Jesus Romero, a tenured professor at Howard Payne University for 16 years have joined the faculty to head up the new programs in business and Spanish, respectively.  Six of BUA’s eight faculty members hold terminal degrees and the other two have significant study beyond their master’s degrees.

This school is a strategic force for change and for interpreting the future of Texas and the nation. We are quickly approaching a demographic landscape in Texas and the nation that will present new challenges for educating our youth, serving children and families, and sharing the gospel to a growing part of our state and nation from a unique worldview. Churches, denominations, institutions, businesses, universities, social service agencies, and ministries that posses cross-cultural skills to engage this community will find a path to the future. The future will be bilingual and bicultural in the next 5 to 10 years. BUA will be a leader in pointing the way for its sister institutions and affiliated churches.

Good things are happening at BUA and we are proud to continue our collaboration with that fine school. Please pray for President René Maciel, his staff and BUA as they continue to prepare for the future amid financial challenges and new opportunities for growth.

Giving Thanks for Dillon International and Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services

On November 21, 2008 the board of trustees of Buckner International voted unanimously to approve an affiliation between Dillon International, an international adoption agency based in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Buckner Adoption and Maternity Services (BAMS) based in Dallas, Texas effective January 1, 2009. This affiliation will position Buckner and Dillon to find more families for children both domestically and internationally at a rate of about 200 children per year initially.

Buckner and Dillon find common ground in their philosophical approach to provide families for children. While institutional settings meet the needs of certain types of children and sibling groups, finding forever families is the focus of this new affiliation. The blending of these two ministries provides families more opportunities to adopt children. Buckner, with a history of providing international adoption services to parents from all 50 states, also has a comprehensive domestic adoption program for families living in Texas that includes domestic infant adoption, foster-to-adopt, post-adoption services, birthparent services and adoptions of state-placed children. Dillon helps us to find families in California, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Indiana, and Texas for international children as well. The number of lives permanently impacted will dramatically increase and the opportunities to expand international and domestic adoptions will also provide additional opportunities for additional adoptions over time.

These combined ministries will help us serve children in China, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Russia, India, Haiti, Ukraine, and Viet Nam. The future is bright for Dillon/Buckner Adoptions. Why serve children across the world when we have so many children to serve right here in Texas and the USA? Kingdom Capacity is my first answer. The blending of these two ministries provides us with greater capacity to serve children in Texas, the USA, and across the globe. This new affiliation is a both/and proposition. Rather than choosing to serve one set of children over the other, we are expanding our ability to serve children both here and abroad. We will have the capacity to encourage Christians from other states to make room in their home for a child who needs a family.

James, the ½ brother of Jesus, said that pure religion is to serve orphans and widows in their time of distress and to keep oneself undefiled from this world. Through this affiliation, we will be in a much better position to practice pure religion.

Please pray for my team as we work toward the transition of all our adoption services under one organization. Pray for Deniese Dillon, Vice President for Adoptions as she leads our adoption efforts under this new affiliation. Pray for the Dillon Staff and the BAMS staff as we chart new waters in the days to come.

This is a good day to give thanks for Dillon and Buckner and for new opportunities for children and families in 2009.