As we approach Thanksgiving this week, and as we consider the boundless blessing of God in our lives and across this church, today I want to pause and express gratitude to God for His grace...

[caption id="attachment_1025" align="aligncenter" width="424" caption="Photo Courtesy of Daniel P."][/caption]During this last Secret Church, we spent concentrated time in prayer for persecuted...

Due to security concerns with the place and people group where I am writing this from, these posts do not contain pictures, video, or the actual names of people who are serving on the ground.Brook...

Wow…what a journey. We’ve now spent our last full day in China (at least this time around), we’re packed, and we’re ready to spend hours in an airplane with three kids! As we reflect back over...

It’s official.Today, we took the last step in the adoption process here, going to the consulate to finalize the paperwork for Mara Ruth to travel home with us. Lord willing, when we set foot on...

We drove back from MaoMing today, and we have one more official box to check off tomorrow in this adoption process. As we prepare to head into the home stretch of this trip to China, Heather and I...

Today was an emotional day, to say the least. We laughed. We wept. And in it all, we worshiped. The Father to the fatherless is providing for orphans, and you and I have the privilege of being a part...

After five hours in the car, we have settled into the city of MaoMing, China. Mara Ruth was born here sixteen months ago, and tomorrow we will spend the day at the orphanage where she has lived all...

Today was a relatively uneventful day. We took Mara Ruth to a routine check-up at the clinic. She screamed the entire time, and though I was able to get a few pictures and video to show her one day,...

After Thanksgiving at the zoo yesterday and before a check-up at the clinic tomorrow, we had a day to spend simply resting and playing. We walked through a park, rode on some rides, paddled in a boat,...

We send you warm Thanksgiving greetings from an elephant in China…From giraffes in China…[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/32638214 w=400&h=225] From zoo coasters in China…From ligers in...

Heather graciously agreed to take a few minutes aside from “mommying” to jot down a few reflections on this journey from her perspective. It is nothing short of amazing to watch the way Mara Ruth...

Though we met her for the first time yesterday, today is actually the official day when we adopt Mara Ruth here in China. This climactic event takes place back at the civil affairs office where we met...

Words really can’t describe what it felt like to sit on a sofa tonight with a 16-month-old little girl falling asleep on my shoulder. Today has been quite a day, to say the least.We started with a...

Tomorrow is the big day. At approximately 2:00 p.m. Monday afternoon (around midnight tonight in Birmingham), Lord willing, we will meet our daughter.As we prepare to become a family of five, I...

Beijing. The capital city of a country comprising 1.3 billion people. Alone, this city holds 20 million residents and spans thousands of years of history. The Great Wall reaching from the northeastern...

I’ve told this story of God’s providence in our family to our church and in a variety of other settings, so much apologies in advance for some having to bear through this story again. But we never...

Obviously, the primary purpose of our trip to China is to adopt our daughter. However, we scheduled some time in Beijing on the front end of the journey to spend specifically with our boys. So these...

After only a few hours of sleep, anticipation in the Atlanta airport...[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/32222875 w=400&h=710]After a 15-hour flight, delirium in the Tokyo airport...[vimeo...

Almost three years ago, Heather and I began praying again about the possibility of adoption. We had adopted our first son, Caleb, from Kazakhstan, and nine months later our second son, Joshua, had...

For those at Brook Hills (or beyond) who may not be familiar with recent debate concerning Rob Bell and universalism, there is much discussion at present among professing Christians concerning whether...

(NOTE: If you are unable to view the videos in this post, click HERE. And please remember to pray today for Jonathan, our Global Disciple-Making Pastor, who was originally scheduled to be on this trip...

(NOTE: If you are unable to view the videos in this post, click through to http://bhglobalblog.org/.)I am full. Full of stories, full of reports, and full of gratitude.Today we had the opportunity to...

(NOTE: If you are unable to view the videos in this post, click through to http://bhglobalblog.org/.)Out of the 6.8 billion people on the planet today, approximately 1 billion of them do not have...