Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches (Paperback)

~ Russell D. Moore (Author), C.J. Mahaney (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"We often forget that the Christian walk is not merely about getting us into heaven, but it is also about getting heaven into us. This is why our Lord gave us the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, and the parable of the Good Samaritan. Thus, it is no surprise that the apostle James offers this injunction to the Early Church: 'Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world' (James 1:27, kjv). In this wonderful monograph, Adopted for Life, Russell Moore offers to the Christian world a compelling account of these and other lessons of Scripture so that our communities of faith may put them into practice and become more like that 'shining city on a hill' of which our Lord spoke."

Francis J. Beckwith, Professor of Philosophy and Church-State Studies, Baylor University; author of Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice

"Russell Moore reminds us in his powerful book Adopted for Life that the true Christian family reaches far beyond the biological. The poignant tale of the adoption of two Russian orphans by him and his wife Maria grows into a metaphor of Christian salvation. This book offers both practical advice and courage to every couple considering adoption. For all readers, it shows how the act of adoption actually reveals core truths about the gospel of Christ."

Allan Carlson, President, the Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Description

A stirring call to Christian families and churches to be a people who care for orphans, not just in word, but in deed.

The gospel of Jesus Christ-the good news that through Jesus we have been adopted as sons and daughters into God's family-means that Christians ought to be at the forefront of the adoption of orphans in North America and around the world.

Russell D. Moore does not shy away from this call in Adopted for Life, a popular-level, practical manifesto for Christians to adopt children and to help equip other Christian families to do the same. He shows that adoption is not just about couples who want children-or who want more children. It is about an entire culture within Christianity, a culture that sees adoption as part of the Great Commission mandate and as a sign of the gospel itself.

Moore, who adopted two boys from Russia and has spoken widely on the subject, writes for couples considering adoption, families who have adopted children, and pastors who wish to encourage adoption.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Crossway Books (May 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581349114
• ISBN-13: 978-1581349115
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,515 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read, May 15, 2009

By	Tim Challies (Oakville, Ontario) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In the years since I began reviewing books, I have read titles on a wide variety of topics. But it occurred to me as I considered Russell Moore's title Adopted for Life that I had never read a book that dealt entirely with adoption. Sure, adoption has factored into books on family and books on theology, but never had I read a full-length treatment of the subject. Having heard so much positive press surrounding Adopted for Life I thought it might be wise to give it a read. I'm glad I did.

It might be easy to write off a book like this one, assuming that it only has relevance to families who are actually considering adopting a child. But Moore's ambition goes beyond asking young families to adopt orphaned children. "In this book I want to call us all to consider how encouraging adoption--whether we adopt or whether we help others adopt--can help us peer into the ancient mystery of our faith in Christ and can help us restore the fracturing unity and the atrophied mission of our congregation." As Moore explains, "The gospel of Jesus Christ means our families and churches ought to be at the forefront of the adoption of orphans close to home and around the world." It is the gospel that calls us to adopt but it is also the gospel that teaches us how to understand adoption. In fact, "as we become more adoption-friendly, we'll be better able to understand the gospel." And so this book is for anyone and everyone.

It is important to note that this is not a how-to book; it does not provide step-by-step instructions for adopting (since there are already plenty of books that do just that and do it well). "Instead I want to ask what it would mean if our churches and families were known as the people who adopt babies--and toddlers, and children, and teenagers. What if we as Christians were known, once again, as the people who take in orphans and make of them beloved sons and daughters?" No one can claim that every person is called to adopt. But it does seem that all Christians are meant to think about the issue since we all have a stake in it. After all, God himself has a stake in it as the "Father of the fatherless" and the One who tells us that pure and undefiled religion is to comfort orphans.

Through nine chapters, Moore first lays theological groundwork for adoption and then turns to matters that are perhaps just a bit more practically applicable (not that I wish to draw too firm a line between theology and practice). In the first chapter he explains why you ought to read the book, even if you do not want to. In chapter two he explains what some rude questions about adoption taught him about the gospel of Christ. After that he turns to what is at stake in this discussion and then gives pastoral counsel on how to know if you or someone you love should consider adoption. He looks to practical aspects of navigating the adoption process (reassuring readers that it is not nearly as bad as most people seem to believe it is) and then covers some of the uncomfortable questions that arise--health concerns, racial identity, and so on. The seventh chapter explains how churches can encourage adoptions and the eighth shows how parents, children and friends can think about growing up adopted. He closes with some concluding thoughts which tie theology and practice into his own family (in which he and his wife adopted two boys before the Lord opened the womb and granted them two more, though he playfully insists he can no longer remember which of his sons are adopted and which are not!). In fact, Moore and his family figure prominently throughout the book as he describes the joys and challenges of welcoming adopted children to his family.

I know from talking to friends who have adopted that there are good books detailing the practicalities of adopting, whether that involves fund-raising or family integration or any other of the many factors involved. I know as well that there are many good books on the gospel and the doctrine of adoption. But I do not know of any that so perfectly put one within the context of the other. This book would make a valuable read for any Christian; perhaps I say that for too many books; I don't know. But I do know that every Christian stands to benefit from reading this one. I believe it is a must-read for anyone who has ever considered adoption and for anyone who has a friend or family member who is in the midst of it. It is a must-read for any young couple, even those who have never thought about adoption. And it ought to have a place in every church library.

When watching sports you sometimes hear a coach tell his players to "leave it all on the field (or on the court or on the diamond)." This coach expects his players to give it their best effort, to walk into the locker room at the end of the day knowing that they could not have done any better. And I really felt this is what Moore did here; I felt like he put a lot of himself into this book, that it took a lot out of him to write it, and that it really does represent a passionate effort on his part. And it shows. The book perfectly combines the theological foundation with the practical outworking of that theology. It has wisdom for the adopter, the adopted and the families, friends and churches of both. It is undoubtedly one of the best books I've read this year. I hope you'll consider reading it too.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have read on adoption, May 11, 2009

By	A. Dyson "CDyson" (Raleigh NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My wife and I are currently going through the adoption process and as a Christian I have been very disappointed with most of the books on adoptions that I have read. Not all, but many books are humanistic and have little regard for God's role in the adoption process. With "Adopted of Life" Moore does an amazing job of looking at the link between a physical adoption and spiritual adoption while also weaving in him and his wife's own story of their decision to adopt. I laughed and cried as I read this book and gained much insight from it. Dr. Moore does not look on adoption as a negative experience as many authors do but instead focuses on God's grace and plan in the adoption experience. One of the best books I have read, you won't be disappointed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Book on Adoption, August 1, 2009

By	Rebecca Stark (Yukon) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had a reason from real life for wanting to read this book. My sister adopted three children recently, so adoption is a subject we've all been talking and thinking about lately. I had a copy of Adopted for Life sent to her first and then decided that I should request a copy for me to review.

Russell Moore wants Christians to be known "once again, as the people who take in orphans and make of them beloved sons and daughters," because, for one, we are called to be like our Father, doing what he does, and our Father "is fighting for orphans, making them sons and daughters. And second, adoption is evangelistic:

"What better way is there to bring the good news of Christ than to see his unwanted little brothers and sisters placed in families where they'll be raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?"

It's this last point that my sister mentioned when she gave me her assessment of this book. She has, as you might imagine, read lots of books on adoption, some by Christian authors, but this book was unique in setting adoption in the context of the gospel. My sister struggled when deciding whether or not to adopt. She is not young and doesn't have a big income, but, she says, she kept coming back to the fact that these children "might not otherwise know Jesus." She found Moore's book to be encouraging, like "a big pat on the back."

Adopted for Life starts with what I'm calling the theology of adoption: What it means that God has adopted us and how our understanding of our adoption as sons of God should influence believers and the church to make adoption of children a priority. The last part deals with things of more practical nature, like paperwork, finances, issues of race and health, how churches can encourage adoption and how we all--parents, children and friends--should think about growing up adopted. But always, the theological and the practical are intertwined, for it's understanding the theology of adoption that guides Moore as he works out the practice of adoption, and the practical questions are answered by modeling God's adoption of his sons. (And I purposefully use the word sons when speaking of our adoption rather than sons and daughters. In Christ, women and girls receive sonship, for we are true heirs of all of the promises.)

Reading Adopted for Life may make you reconsider some of the ideas you may have about the right way to raise adopted children. For example, Moore and his wife don't see their adopted sons' Russian heritage as their true heritage any longer.

"[W]e hardly want to signal to them that they are strangers and aliens, even welcome ones, in our home. We teach them about their heritage, yes, but their heritage as Mississippians. They hear, then, about their great-grandfather, a faithful Baptist pastor from Tippah County. ... They learn about their people before them in the Confederate army and the civil rights movement.

...They share our lives, and our story. They belong here. They are Moores now, with all that entails."

The theological foundation for this view is that when we were adopted by God, our heritage changes:

"Whether our background is Norwegian or Haitian or Indonesian, if we are united to Christ, our family genealogy is found not primarily in the front pages of our dusty old family Bible but inside its pages, in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Our identity is in Christ; so his people are our people, his God our God."

This goes against the usual advice given to parents adopting children of a different race or nationality, but there is theological warrant, it would seem, for raising adopted children without an emphasis on learning about their original culture. I'm still unsure exactly what to make of this, but I'm glad Russell Moore raised this issue.

Though his book is strong on theology, Moore's style is conversational. The text is laced with illustrations from stories of his own experience as an adoptive father or the experiences of his friends and acquaintances who have adopted. Theology and stories--it's an engaging package.

How can I not recommend a book as unique as Adopted for Life? There is no other book quite like it, a book to help you understand your own adoption by your heavenly Father and how you can be like him by helping to make adoption a priority in your family and in your the church. Who will benefit from reading it? Those who've adopted, those who've been adopted, those who are considering adoption, those who know someone in the previous categories on this list, and those who've experienced the adoption that comes through Christ. That's any believer, isn't it?

I'll be donating my own copy--marks and all--to my church library because I think every church library should have one. It would also, I'd suggest, be useful to read Adopted for Life and discuss it in a church study group, since the ideas beg to be implemented in the community of the church.