[Guest post from Activist Faith co-founder Daniel Darling.]

I‘m
always excited to meet new authors, especially new authors who are
pastors, and especially new authors, who are pastors, who publish with
my friends at New Hope, who has published all my books. I was asked a few months ago to consider endorsing a book by Dr. Tony Merida, entitled, Orphanology, to
be released in 2011. I read through the draft and came away very
impressed and inspired. It is a thorough handbook on the theology and
practice of adoption. For anyone needing a comprehensive biblical and
practical book on orphan care and adoption, this will be your book.

Dr. Merida is a Teaching Pastor at Temple Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a dual-campus church of about 3,500 active members. He is also an adjunct professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

I liked the book so much, I asked Dr. Merida to stop by and answer a
few questions. He graciously agreed and so here is Dr. Merida and The
Friday Five:

1) You wrote the book, Faithful Preaching. Why do you think preaching, what some considered an old-fashioned mode of communication, is still relevant today?

My beliefs about preaching are driven more from theological
convictions than cultural assessments. If you listen to many today, they
will argue that people won’t listen to preaching (especially long
preaching) and that we need to move to more dialogue or more
video-driven methods. While I believe that there are places for dialogue
(small groups) and a place for video-media tools, we shouldn’t throw
preaching out because of what we perceive people want or need based upon
the winds of ever-changing culture. Instead, I believe we must take our
cue from God’s Word. If we believe it to be the inspired Word of God,
then why would we want to do anything other than what it says about
preaching? I’m not referring to the form of preaching, but the essence
of preaching; that is, standing up, opening a Bible, reading it,
explaining it and applying it to people’s lives in a way that they can
understand it. Why wouldn’t we do this?

I’ve been given a timeless charge to “preach the Word.” The spoken
Word and the written Word have been God’s chosen means of revealing
Christ to the world. In fact, God was the first preacher. He spoke
creation into existence. He could have done it other ways, but he
didn’t. He then created mankind in his image, with the ability to (among
other things) talk. He then called Abraham to himself. He then used the prophets to speak
to people. They were creative, and spoke the timely words necessary. 
When Christ came to earth, like the prophet John the Baptist, he came preaching repentance. As Jesus commissioned his disciples, he urged them to teachand proclaim the Gospel. At Pentecost, Peter preached
a really good sermon about Jesus and thousands were saved. Later Paul
urges Timothy to “preach the Word” and reminds us that “faith comes by
hearing and hearing from the word of Christ.” Paul also tells Timothy in
corporate worship that someone should read the Scriptures and then
exhort the hearers about these things. We could go on. When Christ
returns he is called “the Word of God.” Therefore, preaching is built on
a biblical-theological framework. If one starts from the Bible, I think
they’ll be led to preach God’s Word faithfully. Is preaching
old-fashioned? Yes. But not “1960’s old fashioned.” It’s as old as
creation. And until Christ returns, preaching will continue to be
relevant. We need to improve at it, to be sure, but folks shouldn’t
dismiss it because they see poor examples of it.

2) It seems to me that there is a movement back toward substantive, solid preaching and teaching, even expository. Why is that?

This is related to question 1. I think that where you find a group of
people affirming the inspiration and truthfulness of Scripture, you
will find a group of people doing substantive preaching. You show your
beliefs about the Bible, your real beliefs, by what you practice. Guys
who are not teaching the Bible must think that there are other better
ways to see lives changed. Besides this, I think some of the more
popular younger evangelicals are doing Word-driven preaching, thereby
setting an example for others. And I think another reason is probably
due to the fact that the slick, seeker, market-driven church has left
people wanting more.

3) You have a project coming out with New Hope entitled Orphanology. I had the privilege of reviewing the manuscript and was glad to give it an endorsement. How did this project come about?

Basically, I was preaching on the doctrine of adoption everywhere,
and New Hope approached me about writing a book on adoption/orphan
care. I thought that this would be a good idea in light of the fact that
every time I spoke on the subject I received a gazillion questions
about things like: ‘How do you pay for it?’  ‘How do you do orphan
ministry in the local church?’ ‘How do you do orphan hosting
ministry?’ I wanted to write a book that provide both a theological
rational for adoption and orphan are as well as some practical answers
to these common questions. With the help of Rick Morton, I think we’ve
given a good effort and I hope it helps those interested in these
things. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing it, and trying to live it with
my five adopted children.

4) Adoption has always been a sort of personal choice/decision made
by individual couples, but you seem to think it should be a church-wide
calling. Why is that?

Adoption and orphan care is a biblical issue. If you want to obey the
Bible, you better care for orphans –  in some capacity. Not everyone
will or should adopt, but some can and should. Others may support in
other ways. Caring for orphans was a practice that continued after James
wrote verse 1:27, as well. From historical documents, we read how
people didn’t value human life (like today), and it was the Christians
who cared for unwanted children. They received great attention for such
sacrificial care. They believed, as we should, that anyone created in
the image of God should be valued. So, I believe it to be a church-wide
calling like other callings such as stewardship, evangelism, care for
the poor, etc. because it’s a biblical issue.

5) What advice would you give to a couple who is thinking and praying about pursuing adoption?

I would tell them to begin by spending time reading the Scriptures
and praying about the matter. I would encourage them to look at God’s
concern for the fatherless throughout the Bible in general, and to take
detailed look at the doctrine of adoption in particular. During the
search phase, they may also begin reading literature on adoption and
talking to adoptive parents. Once a decision is made, they would need to
select a country in which to adopt. After deciding on this, they can
then choose an adoption agency with which to work. From there, it’s a
great adventure, one that should be bathed in prayer for God’s strength
and wisdom because orphan care is warfare. They should expect opposition and struggle from every side, but God’s grace is sufficient for their weakness.