Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Special Events’ Category

Why do I say our children with disabilities are the works of God? Because he made them (and us).

Posted in Scripture, Special Events on November 2, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

But now, O LORD, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
(Isaiah 64:8 ESV)

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.”
So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” (Jeremiah 18:1-6 ESV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 ESV)

In six days we will gather for The Works of God: God’s Good Design in Disability. There is still time to register or you can watch it that day at www.desiringgod.org/live.

It is a weighty and beautiful topic.  Please pray for everyone involved, that we would find our hope in God and would treasure him above all things!

Read Full Post »

Two weeks – please encourage your leaders to come or watch!

Posted in Special Events on October 25, 2012 | 1 Comment »

I am so encouraged to see several hundred people registered for The Works of God: God’s Good Design in Disability that happens in just two weeks!  People are coming from 28 states and four countries!

And I’m still praying for more, including more pastors and leaders.  The impact of my pastors caring about this issue of disability, talking about it in various areas of the church, and helping me see God’s power and goodness has been huge in my life.  I want more people to love their churches like I love my church because of how my pastors have pointed me to God on this issue.

Desiring God let me make a couple of videos specifically encouraging pastors to attend.  If you find this video helpful, would you send it on to your leaders, and let me them know they can still register, watch it online that day, or watch it later at Desiring God?

Read Full Post »

Your questions point me straight to God!

Posted in Prayer Requests, Special Events on October 24, 2012 | 1 Comment »

To help us prepare for the Question and Answer session at the Disability Conference in two weeks, I asked for questions on this blog. Registered participants were emailed asking for their questions.

We received more than 100 responses!

Not one of them is ‘simple’ in terms of how to respond.  Some were heart-breaking – sometimes because I have struggled with exactly the same thing about culture, or church, or my own feelings, or finances, or how other people talk about disability, or not clearly understanding God’s word.

And some were hopeful – how to help a church that is awakening to this issue of disability and God’s word, how to encourage other families experiencing similar things, how a pastor can be more proactive for his people with disabilities.

Every question made me pause to ask God for help.  Frankly, it was overwhelming to see them all in one place, this range of hurt and disappointment and desire and expectation and pain. Is it even possible to do this in ways that will help people?  God brought this scripture to me:

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ESV)

Yes, let us boast in the Lord!  He will help.

Please pray for us as we prepare, particularly for Pastor Kempton in his facilitation role.  May God make it an unusually fruitful time for discussion about God, disability and the church.

Reminder:  This event will be live-streamed at http://www.desiringGod.org/live on November 8, including the questions and answer session.  The times on the conference schedule are all central standard time.  There is also still time to register to attend in person!

Read Full Post »

There’s still time to submit questions

Posted in Special Events on October 19, 2012 | 1 Comment »

I’m very grateful for everyone who responded to my request from Sunday for potential questions during the panel discussion at The Works of God: God’s Good Design in Disability.

Questions have ranged across a variety of subjects:

  • adoption
  • salvation for those with cognitive disabilities
  • how does finding our identity in Christ shape how we think about disability
  • handling anger against strangers and their questions/behaviour
  • coping with grief while recognizing the value of children with disabilities
  • hidden disabilities and the church
  • how to guide a church/friends towards more appropriate language about disability (i.e., not using the word retarded thoughtlessly)

And others!

If the above sparks some thoughts for you, please consider sharing them in the form below.  While our time for questions is limited that day, this blog will, Lord willing, continue and might be a forum for addressing some of those questions in the future.

And please remember to hit the ‘submit’ button at the bottom of the form.  Thank you!

Read Full Post »

Three weeks from today – please pray!

Posted in commentary, Prayer Requests, Special Events on October 18, 2012 | 2 Comments »

I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf . . . (Romans 15:30 ESV)

In three weeks we will gather to celebrate God’s Good Design in Disability at Bethlehem’s North Campus.  It is a weighty and ultimately beautiful subject. But it requires us to constantly fight against the tide of culture and, I must admit, my own sinful desires for an easy life.

I’m praying that God will change peoples’ lives through this conference – that their heart eyes (Ephesians 1:18) will be opened, maybe for the first time, to who Jesus is.  And for those who already know God this way, to be encouraged and emboldened in their faith.  Would you pray with me about that?

Would you also pray for our speakers?  They carry a joyous and heavy responsibility to help us see God and his word more clearly on this subject of disability and suffering.

  • John Piper
  • Nancy Guthrie
  • Mark Talbot
  • Greg Lucas
  • And special guests: Krista Horning and Pastor Kempton Turner

Please also pray for our events staff and volunteers.  I am so encouraged by their faithfulness in attending to details for our sake, and there are hundreds of details they are attending to these days!

Please pray, and then let us see what God might be pleased to do!

Read Full Post »

We’d like your input about the Questions and Answer Panel Discussion at the Disability Conference

Posted in Special Events on October 14, 2012 | 1 Comment »

At 10:15 a.m. (Central) on Thursday, November 8, John Piper, Nancy Guthrie, Mark Talbot and Greg Lucas will be part of a panel discussion facilitated by Pastor Kempton Turner (you might recognize him as the father on the cover of Just the Way I Am).

All of the registered conference participants will be getting an email from Desiring God in a few days asking if they have specific questions they would like to see asked of the panel.  I thought I would open it up to our community to see if there are questions you have.

The usual caveats apply – we have limited time so not every question can be asked.  But maybe your question will be!

Please note, you must hit the ‘submit’ button below or your response will not be recorded.  Please also use this form instead of using the comments section below:

The question and answer time will be live-streamed, along with the rest of the conference messages.

Read Full Post »

Are you a pastor AND a father of a child with a disability? Do you know one?

Posted in Special Events on October 13, 2012 | 2 Comments »

If you are leading a church and leading a family that includes a child with a disability, I especially hope you will attend our conference, The Works of God: God’s Good Design in Disability.  If you know of such men, please let them know about this conference.

More than a year ago I was having lunch with a Pastor-dad, and he remarked that he had never met another pastor who also has a child with a disability.  I thought then, that shouldn’t be!  These men are not alone – others are and have walked this same path and tasted deeply of the grace of God as they lead churches and families.

I’ve had the chance to meet or correspond with several pastors who also parent a child with moderate to very severe disabilities; not one of them treats life as easy and breezy, and they are unusually prepared to lead their people through what God has to say about suffering and his sovereignty.

And I know of several such men who are coming to the conference!

If you are a leader of a church or a church ministry, I particularly hope you will consider attending so that you can meet each other, encourage each other, and enjoy the camaraderie that comes with sharing similarities in the life and family God has given you.

If you know of such men, would you encourage them to come (with their wives), maybe even helping them with registration, child care and travel expenses?

Read Full Post »

One month to go – and grateful for Joni Eareckson Tada’s endorsement!

Posted in Special Events on October 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Exactly one month from today we will be gathering for The Works of God: God’s Good Design in Disability.

Joni Eareckson Tada was kind enough to post our disability conference on her blog yesterday.  I was very grateful to see it!  God has used her books and conference messages to deeply influence how I think about this issue, and this encouragement meant a great deal to me.

Joni’s relationship with Pastor John and Noel and Desiring God goes back many years.  If you have never watched or listened to her conference message, Suffering for the Sake of . . ., at the 2005 Desiring God National Conference on Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, it is a great way to prepare for our upcoming conference.

Dr. Mark Talbot spoke at that 2005 conference as well, and also gave a highly recommended presentation.

Read Full Post »

God creates some people with genetic anomalies simply for the sake of his glory – Michael Beates

Posted in Book Commentary, Special Events on October 3, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Another book to consider reading as we prepare for The Works of God: God’s Good Design in Disability is Michael Beates’ new book, Disability and the Gospel (paragraph formatting and emphases in bold are mine):

God creates some people with genetic anomalies simply for the sake of his glory.

Scripture teaches that all things are made by him (John 1:3) and for his glory (Isa. 48:10–11; Rom. 11:33). Many people are not willing to bear the truth that everything God makes and does he uses to glorify himself. It is too much for many to believe that all that happens to them is for the sake of the glory of God’s name.

That is a hard teaching, but in it there is great comfort, and by our very affirmation of it, we further glorify our awesome sovereign God.

The comfort is that when we embrace the truth that God will glorify himself through everything that happens, we know that in the providence of God nothing is lost or in vain. Nothing we experience is meaningless; everything is significant, the bitter and the sweet.

We may not see the sweet side of it in this life. We may not be able to say at the time of the death of loved ones that their death glorifies God. However, we can rest absolutely certain that such things are not mistakes nor do they happen by chance.

We can also be certain that even such awful things will glorify God because he has said so, and he keeps his promise.

Michael S. Beates (2012-07-10). Disability and the Gospel (p. 162). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Read Full Post »

Advice for how to attend a conference from Pastor John

Posted in News, Special Events on October 2, 2012 | 3 Comments »

This past weekend’s Desiring God National Conference was wonderful – and fueled my anticipation for the upcoming disability conference, The Works of God: God’s Good Design in Disability.

In August Pastor John did a video helping people prepare for the National Conference, or any conference.  His advice is good for the disability conference as well.

Regarding his recommendation about reading other books, you can find links to some of the books written by our speakers here.

And a reminder: Bethlehem’s Disability Ministry is hosting an evening of conversation, prayer and networking immediately following the close of the conference on November 8, also at the North Campus of Bethlehem Baptist Church.  More details will be coming about this free event, and it will be a particularly good opportunity for Pastor John’s third recommendation: fellowship with other conference attenders.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,702 other followers

%d bloggers like this: