Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for February, 2011

A thought on severe cognitive impairment and the power of Jesus

Posted in commentary, Scripture on February 18, 2011| 2 Comments »

For those of us with cognitively impaired children, especially those with severe impairment, we live with the question of what they can possibly know and understand about God.

I find comfort in who Jesus is, as expressed in his word.

We’ve been going through the book of John in our daily staff devotions, and have come to the great accounting of Jesus and Lazarus this week:

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”  The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” John 11:38-44

It hit me fresh – Jesus was DEEPLY moved. Jesus was not hindered by Martha’s concerns.  Those in the crowd must have understood he had authority because they did, in fact, remove the stone. Jesus prayed like he already knew the outcome. Jesus was talking to a dead man.  Nothing works on a dead man.  Lazarus’ ears were literally decaying.  The cells in his brain were entirely, permanently still.

And when Jesus spoke, the dead man came out!

Our children with severe cognitive impairment have that kind of God who cares about them.

Pastor John included the accounting of Lazarus in a great meditation from several years ago:

But let us not tell Jesus what love is. Let us not instruct him how he should love us and make us central. Let us learn from Jesus what love is and what our true well-being is. Love is doing whatever you need to do to help people see and savor the glory of God forever and ever. Love keeps God central. Because the soul was made for God.

I don’t know what my son understands about God, and he can’t tell me.  But I know he was made for God’s glory.  And I know the one who made him is entirely unconstrained by his lack of cognitive abilities in this present age.  And how sweet it will be someday to talk and run and just look at our savior with my boy!

 

Read Full Post »

A reason why pastors should want families like ours in their churches

Posted in commentary on February 17, 2011| 2 Comments »

Some of the most heart-breaking stories I’ve heard or read about church and disability are from families who did not feel welcome at church.  I think about those stories frequently.

Following the Sunday School service last week, I was reminded of at least one reason pastors should want families like ours attending:

We are intensely interested in the question of God’s sovereignty.

I won’t say every family experiencing disability is settled on the answer, or even that most believe God’s sovereignty is good!  It took a fairly dramatic, God-ordained series of events over time – and the miracle of God granting the eyes of my heart to see – to bring me to a Biblically-sound, life-giving conclusion to that question.

To pastors: I know we are intense, and we often do not advocate for our families in ways that are kind or gracious. The existence of our children (and their behaviors) makes other people uncomfortable. The hurts we bring feel like they will overwhelm you and the capacities of your church. Our questions may reveal the bitterness and the hostility that we feel toward you, or God, or the church.

But if we’re coming to your church, we are interested in what you think about God. You cannot do God’s work of giving us new spiritual eyes to see, but you might be the means God uses. For pastors, in particular, I hope that gives meaning to all the prayer and time and preparation and tears and sacrifice you make.  And I hope you live with the assurance that God’s promises to supply every need, when families like mine are right in front of you, are promises meant for you.

Read Full Post »

The transitions never end, and God is always faithful

Posted in commentary, Helpful things on February 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Julie and Mark Martindale are one of those couples who love Jesus and do really hard things because of what Jesus has done for them.  As Julie writes in her ‘about me‘ page on her blog, “Lest you think we are either crazy or saints, we are neither–just followers of Jesus Christ who desire to follow his commands to take care of the orphans and widows.”

I was catching up on Julie’s blog and was struck by how beautifully she writes about very, very hard things.  And continues to trust in God.

How else can you explain statements like this?

I felt so thankful  that I get to be her Mom. It is an incredible honor–one I don’t always appreciate in the way that I should. My experiences with her changed me in ways I didn’t even know needed changing..and stretched me farther than I could have ever thought possible. Through her disability, God has ordered by priorities.  Read the entire post.

Or facing an entirely new set of circumstances in a young adult with disabilities, and ending with this statement?

But, the game isn’t over for us as McKenna’s parents..it is just beginning in many ways…and we will learn to navigate the system again like we did 18 years ago. Read the entire post here.

This life is full of hardship of every kind.  And God is greatly to be praised in how he provides in every circumstance.

Julie and Mark, thank you for living this reality:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

 

Read Full Post »

God’s Goodness and Sovereignty Over Disability – A Presentation

Posted in commentary, Sermons on February 15, 2011| 4 Comments »

Dr. Jason DeRouchie invited me to speak to his adult Sunday School class this past Sunday, and I was grateful for the opportunity.

He helpfully set up the context by focusing on what God has to say about disability in Deuteronomy and a few other selected texts.  Hopefully I’ll be able to hear it again and get it recorded, because he made a beautiful, concise explanation of the impact of sin and the curse (which has resulted in disability in this present age), God’s sovereignty and goodness over all things, and God’s mighty power to provide.  I should have taken notes.

What follows is my portion of that class.  I mostly stuck with this transcript.

Joint Heirs – Bethlehem Baptist Church North Campus
February 13, 2011
Jason DeRouchie introducing; John Knight presenting

My goal is not to convince you that you should care about disability through statistics or specific examples of families experiencing suffering or a sentimental view of rescuing families experiencing hardship.

But in loving God and soaking in God’s word you would love God’s sovereignty over all things and cling to all his promises for you SO THAT when disability enters your life – you will boldly and confidently and lovingly, with great anticipation and ‘as sorrowful yet always rejoicing’ cling to God in your circumstances or rush to welcome families like mine, to serve these precious families he has given as gifts to you with the strength God provides with the wisdom he provides with the resources he provides.

And not just to serve those with disabilities, but to be served by those the world and the culture considers expendable, weak, and worthless.  To actually long for and seek out fellowship with those who are daily being destroyed and discounted because of disability.  To understand and enjoy and soak in the reality of God’s purposes.  To rise into your places of responsibility with this counter-cultural, God-centered reality: On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable (1 Corinthians 12:22).

As Pastor John lead us this morning, do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment – including about disability and God’s purposes in it.  As he said, “Love your paralyzed neighbor as yourself!”

Short history: At 30, as a member in good standing at Bethlehem, as part of small group, as a regular Sunday School attender and as a volunteer – I took my family out of this place because I believed that God was certainly strong but he was not wise, not caring, not loving – but capricious and cruel.

My evidence – a little boy born without eyes.  And I was not afraid to throw that evidence in the face of anyone who dared disagree.  I cared nothing for the word of God and turned to my drug of choice – which was television.

Yet, obviously I am standing here with you today – so what happened?

God, primarily.  Using one family who believed that all the promises of God are true and who were so gripped by this Biblical vision of God being sovereign over all things that they kept pursuing us.  And they confounded us with their love for us and confidence in God’s word. (Soap example)  And God used the good men he has called into leadership here – David Michael, Pastor John, Pastor Tom – I could go on – to take me back to the scriptures; they persevered.

Then, one day, God revealed the depths of my depravity to me.  And this member of Bethlehem, this outwardly ‘good’ guy who was full of pride and sin and who had run away from this church, became finally alive.

Lesson – never give up.

Our circumstances have not gotten easier – they have gotten more difficult.  My son born blind also lives with autism and mental retardation and growth hormone deficiency and doesn’t eat well and doesn’t sleep well.  And this past year we added a seizure-like disorder to the list.

In 2004, God added Stage IV breast cancer in my wife.  Our story has only gotten more complicated.

Yet, what has changed in me is in an increasing understanding of God’s sovereignty over disability as demonstrated in his word.  The Bible has a great deal to say about disability and disease – a great confirmation of God’s goodness in the midst of great suffering.  It is almost entirely counter-cultural.  There are those who want to re-write God’s word.  Some people even call his word evil.

And I want you to love it and trust it and cling to it and quote and teach your families all about it.  For his glory and your joy!

Disability is clearly an important issue to God

  1. God states that He created some to live with disability
  2. Disability and dissease can be found in 40 of the 66 books of the Bible.
  3. Jesus made disease and disability a central part of his ministry.
  4. There are clear instructions about behavior towards and by those with disabilities.

Let’s take a quick look at the Word:

Exodus 4:11  Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”

Could it be more clear?

John 9:1-3 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

As helpful as these passages are, God has proclaimed his sovereignty over his human creation in many other places:

Psalm 139:13-16 13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

(Note: This provides particular hope for those of us dealing with a daily hardship – every day is known by God.)  No surprises to God; only purpose.

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

These are overwhelming, incredible, extraordinary, truths about God!  They are worth loving and clinging to and helping people to see the beauty in!

And, you won’t treat any of God’s words lightly when you are God-centered.  We’ll let our people see that the cleansing of Naaman’s leprosy in 2 Kings 5 is not just a story for children!

Verse 1: Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

We will not allow people to take Jesus’ statement in John 5:14 and turn it into a statement about sin and disability:  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

Jesus is warning him about eternity!  Pastor John took this on in his very helpful sermon on John 5 back a couple of years ago.

And for those, like me, who say scandalous, bitter, heretical things, remember Job 6:26: Do you think that you can reprove words, when the speech of a despairing man is wind?

Wounded hearts speak harshly – out of their sore and hurt.  Let them be words on the wind, not even to be confronted.

Let love guide you.

But love does not let challenges to the Bible and God’s sovereignty go unanswered by wolves who would seek to steal your joy and confidence in God.

Jennie Weiss Block, Copious Hosting

“Therefore, scriptural exegesis of the disability passages begins with a “hermeneutic of suspicion,” asking a question not unlike the question posed by many feminist theologians when they inquire if Scripture, with its decidedly patriarchal bias, can be relevant and meaningful to women. Likewise, disability advocates must ask difficult questions such as: Do the Scriptures have an ‘ableist’ bias that ultimately oppresses people with disabilities?” p. 101

Kathy Black, A Healing Homiletic: Preaching and Disability

“Devastations, sufferings, frustrations, and disabilities happen in this world. God does not cause them, but God is present in their midst to uphold us and transform us. Resurrection can happen in our lives without God causing the suffering and death in order for the resurrection to occur.” P. 37

Really?  What about the suffering and death of Jesus?

Don’t let this happen in your own homes – letting the culture (and a response to the culture) be the measure of truth rather than the Word of Truth itself.

Most people are simply not prepared for these arguments, because we live in a culture that celebrates ‘experience’ above everything else.

And the culture?  The culture hates people with disabilities!  If you think that word is too strong, then tell me what it means when 90 percent of our children with down syndrome are being aborted?  When rates of abortion for other disabling conditions also approach 90%?  When some studies I read in New York and Switzerland had 100% of the children with certain kinds of disabling conditions being aborted?  When professors can hold prestigious chairs at Ivy League institutions and argue for children who are already born to be ‘mercifully killed.’  In the Netherlands they have developed the Groningen Protocol: It contains directives with criteria under which physicians can perform “active ending of life on infants” without fear of legal prosecution.

So, on one side are so-called scholars who are seeking to strip the Bible and God himself of his power.  And the other side you have a culture which is actively abandoning its responsibilities to people with disabilities – giving ‘government’ more and more authority over their lives.  And then you will have parents like I was, bitter, angry, hurt, wanting answers – from you – about how God could have done such a thing.  And right in front of you will be people who claim Christ but are completely ignorant of his word.

And in the midst of that soup of disregard for God and his word – God will provide gifts to his church, individuals who have been given certain gifts of teaching or preaching or encouragement – who live with disabilities.

And sometimes we need to work to see the gift.

We have children at Bethlehem who are difficult because of their emotional or behavioral or sensory disabilities – will we love them?

Will we trust, when confronted, that Philippians 4:19 covers this issue as well?  And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

That’s where the answer lies – in God’s word!  God thinks very highly of his own ability to do with his creation whatever he pleases – for his glory and for our joy!  And he specifically talks about having regard for the weaker members – calling them indispensable.  A God-centered view of disability will be radical and sacrificial and will cling to the word of God as having authority.  And it will also see the gifts that people have, rather than just the disability – gifts for exhorting, encouraging, loving.

And the place to start giving people an imagination for how big God is in every area and arena of life – is with us and with the children.  Children deserve to know that God is God – powerful and wise and judgmental and merciful and kind – rather than the God of fairy tales and myths.  They deserve to know that 2 Kings 5 is about God and not about God being ‘nice’ to a man with spots on his body.  The point of God’s healing the man born blind is not that God is kind to formerly blind people.  They need to know that God is sovereign over hard things – and all things work together for good for those who are in Christ Jesus.

God has used my son to change me, but not just me.  Paul, who cannot articulate much, lives a life full of grace and truth.  And because of the suffering God has visited on my family, God is sweeter and greater and more powerful than I ever imagined, and he just keeps getting better.  A big reason that is so is because of his word; God is continuing to reveal more of himself to me through his word.

So, I beg you, love God’s word, including the hard ones about disability and suffering.  Enjoy this teaching you are receiving from Jason and others – then think on it and prepare your families as well.

We just had a conference on prayer.  Please, pray for the disability ministry at Bethlehem; we are very needy:

  • For wisdom in serving these families, now and through the summer. We have kids who have very difficult behaviors – biting, hitting, running away.  We have children who are medically fragile.  We have families who have been rejected by other churches.  How can we possibly serve all these needs?  Only with the help of God.
  • For more volunteers.  We need more people involved to help make BBC accessible to more families.
  • For the CDG conference in March. Brenda Fischer and I are presenting separate seminars – hers specifically on disability ministry, mine on helping families deal with the unexpected.  We need your prayers to serve the church leaders who are attending.
  • For strength to persevere.  Disability is relentless – and we know that God is greater!  And we know that God hears prayers and strengthens weakening faith and provides hope.

If you’d like to know more about how we think about this issue of disability and the Bible, we have a number of resources at our blog – theworksofGod.com.

I’ll let Jason close us in prayer and I’ll be happy to answer any questions.

Read Full Post »

“It is the highest privilege of my life. . . ‘ – Dianne Knight

Posted in Book Commentary, commentary on February 14, 2011| 1 Comment »

Sometimes I read Dianne sections of things I am reading.  On Saturday I asked what she thought of this statement following a description of the burdens placed on families experiencing disability:

These are not trivial burdens, and the desire to avoid them does not indicate a character flaw, any more than wanting to avoid a hiatus in one’s education or career. Whether a woman wants to terminate a pregnancy to avoid the burdens that come with being a mother, or whether she wants to terminate a pregnancy to avoid burdens that come with being the mother of this child, the rationale for the abortion is the same: the avoidance of burdens that she finds unacceptable.  Bonnie Steinbock, Disability, Prenatal Testing and Selective Abortion in Prenatal Testing and Disability Rights edited by Erik Parens and Adrienne Asche, p. 119.

Dianne’s simple response: it is the highest privilege of my life to be the mother of that boy.

After more than 15 years of living with and caring for our son, she has no romantic notions about what living with disability is like.  The relentless nature of disability is understood, and the particular burdens that come with this boy drive us to God on a regular basis.

That is the difference.  As his parents, we know we are needy and that the daily issues of his disability would crush us. Bonnie Steinbock is articulating a normal outcome of radical individualism.  The mother, in her example, is completely alone.  Our culture tells us that we are entirely free to make any decision we desire, even if it results in the destruction of a smaller human being.  Implied in that is that if you choose the harder, better thing, they will abandon you to that choice because it inconveniences them.

God does not abandon us.  And not only are we not alone, but God has promised to supply every need (Philippians 4:19), that his plan is to benefit us (Jeremiah 29:11), Jesus himself will send a helper (John 14:16-17), God will comfort us (Psalm 71:20-21), and he has given us other people to encourage us (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

So, ‘as sorrowful yet always rejoicing’ (2 Corinthians 6:10), Dianne can authentically say, God has granted and sustains the honor of mothering this boy.

Read Full Post »

“God is gracious to expose sin through circumstance” – Chris Nelson

Posted in commentary on February 13, 2011| 1 Comment »

Yesterday, Pastor John provided a helpful word on why we need to remind ourselves about God’s promises and character.  In this post, Chris Nelson points out how God reminds us about his mercy and grace in the midst of the real circumstances of our lives.

It’s 8:27 and the bus comes at 8:30.

“Great time for a movement, Andrew.  Look at dad’s face – it’s not smiling or laughing.  Settle down.  NOW!  Let’s get shoes and coat on.”

It’s 8:32.

“Stand still, Andrew.  This is NOT time to be silly.  We’re just waiting for the bus.  I don’t have time for this garbage.”

It’s 8:35.

“Where is the bus?!  It’s that new bus driver.  If he started his route a little earlier to give extra time for the kids to get on he wouldn’t be late.  Seriously, why couldn’t the afternoon driver just do the morning route too?”

It’s 8:45.

“Forget it.  Andrew, let’s go, dad will drive you to school.  Seriously, not even bothering to show up; it’s not like it’s the first day of school or something.  How difficult is it to pick 4 or 5 kids up on time?”

Phone rings.

“Transportation called.  The bus was in an accident.”

My irritation and attitude was exceedingly sinful.  My lack of patience was exceedingly unloving.  My lack of giving the benefit of the doubt, particularly without knowing anything of the circumstances leading to the bus being late, was exceedingly selfish and judgmental.  Jesus’ atoning work on the cross is freshly precious.

All things are in God’s hands, including bus accidents with physically and mentally disabled children.  Thankfully all of the children involved in the accident appear to be physically okay.  Thankfully God used that incident to freshly expose my sinful heart, humble it, and lead me back to the Throne of Grace.

Read Full Post »

He did it, again!

Posted in News on February 12, 2011| 7 Comments »

Thursday we met Paul’s new neurologist.  We were pleased that almost all of Paul’s records had made it to him, and we were even able to look at some of the internal pictures of his head and body.  We are most certainly fearfully and wonderfully made!

But, of course, he encouraged more tests.  So we were sent from the bright, colorful, cheerful children’s clinic to a hospital laboratory for yet another blood draw.

This was not a happy place at all.  It was busy and noisy.  The staff were trying to be pleasant but clearly were mostly trying to keep up.  The lighting was dim and furniture was functional but not pretty.  The worst part was the television – tuned to some artificially happy morning show that was shocking in its banality, with the volume turned up too loud.  Dianne said she could feel evil in the room.

So, of course, God sent in some light.

Paul, unprompted, lifted his head off my shoulder and sings as loud as he can:

Jesus loves the little children!

All the children of the world!

Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight!

Jesus loves the little children of the world!

Then he laid his head back on my shoulder and giggled.

How many will be in the kingdom of heaven because of this fearless, joy-filled boy born blind?

Read Full Post »

Andrew-ing – Guest Post from Chris Nelson

Posted in commentary on February 11, 2011| 7 Comments »

I’m grateful to welcome back Chris Nelson to this blog, a member at Bethlehem and a man I respect and love deeply. JPK

Andrew, 9, is the oldest of our three boys. Every cell in his body has an extra long arm of the 18th chromosome attached to the end of his 11th chromosome. He has autism. He has a seizure disorder. He is severely mentally retarded. He is easily irritable and often physically aggressive. My reactions to his often challenging behaviors daily expose my sin, which, not always immediately but at least eventually, leads me to fresh brokenness and repentance and brings me back to the Cross. That is a gift. Andrew is who he is by God’s good design and for God’s glory and for my sanctification.

One of the means of grace God has given us to help him regulate and be able to better function in social settings is a device called ConnectorRx, where one of us is physically connected to Andrew. The device looks a little like something one might use to go rock climbing (or, as someone who doesn’t rock climb, at least what I imagine such gear might look like!).

One Sunday a friend referred to my being connected to my son as “Andrew-ing.” Seemingly gifted with the ability to see the spiritual side of everything, he also remarked that seeing us connected made him think about God’s love for us in calling us to Himself and keeping us connected to Himself. I hadn’t ever thought of that – to me it was simply a device that helped us help Andrew get from A to B with some amount of self control, which helped us leave the house without an anxiety-induced stomachache. But my friend’s comment made me to ponder the spiritual lessons of that simple connector:

  • God is good and He is for us, and He will give us what we need when He knows we need it.
  • No matter how much we may kick and scream and wallow in the sinful desire to go our own way, God loved us first and will not let us go – He knows what is best for His children.
  • God gives us more than we can handle that we might become broken over our sin, and humble ourselves and look to Him rather than ourselves that we might increasingly know at the heart-level what it is to be sorrowful (over sin) but always rejoicing (in and through Jesus).
  • God is merciful to give us means of grace that encourage and help us through challenges – and even more to enable situations, circumstances and even consequences that remind us that our ultimate hope is not means of grace, but the Source of grace.

Read Full Post »

Are you caught in the gap between God’s promise and its fulfillment?

Posted in Quotes on February 10, 2011| 4 Comments »

Someday, my son will live without his disabilities, including these seizure-like episodes he is experiencing.  Someday, I will live free from all the temptation of sin.  We will both see clearly: For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Those of us living with disability in our family are living in a gap.  We know that all of God’s promises are true, and we know that some of those promises will not be fulfilled for a very long time (probably).

I’m working my way though Joel Beeke and Jame LaBelle’s book, Living by God’s Promises, and came across this helpful paragraph (emphases in bold are mine):

Thus, if we steadfastly believe and rest on the foundational promise that God is our God, we will find more comfort than we could find in all the world.  David expresses this beautifully in Psalm 56:8-11: “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me. In God will I praise his word: in the Lord will I praise his word. In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.” Caught in the gap between God’s promise (1 Samuel 16:11-13) and its fulfillment, David finds a world of comfort in the foundational promise of God that God is for him.  Beeke and LaBelle, p. 17

Yes, even today I know that God is for me!  God is for all his children who have been called into saving faith!

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20b).

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17).

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14

Yes, I do find a world of comfort that God is for me right now even as I hope in future grace.

Read Full Post »

500 Posts and Counting

Posted in News on February 9, 2011| 34 Comments »

Back in 1995, God gave Dianne and me a boy who is different than any other boy I’ve ever heard of.  I mean that literally; he has an unusual mix of disabilities.  God has used that boy to reveal more of his grace and power and mercy than I ever could have imagined.

And he has made the Bible more precious than I could have thought possible.

Today marks the 500th post on The Works of God since we started in September 2009.  Given what we imagined as a blog on disability ministry back in 2008 (on an entirely different blog platform), I find that amazing.  And there are still books to be read, journals critiqued, ministries encouraged, and scriptures explored.

If you are new to this blog, this is the boy who God uses to keep me dependent on him.  Paul sang this song following the Easter service in April 2010.  He is 14 years old in this video:

Over the past several months, he has been plagued by mysterious, seizure-like episodes that have discouraged these spontaneous expressions of praise.  God has helped us through these hard months, and we continue to pray for answers.

But Saturday we were given a little gift of the old singing:

Paul is a gift.  So are all the other children and adults with disabilities God has given to his church.  The world needs to know that.

We’ll keep telling that story until we run out of things to say.  It might be a while.

To God be the glory.  Great things he has done!

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »