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Archive for February, 2011

Please Pray for the Children Desiring God Conference

Posted in News, Prayer Requests on February 8, 2011| 2 Comments »

Please pray for the Children Desiring God Conference, which is coming up March 10-12.

So much of what we love about Bethlehem has been related to the children and family ministries; our disability ministry is overseen by Family Discipleship.  We know that churches that take this responsibility to the next generations seriously are frequently open to the needs of families dealing with disability.

Their theme this year is “Holding Fast to the Word of Truth” and includes plenary sessions by Pastor John, Pastor David, and Pastor Kempton from Bethlehem and Dr. Russell Moore from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

I’ve heard every one of these men say important things about God and disability.  This conference isn’t about that issue, but I’m still excited to hear them!

Please also pray for the staff of Children Desiring God.  Nearly every member has been hit with something that has laid them low or slowed them down physically, including their Executive Director who needed emergency surgery last week and will be weeks in recovery.  Through it all I’ve seen them encourage each other to remember that God will provide all that they need and they serve in the strength that God provides.

This year, Brenda Fischer and I will again be leading seminars related to disability and the sovereignty of God.  For the first time, there will also be a table dedicated to disability ministry.  Please pray for us as we make our final preparations for this conference.

And related to the theme of the conference, Children Desiring God has released a tool to help with Bible memorization: FighterVerses.com.  The verse this week is absolutely relevant to those of us dealing with disability:

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?  Psalm 56:3-4

Thank you for praying!

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If the point is health care, stop offering abortions

Posted in News on February 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Abortion supporters have had a hard few weeks.  The revelations of the Philadelphia ‘doctor’ and the videos of a Planned Parenthood representative have not made the practitioners of abortion services look good (please note: the stories at those links are graphic and not suitable for children).

Members of the House of Representatives and various state lawmakers are now seeking to end the public funding of Planned Parenthood clinics.  Public funding of Planned Parenthood generally pays for other health services they provide, although limited public funding for abortions is allowed.

In response to these attacks on their funding, New York Times columnist Gail Collins offers a spirited defense of Planned Parenthood.  One aspect of that defense is all the other services Planned Parenthood provides:

But here’s the most notable thing about this whole debate: The people trying to put Planned Parenthood out of business do not seem concerned about what would happen to the 1.85 million low-income women who get family-planning help and medical care at the clinics each year. It just doesn’t come up. There’s not even a vague contingency plan. . .

There is no comparable organization to Planned Parenthood, providing the same kind of services on a national basis. If there were, most of the women eligible for Medicaid-financed family-planning assistance wouldn’t have to go without it.

Ms. Collins is being a little disingenuous.  Public funding for health services would not decrease, they just would not be allocated to organizations that also provide abortions.

I propose a compromise.  Since these other health services are so valuable (though several are also morally questionable), Planned Parenthood should stop offering abortion services and concentrate on these other services.  That would immediately take away the best argument those against Planned Parenthood have.  Besides, according to their 2008 annual report, ‘only’ 3% of their services are abortions.

I doubt that will happen.

Gail Collins is a gifted writer; even her ‘straw man’ and ad hominem arguments are more clever than most.  But the highest expression of Planned Parenthood in terms of their mission is abortion.  We must not be distracted from that horrible fact.

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Proving Jesus is always right: Matthew 5:29 from the perspective of having no eyes

Posted in commentary, Scripture on February 6, 2011| 4 Comments »

My Paul has no eyes.  Jesus said it would be better for us to be like Paul, having no eyes, than to sin:

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. Matthew 5:29

The following is a true story.

On Thursday a box of 10 Hostess Ho Hos made it into the van.  Three children and one adult each had one, leaving six.  The rest were being saved for ‘movie night’ on Friday.

One child simply could not stop thinking about those Ho Hos.

While the rest of the family was distracted with dinner guests Thursday evening, that child ate four more Ho Hos.  This same child also ate the last two for breakfast the next morning.

So, this child disobeyed mom, stole something that wasn’t his, considered his own desires ahead of his siblings, did not practice self-control, and allowed his eyes and his thoughts to constantly come back to what was tempting him.  These are typical, childish sins, of course.  But they were sins.

Paul has never been tempted to steal Ho Hos, or anything else for that matter.  He is completely free from that kind of sin.

And which child do we feel sorry for?

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What feeds and informs prayer

Posted in Quotes on February 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Joel Beeke was a participant at the most recent Desiring God Conference for Pastors and is the author of many books, a couple of which I picked up this week.  In Living by God’s Promises, Beeke and LaBelle offer this nugget of assurance about prayer:

The promises of God are the rule of prayer. Just as we hope for and believe what God has promised, so we must pray for what God has promised. David makes this evident in 2 Samuel 7:27, when he prays, “For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee” (cf. Luke 1:38). Having the promise of God in hand not only emboldened David’s hope and strengthened his faith, but it also fed and informed his prayer. Truly, we do not have a prayer without the promises of God (emphasis mine).

Beeke and LaBelle, pp. 2-3.

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The Elisha Foundation is growing! Please pray.

Posted in News on February 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

While I was at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors, another ministry I love made a significant announcement:

Beginning in April, The Elisha Foundation will welcome Justin Reimer as its first full-time executive director as they seek to take advantage of the opportunities God is placing in front of them.

This is very good news.  Justin (and his wife, Tamara) loves Jesus and the Bible, understands the needs of families experiencing disability, and puts together programs that bring families deeper into God’s word.  As we all know, there is plenty of work to be done on this issue of disability in the church. I’m grateful God has called Justin to pursue it full time.

Please pray for them.  Their financial need is significant, as is the need for God to provide wisdom in how to best grow The Elisha Foundation.  And please pray that God would grant them unprecedented impact on a global movement “to equip these special families for a more intimate faith in Christ, passionately lived out with love.”

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Larry and Lisa’s story

Posted in Scripture, Special Events on February 3, 2011| 1 Comment »

Dianne is a fan of Lisa Jamieson (well, so am I, but Dianne has actually met Lisa) and recommended this 25 minute audio interview Lisa did with her husband, Larry.  I’m happy to recommend it to you.  You can also find it here.

It is a hard story. And one that points to trusting in a living, all-powerful God.

If you don’t have 25 minutes to listen to the entire interview, forward to the 20:09 mark.  Lisa and Larry deal with the question, were you angry with God?  Their answers are insightful, and they offer helpful scriptures!

Thank you, Lisa and Larry, for sharing your story with us, living ‘as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing (2 Corinthians 6:10)’ and pointing us to Jesus!

More resources can be found at their ministry, Walk Right In.

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God’s gentle rebukes lead to worship

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

Mid-afternoon Tuesday at the Conference for Pastors I checked on some donation numbers and was discouraged at the lack of progress on a campaign we are running. I definitely had a grumbling heart.

As I looked at those numbers and considered next steps, I’m told someone wants to see me.

I’m introduced to a wonderful, God-centered man.  He’s going through deep waters in his children and grandchildren – disability, terminal illness, hardship upon hardship.  But he also had a sweet confidence that God is, in fact, sovereign and good.  He was praising God for all the good he was seeing in the midst of so much difficulty.  He was the very example of ‘as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.’

He had heard through some friends of mine that I had experienced some similar things and wanted to meet me.

Two things came to mind after we talked and prayed together:

  1. How foolish I was to grumble, which is nothing more than disbelief.  God knows what we need financially; he will help us and will provide what we need.
  2. In the very second I was grumbling, he was bringing me a brother who would point me back to the source of all comfort and grace.

I was overwhelmed with gratitude after talking with this brother and deeply, deeply blessed.  I don’t deserve such mercy or grace.  I deserved discipline, but God chose instead to point me back to him.  I am very grateful that God extended it so kindly!

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Reminder: Trust God in Everything – Jerry Bridges

Posted in Quotes on February 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A pitfall to trusting God, which we are prone to fall into, is to turn to God in trust in the greater crisis experience of life while seeking to work through the minor difficulties ourselves.  A disposition to trust in ourselves is part of our sinful nature.  It sometimes takes a major crisis, or at least a moderate one, to turn us toward the Lord.  A mark of Christian maturity is to continually trust the Lord in the minutiae of daily life.  If we learn to trust God in the minor adversities, we will be better prepared to trust him in the major ones.

Jerry Bridges in Trusting God, excerpted in Be Still My Soul, edited by Nancy Guthrie, p. 112.

Here’s a great 27 second video Jerry Bridges did for Desiring God last fall.  It highlights why we can trust in God through Jesus Christ:

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