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There are no small gifts from God

Posted in commentary on August 20, 2011| 3 Comments »

I noticed three gifts that God provided on Friday.

  • Little did I know as I wrote Friday’s post that I would need my own advice to serve my own soul.  Friday morning I was late getting up and ready for the day but with my own words still lingering in my head I made time for God’s word.
  • Brian Eaton introduced the Desiring God staff on Friday morning to the new Children Desiring God curriculum, Rejoicing in God’s Good Design: A Study for Youth on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, by taking us through a lesson.  It was good to be reminded, again, that God is intentional in all that he does.
  • Paul’s primary doctor was available at the moment we needed her.

There were a thousand additional ‘small’ things that God did for me and for you on Friday that went unnoticed.  But we only get to live in that ignorance because Jesus is so powerful:

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. Hebrews 1:3a

Amazing.

We needed to admit our boy to the hospital on Friday so I’m going to skip a few days blogging.  Or maybe not; there’s an awful lot of ‘hurry up and wait’ from previous experiences and I might have the time.

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“God didn’t make a mistake”

Posted in commentary on August 17, 2011| 1 Comment »

Justin Taylor persistently and consistently provides content worth reading, watching and thinking over.  He gets it with regards to disability – I love that God has provided us such a thoughtful advocate!  And he taught me years ago when he was still at Bethlehem how to think clearly about abortion.

His blog is worth following if you don’t currently do so.

Here’s one reason – the video clip he offered yesterday of Dave Busby, who lived with a disability, speaking the truth about God and suffering as clearly as it can be said.  If you follow that link you will see about 90 seconds of the most relevant part of of his talk.

Thank you, Lord, for men gripped by a big, Biblical, happy view of your sovereignty like Dave Busby!

And thank you for Justin Taylor who continuously points to how glorious you are!

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Christianity is not therapy

Posted in commentary, Sermons on August 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

There is too much in our culture that is left to subjective feelings of the moment.  Yet, as we all know and have experienced, feelings change.

Some of the decisions made in the moment have lifelong, even eternal, consequences.

More news on abortion over the weekend left me shaken and angry.

Yet, in the end, no matter what our culture or our churches do or don’t ultimately do to protect the lives of our unborn babies with disabilities, God reigns over all things.

And there is the hope – Jesus is the king, perfect and just and good in everything he does.  All things will be made right by our king; every injustice will be accounted for.

We are not Christians because it makes us feel better; we are Christians because the very source of all joy has called us to himself and personally accounted for every evil we have committed against our Holy God and declared us righteous.

We can experience joy in the midst of great sorrow because he is God and he is glorious.  And that objective reality will help us do what we need to do today as we deal with disability in a culture that would prefer that we or our loved ones would just cease to exist.

Christianity begins with the conviction that God is an objective reality outside ourselves. We do not make him what he is by thinking a certain way about him. As Francis Schaefer said, he is the God who is there.

We don’t make him. He makes us. We don’t decide what he is going to be like. He decides what we are going to be like. He created the universe, and it has the meaning he gives it, not the meaning we give it.

If we give it a meaning different from his, we are fools. And our lives will be tragic in the end. Christianity is not a game; it’s not a therapy. All of its doctrines flow from what God is and what he has done in history.

They correspond to hard facts. Christianity is more than facts. There is faith and hope and love. But these don’t float in the air. They grow like great cedar trees in the rock of God’s truth. . .

Rootless emotionalism that treats Christianity like a therapeutic option will be swept away in the Last Days. Those who will be left standing will be those who have built their house on the rock of great, objective truth with Jesus Christ as the origin, center, and goal of it all.

John Piper, The Fatal Disobedience of Adam and the Triumphant Obedience of Christ, August 26, 2007.

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Pray for our Christian doctors

Posted in commentary, Scripture on August 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I’ve been reading accounts of what happened to the medical profession in Nazi Germany and the capitulation of so many doctors to the Nazi regime’s murderous policies against children and adults with disabilities.

It is a stark reminder to pray for our Christian doctors who not only provide care to us and to our families but must battle darker forces within their own profession.

And it is also a reminder that the Great Physician handles the the most important issue 0f all – the darkness within our own sinful hearts:

But when he heard it, (Jesus) said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:12-13

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This clash is not about ‘preventing disability.’ – Denny Burk

Posted in commentary, Quotes on August 12, 2011| 1 Comment »

I deeply appreciate when those who don’t live with disability speak out on it.

In this blog post from several years ago, Denny Burk, succinctly unpacks a significant cultural problem as evidenced in a New York Times article on abortion and Down syndrome:

There is a real problem with how this piece frames the issue and what’s at stake in our culture. The article suggests that it is a “cultural skirmish over where to draw the line between preventing disability and accepting human diversity.” But what thinking person could possibly describe the conflict in this way. This clash is not about “preventing disability.” That’s a euphemism that every rational person should reject. It’s about whether or not we should execute disabled persons before they can become a “burden” to their parents and society.

On this issue Christians must offer a prophetic word to the culture. All people are created in God’s image (including people with Down Syndrome) and are thereby to be treated with the dignity that God commands towards those who bear His image. To kill innocent humans because they are inconvenient or unwanted is an assault on the image of God.

Amen.

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Gendercide and disability are intimately related

Posted in commentary, News on August 11, 2011| 1 Comment »

Two weeks ago Pastor John pointed to the horrific consequences of preference for boy babies combined with diagnostic tools in areas of the world with broad access to abortion and little regard for unborn girls.  The term that is emerging to describe this destruction of unborn girls is gendercide.

On Tuesday the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) released their study,  Noninvasive Fetal Sex Determination Using Cell-Free Fetal DNA.

To summarize, JAMA determined there is a high degree of accuracy with few risks in tests that allow women to know the sex of their child very early in their pregnancies.

Generally, people of all convictions on abortion see the ethical (and occasionally moral) problems with such tests.  Some who support abortion rights for any reason say this is an unfortunate consequence of that ‘right,’ but that right trumps the problem of sex selection.  Others who support abortion find the idea of abortion for reasons of sex selection to be as repugnant as any pro-life supporter.

For some reason, when disability is part of the discussion, those ethical and moral problems seem to diminish.

For example:

“In an ideal world, if there’s a serious or life-threatening genetic problem with the fetus, I understand people will want to end this pregnancy and try again,” says Art Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. “But when you’re talking about picking a baby’s sex, doctors shouldn’t offer the test, companies shouldn’t offer it, and we should tell people that’s not a good reason to have an abortion.”  Bonnie Rochman, A Blood Test Determines a Baby’s Sex Earlier than Ever. But at What Cost? Time Magazine, August 10, 2011.

Dr. Caplan could so easily understand ‘ending a pregnancy’ (or, more precisely, killing a baby) with a genetic problem, but believes doctors shouldn’t even offer the test for purposes of sex selection.

But how long will that be the case?  Our culture currently finds it abhorrent, but we’ve seen other issues change over time.

If we have one reason for the strong to determine who lives and who doesn’t, why not have several reasons?  How is the choice to have all boys or all girls or one of each morally different than choosing not to allow an unborn baby with disabilities to live?

Yes, I know there are people who argue that disability has its own set of inherent problems that uniquely justify abortion – suffering, diminished quality of life, etc.  The reduced ‘quality of life’ argument just falls to pieces when we actually ask people about how they perceive the quality of their lives – and individuals with disabilities and their families report it is often a very good life indeed.  And can any parent guarantee their child without disabilities won’t suffer?

Again I will emphasize that the tests are not the problem.  There are couples who know they are carriers of certain kinds of genetic abnormalities related to the sex of the child.  In some cases there are prenatal treatments for those conditions.  That is a really good reason to get the test – to help the baby get a good start in life.

All life is valuable.  When tests are used appropriately, children and their parents benefit.  Let us prepare the next generation right now for how to live in this complex soup of possibilities – that God is always good, he is always right, he is sovereign over all things, and he will help you do hard things for his glory and for your joy.  Even the hard things the world and your own flesh tell you to avoid, he will help you persevere.

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Bridging the church/university gap

Posted in commentary on August 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I read “Five Ways to Make God Known at Work” on the Desiring God blog after I posted yesterday about the gap between what is being discussed in the university and what is being read in our churches.  I was helped by the spirit of that blog posting for three different audiences:

  • Faithful, Bible-saturated men and women who teach and administer in our universities

These faithful men and women who teach and administer in our universities have an impact beyond their intellectual engagement with ideas.  I worked at a small college for several years, and those who comported themselves with integrity and kindness had far greater influence on the students and staff than those who were the ‘best’ in their fields.

  • Pastors who faithfully point people to God

The pastors who attended the seminar last week will never have the time to engage every bad idea out there.  And I don’t think we should add an additional burden by expecting them to do so.  A pastor’s charge is to preach the word and shepherd his people.  Pastor John frequently works in references to disability into his sermons, but only when it is appropriate.

The one thing he always does is point me to God.  And I need that far more than I need him unpacking an argument about personhood from the pulpit.

  • The people living in the reality of the ideas being discussed in our universities and in scholarly journals, usually without the credentials to participate in the academic discussion

I doubt I would have much interest in the philosophical discussion of what makes up a person if I didn’t have my son – and discovered there are people defining personhood in ways that would not include him.  I don’t have the academic credentials to be taken seriously, but I do have the credibility of being his dad.

So, I think at least one of the ways the church/university gap is addressed is when all three groups work together:

  • Pastors, preach the word and point people to God.
  • University faculty and administrators, behave in ways that make God look glorious, including when you are addressing evil prettied up in academic language.
  • Lay people, point out the consequences of evil ideas.  We don’t need academic credentials to point out when the emperor has no clothes.  Aborting unborn babies with disabilities and defining some human beings as non-persons are two areas that demand response.

It also raises up praises to God for the incredible gift of Bethlehem College and Seminary.  The coursework is rigorous and we should expect nothing less.  The seminarians are being entrusted with God’s word! Someday some of them may be pastors of college or university faculty who work in hostile environments where extraordinarily evil ideas are being discussed as having merit, like abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.  They need to know that God is glorious and will help them when their reputations and livelihoods are at stake.

May God be pleased to use those pastors, faculty and lay people to finally put an end to such evil.

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How will we bridge the gap between the academy and the church?

Posted in Book Commentary, commentary on August 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

My heart sank as I read over the recommended reading list from one of the speakers at a seminar last week.  I was familiar with most of the authors and many of the books on that list, and there were few I could commend as being faithful to the Bible or helpful in building up the faith.

But I had forgotten where I was.  This was an academic discussion on a university campus.  The rules are different.

During her presentation, the seminar speaker pointed out the basic problem with many of those books on her list.  It was refreshing.  And it did not diminish these books’ importance in the subject area.  Competent academic engagement with the subject requires one to be familiar with the arguments presented in those books.

Thus, “recommended” meant something different than commending them as being edifying or helpful.

I compared her list to the list Brenda Fischer has put together for the library at Bethlehem.  Not one book or resource appeared on both lists.

I wonder how we can bridge this gap.  Ideas discussed within colleges and universities have a tremendous impact on the culture.  The church needs to be engaged.

What do you think?  I’ll share some of my thoughts tomorrow, Lord willing.

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A new resource and humble pie

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

New Resource:

Nancy Guthrie’s interview with Scott Anderson is now available.  Dianne and I have deeply appreciated Nancy’s God-centered, clear-eyed look at sorrow and the sovereignty of God in her books, conference messages, website, and now this interview that was conducted last Thursday.  Dianne and I watched it live and look forward to watching it again.

Humble Pie:

On Monday I commented on a study that concluded that Internet Explorer users were ‘dumb.’

Well, I got fooled!  It was a hoax.

This quote on the hoax sums up nicely how I behaved:

“I think most people just assumed that the research’s findings were dubious or unscientific, but it turned out the website was a sham too,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant with Web security firm Sophos.

Yes, that was me – making those same assumptions but not questioning the website itself.  And I got taken in so easily.

Thankfully, God never gets taken in, ever.  He sees everything, knows everything, and brings glory to his name through everything.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3

And knowing us more intimately than we know ourselves, including how sinful we are, he loves us!

He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.  Psalm 103:10-12

So, I was fooled and a little embarrassed.  But even these things can ultimately be used to bring glory to God and lead to this great conclusion!

The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad. Psalm 126:3

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Pausing to reflect on one of God’s purposes in my son’s disabilities

Posted in commentary on August 3, 2011| 8 Comments »

There is one human being on the planet who Paul trusts without question.  It isn’t me and isn’t his mother.

His younger sister, Hannah, is known as ‘she-who-can-do-no-wrong’ when it comes to Paul.

It is her birthday today. I now have two teenagers living under my roof.

We had another example of Paul’s regard for her just last week.  She got him to take a pill.  In 16 years he hasn’t taken a pill, and she got him to take a pill!  We used to joke about how his tongue was the strongest, most flexible muscle in his body because he could figure out a way to get anything with any texture out of his mouth rather than down his throat.

And she got him to take a pill!  It was a big deal in our household.

All because he trusts her and she refuses to give up on things like that.  She also showed me a better way to wrap the bandage that protects his hand last week.  She knows things.

She doesn’t see the big deal about her affections for him and his affections for her.  She has frequently, without asking, taken care of all his personal needs.

Her friends all know about Paul and he is welcome to be around when her friends visit.  They also don’t seem to think disability is that big of a deal.

Yes, I expect that one of God’s purposes in Paul’s disabilities is to prepare Hannah for something in her future.  But I see evidences of things he’s doing right now.  As I write this, I think another of his purposes in my son’s disabilities is granting me the joy of watching my daughter’s sacrificial love toward her brother.

Indeed, God has richly blessed me.

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