The Works of God

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.

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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!

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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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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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Today begins the 2011 Desiring God Conference for Pastors.  I love this gathering of faithful leaders.

This is my sixth Pastors Conference, and my fourth as a member of the staff of Desiring God.  If things progress like in years past, these things will happen:

1. I will meet men dealing with such extraordinarily hard things in their churches, they live with constant discouragement and temptation to quit.
2. I will meet men who are experiencing spiritual change in their own lives they never would have predicted – and this change is frequently coming years after they first began pastoring.
3. I will meet some young man who makes the decision to pursue seminary based on what God is doing in his life through this conference.
4. God will bring some man dealing with disability, either in his own family or in his church, directly to me without either of us knowing it until we meet.  In other words, he didn’t know about Bethlehem’s disability ministry or me or The Works of God, and I didn’t know anything about him.

Conferences like these are really important to those of us dealing with disability, and it is one reason I come back to our supporting our pastors in prayer and encouragement so often.  Not only does their being grounded in the truth of God’s word help us in our own lives, but leaders with that kind of affection for God and his word also tend to be more supportive of initiatives like disability ministry.

In fact, I can point to one church with a thriving disability ministry that had, at best, lukewarm support from their pastor.  All of the rest had clear, vocal, personal support from the lead pastor and usually the elders as well.

So, please pray for your pastor – especially if he is lukewarm to disability ministry – that he may be gripped by a big view of God and his sovereignty over all things.  And please pray for the gathering of pastors these next three days as well.

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