The Works of God

Autism is weird and hard on everyone in a family. And its no picnic for churches, either.

Lori Sealy lives with autism and also parents a child with autism. And she loves God! Her story was interesting and encouraging – and I found her insights into presenting the gospel to those who live on the autism spectrum really helpful.

Thank you, Ruth Brewbaker, Director of Rooftop Friends at Young Meadows Presbyterian Church for sending it to me.

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I was playing around with some family photos and thinking about an old DG post I had written when the thought occurred that maybe I could use the animation website to make that point in a different way. Let me know what you think in comments.

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You can access the live-stream of TEF’s conference here at the bottom of the page: http://www.tefconference.com

Paul Martin kicks it off at 7 p.m. (Pacific) tonight.

You can learn more about The Elisha Foundation here.

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Please pray as people gather to help families experiencing disability and their churches!

I’m really excited to get on a plane tomorrow for San Diego and participate in The Elisha Foundation’s Conference on Disability. The four men who serve as plenary speakers are going deep into God’s word and I’ll have the chance to facilitate a panel discussion with them on Friday night.

They are hoping to live-stream the conference. Go to their website or Facebook page to see what the options are available beginning tomorrow night, Thursday, Nov. 6.

On Friday and Saturday in Alabama, other friends of mine are gathering for The Accessible Kingdom Disability Ministry Conference. Stephanie Hubach, author of Same Lake, Different Boat, Special Needs Ministry Director for the Presbyterian Church in America and a friend of Bethlehem’s disability ministry is a keynote speaker. The conference also includes more than 40 workshops.

May God do a mighty work through these events!

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As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. (John 9:1 ESV)

(T)he Gospels are filled with observations of Jesus looking at people. His looking was often followed by compassion and then action. Both the Good Samaritan and the father of the Prodigal Son follow this trajectory. Instead of being frozen by the unknown, we can begin by looking. Instead of a plan, we have a path. So we don’t have to figure everything out. That takes the pressure off.

Paul Miller, A Loving Life, p. 85.

Paul Miller is the father of an adult daughter with disabilities and also authored the very helpful book, A Praying Life.

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Dianne and I appreciate this young woman a great deal, who now goes by Amber Kay Satterfield as she married Eric since she gave this testimony! She has suffered much, and God is her treasure.

You can find other really helpful chapel talks and testimonies from Bethlehem College and Seminary here.

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After my Paul was born I concluded that God was powerful but not good. I was really, really wrong.

In less than a minute Pastor Jason describes the two ways Satan tries to use our circumstances to define God as less than who he really is. And then Pastor Jason closes with a great reminder!

You can hear, watch or read all of Pastor Jason’s sermon, Adult Discipleship, here, delivered on March 8, 2014.

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Sometimes I read things that just make me want to stand and cheer at their insight and clarity on hard issues. Tim Challies, discussing a new technology designed to eliminate genetic abnormalities, does that by reminding us that God has a perspective on this issue – and it is glorious and good!

We do well to end suffering when we are able to. We do well to cure disease and eliminate curable pain. But we dare not step into God’s place as those who will design babies according to our plan rather than his. We dare not trust our goodness ahead of his goodness, our wisdom ahead of his wisdom. Sometimes God’s good and wise plans involve something we would not choose and would never design, such as a child with a severe genetic abnormality. But when we trust a good and wise God, we rejoice that the works of God might be displayed in all of these. (Emphasis mine)

You’ll want to read the entire article by Tim Challies, The Dawn of the Designer Babies.

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A beautiful Song for the Suffering by Shane and Shane, with Pastor John.

Shane and Shane will be leading an evening of worship at the Desiring God National Conference on September 27.

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Today is an anniversary of sorts.  On October 11, 2004, Dianne came home from her doctor to tell me something was very wrong. The next day it was confirmed to be cancer. A few days later we knew it to be Stage IV cancer. And that started an entirely new chapter in our lives.

Dianne still has her port.  She takes a drug every day.  She still sees her oncologist several times a year.

And she manages the household, cares for her family, volunteers at church, participates in Bible studies and encourages me.  In fact, until she reads this she probably won’t even remember the importance of this date – she’s got real things to attend to right now rather than bother with something in the past.

Cancer does not rule our household. But God used it to change our household.

Pastor John also had cancer, and that lead him to write a short booklet available at Desiring God:  Don’t Waste Your Cancer.  Please, read it and share it with somebody you know.

Joni Eareckson Tada also faced cancer, and did a one-hour video on her journey, which can be found here. Caution: this is a raw look at cancer and includes some frightening, very real images.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV)

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