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Welcome to Bethlehem, Pastor John!

July 13, 2010 by John Knight

No, he’s not back yet.  But 30 years ago TODAY, Dr. John Piper of Bethel College officially became Pastor John of Bethlehem Baptist Church.

Oh how I praise God for that day!

Hopefully you’ve become aware of my affections for Pastor John through this blog.   I cannot overstate how God has used him in my life to help me see more of God.  I pray for many more years of his God-centered, Bible-saturated influence on my life.

For those of us dealing with disability, Pastor John may have uttered the single most powerful statement on disability ever preached just this past January:

So my aim in this message is modest and, I think, explosive, if the church really took hold of it and lived it. The message is that God knits all the children together in their mothers’ wombs, and they are all—all of them of every degree of ability—conceived for the purpose of displaying the glory of God. (From Born Blind for the Glory of God, January 24, 2010)

Please, Lord, let the whole world see how true that statement is!

There will be a posting on the Desiring God blog from Jon Bloom sometime today on this happy anniversary.  I have not seen it, but given the care Jon Bloom writes everything, I know it will be worth reading.

In the meantime, please join me in thanking God and praying for John and Noel Piper as we celebrate God’s goodness to us over these three decades of their service to us!

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“Even the least carry intrinsic dignity and worth” – Michael Beates

July 12, 2010 by John Knight

I have never met Michael Beates but we corresponded some years ago as he was finishing his thesis on disability and the Bible.  He is the father of a young woman with significant disabilities and has served on the International Board of Directors for Joni and Friends.

So, when I discovered he had contributed a chapter for the book, Genetic Ethics: Do the Ends Justify the Genes?, I bought it.  (Yes, I agree that is an awful title for such a serious subject.)

His chapter was definitely worth reading!  Even the footnotes had content worth chewing over, like this one:

Even though a Trisomy 18, an encephalic, or Tay-Sach’s syndrome child is doomed to a short and even possibly painful life, it is not our place to subvert God’s sovereign creative act by destroying such a life.  When we do, we add two human injustices to our usurpation of God’s authority: We deprive the child of the privilege of being held in the loving arms of the parents; and we deprive the parents of the opportunity to hold – however briefly – their child as a vital part of the grieving process. (Beates, p. 59)

As Christians who see God’s sovereignty everywhere in the Bible, we do not pass lightly over the suffering inherent in this present age, including the suffering caused by disabilities.  How refreshing and encouraging to see God’s sovereignty applied so clearly: do not kill the little ones; do not add sin upon sin; do not attempt to usurp God’s activity.

It is a short chapter, but full of insight worth additional coverage.  I am hoping the other chapters provide similar value.

More on this to come.

Posted in Book Commentary | 3 Comments »

More benefits of long-term church membership

July 11, 2010 by John Knight

I was reminded this week of another reason it is a good for those of us dealing with disability to have a long-term connection to a church:  long-term church friends.

We spent a wonderful Thursday with friends of ours who now serve overseas as translators for a people-group in south-east Asia.  We first met them in a Bethlehem small group years ago.  We had Paul and they did not yet have any children.  Over the next seven years before they went overseas, our other three children and all three of theirs were born, each “pair” within months of each other.  Dianne and I are so grateful for their friendship and support through some very hard things.  The hours we have spent in prayer and bible study together would be difficult to count!

So the rare opportunities to spend time together as families are precious. And in the middle of our Thursday gathering, Paul went into one of his spells.

That could have ruined everything.

But, experienced friends that they are, they trusted that we knew what we were doing for him.  There was no unsolicited advice offered.  And they did not freak out.

They also demonstrated their usual deep compassion, which looks nothing at all like pity.  God has granted them a special kind of wisdom which displays personal care and affection, yet without their being intrusive or uncomfortable with our unusual family situation.

So, we made Paul as comfortable as possible and continued with our day, well into the late evening.  He was as safe and comfortable where we were as he would be anyplace else.

So, God gave us the gift of a good day along with a reminder about how unusual our friendships are going to be because disability is part of who we are as a family.  Thanks be to God for his gift of the church from which this friendship flowed!

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How we feel about God will determine how we feel about those with cognitive disabilities

July 9, 2010 by John Knight

Many years ago when Pastor John was preaching in Romans, he introduced me to C.S. Lewis’ “God in the Dock.”  He shared a quote from that essay in a sermon I have listened to more than any other, “Pastoral Thoughts on the Doctrine of Election.”  More than any other resource, with the sole exception of the Bible, this sermon has helped me keep a proper orientation on who God is and who I am in relationship to him.  And part of what was so helpful was this clarifying statement Pastor John offered from C.S. Lewis:

The ancient man approached God . . . as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defence for being the god who permits war, poverty and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God’s acquittal. But the important thing is that man is on the Bench and God in the Dock. (“God in the Dock,” in Lesley Walmsley, ed., C.S. Lewis: Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces [London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000], p. 36)

How often have I been that ‘kindly judge’ over God!  I am grateful God asserted his rightful, helpful, merciful sovereign Lordship over me before I destroyed myself or my family.

As I have been reading arguments for and against abortion of those with various disabilities, God has recently guided me to look at the issue of cognitive disabilities in much the same way that C.S. Lewis described how ‘the modern man’ views God:

  • We believe we are the rightful judges of who has or does not have the cognitive abilities to be considered a person;
  • Because we believe we are kindly judges, we will only judge those who are ‘severely’ cognitively impaired to be non-persons;
  • In our perceived power and wisdom, we will execute a kind judgment on them; we won’t allow them to ‘suffer’ by living, or to cause others to suffer who would care for them;
  • The important thing is, we who are already born and who are ‘wise’ have the ability and the right to decide who is a person or not a person.  We are the judges, and the person with cognitive disabilities is in the dock.

This wickedness leaves me shaking as I write it.  And this connection between how we ‘enlightened, modern’ people view God and how we view those with cognitive disabilities is so obvious to me today I’m ashamed to say I never saw it before.

Yet it also brings to mind this from God’s word in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.  And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

This contains a stunning warning along with a promise.  The warning comes in concert with God’s statements about disability in the Old Testament:

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?” (Exodus 4:11)

The warning: to those who think themselves wise and strong, God intentionally created those who you consider foolish and weak, even those you consider to be ‘non-persons’ – and he will use them to bring you down.  Better to recognize your extraordinary sinfulness and God’s mighty power to save, give glory to God and serve rather than destroy.

The promise: to all who are disdained because of your perceived lack of cognitive abilities, God made you just the way you are.  You are no accident nor an afterthought.  You will be used by God in ways that bring glory to God through means that are impossible but for your ‘weak’ status in the world.  God is for you, and knows what he is doing.

And to those of us granted the privilege of parenting one of these ‘weak’ ones, who are low and despised by the world, God has promised he will supply every need, he will grant us strength for the day:

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

Praise be to the God who is sovereign over all things!

Posted in Book Commentary, Sermons | Leave a Comment »

Keeping Awareness of Disablity before the Church: Bethlehem’s Family Discipleship Newsletter Feature Article for July

July 8, 2010 by John Knight

We have been blessed at Bethlehem with leadership who wants the church to know about and get involved with disability in a variety of ways.  Last month, of course, every family received a copy of Just the Way I Am.  This month I was delighted to learn that the feature article for the Family Discipleship newsletter was written by Brenda Fischer, our disability ministry coordinator.

July’s Feature Article is by Brenda Fischer, Coordinator for Disability Ministry.

The Gift of a Suffering Believer’s Wisdom

I’m sitting here with a big stack of books in front of me overwhelmed with gratefulness to God for his work in the lives of those who have written these books or have lived the stories in these books.  Most have been through deep waters of suffering and come out on the other side with an understanding and wisdom richer and more valuable than much gold.  James uses the phrase “the meekness of wisdom” (James 3:13b).  The word meekness means humbly patient and long-suffering.  I would use these words to describe the life stories in this collection of books making up the New Disability Section of our Bethlehem libraries.

Here are a few examples:

*The precious book Bright Valley of Love by Edna Hong shares the story of Gunther, an abused and disabled boy living in Nazi Germany.  Society scorned the disabled and yet meek and compassionate followers of Christ saw through his broken body and nurtured Gunther’s soul.  This is a book you will never forget.

*Joni Eareckson Tada wrote the book, A Lifetime of Wisdom: Embracing the Way God Heals You. To read this book is to drink of the richness of the wisdom God freely gives to those who seek him in their suffering.  It is a tear jerking, faith-filled testimony.

*Finding Your Child’s Way on the Autism Spectrum by Dr. Laura Hendrickson is more than information, it is an encouragement to families who face the diagnosis of autism and a real help in seeing God’s hand in the process.

*Same Lake Different Boat-Coming Alongside People Touched by Disability by Stephanie O. Hubach is one of the best books I have read about ministering to people with disabilities.  Stephanie shares her faith and her life experience as a mom with a child with Down syndrome.  The Disability Ministry volunteers were given this book last year and the feedback was very positive.

*Our own Krista Horning’s book Just the Way I Am uses delightful pictures of some of the Bethlehem children with disabilities, scripture and simple truth-filled statements to highlight the certainty that God is our great designer.  Her story at the end of the book is a testimony of God’s good work in using hard things to bring growth in wisdom and directing us to Jesus. What an amazing way to share God’s sovereign goodness with children (and adults).

*List and brief review of all the books in the Disability Section of the Bethlehem Libraries.

The Bible says that the parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable (1 Cor 12:22).  One small piece of this indispensability is the wisdom we are able to glean and learn from those whose lives has been hard and yet they have trusted Jesus and been richly blessed with insight.  To read these books and share in the growth of another’s testimony is a great gift.  Your faith will be strengthened by those who have walked through some very difficult times.

In addition to faith-inspiring books, the new Disability section of the library includes books on teaching people with disabilities, care-giving, encouragement for parents and befriending those with disabilities. May we as a church reach out to those who are weaker and ask God for the blessing of the meekness of wisdom.

Posted in Book Commentary, Helpful things | Leave a Comment »

An Intellectual Defender of Human Life

July 7, 2010 by John Knight

Titles frequently tip where a writer is heading.  “Common ground” is one of those phrases in a title that frequently signals a writer isn’t ready to make a stand on a principle or value, and that important, even foundational, things are open to negotiation.

But I was delighted to find myself mistaken as I read Dr. Charles Camosy’s article, “Common Ground on Abortion? Engaging Peter Singer on the Moral Status of Potential Persons” in the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (subscription required to read full article).

Dr. Camosy does what Dr. Manninen refused to do: he defends the proposition that moral status is inherent to a person and NOT dependent on the ability to achieve a certain level of rational thought.

Wow!

Then he goes straight at Peter Singer, one of the leading thinkers on the moral acceptability of killing infants with severe cognitive disabilities AFTER they are born.

Dr. Camosy does so in a generous, open-handed way that leaves me understanding more about Dr. Singer’s argumentation than I have in the past, even after reading Dr. Singer’s own work.  And then Dr. Camosy identifies weaknesses and refutes multiple lines of arguments.  He ends by arguing that using Dr. Singer’s own line of reasoning, Dr. Singer should be against surgical abortion.  Truly, that was unexpected.

In the middle of all that, he dropped a bomb that has left my head spinning for the past five days: the important difference between active and passive potency in the defense of human life.  When I get my own head around it, I will write more.

Though I’m not yet equipped to explain it, I can tell you right now why it is important.

Dr. Camosy uses the argument on active potential to make a case for protecting the lives of those who otherwise cannot achieve personhood under other philosophical definitions:

So, the very reason we extend personhood to the severely mentally disabled is the same reason we should extend it to fetuses and infants: the beings in question all have a natural potential for personhood (emphasis mine). p. 590

That is a massively important argument!  It is a warning shot to all who believe that ‘personhood’ requires the ability to achieve a level of rationality.

Why do I pay so much attention to this?  Isn’t a biblical argument sufficient?

Yes, I believe that God will judge rightly and that he sees all the evil things happening in this present age:  “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day (Psalm 7:11).”  The evil done against our children with disabilities will not stand.

I also believe we need to be ready for the arguments that are building to destroy our disabled children, and our infirm elderly as well.  There are some who argue consistently (and I would add, persuasively) that philosophical arguments on the moral status of those with cognitive disabilities is NOT as settled as some would like to believe.

Yet, the confidence of those who disdain our children with disabilities is growing.  Peter Singer, for example, has achieved a certain media-darling status; there is a reason why this professor of ethics gets to write editorials for the New York Times and the Times of London.  He is influencing culture outside of the academy in ways that would have been unheard of a generation ago.

We need to be ready.

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Tired arguments, good preaching and helpful books

July 6, 2010 by John Knight

There are a lot of tired arguments out there.

I just finished watching another preacher try to explain why John 9 (which is about Jesus healing the man born blind) couldn’t possibly be about what it says, “that the works of God might be displayed in him (John 9:3).”   We know it couldn’t mean that, this preacher asserted, because we know that God is love and a loving God would never subject someone to years of blindness.

That would be a mean thing to do to that blind man, said this preacher.  So, rather than try to understand it, we’ll work really hard to turn that passage into a pretzel to mean something else.

It is so tiresome, this desire to turn passages into something else rather than consider God’s word.

Just for the sake of argument, I decided to give this one to him.  Let John 9 mean something else entirely.

But then what do we do with all the other places where God asserts his sovereignty over things we might consider to be ‘bad’?

I didn’t have to dig; I used my readings my One-Year Tract Reading Plan for July 4, from Psalm 135:5-12.  The emphases in bold are mine:

For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and of beast;
who in your midst, O Egypt, sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants;
who struck down many nations and killed mighty kings,
Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan,
and gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to his people Israel.

The Bible returns again and again to this theme:  God is sovereign and free to do whatever he pleases.  I’m glad that John 9:3 actually means what it says it means, without the need to make God into something that he is not.  If you want to hear a proper sermon on this passage, Born Blind for the Glory of God is a good place to start!

And I have this image in my head that this man born blind, rather than accusing God of being mean to him, has spent the last two millenia praising God for granting him spiritual eyes to see and enjoy Jesus forever!  And not only that, his story is part of the story of Jesus!

Then on Monday I started reading The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering  the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism by Kevin DeYoung.  In the foreword, I was surprised and delighted to find that Jerry Bridges deals with several problems when we assert that God is simply a God of love:

The second error in “my God is a God of love” is that it ignores the fact that God is also a God of justice and righteousness.  It ignores the fact that the Bible says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Romans 1:18).  Because it ignores the bad news of God’s righteous judgment, it fails to tells us the really good news that the God of love did indeed love us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins (1 John 4:10, 1 Corinthians 15:1-3).

This is just one illustration of the bad theology abroad among Christians today. . . pp. 9-10

God has been doing that a lot for me lately.  I’ll read something that is discouraging or hard, or, in this case, simply tired and wearying.  And then he’ll give me multiple gifts – something from his word, a reminder of a helpful sermon, and a phrase from a new book or author that is very encouraging.

And that God, who is both entirely free and entirely sovereign, has said specific things about disability and his intentionality.  I, for one, am grateful that God is so clear that he is the author of disability, for his glory and for my good.

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Sometimes Paul is a typical teenager

July 4, 2010 by John Knight

Twice a year Dianne and I are left scratching our heads.

What should we get Paul for his birthday and Christmas?

Today is Paul’s birthday.  He is 15 years old.

Our typically-developing kids are easy – they tell us what they want!  And their interests and desires have changed as they have grown.

Paul tends to like what he likes. He is still playing with toys we gave him years ago. And he’s quickly rejected toys we were absolutely certain he would like.

And sometimes it isn’t practical to get him another of what he likes!

He likes swings:

He even has one we take with us!

He likes to rock:

We also have a portable, folding rocking chair.

He likes to ride:

He’s driven the golf cart, but I couldn’t find any pictures of that.

Sometimes he likes the water.  We can’t predict when that will be.

We even have a dog we can borrow!

And he likes his siblings.  Especially his sister.

He’s pretty content with what he has; he doesn’t even realize its his birthday.  So the whole gifting thing is really my issue rather than his.

His sister, however, thought about what he likes and came up with the perfect suggestion – iTunes gift card!

Of course.  He loves music, and he has enjoyed adding new music to his library.  He still enjoys Raffi from when he was a very young boy.  Rich Mullins has been on his iPod for several years.  And today he typically asks for Yo Yo Ma’s Appalachia Waltz when he wants to go to sleep.

She’s a wise young lady, that sister of his.

And I think, if he were a typically developing young man, he would still enjoy getting iTunes gift cards.

So, what will it be?  His mom is enjoying Shane and Shane.  We’ve heard good things about Tenth Avenue North.

And I’m very grateful to God that Paul was given to me!

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Evil is coming, and Jesus is coming, too

July 3, 2010 by John Knight

Al Mohler helpfully addressed an incredible editorial by Antonia Senior in The Times of London: Yes, Abortion is Killing. But It’s the Lesser Evil.

Antonia Senior believes the discussion about abortion is nuanced:

As ever, when an issue we thought was black and white becomes more nuanced, the answer lies in choosing the lesser evil.

She argues that killing a baby is the lesser evil.  The greater evil would be limiting “complete control over her own fertility.”

Dr. Mohler framed it well:

Moral earthquakes, like earthquakes of the geophysical variety, most often occur suddenly and without warning. At one moment, the moral argument is framed in conventional and familiar ways. Just an instant later, all is changed. An article that appears in the June 30, 2010 edition of The Times [London] represents a moral earthquake that resets an entire issue — and that issue is abortion. This chilling essay is hard to read, but impossible to ignore. To read it is to feel the moral ground shift under your feet.

I agree we are seeing a rapid shift in the discussion about unborn life.  I am not surprised, though, because the framework for Antonia Senior’s argument has been developing for decades, particularly in academic circles.

But something greater will replace this shift.  I don’t know when, but I know it is more certain than where the argument about abortion is going.

Jesus is coming back.

In my devotions for today from Isaiah 63, it described how he is coming back:

Who is this who comes from Edom,
in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save.”

Why is your apparel red,
and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?

“I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath;
their lifeblood spattered on my garments,
and stained all my apparel.
For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and my year of redemption had come.
I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;
so my own arm brought me salvation,
and my wrath upheld me.
I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
I made them drunk in my wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

Isaiah 63:1-6

The ESV study bible illuminates these verses with this stunning statement:  “The Messiah comes in final vengeance.”

He will not let this evil of abortion stand.  It will end someday, preferably before he returns.  But if not, certainly when he returns.

Thus, ours is not just a cause to protect our unborn babies with disabilities until that day; we have a call to warn those who would destroy them that Jesus is coming back.  And that he offers a glorious answer!

We need to tell them now.  Because when he returns, all evils – lesser and greater – will be dealt with.

Posted in commentary, Scripture | 1 Comment »

When news rocks my world, God is still good

July 2, 2010 by John Knight

Dianne’s phone call had happy news: “they know it isn’t lymphoma, leukemia or diabetes.”

That stopped me.  I didn’t know they were looking for things that medically serious.

Background: for awhile Paul has been having what we call ‘spells’ where he is obviously uncomfortable, refuses to eat, and sleeps more than normal.  We did the normal routine of checking on his diet and whatever sicknesses were being passed around his school.  But the spells didn’t stop.

So Dianne, good mother that she is, started the rounds with doctors.  Initial blood work didn’t show anything.  First round of medical intervention seemed to make it worse, so we stopped that.  They ruled out the serious things mentioned before.  We have a reasonable plan we’ve worked out with his primary doctor to try to figure this out.

God is giving us good medical care and I am grateful for the doctors and specialists we have.  But we are constantly reminded that as skilled as they are, they don’t know everything.  They can’t know everything.  I trust they are doing their best, but I do not hope in them.

My point is simply this: God alone is sovereign.  God knows what is going in inside of Paul.  God cares about Paul even more than I do.  There is not one promise that God has made that he will fail to keep.  He is absolutely, entirely trustworthy.

His ways are inscrutable even as they are perfect.  I know God will help us even as I don’t know the particular outcome of these episodes for Paul:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  Romans 8:26

Dianne and I aren’t playing around with a notion that somehow believing good things or hoping for the best or bargaining with God has any value at all.  Jesus himself is holding it all together.  Nothing can separate us from Jesus:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:35-39

So, we don’t know if these spells are serious or will be easily dealt with.  But I do know this: God is good, he has never done me or Paul wrong, and someday I will clearly see it is all for his glory and for my good.

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