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7 Lessons from the Community of Disability – Greg Lucas

February 19, 2012 by John Knight

In case you missed it (because he doesn’t write nearly enough!), Greg shared some of his God-granted wisdom at his blog this week:

7 Lessons from the Community of Disability

 

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Just the Way I Am – still $5 but not for long!

February 18, 2012 by John Knight

When I checked on Friday, there were copies of Just the Way I Am still available for $5 at Desiring God.  But not many!

The supply is limited and once Desiring God’s inventory is exhausted, they won’t be available at Desiring God any longer.

Free shipping on orders of 10 books or more.

Cases of 30 books are also available with free shipping.

You can order it here.  This is a web-only special!

After Desiring God’s supplies are gone, you can still order it through Christian Focus, Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

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Please pray for the 1%

February 17, 2012 by John Knight

According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are 70 million Deaf people in the world.

That’s 1% of the world’s population!

According to The Joshua Project, there are 33 Deaf people groups around the world that are considered unreached, which means less than 2% of that people group are Evangelical and less than 5% are adherents to Christianity.

33!

In a printed report from The Joshua Project, they listed 52 Deaf people groups that are unengaged, which means no full-time workers involved in evangelism or church planting.

52!

Some of those countries were no surprise – Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar.

Others were quite a bit more surprising – France, Germany, Italy.

I don’t have an answer for this, but I know that God does.  Please pray he would provide for our Deaf brothers and sisters around the world, and that he would call millions more to him, for his glory and for our collective good.

Posted in News, Prayer Requests | 1 Comment »

“I wanted to know for sure – am I truly believing?”

February 16, 2012 by John Knight

God took home one of his saints last week who knew plenty about physical suffering and disability.

Mike Stohmeyer was a great friend of Desiring God.  A tribute to his life, and his wife, can be found on Desiring God’s blog.

But even better, listen to him for yourself in this 3 1/2 minute video:

May we all join him in saying, “my faith is real!”

 

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Pray in ways that make much of God

February 15, 2012 by John Knight

Dianne and I often long for people to hear from all the leaders at Bethlehem who guide us in worship, prayer, introductions, communion and the like.  Our leaders consistently point us to God!

You already know my affections for David Michael, our pastor for Parenting and Family Discipleship and overseer of our disability ministry.  I’ve learned some tremendous things about prayer from him.

So when I saw he was going to pray during last Sunday’s worship, I recorded him.  He’s allowing me to share it with you.

David Michael Prayer 2-12-12

I don’t offer this to make much of David, because that would dishonor him and the God to whom he prayed.  I offer it because it is God-centered, rich in Bible, and deeply encouraging to my heart because it raises my eyes to see God!

May these two minutes bless you richly and point you to our magnificent, omnipotent, purposeful, glorious God.

Posted in Helpful things | 1 Comment »

Limited time: Just the Way I Am is available for $5!

February 14, 2012 by John Knight

Just the Way I Am is now available for $5 at Desiring God!

The supply is limited and once Desiring God’s inventory is exhausted, they won’t be available at Desiring God any longer.

Free shipping on orders of 10 books or more.

Cases of 30 books are also available with free shipping.

You can order it here or by calling 1.888.346.4700 or 612.435.2401.  Update!  This is a web-only special!

After Desiring God’s supplies are gone, you can still order it through Christian Focus, Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Posted in News | 2 Comments »

There’s so much work to do. . .

February 13, 2012 by John Knight

My friend and DG colleague, Dr. Mark Struck, was doing some background research and discovered this:

285 million people are visually impaired worldwide: 39 million are blind and 246 million have low vision.
About 90% of the world’s visually impaired live in developing countries.

Source: WHO, 2010

So, the number of people living with some form of visual impairment is just less than the entire population of the United States!

Clearly, an emphasis on disability and an emphasis on reaching the nations can naturally go together in our churches.

Because we want everyone to know our King!

And (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  (Luke 4:16-21 ESV)

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God is always doing more

February 12, 2012 by John Knight

Have you ever needed to stay in bed for a week, or broken a leg and couldn’t use it?

The muscles get weak from not being used.

So, like the man born blind having his brain rewired when Jesus gave him sight, another man, also disabled from birth, experienced far more than what was immediately obvious:

From Acts 2:2-10

2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple.
3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.
4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.”
5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.
6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.
8 And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God,
10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

His legs had never carried weight – and he could leap? He could keep his balance when he had never walked before?

The multitude of miracles is breath-taking!

And best of all, he got the most important thing right: walking and leaping and PRAISING GOD!

That man died many centuries ago. If God, using Peter, had only healed his legs, the good done for him would have been temporary.

But praising God? We’ll get to do that forever!

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“Don’t give up” by Jon Bloom

February 11, 2012 by John Knight

Disability is relentless – you already know this!

And God reminds us that waiting on God, even when we are so tired we don’t think we can continue, has a great result, as Jon Bloom wrote yesterday:

Do not give up when waiting on God seems endless.

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:30–31)

Jon Bloom, Don’t Give Up

Yes, God is greater!

Even if you have already read Jon Bloom’s post at Desiring God from yesterday, read it again and be filled up with God’s word.

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“Never again” must actually mean, never again!

February 10, 2012 by John Knight

I thank God for Abort73.com.

And thank you to Pastor John for pointing to it.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

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