Recently our new president got himself into hot water over bowling in the White House alley. Appearing on Jay Leno's late night show, he compared his score to "Special Olympics."
"It's like - it was like Special Olympics or something," he said, smiling.
There has been much appropriate outrage over his remark. Stupidity is the best excuse he has! I fear his gaffe may stem from much deeper roots than stupidity, however.
One political figure with close ties to disability in her own family described the President's remark as "shocking." Her own view of persons affected by disability is that they are "our world's most precious and unique people."
It is both sad and interesting that those who think the most of themselves and their abilities disdain and discard as insignificant the "precious and unique people" of the special needs community.
People with special needs often have no voice in our culture. Shame on the church of Jesus Christ for not aggressively working to include all these who have a different way of being! By their very differences, they have so much to contribute. They have much to teach the "able."
At A Restoration Church we intentionally include individuals and families affected by disability! It has nothing to do with the Special Olympics. It has everything to do with completion! Paul said, "... you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." (1 Cor. 12:27)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Come When Called or Just Come?!
Do you know this drill? “O, I’m so sorry. What do you need? Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do.” And then get out of Dodge before any specifics are discussed.
Such a drill is a band-aid on a guilty conscience but it bears no resemblance to “bearing each other’s burdens.” Gal. 6:2
Just exactly what does that need to look like for me? For you?
There is apparent tension between what Paul says in Galatians 6:2 and what James writes in James 2:14 – 16: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds… Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If any one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well. Keep warm and well-fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
Where is the manual for parsing these principles?
Certainly, “to bear another’s burden” doesn’t mean standing back with arms folded assessing their progress. Nor is it running along beside someone carrying a heavy burden shouting encouragement. Bearing another’s burden must include in some way taking on that burden as if it were your or my own.
Clearly Jesus calls us by His Word and His strong example to love with both mercy and grace. He also sets the pace in helping the wounded, loving the hurting and doing whatever it takes to meet a burdening need. He stopped in mid-stride – while he was on a very important mission to save a VIP man’s daughter – to help a woman who simply touched his robe. (Mark 5:24 – 34)
So yesterday after church when a family group showed up asking for money, was I wrong to question the legitimacy of the need based on past experience with this same family unit? How does the principle of “being wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16) apply? Was I – in fact – guilty of doing exactly what James suggests is a travesty of faith: “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If any one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well. Keep warm and well-fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?”?
There is perhaps more than a little irony in the fact that I left church to literally help someone lift some logs at the bottom of our drive. It was really not a “woman task” - especially not two women way into their middle years - but we were stubborn enough to do it.
So are “burdens” on some hidden scale? Logs belong to my friend and me; money and food belong to someone else.
Hmmm! At least it has me thinking and wondering - which has to be a first step!
Now the phone rings: “Hello” “Can you help keep some special needs kids while their parents enjoy a coffee house experience in three days?” I have to smile. God MUST have a sense of humor. He certainly is giving me opportunity to continue my quest to understand what it means “to come when called” – to bear another’s burden!
What is becoming crystal clear in my fog of wonder is that it all requires a changed heart! It's just not natural to put others first, and that's a very good thing! "Natural" is not the path to restoration!
Such a drill is a band-aid on a guilty conscience but it bears no resemblance to “bearing each other’s burdens.” Gal. 6:2
Just exactly what does that need to look like for me? For you?
There is apparent tension between what Paul says in Galatians 6:2 and what James writes in James 2:14 – 16: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds… Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If any one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well. Keep warm and well-fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
Where is the manual for parsing these principles?
Certainly, “to bear another’s burden” doesn’t mean standing back with arms folded assessing their progress. Nor is it running along beside someone carrying a heavy burden shouting encouragement. Bearing another’s burden must include in some way taking on that burden as if it were your or my own.
Clearly Jesus calls us by His Word and His strong example to love with both mercy and grace. He also sets the pace in helping the wounded, loving the hurting and doing whatever it takes to meet a burdening need. He stopped in mid-stride – while he was on a very important mission to save a VIP man’s daughter – to help a woman who simply touched his robe. (Mark 5:24 – 34)
So yesterday after church when a family group showed up asking for money, was I wrong to question the legitimacy of the need based on past experience with this same family unit? How does the principle of “being wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16) apply? Was I – in fact – guilty of doing exactly what James suggests is a travesty of faith: “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If any one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well. Keep warm and well-fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?”?
There is perhaps more than a little irony in the fact that I left church to literally help someone lift some logs at the bottom of our drive. It was really not a “woman task” - especially not two women way into their middle years - but we were stubborn enough to do it.
So are “burdens” on some hidden scale? Logs belong to my friend and me; money and food belong to someone else.
Hmmm! At least it has me thinking and wondering - which has to be a first step!
Now the phone rings: “Hello” “Can you help keep some special needs kids while their parents enjoy a coffee house experience in three days?” I have to smile. God MUST have a sense of humor. He certainly is giving me opportunity to continue my quest to understand what it means “to come when called” – to bear another’s burden!
What is becoming crystal clear in my fog of wonder is that it all requires a changed heart! It's just not natural to put others first, and that's a very good thing! "Natural" is not the path to restoration!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Live Like You're Dying
The sermon at A Restoration Church today is Luke 21:5-38 - "Serene Living in Turbulent Times!"
The bullet points are:
Lots of thoughts going round in my head:
I've had my own experience with living like I'm dying. It's scary stuff, but it's also where the most real reality of life is!
Country singer Tim McGraw wrote a song about "Live Like You Were Dying" based on his personal experience. He expresses doing all the things he shoved to the back burner to do later - doing them right now - like sky diving, rocky mountain climbing, two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu! "And I loved deeper ... and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying"!
What happens when we "live we are dying"? What's important shifts to what's really important! Risks don't matter except to become worth the cost. People and relationships mean more. Living God's purpose becomes a matter of life or death! Time races and we race with it as we live like we were dying!
I guess it goes without saying that "living like I'm dying" means my heart changes, too! My prayer becomes: "Lord, give me dying eyes and dying ears and a dying heart to see and hear and love with life or death urgency!" That's how Jesus lived His last days, for sure!
The bullet points are:
- Norhing is permanent
- Nothing is easy
- Nothing is hopeless
- Live in HOPE!
Lots of thoughts going round in my head:
- Noah's family on the ark. They were sure living in HOPE when they walked up the gangplank into that huge boat with all the smells and sounds of all the animals and birds in the world.
- Peter walking on the water toward Jesus, getting scared, starting to sink and finally taking hold of Jesus' hand. Once I took a Red Cross life-saving class. One thing they taught us was to rescue a drowning person from behind so he/she can't get a "death hold" on you and drag you down with him or her. I can only imagine how scared Peter was and how much he needed Jesus to reach out His helping hand of HOPE.
- Then there's the story Jesus told about the two contractors. Each built a house - one on sand, the other on rock. Then the rains and storms came. The house on the rock stood. The house on the sand went smash!
Well, I went with the "Three Little Pigs" instead. They each built a house: one of straw, one of sticks and one of bricks. When the Big Bad Wolf came calling, he huffed and puffed and blew down the houses of straw and sticks. Only the brick house offered HOPE and safety from the Big Bad Wolf!
In the story of the two builders, one was smart and one was stupid. In the "Three Little Pigs," two were lazy and stupid and one worked smarter and harder.
Then I checked my email and read a church planting blog giving the advice to "live like you're dying" when planting a church. I guess that was the essence for both Noah and Peter. They had to face the reality of the alternative before they could trust the HOPE!I've had my own experience with living like I'm dying. It's scary stuff, but it's also where the most real reality of life is!
Country singer Tim McGraw wrote a song about "Live Like You Were Dying" based on his personal experience. He expresses doing all the things he shoved to the back burner to do later - doing them right now - like sky diving, rocky mountain climbing, two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu! "And I loved deeper ... and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying"!
What happens when we "live we are dying"? What's important shifts to what's really important! Risks don't matter except to become worth the cost. People and relationships mean more. Living God's purpose becomes a matter of life or death! Time races and we race with it as we live like we were dying!
I guess it goes without saying that "living like I'm dying" means my heart changes, too! My prayer becomes: "Lord, give me dying eyes and dying ears and a dying heart to see and hear and love with life or death urgency!" That's how Jesus lived His last days, for sure!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Hide and Seek and Heaven
"Ready or not - here I come" - these are the words for the game "hide and seek." The hunter yells to warn the hunted that the hunter is on the prowl.
Death is no game. It comes to us all eventually whether we're ready or not! Death is the hunter that stalks us all.
I've been thinking about death this week. My friend died Tuesday. She is finally free of her pain. No more tumors will grow in her frail body. She has taken her last gasping breath and felt her last terrible pain. Just the night before as I stood at the end of her bed at hospice and asked if there was anything I could get her, she responded with her typical, "No, I'm good." I looked into her eyes and said, "You would say that no matter what, wouldn't you?" She responded, "I'm as good as I'm ever going to be." Then I knew that she finally knew she was looking death in the face very soon. Just a few hours later she slipped into eternity. They told me it was "unexpected" when I showed up the next morning.
There's a song: "Life is filled with guns and war ... I wish we'd all been ready." Death comes whether we're ready or not. Death eventually finds us all no matter how or where we hide.
Jesus told a prominent leader named Nicodemus in Jerusalem one dark night, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) That's the way to be ready when death comes - JESUS! He's the ONLY path to heaven! He is the only sure hiding place in life and when death comes!
Only Jesus can make death a path to heaven! Only Jesus can make us ready for both death and heaven! Life is filled with guns and war and pain and more. Only Jesus fixes our hearts so we can leave our broken bodies behind and move on to a far better place beyond death - heaven.
Death is no game. It comes to us all eventually whether we're ready or not! Death is the hunter that stalks us all.
I've been thinking about death this week. My friend died Tuesday. She is finally free of her pain. No more tumors will grow in her frail body. She has taken her last gasping breath and felt her last terrible pain. Just the night before as I stood at the end of her bed at hospice and asked if there was anything I could get her, she responded with her typical, "No, I'm good." I looked into her eyes and said, "You would say that no matter what, wouldn't you?" She responded, "I'm as good as I'm ever going to be." Then I knew that she finally knew she was looking death in the face very soon. Just a few hours later she slipped into eternity. They told me it was "unexpected" when I showed up the next morning.
There's a song: "Life is filled with guns and war ... I wish we'd all been ready." Death comes whether we're ready or not. Death eventually finds us all no matter how or where we hide.
Jesus told a prominent leader named Nicodemus in Jerusalem one dark night, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) That's the way to be ready when death comes - JESUS! He's the ONLY path to heaven! He is the only sure hiding place in life and when death comes!
Only Jesus can make death a path to heaven! Only Jesus can make us ready for both death and heaven! Life is filled with guns and war and pain and more. Only Jesus fixes our hearts so we can leave our broken bodies behind and move on to a far better place beyond death - heaven.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Broad Shoulders and Restored Hearts
" ... The government will be upon His shoulders ... " -
Today we will have a new president in this country. In a sense the mantle of government (at least one of the three branches) will pass onto his shoulders.
But these words are not about about Barak Obama. They are not about any president. They were written ages and ages ago by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 9:6) about the King who would come to be the Savior who alone can restore our hearts and our world to put things really right as God intended in the first place. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! He is the real Peace-Maker - both between God and man and between men, women and children as He changes one heart at a time with His saving love and grace!
Our times, our culture and our country are under the gaze and sovereign authority of King Jesus! His shoulders are worthy and able to rest government upon.
Pray for our new president. He will assume the mantle of tremendous responsibility this day. He will need King Jesus to do his job well. We need to pray that King Jesus will bring His restoration to our country, to our hearts as only He can!
Today we will have a new president in this country. In a sense the mantle of government (at least one of the three branches) will pass onto his shoulders.
But these words are not about about Barak Obama. They are not about any president. They were written ages and ages ago by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 9:6) about the King who would come to be the Savior who alone can restore our hearts and our world to put things really right as God intended in the first place. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! He is the real Peace-Maker - both between God and man and between men, women and children as He changes one heart at a time with His saving love and grace!
Our times, our culture and our country are under the gaze and sovereign authority of King Jesus! His shoulders are worthy and able to rest government upon.
Pray for our new president. He will assume the mantle of tremendous responsibility this day. He will need King Jesus to do his job well. We need to pray that King Jesus will bring His restoration to our country, to our hearts as only He can!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Long Time - No See - New Year
I'm involved in a journey. It began in 2008. My good friend is dying of cancer. It is a special gift to be walking this journey of pain with her and her daughter.
Today Joni Eareckson Tada writes in her daily devotional about New Year resolutions and 2 Corinthians 4:16: Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
My friend is outwardly wasting away. The cancer has a death grip on her body. My prayer for her and her daughter is that they will discover the secret of God's inner renewal. It's the only way to make this painful journey with peace and confidence!
Cancer is an ugly disease. Unseen it winds its nasty tentacles through organs, tissue and bone until it chokes out life. There are treatments like chemo and radiation. There are drugs for the pain. There are friends like me for loving support, but the truth is that none of these stop the deadly onslaught of the disease process once it is well-established. The body outwardly and inwardly wastes away.
The ONLY hope to hold onto is God's restoration of the heart!
On His way to Gethsemene and betrayal, Jesus spoke words of comfort to His disciples. He knew they would soon desperately need the truth of what He spoke. He said, "Don't let this throw you. You trust in God, don't you? Trust Me. There is plenty of room for you in My Father's home. If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on My way to get a room ready for you? ... I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from Me." (John 14:1-6, The Message)
Jesus was promising "heart renewal" for now and for ever. That's the only hope to hold onto - Jesus, the Road to God and heaven! He's the only path to heart restoration! He promises to make "all things new" (Rev. 21:5) - even bodies riddled with cancer!
Today Joni Eareckson Tada writes in her daily devotional about New Year resolutions and 2 Corinthians 4:16: Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
My friend is outwardly wasting away. The cancer has a death grip on her body. My prayer for her and her daughter is that they will discover the secret of God's inner renewal. It's the only way to make this painful journey with peace and confidence!
Cancer is an ugly disease. Unseen it winds its nasty tentacles through organs, tissue and bone until it chokes out life. There are treatments like chemo and radiation. There are drugs for the pain. There are friends like me for loving support, but the truth is that none of these stop the deadly onslaught of the disease process once it is well-established. The body outwardly and inwardly wastes away.
The ONLY hope to hold onto is God's restoration of the heart!
On His way to Gethsemene and betrayal, Jesus spoke words of comfort to His disciples. He knew they would soon desperately need the truth of what He spoke. He said, "Don't let this throw you. You trust in God, don't you? Trust Me. There is plenty of room for you in My Father's home. If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on My way to get a room ready for you? ... I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from Me." (John 14:1-6, The Message)
Jesus was promising "heart renewal" for now and for ever. That's the only hope to hold onto - Jesus, the Road to God and heaven! He's the only path to heart restoration! He promises to make "all things new" (Rev. 21:5) - even bodies riddled with cancer!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Church Planting, Disability Ministry and Icy Roads!
Last night I made a discovery about church plantiing. Church planting especially with the vision to minister to individuals and families impacted by disability and icy roads have some things in common!
Winter wonderland describes Pittsburgh's look of the last several days! The huge snowflakes chasing each other to see which can get to the ground first are beautiful. The way below freezing temps keep our white world in place.
Yesterday late afternoon I drove to take supper to a friend. Her daughter - just arrived home for winter break from college - needed a ride to get a prescription filled. So she and I set off - the "back way" - for the pharmacy. We were fine getting there even though my friend commented that she couldn't believe the roads hadn't been salted. I replied that I thought cities were trying to save money by not spreading salt "recklessly" this year - that I read in the paper or heard on the radio that Chicago spent many millions just clearing their roads in one recent snowstorm. We got to the store, discovered they wouldn't process her new insurance card and started home on the same back roads.
We came to the top of the last long hill. A small deer almost darted in front of us at the same moment I realized we were driving down a skating rink road. It must have been black ice covered by a layer of snow. Fortunately we were the only car either way as we mostly slid down the hill. I knew I wasn't in control of the car. I was just trying to stay on the path. At the bottom (where the sign says opposing traffic does not stop) I had no choice but to steer carefully to the left onto her home street which is fairly flat. Fortunately there was no near on-coming traffic!
When we pulled into her drive, she said to me, "That was pretty scary!" That was the moment I processed exactly how scary it was! I guess I'm so used to living in the exciting fast lane of life that it didn't get my adrenaline flowing as much as it did hers.
My husband and I and a brave band of others are starting A Restoration Church in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. It's not our first church plant experience, but it is clearly the most exciting. A Restoration Church is unique in our vision to take the Gospel to and to bring into the Kingdom intentionally and especially individuals and families impacted by disability.
Sometimes our forward progress seems well-planned, but mostly this church plant is a lot like that icy road last night. It's a really exciting ride - even dangerously exciting at times - with Someone (that would be the King of the Kingdom) else in control. We are in forward motion with rapidly beating hearts being faithful and working hard for the King to build His Kingdom further here in Pittsburgh!
The analogy may break down at some points, I'm sure, but the essence is that church planting can be a lot like my ride in my car with my young friend down the icy hill last night! We are going where many people don't dare go. We are makinig new friends and taking them along for the ride of their lives. We are taking risks and living on the edge of our comfort zones (and even stepping outside our comfort level) - all for the sake of building God's Kingdom!
Church planting and icy roads do have some things in common!
Winter wonderland describes Pittsburgh's look of the last several days! The huge snowflakes chasing each other to see which can get to the ground first are beautiful. The way below freezing temps keep our white world in place.
Yesterday late afternoon I drove to take supper to a friend. Her daughter - just arrived home for winter break from college - needed a ride to get a prescription filled. So she and I set off - the "back way" - for the pharmacy. We were fine getting there even though my friend commented that she couldn't believe the roads hadn't been salted. I replied that I thought cities were trying to save money by not spreading salt "recklessly" this year - that I read in the paper or heard on the radio that Chicago spent many millions just clearing their roads in one recent snowstorm. We got to the store, discovered they wouldn't process her new insurance card and started home on the same back roads.
We came to the top of the last long hill. A small deer almost darted in front of us at the same moment I realized we were driving down a skating rink road. It must have been black ice covered by a layer of snow. Fortunately we were the only car either way as we mostly slid down the hill. I knew I wasn't in control of the car. I was just trying to stay on the path. At the bottom (where the sign says opposing traffic does not stop) I had no choice but to steer carefully to the left onto her home street which is fairly flat. Fortunately there was no near on-coming traffic!
When we pulled into her drive, she said to me, "That was pretty scary!" That was the moment I processed exactly how scary it was! I guess I'm so used to living in the exciting fast lane of life that it didn't get my adrenaline flowing as much as it did hers.
My husband and I and a brave band of others are starting A Restoration Church in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. It's not our first church plant experience, but it is clearly the most exciting. A Restoration Church is unique in our vision to take the Gospel to and to bring into the Kingdom intentionally and especially individuals and families impacted by disability.
Sometimes our forward progress seems well-planned, but mostly this church plant is a lot like that icy road last night. It's a really exciting ride - even dangerously exciting at times - with Someone (that would be the King of the Kingdom) else in control. We are in forward motion with rapidly beating hearts being faithful and working hard for the King to build His Kingdom further here in Pittsburgh!
The analogy may break down at some points, I'm sure, but the essence is that church planting can be a lot like my ride in my car with my young friend down the icy hill last night! We are going where many people don't dare go. We are makinig new friends and taking them along for the ride of their lives. We are taking risks and living on the edge of our comfort zones (and even stepping outside our comfort level) - all for the sake of building God's Kingdom!
Church planting and icy roads do have some things in common!
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