Greetings & Blessings Fam & Friends of Bartimaeus Baptist Temple! R Sister-in-Christ Ms. DeDe Pippens needs R Help NOW!
DeDe is being evicted from the rental home she shared with her mother Arvella (who went Home 2 B w The Lord in 2011). The house is being auctioned off Dec. 2 2014 to pay outstanding property taxes. That means that DeDe & all her stuff & dogs ALL need to be OUT before Dec. 1.
DeDe is visually-impaired and overwhelmed by everything that needs to happen in less than 2 weeks.
THAT’S WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP ASAP!
We need:  moving truck(s), moving boxes, and most importantly STRONG ABLE-BODIED PEOPLE to pack up & move DeDe 2 her new home. Since BBTemple is a church that ministers 2 people & families dealing with disabilities, many of R Members R willing but simply not able 2 help with the heavy lifting required 2 pull this off.
In this season of Thanksgiving let’s all remember how Thankful we R 4 R Sister DeDe! She has always been generous & kind & has NEVER hesitated 2 help others. NOW IT IS R TURN 2 REPAY THE FAVOR & BLESS R SISTER DEDE IN HER TIME OF NEED!
MOVING WEEKEND IS: FRI NOV 28 & SAT NOV 29!!! If U R able 2 help pls contact me: Linda Thacker (Associate Pastor Larry’s wife): linda@missionaccess.com
Hereâs my stunning revelation for the week: for the countless people affected by Disability worldwide we all share one profound yet simple spiritual similarityâwe may all be just one accessible restroom away from Salvation.
Now hear me outâthis week I ran into Calvin Rutherford (now thatâs a Presidential name) whom Beloved and I met years before on our valiant attempt to Get Out to local churches and enlighten them on the Joys of Disability Evangelism. Though his tiny Church Plant no longer exists, its core group of members now attend another local Baptist church. Encouraged that our Awesome Lord may finally be opening doors for us closer to home, I inquired further about the church, namely the accessibility of their facilities.
âSo Calvin does your church have ramps to allow people in wheelchairs to get into the building?â Yes! Hurdle One cleared.
âAnd what about accessible restrooms?â Since a perplexed pause ensued I continued âyou know, a wider door and wider stalls with grab bars for people in wheelchairs?â Nada. Alas! Defeat from the jaws of Victory!
Bottom Line: if people with disabilities cannot âGoâ at your church, they will not be able to Come to your church! A simple biological barrier to Salvation that’s relatively easy to remedy yet perplexingly eludes far too many churches today.
OK now hereâs where all that Marketing Wisdom Iâve accumulated over the years FINALLY comes in handy for Ministry. Itâs a simple concept alluded to earlier called âThe Last Mileâ:
“The last mile or last kilometer is a phrase used by the telecommunications, cable television and internet  industries to refer to the final leg of the telecommunications networks delivering communications connectivity to retail customers, the part that actually reaches the customer.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_mile)
To apply the concept to Disability Evangelism, you simply must have a way for people with disabilities to use the restroom safely and with dignity in order to ever have a hope in Hades of getting a shot at sharing with them the Good News about Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, Our Accessible Savior. Â
I discovered an excellent video by a pastor with disabilities who laments about the widespread lack of sensitivity to Disability Ministry in the local church today.
THE DISABLEDâONE OF THE LEAST EVANGELIZED PEOPLE GROUPS IN THE WORLD http://goo.gl/xZHOCt
According to the unidentified speaker with a heavy Scottish brogue: âBut the issue of inclusion for disabled people is not about ramps and loos (I.e., toilets), itâs about heart and attitude.â I must respectfully disagree! Because though you may possess a God-given heart of gold for Disability Evangelism, without accessible restrooms your efforts go straight down the âloo!â Making your church totally accessible–including a way for people with disabilities to safely and easily enter/exit your church, navigate successfully once inside and especially to use the restroom with ease and dignity–are simply a bare-minimum earthly down payment towards investing in Disability Evangelism efforts with a prayer of ever yielding Heavenly rewards in the Hereafter.
And IMHO there is simply No Room For Rest until every restroom of every church of every size is accessible to EVERY person of every ability nationwide.
Hey all you Baby Boomers out there! Remember the TV show Lost in Space? It featured the Robinson Family and evil stowaway Dr. Smith for whom things went really, really wrong on their maiden voyage, rendering them unable to return to Planet Earth.
In fact the 1998 sequel Lost in Space Forever inspired this comparison to the Book of Jonah which I’ve entitled Lost (and Found) in Grace.
Because though Jonah disobeyed His command, God STILL extended His Amazing Grace to Jonah and empowered him to accomplish some amazing things for His Glory which should encourage even a stiff-necked people such as Us, Amen?
We all know the story: God calls Jonah, he bolts to Tarshish; God âredirectsâ Jonah, burps him up on the beach, he heads to Ninevah (finally); Jonah preaches, the people repent complete with sackcloth and ashes, Mission Accomplished!Â
Not so much.
In fact Jonah gets angry and pouts. Defeat from the jaws of victory! Whatâs up with that?Â
Consider if you will my first feeble attempt at theology in my very first semester at DTS from myBE109OL Ruth, Psalms, Jonah & Selected Epistles class.  I entitled my “chart”  The “Free Willy” (catch the whale pun?) Game Board!?!! Because though hundreds of learned biblical scholars who preceded me âmissedâ itâI of course received âspecial revelationâ that The Book of Jonah was obviously about Free Will. Not!
OK now show me some Grace! At the time I was running a marketing communications company so suffice to say that I had a bit of an adjustment going to seminary. But as my wise graderâs comments warned:  âSeek confirmation from learned sourcesââwhich after a decade I FINALLY did and found NO confirmation of the theological soundness of my conclusions.
Zero. Zip. Zilch. NADA.
OK so no Spurgeons reborn here. Nevertheless–if there is significance in asking the question in our own lives, letâs ask it! Where are you headed? Tarshish? Or Ninevah?  âCause ALL of us are heading in one of two directions: either you are heading your own way and doinâ your own thang (i.e. Tarshish). Or you are goinâ Godâs way (aka Ninevah).Â
Because hereâs the real deal, folks–Jonah is somebody who had it ALL: a Relationship with God, a personal calling on his life, and success in ministry. BUT HE MISSED IT! And just as the ill-fated Robinsons were Lost in Space, so Jonah was Lost in Grace.Â
But letâs not remain Lost in Grace, but FOUND! May there be No Condemnation in the bad decisions weâve made (and oh Iâve made some doozies!). Rather what I want is for you to be ENCOURAGED! Because this episode of your lifeâjust like an episode of Lost in Space— is simply âTo Be Continuedâ! Â
Here is an awesome new song released just this Summer from Ashes Remain called Here For A Reason to remind and encourage you that Hey! It ainât over yet!Â
Godâs got a Plan and a Purpose For Your Life. So skip the detour to Tarshish and head straight to Ninevah –and your destiny that neither weapons of disobedience nor disability may ever destroy.
Tragically, earlier this month Robin Williams chose to end his life. However large the Gift of Laughter he gave us (and it was huge) I believe he gave us an even greater giftâthe chance to start a SERIOUS discussion about Depression & Suicide.
BECAUSE WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT!
As Christians we need to come up with ANSWERS that Lead to Lifeâfor ourselves, our families, our friends and for people like Robin Williams who though they seem to âhave it allââSO very desperately need a Savior.
Ah! But therein lies The Challenge. Historically as a Church and as a Culture our so-called âsolutions” to the problem of Depression and Suicide range wildly (and fail miserably).
On the harsher end of the Spectrum of Solutions, in a white paper I found entitled âSuicide and Christian Moral Judgmentâ (a little light reading) author James T. Clemons admitted that there is confusion on the topic, citing this âsolutionâ from John Wesley who felt that the 6th commandment of âThou Shalt Not Murderâ included âself-murderâ or suicide and offered up this “easy” solution:
âBut how can this vile abuse of the law be prevented, and this execrable crime effectually discouraged? Â
 By a very easy method. We read in ancient history, that at a certain period, many of the women of Sparta murdered themselves.  This fury increasing, a law was made that the body of every woman who killed herself should be exposed naked in the streets. The fury stopped at once.â http://goo.gl/LHsZmO
Yeah verily that would be a deal-breaker for me! But seriously folksâŠ
What I find perhaps even more troubling is that on the other end of the Spectrum is a post-modern âall roads lead to heavenâ tweet about Robin Williams (who was the voice of Genie in the animated film Aladdin) that said simply: âGenie you are now FREE!â
Suffice to say that weâve GOTTA come up with a better response somewhere between Condemnation on the one end and near-Glorification on the other if we are to help others NOT To Buy The Lie. But first we need to define what âThe Lieâ is. According to an online article in The Washington Post:
âAn emerging area of interest for many mental health experts is the impact of feelings that the person who attempts suicide has begun to feel he is a burden to his family and friends who he believes would be better off without him.â http://goo.gl/zmbFKD
THAT IS A LIE FROM THE PIT OF HELL! And I have a very personal motivation to battle it, namely my very own father, my dear Daddy-O.
My father was invincible. But at age 79 heart disease quickly overcame him, rendering him unable to continue as full-time caregiver for my mother. Suddenly and unexpectedly life changed for both of them, forcing them to dismantle their beloved home of 40 years and move into a nursing home. I spent a couple of weeks with them to help ease their transition but he was simply not the same. Little did I realize that when I waved Goodbye in Summer 2005 it would be a final farewell. Though not by violent means like guns or pills, my father simply refused food or water and before long, he was gone.
Looking back on that now I realize just how completely clueless I was about what was really going on. Curious now about how The Lie of Suicide plays out in the lives of people affected by disability, I did a little research and hereâs what I discovered:
NO BODY KNOWS! WHY NOT? BECAUSE NO ONE EVEN BOTHERED TO DO THE RESEARCH!
According to The Independence Center:
âSo it absolutely amazes us that even though 18.7% of all non-institutionalized civilians in America have a disability, we are virtually invisible when it comes to the issue of suicide. Recently, we came up empty-handed when we tried to find statistics on suicide as it relates to disability.â http://goo.gl/TbJyhc
What should shock us even more than that once it was revealed the Robin Williams suffered from early onset Parkinsonâs disease, suicide became almost a foregone conclusion! In fact, The Independence Center continues with:
âAnd this is not a new phenomenon. In an article published in 1992, Carol J. Gill noted that it was ironic that âso little suicide research has been conducted,â on the behalf of people with disabilities since there are so many medical and legal decisions made concerning disability and the management of intentions to die. She was, of course, referring to assisted suicide. This is a twist that makes all of the difference. This is a mixed message that suggests that people with disabilities are only visible on the issue of suicide when others (doctors, judges, etc.) are making the decisions for us. Furthermore, this reinforces the notion that disability is a legitimate reason to wish for death. We could not disagree more.â http://goo.gl/TbJyhc
Wait a minute! Did you catch that? âManagement of Intentions To Dieâ?!! Gee makes suicide sound as downright reasonable as managing your 401K, doesnât it? Christians Wake UP! Donât Buy The Lie! As a Church itâs not just our right and responsibility, but also our God-given Joy and Honor to help lead ALL people to the Management of Intentions To LIVE! God grant us the courage to share the Good News of a Better Answer to Depression and Suicide: LIFE through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Rare and disquieting are those moments when the News takes on flesh from behind our safe, sanitary electronic media veil. Yesterday was just such a moment for me.
Summoned for Jury Duty in Dallas County, TX I resisted the temptation to âplay the Crip cardâ with my MS to avoid it, opting (somewhat self-righteously, I confess) instead to dutifully respond to the call regardless of my disability and fulfill my civic role with grace and mercy.
Though fully expecting to yet again dodge the jury selection bullet and be home in time for a delightful lunch with my Beloved (aka my husband Larry) who works from home, I guess the Lord had other plans.
So parking my scooter alongside the inaccessible Jury Box, I along with my five hapless new Jury Buddies took our places. Now however what at the outset appeared to be a routine traffic-related civil case began to unfold as anything but.
The attractive young Hispanic plaintiff took the stand. She relayed a harrowing tale of a high-speed crash that left her car trashed with her passenger mother traumatized and saddled with medical bills. But upon cross-examination it quickly became apparent that this was nothing more than a minor Rush-Hour fender-scratcher (not even bender) incident which downtown Dallas traffic would render implausible if not downright impossible.
However she is no ordinary driver. For not only does she lack a valid TX Driverâs license or proper insurance, neither is she a US citizen. She is a Dreamer. And thanks to President Obama’s âDream Actâ she is now fast-tracked to receive all the same rights and privileges as any other law-abiding, tax-paying US citizen (including filing frivolous lawsuits).  Yeah citizens just like us–her incredulous “peers” sitting stunned in the Seat of Judgment.
But wait! Thereâs more!
Her mother (who though she has lived here for 15 years does not yet speak English) required a court- appointed and taxpayer-funded interpreter who translated her answer to the question about who she felt was at fault: âI donât want to blame anyone, I just want someone to be responsible.â Just not her.
Suffice to say that though we parceled out blame for negligence amongst the parties as civil cases require, much to the Mother/Daughter Duo’s dismay nary a dime for damages did we award for such frivolous audacity.
As if feigning disability for fun and profit were not egregious enough, what’s more disturbing is the brazen display of a Spirit of Entitlement far more crippling than any mere physical disability. For regardless of country of origin, when sown into the hearts of those far more concerned about how much they can get rather than how much they can give, The American Dream is powerless to spawn anything but an American Nightmare of nation-altering proportions.
What an awesome worship we enjoyed yesterday at BBTemple! Perhaps even more incredible was how His âstill small voiceâ manifested itself in the most unexpected and humbling way Iâve ever witnessed.
Yesterday was simply a day when God gently yet decisively rearranged our plans from the get-go. Totally appropriate considering that Fifth Sundays are âSpecialââthat is, when Beloved (aka my husband and Associate Pastor Larry Thacker Jr.) and I âPreach-n-Teachâ to give Pastor David Whitmore and his lovely wife Priscilla a well-deserved break from their shepherding duties.
And this Fifth Sunday wasted no time in revealing just how âspecialâ it would become. From my Guest Speakerâs early morning cancellation to my back-up speakerâs lack of confirmation combined with our collective doubt about our preparedness, suffice to say Beloved and I by comparison might make timid Gideon look downright arrogant.
Ah! Â But that is exactly when He shows up!
And in the most humbling yet powerful way. Pastor and Priscillaâs daughter Kimmi arrived though released from the hospital after surgery just days before. Quickly I set aside our usual Praise & Prayer request routine to gather round our hurting Kimmi and lift her up on the wings of our prayers. Pressing tightly in to Kimmi we locked hands and hearts while Pastor Larry began to pray. Priscilla prayed next followed by that awkward silence that sometimes punctuates collective prayer.
Then lo and behold something truly incredible happened.
A muffled voice softly yet boldly begins to pray. Who is that? Itâs Kelly! A smile crosses my lips. Is this our Kelly? Who suffered a TBI (traumatic brain injury) in a car accident decades ago? The same Kelly who after the death of her caretaker father James now finds herself homeless? That Kelly??! YES!!!
But wait! Thereâs more!
Just as Kelly completes her impassioned plea for Kimmiâs rapid recovery, another voice more muffled than hers chimes in. Itâs Teresa! Our precious childlike Teresa who struggles with multiple disabilities delivers a sweet, simple, heartfelt prayer unintelligible perhaps to anyone but God Himself.
Before the silence even has a chance to creep back in one last lone voice fills our heartsâŠit is DeDe.   Our once-shy Sister in Christ) who just last week rededicated herself to the Lord despite the seemingly insurmountable life challenges she struggles with daily after the death of her mother Arvella) now prays with the confidence of a Prayer Warrioress.
1 Kings 19:12 KJVÂ Â And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice
âPraise God & Hallelujah!â I thrill as sweet Tears of Joy begin to flow! At last Iâve seen The Day:  when  through vessels that the rest of the world would consider âthe least of theseâ at best, the âstill smallâ voice of God would ring out so clear and pure and true. Proof positive for all involved in Disability Ministry: never say never! Even if you donât see it, He is at work with an endless supply of “boldness and confident access through faith in Him.” Eph 3:12 NASB For His Glory! Amen.
No itâs NOT a typo. You read it right. Holy #Criptures. I even added the hashtag just today when I used the term for the very first time to emphasize that #Criptures is exactly what I meant.
So whatâs a #Cripture? Itâs a Tweet with a scriptural Disability-focused message of hope. And based on my Bing of the term (which I did after timidly using it for the first time) my freshly-tweeted gem was the only appearance of it on the World Wide Web. Score!
Hey wait just a minute–before I go feeling triumphant I give the Glory to God right up front where it belongs. âCause Lord knows how Iâve toiled in vain to snatch a little literary glory for myself that I could slap my name on and claim âMine!â
But God doesnât go for that, generally speaking. Like the âbrilliantâ book idea I hatched in my Creative Writing II class at DTS entitled âRode Hard Put Up Blessedâ (what I thought was a clever take on the ârode hard put up wetâ reference to a sweaty horse that is lost on anyone outside of Texas). Only one of my Letters of Inquiry even garnered a response, and that only to inform me that they were officially out of the publishing business.
Thankfully Godâs got quite a sense of humor. And He never tires of watching us make complete idiots of ourselves.  In fact one of my favorite verses is Proverbs 25:2: âIt is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings to search out a matter.â Though I canât even claim that I had some Grand Plan with this whole #Criptures thing. Rather the awareness of the implied expectation that if you take the trouble to set up a Twitter account the assumption is that you have something worthy to Tweet about. Gulp.
Well I don’t but thankfully God does. So feeling this pressure I simply began to detect a Disability Evangelism theme in my daily Bible reading. Proof positive that the best way to approach the Holy Scriptures is with Purpose and Great Expectation of what He wants to show you.
Let me give you an example like this one from October 6, 2013:Â âC, I have refined U, though not as silver; I have tested U in the furnace of affliction. 4 my own sake, 4 my own sake I do this. Isa 10-11â
Or this one with a more political tone:Â âOpen ur mouth 4 the mute, 4 the rights of all the unfortunate. Open ur mouth…+ defend the rights of the afflicted + needy. Prov 31:8-9â
And itâs not just Isaiah or Proverbs:Â these 140-character-or-less treasures are scattered throughout the Bible like glittering Easter eggs just waiting for us to seek them out with all the fervor and faith of a child who simply wonât stop until the basket is overflowing with goodies.
Happy #Criptures Hunting! Your searchâlike mineâshall be richly rewarded.
“Any man from Aaron the priestâs offspring in whom is a physical defect shall not come near to present offerings made by fire to Yahweh; a physical defect is in him; he shall not come near to present his Godâs food.” (Leviticus 21:21 Lexham English Bible)
How is one who has a disability to deal with this law? Itâs hard not to take exception to it, and many have. Even a devout believer may feel hurt by it. I confess that I have. Even though I am aware that this was a regulation specifically for the priesthood, meant to emphasize the necessity of perfection we cannot obtain, it stings. Combine that with a lifetime of always having in the back of my mind that somehow if I could only have enough faith or find some missing piece I could be healed and you have a toxic concoction of perceived inadequacy and failure.
Snippets of scripture taken from their context are usually not properly applied.  This one is no different. Taken outside of the regulations for the priesthood it seems harsh indeed. Yet thereâs another little bit of text from the New Testament that really spoke to me recently and took out some of the sting of the Levitical stricture.
“And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.” (Matthew 21:14 NASB)
Itâs almost an aside. Nothing much is made of it. Jesus just did that sort of thing everywhere He went. But in the context of the law and who He is, you can find the whole of the Gospel story right there. Our sins, our defects if you will, keep us from approaching a holy God. Anything less than perfection dies in the presence of His holiness. At that time only the high priest could come into the Holy of Holies once a year to offer the blood of the sacrifice. If he hadnât done everything just so, if he was impure in any way, he would die. He had bells on his robe and a rope tied around his ankle so that if he died while in there he could be dragged out without anyone else having to go in.
Now look at this situation again. Yahweh in the person of Jesus has come out of the Holy of Holies and is with the common people in the temple. Those who could not serve as priests whether they were of Aaronâs line or not were coming to Him, and He was healing them. We could not go to Him, but He came to us and removed that which prevented us. Thus he would do for all of humankind not long after this episode as he died on the cross and rose again.
As you celebrate this Resurrection Sunday, rejoice in what He has done for you. From now on, if He so wills, I will happily serve as a living example of those who could not be in His presence except for His power to make all things new. After all, that is true for any of us.  Without His cleansing sacrifice, we are all defective.
Larry Thacker Jr. is Associate Pastor at Bartimaeus Baptist Temple (www.BBTemple.org) Â in Dallas, TX.
Today I speak to the Repairers & Restorers out thereâ(and you know who you are) selfless Souls without whom the very wheels of Disability Ministry would slam to a screeching halt.
So let me ask you: Are You A Stumbling Block? Or a Starting Block?
Jesus spoke of stumbling blocks in Matthew 18:6-7 NASU
6 Â but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Stumbling Blocks
7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!
When He speaks of âlittle onesâ we generally assume that He means literally little children. But based on a commentary by Matthew Henry Iâd like to expand that definition to include âfiguratively;  true but weak believers are these little ones, who in their outward condition, or the frame of their spirits, are like little children, the lambs of Christ’s flock.â[i]
Gee sounds like a lot of the type of people we minister to and through, doesnât it?
But letâs get back to the Stumbling Block shall we? Because Iâm not talking about someone who deceives or tricks someone into sin like the serpent in Genesis. Iâm talking about something far more subtle yet perhaps even more sinister: i.e., when a Believer actively facilitates the sin of someone else.
Crazy talk? Follow along with me as we go to a âshining exampleâ (pun intended) in the Book of Exodus:
Exodus 32:1-3 NASU
The Golden Calf
32 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
Wait a minute! Did you catch that? Only one verse before God just got finished inscribing The Ten Commandments with His own hand on tablets of stone! But when the people get a little bored waiting on Moses (you know, the guy that led them out of Egypt) they make an OUTRAGEOUS demand! And  Aaron, the older brother of Moses, the âmouthpieceâ and âprophetâ of Moses, folds like a cheap Bedouin tent!
So whatâs the Point? Simply this: when you facilitate a âlittle oneâ to sinâhowever innocent or well-meaning– you are working against God Himself! I beseech you Brethren: Donât Do It!
OK Millstone Bling aside⊠I want to leave you with this from Colossians: âcause  Iâm not nearly as interested in Compelling you NOT to be a Stumbling Block as I am in PROPELLING you to be a Starting Block for His Glory.
Colossians 3:23-24 NASU
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, Â knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
Lord, grant us wisdom to judge whether or not we are a Stumbling Block for a fellow Believer and if so grant us the courage to help redirect our behavior instead to refocus our efforts towards becoming a Starting Block of Godly discipleship in the future. Amen!
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of MissionAccess! Any poets out there? OK before you tune out allow me to gently remind you that Poetry Fanatic or not, you are Godâs poetryâHis Poema. His Divine Creation.
Speaking of creations divine (and others not so much)âŠThe fanciful fruits of my 2014 Polar Vortex Office Purge just keep springing forth. Suffice to say however that my latest discovery buried in decades of handwritten journals is far from my finest literary hour. However since I envisioned myself somewhat of a Robert Frost resurrected (though not yet revealed) I dutifully scratched out this tortured iambic-pentameter treatise of unrequited love:
Locked upon the cold steel rails of fate
On predetermined trains with windows sealed
Gaze longingly upon the blurring field
Aching just to see what lies beyond
Helpless now except to ride along
Thinking back it never seemed so late
Oh! If not your eyes had been so blue
Unknown to you, while smiling, nod and shift
So normally yet all the while I drift
On gales so cluttered up with fateâs debris
That whatâs being said is meaningless to me
For never was it ever meant to be.
“On gales so cluttered up with fate’s debris?!!” Lord have mercy! Praise God that our Heavenly Father never penned such shameful atrocities! For unlike my twisted attempt at Poema, you are fearfully and wonderfully made Imago DeiâIn His Image. Regardless of your disability, God knew you before you were âknit together in your motherâs wombâ (Psalm 139:13 NIV) and loved you unconditionally with an everlasting love since before time began.
And unlike my troubled attempt that successfully snatched defeat from the jaws of poetic victory, God never fails to create each and every human being with a Plan and a Purpose for His Glory. Let not His Unfailing Love for us go unrequited. Rather may our efforts to transform Disability Ministry woo more people and families affected by disability into a loving relationship with their Author for all eternity.
