A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith

Working and living within the intellectually disabled community, I found that there are many common bits of misinformation and urban legends that haunt our population.  These distortions diminish all of us.  Here are a few of the most common misunderstandings.

There are other misunderstandings that float through the larger population regarding this interesting sub-culture.  Yet, God has made every person uniquely his treasure.  It is up to us to turn our hearts and lives over to this loving Father.  Is there an interesting person who is mentally challenged that you have met?  What are some of their characteristics that interest you?

In case we forget

1. The Bible will still have all the answers in the middle of our joys and sorrows.
2. Prayer will still be the most powerful thing on earth.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move in the hearts and lives of men and women.
4. God will still honor the praises of His children.
5. There will still be God-anointed teaching and preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God all over the earth.
7. God will still pour out blessings on His people.
8. There will still be room at the cross for hearts burdened with sin and distress.
9. Jesus will still love each one of us.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him asking for forgiveness and new life.

The date is March 11, 2011.  As I sit around the dining room table with my family who is visiting their ailing father, I’m hurriedly writing my daily blog.  My granddaughter is playing an on-line video game.  My daughter, Carol Howard Merritt,  is quickly editing the forward she wrote for a friend’s book to email it to his publisher.  My son-in-law is reading a theology book on-line.  While my husband sleeps, we are all commenting with each other about the Tsunami that may be invading Hawaii.  All of us are fiercely following the real-time action on Twitter because my son lives on Oahu’s north shore about two blocks from the ocean.

My daughter asked me to proofread the forward she was writing for Landon Whitsitt’s new book, Open Source Church.

Landon Whitsitt

After reading the forward, I was reminded how much our lives have changed because of recent changes in technology.  Aren’t we all a bit skeptical of this brave new world when it comes to our places of worship?

Sure we power point our illustrations on screens attached to the walls of our ministry.  Computers have become irreplaceable for most tasks for which we once used our IBM typewriters. Email has replaced the more expensive, slower and less convenient  US Postal Service.  We only recently became comfortable with our computers when the Internet burst into our work area.  But like the phone of older generations, we don’t trust or want to depend on this in most aspect of our Christian life.  (The word “phony” came from an innate mistrust of the telephone.)

Whitsitt’s soon-to-be-released book will help all of us to overcome our concerns about this new techno world.  Yep, you may have to wade through some complicated verbiage because Whitsitt actually understands what is happening in cyber-space.  He might think that he’s making all this simplistic for us while he is only confusing our minds.  However, I’ve learned that if we wade through the technical detritus,  we will learn new and exciting things about how to effectively use this new way of  ministry.  Whitsitt’s book promises to be able to help each of us learn new things to be able to make our ministries even more effective.

Is there a book you have read that has made you more comfortable using technology in your life as a Christian?

Each new generation learns valuable lessons that may be missed by a preceding group of people.  I love rereading my favorite books.  Yet, I came from a tradition in which you watched a movie or television show only once.  You certainly didn’t read a book more than one time.  Nevertheless, I would pull out the books that were read to us in elementary school,  especially Penrod and Penrod and Sam, and reread them during my high school years for book reports.  When I became an adult, I would reread books when I read to my children.

Rereading has now become a more accepted practice.  In fact with the advent of videos and DVD’s, children memorize many of the children’s movies because they view them so often.  By the time a child has reached his teen years, he may have read one of the modern classics many, many times.  There are great benefits to this practice.

• First, it teaches children that one pass over a subject matter will produce a most limited knowledge of the subject.
• Second, children will understand at an early age the value of review.

Reading is one of the great pleasures of my life.  I can hardly imagine not being able to have that privilege.  Bible reading was introduced to me by my Sunday school teachers and mother.  We were able to get a check mark if we read our Bible each day.  I loved getting check marks.  The denomination in which I was raised values the study of the Bible so much, that it’s now being accused of believing the Bible is the fourth part of the Godhead.  However, reading the Scriptures has not always fared well through the ages.

In the 16th century, when Martin Luther entered the monastery, it was not typical for a person to read or study the Bible.  Men who had their doctorate in theology seldom read the Bible directly.  Few of them owned their own copy of the Scriptures.  It appears that Luther was one of the few men of his day who had a love for God’s word.  On his death-bed, Luther wrote a note that extolled the value of the Bible and how important it was to read it with a humble heart.

At Special Gathering, we put an emphasis on learning the Bible.  While most of our members cannot read, they still are able to understand what is read to them and the precepts contained there.  Last year, we inserted into the order of service a “Call to Worship.”  After the announcements and several upbeat praise songs, we calm the service and begin with a Scripture verse that is our Call to Worship.  We use one verse for three months.  A member reads the verse and we listen.  After two months of listening to the verse, I ask the members to recite it with me.  The Member Reader will read–or say from memory–the verse and then we will repeat it from memory.

I am amazed at how quickly our members are able to pick up the verse and say it.  There are only a few things that have changed during the years we’ve been conducting Special Gathering worship but I believe that this is one of the most beneficial.

I understand that reading or even memorizing a Bible verse does little to ensure that this word will become affective in our lives.  However, I also know that NOT knowing the Bible almost guarantees that we will not be able to apply a truth to our lives.

Occasionally, I will talk about an Old Testament precept that is repeated again and again.  People who don’t read the Bible are shocked that these Sacred Writings even addresse things such as thrift, banking, ecology or conservation.  Some Christians have no idea that preservation of the land is a strictly-held concept taught in the Law of Moses.

As a teacher and leader of a flock of men and women who are developmentally disabled, it is my responsibility to be sure that the Bible is learned.  Additionally,  the principles must be relearned and then reviewed time and again until they becomes a part of my life and the lives of our members.  However, I also find that I’m not any different from the people I teach.  I need review.  Each time I read a passage of scripture, I should be open to hear and see a new message from the heart of the Holy Spirit.

Is reading the scriptures a chore?  Do you make it a habit to review familiar verses to see if you can “see” a new issue in your life that the Holy Spirit may want to help you overcome?