The dark side of prayer for healing - Hearing Shane's voice.

I've got a confession to make.

I get nervous when people pray for healing.

That's problematic on a couple counts.  For starters, I'm a conservative evangelical Pentecostal ordained minister. Our theology implies (but does not dictate) that healing is contained within the atoning sacrifice of Christ.   Healing prayers are part of our century old tradition.

Book Review: Disability Studies and Hebrew Literature

Book Review

Disability Studies and Hebrew Literature compiles twelve articles reflecting current scholarship on disability as portrayed in the Bible and early Christian thought.  Edited by Candida R. Moss, PhD (associate professor, University of Notre Dame) and Jeremy Schipper, PhD (associate professor, Temple University), the essays are organized in rough epochal order. Each contributor utilizes his or her primary methodology to lift nuance and make visible disability imagery common in antiquity through close analysis of the text. Critical readings include textual, post-colonial, feminist, and gendered perspectives.

Disability & Isaiah's Suffering Servant

BOOK REVIEW

Within the worshiping community, the suffering servant language from Isaiah 53 is so commonly interwoven throughout the Holy Week tradition that many forget the rich history of interpretation has only recently identified the servant as a Messianic figure. From as early as the writings of the early church, the servant has been identified as one of dozens of characters, including Job, Moses, or one of Israel’s kings.

Immeasurably More: Embracing Life with Down Syndrome

From generation to generation… tell the works of the Lord. (Joel 1:3)

Effective parenting includes handing down stories — letting the young learn from the journeys of their forerunners.  These narratives shape our cultural attitudes, construct our ethical frameworks and orient our moral compass.  As a child, I remember travelers stopping by our house and spinning tales – my vivid imagination ran wild with the limitless future possibilities of exploring and encountering new adventures.  I was grateful that someone had gone ahead of me, charting the treacherous course and encouraging my journey.

Autism, Worship, and Applied Behavior Analysis

I'm not a trained applied behavior analyst (ABA).  I've taken a couple classes in my special ed training, but most of what I've learned has come in the trenches learning alongside my own daughter and serving in special education classrooms.

4,383 Days of Unique Fatherhood

4,383 days and counting...

Happy Birthday, Lilly!  You entered our life 12 years ago today. 

Like most children, my youngest daughter has been looking forward to this day for a while.

“June Two-Five”, she struggles to enunciate. “My Birthday!?”

She is more than willing to celebrate it several times a week -- It has been sheer

Strained Relations - Disease, Disability and Christian Flourishing in Antiquity

A gospel robed in hospitality, hope, and healing has the power to change history. 

*Burning eyes,

     *Shaking fevers,
          *Constant vomiting,
              --Flaming bonfires incinerating victims.

The imagery of the apocalypse.

No, not a dystopian sy-fy short – but the descriptive reporting

From Doing to Being – Changing the Language in Disability Ministry

Picture Courtesy
 CNN

The CNN headline screamed out at me – Invisible in India –The story of the disabled boy tied to Mumbia bus stop. The article begged for an actionable response. 

What should we do?

One of the sub themes, which kept boiling up at this past SITD conference, was the importance of “being” instead of “doing.” As a ministry

Missions and disAbility -- Meet Pastor Heather

Heather @ SITD 2014 Dallas

Confession time:  I've never been out of the country -- well not really.  Went to TJ during my college years in Southern California -- and spent a few days in Montreal in 2006 at an AAIDD conference.  But I've never been somewhere outside my comfort zone in a foreign land in mission service.

Heather has.

Not just short trips, but a for a couple months at time, she helps out with the Joni and Friends ProVision Aisa in India program.  When she's not doing that, she's speaking, writing, and moving.  A Baylor Bear and then later M.Div grad, she's an ordained minister ready to speak her voice and write her story.

She's already published several books, including My Friends & I - An inclusive children's book (available on kindle and paperback).  More books are in the pipeline.

If you haven't met her you can -- at Heart of Heather.  It was great to meet a new friend!

Human Life, Liberal Societies, and David Watson #SITD

David @ SITD 2014 Dallas

One of my conference mates this week is Dr. David Watson.  A NT professor, he currently serves as the Dean of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ontario.  As both of us are parents of young children with Down Syndrome, we have some immediate bonds.  I've enjoyed some of his blog posts reflecting on the proceedings this week at #SITD.

Here's a short sample of his writing on Stanley Hauerwas, John Swinton, and Hans Reinders from the sessions yesterday:

 If our society places a high premium on autonomy, individuality, and agency, then people who are impaired with regard to their decision-making capacity occupy a very strange space, They are ostensibly people, though without full command of the capacities that define personhood and serve as ports of entry into the social world. They are outliers, and that is a dangerous way to live!

To enjoy the rest of his article, click here!