The Bible is full of references to disease and disability — more than 350 verses in 40 of the 66 books. 

Some references to disability are metaphors for something else. For example, Paul writes to the Corinthians:

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

“Blinded the minds” is obviously pointing to something other than a lack of physical sight. This is a devastating blindness. Are we stunned by this? Paul is not just playing with words to get people’s attention. He is talking about a literal blindness far worse than not bein…

Continue Reading →

His name was Gerhard Herbert Kretschmar – the first person killed by official order of Adolph Hitler. He was born blind and missing some limbs. He was five months old. And he was not the last.

Immediately following this illegal act (not even the Chancellor of Germany could legally order such a thing), Hitler’s personal physician, Dr. Karl Brandt, created a registry of children with disabilities and a panel of doctors who would decide who should live and who should be killed. Soon it would include adults. More than 200,000 physically or cognitively disabled people would be killed between 1939 and 1945 in Germany.

This was not a single aberration in human history perpetrated by a madman …

Continue Reading →

I love the theme of our National Conference this year — Finish the Mission: For the Joy of All Peoples. It begins this Friday and I can hardly wait.

You would probably say my exicitement is obvious. This is an amazing subject and at the heart of Christ's supremacy. But there is another reason why I'm glad. This conference evidences God's kindness in changing my heart.

Here's what I mean: Because disability is so close to me, I struggled with anger when others did not embrace this issue as passionately as I did. At times I couldn’t appreciate (let alone get excited about) the other good things that God had called people to do for the sake of his name.

I Thought I Cared More

I would ju…

Continue Reading →

Burdensome. Sad. Relentless. Hopeless.

These words are attached to disability. And often they are used to "justify" aborting babies with disabilities.

The perceived low quality of life of the child and the unknown-but-assumed hardships that would be placed on the rest of the family are frequently written and talked about. For example:

Many studies show the vast majority of patients abort fetuses after prenatal tests reveal genetic conditions like Down syndrome that are not life-threatening. What drives that decision is not just concern over the quality of life for the future child but also the emotional, financial or social difficulty for parents of having a child with extra needs. …

Continue Reading →

Disability looms over families. By definition a life-long disability is unrelenting; there isn’t a day I wake up that my oldest son isn’t significantly disabled and needing care. Frequently that care includes an army of people who are serving our disabled children through the educational and medical systems, adding complications to family life.

What About the Non-Disabled Siblings?

The other children in the family can feel it as well — and sometimes they feel lost in all the attention paid to their sibling with disabilities. They can see the money going towards medical and therapy bills rather than family vacations or recreation. They can feel the grief that mothers and fathers frequent…

Continue Reading →

I was returning to the place of my greatest single offense against God.

In 1995, in the Intensive Care Unit of Children’s Hospital, I took a look at my 3-month-old son and concluded that God was strong, cruel, capricious, wicked. 

God has rescued me from those thoughts back when I didn't really know him. But last week, I was walking down the same hall in the same hospital knowing I would see my now 16-year-old son hooked up to monitors and probes. 

And I was deeply ashamed at the memories from 1995. 

But God Reminded Me

God mercifully helped me by reminding me that Christ has set me free from that sin: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. …

Continue Reading →

The man born blind had gifts.

This is an underlying lesson in John 9 that we tend to forget in the midst of Jesus amazingly giving him physical and spiritual sight.

The disciples saw him and asked about what caused his condition. It seems that all they could see what his blindness. Since he was a beggar, we can assume his own community thought the same.

But once he was actually treated as a man we see his gifts emerge.

For example, he could see through bad arguments, refusing to be drawn into them. He didn’t allow his thinking to be swayed by the power or education of the Pharisees.

The Pharisees deride him, "Give glory to God. We know that [Jesus] is a sinner" (John 9:24).

The…

Continue Reading →

This is a plea to parents of children with disabilities — if you are in a faithful, Bible-saturated church, hang in there with them while they figure things out. Even when they don’t “get it.” Even when they hurt you. Joy will come.

Weariness and Wariness

There is a peculiar intensity to experiencing disability in this culture. My wife remarked just last week, “you would think I would be used to all the stares by now. I’m not.” The weariness and wariness that accompanies this kind of attention can be debilitating on its own.

And I believe that Satan takes perverse delight when this wearying attention shows up in the church. Maybe you have been wounded by your faith family through remar…

Continue Reading →

Consider the following about babies with Down syndrome:

• Of women who choose to have prenatal testing, approximately 90% of those who discover their child has Down syndrome choose to abort.
• Two companies are racing to provide new prenatal diagnostic tests that could detect Down syndrome as early as the ninth week of pregnancy, without the dangers of current tests.
• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists expanded the clinical standard of care to include giving all women regardless of age the opportunity for Down syndrome screening.
• We are already seeing a decline in the number of children with Down syndrome being born.
• Women routinely report that doctors paint a negative, …

Continue Reading →

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1:25).

If you have or are considering a disability ministry at your church, Paul’s exhortation to remember God’s infinite capacities compared to our puny capacities should provide hope.

We simply do not have the ability to deal with the entire scope that is represented by disability in God’s human creation:

• Disability ranges on a spectrum from mere inconvenience to entirely incapacitating.
• Disability is found in every age bracket, though in higher percentages among older populations.
• Disability is found in every economic bracket, though in higher percentages for those who are poo…

Continue Reading →