Reflections on the Children Desiring God Conference

Every two years Children Desiring God holds a national conference that draws attendees from all over the world.  People come to learn and be encouraged by speakers and seminar presenters, all driven by a desire for the glory of God to be passed on to subsequent generations.  There are plenary sessions and seminars covering dozens of topics.  Unfortunately I'm only allowed to attend four seminars, although I would have liked to be able attend them all.  The seminars I attended today were very informative, and I have one more to go to tomorrow which I'm looking forward to.

Anyway, here are a just a few brief reflections from this day at the CDG conference.

1. Being 1 of 2000 people singing worship songs is an amazing experience.  Each day of the conference begins with music and a plenary session.  It's phenomenal to hear 2000 conference attenders singing to the same Lord with passion and conviction.  It makes me think of this albeit on a much smaller scale.  It's something everyone should experience this side of heaven, because once you get to heaven it'll be all you know, except infinitely better.

2. The church is an amazing thing.  If you're not a part of the church (i.e., not a Christian) you'll never know what it's like to walk into a room full of 2000 people and feel rather at home.  I didn't know anyone else at the conference personally (flying solo this time around) and yet there's an automatic identification with everyone else, if for no other reason than that we were united under the banner of Christ.  We were there because we love him, we love people, and we want to see his name made great in our times and places.  Is there any other entity on earth that can boast such a reality?  I can't think of any.  What a marvelous testimony to the world, when people from different backgrounds, countries, and experiences can have nothing in common, but yet have everything in common.

3. God has blessed the church with faithful, amazingly brilliant people.  One of the great things about attending a conference like this is just soaking up the wisdom of godly people who are in the process of going before you.  They have much wisdom and insight to share, and it behooves people like me to sit at their feet and learn.  David Michael, one of the main movers and shakers of CDG, was talking about some thinking he was doing regarding family ministry in his ministry context, and I was just blown away by the depth, yet simplicity, of some of the ideas he was sharing with our group.  Why hadn't I thought of that?  Another guy, Bruce Ware, led a seminar on leading children to know and love God by knowing and loving theology.  He led us through a simple formula he had adapted from scripture which was a simple, yet an astoundingly profound observation.  Thank God for the brains he has blessed people with, and their willingness to share their wisdom.

4. God's providence is an amazing thing.  One of the seminars I attended today was on including children with disabilities in the classroom.  It was led by a woman named Mary Horning.  Her oldest child was born with a rare syndrome (I can't remember the name of it), and she shared how this absolutely devastated her.  She shared quite a few of her struggles and ways that she has grown and learned to trust God throughout this process.  Her daughter is now 25 and has written a book on God's sovereignty in disability.  Mary then went on to lead a session on how to love like Jesus when ministering to people and families touched by disability.  It was not lost on me that when she gave birth to her disabled daughter, she probably never saw herself as leading seminars on loving like Jesus and facilitating disability ministry, blessing the people who were there listening.  But there she was.  Coincidence?  I think not.

5. I have much to learn, and a long ways to grow.  There is a tendency in ministry (at least with myself, and maybe this is true of all professions) to feel like you've arrived.  We get our degrees, do our studying, put in our time, and think we know it all.  It's a humbling thing to rub shoulders with people who can wipe the intellectual floor with me, not to mention with people who are so deeply passionate about the things of God it makes my faith look like a tiny pebble.  It's good to be humbled, and it's one of the ways that God uses people to encourage us and challenge us.  For example, David Michael was telling our group about a five month sabbatical he was given a couple years ago in which he had decided he would use to memorize the book of Ephesians.  Yes, memorize.  Put bluntly, memorizing Ephesians would not have been at the top of my list for a five month sabbatical.  But then I have to ask myself: why not?  That's a pretty remarkable thing.  I remember him reciting at at the last conference, word for word.

He Is Always Just

My previous post has got me thinking about an issue that came up during a recent conference I attended on the sovereignty of God and disability, hosted by Desiring God.  It was a phenomenal conference that examined several aspects of disability through a theological lens.  One of those aspects was how God judges people with disabilities.

There are certainly several cognitive impairments that people can suffer from that might limit said person's ability to understand the gospel, or even make it impossible for them to understand the gospel.  How does God judge these people when they die?  I've been thinking about this because one of my wife's special ed. students passed away unexpectedly this morning.

In one sense, we can have somewhat of an emotional reaction to the thought that God would judge someone who is not physically or mentally able to appropriate the content of the gospel message for himself or herself.  How could God hold such people to such a standard?  Certainly such a practice would be unfair at best, and cruel at worst.  I certainly wouldn't want to submit to - much less love - a God who would judge a person as guilty because he or she couldn't comprehend the knowledge that could lead to their innocence.

The picture that we see of God in scripture, however, is not like the one described above.  Instead we see a God who will judge each one according to his deeds (Rom. 2.6, 1 Peter 1.17).  In other words, God's judgment is personal, and takes the unique circumstances of the person into account.  God knows ever detail about every person, and his judgment is rendered accordingly.  God does not make far-reaching, sweeping judgments on groups of people, but on individuals.

Secondly, we see that their is a degree of judgment, based on the amount of "light" a person has been given.  In Luke 10 we see Jesus condemning cities of his day for rejecting the truth that they had been exposed to as a result of his preaching and miraculous works.  He says that it will be better on the day of judgment for wicked cities of old who had never seen or heard him than it will be for those who had seen and heard him but nevertheless rejected him.  So God holds some people to a higher account than he does others, seemingly based on the amount of truth he has exposed them to.  Because of this, I believe that people who have never read the Bible, heard about Jesus, etc., will be held to a different standard than those of us who are swimming in revelation.  I think this applies to people with cognitive disabilities that could impede their comprehension of the gospel message.

But what comfort is there in that?  OK, people who can't understand the gospel won't be judged as severely, but they'll still be judged.  Not much consolation there for those with friends and family members who suffer from such impairments.  But there's one thing we have failed to mention thus far, and that is God' s unquenchable sense of justice.

When we think about God's justice, we usually think about the pouring out of his wrath on deserving sinners, or on his Son as he died on the cross.  But another part of God's justice is his relentless commitment to give people what they deserve.  God will never give someone something they don't deserve.  He will never unjustly punish someone, nor will he ever award someone who is unworthy of it.  God always does what is right - always.

What does this mean for people with cognitive disabilities who may not be able to understand the gospel in its entirety and could seemingly "miss" some of the necessary ingredients for salvation?  What it means is that God will always deal fairly with those people, taking into account their personal situations and circumstances that influence the way they think and understand.  This should be a remarkable comfort for all of us who are touched by disability: we may not know exactly how God will judge people with disabilities, nor do we know to what standard he will hold them accountable, but we do know that what he will do with them will be fair, just, good and right. 

This is a remarkable and praise-worthy reality.  It might not be so if God were a vindictive or vengeful or angry God.  But no, he is in fact, a kind and good God who delights in showing mercy.  Therefore his justice is always good, and that includes when his justice interacts with people who have disabilities.

One of the speakers at the conference I referenced earlier told a story about his severely disabled adult son.  His son is non-verbal and wears adult diapers.  To the best of his ability, his father has explained to him the gospel, his sinful condition, and his need for a Savior.  Does the son understand the message?  Has he fully comprehended the truth about sin, righteousness, and judgment?  The speaker explained that he frequently asks his disabled son, "Where is Jesus?" and his son points toward the sky.  "Where else is Jesus?" the father asks, and the son points toward his own heart.  This is all the assurance this faithful father has that his son has indeed appropriated the truth of the gospel for himself. The speaker told us at the conference, "Although that might seem rather tenuous at best, to me his pointing at the sky and at his heart in answer to the question 'Where is Jesus?' says, 'Jesus Christ is forever at the right hand of the father interceding on behalf of the saints!'"  I think that's a good assessment!

There are some questions that we can't and won't have answers to.  But the things we do know about God can provide assurance and comfort and hope in times and periods of uncertainty.  We may not know what is going to happen, but we do know that we have a God who is good and kind and delights in showing mercy who is sovereignly ordaining all things!  This is our hope, and we rest comfortably in that hope, in spite of doubts and difficult questions.

The Only Sure Way to Maturity Is Through Pain

The title of this post is a quote from this video, the most recent update on Steve Saint's health following his life-changing accident.  In it, Steve talks about the way God has grown him through the excruciating pain, agony, and challenges that have accompanied his accident.  This man's story - not only his life story and incredible innovations for the mission field, but his story through this chapter of his life - are incredibly encouraging and edifying for believers.  And it's not just in the sense that you feel sorry for him, appreciate your own health and blessings more, or anything like that, although that's certainly a part of it.

What is so encouraging to me from Steve's testimony is the way he is viewing his circumstances through the lens of God's sovereign goodness.  It will definitely change the way you see accidents, tragedy, illness, and even death.  God is good - all the time.  He is always working for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose - even through a paralyzing injury.  To be able to see that, and to see how God matures us through pain and difficulty is, in itself, a marker of maturity.  This is a truth that this short article also talks about in a bit more detail.

You can watch all of the updates on Steve Saint below, starting with the first video right after the accident and concluding with the video that was released just today.

"The Next Chapter"

"Best Day Yet"

"I Stood a Mendicant of God"

"There's No Place Like Home"

My Version of an "A la Carte"

With a nod to Tim Challies, I present my own version of an A la Carte, although it won't be daily as it is on Tim's site.  I have no idea how he gets all of the content for his site.  It seems like it could be a full time job to maintain it.  It's the only blog site I read every day.  I recommend you do too.

Anyway, what follows is four articles that I've read recently that I either thought were quite good or made me think (two of which I came across on Challies' site).  I had originally saved the articles as ones that I'd like to refer to, think through, and blog about in the future, but after some of them have been sitting in my inbox for a couple weeks now, it's time to admit I don't have time to do that and just post them for anyone who might be interested.  So here goes.

Should Christians Refuse to Pay Taxes When They Are Used to Finance Abortions?  This is the question asked by R.C. Sproul Jr., and his answer is "yes."  Put simply it's a matter of obedience to scripture (which commands us to pay taxes and obey the authority of the government).  Coming from a Reformed point of view, I would add that we do so in full confidence that all things are governed by God, and even the government does nothing without his allowance or say so.  Check out the article.

It's Not a Job When it's Ministry.  So says the author of this article.  I'm not sure what I think about this one, but at least it's got me thinking.  I do think it's inaccurate to elevate ministry vocations over secular or non-ministry vocations (and for the record, I'm not sure this article does that).  I guess I would say that all jobs are ministry jobs, whether they're in a church or not.  Take a look at it and see what you think.

Why Disabilities?  This author examines disabilities and talks about them in light of sin and God's good design.  Most people, including Christians, fail to understand mental and physical disabilities in light of God's sovereignty.  This is a good place to start thinking about it.

A Biblical Theology of Motherhood.  This is easily the longest and most technical of any of the articles, but it is no less very thought provoking.  Ever though about the role of mothers in the meta narrative (big picture) of of scripture?  Me neither.  I have now, and I'll continue to ponder it in the coming days.