tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825243.post116828700656307237..comments2024-01-06T07:53:11.832-08:00Comments on disabled Christianity: Church of the merry-go-roundJeff McNairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10029386598033932429noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825243.post-1170472139239475842007-02-02T19:08:00.000-08:002007-02-02T19:08:00.000-08:00The capital C in church should stand for compassio...The capital C in church should stand for compassion. Each church has a vatity of ages from the very young to the elderly. They all have a need and a purpose within the church. The small children see each new day with bright eyes, big smiles and occasional cries. The elderly usually bring wisdom. Many churches have modified bulletins with fill-in blanks to go with the sermon and large screens to see and answer the blanks. My church also has a special greeter. He is a mentally ill person who brings me joy each time I enter church each Sunday. He greets every person with a handshake and a smile. He makes my day brighter and my children enjoy shaking his hand and saying hello. They like to sit near him in church. We have a person who signs for those who are deaf. She has even spent time to teach some of us some words so we can make them feel welcome. My youngest child's Sunday school teacher is blind and uses a seeing eye dod. She has enlarged the printing the children read so she can also see it.These children find the print easier to follow and write. They love to listen to her stories each week. Her dod is well behaved and she allows the children to pet him at the end of class. She is also in the choir and has a beautiful singimg voice. We are lucky to have these two in the church. I know there are more people out there like them. We as a chuch need to seek them and invite them in. I believe our horse is grazing, maybe it will start running and sooner than later.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825243.post-1168634485119243572007-01-12T12:41:00.000-08:002007-01-12T12:41:00.000-08:00As for the horse analogy, I completely agree with ...As for the horse analogy, I completely agree with the ieas represented by the horse. We, as Christians are all horses going around this merry-go-round of life as inanimate objects not really participating in our faith. We are just circling the ride. We need to take an active part in our christianity and become the horse untying ourselves and going out into the world and finding those people with disabilities and bringintg them to the lord. You never know what a teenager with downsyndrome at your church will do for them as well as for your congregation and glorifying the Lord!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825243.post-1168634125919527112007-01-12T12:35:00.000-08:002007-01-12T12:35:00.000-08:00Your singing will be made a more beautiful act of ...Your singing will be made a more beautiful act of worship if you have worshipped in other ways as well, ministering to those who are disenfranchised, working with children, loving your neighbor. Clapping to the music is more enjoyable if a severely disabled adult is clapping along, off time, with a huge smile on his face. <BR/>This is all things that I have never really thought of before. I am still an infant in my faith but I am learning more and more every day about the things that will make my life better by glorifying God. We all talk the talk of being a good christian but we all need to start to walk the walk. I can't even imagine how much more the Lord would touch a congregation crying out a joyful noise when there is a disabled person crying out next to each of them!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825243.post-1168312559604837662007-01-08T19:15:00.000-08:002007-01-08T19:15:00.000-08:00Professor McNeilHave you read Shine Claiborne'sThe...Professor McNeil<BR/><BR/>Have you read Shine Claiborne's<BR/>The Irresistible Revolution?<BR/><BR/>Such materials for a bible study would not let churches sit comfortably (but bored) as they take another ride down the rutted 'Roman Road' while mechanically reciting the '4 spiritual laws'.Impossibleapehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11423495309073520479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825243.post-1168312138463679282007-01-08T19:08:00.000-08:002007-01-08T19:08:00.000-08:00Isaiah 28:28 28Does one crush bread grain? NO, ...Isaiah 28:28<BR/> 28Does one crush bread grain? NO, HE DOES NOT THRESH IT "CONTINUALLY" . But when he has driven his cartwheel and his horses over it, he scatters it [tossing it up to the wind] without having crushed it.<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>perhaps we should get on with it<BR/><BR/>the the same, old same old, same old, same old, same old with more gusto, the same old, the same old with a new preacher, the same old with a new building, the same old with a new set of Bible Study books, the same old with a better multimedia presentation, the same old, the same old......<BR/><BR/>will not do<BR/><BR/>we are crushing the grain and the land is in a famine of really hearing and seeing the Word of the Lord and eating and enjoying the bread of life.Impossibleapehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11423495309073520479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825243.post-1168304733357930782007-01-08T17:05:00.000-08:002007-01-08T17:05:00.000-08:00Hi, good commentary. It's simple. When people stop...Hi, good commentary. It's simple. When people stop doing religion and start doing relationship, with Christ and one another, that is when ALL people will be valued, respected and accepted. Church is just another social gathering replete with all the bigotry, biases and favoritism of any other. It's getting harder and harder to identify the Church from the world, and that's a sad commentary on our ambassadorship in the last days.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com