Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Please spend a few moments today praying for the millions of families around the world coping with this disorder.Autism Discussion on Moody Radio -
Yesterday, Shannon Royce from Chosen Families was interviewed on Moody Radio’s program In the Market with Janet Parshall. I encourage you to click the link and listen to their discussion on autism. It is well-balanced, honest, and encouraging. Shannon mentions our family around the 20:30 mark, but I encourage you to listen to the program in its entirety.
Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Please spend a few moments today praying for the millions of families around the world coping with this disorder.
Autism is not a death sentence. God redeems autism for his own glory, and there are many examples of persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder doing great things and, more importantly, becoming great people. However, these outcomes are not independent of the suffering endured by families for years at a time. Our family knows firsthand both the joys and the sorrows of autism.
Our culture, in its flippancy, often skips too quickly to the happy ending. So, on this day, I want to share with you an incredibly personal poem that will, Lord willing, help you identify with our suffering and with the suffering of other families dealing with this same disorder. Living with autism isn’t always pretty. This poem verbalizes some of the darkest times and darkest feelings, and yet we have hope in God. Pray that we, and others, will not lose sight of His rays of hope in this often dark experience.
Jessi’s Wedding Reception
Two hours in a car
with you, delirious.
Blue eyes bright as stars
covered by hazy cirrus,
gray streaks of disorder.Tantrum quakes you
with no ability to calm.
My heart breaks anew,
praying, no sobbing the psalm:
“How long, O Lord?”My sister in white,
I didn’t see dance.
Dad won his fight.
I’m holding the lance
combatting an invisible horde.Wolves I could kill.
Giants I could slay.
Now I sit still
screaming amid the fray,
“I hate autism!”
“I hate autism.”
There is nothing unique in Chase’s book. Everything he writes can be found in a number of other books written by great evangelical authors. However, this very fact makes The Gospel Is For Christians unique. The very best of what can be read in a number of books can be found in this one book. Why? Because of the simplicity and comprehensiveness of Chase’s main idea.
Chase explains:
[W]e need to remember that the gospel is not something that we leave behind at the front door of the Christian faith so that we can pursue other things. The gospel is everything for the believer” (9).
The gospel isn’t only for unbelievers. As the title says, the gospel is for Christians because the truth of the gospel affects every area of the Christian’s life.
Chase intentionally imitates the style of Paul’s letters. He begins with an explanation of the gospel and then turns to application of the gospel in the second half. Because the gospel is comprehensive in the second half of the book Chase applies the gospel to several areas of life: personal spiritual growth, the church, church growth, missions, marriage, and parenting. He does not cover each subject as thoroughly as he could, but his task is breadth rather than depth.
For this reason, The Gospel Is For Christians is an ideal book for use with young believers. Whether you are guiding a young believer through one-on-one discipleship, leading a small group, or teaching a class of adults or youth, this book is perfect for founding young believers on a solid understanding of the gospel and for teaching them how the gospel affects many areas of life.
If I was a pastor, college minister, or youth pastor, I would order cases of this book to give out to everyone in my ministry because if every Christian could understand the gospel and its application as clearly as Chase presents it we would see unparalleled transformation. As Chase himself writes, “Remember, we can’t assume that people know the gospel” (270), and likewise we can’t assume that people know how the gospel ought to affect every aspect of life.
[Romanian Class Group Shot]
Thank you once again for your prayers and financial support. I wanted to encourage your faithfulness to God’s mission by sharing with you what God did in Athens this January.
Unfortunately, many mission trips are short-sighted. My two years in Moldova taught me that missions is hard, slow work. I was excited to work with Training Leaders International (TLI) in Athens because they have a long term vision.
TLI has designed a multi-year curriculum that will train church leaders to faithfully preach God’s word. Ryan, a faithful IMB missionary, coordinates the program in Athens in partnership with TLI. Our team began this work among six language groups—Romanian (which I taught), Albanian, Farsi, Arabic, and English (for Africans). For the next several years, the men we taught will continue their training as other TLI teams go to Athens.
God blessed my time with the Romanian-speaking group. Every night we covered two of God’s attributes. The Romanians and Moldovans were eager to study and asked challenging questions. However, their interest was not merely intellectual. We concluded each night with earnest times of prayer and song as we praised God for who he is.
The Romanian-speaking churches are possibly the strongest evangelical churches in Athens and are actively involved in evangelism and church planting throughout Greece. It is my conviction that these classes will make their work more effective and more God-honoring.
God used my knowledge of the Romanian language and culture to solidify the confidence and trust of the Romanian believers in TLI’s program. My time along with your prayers and money were an investment in these men and in the ministries of TLI and IMB missionary Ryan. I am confident that we will receive a good return on our investment by God’s grace. Again, thank you.
Our team is slowly waking up and getting ready to head to the airport for the long trip to Europe. Before leaving I wanted to share one item of prayer with you so that you can join me in presenting this before God.
Please pray that we can quickly gain the confidence and trust of those leaders who will be studying. This is critical to good teaching.
There are at least three crucial things we need to gain our students’s confidence and trust:
First, we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Spirit-filled people respond to Spirit-empowered teaching. We have great curriculum, but we must proclaim it with His power rather than depending on our own feeble abilities.
Second, we must be well studied and knowledgable. Pray that God will give us time and that he will bless our preparation for this class.
Third, pray for a humble attitude among these students. There are no superstars on our team and no PhDs. Pray that these students will be willing to learn from a bunch of normal guys who are speaking God’s word with God’s power.