The Ashley Treatment- Four Years Later

Four years ago, the story broke about a nine year old girl who, three years earlier, had undergone growth attenuation surgery and had had her uterus removed. This was not done for any medical purpose, but rather it was done to intentionally keep the girl from reaching puberty and to keep her from growing to be more than 75 pounds. Ashley has a profound developmental and cognitive disability. Deemed the "Ashley Treatment", this surgery was performed so that her parents could care for her easier. It was later found that Ashely's rights were violated by sterilizing her without a court order.

So, Ashley, you're what, about 13 years old now? And you've been denied puberty. I know it's not this surgery that has denied you the social aspects of adolesence. I know it's your disability that keeps you fom school dances and middle-school-hallway-"who's that cute boy?"-gossip. And I know it's your parents and others referring to you as 'pillow angel' and seeing you as some sort of mental infant that keeps people from understanding that, chronologically, you are not an infant and, theologically, you are not an 'angel'. And I know that because 'ethically confused', to put it politely, doctors decided to remove your uterus, your body will never mature, a deception in that you ARE 13 years old.

I know how difficult it is to provide physical care to a fully grown adult who has no ability to assist in any part in his own care. However caring for such individuals can be and is done all the time. And, with technology progressing, it's getting easier. I fear this surgery was performed on you, not because it makes caring for you easier, though, that was probably your parents sincere intention. Rather, I fear society allowed this surgery because of our ignorance about and prejudice towards people with disabililities as profound as yours.

You are not an infant, you are not any kind of angel (nor demon), and your needs are not any more 'special' than anyone else's. You are not a 13-year-old with the mind of a baby- you are a 13-year-old with a profound disability. You are not to be laid on a pillow to be cooed at or gazed at like we do with a newborn. You have the life experience of a 13-year-old girl, which should be respected, with a wisdom about life that is uniquely yours, whether you can ever express that wisdom or not.

You're called a 'pillow angel', but you are neither an angel nor a demon; you are a human being. You have been created in God's image just like every other human. You are no more of a sinner nor any less of one, no more nor any less in need of a Savior.

Your needs- to eat, to breathe, to love and to be loved- your need for Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and for hope- are just like anyone else's. You may need more assistance than others in having those needs met, but your needs are the same as my needs. They're just not that special- and we don't have to keep you small and attempt to deny your sexuaility to better meet your needs any more than we do mine.

Ashley, because of your disability I know that you may never understand the indignity that was done to you. But, I know- and it really hurts my heart. I just wanted you to know that I see you- you- as a young woman. You are female. You are one of us, one of the gang. Women with profound cognitive disabilities are created to reflect God's image in their femininity as much as women without them.

And femininity is not all in the body- it's in the soul, in the spirit God gave you. You can still reflect beauty, mercy, and grace. THAT no doctor or hospital ethics committee can take away from you.

Bioethicist Teaches Doctor to "Think Bioethcially"

A creative way to demonstrate this potential conversation at Secondhand Smoke, blog of Wesley J. Smith.

Bioethicist Teaches Doctor to "Think Bioethically"

If you're wondering who the Peter Singer is spoken of in this video, I'd encourage you to 'google' him.

For more on terms like 'personhood' and 'speciesism' see this link.

A Pastor Who Struggles

From Yahoo News:

MINNEAPOLIS – A Lutheran pastor in Minneapolis who opposes homosexuals being allowed to lead congregations said Monday he is attracted to men, but that he's not a hypocrite because he never acted on his urges.

The Rev. Tom Brock told The Associated Press he has known for years he is sexually attracted to men, but doesn't consider himself gay because he never acted on it.

In June, the Minnesota gay magazine Lavender reported that Brock was a member of a support group for Christians who struggle with same-sex attraction. Brock's church, the Hope Lutheran Church, placed him on leave while a task force looked into the matter. The Rev. Tom Parrish, the church's executive pastor, said the investigation determined Brock's story checked out.

This reporter from Lavender magazine tried to create a scandal. Likely angry that this pastor opposes gay marriage, gays pastoring churches, and homosexual activity, he has attempted to expose the 'hypocrisy' of a pastor whom he considers to be gay himself.

But this pastor is not gay. He admits to struggling with same sex attractions, but a homosexual struggle does not a gay identity make. Feelings and attractions make up what we as Christians once were. But as Christians our identity is now with Christ.

If the world understood that the Church is where people who have acted out in sexual immorality and/or struggle with the temptation to do so exist, then the fact that there is a man who struggles with same-sex attractions pastoring a congregation would not be a story to them. If the Church understood its true make-up- that it is filled with forgiven sinners- then this would not be a big deal to us, either.

And, Church, this man is you, this man is I. This man represents all of us- for such were we!

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor the idolators, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. AND SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU. BUT YOU WERE WASHED, YOU WERE SANCTIFIED, YOU WERE JUSTIFIED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND BY THE SPIRIT OF OUR GOD. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (emphasis mine)

If this pastor were indeed acting out on his same sex attractions that would be a problem. But, apparently, he's not. Apparently, he's living the life of any Christian- forgiven and justified, though still of the flesh. still tempted and weak, he, like all of us, remains completely dependent on Christ for salvation, repentance, and holiness.

That this Lutheran pastor struggles with the temptation to sin is not the scandal the Church should be fascinated with. What Christian hasn't 'made the list' mentioned in the above passage? What Christian hasn't sinned and, like Paul talks about in Romans 7:7-25, still gets tempted to sin? Instead, our fixation should be on the the scandal of the Cross.

God looked forward to the filth and destruction that Adam's sin would cause and placed His one and only Holy Son right into the middle of it. Condemned man was and condemned we should have remained. But Christ came to save us, and in doing so, placed the wrath of His Father that was upon us and put it on Himself. He was beaten, scorned, tortured, and killed for our transgression. God demanded atonement for man's sin- and then atoned for man's sin Himself. THAT is a scandal! (John 3:17, Ephesians 2:1-10, Hebrews 2:17, Romans 3:21-26, Isaiah 53)

In atoning for this pastor's sins, Christ restored this man's relationship with the Father, and made this pastor a chosen son of God (John 1:12, Ephesians 1:3-8), made him his friend (John 15:15), made him a member of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), and in Christ this pastor is complete (Colossians 2:9-10). Because of Christ's work, this pastor is a new creation; the old is gone and the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17). Because of Christ's work this pastor "[does] not have a high priest who is not unable to sympathize with [his] weakness, but one who in every respect has been tempted as [he is], yet without sin". Therefore, this pastor can "with confidence can draw near to the throne of grace, that [he] may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:15-16)

This pastor is not gay. This pastor is a Christian. There is a difference- for as a new creation, he does not identify with his sin or with his sinful temptations. He identifies with Christ.

Declaring an Entire Class of Patients "Worthless"?

From the article, Withholding Care from Vegetative Patients: Financial Savings and Social Costs by L. Syd M. Johnson

In a recent column in the Huffington Post, Jacob M. Appel argues for “rational rationing” of health care resources by withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment from patients in a permanent vegetative state.

...when patients can no longer decide for themselves, or when they have not left instructions for their future care, the best way to protect their interests is to allow those who know them best to make decisions for them. Such decisions cannot come from a court in a one-size-fits-all statement about the value of a class of patients...

...It is unknown how many patients there are with chronic disorders of consciousness, in part because most of them are not in acute care facilities like Trinitas, but rather in long-term custodial care facilities. Many of these patients get very little care beyond artificial nutrition and hydration, although they can live for decades. Indeed, one of the tragedies for these patients is that they are neglected both clinically and socially...

...There are substantial social costs to declaring an entire class of patients “worthless.” Allowing health care providers, including institutions like acute care hospitals, to unilaterally decide, against the wishes of patients or their legal guardians, to withhold life-sustaining medical treatment invites abuse and diminishes transparency and due process...

...There are substantial social costs to declaring an entire class of patients “worthless.” Allowing health care providers, including institutions like acute care hospitals, to unilaterally decide, against the wishes of patients or their legal guardians, to withhold life-sustaining medical treatment invites abuse and diminishes transparency and due process...

What makes a person a person- is it that he can feel, think, do? Or is it that he is created in the image of God, able to feel, think, and do only because of God's mercy is upon him?

What of one who can no longer do- and likely think, and perhaps even feel- such as one in a persistent state of unconsciousness? Does he no longer bear God's image? What does he have to bring to the table, that is the table spoken of in Luke 14?

He has nothing to bring, as do you nor do I. He and we share equal footing at the Cross. We are all simply receivers of grace, mercy, faith, and repentance. However, the man, woman, or child in a persistent state of unconsciousness, in addition to being at the mercy of God is also at the mercy of us.

Will we not love him, as Christ loved us, helpless and vulnerable as we were before He rescued us? Will we not defend his life- or will we join the world and call his 'kind' worthless, allowing monetary resources to go to the more 'worthy'? Who are the 'worthy'? Those who can 'contribute'?

Human worth is not contingent on what humans 'contribute', but, rather, on what God gives to us, what He has contributed through His Son. Once enemies and haters of God, now we are the Bride of Christ, a royal priesthood, sons and daughters of the Living God, bought and paid for by our Savior Christ Himself.

Don't look at a human being and expect him to 'earn' his worth. We, none of us, can. But, rather is was earned for us- and for the, perhaps for the rest of his life, unconscious.

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6 NASB

Christians, Respect People with Developmental Disabilities

New York's Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities will now become the State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, leaving Rhode Island with the only state agency that still uses the word 'retardation' in its title. Using 'People with Developmental Disabilities' in the title is an example of People First Language, and it is hoped that the services offered will reflect the idea of putting the person (with the disability receiving services) first.

Though they are political in that they are used by state agencies to describe who receives certain state services, the terms 'developmental disability' and 'intellectual disability' are not simply the new politically correct terms for 'mental retardation'. For one, the term 'developmental disability' describes an array of disabilities. But, even more so, I think I could pretty much say as fact they exist because of the slanderous and hurtful way people began using the words 'retardation' and 'retarded'.

However, the term 'retardation' may have a similar history. Remember, the terms 'idiot', 'moron', and 'feebleminded' were once valid medical terms to describe what the still medical term of 'mental retardation' is today. But what we've done to those words, we've done to the word 'retarded'. They've become terms to describe something we despise and see as the lowest form of human characteristic- low intelligence. Gasp! Heaven forbid, we be seen as 'stupid', 'moronic', or 'retarded'!

So, I suspect, rather strongly, that once the terms 'developmental disability' and 'intellectual disability' become commonplace, it will be a common theme to hear 'developmentally disabled' or 'intellectually disabled' thrown at one another on the playground, imported into the stand up comic routines, or cursed at our remote controls when we can't get them to work. I'll use these new terms, but I don't think another term is what we need. What we need is respect for people with this particular disability- then we won't need to keep changing the words used to describe it every 30 years.

Respect people with developmental disabilities. Am I just moralizing? Expecting the world to follow my opinion of what is 'right' and 'wrong'?

I don't expect the world to follow anything 'right'- though sometimes they do, as is evident in the State of New York's attempt to be respectful of people with developmental disabilities. The Law of God (the 'right') is written on man's heart (Romans 2:13-15), and sometimes the unregenerate human follows it. But, by nature, man is also a sinner who can be expected to do what sinners do- sin or the 'wrong'.

But, Christians, those who've, by God's grace, repented of sin and trusted in Christ for forgiveness, have a new nature, and can now be expected to do what Christians do- 'right'. It is right to respect those with developmental disabilities. Love thy neighbor. Take care of the weak. Defend the cause of the poor and the needy. You know the verses. Christians are expected to do these things- not for our salvation, but as evidence that we've been made new creatures.

Who are these people to be respected, these people with developmental disabilities? Out of what theme are they to be respected? People with developmental and intellectual disabilities are men, women, and children who've been created in the image of God, who've been separated from their Creator by sin, who've been purchased back by Christ at the Cross, who, when called to repentance and the forgiveness of sin are justified and have the hope of eternal life free of sin, sickness, disability, and death through Christ's resurrection, and have the same new nature as and belong to the exact same Body as every other Christian. Sound familiar? Sound like you?

Who are these people to be respected? Your brothers and sisters. Out of what theme? The Gospel.

By nature, the Law of God is written on our hearts. Through the work of Christ at the cross and the regeneration and sanctification of the Holy Spirit, Christians can now do this Law naturally.

Christians, respect people with developmental disabilities.

Sigh

I appreciated the irony tonight while watching 20/20. No, 'appreciate' is not the correct word. I noticed irony. Or incongruency, rather.

I remember a movie called Twillight of the Golds about a family with a pregnant daughter whose baby tests positive for the 'gay gene'. Abortion is considered and recommended for this pregnancy by her family and husband, and, of course, we the audience come to understand how immoral that idea would be. (And, of course, it would be quite immoral to end an unborn life because it may be carrying the so-called 'gay gene'.)

I was thinking of that movie while watching this 20/20 segment and then watched the next story on this same episode tonight about a man who surprised his parents by being born with no limbs.

I was thinking about the irony (or incongruency) that the popular, pc public wouldn't think twice if this man's parents had known he would be born with this kind of disability and chosen to terminate that pregnency. And how silent that public remains about the fact that the idea of euthenasia for such infants is creeping upon us here the US as it has in Europe. And how that same public would cry out if abortion, etc. were to be considered for pregnancies where the 'gay gene' was detected- as they should cry out, of course. But they remain silent for other 'kinds' of pregnancies being terminated.

Ironic, or incongruent.

Coming Out As an IHOP Skeptic

Updated, 3/14/10

I've added sources for some of the revivalists I mentioned to be false teachers.

Updated, 2/23/10: I was rightfully encouraged to include a source regarding my concerns with Bickle's using allegory to create new doctrine. I was reluctant to do so because the author of this source is anti-charismatic, and I am not. I didn't want any more offense thrown at IHOPpers than needed. So, read with discernment.

Still, as promised, working on sources for the revivalists I mentioned to be false.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

I have a confession. I am an IHOP skeptic, IHOP being the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. I am leery of its doctrines, its practices, and its history. Becoming somewhat familiar with the teachings of IHOP leader Mike Bickle, I feel pretty safe in my decision to stay away.

With shaky hands, a knot in my stomach, and very clumsy words, I explain my mistrust.

One of Bickle's more well known teachings is that of the Bridal Paradigm. Not by far the first person to interpret Song of Solomon as a description of the relationship between Jesus and His Bride, Bickle goes further to make it about Jesus and us individually. This is new revelation of the Bridal Paradigm is central at IHOP; it is imperative, they believe, for individual growth of Christians to understand their bridal identity.

The problem with this new revelation is that it is only found by allegorizing Scripture. No where in Scripture is there any implication that the Song of Solomon is about Jesus and His Bride, individually or corporately.

Bickle allegorizes again the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. Christians who have always read this literally understand that it is about being prepared for Christ's return- the 5 who were prepared 5 were His, the other 5 not prepared were not His- He didn't know them. Bickle assumes that all 10 were His.

He gives allegorical meaning to the lamps of the virgins- that they were all a functioning ministry. He gives allegorical meaning to the oil in the lamps, calling it "the heart connect with the Holy Spirit. As we cultivate our secret life in God, did you know that everyone one of us in this room have a secret life with God... It's the reach of your heart for God. Everyone of us are developing a secret history in God- that's the oil, the connection with the Holy Spirit," Bickle says in his audio message #2 given March 6, 2008. So the five virgins prepared were Christians who had a more intimate relationship with Christ, while the five virgins were Christians who didn't understand their 'bridal identity' or have as much intimacy with Christ.

This teaching gives way to pietism. The 'work' of intimacy is required to be a more elite Christian than other kinds of Christians. I have seen my friends who go to IHOP beat themselves up for not being 'intimate' enough- a work not even found in Scripture.

This idea of a 'reach of your heart for God' contrasts the God of the Bible Who reaches out His heart toward us. Intimacy is a natural result of having been forgiven of our sins, being freed from the yolk of the law, and being adopted heirs of the Father. Intimacy is a joy, a reward- not a work.

Bickle is of former Kansas City Prophet fame, men who were rebuked for and who repented of heretical doctrines. However the heretical doctrines of the KC prophets, specifically Joel's Army and The Latter Rain Movement, seem to heavily influence the teachings at IHOP. In his teaching from 2008, "Being Prepared to Fully Embrace the Move of the Holy Spirit", Bickle briefly discusses how "God releases grace for moves of God (small 'm') that work together to prepare the body of Christ for the great final global End Time Move of God (capital 'M') that surpasses the Book of Acts and results in Jesus' return".

Bickle in the teaching given March 6, 2008 says that:

We're not absent for the great tribulation, now listen carefully, the church causes the great tribulation. What I mean by that- it's the church, it's the praying church under Jesus' leadership that's loosing the judgment in the great tribulation in the way that Moses stretched forth his rod and prayed and loosed the judgements upon Pharaoh. The church in the tribulation is in the position that Moses was before Pharaoh but it won't be a Pharaoh and Egypt, it'll be the great end time Pharaoh called the antichrist and the book of Revelation is a book about the judgments of God on the antichrist loosed by the praying church.

The Latter Rain eschatology claims that a company of prophets and apostles will defeat Satan. Bickle claims the Church will, using a special type of prayer as the key. In both eschatologies, an elite end-time church defeats God's enemies and Jesus is 'held in the heavens' until it happens.

Bickle emphasizes in the March 6 teaching that the greatest revival lies ahead and will occur at the same time as the Great Tribulation. "There's so many principles in the [parable of the virgins] parable. It is an end time parable, I tell you it is. It is for the people and when the crisis and the revival of the great Matthew 24 is unfolding." "We're still in Matthew 24, it's all about the end times- Matthew 24 and then the three parables. Jesus is preparing the church through these three parables to walk in victory in the hour of the greatest revival in history and the greatest time of trouble in history- it's called the Great Tribulation."

Matthew 24 teaches no such thing- unless Scripture is allegorized. Now, the Latter Rain movement has a teaching about a Great End Times Revival that comes from allegorizing some Old Testament passages about the agricultural seasons in Israel. But Matthew 24 does not.

I am bothered by Bickle's end times teachings not because they are different than mine, but because they allegorize Scripture and arrogantly say that human beings have such a big part- that we somehow usher it through some special kind of praying.

Bickle describes his doctrine that Christians must adopt a certain version of prayer before Christ can return:

Right now the prayer movement is growing fast... really fast! But when I say it's growing fast instead of one percent of the Body of Christ taking hold of it, maybe 10 percent. It's... you know it's like 10 times bigger than it was a generation ago, but beloved, as fast as the prayer movement is growing, where people are getting hold of it, still for 90 percent of the Body of Christ, it's not even on their mind. Jesus is not coming until the Body of Christ globally is crying out, "Come Lord Jesus, Come Lord Jesus, Come Lord Jesus" and they don't just say "come and forgive me" they are crying out in the understanding of who they are as the one that is cherished by Jesus in the bridal identity.

So, in order for Christ to come, Christians must adopt Bickle's allegorical interpretation of the Song of Solomon and Matthew 25, and cry out "Come, Lord Jesus" in their bridal identity? This is a bold claim.

Christians have been praying for Christ's return ever since John penned "And the Spirit and the Bride say come" in the Book of Revelation. Christians proclaim the "Lord's death until He comes" every time we take communion (1 Corinthians 11:26) in faith as we wait for the marriage supper of the Lamb. Does Bickle really have the authority to claim that Christians have had an inadequate prayer life all this time until his revelation- a revelation for which there is no Scriptural support?

Because of his frequent allegorization of Scripture which brings out the elitist, legalist in myself, I cannot put myself under the teaching of Mr. Bickle. In addition, any confidence I had in Mr. Bickle's ability to discern, let alone to lead people in, a 'move' of God waned strongly after reading his teaching notes and listening to the previously linked audio of his teaching on being prepared to embrace a move of the Holy Spirit.

Bickle claims that there are obvious signs of the increasing move of the Holy Spirit in our nation, "strategic installments" of the move of God since Azusa in 1904, the Spirit 'flowing' in revival and 'ebbing' in His activity to give the body of Christ time to digest what He has imparted. Of course, Bickle fails to give any Scriptural evidence for such a claim of installments, ebbings and flowings. And, while, to his credit, Bickle gives much exhortation to use discernment, he fails to use it himself when it comes to past 'moves' of the Holy Spirit.

For instance, the examples Bickle gives of such 'moves' in this teaching are as follows:

John Alexander Dowie healing revival (1890’s); Wales revival (1904); Azusa Street revival (Los Angeles in 1906); John G. Lake healing revival (1910-30); Aimee Simple McPherson healing revival (1920’s); Voice of Healing revival with Oral Roberts, William Branham, Kenneth Hagin, etc. (1940-50’s); Charismatic Renewal with the Catholics then main line denominations (1967); Jesus Movement Chuck Smith/Lonnie Frisbee in Southern California (1970’s); Vineyard healing revival with John Wimber (1980’s); International renewal center in Lakeland Florida with Rodney Howard-Browne reaching Pentecostals (1993); International renewal center in Toronto with John Arnott reaching main line denominations (1994) in conjunction with the HTB renewal; Pasadena renewal center with Lou Engle and Che Ahn. The Pensacola revival with Steve Hill (1995); Regional renewal in Smithton with Steve Gray (1995); Regional healing revival in Redding with Bill Johnson (2000), Todd Bentley national healing revival in Lakeland (2008 ) and Rick Joyner with a regional healing revival.

How were these examples ‘moves of God’? Bickle doesn’t explain here. I'm assuming because there were reports of the kind of manifestations he examples to be the Spirit's manifestations he talks about here and here in the above paragraphs made regarding these ministries and revivals. However, consider these men behind the ministries and revivals.

John G Lake:

http://www.letusreason.org/Popteac40.htm

http://endtimespropheticwords.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/john-g-lake-exploits-and-exploitation/

William Branham:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Branham

http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain4.htm

http://www.forgottenword.org/branham.html

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/b05.html

Kenneth Hagin

http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/hagin/general.htm

http://www.forgottenword.org/hagin.html

Todd Bentley/Lakeland

http://www.worldmag.com/articles/15373

http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2009/05/i-guess-that-if-you-die-and-go-to-heaven-thats-a-healing-of-sorts.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJD_7LLixz4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Rw6TCiUO8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhpFbjfmK6E&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW2kaRP3EtI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LJICxXnvlw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqJaJzHdGaI&feature=related

Let's say the miracles and so forth of the other above false teachers were real- difficult to prove all these years later- but let’s say that people really were healed of diseases and disabilities through their ministries and the 'manifest presence' of some sort of spirit really did show up in their meetings. The Bible speaks of false signs and wonders (Matthew 24: 23-25, Mark 13:21-23). Hebrews 2: 1-4 tells us that God bore witness to His salvation through signs and wonders. Signs and wonders are to point to something. In 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10, we see false signs and wonders pointing to the false christ, the lawless one.

If indeed the miracles and manifestations experienced through the ministry of these false teachers and preachers were real, who and what are they pointing to? They point to false teachings, false doctrines, and a false christ!

Bickle says, "God uses weak and broken vessels of clay so that no one glories or boasts in man" and that we are not mandated to point out what lacks excellence in each vessel, if they are minor, 'gnat-issues'. (Bickle takes Matthew 23:23-24- "You pay tithe of mint and anise... and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!"- out of context, to mean that we are to swallow minor issues while concentrating on bigger 'camel' issues. Matthew 23:23-24 is about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, not about discernment.

Paul says the same thing, that God uses the weak to shame the wise. Paul was a very weak man- but Paul did not teach false doctrine. Weak, broken vessels' does not mean 'false teachers'. Nor do weak, broken people stay weak. They grow in wisdom, understanding, and right doctrine. This did not happen with the men and women in Bickles above revival/ministry examples. Instead of growing in His Word, sanctification, and holiness, their doctrines grew worse and scandal followed their personal lives. God uses weak people- but He doesn't leave us weak!

"Love covers a multitude of sin (1 Peter 4:8)," Bickle reminds us regarding these broken vessels. But, love doesn't mean we excuse or ignore the sin. "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and will wander off into myths." 2 Timothy 4: 1-4

In this teaching, Mr. Bickle shares this infamous word he received in 1982: I will change the understanding and expression of Christianity in the earth in one generation. He then says 'changing the expression' speaks of the way the Church expresses its life together under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

But, I ponder, the Bible gives clear directions for how the Church is to express its life together under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. What Scriptural evidence supports this word from God that the expression will change? How, Mr. Bickle, did you test it?

And what, Mr. Bickle, do you do with your prophets like this? Who prophetically dreams things that don't happen, who says that the prophetic is never a guarantee, but an invitation to join the Great Intercessor? Poor God. Wanted an end to abortion, apparently, but not enough people musta joined His Intercession. I didn't know we had that much power.

So, I do not trust Bickle's teachings nor his idea of what a move of the Spirit is. So, no attending the current Student Awakening- especially since phrases are being used reflecting the same kinds of doctrines proclaimed at Lakeland.

Oh, but the Spirit is manifesting. I'm sure some spirit is manifesting. I hope it is God's. But signs and wonders point so something. IHOP has false doctrines and teachings. Are they then pointing to a false christ?

But people are repenting. Awesome. Really- it is a good thing to repent. And I'm not surprised folks at IHOP are repenting. IHOP is very good at giving its students and visitors the law.

The videos I watched had the leaders calling the audience to repentance to receive refreshing, and so they could raise the dead, and cast out demons. Only very briefly was the cross mentioned, and it was not the emphasis.

The people from Westboro Baptist Church call people to repentance. When calling people to repentance, you must break them with the Law of God; IHOP, and Westboro, you've got it right. But, you must offer them the good news of the forgiveness of sins in Jesus name when you have broken them. This cross is for Christians, too. We can't be good for goodness sake even if we wanted to. Through forgiveness and walking in the Spirit we are enabled to 'be good'. Because we've a new heart. But since our righteousness doesn't count anyway, for when God looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Christ, shouldn't Christ and His cross be what is focused on at repentance?

So, these are my thoughts.

Ending Suffering by Ending the Person Suffering?

The prevention of suffering is Aleksandr Nikonov's main argument in his article, "Finish Them Off, So They Don't Suffer" for a Russian tabloid magazine. Using a most derogative Russian term 'debil' to describe people with developmental disabilities, he makes a case for what he calls 'postnatal abortion', and what everyone else calls infanticide, for children born with them.

From the article:

"Let me introduce myself: I am Adolf Hitler. This is the way people want to portray me," Nikonov says. "But the real bastards are those who tell me, 'Yes, it is good and fair that people are in pain. We'll look on and say people can suffer, as long as our scholarly conception of humaneness is not affected.' To hell with you. People shouldn't suffer. This is my opinion, and you won't shut me up."

Wow. "People shouldn't suffer." What a humanitarian. As if those who would prefer the murder of children remain illegal are in favor of human suffering?

No parent watching the torment caused by Hunter syndrome rack her child with pain is in favor of suffering. No fellow church member of a child born with NKH whose heart breaks with her parents' at hearing the news that the little girl is having multiple daily seizures is in favor of suffering. And no friend of a man with Down syndrome who hears him being called 'retard' within ear shot at the mall or reads that a Russian journalist chooses the most offensive word possible to describe those whom he deems suffering, causing hurt and suffering, while decrying they shouldn't suffer is in favor of suffering.

We all want to end suffering. That's why scientists work on cures for diseases. That's why people become doctors and nurses. That's why ABC banks on the tv series Extreme Home Makeover. No human with any kind of sympathy or empathy can bear to watch another suffer. We have an instinct about us, we humans, to react to ease another's suffering and to end it when we can. But to end the person suffering?

Wouldn't, Mr. Nikonov, instead of jumping on the killing bandwagon, your time be better spent advocating for disability rights, better health care for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, and better support systems for those with disabilities and their caregivers, as these things are of very poor quality in your country? Surely the suffering you deem of those with developmental disabilities would be greatly reduced. (Suffering both real and imagined, I might add, as many people with developmental disabilities do not necessarily see themselves as suffering anymore than anyone else.)

But, no, of course it wouldn't end. Human suffering will have no complete end until Christ returns, and oh, how we groan inwardly waiting for the redemption of our bodies waiting for that time. (Romans 8:23)

And, my how we suffer. We all suffer. People with and without disabilities suffer.

Oh, but what is our answer? Who shall free us from a lifetime of pain, from the entire human history of struggle, strife, and sorrow?

My friend, the answer is always Christ and His cross. It was there that this holy God-man, this One of whom no one suffered more, bore our sorrows and carried our griefs, this man, this God, took upon Himself our sin, absorbing the wrath of God that was upon us, this Jesus, this son of God who agonized in the garden over His Father's will to crush Him, suffered and died an atoning death for our sin.

We look at the Cross of Christ and we understand love: "This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and gave his son as atoning sacrifice for our sin." (1 John 4:10) We look to the Cross and we find our salvation, our forgiveness, our reconciliation with our Creator. We look to His suffering and know that by His stripes we are healed. The hope we have in Christ and His empty tomb give us more hope than we can ever comprehend.

In Christ we have love. In His death we have forgiveness of sin. In His resurrection, we have the promise of our resurrection from pain, suffering, and death into life and freedom from sin and struggle.

Finishing 1 John 4:10, 1 John 4:11 says, "Beloved if God so loved us, we ought to love one another." 1 John 4:19 says, "We love because he [God] first loved us."

We are not to do harm to those suffering. But because God loved us, because Christ became poor so that we could become rich, because Christ humbled Himself and made Himself a servant, because we who are His are new creations enabled by the Holy Spirit to do so, we are to care for those suffering! To grieve with those grieving and to rejoice with those rejoicing. To clothe the naked, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, and to visit those in jail.

So, we respect human life. Nay, we revere it, for humans reflect the very image of our Creator. Because we revere human life, we strive to end the suffering of it we are able to end, to ease what we can ease. And we give the world our fellow human beings, our fellow sufferers, the hope of the Gospel- the forgiveness of sins in Jesus' name and the promise of a new life and an end to suffering at God's appointed time.

Meanwhile, "we know that for those who love God, all things work for good who have been called according to his purposes. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son, that he might be the firstborn of many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called he also justified; those he justified he also glorified." (Romans 8:28-30) And we "consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)