The Worship Zone

You may have heard of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone.  The American television series from the '60's featured stories of suspense, science fiction and the psychological thriller.  The show always began with a narrator describing the "fifth" dimension where the story would soon take place.  That same introduction has been modified to best introduce today's "Worship For All" post:

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to all.  It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity.  It is the common ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, between ability and disability. It lies in the pit of one's fears and above the summit of our knowledge. This is the dimension of worship. It is an area which we call The Worship Zone."

Meet my young friend with Bi-Polar disorder.  The worship service has started.  He's the teenager pointing his finger at one of the volunteers and sternly warning "Stop looking at me"!  He is visiting the respite care facility this weekend.  He does not know it yet, but he has just entered The Worship Zone!

Our teenage friend stops scolding his kind helper and turns to me.  "God doesn't like me," he said.   "He put a short in my CD player.  Now it doesn't work anymore.  God hates me".

"My friend," I replied, "let me tell you something very important.  God loves you very much!  We love you very much!" 

We continued with our gentle worship songs.  At this point, the boy closed his eyes and clenched his teeth while sitting in his beanbag chair.  He was in torment.  His face turned deep red as he fought against the voices and thoughts in his head.  Saying nothing, he remained like this for a few minutes.  My brave friend had willingly allowed us to worship without interruption!  By the time we reached the children's sermon, he was calm again.  There is comfort to be found in The Worship Zone

This teenager is always welcome at our Worship For All services.  "Isn't he too disruptive?" you ask.   On the contrary, we learned how effective our ministry can be from the boy with the Bi-polar Disorder!  We have seen the power of worship and God's Word at work with children of Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Fragile X, Down Syndrome, Asperger Syndrome, Bi-Polar Disorders and other Intellectual disabilities.

A few months ago one of our children's messages was from Psalm 55:22.   "Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you.  He will not permit the godly to slip and fall."  (New Living Translation)  Our objects were puffer balls with big bold faces on them.  One ball looked worried, one looked sick and one looked angry.   Before I revealed each object from the Worship For All bible, I asked if the children knew what worried, sickness and anger looked like.  I pulled each one out of the bible and asked if anyone wanted to hold one.  We passed them around the room.  The look and the texture of the puffer balls were irresistible.  The children were very interested.

Then a large plastic clothes hamper was brought in.  On it was written "Jesus' Trash Can".   I read our Bible verse and encouraged each child to choose a puffer ball and throw it in the trash.  "Let's give our worry to Jesus," I said.  He'll throw it away for us."

I walked around the room with the "Jesus' trash can".  To my surprise, all of the children were able to participate.  Some threw a puffer ball in the trash.  Some dropped it in if we carefully placed the trash can near their hand.  For some, we rolled the puffer ball down their arm or leg and let it roll into the "Jesus' trash can".

That brings us back to my teenage friend with the Bipolar Disorder.  He was sitting in his bean bag chair as I came near.  I held the trash can low for him to easily toss in one of the puffer balls.   He got on "all fours" and started vigorously shaking his head as if to say "no"  He looked as if he was going to crawl into the trash can.  I quickly said "No, don't crawl in.  You're supposed to throw it in the trash can."  He responded by saying, "I'm shaking my anger out.  There's a lot of anger in my head.  I'm giving Jesus all of my anger!"  (We let him take all of the time he wanted.)

My friend got it.  He understood the day's message in ways that I had not imagined!  We all were in The Worship Zone.  The teenage boy with Bi-polar Disorder led the way.


This is the Worship For All blog.   It has a heavenly ending.

Tomorrow:  "Touch"

Bloop Happens

This is Bloop!

This is what Bloop sounds like!

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Bloop is a sound.  It is an ultra-low frequency and extremely powerful sound.  Scientists say that it occurs underwater.   They believe that the noise once originated at 50⁰ S 100⁰ W which would place the sound in the ocean south and west of the tip of South America.  Oceanographers say that the sound could be heard from over 3,000 miles away.  The sound was only recorded once in 1997.  The source of the sound remains unknown.

"Heard from over 3,000 miles away"? 

"The source is unknown"? 

Dudes, I've been hearing Bloop many times a day for 31 years!  I started hearing it in the '80's.  My son, Jesse, is making those sounds!  He has autism.  Up here on land, it is a high pitched "aaahhhhHHHH!".   Silly scientists, the sound has been garbled because you are listening to it underwater! 

The sounds of autism and other disabilities are the Bloop of our lives.  Even if you're not associated with disabled people, I'm sure you have heard the short, powerful sound bursts at your local Target or Toys-R-Us.   You stop what you are doing to see the emergency.  You look for who is in distress.  It may be a meltdown or, in fact, you may be looking at extreme delight.  The sounds of Bloop can fool you.  More often than not, what you turn to see is a very happy, excited person with their very courageous mom or dad.  They have set sail into an ocean of stimuli.   That is the sound of Bloop.

These sounds are also present during our "Worship For All" chapel services.  God loves Bloop!  Yes, Bloop is distracting.  However, these pings, dongs, yelps, groans and grunts are some of the sounds of our worship adventure.  Bloop was not really first heard in 1997.  It was first recorded thousands of years ago.  In the Bible, Psalm 100 describes Bloop as a joyful noise made by the Earth and all who inhabit the Earth:

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all you Earth. 
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

Know that the LORD is God:
it is he that has made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:
be thankful to him, and bless his name.

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endures to all generations.

(based on the American King James Version)



This is the "Worship For All" blog.  It has a heavenly ending.

Next up:  "The Worship Zone"


Worship Bloopers

I'm sure you have seen "America's Funniest Home Videos on the ABC network.  Crazy things can happen when the video cam is switched on.  The same goes for worship services with special needs children but without the video cams.  We expect bloopers to occur and many times they do.    Bloopers help us remember that the children are always listening.  They are very aware of what we are saying.  They don't always share their thoughts with us.  When they do, their sudden bursts of interaction are relished.  Here are a few that come to mind:

We had spent a few hours planning and transforming our chapel room so that it looked like a 1st century boat on the Sea of Galilee.  We were going to story one of Jesus' miracles where the disciples filled their nets and 2 boats with an amazing catch of fish.  The very first boy who came in to see the converted chapel enthusastically exclaimed "I want to walk the plank!".  "Hmmmm", I thought.  Maybe our Bible story was supposed to be about Jonah.  He kind of walked the plank, didn't he?

Some of the children of Intellectual Disabilities who attend our worship services have spectacular understandings of encyclopedias!  A few months back one teenage boy decided to help us worship by mentioning the exact distance between the earth and the moon.  As a worship leader for disabled children, I am always willing to meet the children where they are interacting.  I stopped what I was talking about and informed the young lad, on my left, that coincidentally, in two days an asteroid was going to pass safely between the earth and the moon.  To begin his calculations on the subject, he naturally asked for the exact time that this was going to happen.  Not having his power of recall, I replied   "Sometime around dinner time on Tuesday".  Meanwhile, to my right side, I noticed a small-sized girl of 8 or so raise her hand.  Meekly, and in a quiet voice, she said "I want to be an astronaut".   "Good for you!" I softly cheered as we moved on with our worship service.

In our worship services, sometimes the children praise their Lord with random thoughts aloud!. Bloopers are the verses to our new songs of worship.


I was first exposed to the power of worship creativity by Herb Brokering while I attended Lutheran Theological Seminary in Columbus, Ohio.  His non-traditional thinking welcomed me to seminary.  I thrived in his classes and we shared an ability to find God's truth in the most basic of objects.   He taught me the importance of communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ in common words, even words like "Hello", "Welcome", "Don't be worried", "It's okay" and "I'm glad you are here".   These are the transformative and redemptive words for the disabled community.  (Thanks, Herb.)

Rev. Dr. Herbert Brokering (1926-2009) also wrote the words to the following song "Earth and All Stars".  Our special needs children are not able to sing like the children in this YouTube selection.  I suspect, however, that the noises and words of my co-worshippers still reach far into the heavens. 

This is the "Worship For All" blog.   It has a heavenly ending.

Tomorrow:  "Bloop Happens"

My "Empty Tomb" Moment

Mary had been worrying for three days.  She had something important to do and the task was bothering her.  Everything she needed for the trip was laid out.  Everything had been planned.  It was going to take all morning for her and others to finish their work.  She needed to be there early.  Mary Magdalene was going to Jesus' tomb to annoint his body for burial.

Mary arrived expecting to find Jesus' body.  Instead, she found an empty tomb.  The empty tomb confused her at first.  Nothing made sense.  Only after she met the risen Lord was she able to comprehend God's Plan.  Everything Jesus had said in the last three years was true.  Jesus was the Messiah.  Jesus is the one true God and Savior! 

The empty tomb moment for Mary was the same for the disciples. The empty tomb compelled the disciples to come out of hiding and boldly live for Christ.  Uncertainty, fear, doubt and confusion would no longer keep Jesus' followers from telling the world about the Savior and His salvation.  Paul had his empty tomb moment on the way to Emmaeus.  Your may have yours on the way to Walmart.

The "empty tomb" moment is when we recognize that a personal Savior is at work in our lives!  It is the Christian's "Ah Ha" moment when we connect the dots, see the trail and fully understand the story.  No disciple had enough faith or clarity of thought to write down the words of Jesus before the tomb became empty. Only after the disciples realized the full meaning of the empty tomb would they recollect the words of Jesus and share with us their stories of following Jesus.

My latest "empty tomb" moment occurred 4 days ago.  This past Sunday I again recognized the power of God at work in the "Worship for All" ministry.   Do you recall the story of the boy who yelled out "Voodoo" during one of our worship services?  (Refer to the January 12th blog post)  Believe it or not, this past Sunday, and six weeks after the "Voodoo" incident happened, the boy was still playing with the washcloth Jesus toy that he was given!  He had brought it from home to have with him during his weekend stay at the respite care facility.  

Now what sermon message have you heard on a Sunday that you are still carrying around with you six weeks later?   Here's a good Christian phrase that you never hear:  "I am agog!".  I am agog at the power of the Holy Spirit to which God amazes us again and again.  The tomb should be full, but now I understand why it is empty!

This is the daily "Worship For All" blog.  It has a heavenly ending.

Next up:  "Worship Bloopers"

Groundhog Day

(Most of this difficult-to-tell story is for folks who have never lived with a severely disabled child.  The ending, however, is for those who have...)

My son Jesse has severe autism.  Often he and I walk through the local grocery store to buy two of his favorite comfort foods:  a large tub of strawberry yogurt and a pie, any kind of pie.  That’s all we usually have time for.  That’s all of the time he wants to allow.  Then it is back into the safety of our van.  My hope is that we can reach home before he demands the pie in a fit of frustration. Jesse is not a patient person. It is so difficult to drive when there is an enraged person in the vehicle rapping his knuckles against his head, or worse, biting on his wrist.  

As we approach the store's check out area, there is a small girl sitting in the child seat of a grocery cart.  Jesse and I are several yards away but the 18 month old already sees us coming.  The young one isn’t looking at me.  She is staring at Jesse as if he were Frankenstein lumbering along.  The closer we get, the larger  the girl’s eyes grow.  Curiosity has turned into discomfort.  When we get close, the child looks to “mom” for help.  Now she is afraid.

None of the adults standing nearby are noticing.  Somehow, this very young child recognizes that something is very different about my son.  At one or two years of age, the child has an acute awareness of her environment and can discriminate between common and uncommon.  My son, unlike the small child, is quite unaware.  Jesse just wants to eat apple pie. I want to cry. 

Please understand that this shopping trip did not just take place in the last few days.  My son is 31 years old and this story has repeated itself several times each year throughout his life.  It has happened with me.  It has happened with my wife.  It always catches us off guard.  My wife and I react the same way each time.  We begin to grieve our loss all over again!  In this innocent, but cruel encounter, we are reminded that there was a death, of many kinds, in the family on December 23, 1980. 

The well-studied theory of grief by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has 5 stages.  They are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.  To those who are unfamiliar with people of disabilities, it would seem logical that there would be a limited amount of grief since the disabled person survived birth and is reasonably healthy. 

On the contrary, the grieving process of a parent of a special needs child is active and continuous.  It is much like the movie Groundhog Day where the character Phil Conners, played by Bill Murray, relives the same day over and over again without a change in the outcome. Parents of the disabled are challenged with re-experiencing their loss at every missed milestone of childhood development.  Sometimes, in a guilty jealousy, parents grieve their loss in the moment of another child's accomplishment.

Parents, grandparents and 24/7 caregivers of the disabled awaken to their version of February 2nd every morning.  Like Phil Conners, they may be asking:  "How do I possibly get through to February 3rd?"  In the movie, we watch Phil uproariously experience four of the five stages of grief.  We laugh at his denials.  We guffaw at his slapstick anger.  We giggle at his self-bargaining.   We chuckle at his antics of depression.  Phil breaks the cycle (some say after 10,000 groundhog days) when he finds love, accepts his day and chooses to help the people around him.  His redemptive story is complete. 

Most parents of special needs children, are not laughing at the movie in which we find ourselves starring. There is redemption for us, however!  Our redemptive story is complete when we accept the extraordinary gift we have been given.  The Heavenly Father has added a special needs person to our family.  Your child, my Jesse, has a complete soul and vibrant spirit TODAY!  He or she is spiritually WHOLE right now!   I believe that God has built special needs children in a way that they are ready to worship.  It does not matter what the disability they experience.  (Now do you see the reason behind the Worship For All Foundation?) 

The Heavenly Father sees no weakness, no speech problems, no developmental delays, no distant stares and no handicaps in these children.  Why?  Because He sees our children now as we will see them in heaven.  For all of eternity, our disabled children are COMPLETE and PERFECT in every way.  In heaven, there is no Groundhog Day and no one looks or walks like Frankenstein.
 
I think we need God's distinctive viewpoint to get through each day, don't you?  It takes faith to accomplish it.  Yes, it takes much faith.  I say go get more faith.  Go where?  Go wherever you can hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and interact with His people. I am sure that is how, and that is where, faith is found.  

"Worship For All" is so important.  Children and families of Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Asperger Syndrome, Bipolar Disorders, Fragile X and other disabilities need a place to worship and fellowship.  Won't you go prepare a place for them to receive faith at your church?  It is a matter of life and faith for all of us!  Contact the Worship For All Foundation. We can help your church get started today!


This is the daily "Worship for All" blog. It has a heavenly ending!


Next up:   "My 'Empty Tomb' Moment"

Freedom to Worship!

FREEDOM TO WORSHIP by Norman Rockwell - 1943

Why should you be an advocate of "Worship for All"?  That's a very easy question to answer.  Let me answer it with a number, a very BIG number:

16,100,000!

According the the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 16.1 million people in the U.S who have limitations in cognitive functioning or have a mental or emotional illness that interferes with their daily activities.  This number includes those with Alzheimer's disease and mental retardation.  (4 million are children ages 6 to 14.)

That is 16.1 million people that need to be lovingly integrated into our Christian community. A community that is directly responsible for all of our spiritual growth.  Might these 16.1 million disabled people enjoy the same worship experiences that have been described in these "Worship for All" posts over the past few days? 

My understanding of the book of Revelation is very clear.  It is a book of worship!  When God's Work is done and His Word is fulfilled, all believers will gather around the throne of the Heavenly Father to worship Him for all of eternity.  Am I right?  Should we not be promoting a welcoming and comfortable worship TODAY to the 16.1 million people as mentioned above?  What say you?

A second number is a small number but will still shock you:

50!

By the law of averages, if there are 16.1 million people who need daily help because of the limitations of their cognitive functioning or have mental /emotional illness.  If there are 320,000 churches in the U.S., then the potential for worship attendance at YOUR church this Sunday from this group of special needs people is at least 50!  

Next Sunday, please look around your church building.  Are there 50 disabled children and/or adults worshipping next to you?   No?   Let's be candid.  Can you find even 5 disabled children and/or adults in your midst?  No?  Is it possible . . .that there are none? 

If this is sadly so, then we need to talk.  Is your church missing God's target?  The Worship For All Foundation can help your church provide a reason and a method for it to grow in attendance and impact!  Here is how!

Are there 10 churches in your area?  Are the churches in your area not effectively reaching out to the special needs community?  Again, by the law of averages, perhaps there are 500 people of disabilities who would greatly benefit by participating in a comfortable, well-designed worship experience.  So where are these 500 disabled people and their 500 families?   The disabled person is at their home and has no reason to risk attendance at your church.  There is at least one family member with them.  They are unconnected.  Most likely, the entire family is disconnected.

Did you know, an impactful worship service need only be 25 minutes long!  It can be on any day of the week?  The fullness of God's Word is easily communicated to our friends of disability.  I've seen the smiles and the focus and the sense of belonging at nearly a hundred worship services in the last 10 months!  A "Worship for All" mindset can make an instant difference in the lives of many families in your community.  Allow me show you how!

This is the "Worship for All" blog.  It has a heavenly ending!

Next up:  "Groundhog Day"

"Voodoo!"

As you might understand and visualize, not every worship service for special needs children goes as planned.  The service is organized.  The songs are quiet.  The message is simple.  The kids, however, are lovingly random and quite complicated.  They have melt downs and outbursts.  We respect that possibility.  We prepare for it.

I was not prepared for the Voodoo event.  In my wildest dreams, I could not have seen this challenge coming, especially during one of our twelve Christmas chapel services last month.

First of all, just the word "voodoo" kind of scares me!  Second of all, I've never seen The Exorcist, Friday the 13th, or any movie that has the word "dead" in its title.  Third of all, the word "voodoo" really does scare me!

Maybe I should have worn my WWJD wristband when I entered the main care giving area that December morning.  I wanted to help with breakfast and meet that day's visiting children.  Chapel wasn't scheduled for a couple of hours.  As I entered the pod, I was immediately greeted by one of our young friends holding a paper with hand drawn stick figures on it.  He was visibly upset and held up the artwork for me to see.  "Voodoo!" he yelled out frantically.  "Voodoo!" he said again as if he was expecting an answer.  Caught totally by surprise, I had no response.  I was saved from my predicament by a Child Care Specialist who adeptly redirected him to breakfast.

Ninety minutes later it was time for chapel.  Our lesson object was the baby Jesus as an anti-anxiety toy that I thought up.  I am not kidding!  When my adult son, with severe Autism, has a meltdown, we often place a hand towel near his mouth so that, in his extreme frustration, he can bite the towel instead of himself  (or his parents.)

The idea popped into my mind one day (Thanks, Lord) that if I rolled up a tan washcloth, tied a string around it to make a head, it could look like a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.   I added a happy face in permanent magic marker to complete the very first Baby Jesus anti-anxiety toy.  (I'm sure Hasbro and Mattel are dialing my cell as I write this.)

During one of the morning worship services, as I revealed the Baby Jesus washcloth, guess who yelled out the word "voodoo"?  It was that emotional boy.  This time I just said "No, it's the baby Jesus." and told the story of the Nativity.  I concluded the children's sermon by handing out a washcloth baby Jesus to each child for them to keep.  To my great relief, my young friend gladly accepted it.  Cool story?  Yes, and this story has a terrific conclusion!

The reason that the boy had been obsessing about "Voodoo" was that he had seen the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog the day before.  It is one of his favorite movies.  Unfortunately, the movie does not have much to offer the Christian community.  In fact, young viewers may tend to be steered off course with anti Christian themes. Here's a quote about the movie theme from HollywoodJesus.com

"I also want to mention that the spirituality in this film is pretty dark, even for a Disney film. The villain sings a song about his friends "from the other side" making it very plain this isn't just magic that's being used but the powers of hell and its minions. This is serious stuff, and the light-handed manner that it was often handled with made me a bit uncomfortable. One should never lightly toy with the spiritual world, especially the world of demons and their dark powers. Having a show-stopping Broadway-like song about dalliances with dark forces in an animated movie may make it seem like doing such things is really no big deal; not something I want my kids to pick-up on."        

I did not find out until weeks later that this boy took the washcloth Jesus back to his room and placed it next to his voodoo artwork.  At first he played with both objects.  As reported to me by one of the staff, this boy later in the day, was seen carrying around the washcloth Jesus while the voodoo artwork sat on the floor of his room.  (I guess I did not need that WWJD wristband after all.)

This is the "Worship for All" blog.  It has a heavenly ending!

Next up:  "Freedom to Worship!"

“If God gives you a tree that grows fruit, you know it is time to plant an orchard.”

Worshipping with children of intellectual disabilities, what an amazing experience!  How can the Lord be so exact in His blessings?  How can He be so complete in His effectiveness?  Here's how! 

Imagine a tall and active teenager walking, running and jumping, ALL DAY LONG.  No words come from his mouth, just high pitched “pings” and “dongs”.  His hands tell the world of this day’s fast-moving adventure in stiff gestures that only he can interpret.   What a wonderful young man! 

It is time for our chapel service.  (He bounces in.)  We sing the Hello Song quietly.  (He sits down?)  I say a prayer for the children’s families, the volunteers, the staff and the leadership. (He is sitting.)  We sing “This Little Light of Mine” softly using our own hand gestures.  I look over to him.  (He is still seated!)  He has a look of contriteness on his face!  What a rare expression in this day and age.  This worship experience is comfortable for him.  His soul is relaxing here. 

(Our calm teenage friend sat through two more songs, a children’s sermon and received a hands-on blessing!  The last I saw him he was gently walking down the hall with his child care specialist and a group of friends.  Did he start jumping and pinging an adventure again a little later?  I’m sure that he did.  But maybe now he has a new story to tell and a new place to rest.   

Worshipping with children of intellectual disabilities is an amazing experience!  The Lord is exact in His blessings.  He is complete in His effectiveness! 

Worship for All is a mindset and method of Christian worship designed for people of Autism, Asperger Syndrome, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and other significant disabilities. As exampled in this post, Worship for All is a tree in one location that has been bearing fruit for almost a year.  It is time to plant an orchard.  Want to help?  Contact us today to learn how!

This is the “Worship For All” blog. It has a heavenly ending!

Next up:  "Voodoo!"

“Peace begins with a smile.” Mother Theresa of Calcutta.

Wow! There it was! A beautiful, ear-to-ear smile that radiated his happiness! What a welcome change from a few moments before. Earlier, this young, intellectually disabled boy was wheeled into the small worship service with a distant, almost worried, look on his face. Then the transformation occurred! One common word, immersed in a soft, simple tune changed everything for him, and everyone, in that chapel.


What was the word that awakened the joyous smile in that young boy? It was just “Hello”. That is all. Every "Worship For All" service begins quietly with the Hello Song. We sing a “hello” to each other. We share a “hello” with God. Unknowingly, we say “hello” to ourselves!
 

So what is a smile worth? No, really, how important is a person’s smile to you? What is it worth to assist another human being in a way that causes them to share a smile with you? What is it worth to temporarily remove some of life’s torment and some the day's confusion from a young disabled child? For me, it’s the focus of over 5 decades of life and development. Sometimes coaxing a smile is worth all that I can emotionally and mentally expend at that moment. A smile is a sign of connection, relief and success! Ask a family member of anyone in the intellectually disabled community. A smile is everything!

I am a smile maker for many wonderful, special needs children at one of the country’s premier respite care facilities in Northern Virginia. What a privilege it is to design and lead several small worship services each Sunday morning for children of Autism, Asperger Syndrome, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and other disabilities! There are so many people to thank for the amazing results so far. There are so many stories of smiles to tell. There is so much more work to do.

This is the  “Worship For All” blog.  It has a heavenly ending!

  

Next up:  “If God gives you a tree that grows fruit, you know it’s time to plant an orchard.”