Your First Minute in Heaven . . .

Allow me to interrupt my "Celebrating People of Disabilities" series to bring you an important revelation.  Many of us have wondered what it will be like to be in Heaven.  Have you ever pondered what your first minute will be like in Heaven? 

For me, I suddenly appear on God's throne!  I hear the voice of the Heavenly Father say "Rise Up!"   The Holy Spirit announces my name to all of the saints that have arrived ahead of me.  They are cheering!  The victorious Heavenly Host (God's army of angels) is present.  They are clapping!  The Lord Jesus, hugs me and says "Welcome".  The Holy Spirit nods Her approval.  I walk to the Heavenly Father and stand in His presence.  He also hugs me.  I am given my heavenly reward.  It is my permanent sign of salvation.  I am overjoyed.   I am in ecstasy.  I am in Heaven!

My view of Heaven was inspired by a minute in Emily Brown's life.  As a person of Cerebral Palsy, she was recently honored by Children's Miracle Network.  I believe that Heaven looks just like this...

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

Joey Gerardi - Celebrating People of Fragile X Syndrome

A few years ago I was absolutely, jaw-dropped, stunned when my son's doctor advised my wife and I that my son, with severe disabilities, needed a team of caregivers.  For over 30 years, we had tried so hard to avoid burdening family, friends and our community with any care for our son.  It turns out that to our family, to our friends and to our community, my son's care/burden is their blessing.

Meet Joey Gerardi.  He has Fragile X Syndrome.  Joey's parents are firm believers in Self Determination for Joey.  It is working!  He and his team of caregivers have a remarkable burden-free story to share with us all.

Joey's caregivers show amazing love toward Joey, don't they?  Each of his caregivers are joyfully connected with him.  We all have caregivers!  There is one who cares for us more than all of the others, however. 

I am reminded of how much the Lord Jesus wants to care for us and be connected with us!  You have heard it said by Jesus "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Place my yoke over your shoulders, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble. Then you will find rest for yourselves."  Matthew 11:29  (GWT)

Just before saying this, Jesus had actually announced to the crowds of Galilee that "My Father has turned everything over to me."  Wow!  Really?  So what is the first thing Jesus tells the crowd after this omnipotent and omniscient announcement?  Jesus turns to them (and us) and assures us that, with all of the power of the universe, He wants to be our personal caregiver!

My hope is that you accept His care and share His care with those very special people, like Joey Gerardi.

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

Ryan Pittman - Celebrating People of Down Syndrome

Over 58,000 people have met Ryan Pittman on YouTube.  He shares the same message as Worship For All.  Please meet Ryan and hear his story, won't you?

Many are the emotions that Ryan shared with us during his testimony.  He was proud of his decision to be publicly baptised.  He laughed at the thought of his "fussing" with Mom or Dad.

To me, what really marked the power of Ryan's message was when he publicly announced that he was different.  "I have Down Syndrome," he said.  It hurt for him to admit who he is, didn't it?  What courage Ryan has been given.  What bravery it was to admit to who he was.  Ryan is the kind of man that God can use to further His Kingdom!   Lord knows, we need more men and women of God like Ryan, TODAY!

Are you brave enough to admit to who you are?

Through encounters with courageous people of disabilities like Ryan Pittman, I am also embolden.  I am Brad Phillips.  I am a repenting sinner turned worshipping saint by the power of Jesus Christ.  As Ryan said "We are all the same.  We all need God."

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

Next UP:   "Joey Gerardi - Celebrating People of Fragile X Syndrome."

Loud Hands Project - Celebrating People of Autism

The Worship For All blog chronicles the impact of worship, fellowship and the Gospel of Jesus Christ on children of Intellectual Disabilities.   The worship services we lovingly design are unique, effective but all too rare! 

Unfortunately, worship services for people of Autism, Down syndrome, Bi-polar disorders, Fragile X syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Asperger syndrome and other disabilities are almost non-existent at the more than 330,000 churches in the United States! 

We are advocates for worship freedom.  Our passion is to promote caring, comfortable and relevant worship services for children of disabilities.  All people have a right to gather in worship services well-designed for their physical, mental and spiritual needs!  By striving to serve this special community and their families, there is an "edge" to what we do. 

Self Advocacy is important to us.   In our Worship For All chapel services we encourage our friends to interact with each other, with their care givers and with their Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ (who is present through the power of the Holy Spirit).   The songs, noises, words, body movements and "stims" (hand motions) of our friends are respected and welcome.  Not one of the triumphant stories in this blog would have occurred if we were not Self Advocates.

I invite you to meet a group of people who have a triumphant story to share with you!

Song and Video - The Loud Hands Project

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

Next UP:  "Ryan Pittman - Celebrating People of Down Syndrome."

Go Tell it on a . . . . Walkie-Talkie?

Go Tell it on a Mountain Walkie-Talkie!

DAY ONE

The teenager was a little bit fearful.  I could see it in his eyes as the boy hesitated at the entrance to the chapel.  He started to back up.  This was his first time at the Saturday Worship-for-All service.  I don't blame him.  It's not easy to visit new places and meet new people especially if you are a person of Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, Asperger syndrome, Bi-Polar disorder or other intellectual disabilities.

I was losing him!  If I didn't act fast, my first time visitor would finalize and lock-in his decision to not participate in our chapel service.   I walked over near to him but not next to him.  I said "Hi, I'm Mr. Brad.  I'm so glad you are here today!  Don't be worried.  We sing songs in chapel.  We sing them quietly.  Would you like to hear one?"  I immediately started singing the "Hello" song to him.  To children with disabilities, this is a captivating and calming song.  The tune and the word gently connects with their souls in an amazing way.

The worry on the boy's face lessened.  He stopped backing up.  His expert caregiver went to work and  helped him think through his decision.  He agreed to attend!  In the chapel, his face was still worried as we sang the "Hello" song.  By the song's end, however, he was timidly making the song's hand motions.  He was unsure, but he was with us!

DAY TWO

Just before the start of one of Sunday's chapel services, I saw my timid friend talking to another boy out side of the chapel entrance.  He was trying to coax his friend into attending the worship service.  That was so cool!  His friend wanted to stay in the lobby with his weekend caregiver.  The timid teenager walked into chapel.  Everyone looked content so I went in to start the Worship-for-All service.

We sang the "Hello" song and I said a prayer for everyone.  As we sang the next song, I looked over to my teenage friend.  I was  stunned to see him using a walkie-talkie!  After the song, I was told that he was broadcasting the service "live" to his friend who didn't want to come into chapel but had another walkie-talkie!  How cool is that?  We were at that part of the service where we read a prayer and say it together.  I asked the boy if he would say the prayer over the walkie-talkie so his friend outside could hear it.  He agreed and here is the prayer that he broadcast:

Now I wake from peaceful . . . . . REST.

To love this day and be my . . . . BEST.

            

 Guide me, Jesus, through the . . . DAY.

                        

 Help me as I work and  . . . . . . . . PLAY.

                                                        AMEN.

We sing "Go tell in on a mountain" after each children's chapel message.  I always suggest to the children that it is important to tell everyone we know about Jesus. The song variation we use is "Go tell it on a mountain that Jesus Christ is Lord!  In just two days my not-so-timid friend demonstrated that Jesus is Lord over friendships, Lord over worship services and Lord over the airwaves!  Let's go tell the world that Jesus Christ is Lord!

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

Next Up:  "The Loud Hands Project - Celebrating People of Autism"

"My Mom is in Heaven!"

How the children respond to our special worship services intrigue me!  I am constantly looking around the chapel room to "read" their reactions.  Do you check with friends on Facebook or Twitter?  I check on my friends as soon as they walk (or wheel) in to the chapel room.  I look at their faces and watch their hand movements.  Is anyone in distress?  Does anyone have "worried hands"?  Is there a smile on someones face because they know it's time for chapel?  Do these wonderful children of Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Asperger syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, Bi-polar disorders and other disabilities have any words to share with me? 

My passion and focus for 25 minutes is to do everything possible to enable children with these Intellectual Disabilities to enjoy worship, understand God's loving Word and be in meaningful fellowship.  We are quite an unusual gathering.  We are a special community, indeed.

I am graced.  I am honored.  I am so blessed to be able to lead my friends and their caregivers in the worship of our Heavenly Father through the knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

These past two weeks have been busy ones as our worship services have expanded from one day a week to three!  I sincerely apologize for the gap in blog posts!  I know that there are many of you from around the world that are, like me, fascinated by the power of God through this ministry to disabled children.  I have many "empty tomb" moments (see January 19th post) to describe to you from the last two weeks.  

During one of the new Saturday chapel services, a teenage girl was the originator of an unexpected topic.  This was her first visit to the overnight respite care facility.  She must have felt very comfortable in our worship setting.  She shared something that had been bothering her for over two years!

"My mother passed away two years ago." she blurted out in between songs.  "Wow", I immediately thought.  This is the Holy Spirit working in our midst again!  I said to my young friend, "I'm glad you shared that with us.  At the end of chapel we are going to share a special blessing with you". 

She then posed this question:  "Will the blessing make me sad?  I feel sad when I think about my mom passing away."  (Passed away?  This wonderful girl did not know where her mother was!  Did she think that "passed away" meant "no longer exists"?)   I said to her that blessings are not sad.  Blessings give us joy.  Then I mentioned again that we will say a very special blessing for her near the end of the chapel service. 

In our "Worship For All" format, before we sing our last song, every person in the room receives a blessing.  Our blessing is said individually to each volunteer, caregiver and child.  All blessings are said while being firmly touched on the shoulder, knee or shoe.  Where the child is touched depends on their sensitivity to touch.

When it was my teenage friend's turn to receive her blessing I wanted to also give her some assurance about her mom.  I said the following to her:  "Don't be worried.  Your mom is in Heaven.  Jesus is with her.  She is happy.  She is worshipping God around God's throne!"  I wish I had also stated the obvious to her although she may have understood this better than me.    She and her mom were doing the same thing but in different places!  They were both worshipping God.  My young friend was worshipping God on Earth.  Her mom was worshipping Him in Heaven.

Did our chapel service help my friend put aside her worries?  Yes, I'm quite sure it did.  How do I know?  A few moments after the service ended this young girl surprised us all by asking if we could sing "Happy Birthday".  She left the room with a smile on her face!

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


Next Up:   "Go tell it on a Mountain Walkie Talkie!"