{"id":58,"date":"2011-09-20T01:00:29","date_gmt":"2011-09-20T05:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simpletruths\/?p=58"},"modified":"2011-09-19T22:58:49","modified_gmt":"2011-09-20T02:58:49","slug":"dress-shirt-and-tie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/09\/dress-shirt-and-tie.html","title":{"rendered":"Dress shirt and tie"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There are different ways that the members of The Special Gathering\u00a0tell me that they are growing in the Lord. \u00a0I see in our members subtle changes that others would ignore.\u00a0 Nevertheless, each adjustment means a transformation has occurred in their lives. As\u00a0the area director for Special Gathering of Indian River, it&#8217;s my joy to look for and mark those changes. \u00a0We are a ministry within the intellectually disabled community and our mission is discipleship and evangelism.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/09\/mens-grey-suit-150x150-21.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1682\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/09\/mens-grey-suit-150x150-21.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"105\" height=\"105\" \/><\/a>One morning I sat with a group of pastors from churches populated by folks who are <em>normal. <\/em>Comparing notes with them, I said, \u201cIf I can get someone to Special Gathering, I can win them to the Lord.\u00a0 Evangelism is simple.\u00a0 Discipleship, though, is like extracting teeth with a pair of pliers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All the pastors in the group laughed.\u00a0 \u201cSounds pretty normal to me,\u201d Rob said.\u00a0 \u201cIf they come to worship or a Bible study at our church, they get saved.\u00a0 But changes are slow at first.\u00a0 Then as time goes on,\u00a0the changes get\u00a0progressively slower.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/04\/Deacons-pray-for-our-members.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-126 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/234\/2011\/04\/Deacons-pray-for-our-members-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"144\" height=\"96\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Recognizing this painful ascension of discipleship, I began to notice the less obvious signs of growth.\u00a0 Here are some of the behaviors in a few of our members\u00a0which have signaled growth to me.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When non-verbal Jimmy leaves his workshop, he looks at me as he enters the lunchroom where we hold our Special Gathering chapel service.\u00a0 When he catches my eye, he sits down.\u00a0 He now sits on the front row, rather than three rows back\u00a0with his mother who is a Special Gathering co-worker.<\/li>\n<li>Steve began wearing a dress shirt and a tie several weeks ago to our Saturday afternoon program.\u00a0 This is a big departure from his casual, \u201cdon\u2019t bother me\u201d outfits he\u2019s worn for ten years.<\/li>\n<li>Special Gathering has become part of John\u2019s unbreakable route. \u00a0Now, John wants to help with every aspect of the ministry.<\/li>\n<li>Simply asking, \u201cCan I help?\u201d is an enormous sign of growth for many of our members.<\/li>\n<li>An even larger sign that Christ is invading our members\u2019 daily life is when they begin to help with the chairs, refreshments, trash\u00a0or equipment without\u00a0even asking or being asked.\u00a0 Patty is a helper by nature;\u00a0but she has used these virtuous acts to draw attention to herself.\u00a0 \u201cLook! I\u2019m getting Michael\u2019s walker,\u201d\u00a0 she proudly announced each week.\u00a0 But when she started getting his walker without the usual fanfare, I noticed the difference. Was this a sign that the Holy Spirit was doing a new work in her? \u00a0Now, she goes behind the other members picking up their napkins and paper cups. \u00a0Cheerfully, she escorts the other members, holding their arms or guiding their wheelchairs. \u00a0She no longer craves the attention those helping activities gained her in the past.<\/li>\n<li>The first time Terri raised her hand volunteering to pray,\u00a0I\u2019m certain the shocked expression on my face was apparent.\u00a0 Terri struggles with her speech patterns;\u00a0and this was an enormous step of faith for her.<\/li>\n<li>After one year of camp, Melvin didn\u2019t want to come again.\u00a0 It was a bit too spiritual for him.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t say much. \u00a0Yet as he sat hunched over during our chapel services, his body language screamed that two chapel programs a day was a bit excessive for his tastes.\u00a0 Therefore, when Melvin\u2019s camp form arrived in the first batch of forms last year, I knew there had been a change in his heart and life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Yesterday, Ron sat quietly during the worship.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t shouting or dancing.\u00a0 Beth says, \u201cRon talks too much\u201d and she isn\u2019t far off the mark.\u00a0 I watched Ron to see if perhaps the Holy Spirit is working in a new way in his \u00a0life.\u00a0 Will this subtle change in his behavior mark new growth and vibrant change?\u00a0 Time will tell.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps you&#8217;ve seen subtle changes in your life that mark new growth. \u00a0What are they? \u00a0Is it easier for you to carve out time to read your Bible? \u00a0Is your alloted prayer time now filled with request for others? \u00a0 Have you been able to turn down that second slice of blackberry pie? \u00a0What are some of the subtle changes that you see in your family that may mark growth?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are different ways that the members of The Special Gathering\u00a0tell me that they are growing in the Lord. \u00a0I see in our members subtle changes that others would ignore.\u00a0 Nevertheless, each adjustment means a transformation has occurred in their lives. As\u00a0the area director for Special Gathering of Indian River, it&#8217;s my joy to look&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,20,3,10,16,11,28,12,4,17],"tags":[690,21,688,696,7,18,691,13,694,19,689,6],"class_list":["post-58","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism-spectrum","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-inspirational","category-intellectual-disability","category-intellectually-disabled","category-mentally-challenged","category-religion","category-simple-truths","category-teaching","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-discipleship","tag-inspirational","tag-intellectual-disabilities","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mental-retardation","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dress shirt and tie - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/09\/dress-shirt-and-tie.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dress shirt and tie - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are different ways that the members of The Special Gathering\u00a0tell me that they are growing in the Lord. \u00a0I see in our members subtle changes that others would ignore.\u00a0 Nevertheless, each adjustment means a transformation has occurred in their lives. 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