Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
Pastors are communicators, whether or not they are the preaching/teaching pastor. No matter what pastoral role they might have within the church leadership, communication is key. But what should pastors be communicating to their congregations? Here are five things. Biblical Truth. When people think of pastors, they often think of preachers. That is part of … Read More “5 Things Pastors Need to Communicate to Their Congregation” »
One of the most difficult things about having nonverbal children with autism is the limits those circumstances put our our communication. That is not to say that there is no communication. They do use one or two words. There is also nonverbal communication that goes on. At the same time, the thing we miss, and … Read More “Good News: A New Way to Communicate” »
Our two children with autism are considered nonverbal. That doesn’t mean they have no words, just that they do not typically communicate with verbal speech. Most times we can deal with it. They have no problems asking for what they want. We have learned to understand facial expressions and body language. Recently there was a … Read More “The Challenge of Having a Nonverbal Child” »
I regularly listen to Andy Stanley’s Leadership Podcast. I do this despite some of the controversy over Stanley and criticisms toward him by many evangelicals. If you look at posts about Andy Stanley on my blog, you will see I have often defended Stanley against his critics. Much of the time, Stanley has been misunderstood … Read More “Why I Still Learn From Andy Stanley” »
How many parents think it is good news when their teenage daughter tells them to go away? This one does. A couple of days ago, I was visiting our children, Logan and Abby, at their group home. Both Logan and Abby have autism and are considered nonverbal. Abby uses an iPad as an augmentative communication … Read More “Good News: “Go Away!”” »
Our family recently moved to a new house. It is not surprising that in the packing and unpacking that long lost items turn up. I recently noticed on the floor something that I hadn’t seen in years.I saw one of the PECS that Logan and Abby used to use. What are PECS? It stands for picture … Read More “A Relic From the Past” »
What does effective communication and Westboro Baptist Church have to do with each other? Am I suggestion we picket funerals and set up websites with crude names? Absolutely not. I had the opportunity to watch this video by Megan Phelps-Roper who grew up in Westboro Baptist Church. In this video, she shares her story of … Read More “Westboro Baptist Church and Effective Communication” »
If you are involved in apologetics, you will be talking to different types of people. You will talk to Christians who are dealing with doubts and non-Christians who are seeking information. But you will also be talking to angry skeptics. There is nothing wrong with being a skeptic. I consider myself to be a skeptic. … Read More “How to Deal With an Angry Skeptic” »
If you tried to talk to our son, you might find that he would avoid eye contact and probably would hum while you spoke. I suspect that our son is not unique in this. In fact, there is a young man in our church who is very similar. What should you do if you find … Read More “How to Talk to a Person With Autism Who Seems to Ignore You” »
As regular readers of this blog know, we have two children with autism who live in a group home. We have Logan and Abby over for overnight visits every other week. It is really a highlight for our family. People often ask where they are on the spectrum. Both are on the severe end. Logan … Read More “Good News: My First Conversation With Abby” »
I can only speak for myself, although I have heard of similar stories from other people with autism. I can sometimes come across as unfriendly. I seem eager to end the conversation and move on. Why don’t I like people? I like people just fine and I’m not unfriendly. What is difficult for me is … Read More “I’m Not Unfriendly, I Have Autism” »
I have seen a lot of memes floating through social media criticizing Andy Stanley. If you want to know what I think of using memes to condemn fellow Christians, read this post. The argument is that Stanley dismisses expository preaching. What is interesting is that this criticism is based on an interview that Stanley did … Read More “Andy Stanley and Expository Preaching” »
People say that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. But we do it all the time. This includes how we look at people with autism. Two of our children with autism are considered nonverbal. If you met our son, you would probably consider him low functioning. He doesn’t talk (much). He hums and … Read More “Nonverbal Does Not Mean Unintelligent” »
Some people who have autism are able to communicate clearly, even if they had early delays in speaking. Other people are what is called nonverbal. Our two children with autism are nonverbal. What Does Nonverbal Mean? It would be easy to assume that nonverbal means that a person is unable to speak. That is not … Read More “How to Talk to a Nonverbal Child” »
How do you do apologetics? You just do apologetics. You know your apologetics information and if you meet any skeptic, you just unload it on them. Right? Think again. If you want to be involved in apologetics, one of the most important things you can do is to know your audience. Before you ever share … Read More “Apologetics and Knowing Your Audience” »
I keep describing Logan and Abby as being nonverbal and yet I keep giving examples of how they (usually Logan) speak in appropriate ways. This confuses people. Nonverbal means they can’t speak but I keep showing that they can speak. This looks like a contradiction. What am I saying? First of all, when I say … Read More “What Does Nonverbal Mean?” »
I have been enjoying Andy Stanley’s leadership podcast. It is a great resource that I would highly recommend. One of the podcasts that I particularly enjoyed was on effective communication. This would include preaching as well as other forms of communication. Andy offers five questions that should always be asked when you are trying to … Read More “5 Questions for Effective Communication” »
