Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Hey family and friends!

http://www.epm.org/blog/2012/Mar/21/disabled-children-and-our-cultural-blindspot

If you click on the link above, it will take you to a heart-wrenching, yet heart-warming video. Also, the article sheds some light on Down Syndrome babies and what culture (maybe even some/most of the church) believes about the little ones.

The article that I linked also reminds me of Psalm 139, which I have referenced below. Every baby is fearfully and wonderfully made, and praise be to God for this!

    O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
    You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
        you discern my thoughts from afar.
    You search out my path and my lying down
        and are acquainted with all my ways.
    Even before a word is on my tongue,
        behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
    You hem me in, behind and before,
        and lay your hand upon me.
    Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
        it is high; I cannot attain it.
    Where shall I go from your Spirit?
        Or where shall I flee from your presence?
    If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
        If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
    If I take the wings of the morning
        and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
    even there your hand shall lead me,
        and your right hand shall hold me.
    If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
        and the light about me be night,”
    even the darkness is not dark to you;
        the night is bright as the day,
        for darkness is as light with you.
    For you formed my inward parts;
        you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
    I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
        my soul knows it very well.
    My frame was not hidden from you,
    when I was being made in secret,
        intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
    Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
    in your book were written, every one of them,
        the days that were formed for me,
        when as yet there was none of them.
    How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
        How vast is the sum of them!
    If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
        I awake, and I am still with you.
    Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
        O men of blood, depart from me!
    They speak against you with malicious intent;
        your enemies take your name in vain.
    Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
        And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
    I hate them with complete hatred;
        I count them my enemies.
    Search me, O God, and know my heart!
        Try me and know my thoughts!
    And see if there be any grievous way in me,
        and lead me in the way everlasting!
(Psalm 139 ESV)

Have a great night!

Weekly Happenings - April

This family has enjoyed putting the rubber to the road over the past two weekends. Below are a few (but not all) of the highlights.

A shot of our little man loving life! One of the best parts of our day is after Bruce has eaten - he's usually wide awake and very content. He loves to watch us and kick his little legs and arms all about. He's also starting to 'coo', which is so sweet.

"Brothers" sharing the backseat during the road trip. They get along nicely :)

Our friends Joe and Lindsey stopped by to visit when we were at my parents' place. Joe has been praying for Bruce from the time we told him we were pregnant last summer. He was so excited to meet our babe for the first time.

Uncle Barry and Aunt Susan visited from Colorado for Michaela's bridal shower. They were elated to meet Bruce for the first time.

Picture of the Hille 'guys'

Zach and I enjoyed walking with the Gilbert's this week. Brandon and Laura's little Ali is a cutie. This was Bruce's first play date, although I think each baby was oblivious :)

Bruce assuming the position for our daily walk.

We learned the hard way not to take a sleeping baby from his car seat! Thankfully Bruce stays comfortable napping here.

Hello Friends,

I (Zach) came across this article a few days ago, and it convicted me big time. One thing about becoming a father is seeing the absolute horror of abortion. Bruce is an absolute treasure and blessing, and it makes me sick to my stomach knowing that there are hundreds of thousands of babies across the U.S. being aborted every year. However, if I am honest with myself, I have not done anything to help end it. I pray that 1) you will spend 2 minutes and read this article, 2) that you will pray against the legalization of abortion, 3) do something about it, and 4) pray that Kait and I would personally act against this atrocity. I am challenged to walk to Planned Parenthood over lunch in the next week or so and pray at the location. My prayer is that women's eyes would be opened and that every Planned Parenthood around the country would be shut down as well as all other abortion clinics.

I know that I am going out on a limb and posting my thoughts on this matter. However, I do not want to "love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God" (John 12:43).

Ashamed and Disappointed

• Tim Challies
• 04/18/12

Last week in Louisville I ended up staying in a hotel that was a little bit off the beaten path, so to speak, just outside the downtown core, out where most of the storefronts were boarded up and only fast food restaurants and strip clubs kept their lights on at night. Every time I walked from my hotel to the conference or from the conference to the hotel, I had to pass by an abortion clinic, a building with a sign that declared it a “Women’s Surgical Center.”

One morning, as I walked by that clinic, passing directly in front of it, I saw that three or four people were just outside, holding signs and passing out pamphlets. I was taken aback; here in Ontario it has long since been declared illegal to protest outside a clinic. Yet there they were, quietly and peacefully protesting.
Standing a little bit apart from those people were two men and a woman, each wearing an orange vest emblazoned with “Escort.” These three people were escorting young women from the parking lot to the clinic, walking them past the protestors, all of whom were behaving peacefully; two were seated on the sidewalk praying, the others were calling to the women and saying, “Please don’t kill your baby. You don’t have to do this!” One young woman walked by them—she couldn’t have been older than sixteen or seventeen—with her mother beside her, her head down. She quietly took a pamphlet and disappeared inside. The people on the sidewalk kept praying. A moment later another woman, perhaps in her twenties or thirties, passed by the protestors and went inside as well.

All of that unraveled in the few seconds it took for me to pass by—a very powerful few seconds. I was shocked and gravely disappointed—shocked again, shocked anew, that we allow this to happen, that our society not only allows this to happen, but is actually complicit in this genocide. And I was so gravely disappointed in myself, so ashamed. I felt no animosity toward those young women. They were doing only what they have been instructed to do, what parents and friends and guidance counselors and maybe even pastors have told them is the happiest outcome. “It’s just like having a tumor removed. It’s just a small surgery; it will be over before you know it. It’s better this way.”

That little girl who went in there was a sinner behaving like a sinner, an unbeliever acting out of unbelief, desperate to rid herself of the evidence of her sin or perhaps the evidence of a sin committed against her. She was wrong, of course, and will have to give an account for what she has done; but I harbor no ill-will for her. It is me I was disgusted with and me I was ashamed of. Disgusted that I could watch that and not do something, ashamed that I have no idea what to do and that I have done so little. I don’t even know what I ought to do. Cry out to God and ask him to intervene? Demand answers from God as to how he can allow this to go on? What do you do, how do you react, when you see someone about to commit murder? I, we, do nothing. We feel disturbed, we feel bad, we feel guilty and ashamed, and we walk away. This atrocity has been going on all around me all of my life and I do so very little about it. I stopped for a moment, felt revulsion, and then went on my way and ate breakfast.

A couple of years ago I was reflecting on the sins that we, as Christians in this day and this time, tend to tolerate. What I said about abortion then still rings true.

Christians hate abortion. We believe that God is the creator of life and believe that life begins at the very moment of conception. We believe that each life is a gift, whether it is a life that is wanted or unwanted by the mother, whether it is a life that will be “normal” or one that will be marked by profound disability. All humans are created in the image of God and, therefore, all life has intrinsic value. And if all of this is true, then of course we despise abortion and long to see it abolished. We hate it so much that we do…well…what do we do? If we are honest with ourselves we have to admit that most of us do not do much of anything.

What have you done in the past week, the past month, the past year to actively combat abortion? If you are like me, you’ve done very little. You may have prayed that God will change hearts and change the laws of the land. And this is good, of course. If there is to be any change, prayer will be instrumental. You may have spoken to some friends or neighbors or family members, trying to convince them of the value of life. But very few of us have done anything substantial, anything that could possibly one day appear in a history text. Few of us move beyond the “I hate it” stage into some form of active combat.

If we imagine Christians a century in the future, or perhaps two centuries, how will this kind of action, or inaction, appear to them? What will the verdict of history be? How will we be able to explain our complacency? They will read our words, all perfectly preserved in digital media, and they will know that we wrote and spoke about our hatred for abortion and our desire to see it abolished. But will they see actions to go along with all of those words? Maybe we are just waiting for it to die a natural death.

They may judge us harshly for this. They may have every right to. 

We All Need God

This video warms my heart with the sweet promises of the gospel. May it encourage you today.

Ryan Pittman, a young man who lives with Down syndrome, gives his testimony of faith in Jesus.
His testimony takes about two minutes.

Referenced from: http://theworksofgod.com/2012/04/15/we-all-need-god-ryan-pittman/

A Visit From The Family

The last of our out-of-town visitors came this past week, and they were none other than our family! Bruce met each of his grandparents on his birthday, but we were thankful to have them back up to Pittsburgh a few days ago for a longer visit.

Nap time with GiGi

My parents pampered us when they came to visit! We re-vamped the back patio with a deep clean, mulch, and some pretty plants. (Pictures to follow in a later post)

I have to give Zach credit for holding his shoveling pose for one very long minute so that I could capture just the right photo.

One last picture with my parents and sister before they left for Charleston. They coordinated their outfits so well :)

Enjoying some snuggle time with Aunt Kelsey.

Bruce could NOT keep his eyes off of his Uncle Brady!

Zach holding Bruce in his "Simba" position for the Hillegas family photo opp. My husband sings the opening line of the Lion King to Bruce on a daily basis, while holding him mid-air. We have fun around here :)

We brought out the bouncy seat this week (it plays sounds and music while it bounces) and Bruce absolutely loves it! He's been enjoying sitting here after he eats, and it's a sweet site to watch him sit, content and looking at the animals. 

He is Risen!

As this Easter Sunday is winding down and while my beautiful wife, son and dog are enjoying some sleep, I am sitting on the couch, reminded of the fact that we have a God in the person of Jesus Christ who conquered death so that we could have life! He arose from the grave so that those who put their hope in Christ will be raised from the dead as well. I was reading a little bit of 1st Corinthians 15, and I love the following verses:    

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
    “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
    “O death, where is your victory?
        O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:54-57 ESV)

In the midst of the trials in life, we have a hope that this life is not the final destination because death has been swallowed up in victory. There is comfort in knowing that we eagerly wait for a kingdom that cannot be shaken, a kingdom where there is no crying or death or war (Revelation 21).

Kait and I had an enjoyable day today. We went to our church (City Reformed Presbyterian) where Pastor Matt preached on the hope of the resurrection. Then, we enjoyed some fellowship and a delicious meal with a few church friends and then walked to Frick Park where the guys passed the frisbee and the girls held Bruce and chatted on the blanket. It is a day like today when I get a small foretaste of heaven, and it causes me to yearn for the day when Kait and I will see Christ face-to-face.

Happy Easter!

A Note on Good Friday

Maybe you have heard the story of the cross of Christ 100 times....maybe you have never heard it before....maybe you think that you are "good enough"....maybe you are struggling with an addiction....maybe you feel alone....maybe you think I am crazy...

Kait and I were reading through Mark 2 this morning, and we came across the following passage:     

"And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:15-17 ESV)

As I wrestle with this passage, I see that Jesus did not come for "good" people. He came for sinners (me, Kait, Bruce, and everyone else). "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 ESV) Repent and turn to Christ. Rest in Him ALONE for salvation....I encourage everyone that reads our blog, no matter where you are in your spiritual journey, to take 5 minutes and read the article below. It may change your life....

	The Crucifixion Notes taken from "The Life of Christ "CD focusing on the Crucifixion of Christ. By: Gregory Koukl	related articles: Jesus' Passion Week               A Great Debt The Resurrection

The Betrayal and Arrest

(Matt 26:36-56; Mk14:32-52; Lk 22:39-53; Jn 18:1-11)

A.  Gethsemane  (The name literally means "oil press")

1.  A garden on the Mount of Olives where Jesus and the disciples used to pray

2.  Jesus seeks the comfort of His disciples but, unaware of the gravity of the hour, they don't stay awake.

3.  Jesus' prayer has two parts.

a.  Part one:  a request for the removal of the cup "if possible."

1)  This is not a prayer of Jesus' that went unanswered.  His request was denied because conditions wouldn't allow it.

2)  Jesus in Gethsemane is the final argument against those who suggest there are other ways to heaven than the cross of Jesus Christ.  Jesus pleaded, "Is there any other way?"  The Father answered, "No, none."

b.  Part two:  a surrender to the divine will.

c.  "What convulsed the Savior was the fear of separation from God due to becoming the sin-bearer for men.  He had long contemplated from afar what this would mean to Him, but now the hour was upon Him and it was overwhelming" (Harrison, p. 195).

4.  In the Bible there are two famous gardens:

a. Eden, where the first Adam failed.

b. Gethsemane, where the second Adam was victorious. 

B.  The betrayal.

1.  A large contingent comes to arrest Jesus.

a.  Judas, chief priests, Pharisees, teachers of the law, and elders of the people.

b.  The Roman cohort, a contingent of at least 200 soldiers and possibly as many as 600 (Harrison, p. 199, footnote 2).

c.  They were equipped with swords, clubs, torches and lanterns.

2.  Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss.

3.  "I am."

Jesus' Trial

(Matt 26:57-27:31; Mk 14:53-15:16; Lk 22:63-23:25; Jn 18:12-19:16). 

A.  Before Annas, Caiaphas' father-in-law

"The mock trial and subsequent activities of the Sanhedrin were undertaken with utmost haste in the very early morning darkness and the hours of daylight on Friday, so that the execution of Jesus could be accomplished before the Sabbath began at 6 p.m. that day"  (Daniel, p. 259, footnote).

B.  Before Caiaphas

1.  This is before the assembled Sanhedrin, the high court of the Jews (Matt 26:57-59).

2.  Here Jesus faces two of the three charges against Him:

a.  Charge one:  He would destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days (Matt 26:61).

1)  Probably a reference to Jn 2:19, but Jesus never claimed that He would be responsible for the destruction.

2)  The testimony of the witnesses does not agree (Mk 14:59) and their testimony is thrown out.

 b.  Charge two:  He was the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Matt 26:63-64).

1)  "You have said it yourself."

2)  "Hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."  (Here Jesus refers to Daniel 7:13, a messianic passage.)

c.  Caiaphas declares Jesus guilty of blasphemy and Jesus is sentenced to death (Matt 26:65-67).

C.  Before Pontius Pilate

1.  The Jews were not allowed to execute Jesus (Jn 18:31), so they took Him before Pilate, the Roman governor, seeking a judgment.

2.  Jesus' third charge:  sedition

a.  "We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Messiah, a King" (Lk 23:1-2).

b.   Pilate finds no grounds for punishment, but since Jesus is a Galilean, Pilate sends Him to Herod who has jurisdiction there (Lk 23:7).

D.  Before Herod Antipas.  (Lk 23:8-12)  (This is the Herod who had John the Baptist put to death.)

1. Herod was hoping to see some sign performed by Him (v8).

2. When Jesus made no response He was mocked and ridiculed (v11).

E.  Before Pontius Pilate a second time (Lk 23:13-25)

1.  Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate proclaims Jesus' innocence once again (v20).

2.  Pilate offers Jesus' release, but the people choose Barabbas instead.

3.  Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns (Mk 15:15-19).

4.  Pilate makes a final appeal in the hope of saving Jesus.  

5.  The crowd intimidates Pilate with the suggestion of disloyalty to Caesar (Jn 19:12).

a.  "If you release this man you are no friend of Caesar's; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar."

b.  The expression "Caesar's friend" was a technical term assuring a long and profitable career.  The loss of this title--a realistic threat considering Tiberius's suspicious nature--could prove Pilate's undoing (Harrison, p. 215).

6.  Pilate sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion. 

The Crucifixion

(Matt 27:32-56; Mk 15:21-41; Lk 23:26-49; Jn 19:16-30)

  A.  A very cruel form of execution, generally reserved only for slaves and rebels, not Roman citizens

1.  Death was agonizing.  A person could die by either exposure and shock or by asphyxiation.  When the person would collapse, hanging from his arms on the cross, it would constrict the diaphragm, inhibiting breathing.  The only way they could breathe was to push up against the nails that went through the feet.  This was a continual effort.  Finally, through the loss of blood and exhaustion, the person eventually suffocated. 

2.  Death was slow. 

a.  Sometimes death took up to nine days. 

b.  Sometimes they would break legs. 

B.  Psalm 22 (see notes, Week 2). 

C.  Certificate of debt (Col 2:13-14) (Lindsey, p. 100).

1.  This certificate was a list of crimes committed against the state that required payment. 

2.  When the crimes were paid for, it was stamped with the word tetelestia, meaning "paid in full."

3.  Paul says that Jesus paid our certificate of debt.

4.  Jesus victory cry on the cross was, "It is finished!" (Jn 19:30)

D.  Jesus gave up His spirit.

      Crucifixion is a cruel form of execution, generally reserved for slaves and rebels.  Death is agonizing and slow, the result of shock, exposure and, eventually, asphyxiation.  Hanging from a cross constricts the diaphragm, inhibiting breathing.  The only way to get air is to release pressure on the arms by pushing up against the nails that pierce the feet, requiring continual effort that could go on for days.  Exhaustion eventually overtakes the victim and he suffocates.

      For Jesus, though, the pain of the cross paled in the face of a greater anguish.  There was a deeper torment that could not be seen, more excruciating than nails pinning Jesus' body to the timbers, more dreadful than lashes ripping flesh from His frame.  It was a dark, terrible, incalculable agony, an infinite misery, as God the Father unleashed his fury upon His sinless Son as if guilty of an immeasurable evil.

      Why punish the innocent One?  Nailed to the top of the cross was an official notice, a certificate of debt to Caesar, a public display of Jesus' crime:  “The King of the Jews.”  The certificate of debt was a list of crimes committed against the state that required payment.  When punishment was complete, Caesar's court would cancel the debt with a single Greek word stamped upon the parchment's face: “tetelestai.”

      Being king of the Jews was not the crime Jesus paid for, however.  Hidden to all but the Father was another certificate nailed to that cross.  In the darkness that shrouded Calvary from the sixth to the ninth hour, a divine transaction took place; Jesus made a trade with the Father. The full weight of all the crimes of all of humanity-every murder, every theft, every lustful glance; every hidden act of vice, every modest moment of pride, and every monstrous deed of evil; every crime of every man who ever lived-these Jesus took upon Himself as if guilty of all.

      At the last, it was not the cross that took Jesus' life.  He did not die of exposure, or loss of blood, or asphyxiation.  When the full debt for our sin was paid, and the justice of God was fully satisfied, Jesus simply gave up His spirit with a single Greek word that fell from His lips:  “Tetelestai.”  “It is finished.”  The divine transaction is complete.  The debt was cancelled. (Colossians 2:13-14)

      This was not an accident.  It was planned.  The prophet Isaiah described it 700 years earlier:

      Surely our griefs He Himself bore. He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.  All of us like sheep have gone astray.  Each of us has turned to his own way.  But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. (Is 53:4-6)

      No other man did this.  No other man could.  Jesus alone, the perfect Son of God, the Savior of the world, He paid the debt so that whoever relies on Him would not perish under God's judgment, but have life with Him fully and forever.</p>

      Messiah was dead.  A vibrant and hopeful era had come to a bitter and dismal end.  The movement was over, the disciples were scattered, and darkness covered the land.  The religious establishment shook off the nasty experience and settled down to resume life as usual.  But their rest would be short-lived, because very quickly death would be swallowed up in victory.

      “It is finished”  It only remains for us to trust in His promise.