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Worship Quote of the Week (WQOTW)
Welcome to the Worship Quote Of The Week, a worship ministry
brought to you by Carl Stam, Director of the Institute for
Christian Worship at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
in Louisville, Kentucky. These regular Tuesday morning e-mail
messages, sent out by an email list server, contain thoughtful
materials that relate to a Christian view of worship or
prayer. Some are selections of the Scriptures. Some are taken
from hymns or worship songs. Still others are drawn from the
writings of various authors (ancient and contemporary) on the
subject of worship and prayer.
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This Week's Quote (04/12/2011):
Death, Hope, and Peace
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There is a treatment update at the end of this message.
PHOTOPHERESIS ON WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY THIS WEEK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photopheresis
www.caringbidge.org/visit/carlstam
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Today's WORSHIP QUOTE comes from a new book edited by Nancy
Guthrie with contributions by J. I. Packer, Charles
Spurgeon, Martin Luther, John Piper, Martyn Lloyd-Jones,
Jonathan Edwards, Richard Sibbes, Michael Horton, and many
others. [Highly recommended.] The title says so much: O LOVE
THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO: FACING DEATH WITH COURAGEOUS
CONFIDENCE IN GOD. As you know, there are many who are so
uncomfortable with death that they can only make jokes about
it.
Woody Allen: "It is not that I'm afraid to die; I just don't
want to be there when it happens."
W. C. Fields's tombstone: "On the whole, I'd rather be in
Philadelphia."
Mark Twain: "Be careful about reading health books. You may
die of a misprint."
Yogi Berra: "You should always go to other people's
funerals, otherwise, they won't come to yours."
These pastor/scholars have put forward a beautiful, biblical
way of looking at death: exploring and embracing it in a way
that pleases and honors God. This excerpt is from the
preface to the book.
DEATH, HOPE, AND PEACE
I remember when it hit me. I had been pregnant with my son,
Matt, for what seemed like forever. There was so much I
actually enjoyed about being pregnant, and so much I looked
forward to in having a son. But one day the reality dawned
on me that to have that son, I was going to have to give
birth. I remember thinking that no one simply stays pregnant
forever, putting off the inevitable, and I had little
control as to when that time would come. I looked at my
growing belly and thought, 'This baby is going to have to
come out one way or another,' and it scared me.
Pregnancy'good. Baby'good. The process of labor and
delivery'I was not so sure.
We sometimes have a similar thought process about death.
Life'good. Life after death with God'good. It's that process
of labor and delivery into the next life we're not so sure
about. In fact, we'd really rather not talk about it or even
think about it. Yet I'm convinced that there is a real
freedom, and even joy, in thinking it through, and that
exploring death in light of the Scriptures can actually
soothe our fears and infuse our thoughts about death with
hope and peace.
But I also realize that some people might think reading a
whole book on the topic of facing death would be a real
bummer. Some may think it a bit morbid. And some people,
though they might be loathe to admit it, are a bit
superstitious about discussing death'afraid that if they
have a conversation about it, or give consideration to it,
that it might somehow come a little sooner.
There are others for whom death is so relegated to the realm
of the fall, that there is no place in their thinking or
theology for exploring what it means to face death in a way
that pleases and honors God. They have given little or no
thought about what it means to anticipate and prepare for
death in a way that evidences a solid, God-glorifying
confidence in his goodness, his sovereignty, and his
promises.
That is what the brief chapters in this book will help us to
do. They will help us to turn away from the pervasive denial
about death in our culture, and to face squarely the reality
of death through the more beautiful and ultimate reality of
Christ. It is Christ, and only Christ, who makes facing
death bearable. Christ infuses the most painful and
perplexing aspects of the end of this life with hope and
peace.
I don't mean to imply or suggest that death for the believer
is always sweet rapture. In spite of its universal nature,
it's still not natural; and it never will be. God has not
promised his children an easy death or deathbed visions of
glory (although sometimes he is good to give them). He does,
however, promise his presence with us. He will be our
Shepherd as we walk through the valley of the shadow of
death. And he will be waiting to welcome us on the other
side.
'Nancy Guthrie, editor, O LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO:
FACING DEATH WITH COURAGEOUS CONFIDENCE IN GOD. Wheaton:
Crossway, 2011, pp. 9-10. ISBN 978-1-4335-1618-4.
www.amazon.com/Love-That-Will-Not-Let/dp/1433516187/ref=sr_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&ie;=UTF8&qid;=1302659404&sr;=1-5.
[Highly recommended.]
Chip Stam
Director, Institute for Christian Worship
School of Church Ministries
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Louisville, Kentucky
www.wqotw.org
www.sbts.edu/icw
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HAPPY ST. PATRICK's DAY from gettymusic.com
Three FREE Getty/Townend hymns at
http://gettymusic.com/stpats.aspx
"Behold the Lamb" (Communion Hymn)
"The Power of the Cross"
"Come, People of the Risen King"
MP3 recordings, piano scores, vocal charts, and more.
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HEALTH UPDATE & PRAYER REQUEST
FOR CHIP STAM, CANCER PATIENT
PHOTOPHERESIS TWICE EACH WEEK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photopheresis
www.caringbidge.org/visit/carlstam
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April 12 Treatment Update,
Dear praying friends and family,
Thanks for praying for us. Don't stop. I am a very needy
patient. I think I can keep this report short. I am
EXTREMELY WEAK. Sometimes it takes more than one person to
help me up the front steps or to get out of the car. This
has led to a new level of asking for help all around. The
GvH is still raging my skin. Most of this does not hurt at
all, but the bottoms of my feet are INCREDIBLY tender, such
that walking six feet is VERY painful.
PHOTOPHERESIS
The photopheresis treatment is done at the nearby Kosair
Children's Hospital. These days are very long, and we need
for you to pray for real "stamina"; but once we get started
with the process, it goes very smoothly until the machine
has done it's thing and given my white blood cells their
ultraviolet bath and put them back into my body.
POLLUTED POWER PORT
My new Double Purple Power Point is on my right shoulder and
all is well with that.
JESUS SAID: "DON'T BE ANXIOUS: STUDY THE BIRDS" (Matt. 6)
I have mostly been watching live video of barn owls,
hummingbirds, and bald eagles. Here they are, and they are
stunning:
www.ustream.tv/hummingbirdnestcam (Phoebe, the mother
hummingbird, sitting on two young hummingbird chicks)
www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Oceanside_Barn_Owls (six
young hatchlings being fed mice, moles, and gophers,
PG13)
www.ustream.tv/channel/decorah-eagles (two bald eagles in
Decorah, Iowa, sitting on eggs'amazing!
Well, "God is great; God is good." And the LORD's deeds are
both great and good. We see it every day. Don't forget to
care for and pray for the cancer patients in your sphere of
activity and influence. They are there; I promise you. You
will make a difference.
We are trusting Him a day at a time.
Jesus is LORD!
Keep praying. God is at work.
Chip Stam
www.wqotw.org
carlstam@aol.com
www.caringbridge.org/visit/carlstam
www.carlstam.org
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