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"Whate'er My God Ordains Is Right"
There is a cancer update at the end of this message. CHIP STAM STEM CELL DRIVE: BE THE MATCH www.carlstam.org/stemcelldrive ===================================== HAITI RELIEF: Please send a generous contribution for Haiti's earthquake relief. If your trusted friends, church, or denomination can't help you with the choice of an agency, I would be happy to make a suggestion. There are lots of good options. carlstam@aol.com ====================================== Here is a serious question for you: As you think about the God of the Bible and as you posture yourself before Him in Christian worship, do you think of Him as 98% great and good? What about 99% sovereign? Do you worship a God who is 99.44% pure and holy, or can we agree with the Scriptures that he is a Spirit who is perfect, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, truth, and love? Today's WORSHIP QUOTE is a seventeenth-century hymn that speaks to the absolute perfections of the God whom we worship, even when we don't understand all of his ways. May we bow to this God as the Lord of our lives. (If you have not experienced any uncertainty or sorrow in your life, this hymn will be hard to understand.) WHATE'ER MY GOD ORDAINS IS RIGHT Whate’er my God ordains is right: His holy will abideth; I will be still whate’er He doth; And follow where He guideth; He is my God; though dark my road, He holds me that I shall not fall: Wherefore to Him I leave it all. Whate’er my God ordains is right: He never will deceive me; He leads me by the proper path: I know He will not leave me. I take, content, what He hath sent; His hand can turn my griefs away, And patiently I wait His day. Whate’er my God ordains is right: His loving thought attends me; No poison can be in the cup That my Physician sends me. My God is true; each morn anew I’ll trust His grace unending, My life to Him commending. Whate’er my God ordains is right: He is my Friend and Father; He suffers naught to do me harm, Though many storms may gather, Now I may know both joy and woe, Some day I shall see clearly That He hath loved me dearly. Whate’er my God ordains is right: Though now this cup, in drinking, May bitter seem to my faint heart, I take it, all unshrinking. My God is true; each morn anew Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart, And pain and sorrow shall depart. Whate’er my God ordains is right: Here shall my stand be taken; Though sorrow, need, or death be mine, Yet I am not forsaken. My Father’s care is round me there; He holds me that I shall not fall: And so to Him I leave it all. — Samuel Rodigast, 1676; translated from German by Catherine Winkworth, 1863. According to www.cyberhymnal.org, Rodigast wrote this hymn to cheer his friend Gastorius, precentor at the University of Jena, who had become seriously ill. Gastorius not only recovered, but went on to write the tune for Rodigast’s words. J. S. Bach used both the tune and portions of the chorale text for various cantata movements. A modern version of this hymn is published in the RUF hymnal and performed by the musicians of Indelible Grace. (See www.igracemusic.com/hymnbook/lead/whate'ermygodordains.pdf for a lead sheet; see www.igracemusic.com/hymnbook/piano/whate'ermygodordains.pdf for a piano score.) Here is a version in German: www.cyberhymnal.org/non/de/was_gott.htm ==================== THE PLACE OF THE CHOIR IN WORSHIP: PART 1 (Ed Willmington): http://www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=2010-01-05 THE PLACE OF THE CHOIR IN WORSHIP: PART 2 (Carl Stam): http://www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=2010-01-12 THE PLACE OF THE CHOIR IN WORSHIP: PART 3 (Donald Hustad): http://www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=2010-01-19 THE PLACE OF THE CHOIR IN WORSHIP: PART 4 (Ron Man): http://www.wqotw.org/quote.php?date=2010-01-26 ==================== Blessings to all! 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 ===================================== HEALTH UPDATE & PRAYER REQUEST FOR CHIP STAM, CANCER PATIENT www.carlstam.org/stemcelldrive ===================================== Dear Praying Friends, Here is the best place for information about the Chip Stam Stem Cell Drive: www.carlstam.org/stemcelldrive. Maybe you or someone in your circle of acquaintances would be willing to "get a kit" or "give a kit" in order to save lives. Longer journal entries about my cancer treatment and several new photos are available at www.caringbridge.org/visit/carlstam (click on "journal" or "photos"). THOSE WHO WAIT UPON THE LORD—A DAY AT A TIME I have been to the cancer clinic every day since being released from the hospital on Good Friday, April 2. We are getting to know the nurses, clinicians, and doctors better and better. Each day they check my blood to see if my body is bouncing back from the assault of the aggressive chemotherapy. Yesterday, April 12, was the first day that I did not require a NEUPROGEN growth factor injection to help stimulate the production of white blood cells (and other things). On most of these days, I have required a bag of platelets (twice accompanied by a full bag of blood). If my lab results rebound a bit more in the next day or two, round two of these same chemo drugs will begin this week. If not, round two will be next week. I am QUITE weak. I am going to do a little word study on the biblical meaning of "long-suffering." Doris is a champion. We continue to fight. Please keep praying with us; pray for success of the current treatment; pray for a very wise decisions by my doctors about the donor and for protection from Graft vs. Host Disease. Don't forget to care for the cancer patients in your families, churches, neighborhoods, and places of employment. Pray that our stem cell drive will provide many, many cancer patients with life-saving options for their treatment. Resting in the wisdom and goodness of God, Chip Stam www.caringbridge.org/visit/carlstam =========================== WORSHIP QUOTE OF THE WEEK: To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view a complete index of worship quotes, please visit http://www.wqotw.org. =========================== |