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Music That Speaks to the Heart
There is a cancer update at the end of this message. CHIP STAM STEM CELL DRIVE: BE THE MATCH www.carlstam.org/stemcelldrive ===================================== Today we have a WORSHIP QUOTE within a WORSHIP QUOTE, a fifth century comment (from St. Augustine) about the power, emotion, and truth of effective church music; this is excerpted in Donald Hustad's important book JUBILATE II: CHURCH MUSIC IN WORSHIP AND RENEWAL. Read on! MUSIC THAT SPEAKS TO THE HEART The use of music as an expression of emotion linked to theological truth is common in all churches. In the evangelical traditions where personal religious experience is emphasized, emotional expression is one of music's most important meanings; it is probably that function which folks refer to when they identify "music that speaks to the heart." But this is not a new experience for churchgoers. St. Augustine mentioned it in the fifth century. "How greatly did I weep in thy hymns and canticles, deeply moved by the voice of thy sweet-speaking Church! The voices flowed into mine ears, and the truth was poured forth into my heart, whence the agitation of my piety overflowed, and my tears ran over, and blessed was I therein." The emotional power of music is perhaps best realized in the life of the church when proper music is well coupled to appropriate text. (Note that Augustine joins emotion with truth!) In this union, the music dramatizes, underlines, "breathes life" into the words, resulting in more meaning than the words themselves could express. St. Augustine (354-430) as quoted in Donald Hustad's JUBILATE II: CHURCH MUSIC IN WORSHIP AND RENEWAL, Chapter 2, "Church Music: A Functional Art," Hope Publishing Co., 1993. ISBN 0916642178. [I think we have all experienced and enjoyed what Augustine and Hustad mention here as God-focused music that "sings" and "amplifies" truth to the core of our hearts and minds. The danger, of course, is that beautiful and powerful music can also effectively elevate theological nonsense or dangerous heresy. The Christian worship leader is responsible to select texts that are clear with the truth of Scripture—the power of the gospel.] 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 ==================== 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 ==================== ===================================== HEALTH UPDATE & PRAYER REQUEST FOR CHIP STAM, CANCER PATIENT www.carlstam.org/stemcelldrive ===================================== May 26, 2010 Update Dear Friends and Family, Thanks so much for your faithful prayers for my treatment and healing. We continue to be very excited about the great success of the stem cell drive: www.carlstam.org/stemcelldrive. Praise God! Longer journal entries (including one from Doris) and new pictures are at www.caringbridge.org/visit/carlstam (click on "journal" or "photos"). MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were all cancer clinic days for me—7:30am every morning. The folks at the clinic are kind to make Sunday mornings into a short visit for me so that we can get to church. This morning, Tuesday, we did the same thing. The lab results revealed that my blood counts are leveling off so that I did not require any "additives." DONOR COMES TO TOWN On Thursday of this week (6/3), my younger brother, Billy, will fly to town just for a day for blood tests and the educational session needed for us to move on to the next step of the stem cell transplant. Billy is my mismatched sibling donor. THE SCHEDULE If everything stays on schedule, I will go into the hospital on June 15. I will be in the hospital for 4-6 weeks, and the actual infusion of Billy's cells into my body will likely be on June 23. PRAYER Please keep praying. There are many hurdles still ahead of us, and we know that God is sufficient to see us through (over) them all. One cannot read very far in the Bible without seeing that even the most trusting of God's followers (David, Elijah, Paul, Peter, John) realize that trials and hardships are used by the Lord to draw us closer to Him. We want to be closer. In Psalm 32:7, David sings, "You are my hiding place. You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance." Amen! 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 treatment. In His love and care, 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. =========================== |