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What about Accommodation?
There is a cancer update at the end of this message. CHIP STAM STEM CELL DRIVE: BE THE MATCH www.carlstam.org/stemcelldrive ===================================== In what areas of planning and leading worship should we be willing and eager to compromise our tastes, desires, or convictions so as to accommodate the needs and desires of others? What are the areas where compromise actually marginalizes the precious gospel of grace? Today's WORSHIP QUOTE is from John Newton (author of "Amazing Grace"). His words point to the dangers of accommodating to the understanding of unbelievers. WHAT ABOUT ACCOMMODATION? Whenever and wherever the doctrines of free grace and justification by faith have prevailed in the Christian Church, and according to the degree of clearness with which they have been enforced, the practical duties of Christianity have flourished in the same proportion. Wherever they have declined, or been tempered with the reasonings and expedients of men, either from a well-meant, though mistaken fear, lest they should be abused, or from a desire to accommodate the gospel and render it more palatable to the depraved taste of the world, the consequence has always been an equal declension in practice. So long as the gospel of Christ is maintained without adulteration, it is found sufficient for every valuable purpose; but when the wisdom of man is permitted to add to the perfect work of God, a wide door is opened for innumerable mischiefs. — John Newton, in A REVIEW OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, 1769, as quoted in Jonathan Aitken's JOHN NEWTON: FROM DISGRACE TO AMAZING GRACE. Wheaton: Crossway, 2007, pp. 202-03. ISBN 978-1-58134-848-4. Highly recommended. [To "accommodate," I will gladly choose a key that is comfortable for a normal congregation. I am a high tenor and love to soar to a high E or F#, even a G, while singing my praises to God, but I know that the congregation will be well served if I locate the their singing in keys that fit the normal ranges. I might also compromise on a tempo or an instrumentation so as to accommodate to the heart language of my congregation. But, dear Lord, spare us from the "innumerable mischiefs" that can so easily compromise the precious gospel of grace. Amen!] 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 www.caringbridge.org/visit/carlstam ===================================== August 10 Treatment Update Dear friends and family, Thanks again for loving us and praying for us during this cancer journey. Longer journal entries and some new pictures are found at www.caringbridge.org/visit/carlstam. CMV NUMBERS Thankfully, as a result of the aggressive treatment with FOSCARNATE (13 infusions in 7 days), my CMV (virus) numbers have been lowered significantly. They test this number twice a week and the results come in on Tuesdays and Fridays. July 30 — 29,000 August 3 — 5, 658 August 6 — 1,399 August 10 (our 35th anniversary was August 9) — numbers later today Goal: Zero (0.0) CANCIDAS (CASPOFUNGIN ACETATE)—ANTI-FUNGAL Apparently, I will be on this drug for quite a while. For the present it is an infusion that I get in the clinic each morning. Before long, they will let me do it at home, allowing me to go to the clinic only two or three days a week. We'll see how things progress. STEROIDS A watched pot does boil. It takes no longer. I have been drinking a lot of tea in the middle of the night. The steroids are attacking the Graft vs. Host Disease, and I am "wired." Of course, in addition making it difficult (sometimes impossible) to sleep, the high-dose steroids have caused my feet, ankles, calves, neck, and face to swell pretty badly. The dose is being reduced gradually by one pill each week. Eventually, I will be back to my normal shape. The steroids also are significantly weakening my big muscles (proximal muscle groups). Getting out of the car is a real chore—low sofas, chairs, and stairs, too. OH, HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN! Saturday morning (Aug. 6) I went to the clinic for my infusion of CANCIDAS. While having my vital signs checked, I said to Nurse Pam that I had noticed the significant weakening of the big muscles in my thighs and hips. I have been having difficulty with getting out of the car and getting up from low chairs and sofas—stairs, too. She said, "Well, be careful. Take your time. Ask for help." Moments later as I as walking out of that room, sure enough, I failed to pick up one of my Crocs-clad feet high enough, stumbled, and fell with a mighty thud right in the middle of the waiting room. Saturday mornings are normally very quiet in the clinic—only two nurses and just a handful of patients who need the weekend mornings for treatment. The noisy, crashing, aching fall was sort of scary for me. I think I am OK— a bit of back pain and two bruises on my right leg. I sat on the floor for five minutes and then was able to get on my knees and finally get up. They put me in a wheel chair to get to my infusion room. I think I can get over my wounded pride. They took me in a wheel chair to my car, and I got home safe and sound with ice on my bruised and swollen knee. I know I will be much more careful, hoping that I would not be moving towards a walker or cane. I will be taking these steroids for quite a while longer, so the weakening of these proximal muscles will continue. Sure enough, when I saw Dr. Herzig on Monday morning, he wrote a prescription for a walker. We picked that up on Monday afternoon. As you can imagine, the fall on Saturday morning was quite scary for us. I am so thankful that the Lord protected me from hitting my head or breaking a bone. The huge bruise on my thigh, the doctor explained, is largely because my platelets are low. As a younger, robust, "invisible," athletic specimen of a man, I used to quote a great line from the 1960s TV episodes of BATMAN: "I have the strength of ten for my heart is pure." Well, it is a different day for me now, experiencing a kind of physical weakness that looms so big and will likely get worse before it gets better. CANCER CARE Please keep praying for Doris, our family, my caregivers, and me; and 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. God can do this. We have met and surpassed our fund-raising goal ($51,000), and we are about fifty DNA samples short of our goal of 1,800 swab kits. If you would like to swab your cheek and participate, it is not too late. Resting in His matchless 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. =========================== |