"Then the news came today of a “Shadowlands piercing” closer to home in so many ways…of a little 5 year-old girl…Maria Chapman, adopted daughter of Steven Curtis Chapman. She lost her life in her own driveway when an older brother backed out with Maria obscured from sight. Agony beyond comprehension for this family of Christ. How much can a father’s heart take?…his sweet daughter…his beloved son. “Speechless.” Steven’s music sings his theology…his is the great and glorious God revealed in Christ alone. God will be enough…barely enough, but enough."
-excerpt from The Shadowlands by Daniel Scott Cummings
(Pastor of Five Points Community Church in Auburn Hills, MI)
Sad times such as these require much prayer and petition -- not only on behalf of those enduring but also on behalf of those of us who standby. May God grant grace and strength to those who suffer. And may God grant wisdom and perseverance to those of us that don't. How difficult to suffer but how much harder is it for those of us who become complacent from a lack of suffering... In the midst of trial God is clearly seen but in the midst of ease He is often lost sight of.
22 May 2008
15 May 2008
The "Bad" News
Many of you know that I have had a rough past semester. The reasons are many but I don't think anything has caused as much prayer nor as many tears as the illness of my home pastor. I haven't been very vocal about it but now I am ready to write. I have been wondering what is best to say but I think this says it all. It is not by me but it gets the point across. I think there will be more to come.
--Laura--
"It’s a nice warm day in the Downriver by Sunday morning the lilacs
will have burst into bloom here at the church. While spring is
bursting into life around us it seems that we have been visited with
dying of late. On the way home from the church to Granville Cottage
there is a cemetery. There are at least a half dozen fresh mounds
there. It’s good to be alive, but it is better to know that in Christ
we will never, never die.
Dan Cummings is a pastor friend who I admire in so many ways. He is one of the finest preachers in the state. He is a marathoner. He is a good dad and a fine husband. He is a leader of men. I admire him more than I can say and often listen to his preaching on my iPod.
A few weeks ago it was announced that he has inoperable cancer. If God does not choose to intervene in a miracle, he will not live. He is trying to write and preach to the glory of God while he is dying. He is writing and preaching through his affliction. This is his blog.
There are links to his preaching, too.
We often quote Richard Baxter who said; I preach as a dying man to dying men. We all preach as dying men to dying men. In light of Dan’s condition the reality of that is very sharp now. May God give Dan grace to die if that is what He has chosen for him. May he give each of us grace to live and die.
May each of us seize every moment of life we are given for the Glory
of God and for things eternal that will never pass away. It’s good to
be alive but it is much better to know that in Christ we will never,
never die."
Pastor Ken Pierpont
The Study
Evangel Baptist Church
May 2, 2008
--Laura--
"It’s a nice warm day in the Downriver by Sunday morning the lilacs
will have burst into bloom here at the church. While spring is
bursting into life around us it seems that we have been visited with
dying of late. On the way home from the church to Granville Cottage
there is a cemetery. There are at least a half dozen fresh mounds
there. It’s good to be alive, but it is better to know that in Christ
we will never, never die.
Dan Cummings is a pastor friend who I admire in so many ways. He is one of the finest preachers in the state. He is a marathoner. He is a good dad and a fine husband. He is a leader of men. I admire him more than I can say and often listen to his preaching on my iPod.
A few weeks ago it was announced that he has inoperable cancer. If God does not choose to intervene in a miracle, he will not live. He is trying to write and preach to the glory of God while he is dying. He is writing and preaching through his affliction. This is his blog.
There are links to his preaching, too.
We often quote Richard Baxter who said; I preach as a dying man to dying men. We all preach as dying men to dying men. In light of Dan’s condition the reality of that is very sharp now. May God give Dan grace to die if that is what He has chosen for him. May he give each of us grace to live and die.
May each of us seize every moment of life we are given for the Glory
of God and for things eternal that will never pass away. It’s good to
be alive but it is much better to know that in Christ we will never,
never die."
Pastor Ken Pierpont
The Study
Evangel Baptist Church
May 2, 2008
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