This is quite a story. It reminded me of my friends, Dustin and Kellie Shramek, who lost their precious son, Owen, about 8 years ago. In the book Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, Dustin wrote a chapter about some of the lessons that God taught him–lessons about God, and also lessons about how and how not to minister to those in nearly unbearable grief and pain.
After the book was published, Women Today Radio did a brief interview with Dustin; here’s an excerpt:
How has Jesus sustained you through the dark days?
At first it was hard to see how Jesus was sustaining us through the dark days. Yet deep down I knew that he was. My mother died when I was sixteen, two years after I had become a believer. After her death God lead me to Romans 5:3-5, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Having endured through her death I had come out on the other end with my faith intact and I again had hope that God was for me.
After Owen died my wife, who had not experienced the death of one so close, never believed that she would be able to have joy again. And while I certainly didn’t feel joy, I knew that one day I would. The suffering I had endured through my mother’s death had indeed produced hope. Even though my firstborn was dead I believed that I would again have joy. I had experienced God’s faithfulness and I knew that he would be faithful again.
The text, though, that impacted me the most was 2 Corinthians 7:6, “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” During the first months after Owen’s death we felt very little comfort from God. At times I struggled with anger thinking, “God, I know you are sovereign and so you are the one who brought this about. I accept that, but the least you could do is draw near to us and give us comfort.” On the six month anniversary I was reading through all the e-mails and cards we had received from God’s people and I was reflecting on the help we had received from his people where he was born. Then I read this verse and it dawned on me. God was and is comforting us by the coming of countless brothers and sisters in Christ. Often we don’t feel the warm presence of the Lord in our suffering, but that does not mean he has left us alone. We are a part of the body of Christ and it is through this body that he ministers to us in our darkest days.
When I became a Christian one of the first Christian artists I listened to was Steven Curtis Chapman. So, in a strange sense I feel like I know this guy and the journey God’s taken him on. I love the idea of his new album called, ReCreation. Take a peek at some of the songs included on this album and listen to the on-going story of one of the most real guys in the business.
If you’re like me, you love the Seeds Family Worship CD’s. Here’s a simple idea for the summer. As you play the CD’s in your home, your car, outside in the backyard, etc. why not challenge your whole family to memorize a few of them together. Seeds has provided these helpful memory cards that go along with each of the CD’s. So print them off, put them on your fridge, dinner table, bathroom mirror, etc. and memorize some verses as a family this summer!
One more thing … your kids can keep track of the ones they’ve memorized with this helpful checklist as well.
It’s been about three weeks since I asked readers to pick the most important hymns we should be teaching to the next generation. There was so many good suggestions from Facebook that I launched a poll here on the website to sort out the best.
The results have been steadily coming in and a consensus is growing. Click here if you still want to participate in that selection. Here are the clear front runners as chosen by our readers. The videos below are all from YouTube. I’ve tried to show a little variety in the selection. Enjoy!
I’m curious, what do you think of these selections? What hymns/classics would you add to the list?
I just received a Christmas card from Seeds Family Worship with the first 6 songs from their new album, Seeds of Character. I love it! More Than Conquerors (above) is sure to be one of the songs we’ll do in the future at our SEEDS Family Ministry. These guys get the gospel and understand how to make quality Scripture-saturated music that everyone will love. Their actions/hand motions are even helpful to make the verse/song memorable! I encourage you to pre-order this album!
My family and church family loves Seeds Family Worship! They have quality songs set to Scripture which makes it easy and fun for kids to memorize. I had an opportunity to meet Jason Houser last year and he is the real deal! In this video he shares about a neat opportunity for you and your church to pre-order the upcoming album, Seeds of Character.
What a powerful song and reminder of how the gospel changes our identity. I love these lyrics:
You are more than the choices that you’ve made
You are more than the sum of the past mistakes
You are more than the problems you create
You’ve been remade
This is not about what you’ve done but what’s been done for you
As we sing to one another, encouraging our brothers and sisters in Christ with the precious truths of God’s works and ways, we bring glory to God. He has designed singing as a wonderful way for those who are strong in the gospel to encourage those who are weak as they give witness with their lips and body to the reality and power of what they are singing about. Even as a song leader, I have had many mornings where I was inwardly struggling to believe and appropriate the gospel. God often uses the sound and the posture of the congregation to help get my attention off of myself and my individual spiritual walk and be encouraged at His work amongst our entire congregation.
My friend, Eric Schumacher, in collaboration with David Ward (and others) through the ministry of Reformed Praise, just released their latest album, Merciful to Me. It was co-produced by David Ward and Steve Cook (of Sovereign Grace Music). It contains the vocals of Devon Kauflin, Shannon Harris, Jake Armerding, Lucia Newell, and others, as well as a host of great instrumentalists from around the country. The 13 tracks are an eclectic mix of styles, including bluegrass, pop, classic jazz, driving rock, and orchestral arrangements.
This album is rich in the deep realities of the gospel. I especially enjoyed the song, There is No Sin That I Have Done. I found myself literally stopping and resting in the finished work of Christ. My Worship Pastor, Benjamin Brainard, also reviewed the album and gave this recommendation:
This CD has been encouraging to my soul and is filled with lyrics that enjoy the full realm of the Christian life. I think of Sovereign Grace, Sandra McCracken, Fernando Ortega, Indelible grace, Red Mountain Church, CD’s when I hear this. Some songs are meant for contemplation, and others for congregational worship. I do enjoy the stylistic variance throughout the CD. If you want a CD to worship to, or to be encouraged by, compliment your collection with this one.
