[:en]THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

On Tuesday evening our brother Joe Lee suffered a stroke. As a result of it the right side of his body is now paralyzed and he can’t communicate. As I write this Oom Joe is still in the hospital and Tante May Lee and her children faithfully wait on him. Please pray for him and for the family. They need our prayers. Thank you.

There is nothing beautiful about sickness. We all wish to be healthy and not get sick but sickness still comes—uninvited. However, sickness can be an instrument of God’s plan and a dispenser of God’s goodness, and that includes mental or emotional sickness. One of the men that has experienced God’s goodness and God’s plan through emotional sickness is William Cowper, a British poet.

William Cowper, born in 1731, was the fourth child of a pastor. All his three older siblings died and while giving birth to the fifth child, his mother died. William was only six. Losing his mom at such a young age affected his mental state, resulting in depression.

After high school he wanted to study literature but his father wanted him to be an attorney. Reluctantly he obeyed his father’s wish but while preparing for his bar exam, he experienced extreme anxiety. He couldn’t go through with the exam; he threw away his Bible, and tried to kill himself. He was then referred to a psychiatric institution run by Dr. Nathaniel Cotton, a Christian and a lover of poetry. Under Dr. Cotton’s care, he recovered and met Jesus again.

He later befriended a pastor and together they wrote many hymns. The name of that pastor was John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace. One of William Cowper’s songs that became his life’s theme was “There is a fountain filled blood . . . . Wash all my sins away.”

Pastor Paul[:id]THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

On Tuesday evening our brother Joe Lee suffered a stroke. As a result of it the right side of his body is now paralyzed and he can’t communicate. As I write this Oom Joe is still in the hospital and Tante May Lee and her children faithfully wait on him. Please pray for him and for the family. They need our prayers. Thank you.

There is nothing beautiful about sickness. We all wish to be healthy and not get sick but sickness still comes—uninvited. However, sickness can be an instrument of God’s plan and a dispenser of God’s goodness, and that includes mental or emotional sickness. One of the men that has experienced God’s goodness and God’s plan through emotional sickness is William Cowper, a British poet.

William Cowper, born in 1731, was the fourth child of a pastor. All his three older siblings died and while giving birth to the fifth child, his mother died. William was only six. Losing his mom at such a young age affected his mental state, resulting in depression.

After high school he wanted to study literature but his father wanted him to be an attorney. Reluctantly he obeyed his father’s wish but while preparing for his bar exam, he experienced extreme anxiety. He couldn’t go through with the exam; he threw away his Bible, and tried to kill himself. He was then referred to a psychiatric institution run by Dr. Nathaniel Cotton, a Christian and a lover of poetry. Under Dr. Cotton’s care, he recovered and met Jesus again.

He later befriended a pastor and together they wrote many hymns. The name of that pastor was John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace. One of William Cowper’s songs that became his life’s theme was “There is a fountain filled blood . . . . Wash all my sins away.”

Pastor Paul[:]