Memento mori: A brother is home now ...

I wanted to make a small gesture to honor the memory of Rev. F. Scott Petersen (1963-2007), who passed away earlier this month, on the 5th of August. Rev. Petersen was the author of the blog Ars Theologica, which we have linked to here for some time. The final post from his site reads as follows:

The author of this blog has gone to meet the Author of Life.
On Saturday morning, the Rev. Franklin Scott Petersen passed from this world into eternity following unsuccessful surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain. Prayers are requested for his beloved wife, Deb and his two daughters, Emily and Sarah.

This quote from famed evangelist D.L Moody is an appropriate one.

"Someday you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of Northfield is dead. Don't you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone higher, that is all--out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal, a body that sin cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned like His glorious body. I was born in the flesh in 1837; I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die; that which is born of the Spirit will live forever."

This blog will remain open for a time as a testament to Scott's faith and faithfulness so that "by faith he being dead may yet speak ..."

Rev. Petersen's premature (humanly speaking) passing should cause us all to reflect on the fleeting nature of our own lives. (See my previous post, Point 13.). I was especially moved to read his own last post, dated 23 July:

Just News

I don't have much new to write about because the steroids I am on (which end Thursday!) make it hard to read new material (including Harry Potter!). I was able to attend church yesterday for the first time in a quite a while. I hope return to preaching the last Sunday in August. It all depends on my strength and clarity of mind. By September, things should be better. So far so good. What delayed my return to ministry was a reaction to the chemotherapy which produced high fevers. I am being tapered off the steroids, and so far no fevers. I still tire easily, but my appetite is increasing and I can walk with ease for short distances. That's it for now.

I know that Rev. Petersen would want us all to pray for his wife and children, and to make use of his own home-coming for the stirring up of ourselves: our zeal for the work the Lord has given each of us to do, and our longing for full redemption in glory.

I look forward to meeting this saint when my own pilgrimage here is complete.