Leroi Moore: 1961-2008
August 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment
As regular readers of the blog may know, the Dave Matthews Band has been on my heart in recent months, as I’ve pondered the joy I have in much of their music though it does not come from a Christian perspective. On and off for the past 8 years I have prayed for the members of the band, that God would so work in their lives that they would consciously desire to magnify Jesus Christ with the great gifts that He has blessed them with.
With that in view, I was particularly hit hard this morning when I read that Leroi Moore, the saxophonist for the band, died yesterday at the age of 46 due to complications that arose from an ATV accident he had in June.
Please join me in praying for his family and for the band, that God would use this situation to open their eyes to the hope that is found in Christ.
I found it…hope-giving (?) that the band opened their concert last night with a song called Bartender:
If I go
Before I’m old
Oh, brother of mine
Please don’t forget me if I go
Bartender, please
Fill my glass for me
With the wine you gave Jesus that set him free
After three days in the ground
Oh, and if I die
Before my time
Oh, sweet sister of mine
Please don’t regret me if I die
Bartender, please
Fill my glass for me
With the wine you gave Jesus that set him free
After three days in the ground
Bartender, please
Fill my glass for me
With the wine you gave Jesus that set him free
After three days in the ground
I’m on bended knees, I pray
Bartender, please
When I was young, I never think about it
Now I can’t get it out of my mind
I’m on bended knees
Father, please
Oh, and if all this gold
Should steal my soul away
Oh, sweet mother of mine
Please redirect me in this gold…
Bartender, you see
The wine that’s drinking me
Came from the vine that strung Judas from the Devil’s tree
His roots deep, deep in the ground
Bartender, you see
The wine that’s drinking me
Came from the vine that strung Judas from the Devil’s tree
His roots deep, deep in the ground
In the Ground…
I’m on bended knees
Oh, Bartender, please
I’m on bended knees
Father, please
When I was young, I never think about it
Now I just wanna run and die
I’m on bended knees
Oh, Bartender, please
Bartender, please…
Prayer for Piper
April 26, 2008 | 3 Comments
From Desiring God:
PRAYER FOR JOHN PIPER
For the next four weeks John will be taking his annual writing leave, working on a book on marriage and a book on the new birth. Earlier this year he finished writing a book on spectacular sins, which is now in the final editing stages. In addition to these three books, there are three smaller books/booklets in the works. Here is the complete list of pending publications:
· Spectacular Sins: And Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ (September, 2008)
· Rethinking Retirement: Finishing Life for the Glory of God (September, 2008)
· History’s Most Spectacular Sin booklet (June, 2008)
· John Calvin and His Passion for the Majesty of God (2009)
· Marriage book (title forthcoming)
· New Birth book (title forthcoming)
Please pray for:
· Mental and physical strength for John as he devotes himself to the task of working on these books
· Discipline and spiritual life and power and insight from God
· The others who are working on various aspects of the books: editors, proofreaders, designers, indexers and the publisher
Above all, pray that everyone involved would work with diligence in the strength God supplies so that in all things God gets the glory.
Prayers Appreciated
October 11, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Today I will begin my sermon prep for Sunday night’s message on Matthew 6:7-8
“7And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
One of the main questions that I hope to deal with is the question that arises from verse 8: If God knows all that we need before we ask Him, then what is the point of asking Him?
Not exactly a ’simple’ theme. So I appreciate your prayers over the next couple of days!
Larry
Revive Thy Work O Lord!
August 14, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Thy mighty arm make bare;
Speak with the voice that wakes the dead,
And make Thy people hear.
Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Disturb this sleep of death;
Quicken the smold’ring embers now
By Thine almighty breath.
Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Create soul-thirst for Thee;
And hungering for the Bread of Life
O may our spirits be.
Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Exalt Thy precious Name;
And, by the Holy Ghost, our love
For Thee and Thine inflame.
Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Give Pentecostal showers;
The glory shall be all Thine own,
The blessing, Lord, be ours.
- words by Albert Midlane 1858
(Note: It is best to read this out loud and with some passion!)
Update from DG
July 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I received this praise/prayer request today by email from Desiring God:
From a writer this past week:
Thank you so very much for your sale! What a crazy amazing thing that you did. I am chronically ill and suffer pain constantly. I run a small support group of women who suffer from chronic pain and illness. We are a Christian group. I was able to order “Suffering and the Sovereignty of God” for the five charter members. I was also able to order my sister a Bible. My husband is an excellent provider and we do have health insurance but things are still extremely tight financially. So, I cannot afford to buy many books. I know that to some it was just a great deal and it was. But, to some of us it was…like a miracle. I could have never done something special like this for my group…or bought a Bible for my sister.
We thank God for the response to our $5 book sale! Here are some highlights:
- Total orders: nearly 11,000
- Total books ordered: 127,115
- Total number of countries represented: 24
- Orders were placed from all 50 states, two military APOs, two territories and Washington, DC
We are very grateful for this overwhelming response. But those are only the numbers and it is the souls that matter. Please pray that God would powerfully work through these books to bring hundreds of people to himself and to strengthen the faith of those who already believe.
Thursday Morning Prayer
July 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment
“They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.” (1 Kings 14:23)
Father, Your righteous indignation is aroused when those who are called by Your name conform to the evil and adulterous ways of the world. Repeatedly You call us to be salt and light in a world that is decaying in darkness. You sent Your Son into the world to deliver Your people from this evil age (Gal. 1:4). How tragic, then, when Christians find their pleasure in the same wicked pleasures which the world delights in. Set us free, O God, from the fleeting pleasures of sin. Grant us to abhor what is evil, and to hold fast to what is good (Romans 12:9). Forbid that we should pay money to be amused by things that belittle Your glory and trivialize the horror of sin.
Tuesday Morning Prayer
July 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Matthew 13:16-17)
Grant us this day, O God, to have gratitude for the amazing privilege that we have of having seen the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what has now been revealed to us by Your Spirit. Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, David, Isaiah, and so many others longed to see the coming of the Redeemer. Yet they all perished before He entered this world of sin and darkness. But through the eyes of faith, we have seen Christ. Though we do not see Him now, help us to rejoice in Him with joy that is inexpressible and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8). Help us to taste what a marvelous gift we have in living after the time of the coming of Christ, where Your love for sinful people like us has been most vividly demonstrated. And help us to live lives that are worthy of the high calling that we have received.
Tuesday Morning Prayer
June 26, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Who made me to know You, but You
When dead in sin You gave me new life
Now my heart is filled with love for You, Jesus
Father, thank You for Your Spirit’s work in me
For opening my eyes to the Christ of Calvary
Jesus, You gave Your life in exchange for mine
Now I will live for You who died, Jesus
You placed a crown of grace on my head
You covered me in robes of righteousness
Forever I will always be Yours, Jesus
Words and music by Pat Sczebel
As recorded on Valley of Vision
Monday Morning Prayer
June 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:34-39)
Help us, Father, to love You more than even our best gifts on earth. Nothing is more precious in this world than our earthly families, but whoever loves family more than You is not worthy of You. The gate is narrow that leads to life, and only few find it. Guard us from veiling the truth about You for the sake of keeping peace in our families, for You came not to bring peace, but a sword. Nevertheless, may we display a humility, tenderness, patience and love with the lost so that our character would not nullify the truth that we proclaim. Use us, O God, as instruments of Your glory by carrying our cross today, knowing that ‘to live is Christ, and to die is gain.’
Sunday Morning Prayer
June 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment
1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!
2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Psalm 43
Friday Morning Prayer
June 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you!” (Psalm 41:4)
So often, Father, we do not cry out like this for Your grace, because we do not know the depths of our own sin. Help us this day, to see sin for what it is: infinitely ugly and offense to Your holy nature. Reveal to us our hidden iniquities, and open our eyes to the wonderful provision You have made for all of our sins to be wiped away by the Cross of our Lord Jesus. And having received that forgiving grace, may Your grace also transform our desires and joys so that we kill the sin that is remaining in us.
Wednesday Morning Prayer
June 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment
4 “O Lord, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
6 Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.”
Psalm 39:4-7
Tuesday Morning Prayer
June 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:18-22)
This is tough love, Father. Tough because You call a man to renounce even his most valuable of earthly goods. The one who follows You may have no place to lay his head. The one who follows You may be called to forsake his earthly family. This is hard, even for the most committed of disciples. But this is love, because in forsaking all else, You call us to follow You. And You are the One in whose presence is fullness of joy, and at whose right hand are pleasures forevermore. Help us, Father, to taste and see that You are good, and more to be desired than every earthly good we have. And being freed by that joy in You, help us to follow You down the narrow road that leads to everlasting joy, no matter what it costs us in this life.
Monday Morning Prayer
June 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment
13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13)
The gate is narrow, O God, and the way is hard, that leads to life. Few find it, according to Jesus (Matthew 7:13-14). Help us, Father, to walk that narrow road, no matter where it takes us in this life. For Paul that meant frequent beatings, imprisonment, and death. Only You know what it mean for us. But it surely is not a life of ease and comfort. Help us, Lord, to be so satisfied in You that we would be freed to take risks in the cause of spreading a passion for Your name and renown.
Sunday Morning Prayer
June 17, 2007 | Leave a Comment
“My Master God, I am desired to preach today, but go weak and needy to my task. Yet I long that people might be edified with divine truth, that an honest testimony might be borne for Thee. Give me assistance in preaching and in prayer, with heart uplifted for grace and unction. Present to my view things pertinent to my subject, with fullness of matter and clarity of thought, proper expressions, fluency, fervency, a feeling sense of the things I preach, and grace to apply them to men’s consciences. Keep my conscious all the while of my defects, and let me not gloat in pride over my performance.”
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