Back!
Took a one year hiatus. Time to revive!
A Prayer For Japan
Excerpt from John Piper’s website at www.desiringgod.org
Read the entire article here.
The power of moving water is greater than most of us can imagine. Nothing stands before it. We are driven to our knees:
Father in heaven, you are the absolute Sovereign over the shaking of the earth, the rising of the sea, and the raging of the waves. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways. We cover our faces and kiss your omnipotent hand. We fall helpless to the floor in prayer and feel how fragile the very ground is beneath our knees.
O God, we humble ourselves under your holy majesty and repent. In a moment—in the twinkling of an eye—we too could be swept away. We are not more deserving of firm ground than our fellowmen in Japan. We too are flesh. We have bodies and homes and cars and family and precious places. We know that if we were treated according to our sins, who could stand? All of it would be gone in a moment. So in this dark hour we turn against our sins, not against you.
And we cry for mercy for Japan. Mercy, Father. Not for what they or we deserve. But mercy.
Have you not encouraged us in this? Have we not heard a hundred times in your Word the riches of your kindness, forbearance, and patience? Do you not a thousand times withhold your judgments, leading your rebellious world toward repentance? Yes, Lord. For your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.
Grant, O God, that the wicked will forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Grant us, your sinful creatures, to return to you, that you may have compassion. For surely you will abundantly pardon. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, your beloved Son, will be saved.
May every heart-breaking loss—millions upon millions of losses—be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures’ pain. You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all.
In Jesus you tasted loss. In Jesus you shared the overwhelming flood of our sorrows and suffering. In Jesus you are a sympathetic Priest in the midst of our pain.
Deal tenderly now, Father, with this fragile people. Woo them. Win them. Save them.
And may the floods they so much dread make blessings break upon their head.
O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face.
In Jesus’ merciful name, Amen.
Happy New Year 2011!
Happy new year everyone!
May we all be better people;
- smile more
- pray more
- read the Bible more
- be more tolerant of each other
- obey all traffic rules with no exceptions
- eat healthier
- exercise more frequently
- manage our time wisely
- manage our finances better
- be more accountable
- talk less nonsense
- gossip less
- be more people-centered
- work harder
- strive harder
- lose more weight
- study harder and smarter
- annoy less people, and annoy the same people lesser
- love more genuinely!
Here’s to a merry-making 2011! Cheers!
Basic Requirement of a Worship Leader
Here’s an excerpt from DA Carson’s book, “Worship by the Book”, published by Zondervan.
… to some extent we can observe how well we are being served by those who lead corporate worship; their conduct is “transparent.” The way they lead must in the first instance be marked by faithfulness to the Word of God: that is certainly observable, in particular to those who know their Bibles well. But the way they lead can be measured not only in terms of formal content but also in terms of heart attitudes that inevitably manifest themselves in talk, body language, focus and style. Some pray with strings of evangelical cliches; some show off with orotund phrasings; others pray to God out of profound personal knowledge and bring the congregation along with them. Some preach without a punch; others speak as if delivering the oracles of God.
What is at stake is authenticity. Some wag has said that Americans work at their play, play at their worship, and worship their work. But sooner or later, Christians tire of public meetings that are profoundly inauthentic, regardless of how well (or poorly) arranged, directed, performed. We long to meet, corporately, with the living and majestic God and to offer him the praise that is his due.”
How true. Dr Carson worded them all accurately and precisely. Oh may my worship leading reflect the attitude and spirit of a true worshiper. More so in the new year. =)
The Fullness of God’s Promises
In the book of Genesis, we read of the account that God would bless Abraham in every area imaginable.
Genesis 12:2-3 says,
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I wil bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Most of us have already known that Abraham was the founder of the Jewish race. And till today, they still exist in our world. And we all know that Jesus came from the lineage of Abraham. That is a known fact to all.
Fast forward to many years down the road, God promised Moses that He will lead them out from the land of slavery the land of Egypt, and will give them a land flowing with milk and honey. It was a promise from God to them.
I was so impressed when I was studying the map of the ancient world, how God fulfilled His promises. Not only was the land fertile for agricultural development, but their geographical potential was immensely great. The land of Canaan, or Palestine as we know it today, was located strategically in the middle of great economic, intellectual and social giants, ie, Africa, Asia and Europe. It was a major trade link, bringing to it economic prosperity, as well as much social and intellectual potentials. It was not tugged in a corner of the world, but it was located in the middle and in the central of EVERYTHING! And the geographical potential of the land, was non-negligible!
See, when God says, “ok, I will do it”, He does it beyond our imagination. I strongly believe that neither Abraham nor Moses, nor Jacob nor Joseph, would have expected the tremendous fulfillment and immensity of this promise from God to them.
I am so glad I worship such a great God!