Deus Misereatur

From 1996 to 2000 Dr. Dale Ralph Davis was one of my Old Testament professors at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. From 1998 to 2002 Dr. Davis became a dear friend as I served a small, rural Presbyterian church in Mississippi. He would always open the door of his study for me and allow me to "unload" my woes, and then he would spend time praying with me and for me. Even after we went to different parts of the country (he to Mississippi and South Carolina; and I to Texas and Oklahoma), we have remained in contact. I have always found Dr. Davis's commentaries and books solid in their scholarship, warm in their application, Gospel-focused in their direction and demeanor, and devotional in their observations. As he works his readers through Scripture, he always seems to have one eye on how to preach the Old Testament, and the other eye on how to minister to the preacher, and the preacher's congregation. I simply cannot recommend his books enough!

In Search of Ancient Roots: The Christian Past and the Evangelical Identity Crisis by Kenneth J. Stewart My rating: 5 of 5 stars “Evangelical Protestantism is not the problem; evangelical Protestantism that has severed its roots in early Christianity is a problem” (273). So concludes Kenneth J. Stewart, professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, in his new 304 page hardback "In Search of Ancient Roots: The Christian Past and the Evangelical Identity Crisis." The author carefully and conscientiously presents his case in a way that is understandable for pastors, interested adults and those in the academy. “In Search of Ancient Roots” develops the idea that Protestantism, including Evangelicalism, has roots that run back through popular late medieval movements and the earlier Patristic and Christian eras. Stewart contends that early Protestantism “chose to present itself as embodying a return to the less encumbered doctrinal allegian

O God of our salvation, who visits the earth and waters it; who greatly enriches it; who provides us grain, waters the furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth; who crowns the year with your bounty and makes the pastures of the wilderness overflow so that the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, and they shout and sing together for joy (Psalm 65.9-13). We join all creation as we approach Thanksgiving Day, remembering your rich goodness, and rejoicing! God of the Ages and Generations; thank you for our forbearers in the faith who have gone before us, the examples they have left us, and benefit of their wisdom they have bequeathed to us. Just as we honor our fathers and mothers, may we always honor our fathers and mothers in the faith, even in light of all of their shortcomings and sins. Brace and bolster your people who are presently walking in the pa