Deus Misereatur

A Subversive Gospel: Flannery O’Connor and the Reimagining of Beauty, Goodness, and Truth Michael Mears Bruner IVP Academic InterVarsity Press PO Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515 ISBN: 978-0-8308-5066-2; $30.00; October 2017 I can’t even recall how or why it came about, but around twenty years ago I tripped across Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and was hooked! Since then I have read most of her writings and a few works by others analyzing her style and stories. Recently Michael Mears Bruner, associate professor of practical theology at Azusa Pacific University in California, and ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), has presented his own examination of O’Connor in a 260 page softback, “A Subversive Gospel: Flannery O’Connor and the Reimagining of Beauty, Goodness, and Truth,” which is part of IVP Academic’s “Studies in Theology and the Arts” series. This well-written volume is ideal for O’Connor aficionados, amateurs and interested au...

Our church’s website has a portal where people can go and ask for prayer ( go here ). All of the requests eventually come to me, most of which are anonymous, and have sad stories to them. I do make time in the day to pray for each of the requests, and send the prayer back to the originating email address. Here are a few of the prayers I have sent out: ( In a battle with sexual sins ): Almighty God, mighty in compassion and mighty in kindness: be with Pxxxxx to give him liberty over the sins he's battling with. Set him free from the evil affections and fill him with longing for you and the satisfaction of knowing you. Place him among other believers who will be able to walk with him, care for him, and encourage him; in Jesus name, Amen. ( Just quit job because employer mistreated a homeless mother of six ): Mighty God, who cares about the beat down and beat up; who has your eye and heart open to those in dire need: we pray for this mother of 6 to have a warm, safe place for her ...

I have used this prayer book since 1988. At that time I was a bi-vocational minister in a little Florida congregation while a Sergeant on Active Duty in the U.S. Air Force. I have continued to use it regularly through the years, and even now as a Presbyterian minister. I own two copies, and have used them so much that the bindings of both are broken and tattered, and the pages are worn and marked up. The volume is helpful on many fronts. There is a set of suggested orders for morning, noon and evening prayers. Also, Doberstein has included material from Luther's morning and evening prayer, as well as Luther's " A Simple Guide to Prayer " given to his barber. The editor has further mapped out a regular order of prayer for each day of the week. The middle section of the prayer book includes two years of Scripture lessons along with Collects or prayers, all of which follow the liturgical calendar. The largest portion of the volume is given over to "Meditations ...

(President and Leaders) : Almighty and everlasting God, since righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14.34); we humbly implore you graciously to regard the President of these United States, his counselors, our Supreme Court Justices, and all others in authority over us. We pray that they may be high in purpose, wise in counsel, and unwavering in duty; and in the administration of their solemn charge and judicial decisions may they wholly serve your will, uphold the honor of our Nation, secure the protection of our people, guard the rights and property of the inhabitants of this land, and set forward every righteous cause.   O Lord, hear our prayer. (Prisons) : Lord Jesus, who for our sake was condemned as a criminal, please visit our jails, correctional facilities and prisons with your pity and judgment. Remember all prisoners, and bring the guilty to repentance and amendment of life according to your will, and give them hope for their...

Our Father, you are the LORD, and there is no other. You form the light and create darkness; you make peace and create calamity; you O LORD do all these things, that all may know from the rising of the Sun to its setting that there is none besides you (Isaiah 45.6-7). It is to you that we come and pray, in the strength of the Spirit and the righteousness of Christ Jesus. Rebuild peace, order and justice in the nations of the world to include Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong and Hungary; so that the peoples may live safely, thrive, and hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Bring relief to those in our country who have been hit hard by financial woes; give our elected and appointed leaders the shrewdness and perseverance for reigning in our debt that we may not misuse our future; govern the decisions of our judges to eschew immorality and inequality; cause the hearts of the inhabitants of this nation to move toward prudent level-headedness, honesty and virtue; preserve our country from ...