Deus Misereatur

Creation and Doxology: The Beginning and End of God’s Good World Ed. Gerald Hiestand and Todd Wilson IVP Academic IVPress.com October 2018 ISBN: 978-0-8308-5386-1; $25.00 3 Stars of 5 Stars How should Christians think about creation? Not only the creation account in Genesis, but the created order around them at present? Gerald L. Hiestand, interim senior pastor at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Illinois, cofounder and director of the Center for Pastor Theologians; and Todd Wilson president and cofounder of the Center for Pastor Theologians and former senior pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Illinois, have compiled a series of articles from numerous authors on this very subject. The 230-page softback “Creation and Doxology: The Beginning and End of God’s Good World” includes the manuscripts from the 2017 annual theology conference of the Center for Pastor Theologians. It is a collection of essays that “is an effort to “return lov...

Below are the links to all five installments for this Advent series. V. 1:  “ O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel .” V. 2:  “ O come, O come, thou Lord of might, who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height, in ancient times didst give the law, in cloud and majesty and awe. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel .” V. 3:  “ O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free / Thine own from Satan's tyranny; From depths of hell thy people save, And give them victory o'er the grave. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel .” V. 4:  “ O come, thou Dayspring from on high And cheer us by thy drawing nigh; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death's dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel .” V. 5:  “ O come, thou Key of David, come And open wide our heav'nly home; Mak...

(The audio file is here ) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel Pt 5 Isaiah 35.1-10 (Revelation 3.7-13) O LORD, raise up your power, we pray, and come among us, and with great might aid us; that whereas, through our own sins and wickedness we are sorely impeded and hindered in running the race that is set before us, may your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through the satisfaction of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. There are at least two dangerous directions people take when looking at a passage like Isaiah 35. First, there are those who see these promises and think, “Aha! Utopia! We can advance the kingdom of God and bring heaven on earth!” Most Utopian movements—Whether Marxist-Leninism, social justice advocacy, or Christian America-ism—have this sense behind them. But history has taught us (and God through history) that every attempt at Utopia only ends in Dystopia and desolation! Second, there are those who go to the other direction and say, “Wel...

(If you would like to listen to the sermon you can go here ) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel Pt 4 Isaiah 8.11-9.7 (Luke 1.67-80) O LORD Jesus Christ, who at your first coming did send your messenger to prepare your way before you; Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready your way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in your sight. Amen. There’s a proverbial phrase we sometimes use: “ The darkest hour is just before dawn ”. It was made popular by the Mamas and the Papas in the 1960s and Emmylou Harris in 1980. It’s been around since a preacher used it in the 16 th century. It found its way into Irish ballads, and is the idea behind the title of the Winston Churchill biographical movie.   Something like that phrase, “ The darkest hour is just before dawn, ” is being played out here in Isaiah 8.11-9.7, which ...

Imagery and Narrative I had recently retired from 20 years in the Air Force and became the stated supply (the regular student preacher) of this small-town church. There he was, one of my elders in his late 70s, and he was appalled that I, his minister, had purchased a Toyota. When I asked him what was so wrong with having a Toyota, he replied; “It was made by the Japs!” Needless to say I was startled by his comment, and so I stammered my way through the question, “Why does that matter?” The response was just as shocking as his statement. As he put it, he had grown up during World War II, and recounted how the government propaganda in the news during the time and on posters, hammered into him that the “Japs” were evil. And now there he was in 1999, some 54 years later, and he still couldn’t bring himself to purchase anything Japanese. Similar stories could be recounted from World War I and the way the imagery and narrative about the horrible “Huns” affected and infected social p...

Blessed are you, O Sovereign Lord, God of our ancestors: to you be praise and glory forever. You called the patriarchs and matriarchs to live by faith and to journey in the hope that you are the God of your word. May we, similarly, be obedient to your call, be ready and watchful to receive your Son and live forward in hope-filled trust and joy. Thank you that in the fullness of time you sent your Son, born of a woman, born under the law, born into a low condition, who underwent the miseries of this life. Therefore, we implore you to look in on those who find this time of year a grief and hardship due to painful memories, sorrowful losses, adversarial family relations, broken promises, and impending privations…may the Gospel-hope ricocheting around the walls and halls in the Christmas carols, lift their hearts and faces to look up to you and rejoice in Spirit-birthed confidence. As your Son was born in a time of great conflict, of oppression, of “might-makes-right,” of faith and reli...