Deus Misereatur

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt My rating: 4 of 5 stars Evolutionary biology and psychology, neurobiology, sociology, developmental and moral psychology...it's all in there, along with some artfully crafted chutzpah. Jonathan Haidt, the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business, who is ethnically Jewish, religiously atheist, and vocationally a moral psychologist, has pulled together an intriguing read that skillfully and sportively answers - from his perspective - his subtitle "Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion." Since there are thousands of reviews of the book that have already been broadcast, I'll simply say three things. First, it was fun to read, thought-provoking, instructive and insightful. As a Christian minister I can't, and don't, go along with many of his premises (evolution, utilitarianism, etc.); nevertheless, I...

Indispensable: The Basics of Christian Belief by David P. Cassidy My rating: 5 of 5 stars Are you looking for a book to hand to someone that strongly gives them the rudiments of the Christian faith? Is your young college student or High Schooler needing a good resource on the nitty-gritty of their Christianity to which they can return and use over and over again? New folks coming to your church, and you're wondering how to communicate the nuts-and-bolts of what we believe and why? David P. Cassidy, lead pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee, has happily, healthily and handily provided us with just the thing in his new 240 page paperback, "Indispensable: The Basics of the Christian Faith". Easy to read and simple to follow, it's perfect for intelligent middle-schoolers to the seasoned and venerable. The author walks readers through many important subjects. The book is not a systematic theology or a Confession of faith, but it does tackle huge s...

{Today's prayer is led by Psalm 63. It concludes with a Memorial Day prayer at the end) O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. It has been good to enter your great assembly; to earnestly seek you; to have our dry and thirsty souls quenched with you, O fountain of living waters. We pray for those who don’t know you and have never known the joy that you are and the life you give…. May they hear your invitation and come to the festival. Father, we pray for those who maybe feel themselves to be in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Maybe the parchedness is from their sickness or disease; maybe from depression or mental darkness of some ki...