Deus Misereatur

  Here Are Your Gods: Faithful Discipleship in Idolatrous Times Christopher J. H. Wright IVP Academic ivpress.com ISBN: 9780830853359; September 2020; $18.00   I have a love-hate relationship with some books. I find them feeding my understanding, bringing me to reflect, and arousing my prayers. But I argue and dispute with them most of the way through, sometimes shoving them aside for a time so I can cool off. This was one of those books. Christopher J. H. Wright, international ministries director of the Langham Partnership, Old Testament scholar, prolific author, and lecturer, has pulled together an in-depth examination on idolatry in his newly published, 176-page softback “Here Are Your Gods: Faithful Discipleship in Idolatrous Times”. Part of it will sound familiar to those who have read his chapter on idolatry in “ The Mission of God ”. But Wright takes that material, fleshes it out more fully and goes into places that get painfully close to home – thus my love...

  “ Jesus wept ”! [1] I don’t think we grasp the deep significance of these words and your weeping. You truly are humbled, your “low condition,” your “undergoing the miseries of this life.” [2] You grieved your friend’s death, the black sorrow it poured into Mary and Martha, and the awfulness of the situation! And then you were accused three times that it was all your fault: Martha and Mary [3] who believed in you, who trusted you – accused you! And then the crowds [4] faulted you as well. O Lord, how meaningful this all is – God in the flesh wept, undergoing the miseries of this life! You know! You weep! Lord, some who I know need your tears to mingle with theirs. Chronic pain that will not end; dark moods that suffocate; fracturing marriage that refuses to be resolved; broken relationship that shoves its sharp shards deep into their hearts. Oh, weeping Lord! Weep with them, be deeply moved in your spirit and troubled for them. [5] And as you absorbed Mary’s and Martha’s ac...

  In all candor, I'm not Anglican nor Episcopalian. I'm a Presbyterian by conviction. But I did earn my doctorate at a conservative Episcopal/Anglican seminary in Pennsylvania (Trinity School for Ministry) and am fairly well versed on that tradition and many of its peculiarities. So I was pleased to open the pages of "To Be A Christian: An Anglican Catechism (Approved Edition)" and peruse fully the nicely bound 160 pages of this hardback. The print is easy on the eyes, and the content does good for the soul. A catechism is an ancient pattern of programmed questions and answers, and in the Christian setting, they are questions that systematically work through key areas with biblically shaped answers, which is exactly what happens in this volume. After the front-matter (that includes an introduction by J.I. Packer), the catechism breaks out into four sections: beginning in Christ; believing in Christ; belonging to Christ; and becoming like Christ. I deeply appreciate th...

  Praise the LORD! Thank you that you have made us a crown of beauty and a royal diadem in your hand, O LORD. Thank you that we shall no more be termed Forsaken or Desolate but shall be called My Delight Is in Her and Married . Thank you, LORD, that you delight in us and that as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride you rejoice over us (Isaiah 62:3-5)! O Lord, hear our prayer.   We pray, Lord, that you would have mercy on all of the nations of this earth. O God, you reign over the nations; you sit on your holy throne. May all of the princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to you, O God; you are highly exalted (Psalm 47:8-9)! O Lord, hear our prayer.   We pray, Lord, that you would have mercy on these United States of America. We pray what all Christians pray for their lands and nations: God, bless America , but not her sin and immorality, and not where she opposes and resists you. Rather, God, bless Americ...

  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 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 with all of their shortcomings and sins. Brace and bolster your people who are presently walking in the path of martyrdom and maltreatment. Bring r...