Deus Misereatur

  Luke 1-13: The Year of the Lord’s Favior Dale Ralph Davis Christian Focus Publications Christianfocus.com ISBN: 9781527106383; January 2021; $19.99   I tell you no one is safe when Dale Ralph Davis – pastor, writer, and seminary professor – has gotten loose! And his newest erudite adventure, the 264-page paperback, “Luke 1-13: The Year of the Lord’s Favor” is proof positive! Davis expounds on the first thirteen chapters of Luke in this volume and draws out loads of friends to help him make his point. His sons, wife, Civil War generals, theologians, crows eating roadkill, presidents, father, mother, his own brothers, and many more, are all gathered around, given their place and handed their mission. He even recounts a story I told some twenty years ago and threw me into the fray! No one is safe, I tell you! And it’s all deliciously fun, attention-grabbing, and illustrative of what our Lord did and does, and of what he said and what he signified. Davis is a masterful writer

  I was a Church of Christ minister for several years. I would do my duties and accomplish my responsibilities with the Air Force full time, and then when off-duty I would lead my little congregation. It's called "bi-vocational ministry". But while I was a Church of Christ minister, I began to realize aspects about baptism that went against what we taught and held to, everything from it's purpose, to the amount of water, to who is actually to receive the Christian rite. So I was delighted when Sean McGowan, Pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee, Florida, put out his new, little 62-page softback, "Infant Baptism: An Introductory Sprinkling for Parishioners". Easy to read, simple to grasp, and empty of pretense or pugnaciousness. McGowan stays on task. In other words, he doesn't wade out into the flowing waters to cover every topic related to baptism, but swims around in one of the major streams that feeds the subject: Family in God'

  Though this particular book is targeted to parents who are going through, or have gone through, a divorce/separation with a High Conflict Person (HCP), it has oodles and oodles of application to any relationship with a HCP. Bill Eddy, a lawyer, therapist, mediator, and the co-founder and training director of the High Conflict Institute; Annette Burns, an attorney and a certified Family Law Specialist; and Kevin Chafin,  a mediator and Licensed Professional Counselor, have given parents a wonderful aid in this 223-page paperback, "BIFF for Co-Parent Communication: Your Guide to Difficult Texts, Emails, and Social Media Posts". It includes how to navigate the electronic side of things, but really the book maps out many ways to be Brief, Informative, Friendly and Firm (BIFF) so as not to get swallowed up in angry and reactionary communications with a HCP. The first section develops the traits of a HCP, especially their practice of "blamespeak": (1) their preoccupatio

  You declared, “ See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand ” (Deuteronomy 32:39). Therefore, we adore you, the only God; we worship you, God over life and death, God over hurt and health! Have mercy, we pray, on all who are beat up, badgered, beleaguered, broke and brittle (…). Grant them the specific aid they need, whether monetary, medical, medicinal or mending, and raise them up to rejoice in your goodness and lift their hearts and voices in thanksgiving. Have mercy, we pray, on all who have turned their backs to you and not their faces (…). Give them to your Son that he may never lose them but raise them up on the last day. Have mercy, we pray, on those women who feel pressured and oppressed to the point that they have contemplated abortion, and those misguided and misled by tricky influencers. Have mercy on those fathers whose children have been removed over thei