Deus Misereatur

  I love the American Bible Society and especially appreciate how they help our military members. This military challenge edition of the ESV is a prime example. It's a handy sized complete Bible made to be easily carried on deployments and to be unobtrusive wherever one takes it. Included in this edition is the "military challenge," which is "designed to help you chart a path through the big story of the Bible" (from the opening letter to 'our military and their families' by Robert Briggs). The challenge is 75 readings that take the reader through the Bible to familiar with its overall project and to come to know the God of the Scripture better. It also includes short prayers that echo the passage and a one paragraph reflection. This edition also includes numerous helps. It has a short introduction to each Bible book. It contains a brief guide on how to make time to read, reflect, and pray. Other helps are a Bible chronology, subject index, prayers from ...

  The title, "Getting Over Yourself: Developing a healthy self-reflection habit to serve those around you" caught my attention immediately. Sometimes in ministry one just wants to say to people, "You just need to get over yourself!" This little manual is authored by Caroline Spencer, a graduate of Moore Theological College in Sydney Australia, who has spent the last 20 years working in Christian ministry. It's a short evaluative, self-evaluative, group-evaluative work. It's only mildly technical but easy to grasp. The work is almost a workbook in it's approach. It is meant to be used individually and collectively, such as a ministerial collaborative. The point - and every piece of it is geared to this point - is "asking ourselves challenging questions about ourselves, especially in the light of how we relate to others and how we can better serve them" (25). The author uses several personal and fictional examples to show how to gain from this gu...

  I just recently preached a sermon series through 1 and 2 Thessalonians, "Securing the Word and Keeping It Straight." I loved the studying and preparation for the whole series. Within a few days after completing that series, Matthias Media put out an email advert about a new book on 1 and 2 Thessalonians. I was delighted to see it and snagged a copy quick. It's part of the "Matthias Bible Guides," which "exist to help Bible teachers of all levels engage with the word of God and prepare themselves to teach the Bible to others" (3). This particular installment was penned by Matthew Jensen, who is a research associate at Sydney University, where he teaches New Testament, and an adjunct lecturer in New Testament and Biblical Theology at Moore Theological College. He is also a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, the Tyndale Fellowship and the Evangelical Theological Society, and a fellow of the Institute of Biblical Studies.  This study in 1 and ...

  Our Father, you are our rock of safety and in you is no unrighteousness at all. Grant unto us the grace we desperately need, so as to withstand the temptations and avoid the infections of the world, the flesh and the devil, so that with pure heart, sound mind and holy delight we may serve you in perfect liberty all our days. And be with the many who are wrestling with and being wrestled down by specific misfortunes (…). May it please you to console and relieve them according to their particular needs, giving them enduring patience under their sufferings and a happy ending to all their afflictions. Please uphold our country, and all other nations in our world, and direct the hearts and minds of all world leaders to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly before you in your ways of truth. And for this region, be pleased to give us the needful portions of rain. Lord Jesus, who for our sake was condemned as a criminal, please visit our jails, correctional facilities and prisons with yo...