Deus Misereatur

  Presently, you can obtain free copies The Ailbe Bookstore . Nicely done. The Psalms speak of Jesus (Luke 24:44) and the editor makes is more explicit. Metered (and paraphrased) to fit very popular tunes (for the most part), each Psalm selection is ideal, especially in my personal devotional time. I'm sure there are places where one might quibble. One of mine is Psalm 8 vv.5-6, where the masculine and Messianic aspect is turned into the corporate, just like in the gender-neutral NRSV. I'm sure the editor did this based on our personal and corporate union with Christ, whereas the NRSV had other motives. But it loosens the connection between Psalm 8 and Hebrews 2:5-9. But, it's just a quibble. I'm enjoying "The Ailbe Psalter" and am grateful that it was offered to all free of charge (other than shipping costs). I handed out copies to all my elders.

  A treasure, in it's own right. Charles H. Walker (d. October 24, 2009) tells his story of being a combat officer in the South Pacific, rising through the ranks from 2nd Lieutenant to Major, in "Combat Officer: A Memoir of War in the South Pacific." He was a member of the 164th Army National Guard Infantry Regiment of North Dakota. A true citizen-soldier, he often served under the direction of regular Army officers and their West Point fraternity. A sore spot that is clear all the way through the book.  Though the episodes Walker recounts are not gory, they are gritty and real. He narrates the fear, anger, frustrations, insensibleness, and sadness of being a combat officer leading his unit into harrowing situations. From the time he landed in New Caledonia in October of 1942 until his discharge in October 1945, the reader who plows through these pages walks with someone who saw, smelled, and heard live-fire combat. It was hard to put the book down. The value of a volume ...

  Most people seem to assume that they know the answer to the question, “What are nations for?” and a similar query, “What are cultures for?” An American might well answer that it is to secure life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, or something along those lines. But as Christians who are drawn into the Kingdom of God by the grace of God, the answer goes deeper. Steven M. Bryan, professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield Illinois, has poured himself into a fuller answer to those two questions in his recently published, 288-page softback, “ Cultural Identity and the Purposes of God: A Biblical Theology of Ethnicity, Nationality, and Race ”. The aim of this volume “is to explore what Scripture has to say about God’s purposes not only for people but also for peoples.” This includes “individuals in families and families within peoples.” The reason for his focus is that “the relationship between peoples turns out to be a crucial, if often overlo...

  The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic Jillian Peterson and James Densley Abrams Press www.abramsbooks.com ISBN: 978-1-4197-5295-7; $28.00; September 2021   It’s all the rage! Almost every news feed and social media venue broadcasts it, some with greater alarm than others. And the glut of press it receives makes it feel like it’s happening everywhere, every day, in every neighborhood. It’s like a voracious beast that is growing and consuming all in its path. And then there are the pundits and professionals that describe it as a simple, single-item issue that calls for a simple, single-item remedy and they have the cure-all-fix-all remedy. But the trouble is far more problematical, which means a healthy response will likely be at several levels simultaneously. Into this hazy fog of violence has stepped a new book, “The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic” by Jillian Peterson, PhD, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Jus...

  Shelby Steele, the Robert J. and Marion E. Oster Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, specializes in the study of race relations, multiculturalism, and affirmative action, gives a nice analysis of the shift away from personal morality to social morality in the U.S.A., and the illustrative comparison between Eisenhower and Clinton was very effective. If Eisenhower had done what Clinton did, he would have been booted. If Clinton had said what Eisenhower said (using the N-word) he would have been booted. There's more to the story of the book, but the role of White Guilt, the craving for White absolution, and the need to regain moral authority, was very helpful. Some things a bit dated, but it was written in 2006. Highly recommend.

  Back in May 2020, I heard Dan Crenshaw, wounded veteran, medically retired Navy SEAL, and U.S. congressman (TX-R), for the first time. He was being interviewed by Anne McElvoy of The Economist . Though it was clear they were not on the same political page, it was a delightfully engaging discussion. He conducted himself with civil certainty, laughed with the interviewer, disagreed charitably with her, gave her thoughtful and informed responses that impressed her, etc. I thought then, "I like this guy! I need to get his book." And I'm glad I did. I wasn't disappointed. Since there are already thousands (and I do mean thousands) of ratings and reviews on this book (it came out in April 2020!), my evaluation will be short. What I appreciated about the book: (1) Crenshaw hits the nail on the head with regard to the growing environment of outrage and fragility in the U.S.A. - both on the "right" and on the "left". Nobody is exempt from his criticism. P...

  Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope Esau McCaulley IVP Academic www.ivpress.com ISBN: 978-0-8308-5486-8; September 2020; $20.00   On occasion I have had the pleasure of overhearing my adult children talking to others without their knowing I was around. It’s quite a humbling experience, and many times, encouraging to hear them owning the faith for themselves. Their interactions with the other person were not meant for my ears necessarily, which is what makes it even more meaningful. That’s very much the case with a new 208-page softback, “Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope”. Esau McCaulley, assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, priest in the Anglican Church in North America, contributing opinion writer for  The New York Times , and host of  The Disrupters  podcast, is writing for a black audience that may be skeptical of Christianity and doubtfu...

  Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption L. Michael Morales IVP Academic www.ivpress.com ISBN:  978-0-8308-5539-1; August 2020; $22.00   It doesn’t take long while out hiking in the hinterlands. As one treks through shrubs and woodlands, ascending and descending along dusty trails or unmarked ways, there begins to grow a sense of somewhereness. I am presently here, trudging and traipsing, dirty and damp, heading to an end point, but I belong somewhere else; somewhere that is beautiful, somewhere that is tranquil and restful, somewhere subtly or surprisingly refreshing.   L. Michael Morales, professor of biblical studies at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Taylors, South Carolina, and previous provost and professor of Old Testament at Reformation Bible College in Sanford, Florida, has recently penned a scenic script that taps into this somewhereness. It is a 224-page softback that takes up exile and exodus in Scripture, and de...

  Since there are already loads of healthy reviews out there, this will be short. Zeihan's new, pre-COVID 19 volume "Disunited Nations: The Scramble for Power in an Ungoverned World" is an updating of his last two works, bringing his thesis up to 2020 and beyond. Most of the underlying ideas are still here, but maturing. Many of the author's predictions are based on geography, demographics, past actions, economics, etc. It's a very readable work, requiring no professional training to grasp. Zeihan continues to show how the Breton Woods agreement benefited the nations of the world by opening up trade, undoing colonialism, providing national and international stability, and so forth. He doesn't necessarily praise the agreement, but reports in a matter-of-fact way what it did. And now that it is unwinding, so will many of it's global benefits. Therefore, much of the book is a sketch of what the world will begin looking like as things continue to unravel and w...

  Is It Abuse? A Biblical Guide to Identifying Domestic Abuse and Helping Victims Darby Strickland P&R Publishing Prpbooks.com ISBN: 9781629956947; 16 September 2020; $19.99   Domestic abuse has been an important subject to me as a man, as a Christian, and as a Presbyterian minister, for several years. Therefore, I was delighted when Darby Strickland, a counselor and teacher at Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF), and Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing asked me to be part of a “launch team” for Strickland’s new 360-page paperback coming out in a few days: “Is It Abuse? A Biblical Guide to Identifying Domestic Abuse and Helping Victims”. As soon as I received the electronic galley copy, I jumped in with both feet and was not disappointed. It is written in a comfortable style easily digestible by anyone who will take it up and read. But it is written primarily for those who desire to stand beside and help victims of domestic abuse. Therefore, t...

  The End of the Christian Life: How Embracing Our Mortality Frees Us to Truly Live J. Todd Billings Brazos Press ISBN: 9781587434204; September 2020; $19.99   Today, it came at me again. I was teaching a small group of people at our State Capitol and we were hunkered down examining James 4:13-17. James was correcting the brazen outlook that thinks we have control of our lives and our outcomes, while not having God anywhere in the equation (4:13). And part of James’s remedy was to point out that in light of our brevity (4:14) what we should say is, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (4:15). If the Lord – the Lord Jesus Christ (1:1 and 2:1) wills, we will live…and then engage in our activities. And that thought is what “The End of the Christian Life: How Embracing Our Mortality Frees Us to Truly Live” occupies itself with in 240 softback pages. The author, J. Todd Billings, Gordon H. Girod Research Professor of Reformed Theology at Western Theological...

  Grandstanding: The Use and Abuse of Moral Talk Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke Oxford University Press ISBN: 9780190900151; July 2020; $19.95   It’s melting the internet and burning up several news outlets. It makes informed dialogue among people nearly impossible, cracking up the sense of and desire for the common good. It looks and feels like chest-thumping and cock-strutting, and is turning up, with greater intensity, in the Whitehouse, the publishing house, and at the alehouse. Recently, a well-documented 248-page hardback has arrived on the scene diagnosing this “more-heat-than-light” predicament, “Grandstanding: The Use and Abuse of Moral Talk”. The authors, Justin Tosi - Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Texas Tech University, and Brandon Warmke - Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University, want to foster moral talk, but find huge obstacles. “People need to be able to talk about justice, freedom, equality, and the right thing to do...

I sat my youngest grandson down with this book in hand and asked him, "Have you ever heard of Sherlock Holmes?" He thought for a bit and then shook his head no. I knew, then, that I had failed as a grandfather! So this handy, fully illustrated volume was the perfect gateway into the legacy of Sherlock Holmes for a grandfather to read with his grandson.  The book only includes three of Arthur Conan Doyle's tales of the great detective: "The Red-Headed League" "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" and "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches". Illustrations are on every other page and help young readers to stay with the story line. And Malvina G. Vogel has edited these stories in such a way that it is almost impossible to tell where she has made adaptions and edits. It is large print that old eyes and young readers alike can take in comfortably. Now my grandson has had a taste of Holmes and Watson, and it has been my pleasure to introduce him to the...

This volume, a part of the Library of Christian Classics series, has been out since 1951. It's is not an exhaustive collection of everything that these early church pastors-theologians wrote, but it gives one a good feel. There are large portions of Tertullian's "Prescriptions Against the Heretics" and "On Idolatry".  Also, a significant sampling of Cyprian of Carthage's "Unity of the Catholic Church" and letters on the lapsed and baptism. Then, there are hefty samplings of Ambrose of Milan's letters dealing with the Council of Aquileia, the Altar of Victory, the battle of basilicas, and several others. Finally, Jerome arrives with letters 14, 15, 52, 107, 108, and the important 146.  Each pastor-theologian receives their own introduction. And the editors give the individual works their own introductory backstory. The footnotes which give Scripture quotation references, and historical tidbits, are helpful and valuable. It's a great reso...

The Beautiful Community We had been in-country for less than a week, but my roommate was already depressed. He was just beginning his 12-month rotation in Turkey, and I was starting my 24-month tour of duty. He couldn’t grasp why these Turks didn’t speak English and understand American ways, since “we’re the world’s superpower!” I was aghast. Even at 20 years of age in 1981 I could see the trouble. So, I pointed out the uncomfortable reality, “Man, if anything, we should be the ones learning Turkish and picking up their ways because we’re the foreigners here.” Clearly, that didn’t go over well, and he spent most of his 12-month assignment sulking in his dorm room and drinking the months away. But getting into another culture for two years gave me a deep appreciation and sensitivity for reaching across cultural hurdles. And in many ways that is what “The Beautiful Community: Unity, Diversity, and the Church at It’s Best” seeks to foster. This new 176-page softback is compiled by Irwyn...

Stop the presses! Hold your horses! Cease fire! Power off those computers, iPads, and cellphones (after you read this review and purchase a copy of this book)! David A. deSilva, Trustees' Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary and prolific author, has given pastors, professors and parishioners a delightful resource in this new 176-page softback, "A Week in the Life of Ephesus". It's the latest addition to the "A Week in the Life of" series put out by IVP Academic. And this little volume is well worth setting everything else aside and diving in!  The manuscript reads like a novella, and draws one into the social, civic and ceremonial life in Ephesus just at the time "The Apocalypse" was sent to the seven churches. This is what makes it such a uniquely valuable resource. It may not give you all the inner secrets of John's Revelation, but it will give you a believable feel for the thinking, perspectives,...

Most people I know have learned to pray from listening to others, in one way or the other. That's the value of a new 240-page hardback "Piercing Heaven: Prayers of the Puritans" edited by the prolific author, Robert Elmer. It is handy and pleasing to the eyes, and the print is easy to look at. This breviary is a worthy investment for one's own times of prayer, and suppliants will learn at the feet of some devotional doyens. "Piercing Heaven" draws from Puritan authors arising out of the 16th to 18th centuries. Anglican priests, nonconformists, congregationalists and others are gathered into these pages to lead the way to the throne of grace, where we may find grace to help in time of need. Many of the names will be known to most, with a few surprises here and there. The editor has taken matured prayers, modernized them, and formatted them in such a way that they breathe a quiet repose. Though a particular petition may fill a page or two, Elmer has broken it ...