Deus Misereatur

God in the Machine: Video Games as Spiritual Pursuit by Liel Leibovitz My rating: 3 of 5 stars To enter the matrix of video games is to enter an Augustinian world? So concludes Liel Leibovitz, senior writer for "Tablet Magazine" and visiting assistant professor focusing primarily on video game and interactive media research and theory at NYU-Steinhardt, in his recent work "God in the Machine: Video Games as Spiritual Pursuit." This short, 144 page hardback will intrigue gamers and religious alike. Though written more on an academic level, well educated readers will be able to fathom much or most of the author's material. This book unfolds in four chapters where Leibovitz seeks to make the case that gaming, unlike television, literature or warfare, is more attuned to religion. Not that it is an alternative to religion, but that gaming "is a practice in rituals, ethics, morality, and metaphysics" (x). Similarly, religion is modular, rule-based, mov...

[Audio File Here] Prosperous Praying 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 Prayer: Great God, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; we pray with the sacred song writer – “Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name. Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me” (Psalm 119.132-133). “ The streets of our cities and the pews of our churches are crowded these days with emaciated men and plastic women. ‘There are too many limp souls .’” So wrote Eugene Peterson (“Leap Over a Wall,” 10). What do you think? Is Peterson right? Ask yourself this: How many of you Christian men feel like you’re a roaring lion for God? How many of you Christian women feel that you’re beautiful in the fear of the Lord? How many of you teenagers feel as if your faith is rock-solid and ablaze? Probably very few of you…of us. Most of us – I would venture to say – feel like ‘limp-souled’ orphans. Why is that? There are many reasons, but one that I ...

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, who chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before you. In love you predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of your will, to the praise of your glorious grace, with which you have blessed us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1.4-6). Almighty and eternal God, the strength of those who believe and the hope of those who find their faith watery-thin; fortify our hearts to have toughened, intensified trust in you, that through whatever trials we must wade we may believe and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls (1 Peter 1.8-9). O Lord, hear our prayer. LORD God who rescued your people from the enslaving taskmaster, liberating our forbearers from the house of bondage, having triumphed gloriously: we pray for those who are trapped by their cravings, predilections, and passions …show t...

Ego Trip: Rediscovering Grace in a Culture of Self-Esteem by Glynn Harrison My rating: 4 of 5 stars Where in the world did the positive mental attitude program come from? How wide spread is it? What are its fallacies and potential pitfalls? Does it work? Is there a better way to see yourself that is more solid and sound minded? Glynn Harrison, MD, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Bristol, UK, where he was a practicing consultant psychiatrist and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, answers these questions and more in his new 208 page paperback "Ego Trip: Rediscovering Grace in a Culture of Self-Esteem." Harrison's style is easy to grasp, non-technical, and conversational. Most anyone can pick up and benefit from this book. In the first nine chapters of "Ego Trip," the author walks the reader through the history, cultural backdrop, and “science” of the positive self-esteem agenda, which he calls “Boosterism.” Harrison masterfully desc...

Tae Kwon Do Black Belt Poomsae: Original Koryo and Koryo by Richard Chun My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have attended three different Martial Arts schools over the years. There have been significant approaches to Tae Kwon Do in each. In fact, moving from one school to the next feels similar to moving from one branch of the military to another: there are commonalities and then there are distinctives. In the first portion of the book Grand Master Richard Chun gives an historical accounting to Tae Kwon Do that helps the reader and practitioner to grasp these differences. His approach is neither demeaning toward any other form of martial art, nor is it disparaging of any of the fellow Tae Kwon Do Kwans. The second segment of the book walks the reader, step-by-step, picture-by-picture through two Poomsae; the original Koryo and the more modern Koryo. Next Grandmaster Chun dispays the combat aspects of several moves for both poomsae. The pictures and explanations are easily comprehended, es...

{ Here is the audio file . Give it a listen while you plow through the manuscript below} ---- Revival and Reformation Pt 1 1 and 2 Chronicles 1 Chronicles 3.19-24 Give us, Good Lord, the hardiness we will need today and throughout this series, to hear you, to fathom what we are to believe about you and what you require of us, and to see better what it means to love you whole hog. Amen. Where, oh where are my marbles? That is exactly what you may likely wonder about me and my sanity, because we’re going to launch off in a series on 1 and 2 Chronicles. What in the world would possess me to do such an imprudent thing??? Well, today I hope to show you, and to even stir up a bit of excitement. 1 st -The Place of 1 and 2 Chronicles: Where are 1 st and 2 nd Chronicles in the Bible? In our English versions they are smack in the middle, which is fine as far as it goes. But in the Hebrew Bible they are the last set of scrolls, which is instructive. Then 1 Chron. 3.19-24 m...

{These are the prayers for 6 April 2014 used in both the morning and evening worship assembly at Heritage Presbyterian Church (PCA), Edmond OK. I present them to you for your own devotional use. Please let me know if you find these useful at all. Mike} ------ Morning Prayer: ( Pondering Psalm 23:1-3 ) O YHVH, you are our shepherd, therefore we lack nothing. You guide us to lie down in green pastures for rest and refreshment; you bring us to settle beside living waters to slake our thirst, to drink deeply of the One who is the fountain of living waters; you are the one who alone restores and refurbishes our soul. You steer us in paths of righteousness for your own name’s sake. For your constant care, ready refreshment and sovereign steering we lift our voices to you in thankfulness and joy-filled praise! ( Pondering Psalm 23.4 ) Some of your loved ones, your little lambs, Lord, are finding that your path of righteousness is presently taking them through the valley of the ...