Deus Misereatur

  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...

  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). O Lord God, who rules in heaven and on earth, who directs orbits and oceans, governs harvests and hailstorms, directs plagues and pestilence, who fashions the hearts of all people and observes all their deeds (Psalm 33:15); through your Son, Jesus Christ, you reconciled to yourself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:20). Attend to our prayers as we seek your face and intercede on behalf of your Church and world. For your church all around this globe, and around the OKC area, such as: Greater Antioch  Full Gospel Baptist, Greater Fellowship Baptist, Greater Marshall Baptist, and Great Mt. Carmel Baptist churches, we pray. Guide her leaders, heal her divisions, reclaim her waywardness, right her wrongs, mend her brokenness, strengthen her weaknesses, and fortify her fidelity. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in troub...

  “My First 123 Book of Bible Numbers: Big Sums for Little Thumbs” is a simple, colorful, readable, fun little book of numbers. It is authored by Jonathan Gibson and illustrated by Michael Mullan. Each installment in the book has the main number, and then a related Bible detail, with multicolored graphic. Then there are questions to help the kids to go to the picture, hunt down that number and count. For example, the number 1, “There is only 1 God who made the universe and everything in it.” Then it asks, “Can you find: 1 moon? 1 star? 1 mountain?” and they go back to the creation picture and find the “1” items.   When our kids were little, we found such books where the kids had to hunt and search really kept them engaged. And it opened up all kinds of little Dad and kid talks about some aspect of our faith. That’s the style of “My First 123 Book of Bible Numbers: Big Sums for Little Thumbs.”   The whole book opens with a theme from Psalm 139:17–18, “How precious ...

  We worship you for there is none like you, O God, who rides through the heavens to our help, through the skies in your majesty. You, O eternal God, are our dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33:26-27). It is to you we pray. Look, O Good Shepherd, with compassion on your one flock all around the world, and around the OKC area to include: Followers of Christ Baptist Church, Friendship, Galilee and Graceway Baptist Churches. With rod and staff, comfort the people of your pasture and the sheep of your hand. Seek out your sheep and rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. Seek the lost, bring back the strayed, bind up the injured, and strengthen the weak (Ezekiel 34:12, 16). Look, O Good Shepherd, with compassion upon this part of your one flock, Heritage Presbyterian Church. Bring us to dwell securely; to be a more fruitful extension of your promise to Abraham that through his offspring all the...