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"Answer Me, O LORD, For Your Steadfast Love Is Good" - 3 November 2024

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As you said to Jeremiah: “ Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me ” (Jeremiah 32:26-27)? Therefore, LORD God of all flesh, we come in joyful confidence to present to you our desires. And with the Psalmist we say: Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me (Psalm 69:16). Rain down your mercy, peace, direction, good order and compassion on all the nations of the world, so that the inhabitants of all lands may have the medical care, education, clean drinking water, security and concord essential for their wellbeing. Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me . Rain down your mercy, peace, direction, good order and compassion upon these United States of America and Oklahoma. Alleviate the enslavement to Meth, Fentanyl, Opioids, pornography and gambling afflicting so many regions of our country and state, and restore hope, life, and meaning! O Most H
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"Digital Liturgies" by Samuel D. James. A Review

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When I wrote " Our Heads on Straight " in 2020 and " Beyond Outrage " in 2023, I was deeply concerned with the way all aspects of news and social media were shaping us to be manic, anxious, and angry. Since then I have found a wide spectrum of folks, even people who are not Christians, like Jonathan Haidt , concerned as well. So I was interested when I stumbled across "Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age," a 208-page paperback written by Samuel D. James, associate acquisitions editor at Crossway and one-time communications specialist for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. The author's aim in the book is to show that social media and the internet technologies are not neutral tools but "an epistemological environment - a spiritual and intellectual habitat - that creates in it's members particular ways of thinking, feeling, and believing" (9). The author does an expert job hitting his target! James ma
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A Garden-Church #2

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  In last week’s letter I talked about us being a garden-church rather than a factory-church (if you didn’t have a chance to read it, you can see it on my blog here: " A Garden-Church " ). I drew from Christopher Hutchinson’s book “Rediscovering Humility,” and ended with this thought from Hutchinson, “A humble church is a place of faith and hope and love, centered on Christ the Lord, feeding constantly on His character and humility” (p. 218-219). There is a bit more I am adding to last week’s letter.  First, from several sources, there are over 300,000 Protestant/Nondenominational/Independent churches in the United States. In many ways, numbers should not be super important to us, especially as we recall that it is the Lord who adds to the church such as are being saved (Acts 2:47). Yet the numbers are deeply encouraging and enlightening. And so, here are some numbers regarding those 300,000 congregations.   According to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research (and o
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"O LORD, Who Hears..." - 27 October 2027

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O LORD, as the Psalm writer says, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more (Psalm 10:17-18). For these reasons, and more, we make bold to call on you, to call on you in truth (Psalm 145:18). O great God, mighty Sovereign, we pray for our world, all the national governments and their citizens, and our own country. May sound-thinking prevail in all realms and all communities. We pray for Cameroon, Sudan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, and other lands with all of the strife boiling over. Turn each situation around for good. Bring those in power – the leaders of various separatist groups and presidents – to think out what is in the best interests of all, not just their tribe or faction. Watch over the many displaced people who have fled for their lives. Preserve them, protect them, and pro
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A Garden-Church

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  (This is what I wrote my congregation today - 23 October 2024) Earlier this year the deacons and elders read a wonderful book by a PCA pastor, Christopher Hutchinson, titled “Rediscovering Humility”. Toward the close of the book Hutchinson makes an important set of observations and recommendations, “…the Lord’s Day is for the Christian, a Sabbath from the worries and labors of the world. A sincere church will be a place of rest and respite for believers as they gather with God’s people to worship and remind themselves where their true hope lies (…). Many of today’s churches, however, have become so self-oriented and self-consumed that their constant goals are growth and motion and nonstop advertisement of multiple new programs with the inevitable pressure on everyone to do their part to make the church bigger and busier. Just as in a city, the energy and busyness are not bad in themselves. In fact, energy can be very good, as churches work hard to participate in the Great Commissio
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"My Heart Exults In the LORD" - 20 October 2024

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  With Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10) we pray: “ My heart exults in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation .” Thank you for your compassionate care over us, and for listening to our concerns. Thank you for lifting us up out of the miry clay and setting our feet on the Rock. Thank you for rescuing us from the one who had the power over death, and the fear of death. Our hearts do exult in you.     “ There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed .” We pray to you, O Lord who knows our hearts, and who is in our homes. Heal the strained and stressed marriages; mend the fragmented and fractured families; and repair the brittle and bleak hearts that are troubled (…). Bring reconciliation where there has been hostility; repentance and forgiveness wh
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"The Book of Job in Wonderland" by Ryan M. Armstrong. A (Nontechnical) Review

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  I love the biblical book Job . One year I spent all twelve months reading and rereading it. I have even preached a 5-part (gasp!) sermon series through the book. So I was intrigued when I saw the newly published, 248-page hardback "The Book of Job in Wonderland: Making (Non)Sense of Job's Mediators." Ryan M. Armstrong, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Oklahoma State University (OSU), and initiator of a Hebrew Language program at OSU, explores the motif "of mediation in the book of Job" and argues "that it all comes down to honesty." I was hooked! Armstrong uses Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  as his playful companion on how Job  works or unfolds. The introduction quickly shows the ways  Alice's Adventures can aid a reader in grasping the flux and flow of Job  without getting one distracted. Armstrong exhibits ways both books' "skepticism of pat answers provides a lesson about being honest.&q
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