Deus Misereatur

  Unlike Marduk, Ba’al, Asherah and the gods of the nations, when you made humankind, you said: “ Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so ” (Genesis 1:29-30). Truly, LORD God, you made us not because you needed us. You made us not because you were lonely and lacked love. You made us not because you needed us to scratch some itch or stroke your ego. You made us because you are love and goodness, and so desired to give and lavish that love and goodness on us! Therefore, we adore and worship you: “ Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created ” (Revelation 4:11). Fo...

  Our Father, you are the LORD, and there is no other. You form the light and create darkness; you make peace and create calamity; you, O LORD, do all these things, that all may know from the rising of the Sun to its setting that there is none besides you (Isaiah 45:6-7). It is to you that we come and pray, in the strength of the Spirit and the righteousness of Christ Jesus. Please build up peace, order and justice in the nations of the world to include Haiti, Cuba, Honduras, El Salvador, Hungary, Cameroon, Botswana, and Yemen; so that the peoples may live safely, thrive, and hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Bring relief to those in our country who have been hit with financial woes; give our elected and appointed leaders the shrewdness and perseverance for reigning in our debt that we may not misuse our future. Govern the decisions of our judges to eschew immorality and inequality. Cause the hearts of the inhabitants of this nation to move toward prudent level-headedness, honesty a...

  We give you thanks, O LORD, with our whole heart; before the gods we sing your praise; we bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. On the day we called, you answered us; our strength of soul you increased (Psalm 138:1-3). Hear us as we pray for your world and Church. We pray that the day will soon arrive when all the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD, when they will hear the words of your mouth, and sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD (Psalm 138:4-5). To this end we pray for you to raise up men and women, individuals and families, who will take the Gospel of Jesus Christ into all lands, to every tribe and ethnic group. Bless the work of (…). Fill the manpower gaps and the monetary essentials. Open doors that no one can shut and grant them favor with local officials. Also, we implore you on behalf of this cou...

  We have been praying for the revival and reformation of God’s church in the U.S. these past three weeks (To catch up see  Pt 1 , Pt 2 , and Pt 3 ). But last week we began praying with more focus for revival and reformation of God’s church in Oklahoma. Today, we will end this short series, still lifting up the churches in Oklahoma. And the passage I have in mind is toward the end of Romans.   Paul was concerned about the potential divides in Christ’s church in Rome, many of them ethnically caused, but also brought about by pride (Romans 14:1-15:3) and false teaching (16:17-18). It’s into this section Paul offers his readers Jesus freely offered in the Gospel, and makes applications: “ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesu...

  With all of those who conquered the beast and its image, and with our brothers and sisters world over, we lift our hearts with the song of Moses and the Lamb: “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed” (Revelation 15:3b-4). O Lord God the Almighty, whose deeds are great and amazing: you have not only called to yourself men, women, girls and boys from every tribe, tongue, and town, but you have been faithful and called us into the fellowship of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:9). We pray for all of your people on every continent, our own congregation, Bethany Church of Christ, Bridge Creek, Britton Road, and Green Pastures Church of Christ. Bring us all to happily submit ourselves to your Scriptures as the final rule of faith and life, not ju...

  (Picture taken by John of Dallas. Rural Oklahoma Church building in Southeastern Oklahoma) [The following is from my letter to my congregation on 21 January 2026] We have been praying for the revival and reformation of God’s church in U.S. the last couple of weeks ( Pt 1 and Pt 2 ). But now I want us to be a little more limited and pray for revival and reformation of God’s church in Oklahoma. As I look around our fine State I see plenty of churches. And if the number of cars on the roadways and in church parking lots on Sunday morning are a real indication, then the number of church-going people in Oklahoma is much higher than in several other States in the Union. But all might not be so rosy. For example, if 30% of the citizens of Oklahoma are part of a congregation, that means 70% of Oklahomans aren’t part of a church. On the one hand, we have a lot of work to do in this State just in the area of evangelism. On the other hand, if 30% (ish) are regularly in churches, and hearin...