Deus Misereatur

  “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down,” declares the Lord GOD. “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice” (Ezekiel 34:15-16 ). 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: New Bethel COGIC, Page Sanctuary, Trinity, and Victory COGIC. 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, and bring back the strayed, and 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 expressive e...

  All five books in the photo are from The Good Book Company . The various illustrations and drawings are pleasant to the eyes and fitting. If a reader feels that purported pictures of Jesus violate the Second Commandment, know that there are some in each book. Below are my very short, grandfatherly reviews. " The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross " is a very simple, short presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It begins with the goodness of creation, then the fall, fallen human history, the redemption and finally, glory! Ideal for reading with kids and grandkids. The illustrations are appropriate - even the inscription on the High Priest's turban is accurate. All in all, a nice book for snuggle time with the kids. " It's Good to be a Boy "  happily celebrates the God-made gift of being a boy and a man. It wraps it in the Creation/Redemption story at its heart. But the author also draws in a history of godly men who used their abilities...

  (This is from my letter to my congregation today) As you know, life at Heritage is about truth, worship, and Christian love to equip us in making disciples who will belong and believe with us as we grow in truth, worship, and Christian love. We are interested in being disciple makers. Last week I wrote about parents being on the front line of disciple making . Today, we widen our circle to consider the role we all have in making disciples.   Since disciple making is not a program or a project, but a person-to-person lifestyle, then disciple making calls for relationships. That seems very obvious, but is easily slipped past. As Marshall and Payne note, “The relational nature of training means that the best training will often occur by osmosis rather than formal instruction. It will be caught as much as it is taught” (Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, “The Trellis and Vine,” pg. 76). This is what is behind Kevin DeYoung’s point, when he writes: “If you walk with God and walk ...

  O Lord, grant unto us the grace we desperately need 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 follow you, our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And beat down Satan under our feet! We remember these who are being wrangled by specific misfortunes (…). Console and relieve them according to their particular needs. Give them enduring patience under their sufferings and a happy ending to all their afflictions. Please uphold our country, and Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia as well as 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. We also pray for this region that you would kindly 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 your mercy and justice. Reme...

  "Complementarianism" is the position that men and women are equal before God; both saved by grace alone in Christ alone received by faith alone. And both men and women are distinctly, purposefully different, not interchangeable. There are obvious creational/biological differences which coach men toward masculinity and women toward femininity. Within the concept of complementarianism there is a spectrum. On one side, there are those who are more egalitarian (equal in role capabilities - almost interchangeable except for their sex, and yet men still are the head of the family and leaders in the church), and in the other direction are those who are clearly more patriarchal (equals who serve in unique, sex-specific ways with men leading in society, home and church).   "Men and Women in the Church" is a soundly complementarian manuscript that leans more to the patriarchal side. It's where I am, and where (I suspect) the majority of my denomination (The Presbyterian...

 (From my letter to my congregation today, 18 March 2026) Life at Heritage is about truth, worship, and Christian love to equip us in making disciples who will belong and believe with us as we grow in truth, worship, and Christian love. We are rightly concerned about being disciple makers. It goes along with what our Lord told us in Matthew 28:18-20.   As I said last Sunday, disciple making is not a program or a project, but a person-to-person lifestyle. That’s what Kevin DeYoung tapped into when he wrote, “If you walk with God and walk with people, you’ll reach the next generation” (“The (Not-So-Secret) Secret to Reaching the Next Generation,” pg. 4). Before you complain about another age group, ask yourself, “Am I walking with God and walking with people?” In our present time in history, walking with people, face-to-face and not online or at a distance, as you walk with God is becoming extremely valuable.   And it’s important to see that Christian parents with child...