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"O Lord, Grant Us the Grace..." - 22 March 2026

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  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...
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"Men and Women in the Church" by Kevin DeYoung. My Short Review.

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  "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...
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Disciple Making Pt 1

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 (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...
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Our Father, Please Keep Us..." - 15 March 2026

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  Our Father, you who are a father to the fatherless, helper to the helpless, defender of those who are defenseless; you see that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves. Please keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, so that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to our bodies and from all evil that may assault and hurt our souls! We remember these who are tackling and being tackled by specific trials (…). May it please you to calm, compose, and clear them according to their particular needs. Give them enduring patience under their sufferings and a satisfactory ending to all their afflictions.  Please safeguard our country, as well as all other nations in our world, such as Qatar, UAE, Oman. Also, we implore you to direct the hearts and minds, deliberations and decisions of all the world leaders in your ways of justice and truth on behalf of the favored and ill-favored, on behalf of the mighty and meager, and on behalf of the ...
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"Our Father, Who Turns Our Darkness into the Brilliance of Day..." - 8 March 2026

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  Our Father, who turns our darkness into the brilliance of day, and gives us garments of joy in place of the apparel of sorrow; we find ourselves in times of worry and deep concern for ourselves, our children, our grandchildren, our nation and our world. In times of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble suffer not our trust in you to fail. We remember those who are grappling with specific hardships (…). May it please you to console and relieve them, according to their specific needs. Give them enduring patience under their sufferings and a happy conclusion to all their afflictions.   With your watchful eye preserve those in our Military, especially (…), and encourage their families. We pray for those making career decisions: please guide them to places and circumstances that will be best for them and their families, personally, professionally, and with regard to piety. And we pray for those who wished they could have career decisions to m...
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"O God, Creator, Preserver and Governor..." - 1 March 2026

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  O God, Creator, Preserver and Governor of all humanity, we humbly pray for all sorts and conditions of men; that you would be pleased to make your ways known unto us, your salvation to all nations. More especially we pray for your one, holy universal and apostolic Church, including this congregation, Garden Oaks Church of Christ, Wilshire, and Church of the Living God on Hazel, and on Kelham Ave. May she may be so guided and governed by your good Spirit and holy Word, that all of us who profess and call ourselves Christians may be led into the way of your truth, holding on to the true faith in the unity created and produced by the Holy Spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. Almighty God please guide and govern the nations to throw off all unjust wars and to put a stop to all human and sex trafficking. Where there is only mob rule and bedlam, we beg you to restore sanity and sound government. May all be protected from tribal violence and harm and freed from re...
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"Our Father, Who Has Cheerfully Adopted Us (...)." 22 February 2026

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  Our Father, who has cheerfully adopted us through Jesus Christ, we come and hand over our burdened hearts to you for this world, for your church, and for our families and friends. We find that we are often restless and uneasy about the things going on in our own lives, amongst our friends and family, and in our world. Why, there’s sickness, sorrow, troubles at home, problems at work, uncertainty about the future, wars and rumors of war, and plenty of other plights. We remember these who are wrestling and wrangling with specific misfortunes (…). Grant them and us courage, faith, graciousness, comfort and relief.  We call upon you to take care of our country and all who are in authority. Promote our national well-being. Defend us from malicious elements that would bring us into harm’s way, from the left and the right. And bring us to utilize our liberties for the purpose of furthering justice and peace for the freeborn, the foreign born and the unborn. Some parts of our nation...
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