Deus Misereatur

  Creator God who in the beginning made all things of nothing by the power of your word, and all very good; whose Spirit hovered over all that was formless and void to bring forth order and life. We pray for your Spirit to hover over us; and we pray that your Spirit would continue to cause the earth to bring forth fruit bountifully. We pray: Come, Holy Spirit! Revealing God, who assigned prophets, judges, and Psalmists, like Moses, Deborah, David and Isaiah, to bring forth your decrees, directions and praises, and clothed them with your Spirit who guided them and testified through them of the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories; cloth us with your Spirit that we may bravely serve you and our neighbors in love and truth. We pray: Come, Holy Spirit! Holy God who sent your Son Jesus Christ into the world that through him we might have life; and after his death, burial, resurrection and ascension, you sent forth your Holy Spirit by your Son, so that we would not be left...

  This morning - 2 June 2025 - I was invited to give the invocation at the Oklahoma County Commissioners meeting. Here is what I said and prayed: Hear the Word of the Lord : Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for what he has done, and there is no partiality (Colossians 3:23-25). Now, I invite you, if you can in good conscience, please join me as I pray to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ : In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Almighty, indestructible God, who sits enthroned over heaven and earth, you have placed men and women in positions of authority to lead as your representatives. Therefore, please grant these county commissioners your wisdom and guidance so that fairness wrapped in divine mercy will rule their deliberations and decisions, in both the colorle...

  Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” O God see how the peoples and nations of this world conspire and rage against your Son and his Lordship: through adjudication, legislation, shaming on the air waves, taunting and demonizing through social media and music, and in some places by downright brutality and cruelty. See, O Lord! Take note and come to the aid of your chosen ones. We long to see our own nation flourish as a just and lawful land. We long to see our neighborhoods, cities and State to show themselves to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” Though al...

I read Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death” years ago. His point, back in the 1980s and 1990s, was about the way we have become an entertainment culture, where television and televised news media, have sucked the life out of our ability to have healthy discussions, process news, and reason. I was delighted that Crossway has just recently pulled together a team of thinkers who are not anti-technology, but want to help fellow Christians think through technology – especially in the areas of multiple media venues, AI, cyber-space, etc. “Scrolling Ourselves to Death: Reclaiming Life in a Digital Age,” is a 256-page softback edited by Brett McCracken, an author and senior editor for the Gospel Coalition, along with Ivan Mesa, editorial director for the Gospel Coalition. This highly readable book is “intended to get you thinking about technology…showing how technology is changing the way we think” (pg. 11). This material is clearly for the digital natives (Millennials and GenZers – th...

  [Image by Shannon Skow] In assurance we lift our hearts to you, O our God. As Jonathan told his armor bearer when heavily outnumbered, “ nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few ” (1 Samuel 14:6). We, too, are assured that there is nothing, there is no one, no condition, no circumstance, no competitor, no cerebral malfunction, no failure of courage, no catastrophe that can hinder you from saving, rescuing, and triumphing! And therefore, there is no created thing out there or in here that can separate us from your love! Truly in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Christ crucified for our transgressions, risen for our justification (Romans 8:37-39, 4:25), and ascended into heaven to hold sway! We pray on behalf of your Church world-over: this congregation, Shawnee PCA, Sharon Baptist, Siloam, Snowhill, and Solomon Temple Baptist Churches. Raise up a defense around your people that the evil one may never get a foothold against them. Raise our hea...

  Some fifteen years ago he sat in my church study. He was the minister of a large charismatic church in town and had come to invite me to join a new reforming “movement,” the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). I had never heard of this movement, but he claimed it had apostles and prophets whom God had raised up to reignite the church and restore America to her Christian roots. Since those days I have heard more and more about the NAR, and began to notice how some prominent church leaders, pastors, and a few politicians, who are   aligned with the NAR and are coming into influence in our civil government. I knew I needed to learn more and was glad to find a very readable 272-page softback that addressed this program. “Counterfeit Kingdom: The Dangers of New Revelation, New Prophets, and New Age Practices in the Church” was put together by Holly Pivec, blogger and author of several books on the New Apostolic Reformation, who also served as university editor at Biola University fo...