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Showing posts from March 11, 2018

"Love Thy Body" by Nancy Pearcey. A Review

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Nancy Pearcey’s 336 page stout hardback, “ Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality,” came out in January 2018, and hit the ground running! It is a book focused on the human body, what it means to be made in the image of God, and how our culture has increasingly become anti-body and anti-human. And it is a book written in the utmost seriousness. According to Pearcey, and my own experiences, we have moved into a Gnostic era, what Hans Jonas defined as an anti-cosmic dualism. In this Gnostic stage, the body is commodified, treated as a malleable substance that can be discarded or remade to suit the customer’s satisfaction, because it is treated as other than “me”. The statement usually runs something like this: “Why are you focusing on this outside stuff (body; genitalia; physique; etc.). The real me is on the inside!” Unfortunately this kind of dualism is the offspring of Christians in North America over the last 200 years. I have heard and read nume

"A Warrior's Manifesto" by Daniel Modell. A Review

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The Warriors Manifesto: Ideals for Those Who Protect and Defend by Daniel Modell My rating: 5 of 5 stars  Warriors show up in different sizes and classifications. Some are deployed to hot zones, surrounded by hostiles. Others are Law Enforcement Officers patrolling their areas. A few are Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) standing in, and up, for those who have no voice. They could be lawyers, doctors, teachers, parents, or concerned citizens. When the circumstance calls for action and determination, the warrior becomes manifest. Yet, according to Daniel Modell, 20 year NYPD veteran, CEO of Ares Tactical and Emergency Management Solutions and an adjunct professor at the State University of New York-FIT, in his brand-new 96 page softback, “The Warrior’s Manifesto: Ideals for Those Who Protect and Defend,” there is a clear line between the warrior and the brute. And it is this clear line that works its way through the whole manual. Modell addresses the what , why and way of

Vespers - 11 March 2018

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(Anxiety) : LORD God of Sabaoth, you have recorded for us these words of deep comfort: “ Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you ” (Isaiah 35.3-4). We pray for the anxious and the forlorn, especially those we know…break through the dark walls that have been set up around their assessments; pull back the thick curtains they have around the eyes of their hearts; and bring the light of your face to shine on their lives that their weak hands may be strengthened and their feeble knees made firm. O Lord, hear our prayer. (Rest) : With your servant, Augustine, we pray: “You awake us to delight in your praise; for you made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you” (“Confessions,” 1.1). Lord, we’re not very good at resting. Honestly, we own up to you that it’s our fault. We

"Turns Darkness into the Brilliance of Day" - 11 March 2018

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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; giving 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. Look kindly on those we know who are thinking of marriage. Help them, in all of the excitement of romance to listen to wise counsel, to see clearly what it means to be married, and to learn how to sensibly and graciously work together as they go through the sometimes t