Deus Misereatur

  (This is from the letter I wrote to our congregation on 29 April 2021) When Anna and I became Presbyterians in 1993 and joined a PCA church in Omaha, NE, I heard lots of calls for a return to Confessional Fidelity in our denomination. It seems to me that every year, just before General Assembly (GA), one group or another has conferences or Pre-GA seminars that claim the denomination is going off the rails, here, or here, or there. And that we need to get back to the Westminster Confession of Faith on this topic or that issue. Normally, the conference originators have specific concerns, and the seminars almost always give substantial food for thought and are a good time for reflections and “heart-checks”. For most of us, though, the idea of steering our denomination by corralling our 89 presbyteries with almost 2,000 churches and 300,000 members, seems daunting, and nearly insurmountable.   But there is a place where “Confessional Fidelity” is doable, and it is much, much closer to

  With tens of thousands of reviews, and over 100,000 ratings for this book on Amazon and Goodreads, I’ll leave the more detailed analysis to others. Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, a clinical psychologist, and bestselling author, published “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos” in 2018, which has sold over 5 Million copies to date. This 409-page hardback is overflowing with perceptive guidance on various life issues. It springs from a set of presuppositions that include evolutionary psychology, some form of classical liberalism that embraces civil liberties, secularism, anti-fascism, anti-Marxism, and suffering. His suppositions also include a more positive view of tradition and myths from multiple cultures, and is friendly toward the Jewish-Christian perspective, using Hebrew and Christian Scriptures as a wellhouse of ancient wisdom. Well written, personable, and learned, this material is written for most anyone from any walk of life

  You are the God who will tend your flock like a shepherd; you will gather the lambs in your arms; you will carry them in your bosom, and gently lead those that are with young (Isaiah 40:11); so we gather in your presence glad for your goodness, and imploring your watchful care.    Mighty God our Father, as your eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show yourself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal toward you (2 Chronicles 16:9); set your gaze on your Church worldwide, including this congregation. Show yourself strong on our behalf. And as King Asa prayed when his smaller army was outnumbered 2-to-1, we pray “ O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude – the world, the flesh and the devil. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you ” (2 Chronicles 14:11). O Lord, hear our prayer.   Lord Jesus, you promised that whe