"You Are the Rock" - Vespers, 23 January 2022

 

LORD God, our Father, you are the Rock, whose work is perfect, for all your ways are justice. You are a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright are you (Deuteronomy 32:4). Thank you for being all of this in yourself; and being all of this for us. Now O Lord, hear our prayer.

O God, most holy, wise, and powerful Preserver and Governor of all your creatures and all of our actions: Keep us in health of body and soundness of mind, in purity of heart and cheerfulness of spirit, in contentment with our lot and charity with our neighbor; and further all of our lawful undertakings with your blessing.  In our labor strengthen us; in our pleasure purify us; in our difficulties direct us; in our perils defend us; in our troubles comfort us; and supply all our needs, according to the riches of your grace in Christ Jesus. O Lord, hear our prayer.

Father, we pray for those we know from our daily dealings, neighbors, people we meet at the grocery store or outside Walmart, as well as those under the bridges and intersections holding their cardboard signs; people who are in real need, and people who play on the vulnerabilities and emotions of others; people who mishandle their resources and people who play for drugs and drink; people who are genuinely poor and those who are being devious and deceitful (…). First, help us to fathom and perceive who it is that really needs help, and how best to help them in ways that will not finance their self-destruction. But also, grant to them all a new way, your new way that they may be freed from their lifestyles and life-long habits. O Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray that you would be with those in our neighborhoods where we live (…). Turn our suburbs and subdivisions into real neighborhoods and communities of caring people who treat one another with respect, interest, kindness and friendliness and look out for each other’s best interests. O Lord, hear our prayer.

We ask you to be with our friends at Faith Reformed Presbyterian Church in Vancouver BC, and all of the churches in Canada. Fill their congregations with hope, peace, and joy. May they be a bright light beckoning those who are walking in the darkness; a refuge for those fleeing the storms raging in their lives and hearts. Preserve and protect them from unjust and ungodly government intrusions. Turn the heart of the Canadian Parliament to see the folly they are pursuing and to back off with haste. “Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you! Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men” (Psalm 9:19-20)! O Lord, hear our prayer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“The Shift” - 2023 Movie. A Review

Image
  What do you get when you cross a dark dystopian storyline with sci-fi, alternative dimensions, theological and philosophical questions, and the biblical book of Job? You get The Shift , written and directed by Brock Heasley, produced by Ken Carpenter, and distributed by Angel Studios. This roughly one hour and 45 minute tale swirls around Kevin (Kristoffer Polaha) as he moves from one realm of life, with it’s happiness and heartbreak, to another dimension that is a dismal existence clearly governed by The Benefactor (masterfully played by Neal McDonough). A viewer will be asking questions all the way through, and picking up clues and answers that pull the story together bit-by-bit. The story bumps up against an infinite set of alternative possibilities, of time, space, and versions of one’s self that will likely stoke a viewer’s imagination. But the heart of the narrative - besides love, grief, loss, trust/distrust - is around the place of evil, specifically, personal or human evil.
Read more

"On Getting Out of Bed" by Alan Noble. A Review

Image
  When it comes to family members or friends going through a significant mental crisis, or suffering, we often can feel like we’re fumbling about to help them. Sometimes, we can become like Job’s friends, whom he had to call “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2). But very recently Alan Noble, assistant professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee Oklahoma, and cofounder and editor-in-chief of “Christ and Pop Culture” penned a deeply beautiful 120-page hardback that addresses mental affliction. “On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living” is written for those who struggle with mental affliction, but also pastors, teachers, parents, and loved ones, to “help them understand their loved one’s suffering. It is for anyone who ever struggles to get out of bed” (3). I finished this book earlier this week, and kept finding myself saying, “Finally! Someone gets it!” Eight chapters fill up this handy manual. They run through several subjects, like not sounding like Job’s f
Read more

Community?

Image
  (This is from my letter to my congregation I sent out today, 30 August 2023) As one of my elders was leading us through Carl Trueman’s Strange New World in our adult class , I appreciated Trueman’s emphasis on community. And our discussions, especially the last two Sundays, were very fruitful as we thought out loud together about this subject. Therefore, I thought I would share something from David Brooks, an Op-ed columnist that leans into this discussion.   Brooks published a book in 2019 titled, “The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life”. In that work he was taking a gentle punch at destructive trends he has been seeing, and giving some helpful correctives. And so, he notes that “Individualism, taken too far, leads to tribalism” (34). He then shows how the loneliness and spiritual emptiness of individualism taken too far have become more prevalent in our time and the ways that they lead to very dark social consequences. These darker social consequences foster the need t
Read more