Deus Misereatur

  I’m out camping in Southeastern Oklahoma. It’s been cold and nippy. But the stars - oh, the millions and billions of stars - are plentiful. The mornings are dark and quiet, and perfect for morning devotional reading and prayer.  This morning one of my readings was through 1 Timothy 4. Paul’s words to Timothy about what it means to be a good minister. His words turned my heart toward prayer. Here is the prayer that arose: A good diakonos of Christ Jesus: Trained in the words of the faith, Trained in the words of good doctrine (contra 1:3 and 6:3), Followed by the diakonos of Christ Jesus, himself, And trained in godliness, himself. Lord, aid me in being a good diakonos. Seminary and reading widely and the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms (and other Confessions) have trained me in the words of the faith and good doctrine. Help me to persist in them. But following them, training myself in godliness, setting an example before the believers - Lord, I need your special aid! T

  How would you tell your story, especially the tale of God pursuing you into his family? An ancient North African pastor, Aurelius Augustinus (St. Augustine) told his as one extended prayer. Recently, Garrett Craw, Senior Pastor of King’s Cross Reformed Church in Buda, Texas, recounted his story as a personal memoir in a 234-page paperback “Doxology in the Mist: Confessions of an Inevitable Convert”. Easy-to-read and engrossing, this tale takes the reader through many back alleys and dark streets around the globe. A reader may well join the author at the “sense of wonder at how I got here” (vii). But it will be a wonder well worth having. Craw, “a hapa boy - half Asian, half white” (10), grew up around military bases until he graduated High School. Many of his exploits happened on, or around, military establishments. He felt, first-hand, the bigotries of the 1970s, as well as the rootlessness that comes with constant family moves, and the unsettledness arising from his mixed ancestry.

  Praise the LORD! Thank you that you have made us a crown of beauty and a royal diadem in your hand, O LORD. Thank you that we shall no more be termed Forsaken or Desolate but shall be called My Delight Is in Her and Married . Thank you, LORD, that you delight in us and that as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride you rejoice over us (Isaiah 62:3-5)! We pray, Lord, that you would have mercy on all of the nations of this earth. O God, you reign over the nations; you sit on your holy throne. May all of the princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to you, O God; you are highly exalted (Psalm 47:8-9)! We pray, Lord, that you would have mercy on these United States of America. We pray, God, bless America , but not her sin and immorality. God, bless America , but not where she is unjust and prejudiced. God, bless America , but not where she opposes and resists you. God, bless America , where she seeks to fairly, and righ