Deus Misereatur

  While strolling around in the exhibit hall during our denomination's General Assembly, I happily came across the booth for Covenant College. They were freely handing out copies of Kelly M. Kapic's new 176-page hardback, " You Were Never Meant to Do It All ". Forty days worth of readings that "pay attention to the most neglected aspect of our good  creaturely existence - our appropriate limits" (3). Each day includes 850 words or less, and then ends with reflective questions to aid readers and reading groups to find ways to be shaped by the material that day. The driving theme brings us to recognize our God-created, creaturely limits, and ask ourselves daily: are we required to overcome those "perceived shortcomings" (7)? Since God, from the very beginning, made us to be a dependent people, who because of our creatureliness are vulnerable (140-142), we have limits. And God even went so far as to say it was all very good! Therefore, we are not expe...

  They were giving free copies away at my denomination’s General Assembly in June 2022. So, as soon as I found out, I scampered over to the Covenant College exhibit to snag one. I picked up one of the last copies they had, and I’m glad I did. “You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News” is a 272-page hardback composed in 2021 by Kelly M. Kapic, professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. The book is precisely aimed at the subtitle. As the writer states, the book “aims to help us discover the theological and pastoral significance of embracing the gift of being limited: it is just part of being human” (15). Yes, you read that correctly – God’s gift of our human limitedness.   The chapters move through an array of topics, all circling the main thesis. The subjects include our finitude, our union with Christ, the goodness of our bodies and how our physical limitations are not bad, a look into the “sel...

Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty Isn't the American Dream by Brian Fikkert My rating: 5 of 5 stars Every Friday morning I dedicate about two hours of my time picking up nearly-expired produce, breads and meats from grocery stores to take to a local Christian food bank. Our church is invested with this service organization doing various drives through the year (collecting toiletries, toilet paper, etc.) and lending a hand at the facility on occasion. What draws us to sink our time and resources into this ministry's work is that they have a bigger aim than just feeding the bellies of their low-income "clients". They set up arrangements for medical care, teach folk how to budget, maintain a network of other resources to aid them, have a kitchen where they will begin conducting classes on cooking soon, and more. But the volunteers and staff also talk with the patrons-in-need about the Bible, their lives and loves, as well as provide biblical material and of...

Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering Kelly M. Kapic InterVarsity Press PO Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426 www.ivpress.com ISBN: 978-0-8308-5179-9; $18.00; June 2017 5 of 5 Stars: For the Hurting, the Healers and the Helpers One of the most awkward moments you can ever face is to walk into a hospice, a hospital room, or a home and get bombarded with “why” questions: why pain, why this catastrophe, why this decline and death. What truly makes it clumsy is to then start waxing eloquent about the problem of evil and pain and the goodness of God in a defensive, apologetic posture. Most of the time the family is not asking, needing or wanting a crash course in philosophy. I learned early on in situations like this to simply sit down, shed tears with the family, and hold hands with parishioners or patients. Kelly M. Kapic, professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain Georgia and able author, presents similar advi...