Deus Misereatur

  When this 160-page paperback came in the mail, “Gospel-Shaped Marriage: Grace for Sinners to Love Like Saints,” I quickly snatched it up to check the table of contents. There it was. The very thing I had been looking for through almost 46 years of marriage, and it was in the appendix, “How to Change Your Spouse in Three Easy Steps”. I immediately flipped there and was thrilled with the shrewd depth of wisdom contained in that appendix, and knew I was going to love the book, which I did! Chad Van Dixhoorn, professor of Church History at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC., and his wife, Emily Van Dixhoorn, pulled off a veritable coup d’état against prevailing marital regimes and nuptial schemes in this small volume. Alistair Begg, who penned the foreword, explains the strategy therein clearly, “Instead of denouncing the darkness, which is easy to do, the social climate presents us with an opportunity to shine as lights in the world…viewing marriage in the context of th...

Fighting for Your Marriage While Separated: A Practical Guide for the Broken Hearted by Linda W. Rooks My rating: 5 of 5 stars It’s not just a book about restoring a marriage where there is presently a separation. As important as that is this tiny manual is far bigger than that. Linda W. Rooks, author, Resource Member on the Troubled Marriages Team of the Association of Marriage and Family Ministries (AMFM), and leader of a marriage reconciliation ministry in Central Florida, has given a hopeful hand to many whose marriages are disarrayed and desperate in her 176 page paperback, “Fighting for Your Marriage While Separated: A Practical Guide for the Brokenhearted.” Though this little guide has marital separations in mind, much of the material applies to those whose spouses are shackled to addiction, who are abusive, or adulterous. But it is also useful for those who simply desire their marriages to be healthier and never fall off the cliff. Rooks takes her readers, men and women, ...

Marriage: Its Foundation, Theology, and Mission in a Changing World by Curt Hamner My rating: 5 of 5 stars "Marriage: Its Foundation, Theology, and Mission in a Changing World" methodically hikes it's way through the thorny bushes and briers to blaze a clear trail for others to follow. This 448 page hardback, edited by Curt Hamner, John Trent, Rebekah Byrd, Eric Johnson and Erik Thoennes, guides pastors, parents, partners and parishioners down many expected trails, but also takes surprising turns that pick up scenic views of a greater landscape just over the rise. "Marriage" is a Christian book packed full with sixteen chapters and eighteen "Continuing Insight" précis all written by different contributors: men, women, theologians, pastors, counselors, psychologists, older, and younger, to name a sample of the variety of authors. The chapters move at different paces, depending on the subject and the writer's style. And the four sections, Foundati...

Gospel Treason: Betraying the Gospel with Hidden Idols by Brad Bigney My rating: 5 of 5 stars Not another book on marriage?!?! Yep, another book on marriage. This one is penned by Brad Bigney, senior pastor of Grace Fellowship Evangelical Free Church in Florence, Kentucky, a member and certified counselor of the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors and a member of the Association of Biblical Counselors. But it's more than just a book on marriage. This popularly written, 224 page softback is about why there are problems in marriages, how to decipher the idolatrous root of those troubles, and ways to move forward with a healthier marriage. The not-yet-married, newlyweds, older married couples, pastors, and counselors will all benefit from this work. Since there are plenty of other reviews already hovering out there, I'll simply mention a few of the aspects I appreciated. Bigney does a heartening job on unpacking conflict: "The conflict that we often resent is G...

He Knows! Hosea 2.2-8, 14-23 (1 Peter 2.4-10) The Audio File is Here: tinysa.com/sermon/111814103612 [If you find this piece helpful, please let me know. I would like to hear your story and how this has helped. Mike] Lord God, who has been broken over our whoring hearts that have often departed from you (Ezekiel 6.9), may we be brought to grasp more fully your own brokenheartedness this day that we may more willingly seek you and know you. Amen. I’ve seen it with my own eyes; heard it with my own ears; and truth be known, sadly, I’ve done it myself more times than can be told. I’m referring to that sanctimonious smugness that assesses other’s based almost entirely on exteriors and peripherals. A person’s marriage comes crashing down in smoldering, charred embers around their feet, and then they see that “Look” in the eyes of their Christian friends, or that “harrumph” that escapes from their lips. A single parent or a couple has an unruly kid, an errant teenage...

Recently, Huffpost Gay Voices (Posted 06/06/2013 and updated on 06/07/2013), relayed that three scholars had written an Op-Ed piece in the Des Moines Register, where they denied that the Bible mandates monogamy (you can find the HuffPost piece here ). The authors, Hector Avalos, Robert Cargill and Kenneth Atkinson, are teachers at three Iowa universities, Iowa State University, University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa. If the Huffpost piece is accurate in its reporting, then it appears that these scholars come at the Bible with a priori suppositions that are, at the worst, hostile to the Bible, and at the least, simply taking the Bible as disparate, independent works that are stitched together; that the authors are approaching the Bible with the flatness of a flagrant fundamentalist, ignorant of style, genre, and literary variety, as well as social environment. In other words, the Huffpost writer is processing and promoting the Avalos-Cargill-Atkinson Op-Ed piece throu...