Deus Misereatur

This prayer has been on my mind and heart for a long while. I thought it time to post it with a few very short reflections: O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. It appears this prayer has roots that go as far back as 1714. It is found in the 1928 and 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Give us grace to lay to heart : It is the Spirit of God who gifts his church with unity (Ephes...

“For anyone united to Christ,  there is a new creation:  the old order has gone;  a new order has already begun”   (2 Cor. 5.17 REB). “At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you,  which is true in him and in you,  because the darkness is passing away  and the true light is already shining ”  (1 John 2.8) . Spirit of Christ : “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD” (11.1-3a). The promise is of the one who will come as a 2 nd David (v.1). This special one, this long-awaited one will have the Spirit of the LORD resting on Him. The 7-fold Spirit [see Rev. 1.4; 3.1; 4.5; 5.6] will enable this 2 nd David in his calling...

LORD God, the Almighty, whose eyes run to-and-fro throughout the whole earth to show yourself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to you (2 Chron. 16.9); whose eyes are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good (Prov. 15.3); and whose eyes are toward the righteous and whose ears toward their cry (Psalm 34.15). Please hear our voiced and silent prayers. We pray that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2.14); that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, and that your people may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith (2 Thess. 3.1-2). To that end, we ask that Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews, as well as friends, family, neighbors we know …[Silently mention names]..., would be stirred up to place their utter confidence on your Son, Jesus Christ while renouncing their iniquity. Lord, hear our prayer. O Lord our healer, turn your face upon these who f...

[This is a short, 5 part series, reflecting with Isaiah on the coming of Christ. If you enjoy the series, then (1) let me know; & (2) feel free to use it or pass it around (but please, let me know)] ---- Reflecting on Isaiah 2.1-9 “For anyone united to Christ, there is a new creation:  the old order has gone; a new order has already begun.”   (2 Cor. 5.17 REB). Changed Direction 2.1-3a and 5. “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it , and many peoples shall come, and say: " Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, ( . . . ) O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.” See here the upward flow; up to the mountain of the LORD. A new day is promised ...

This was the pastoral prayer from last night. If you find it useful, then please feel free to employ it. ------ For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” “The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him” … [silence]... Now Lord, in quietness and trust we come and make our requests to you. We have an abundance of things for which to give you thanks. We have life, health, friends, family, and love; children who have recovered from serious sicknesses; mothers who have recuperated after giving birth; friends and family who once were unbelievers and have become disciples of Christ; business and work situations that have turned around with promise of becoming better and more stable; aging parents who are well, and able to pass on memories and joyful recollections; and the new and sometimes noisy changes in our church. Help us to continue to have a heart ...

It was rather inevitable. This morning as I was reading Scripture and praying, I was thinking about Thanksgiving Day. I pondered how my family and I could have gratitude with a richer seriousness and deeper joy. How we could have a thankfulness that was not market-driven or consumer-compelled. My reading this morning brought me across Matthew 6.25-34 and Luke 17.11-19 . In Matthew Jesus addresses the deep fears of a people who lived just above subsistence. Food was not stored in rows and rows of a grocery market, and clothes were not lining racks upon racks at an apparel shop. Instead, these people lived, like most of our world today, with the daily recognition that money could fail and crops might not survive blight, bugs or drought. Jesus speaks into this environment, and says three times to his followers, “Don’t be anxious”.  First, don’t be anxious for your life. Second, don’t be anxious about food, drink or clothing. Finally, don’t be anxious for tomorrow. To be anxiou...

In my previous post , I dealt with Jesus’ own desire that we are to bring the brephos (infants, little ones) to him, and that Jesus establishes the pattern of New Testament discipleship: the Mommas and the Papas come to Jesus and they bring their little ones to Jesus. I then asserted that this New Testament pattern of Discipleship was, surprisingly, the Old Testament pattern. In this post I will unpack this last concept a bit. To do it right, you’re going to need to lay open a Bible in front of you and follow along. The first thing to do is read through Genesis 17.1-14. Read it out loud (yep, even if you’re sitting at Starbucks sipping your Latte). I’ll wait while you read….Nice job. Anyone ever told you that you read well? Now listen while I read Colossians 2.11-15 and see if you hear the connection. “In him [Christ] also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands , by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried...