Deus Misereatur

The Image of God in an Image Driven Age: Explorations in Theological Anthropology by Beth Felker Jones My rating: 5 of 5 stars What does it mean for humankind to be created in the image of God? Are there ways this should play out in our social, inter-racial, and marital relationships? Is there anything restorative and health-giving for the battered, abused and molested in knowing that they are in the image of God? Many of these questions, and more, are tackled in a new 272 page paperback anthology, “The Image of God in an Image Driven Age: Explorations in Theological Anthropology.” This compilation is edited by Beth Felker Jones, associate professor of theology at Wheaton College, and Jeffrey W. Barbeau, associate professor of theology in the Graduate School at Wheaton College. It is a collection of twelve essays are drawn from the 2015 Wheaton Theology Conference, and are penned by authors across the ecclesiastical-theological-racial-gender spectrum. These papers, pulled together, ...

Krav Maga Professional Tactics: The Contact Combat System of the Israeli Martial Arts by David Kahn My rating: 5 of 5 stars There are days during training when the "martial" is clear; there are other days that it's obvious that it's truly "art"; on occasion it feels as if it is only a sport, with all of the emphasis on scoring points, countering the "attack", and looking for quick openings. That's why it's useful, once in a while, to delve into books that recall what it's all about. In this regard a new volume has just rolled off the press by David Kahn, a certified Israeli Krav Maga Association instructor, and trainer of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies along with all branches of the U.S. military. "Krav Maga: Professional Tactics" is a 352 page instructional manual that is designed for "security-conscious civilians, law enforcement officers, military personnel, and security professionals alike who w...

Delivered from the Elements of the World: Atonement, Justification, Mission Peter J. Leithart IVP Academic (InterVarsity Press) PO Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515 ISBN: 978-0-8308-5126-3; $30.00; March 2016 Reviewed by Rev. Dr. Michael Philliber for Deus Misereatur Imaginative and Ingenious; 5 Stars out of 5 My family and I have changed the rules of the game. After playing UNO for years the standard way, we spiced it up with a few extra twists and turns. Now you can stack the “Draw Four” cards, player by player, until there are no more to be played, thus potentially leaving the last participant who doesn’t have any “Draw Four” cards under a substantial pile. And there are other adventurous variations we’ve added, all of which leave the game structurally the same while internally distinctive.  This is the kind of thing Peter J. Leithart, president of Theopolis Institute, adjunct senior fellow of theology at New Saint Andrews College in Moscow, Idaho, column...

Sunday morning: From Psalm 63 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. It has been good to enter your great assembly; to earnestly seek you; to have our dry and thirsty souls quenched with you, O fountain of living waters. We pray for those who don’t know you, and have never known the joy that you are and the life you give….may they hear your invitation and come to the festival. We pray on behalf of Anna’s House Foundation, Darci Oplotnik, the administrators and staff, and the families who have opened homes and hearts. Provide the moneis and resources needed, raise up volunteers and provide more families. Give them all that they need in the midst o...

I was asked to give the benediction at another graduation this evening. Here's how it went: Another Prayer and Benediction for Graduation 2016  “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground…His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love” (Psalm 147.5-6, 10-11). “…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5.8-11)...

Sunday morning: From Psalm 56 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? / Lord, our oppressors are the world, the flesh and the devil. May our trust in you raise us up above fear and dread. Sometimes it feels like our own bodies and life circumstances are our worst enemies, walloping us with maladies, heart disease, mental darkness and disorientation, heart aches and heart breaks. We pray for those going through the thick and thin of it… Bring them through it all with joy, hope, faith, and the smile of your face. Hear our prayer, O Lord, and let our cry come to you ! All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life....

I was asked to give the benediction for a homeschool graduating class. Here's what I said: Prayer and Benediction for Graduation 2016 Hear now the Word of God for the people of God by the Apostle of God: “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3.3-7). Remember who you are, whose you are, and why you are. Let us pray: LORD God, the Almighty, the Most High, who has made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; truly, it is ...