Deus Misereatur

You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit James K. A. Smith Brazos Press Baker Publishing Group 6030 East Fulton Road Ada, MI 49301 http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/brazospress ISBN: 9781587433801; $19.99; March 2016 Reviewed by Rev. Dr. Michael Philliber for Deus Misereatur The ancient essayist astutely quipped, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4.23). That truism surfaces in story form and didactic instruction throughout Scripture, and is substantiated when raising our children, supervising employees or shepherding parishioners: what has your heart rules your life. This is the central emphasis in the newly published 224 hardback, “You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit” by James K. A. Smith, professor of philosophy at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, accomplished author and editor. This short work appears to be a compression and reworking of his larger “Desiring the Kingdom” to mak...

Jesus Outside the Lines: A Way Forward for Those Who Are Tired of Taking Sides by Scott Sauls My rating: 5 of 5 stars Sometimes we Christians come across as a snooty, snobby sort. Usually it happens when we forget what we were saved out of and where we came from. At other times it’s because we have lived inside a particular church’s walls for so long that we can’t imagine anyone calling themselves “Christian” and thinking differently than us and our particular sacred fraternity. So it’s good to be reminded what we’re supposed to be about, and given suggestive ways to get there. And that’s where writings like “Jesus Outside the Lines: A Way Forward for Those Who Are Tired of Taking Sides” can be a helpful refresher. Scott Sauls, senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, penned this 210 page paperback in 2015 to give fellow believers a gentle nudge in the right direction. But it is also written for the investigative, adventurous unbeliever who might – on a w...

Science, Politics, and Gnosticism by Eric Voegelin My rating: 5 of 5 stars Ten years ago I picked up this teeny book as part of my background reading for my doctoral thesis. It was a stretch to read then, but I sensed Voegelin was on to something. Now, ten years later, in the midst of a hot presidential campaign season, with loads of climactic social changes erupting in the country, and racial tensions flaring, I picked it up again and read it with a better appreciation for what the author was communicating. This 102 page paperback is a densely argued, heady work that revolves around two major essays penned by the author in 1959. "Science, Politics, and Gnosticism" is a work that delves into modern political theory with the author standing in a specific position: one that is open to the divine other while scanning the horizon of modern mass ideological movements. Voegelin is convinced, and seeks to convince the reader, that these modern mass movements are, at the end of th...

[This prayer goes along with, and flows out of the sermon for today from Jeremiah 15.16: Critical Crossroads] From Psalm 119:161-168 Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words . There are places in our world, O Lord, where injustice, immorality, illegality and inhumaneness sit enthroned and empowered, violently and viciously crushing people and seeking to harm your chosen ones. Lift up the downtrodden and demoralized, show strength with your arm; scatter the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; and bring down the mighty from their thrones (Luke 1.51-52). We especially ask for you to defend, direct, and deliver your Church in all places, and more pointedly, in Qatar; Romania; Russia; Rwanda, Turkey, and the Republic of South Sudan. I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil . Eternal God, look upon these United States of America that there may again be great joy at your word, like the joy of those who have found a priceless trea...

From Psalm 87 On the holy mount stands the city he founded; the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God. Selah . Sometimes, Lord, we forget that you love the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob; sometimes we think you should cherish our country more than you do your Church; sometimes our constitutional concerns become more important to us than the cares of your kingdom. So, remembering that you love the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob, we still pray for our country as you have bidden us to do: Tensions abound on the right hand and the left. Violence raises its beastly head in brutal and bloody ways. The rhetoric of many simply pours more petrol on the smoldering embers threatening to ignite into a bursting flame. There are places and spaces of injustice in our courts, on our streets, behind closed doors, and out in the open. Therefore, we implore your ki...

Redemption: A Street Fighter's Path to Peace by Clarke Michael My rating: 5 of 5 stars How does a punky, pugnacious kid with a prison record become a master martial artist, and live to tell about it? Michael Clarke, Kyoshi 8th dan, Okinawan Goju-ryu, and author, recounts his own journey of how this happened in his new, 256 page paperback, “Redemption: A Street Fighter’s Path to Peace.” It’s an adventurous work readable for young teenagers to veteran karateka. The redemption Clarke attained is echoed in his opening words; “An important life lesson my study of karate has taught me is this: you not only have to walk your own path through life, you have to build the path as you go” (xi). Redemption, for the author, was following bushido, taking life in hand with its defeats and disappointments, and getting back up with new resolve and renewed vigor; seven times down, eight times up (211). Clarke’s autobiography begins in Dublin, moves to the streets of Manchester then to Strangeways...

(Today, a woman wrote me a letter telling me that denominations were wrong, and that "there are no denominations in God's word." The following is my reply that I sent back to her): 15 July 2016 Dear Gxxxxxx, Thank you so much for your brief note on the dangers of denominations. I agree that denominations are, in many ways, highly problematic for Christ’s Church. And you have zeroed in on the main difficulty: “Denominations are made by men, not by God.” Many years ago I was a minister, an evangelist, in a group that claimed denominations were a sin. I preached it, taught it, proclaimed it for over 5 years. And then one day the lights slowly came on for me. That group I was in, known as the Churches of Christ, was divided and segmented into 20 to 30 different enclaves, and each assembly had no fellowship with almost any of the other Churches of Christ in their own town or city – even though they all claimed to be Churches of Christ. Each group was right, an...