Deus Misereatur

Solo Training 3: 50 and Older by Loren W. Christensen My rating: 5 of 5 stars I started martial arts just at the end of my 40s and have recently earned my 2nd degree black belt. It has been sitting in the back of my aging noggin that the day may be soon approaching when I might need to move to something easier, lighter and more gentle on my mellowing physique. So I was quite interested when I picked up "Solo Training 3: 50 and Older" by Loren W. Christensen, 8th Dan in American Free Style Karate, retired Law Enforcement Officer (LEO), and senior citizen. This 316 page self-published paperback goes right to the heart of what I've been thinking, and gives a resounding "No!" to my question. Christensen lays out a rationale and regimen for starting on martial arts or continuing your training even beyond 50, 60 and into the 70s. It's a motivating read with helpful practicalities and reasoned purposefulness. The book contains truck loads of descriptive informat...

The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction Matthew B. Crawford Farrar, Straus and Giroux http://us.macmillan.com/fsg ISBN: 9780374535919; $ 15.00; 04/05/2016 5 Stars out of 5: Artful and Astute I have tried for years to fathom where we are in our present-day location. As I look beyond the geopolitical commotions to the normal, day-in-and-day-out state of affairs, I find it alarming how easily distracted we’ve become, and the ways disruption has taken over our mental, visual, and audio space. Why is that, how did we get here, and is there a viable way forward? Matthew Crawford, a senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, fabricator of components for custom motorcycles and established author, addresses all of this and more in his recently published 320 page paperback, “The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction.” The overall theme of “The Worl...

Almighty God, you have taught us through your Son that love is the fulfilling of the law: grant that we, who have been gathered here by Christ’s beckoning and receiving Christ together in faith and with thanksgiving, may love you with our whole heart and our neighbors as ourselves. We pray for your Church all over the world, and congregations here in the OKC area: especially for Church of the First Born; Church of the Harvest; Church of the Living God; Church of the Open Arms; Church of the Savior; and Church of the Servant. For those churches who claim to be yours and have lost their way and begun traveling down side trails and pathways that dishonor you, reject the Scriptures as the final rule of faith and life, and embrace error; we implore you to restore them, grant them to see their fault, renounce it, and return in joy to you and your way. For those congregations leaning into being faithful to you, fill them with compassionate courage and sturdy resilience. Uphold our bro...

The Shotokan Karate Bible by Ashley P. Martin My rating: 5 of 5 stars As a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, I'm always looking for ways to branch out. Therefore I was quite pleased to find and delve into the classy 222 page paperback "The Shotokan Karate Bible: Beginner to Black Belt 2nd Edition" by Ashley P. Martin, Chief Instructor and Grading Examiner at Just Karate of Cambridge, UK. The material is visually pleasing, glossy, colorful, and instructive. After mapping out a brief history and lineage of Shotokan Karate, the author then gives the novice karateka a run down on the basics of uniform, stances, punches, kime, Japanese commands, and grading examinations. Once the reader has completed those chapters, then the next sections work the practitioner through the necessary subjects for each belt level. Martin covers basic forms, appropriate katas with a few applications sprinkled in, one-steps, and kumite. The pictures are clear and crisp, with short explanatio...

Karate The Art of "Empty-Hand" Fighting by Hidetaka Nishiyama My rating: 5 of 5 stars Originally published in 1960 (republished in 1990) "Karate: The Art of "Empty-Hand" Fighting" is an early, straightforward "how-to" book of principles of Karate. It covers a short history of Karate; lays out a weekly work-out and training schedule; explains the various punches, strikes, blocks and kicks along with their applications; shows samples of techniques in combination; various defensive moves from the floor, in a chair, and other venues; and walks the karateka through the heian number 4 kata. It becomes quickly obvious that the material was pulled together long before Karate became commercialized in the West. All of the pictures are in clear, black and white photos. Sparring only takes up one short chapter and pictures the contestants without any protective gear. The main focus of the book is on learning the proper way to perform strikes, punches, blo...

Sunday morning: O Lord, who knows our path and our lying down and are acquainted with all our ways (Psalm 139.3), we pray for the besieged and beleaguered peoples in our world, suffering from hurricanes (Cuba, Haiti, the islands…), floods, droughts, tsunamis, unemployment, military threats, fears and pestilence. Please establish peace, justice, recovery and efficient economies in all lands, for the good of all, so that the Gospel of Jesus may spread unchecked, and that your Church may dwell securely in peace and quietness. Guide our own leaders to throw off selfish programs, cut-throat tactics, and dastardly devices and to put on what is truly legitimate and will promote evenhanded integrity. Have mercy on our country, and restrain the evil, self-seeking and immorality that often arises from the governed. For those regions in the U.S. that are stressed and straining from economic trouble, bring around beneficial change and recovery. Give ear to our concerns as we pray f...

As Solomon once declared, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below, for you keep faith with your people who strive to walk before you with all their heart (1 Kings 8.23). Because of your great love with which you have loved us in Christ Jesus, we long to completely put away the old methods of being human which grows corrupt through deceitful lusts, and we yearn to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, to walk fully in the new humanity created after your likeness in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4.22-24).  Help us, O our Father!  We plead for your Church world over, along with this congregation, and the numerous churches in the greater OKC area such as Bridgeway Church; Calvary Temple-Edmond; Capitol Hill Assembly of God; St. Eugene Catholic Church; Central Seventh Day Adventist Church; and Cherokee Hills Christian Church. Sustain our brotherhood in the world in the face of fierce barbarity; fortifying those who are challenged by persecut...