Deus Misereatur

Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society by R.R. Reno My rating: 5 of 5 stars Given the bombastic and melodramatic hotness of the past several months, a book promoting the resurgence of a Christian Society in the United States might well be taken as simply the dying gasps of a glum devotee. Yet R.R. Reno, editor of First Things magazine, past professor at Creighton University, and accomplished author, boldly jumps through the flames to present his 215 page hardback, “Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society”. It is a volume written to stimulate stability, arouse civility, and awaken creativity. The title of the book is a tipping-of-the-hat to T.S. Eliot’s “The Idea of a Christian Society” penned in the 1930’s as World War II and Nazism were looming large on the horizon. Reno’s reworking of Eliot’s theme, though, is written in a different era, with contemporary concerns. The author’s unease is that when “a culture of freedom becomes a cult of freedom, injustice, suffering...

The King's Justice: Two Novellas by Stephen R. Donaldson My rating: 5 of 5 stars Stephen Donaldson bundles together two unrelated, but artistic tales that go different directions in the 307 page paperback, “The King’s Justice.” Both novelettes are easy to read, engrossing, and propel the reader’s imagination toward the climactic finale. These short stories can be enjoyed by both younger and older adults. The title tale, from which the book gains its label, swirls around Black, Settle’s Crossways and the gruesome, heartbreaking murder of a young lad. As things unfold, Black, a veteran of the Balance Wars, takes on the role of detective in a township that doesn’t want to disclose the murder to this stranger. Yet it becomes rapidly clear that there are sinister forces at work and lurking in the woods, and circumstances are showing that Black needs to act quickly. As a major structure in the storyline, the author does delve into a deity-less perspective that seems to echo the Buddhi...

Drawn from the Heidelberg Catechism on the Lord’s Prayer Our Father Who art in heaven : we come to you trusting and rejoicing that you are our Father through Jesus Christ, and that you will answer us, as promised, with as much readiness as, and more readiness than, our earthly parents. And we trust that we may expect from your almighty power all things necessary for body and soul. Hear us, Father, as we pray. Hallowed be thy name : Enable us rightly to know, reverence, magnify, and praise you in all your works, through which shine forth your power, wisdom, goodness, justice, mercy, and truth; and likewise to so order our whole life, in thought, word, and work, that your name may never be blasphemed, but honored and praised on our account. Thy kingdom come : Preserve and increase your Church, to include this congregation and these churches in the greater OKC area: Korean First Presbyterian Church; Korean Nazarene Church; Lakehoma Church of Christ; Lakeside Church of God;...

Combat Hapkido: The Martial Art for the Modern Warrior by John Pellegrini My rating: 5 of 5 stars It can't be easy to come up with a "new" martial art, get it honed and proven by other martial art masters, and recognized by the World Kido Federation. But John Pellegrini, 9th Dan in Hapkido and Tae Kwon Do, founder and president of numerous martial arts institutions, and accomplished author, has not only crafted a new form of Hapkido, but he has manufactured a book that gives a good sense of his system. "Combat Hapkido: The Martial Art for the Modern Warrior" is a glossy, magazine-sized 150 page manual published in 2009, to promote his system and give the practitioner a feel for it. This handbook is not too wordy, but has enough verbal detail to explain the history of Combat Hapkido, some of its genealogy, and three of its primary principles. Most of the material are sequential photographs that are clear and walk the karateka easily through numerous techniques...

The Good Shepherd: A Thousand-Year Journey from Psalm 23 to the New Testament by Kenneth E. Bailey My rating: 5 of 5 stars Kenneth E. Bailey, seminary professor, author, career missionary, and international lecturer, had the pleasure of pulling together and publishing this 288 page paperback, "The Good Shepherd: A Thousand-Year Journey From Psalm 23 to the New Testament" before he died. Bailey crafted an easy to read, informative picture of the Good Shepherd that professors and parishioners alike will benefit from. This volume is filled with material from his own and his students' experiences in Lebanon, Egypt and Israel. The author also drew from Aramaic and Armenian sources of earlier Christian writers. "The Good Shepherd" touches on nine biblical passages starting with Psalm 23 and ending with 1 Peter 5.1-5. In working with these nine passages, Bailey looks for continuity and discontinuity, "In our reflections on the nine texts we will pay close atten...

As you declared through Isaiah, so we affirm: You are the LORD, and there is no other, besides you there is no God; you equip people, even those who do not know you, so that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides you; you are the LORD, and there is no other. You form light and create darkness; you make well-being and create calamity; you are the LORD, who does all these things (Isaiah 45.5-7). And so to you do we pray: Just as you did for us back when we were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures (Titus 3.3), so now through your Son Jesus Christ, save those who trust in their own strength, those who walk in darkness, those who are hostile and alienated from others and from you… As you have been our healer and helper in days past, please restore and raise up those dealing with – and not dealing very well with – depression, dementia, disease, debilitation, and distress… In the same way t...

Adam as Israel: Genesis 1-3 as the Introduction to the Torah and Tanakh by Seth D. Postell My rating: 5 of 5 stars There are a passel of approaches to Genesis 1-3 that come to disparate conclusions. There’s young earth or old earth; theistic evolution or punctiliar creation; divine guidance to order out of disorder or creatio ex nihilo . There is also the perspective that Genesis chapters 1-3 are strictly poetry, or an adaption of Ancient Near Eastern mythology, or an affirmation of creatio ex nihilo retold with a theological and literary structure rather than chronological specificity. A passel of approaches, indeed! Seth D. Postell, Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Israel College of the Bible in Netanya, Israel, has put forward his own analysis in “Adam as Israel: Genesis 1-3 as the Introduction to the Torah and Tanakh”. To get the most out of this insightful and involved 204 page paperback will require some working knowledge of Hebrew, though the book can be managed without it by...