Deus Misereatur

Remembrance, Communion, and Hope: Rediscovering the Gospel at the Lord's Table by J. Todd Billings My rating: 5 of 5 stars There’s only so much you can say about J. Todd Billings, Gordon H. Girod Research Professor of Reformed Theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America, and accomplished author. You either like him, or you like him. It’s just that plain and simple. And recently Billings gave us one more reason to like him with his newest 237 page softback, “Remembrance, Communion, and Hope: Rediscovering the Gospel at the Lord's Table”. This fine treatise on the Lord’s Supper is written to attract the attention and affections of professors, pastors and parishioners. And it is composed to present readers and leaders with a wager: “that a renewed theology and practice of the Lord’s Supper can be an instrument for congregations to develop a deeper, more multifaceted sense of the gospel itself…the Supper is ...

(Our Children) : Father, who delights to call us your children and has blessed our families and church with many children – teeny ones, tween, teens and grown ones. We pray for them that in their particular stages of maturation and growth, you would preserve them from harm and harmful people. Further, we ask you to cultivate their attractions, their affections, their thoughts, and their discretions that they would not be swept up and away by treacheries or twisted allurements. We want them to be successful in their academic studies and vocations, yet we ultimately long for them to always walk in your ways, to know that they are yours and you are theirs, and to love you with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. O Lord, hear our prayer. (North American Church): We plead with you especially and expressly for your church in North America. Preserve us from ourselves; preserve us from amputating ourselves from the essential, directive, life-supporting connection to your Word;...

Our Father, who’s blessed Son our Savior gave his back to the smiters and did not hide his face from shame: give us all that we need to endure the sufferings of this present time with grace and joy, as well as a sure and certain confidence of the glory that shall be revealed in us through Jesus Christ our Lord. For the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love (Psalm 147.11) . O Lord, we pray for your Church in all places, for this congregation, Northwest Freewill Baptist; Oak Hills; Shady Nook; South Oaks; and Southwest Free Will Baptist Churches. Help us that we may be strengthened to greater and greater faithfulness, that no matter what we may face, we will always walk in your ways. Take care of all our needs, providing for us bountifully from your generosity. For the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Please turn the hearts of our enemies away from hate and maliciousness, and brin...

The Church in Exile: Living in Hope After Christendom by Lee J Beach My rating: 4 of 5 stars It regularly worries me when I hear Christians panicking and clanging the alarm, "We're being persecuted! Everyone is out to get us! Woe!" So it was refreshing to read "The Church in Exile: Living in Hope After Christendom" by Lee Beach, assistant professor of Christian ministry, director of ministry formation, and Garbutt F. Smith Chair of Ministry Formation at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario. In this 240 page softback, Beach's premise is not that Christians are being targeted and persecuted in the West, but that after centuries of being the privileged religion, we have now only become one of many. We have been pushed out of, or slipped out of, the limelight and set off to the margins. And our task in the present is to rethink what it means to be the church in exile, and how we do our tasks from the margin. In Beach's words, "I will attem...

The Habit of Being by Flannery O'Connor My rating: 5 of 5 stars I didn't know how well I'd do plodding through seventeen years of letters. But the compilation of Flannery O'Connor's correspondence in "The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor" ended up being an enjoyable read, and a voyage of discovery. This volume, compiled, selected and edited by her long time friend, Sally Fitzgerald, brought out aspects of O'Connor that are not easily divined from her novellas and short stories. If a reader wants to know the details of the content of "The Habit of Being," I'll refer them to the other reviews. I will simply point out four items that stand out to me above the numerous other characteristics I sighted. First, O'Connor was truly a child of her time and her place. Most of her life was spent in Georgia, with only a few small stints in Iowa, Connecticut, and shorter stays in a couple of other places. So her language and r...

Frontier Women: An Authentic History Of The Courage And Trials Of The Pioneer Heroines Of Our American Frontier by William Worthington Fowler My rating: 4 of 5 stars A longish piece that is a child of its age. Originally written around 1876 under the title "Woman on the American Frontier," it exhibits much of the perception of that era with regard to Native Americans and African Americans. Yet it was likely before its time with regard to the role and attitude toward women. From the coming of the Plymouth Pilgrims to the centenary, Fowler recounts the feats of women on the frontier, in harried and horrifying circumstances. The material brings one to recognize that life was nothing like it is today. One can only imagine how our forebearers survived such perils, whether man or woman, girl or boy! Some of the Victorian romantic with regard to womanhood unfortunately gushes in at times. If a reader can accept the book for when it was written, and as a product of its era, withou...

During Lent 2018 I put forward a series of sermons on "Biology, Brokenness, Bodies, and Beauty". I addressed these questions (and more): Is our biology important?  Do our bodies matter? Why am I male? Why am I female? What does any of this say about us as humans made in God's image? My plan in this series was not only to answer these questions, but to pass on a far more stunning and splendid perspective of our human sexuality than is being masterminded and marketed in our society today.  Here are the sermon titles, in order, that are linked to the audio files: Beginnings and Biological Sex Biological Sex and Embodiment Broken Sex and Broken Sin Broken Loves and Broken Limitations Body Matters and Bodies Matter Body Ravaged and Bodies Redeemed Body Broken (Good Friday) Blight and Beauty (Easter) The following is a (sample) list of resources for those who desire to go deeper and get the other side of the story: Why Gender-Specific Medicine Matters...