Deus Misereatur

Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age Alan Noble IVP Academic InterVarsity Press PO Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515 ISBN: 978-0-8308-4483-8; $16.00; July 2018 There’s that creepy, uneasy sense that things are just not right. You face it with the growing social media superficiality, flaming tweets and posts, fashionable causes, mounting “offendedness” or “triggeredness,” constant remaking of personal identities, and the perpetually prevalent shrug of the shoulders with the roll of the eyes and a “whatever”. Alan Noble, assistant professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, cofounder and editor in chief of  Christ and Pop Culture , and contributing author to  The Atlantic , Vox, BuzzFeed, The Gospel Coalition,  Christianity Today , and  First Things , addresses these trends, and more, in his brand new 208 page work, “Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age”. Noble talks to twenty-first century Christians in a ...

O God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, who has promised that you will never leave us nor forsake us, so that we may boldly say, The LORD is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me (Hebrews 13.5-6) we pray for your Church throughout the nations, including Followers of Christ Baptist Church; 40 th Street Baptist; Glorieta Baptist and Grace Community church. Look upon our needs and provide all of the good things necessary for us to do the work you have called us to do. Stir up the glowing embers of our hearts, stoking the fires of joy, love and holiness in us that we may be encouraged to remain faithful to you and consistent in their lives. Look on this congregation with your favor. In the words of your servant, Paul, help us to increase more and more, aspiring to lead quiet lives, to mind our own business, and to work with our own hands, that we may walk properly toward those who are outside, lacking nothing (1 Thessalonians 4.11-12). Further, we lift ...

The Biggest Win: Pro Football Players Tackle Faith by Joshua Cooley My rating: 5 of 5 stars Sports metaphors run aplenty in Sacred Scripture. Whether it's martial arts (boxing, wrestling) or running, the toil, aim, strain, practice and perseverance all give a unique picture to the Christian life. That's what makes Joshua Cooley's new little 160 page paperback, "The Biggest Win: Pro Football Players Tackle Faith" such a fun and useful book. Cooley, accomplished writer of 20 years, and full-time children’s minister at Chapel Hill Bible Church in North Carolina, has woven together an enjoyable work of insights from several Christian players on the Super Bowl LII winning team, the Philadelphia Eagles, and what Scripture says about various subjects. The manuscript is primarily devotional matter for younger athletes, though sports enthusiasts of most every stripe will gain plenty from the material. Cooley began interviewing Carson Wentz, Nick Foles, Zach Ertz, Tre...

O God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, Giver of all good gifts, we pray for your Church throughout the nations, Eagle Heights Church; Eastwood Baptist; Emmaus Baptist; and Exchange Ave Baptist. Sustain us through the hard and happy times. Look upon our needs and provide all good things necessary for us to do the work you have called us to. Strangely warm our hearts, inspire in us greater and greater holiness. Kindly look on this congregation: give patience and joy to all the parents as they raise their children in your righteous ways. Aid the single that they may resist the pressures of our world and keep themselves chaste. Enrich our marriages that they may be full of harmony, hope, and health. Strengthen the young adults to continue to follow Christ faithfully. May our children (younger and older) embrace the Christian faith we have been handing on to them with gusto and confidence. And may the fruit of the Spirit…..grow large in all of us. We call out t...

A Bright Tomorrow: Facing the Future without Fear by Jared Mellinger My rating: 5 of 5 stars Back in 2016 his then 2 year old daughter was diagnosed with cancer; then came two years of chemo with all of the concerns, exhaustion, visits, and exams. Therefore, who better to write a little book on fear and faith than Jared Mellinger, Senior Pastor of a Sovereign Grace congregation, Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills Pennsylvania. Write a book he did, and what a book! "A Bright Tomorrow: How To Face the Future without Fear" is a 144 page manuscript just published in June 2018. It takes on many of the very things we fear and brings the hope of Gospel to bear on them. What keeps this from being a happy-clappy-feel-positive-all-the-time kind of work, is knowing that it was written during the days of his little girl's diagnosis and treatment. "A Bright Tomorrow" is written to "push back fear and unbelief and to awaken our souls to the boundless comfort ...

Same Lake, Different Boat: Coming Alongside People Touched by Disability by Stephanie O. Hubach My rating: 5 of 5 stars We're not very good in the ways we interact and relate with people who have different types of disabilities. I have seen people leave a church because they found out the newly called and installed minister had a child who had neurological and visual malformities and was completely wheelchair bound. In all my years I have only met one minister in one small church who had a clear disability (he had contracted polio as an infant and was unable to use his legs, requiring two forearm crutches). At times I myself have pulled away from people with handicaps, or treated them in a patronizing way. But if these people are men, women, girls or boys made in God's image, and if loving others is evidence that God abides in us (1 John 4.7-12), then having a better concept of disability is essential. That's where Stephanie O. Hubach, mother of a son with Down Syndrome...

An Explorer's Guide to Julian of Norwich by Veronica Mary Rolf My rating: 4 of 5 stars I know very little about her, though I've heard her referenced before, and read snippets from her revelations over the years. So it was a pleasure to read the recently released 240 page softback, "An Explorer's Guide to Julian of Norwich" penned by Veronica Mary Rolf. This little volume is all about Julian of Norwich and is ideal for the delver and dabbler alike. "An Explorer's Guide to Julian of Norwich" is exactly what the title declares. The first part of the book goes into the history and context of Julian of Norwich, chronicling both her life and her sitz im leben (setting in life). It is easily digestible, giving enough of Julian's situation to help the reader appreciate where she was, what was her moment in history, and how the text we have today came to us. The first part of the book ends with a glossary of the Middle English words Julian used, wh...