Deus Misereatur

Contemplation and Counseling: An Integrative Model for Practitioners by P. Gregg Blanton My rating: 4 of 5 stars If humans are truly made in the image of God then there is necessarily a pious aspect to their make-up, their troubles, and to their recovery. P. Gregg Blanton, professor of psychology and human services at Montreat College since 1997, founder of the Center for Contemplation and Marriage, and active therapist in private practice, has interestingly drawn in contemplative prayer as part and parcel for helping others gain/regain well-being. This is all laid out in his brand new 232 page paperback, "Contemplation and Counseling: An Integrative Model for Practitioners". This volume is primarily for the sanative specialists, drawing from the mindfulness approaches of Kabat-Zinn and Siegel, as well as the centering prayer pathway of Meninger, Pennington and Keating. But it moves into the author's own direction. In "Contemplation and Counseling" Blanton...

Why Me?: Comfort for the Victimized by David A. Powlison My rating: 5 of 5 stars Forty-four pages of grit and goodness! That's the best way to describe this booklet by David Powlison, executive director of Christian Counseling and Education Foundation and senior editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling! Powlison writes this manuscript for those who have truly been vandalized and victimized by others. He doesn't lessen their anguish or make light of their angst. What he does do is walk the reader through Psalm 10, showing how to use the Psalm, the ways this Psalm draws us to Christ, and propels us to trust the good God, since faith "finds God in suffering, producing endurance, love, and hope" (23). Christian sufferers (the raped, abused, falsely accused, abandoned, etc.) should read this with open hearts, open journals, and ready pens. You will want to jot down notes as you become familiar with this God-given song. In the first part of the pamphlet Powlison s...

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46.1). O Lord God, who rules in heaven and on earth, who directs orbits and oceans, governs harvests and hailstorms, who fashions the heart of all people and observes all their deeds (Psalm 33.15), who can set every man against his neighbor (Zechariah 8.10) but can also make wars to cease to the ends of the earth (Psalm 46.9); through your Son, Jesus Christ, you reconciled to yourself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through the blood of his cross (Colossians 1.20). Attend to our prayers this day as we seek your face and intercede on behalf of your Church and world. For your church all around this globe, and the OKC area, such as Drexel Blvd Church, Eastside Church of Christ, Estes Park Church of Christ, and Grand Blvd Church of Christ, we pray: guide her leaders, heal her divisions, reclaim her waywardness, right her wrongheadedness, and mend her brokenness. And here at Heritage, enri...

Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft My rating: 5 of 5 stars "Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men" is 432 pages of empowering enlightenment! Here is a volume written by an author who has over 20 years working with abusive men and domestic abuse. Bancroft provides the reader with very simple-to-grasp concepts of abuse, what is happening in an abusive relationship, and the goals of an abuser. Through the numerous chapters Bancroft leads readers into the different facets of power, control, manipulation, entitlement, and others, to expose how abusers think. The author gives many examples of the ways victimizers minimize their own wrongdoing, shift the blame, retaliate and punish, and never truly take responsibility for their particular faults. As he notes, the abusive mindset is fueled by the attitudes and values of ownership (he owns you); entitlement (he is entitled to you, and to have his way);...

(Tonight's prayers are guided by the ancient 6th Century hymn written by Venantius Fortunatus,  Pange, lingua, gloriosi proelium" in the Trinity Hymnal (rev. ed.) at #243, " Praise the Savior, Now and Ever ") “Praise the Savior now and ever; praise him, all beneath the skies; prostrate lying, suffering, dying, on the cross a sacrifice. Victory gaining, life obtaining, now in glory he doth rise!” O sympathizing Jesus, who saw many men, women, girls and boys famished, grieving, oppressed, damaged or broken and had compassion on them; please have compassion on these... Draw them into your victory and life, refreshed and refurbished. O Lord, hear our prayer.   “Man’s work faileth, Christ's availeth; he is all our righteousness. He, our Savior, has forever set us free from dire distress. Through his merit we inherit light and peace and happiness.” Give your aid to those who are finding themselves beat up and beat down, di...

We worship you for there is none like you, O God, who rides through the heavens to our help, through the skies in your majesty. You, O eternal God, are our dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And you thrust out the enemy before us and say, ‘Destroy’ (Deuteronomy 33.26-27 ). It is to you we pray. Look, O Good Shepherd, with compassion on your one flock all around the world, and around the OKC area to include: Britton Road Church of Christ, Ridgecrest Church of Christ, Creston Hills Church of Christ, and Dayspring Church of Christ. With rod and staff, comfort the people of your pasture and the sheep of your hand. Seek out your sheep and rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. Seek the lost, and bring back the strayed, and bind up the injured, and strengthen the weak (Ezekiel 34.12, 16). Look, O Good Shepherd, with compassion upon this part of your one flock, Heritage Presbyterian Church. Bring us t...

Perfectly Human: Nine Months with Cerian by Sarah C. Williams My rating: 5 of 5 stars Someone from church loaned me a copy right after we lost a grandson at birth. I wasn't sure if I could read it, and so waited four weeks. I was finally able to pick it up, and wept through much of the tale. Though "Perfectly Human" was originally written in 2005 as "The Shaming of the Strong" it was been reworked in 2018 and added to for this edition. Though I cried through much of the material, I can wholeheartedly say it is worth the read, even if you have lost a child or just received news that the life you are carrying inside is malformed, or might not live. "Perfectly Human" is the story of Paul and Sarah Williams, their family and their friends, and it revolves around the gestation, death and birth of their youngest daughter, Cerian (Welsh for "loved one"). While Cerian was in the womb, the medical establishment discovered she had thanatophric dy...