Deus Misereatur

(This congregational prayer is dressed up in Psalm 29) Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness. Royal and regal God, who sits above all that claims our allegiances; who is enthroned even over all who are deified and idolized. We pray that you would bring all self-made divas and divinities (like youthfulness, money, health, musicians, movie stars, politicians; and whatever else we are prone to fawn over and grovel before) to see that there is no authority or acclaim outside of you and your control. Raise up the humble and cast the wicked to the ground.  The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. We beseech you that your voice would go far and wide; your word would run free and unshackled so that all may hear the Gos...

[This congregational prayer is flowing from Psalm 2] Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” O God see how the peoples and nations of this world conspire and rage against your Son and his Lordship: through adjudication, legislation, execution of orders, shaming on the air waves, taunting and demonizing through social media and music, and in some places by downright brutality and cruelty. See, O Lord! Take note and come to the aid of your chosen ones. We long to see our own nation flourish as a just and lawful land. We long to see our neighborhoods, cities and State to show themselves to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his ...

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt My rating: 4 of 5 stars Evolutionary biology and psychology, neurobiology, sociology, developmental and moral psychology...it's all in there, along with some artfully crafted chutzpah. Jonathan Haidt, the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business, who is ethnically Jewish, religiously atheist, and vocationally a moral psychologist, has pulled together an intriguing read that skillfully and sportively answers - from his perspective - his subtitle "Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion." Since there are thousands of reviews of the book that have already been broadcast, I'll simply say three things. First, it was fun to read, thought-provoking, instructive and insightful. As a Christian minister I can't, and don't, go along with many of his premises (evolution, utilitarianism, etc.); nevertheless, I...

Indispensable: The Basics of Christian Belief by David P. Cassidy My rating: 5 of 5 stars Are you looking for a book to hand to someone that strongly gives them the rudiments of the Christian faith? Is your young college student or High Schooler needing a good resource on the nitty-gritty of their Christianity to which they can return and use over and over again? New folks coming to your church, and you're wondering how to communicate the nuts-and-bolts of what we believe and why? David P. Cassidy, lead pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee, has happily, healthily and handily provided us with just the thing in his new 240 page paperback, "Indispensable: The Basics of the Christian Faith". Easy to read and simple to follow, it's perfect for intelligent middle-schoolers to the seasoned and venerable. The author walks readers through many important subjects. The book is not a systematic theology or a Confession of faith, but it does tackle huge s...

{Today's prayer is led by Psalm 63. It concludes with a Memorial Day prayer at the end) O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. It has been good to enter your great assembly; to earnestly seek you; to have our dry and thirsty souls quenched with you, O fountain of living waters. We pray for those who don’t know you and have never known the joy that you are and the life you give…. May they hear your invitation and come to the festival. Father, we pray for those who maybe feel themselves to be in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Maybe the parchedness is from their sickness or disease; maybe from depression or mental darkness of some ki...

A Pastoral Rule for Today: Reviving an Ancient Practice by John P. Burgess My rating: 5 of 5 stars With two decades of military life under my belt, and now two decades of ministry, I can honestly say that having a devotional plan, a religious rhythm, to shape each day, week, month and year is essential for my own well-being. Therefore I was quite pleased to see the new 208 page paperback, "A Pastoral Rule for Today: Reviving an Ancient Practice" hit the streets! John P. Burgess, the James Henry Snowden Professor of Systematic Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; Jerry Andrews, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in San Diego, California; and Joseph D. Small, retired director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Theology and Worship, spent years pulling together the contents and backdrop for this manual. It is written primarily for pastors and ministers of any Christian tradition; and it is written to help them hash out a "rule" - a guide ...

The Good Shepherd's Pasture: A Story of Your Baptism by Elizabeth Harwell My rating: 5 of 5 stars How do we tell our children about Jesus? In what ways can we explain the Gospel so that it gets into little ears and nabs little hearts? Then, we have to think about the value of our little ones' baptism and how to communicate it to them. Elizabeth Harwell has crafted a wonderful 39 page, reading-out-loud hardback, "The Good Shepherd's Pasture," to convey to our children all of those things. The story nicely draws in the Old Testament rite of circumcision and connects it's forward-looking to the coming of the Good Shepherd and baptism. Harwell also artfully teases out our sin, the Good Shepherd's remedy, that the child needs to trust in Jesus for herself or himself, how they belong to the Good Shepherd and his pasture, that their baptism marks them as belonging to Jesus, and that they also should sing the love songs of the Good Shepherd to others. As you...