Deus Misereatur

  Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? / Lord, may our trust in you raise us up above fear and dread. Sometimes it feels like our own bodies and life circumstances are our worst enemies, walloping us with maladies, heart disease, mental darkness, disorientation, heart aches and heart breaks. We pray for those going through the thick and thin of it (…). Bring them through it all with joy, hope, faith, and the smile of your face. Hear our prayer, O Lord, and let our cry come to you ! All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life. For their crime will they escape? In wrath cast down the peoples, O God! / For those peopl...

  A down-to-earth read about the Peleliu and Okinawa campaigns in the Pacific theater of the Second World War. E.B. Sledge, who fought in both campaigns, tells the story without glamorizing or glorifying war. It is gritty in places, while being honest. One senses that there's more to the story, but the memories would have been too hard to retell. This book is one of the sources the lies behind the HBO series "The Pacific".  After reading "With the Old Breed" I have changed my mind on the necessity of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Not only do I appreciate the value of the lives lost, but also the urgency of bringing the war to as speedy an end as possible to establish peace and preserve more lives (American and Japanese) from being snuffed out. I highly recommend the book.

  Joseph Loconte, Director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at the Heritage Foundation, and a Senior Fellow in Christianity and Culture at The King’s College in New York City, has given readers a potent manuscript to help readers fathom Tolkien, Lewis and the First World War. This volume was penned in 2015, in the middle of the Great War's centennial. With hundreds upon hundreds of reviews to pick from, mine will be short, sweet, and simple.  Loconte marches readers through the lead up to the Great War and many details of its devastating effects. Chronicling the Christian Nationalism that fueled all sides in this war to end all wars, the author guides us out the other side into the growing, decimated wasteland of skepticism that was spawned after the war. Much that he describes before and after the war will cause many to pause and reflect on our own circumstances, the reigning presuppositions blanketing our time, and the potential consequences if they are al...

  There are seasons in a Christian's life that feels like "a dry and weary land where there is no water" (Psalm 63:2). There's that "dark night of the soul," that "midnight hour" when all is bleak and God seems a bazillion miles away. What is one to do in such seasons? Sinclair Ferguson, a sensible writer and seasoned pastor, guides readers through eleven Psalms helping them to gain their bearings and find hope and resilience. I deeply enjoyed the work, especially the last chapter on Psalm 1312 and contentment. I highly recommend the work.

  O our Father in heaven, we come near to you with all holy reverence and confidence, as children drawing close to a father who is able and ready to help us. May your name be hallowed  by us and all others so that we may glorify you in every way that you make yourself known. Arrange all things – all of our conduct, hardships, desires, marriages, singleness, occupations, as well as all the governmental and civil events of this world and our country – to your own glory. O Lord, hear our prayer. May your kingdom come . We implore you to destroy Satan‘s kingdom, and advance your kingdom of grace, notably through the prayers and works of your world-wide Church. May we all be brought into your kingdom of grace and firmly kept in it. And here Lord, we pray chiefly for those who have never turned in faith to Christ, or who have strayed away (…). And may your kingdom of glory be hastened – Come, Lord Jesus! O Lord, hear our prayer. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven ; th...

  (This congregational prayer is taken and shaped out of Psalm 143) Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled. There are many, Lord, who have been beat down and beat up. We pray for and with those who have been battered and brutalized, some whom we name silently before you (…). May they find shelter and refuge; bring them help and healing. And enrich those who hold out their hands to provide support and sanctuary, especially the YWCA Women’s Shelter, Jesus House, City Rescue Mission, the Wonderfully Made Foundation, and others. Hear our prayer, O Lord, and let our cry come to you . I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that yo...

  (You can purchase the book here ) We’ve seen it more times than we care to count. Someone puts out their opinion (sometimes stating it as fact) on social media, then within minutes snarky replies show up in the comments. The snarky begins to devolve into snide, then spiteful, and finally an outright extreme verbal cage fight. The saddest part is that maybe some of the combatants claim to be Christians or are people we know. This scene has become so endemic that social media and verbal fisticuffs  have become synonymous. Therefore, Douglas S. Bursch, copastor of Evergreen Foursquare Church in Auburn, Washington, former newspaper columnist and talk radio host, has presented a timely work addressing this exact phenomenon. “Posting Peace: Why Social Media Divides Us and What We Can Do About It” is a 208-page paperback that delves into the way we are online, its consequences, and how to approach our internet presence with a whole new set of methods. The author’s pr...