Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview


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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

Modern Hymns – Shane and Shane and The Worship Initiative
****

Modern Hymns is a collaborative effort of Shane and Shane and The Worship Initiative, along with Bryan Fowler and Semsen Music. This album includes covers of mostly Getty Music hymns with some wonderful choral arrangements.
I really enjoyed this new project of ten excellent songs performed and produced well. Here are a few comments about each song:

Come Unto Jesus – This song was written by Jordan Kauflin, Laura Story and Matt Merker, produced by Bryan Fowler, and features Shane and Shane. The song, which builds powerfully, features, guitar, bass, drums, keys, backing vocals, and choir.
Key lyric:
Come unto Jesus, come unto Jesus
Lay down your burdens, He is enough
Come unto Jesus, rest in His love

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  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Keep the Feast by Skye Peterson and Ben Shive

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments by Joe Posnanski. Dutton. 400 pages. 2023
***

I was given this book by my wife’s aunt (herself a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan). Her husband had read and enjoyed the book and he thought I would enjoy it was well, which I did.
In this book, Joe Posnanski counts down the 50 most magical baseball moments, those moments that have for more than a century made people fall in love with baseball. In addition to the 50 magical moments, he interrupts the countdown with five bonus baseball memories. These are five unlikely homers, five baseball trick plays, five baseball moments that melt the heart, five blunders that will never be forgotten, etc. In all, the book includes 108 moments and memories. The author also includes a reason to love baseball for every team in baseball, based on a survey completed by more than four thousand fans.
Posnanski ranks Henry Aaron’s 715th home run is the most magical moment in baseball history, a moment at the heart of why we love baseball.

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BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review…
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by  R.C. Sproul
I’M CURRENTLY READING…. Continue reading


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A Prayer for a Bitterly Cold Day


Father in Heaven,
You are sovereign over the seasons:
You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made summer and winter.
Psalm 74:17

Living in the Midwest, we get to experience your wonderful seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter. During the winter, it’s not unusual for us to go through periods of extreme cold temperatures. While today is a relatively mild winter day, the forecast for the next few days is for very cold temperatures with wind chills as low as -20.
Father, we pray that you would enable electrical power and furnaces to heat our homes during this time. We pray that you would protect those who will have to go outside to go to church, work or school. We pray that those who will be travelling will be kept safe with no car trouble during this bitterly cold period. We ask that you would protect our pets during this time.
Father, I admit that winter is my least favorite of your seasons. The days are short, and the temperatures cold. I much prefer the long, warm summer days. Still, there is hope of the coming spring. Each day, it is staying light a little bit longer than the day before. And, although we’ve had some snow, there hasn’t been much. We thank you for a relatively mild winter thus far.
We ask for your protection against the bitterly cold temperatures coming our way. Please take away our fear and anxiety. As the Apostle Paul told us:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  Philippians 4:6
Jesus told us to not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself, as each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)
We ask all of this in Jesus’ precious name,  Amen


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THIS & THAT: A Gathering of Favorite Articles and Quotes

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  • Favorite Quotes of the Week

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Faithful Presence in the Public Sphere. On this episode of the How to Reach The West Again podcast, Tim Keller explains why Christians living out their faith in vocations and other public spaces is crucial for a missionary encounter. Missy Wallace casts a vision for viewing our jobs as one of the primary venues for putting our faith into practice. Artist Makoto Fujimura invites us to see artists as bridgebuilders between the church and the world.
  • Skills to Explore Your Calling. In this message from the Center for Faith & Work Los Angeles Annual Conference, Joanna Meyer discusses “Skills to Explore Your Calling”. Meyer is the Founder & Executive Director, for Women, Work, & Calling and the Director of Public Engagement at the Denver Institute for Faith & Work. She is also the author of the book Women, Work, & Calling: Step into Your Place in God’s World.

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Living Out Our Faith at Work, Part 1

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to a wonderful group at Truth in Love Counseling on living out our faith at work. This five-part series is inspired by that talk.

Biblical Value of Work
Let’s talk about how we can live out our faith at work. That is, how can we integrate our faith and work? It’s a question that perhaps some of you have thought about, and I think one that all believers would like to know how to do better.
Many books have been written on this topic, with new ones being published all the time. There is even a breakout session titled  “Living the Gospel at Work” that will be offered at next April’s  Gospel Coalition National Conference to be held in Indianapolis, a conference I would highly recommend.
I recently read an article which stated:
“At its best, the faith and work movement gives a deep dignity to those who need to know why God cares about what they do all day, why the daily grind matters, how God uses their efforts as part of a tapestry of common good, an outworking of Jeremiah’s vision to seek the good of the city to which God has called us.”
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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS


For All The Saints (EP) – Fernando Ortega
****

For All The Saints, a beautiful five song EP, is Fernando Ortega’s first new release in four years, following his 2020 Christmas EP Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming. The release is co-produced by Ortega and Matthew Tobias, and engineered and mixed by Russ Long.
About the new project, Ortega said “There are so many hymns that are not really sung anymore; they’re, by and large, just not known. So, I like bringing those hymns back. These hymns also bind us together in a transcendent way with generations of Christians who have gone before us.”
Below are a few brief comments about each song:

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  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Christus Victor (Amen) by Keith & Kristyn Getty and Cochren & Co.

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS


Jesus, Strong and Kind by Sinclair Ferguson. CF4Kids. 72 pages. 2024
****

In this children’s book (recommended for children 5-11 years of age), respected theologian and grandfather Sinclair Ferguson uses the lyrics of the CityAlight song “Jesus, Strong and Kind”, to teach children about Jesus. The author uses one word from each verse of the song – Thirst, Weak, Fear and Lost – and then takes us to stories from the Gospel to illustrate that aspect of Jesus. The book is beautifully illustrated by Angelo Ruta.
“Jesus, Strong and Kind” was written by Rich Thompson, Jonny Robinson, Michael Farren and Colin Buchanan. Buchanan writes the Foreword to the book. There is a code you can scan with your phone to watch CityAlight singing the song, which children will get to sing throughout the book.

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BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review…
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by R.C. Sproul
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What Happens When We Die?

One of the last things people want to talk about is death. That’s true despite the fact that unless the Lord comes back first, we will all die. Death is inevitable. The subject tends to only come up when it has to – a loved one has been diagnosed with a terminal disease, or we hear or read in the obituaries that someone we know has died. One of the reasons that people don’t want to talk about death and are fearful of it is the uncertainty that many face about what happens when we die.
People have differing views of what comes after this life. Many today believe that this life is all there is and there is nothing beyond the grave. Christians tend to believe that there are two destinations past this life. You will either spend eternity in Heaven or Hell.
I never really thought about death when I was young. It wasn’t until my mom died unexpectedly at age 60 that I read several books about Heaven and what comes after death. But I am now older than my mom when she died, already retired for six years, have recently celebrated my 50th high school reunion, and my wife Tammy and I talk often about the aging process and whether we will still be here to attend family members’ high school graduations and marriages. Continue reading


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THIS & THAT: A Gathering of Favorite Articles and Quotes

  • What is Christian Nationalism? Albert Mohler addresses this question on his Ask Anything Tour.
  • Reflections on Faith and Politics. Tim Keller, in writing after the 2004 presidential election, states “There has been an explosion of interest and debate about the relationship of religion to politics. Here are some things I believe Christians should keep in mind as they listen to and participate in this debate during the coming year(s).”
  • Where Abortion Policies Stand Now. Joe Carter writes “Voters in 10 states were asked to decide whether legalized abortion would be protected in their state constitutions. Here’s how they voted—and what it portends for the pro-life cause.”

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  • Favorite Quotes of the Week

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