Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview


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MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS


How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb – U2
*** ½

How to Assemble an Atomic Bomb was U2’s eleventh studio album. It sold nearly ten million copies and won eight Grammy Awards. The twentieth anniversary package includes a remastered version of the original album, including bonus track “Fast Cars”, plus How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb, a “shadow album” of ten previously unreleased tracks from their 2004 album sessions recorded with Atomic Bomb’s original producer Chris Thomas. The songs, discovered by The Edge while digging through the archives, offer a fresh perspective on that era.

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  • More of this review and a review of New Arrangements and Duets by Van Morrison
  • Music News
  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ “He is Making All Things Right” by Bryan Fowler, Skye Peterson and Ben Shive

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BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

Legacy from Christ: What’s My Message by Robert Smart. WestBow Press. 108 pages. 2017
****

This is the fourth, and final, book in the author’s (my longtime pastor) series on the seasons of spiritual formation. He has taught the information from this series in classes to thousands of people over the past several years, and continues to do so.
He tells us that the Christian in his or her final season of spiritual formation – legacy from Christ – is a blessed person, and their influence is greater than ever before. This season is designed to shape us into the glorious likeness of Jesus Christ. It will sufficiently prepare us to leave this earth with a message and a benediction, and to enter eternity in heaven and the new earth. The spiritual formation season of legacy is the best season to speak the message God has given you. This is a season of life to reflect and clarify how we may speak well of others’ futures, express our lives’ messages, and prepare our final wills and testaments.

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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 Aging

Our Father in Heaven,

I’ve always felt  younger than my actual age, and with a good deal of energy. I’ve felt like I was twenty years younger than my age. But recently our high school class celebrated our fiftieth reunion, which is still hard for me to grasp. Can it really have been that long ago? I certainly don’t feel like it was fifty years ago!
But Father, this past year, I’m beginning to feel my age. I find myself feeling more tired. I’ve had trips to the emergency room and prompt care. I’ve had a few falls, a lingering episode with a cough, a concern with vision and other health related issues. I find that I don’t recover as quickly as I used to. These days, I can really feel the effect of aging.
The Apostle Paul tells us however that we should not lose heart, because though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16). Please continue to renew me each day, my mind through your Word and my body through exercise, diet and rest.
As we age, it’s easy to get weary. But Isaiah told us that those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31).
We may no longer be able to do all we once could. We may find ourselves to be closer to the “slow-go” or “no-go” years, than we are to the “go-go” years.
Father, help us to do what we can in our particular situation for Your glory as long as we are physically and mentally able to do so. Let us share an encouraging word, or passage of scripture with a friend in need. Let us willingly mentor or disciple one who asks. Let us pray for others, our churches, our leaders, and our country.

In Jesus’ precious name,
Amen


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THIS & THAT: A Gathering of Favorite Articles and Quotes

  • Woodrow Wilson Reconsidered — A Conversation with Christopher Cox. On this episode of the Thinking in Public podcast, Albert Mohler visits with former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Senior Scholar in Residence at the University of California, Irvine, Christopher Cox. They discuss his latest book Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn.

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    • More interesting article links
    • Favorite Quotes of the Week

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