Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview

Tag Archives: Coram Deo


by Leave a comment

THIS & THAT: A Gathering of Favorite Articles and Quotes

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

  • More interesting article links
  • Favorite Quotes of the Week

Continue reading →


by 2 Comments

FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • How Can I Point to Christ When Work Gets Stressful? Miranda Carls responds to the question “It seems like challenges at work tend to bring out the differences between my faith and the faith (or lack thereof) of my colleagues. We recently had a tough situation with a difficult boss, and I could tell my reactions weren’t the norm in our office. I wanted to share my faith but also wanted to be sensitive to everyone’s heightened (and not always rational) emotions. How do I know when to share with my co-workers that my faith is informing my approach? And how can I do that well?”
  • Christians Can Guide the Transition to Working with AI. John Pletcher writes “What if instead we dare to view AI as another wonderful advancement flowing from the image of God in humans? After all, words and thoughtful proliferation of words were the Creator’s original ideas.”

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS


Seven Psalms – Paul Simon

Seven Psalms by 81-year-old Paul Simon is unlike any album he’s released previously. The idea for the album, his fifteenth studio project, came to Simon in a series of dreams in 2019. Watch the trailer for the album here.
The album, which was released digitally as one long (33 minute) track, is meant to be listened to in its entirety, not as individual songs. The beautifully sounding album features Simon’s singing backed by his playing acoustic guitar, with other sounds (flutes, choral harmonies, bass harmonica, etc.) mixed in.
The album has a sense of a last testament from Simon, who is Jewish. It finds him preparing for death and hashing out belief and doubt. The opening song “The Lord” begins with:

I’ve been thinking about the great migration
Noon and night they leave the flock

And I imagine their destination
Meadow grass, jagged rock

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

  • More of this review
  • Music News
  • Song of the Week Lyrics:  “Holy Forever” by Chris Tomlin

Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

What Comes After This Life? (Crucial Questions) by R.C. Sproul. Ligonier Ministries. 92 pages. 2023 
***

This is one of the newest booklets in R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series, all of which are free in the digital edition. These booklets offer clear answers
to the most common and difficult questions about the Christian faith. In this volume, he examines what the Bible says about heaven and hell.
Sproul writes that death came as God’s judgment for sin. Every human being is a sinner and therefore has been sentenced to death. We are all waiting for the sentence to be carried out. The question then is what happens after death. For Christians, the penalty has been paid by Christ.

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
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 →


by 2 Comments

My Review of the Movie ~ The Essential Church

The Essential Church, rated PG-13
****

This documentary follows three pastors – John MacArthur from Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, and James Coates and Tim Stephens from Canada – as they refuse to suspend worship services during the COVID pandemic, and as a result face consequences from their respective governments (fines, imprisonment, legal action). The film was written and directed by Shannon Halliday.
The film shows that God, not the state (King, etc.) is the head of the church. It shows the hypocrisy of state and local officials ordering houses of worship to shut their doors while permitting – and at times participating in – destructive riots to sweep through major cities unchecked.
The film focuses on why Grace Community Church initially complied with the restrictions, and how Martyn-Lloyd Jones’ commentary on Romans 13 helped lead the elders to change course, and re-open. It follows the lawsuits leading to the church’s ultimate legal vindication. The film explores the struggle between the church and government throughout history, such as the Scottish Covenanters of the 17th century and the Great Ejection of 1662), and some of the people who sacrificed their lives for what they believed in. Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

My Review of The Miracle Club Movie

The Miracle Club, rated PG-13
**

The Miracle Club is the story of three women that share an unhappy past, with secrets and regrets that go back forty years. The acting performances are strong, but overall, the film is heavy with sadness.
The film is directed by Emmy nominee Thaddeus O’Sullivan (Into the Storm, Shetland, Vera), and written by three-time Emmy nominee Joshua Maurer (Georgia O’Keeffe, And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge), Timothy Prager, and Jimmy Smallhorne.
The film is set in Dublin, Ireland in 1967. Two-time Oscar winner Maggie Smith (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, California Suite) portrays Lily. She still mourns the death of her nineteen-year-old son Declan, who drowned in the sea forty years ago. Lily and Eileen, played by Oscar winner Kathy Bates (Misery), are lifelong friends. They live in a close-knit neighborhood with their husbands. Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

My Review of the Movie ~ Sound of Freedom

Sound of Freedom, rated PG-13
***

Sound of Freedom is based on a true story, and helps to grow awareness about the reality of the global sex trafficking industry. The film was directed by Alejandro Monteverde and written by Monteverde and Rod Barr.
The film is based on the true story of a Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard, played by Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ), and Founder and CEO of Operation Underground Railroad. Ballard, a father and husband, leaves his job at Homeland Security just ten months before earning a pension. Instead of catching pedophiles, as he has done 288 times before, he pursues a little brother Miquel, played by Lucás Ávila, and his sister Rocio, played by Cristal Aparicio, who have been trafficked, traveling to Mexico and Colombia.
Ballard is helped by Vampiro, a former cartel leader, played by Emmy nominee Bill Camp (The Night Of). Mira Sorvino plays Ballard’s wife Catherine.
Themes in the film include sacrifice, sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and hope.
Content concerns include a small amount of adult language, violence, and sexual situations (though nothing blatant is shown). Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

My Review of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, rated PG-13
** ½

The fifth and final film in the Indiana Jones series, the first in fifteen years, and the first not directed by Steven Spielberg, features the soon to be 81-year-old Oscar nominee Harrison Ford (Witness), reprising his iconic role. The film was enjoyable, but lacked the spark to be more than just “OK”. The film was overly long at two hours and thirty-four minutes, and featured too many chase scenes that frankly began to get boring.
The film was directed by two-time Oscar nominee James Mangold (Ford v. Ferrari, Logan), and written by Jez Butterworth (Ford v. Ferrari, Spectre), John-Henry Butterworth (Ford v. Ferrari), David Koepp (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and Mangold (Logan, Walk the Line). The movie looked great, and cost approximately $295 million to make. Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS


Lamb of God (Live) – Matt Redman
****

In his new album “Lamb of God,” his seventeenth, longtime respected worship leader Matt Redman – “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)”, “Blessed Be Your Name” – gives the church the gift of new songs written for congregational singing. The album, which was produced by Steve Marcia, was recorded live at the Mission in San Capistrano, California, a house of worship first established in 1776.
Among the themes on the album include Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, the goodness of Jesus’s heart, the grace of Jesus, the unconditional love, hope and joy of God, the holiness of God, praising God when the blessings flow and when it seems they don’t, and worshipping God no matter what comes.
The album features three versions of the song “Son of Suffering” and a new version of Redman’s classic “Heart of Worship.”
Below are a few comments about each song on this excellent new album:

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:

  • More of this review
  • Song of the Week Lyrics ~ Heart of Worship by Matt Redman

Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS


Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation by Collin Hansen. Zondervan. 309 pages. 2023
****

If you have been blessed by the ministry of Tim Keller as I have (he died on May 19 after battling pancreatic cancer for three years),  I believe you will enjoy this book that tells Keller’s story from the perspective of his influences, more than his influence, by Collin Hansen. The author had three years of interviews with Keller for the book, as well as free access to Keller’s family, friends, and colleagues. The book is the story of the people, the books, the lectures, and ultimately the God who formed Keller.
The book is not the definitive biography of Keller but does follow his life chronologically as it describes his influences. Keller would be baptized as a Roman Catholic, confirmed as a Lutheran, enrolled in seminary as a Wesleyan Arminian, and ordained as a Presbyterian.
His mother Louise moved the family from a Roman Catholic Church to a Lutheran church, and then to the Evangelical Congregational Church. Keller would go to Bucknell University and profess Christ in 1970 after which he became a part of InterVarsity leadership. After seminary, Keller would serve at West Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Hopewell, Virginia for nine years. Through role models in books and other pastors in Hopewell, Keller learned what it meant to be a pastor and not just a preacher. Keller would recall his time in Hopewell as the most formative ministry years of his life.

Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
BOOK REVIEW ~ More of this review…
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Providence by John Piper
I’M CURRENTLY READING…. Continue reading →