Today’s Prayer

From The Book of Common Prayer, 1662

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit , one God, for ever and ever. -Amen.

Taken from page 70, Epiphany, Week 4,

“Holy Bible: Mosaic” (Tyndale 2009)

Sunday Homily / Meditation / Lectio Divina

 

I present these two passages to you, from my own meditation time today, for your own reflection. Either one is a good choice for meditative prayer (Lectio Divina) which I have written about in previous posts. (You can do a search, or click on the appropriate category at the bottom of the page, for the 4 movements typical to this prayer form.) I have taken these two passages from the material offered in the Holy Bible: Mosaic by Tyndale, pages 58-59.

After reading these, please share your reflections.

Psalm 29:3-4

The voice of the LORD echoes above the sea.

The God of glory thunders.

The LORD thunders over the mighty sea.

The voice of the LORD is powerful;

the voice of the LORD is majestic.

O Love, How Deep

O Love, how deep, how broad, how high,

it fills the heart with ecstasy,

that God, the Son of God, should take

our mortal form for mortal’s sake.

For us he was baptized, and bore

his holy fast, and hungered sore;

for us temptation sharp he knew,

for us the tempter overthrew.

For us he prayed, for us he taught,

for us his daily works he wrought;

by words and signs and actions thus

still seeking not himself, but us.

For us to wicked men betrayed,

scourged, mocked, in purple arrayed,

he bore the shameful cross and death,

for us at length gave up his breath.

For us he rose from death again;

for us he went on high to reign;

for us he sent his Spirit here,

to guide, to strengthen, and to cheer.

To him whose boundless love has won

salvation for us through his Son,

to God the Father, glory be

both now and through eternity.

-Thomas Á Kempis (Germany/ c. 1380-1471) 

A Prayer for Guidance – Advent Meditation

Thank you for visiting today. I invite you into a short spiritual exercise of prayer and meditation.(It takes 2.5-4 min.)  Simply read over the following almost 1,000 year old prayer, about 3 times, (preferably out loud-even a whisper is fine). Each time think carefully, for 30 seconds or more, about something in the passage that stands out to you, before you re-read. Then, speak with God for a few minutes about the thoughts that came to mind.

Your comments, or reflections about your experience, or this prayer are quite appreciated.

Thank you, and happy Advent Season.

Page 28, Third week of Advent Meditation section-

Holy Bible: Mosaic, Tyndale Publishing, 2009.

Prayer for God’s Guidance

-The Sarum Breviary, 1085

We beseech Thee, O Lord, let our hearts be graciously

enlightened by Thy holy radiance, that we may serve Thee

without fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of 

our life; that so we may escape the darkness of this world,

and by Thy guidance attain the land of eternal brightness;

through Thy mercy, O blessed Lord, who dost live and

govern all things, world without end. Amen.

 

Holidays-Thanksgiving and Advent November 26 & 29

I wish all of you a very special holiday season. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. This has always been my favorite holiday.

The other holiday I will celebrate lasts four weeks. It is called Advent. I will be focusing on the features of expectancy, waiting, hope, and longing as a precursor to joy, which culminates in the Nativity of Jesus. I’ll be going reflecting on the passages in the bible with respect to these themes. I’ll be praying about these elements in my own life, and their meaning personally and spiritually, and societally. 

The new Tyndale publication called Holy Bible: Mosaic, is a New Living Translation Bible with weekly reflections, and verses for the whole Christian calendar year, starting this Sunday, November 29th. To follow the community moving through these reflections together, and encountering God and this season of Advent, return here again to read more, and check out the Tyndale Mosaic site.

It was great to read the new rave review today at Mary’s World.

Advent (start a new Ancient tradition)

As some of you know, I have been involved in the Tyndale Publishing, New living Translation, project: Holy Bible: Mosaic, through contributing a meditation on the Trinity called, Anointing Oil (pg. 264).

We are soon approaching the Season of Advent. Many of us in the Evangelical tradition have not experienced the richness of joining with so many Christians around the world who worship and enjoy God by observing the Christian calendar year. This begins at Advent, the first week in December, and in 2009, begins Nov. 29th. This is a time when we focus on God’s redemptive plan for us, and anticipate the birth of the Incarnation, the coming King, Jesus the Christ. (This calendar continues to other major events in God’s redemptive plan–including Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, and Pentecost.)

The Holy Bible: Mosaic begins weekly thought-provoking meditations at Advent, but Tyndale also provides a special Advent sampler of the first four mediations from the Mosaic Bible that make a thoughtful early Christmas card or gift, (and are small enough to fit in a envelope.) Another nice thing is that this Advent sampler it’s only $1.99!

I hope you will consider the celebration of Advent in your worship this year, especially if you haven’t in the past.

More interesting, in-depth info on Advent available here.

Thank you to Rick Warren (Ministry Toolbox), and to New Testament scholar, and author of The Jesus Creed, Scot McKnight who have been so positive in their support of this NLT Bible–a new tool to dive deeper toward the heart of God through this special presentation of God’s Word–adjacent to weekly God-centered meditations.

I will be doing a weekly reflection on the Holy Bible: Mosaic meditation of the week here, as we journey together.

Thanks for reading.

Feel free to leave your comments.

Artwork – Trinity (Holy Bible Mosaic)

This is a peek inside the NLT Holy Bible: Mosaic to one of the many beautiful artworks published inside. I was really drawn to this one. It’s of Jesus at his baptism, where the Trinity was recorded as all being present. (Visually, Audibly, and in the Incarnation of Jesus)

Perhaps this image could be used in your time with God, as you reflect on the gift of the Incarnation, in whom the Father was well pleased.

Leave any reflections you have.

Just in! Release date- 9/22 for Holy Bible Mosaic

 

HOLY BIBLE: MOSAIC is a beautiful newly published Bible, unlike any Bible you’ve ever seen…

 

It has gorgeous, inspiring artwork from the 3^rd to 21^st centuries from every continent across the globe.

It contains poignant, and thought-provoking writings from the 1st to 21st centuries from every continent, and branch of the Church around the world.

 

Both artwork and writings follow the Church calendar throughout the year starting with Advent (Sunday, November 29, 2009).

 It has a Dictionary/Concordance, NLT word study system with Hebrew/ Greek dictionary. A beautiful layout of art with devotional content, companioning online community and content to add to each readers’ experience and and spiritual support, and Greek and Hebrew lexicons.

 

I’m in the loop with HOLY BIBLE: MOSAIC because I contributed a small portion as a writer for this exciting project. And I’ll have some very big news to tell you next week, but I’m sworn to secrecy, for now!

 

You can sign up for exclusive updates, including some big surprises Tyndale has in store, at this link. www.HolyBibleMosaic.com.

Book update–

To update visitors, friends, and fans, old and new…

3 chapters, an overview, and a new author bio is in my agent’s hands, Chip MacGregor. Editors at one place have mentioned their initial interest, and it seems there are other interesting leads as well.

The book is heading on a bit of  different path than I first imagined, so I felt the great need to revamp the subhead. The working title for the manuscript now is the following: Life As Prayer: A New Paradigm for Contemporary Spirituality Based on an Un-religious God. It is sure to be eye opening, stumbling block removing, burden lifting, and revealing how enjoyable our Creator is. I will keep you posted, so check in for more info. Also, I greatly enjoy comments to any posts, so feel free to put in your two cents, as long as it’s not spiteful of anyone.

Also- The Holy Bible: Mosaic, Tyndale’s new New Living Translation Bible is coming out in October 2009. I’ve lined up a radio spot on WGRC for the show called, “The Matter at Hand” with Larry Weidman, to speak about this project, and the meditation I wrote for it on the Trinity. This is going to be a really neat layout for the Bible that hasn’t been done yet, with readings, reflections from every century of Christianity, gorgeous artwork, 52 meditations, room to write, and more. Check this one out!

Mosaic Bible: Word with a twist

 

 

Product Description

Encounter Christ on every continent and in every century of Christian History.A new genre of Bible—a weekly meditation Bible—Holy Bible: Mosaic is an invitation to experience Christ both in His word and in the responses of his people. Each week, as you reflect on guided Scripture readings aligned with the church seasons, you will receive a wealth of insight from historical and contemporary writings. Full-color artwork will engage the soul; quotes, hymns, prayers, and poems enhance the rich devotional experience. Also includes a Dictionary/Concordance, NLT word study system with Hebrew/ Greek dictionary. A beautiful layout of art and devotional content, and an online community and content (coming Fall 2009) will extend the experience.

I got to contribute to this project with a short meditation. Here’s a buying tip for the frugal. Pre-orders are possible at amazon.com at a guaranteed price, under 20$. (The list price is $49.99.)