History, Real Life and Faith
How do authors write Christian devotionals? Obviously, the earliest writers like Theresa of Avila wrote under compulsion from God–in her case out of her mysticism. Writers want to share what God has put on their hearts, or because they have wisdom to help others deepen their relationships to God. I recently spoke with four contemporary devotional writers about the process. Six…
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What is a Christian devotional book and why do people read them? Obviously, the original Christian devotional book is the Bible–particularly the Psalms which are full of praise to God. But early on in Christianity, believers sought to know and understand God through meditation and by learning from others. To that end, teachers, monks, nuns, and even laymen, began to…
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I’m finishing up this Advent series with Jesus’ childhood. It’s not really part of Advent, which means the arrival of a notable person, but we have so little information about his growing up years, we might as well put it in here! The Bible gives us just a few peeks into Jesus’ boyhood, though his life has been embroidered by many…
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I’m finishing up this Advent series with Jesus’ childhood. It’s not really part of Advent, which means the arrival of a notable person, but we have so little information about his growing up years, we might as well put it in here! The Bible gives us just a few peeks into Jesus’ boyhood, though his life has been embroidered by many…
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In my last post, I took apart the Advent story of the magi, and that same day asked some friends if they had any insight into them. My friend Holly, a former missionary to Gambia, sent me the following information about the three magi, which I thought worth sharing. It’s novel and informative and shares several ideas: One thing, which…
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Many of us grew up with nativity stories that included camels bearing magi to greet the newborn king in the manger. That’s true–sort of. Let’s look at the passage and rethink the story from a different angle. Magi= wise men, seers, learned astronomers. Matthew 2:1-18 tells us they came from the east to Jerusalem. East of Jerusalem at that time…
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