Charis

“Seven Stanzas at Easter”

Dan — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 22:02:46 +0000

I found this beautiful poem several months ago on Rob Marsh's blog and have been eagerly waiting for Easter to post it. As I have been reading Adrian Warnock's Raised With Christ and seen more and more tweets from various believers about the importance of the resurrection, these lines have taken on even more resonance. [...]

“Dude, what’s your problem?”

Dan — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:12:37 +0000

a2’s men’s group met this morning for the start of the spring semester. As we shared our dreams and goals for 2010, a recurring theme was calling: “I want to know what my purpose is”; “I don’t want to wonder what I’m supposed to do; I want to be certain”; “It’s time for me to [...]

Review: The True Saint Nicholas

Dan — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:00:26 +0000

The True Saint Nicholas: Why He Matters to Christmas is an easy and informative read. Bennett is a masterful storyteller, transforming what could be a dry encyclopedia entry into an engaging tale. The book is divided into three sections of three chapters each: Life of Nicholas, Legends of Nicholas, and Legacy of Nicholas. In Part One, Bennett takes the sparse historical materials as well as the legends and hagiographies and combines them into an interesting story of Nicholas' life, filling in cultural and historical details and making clear what's certain and what's supposition. I appreciated Bennett's occasional use of Scripture and focus on Nicholas' faith and service to God. This is not about a historical figure who happens to matter to Christians; this is about a Christian who happens to matter to history.

Emmanuel: the gift already given

Dan — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:53:41 +0000

Over the past few years, I've done fairly well in making some sort of observance of Lent, but Advent has generally escaped me—undoubtedly because the weeks leading up to Christmas are always incredibly busy in ways that the Lenten season never is. Advent, as those in liturgical churches know, starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas; Advent Sunday (today), not only starts the Advent season but also marks the beginning of the liturgical year. For much of the Christian world, this day signals changes in prayer, ritual, and family practices leading up to the celebration of Christ's birth. For the rest of us in low-church settings, Advent passes right on by without so much as a mention, though Christmas will likely get some attention in the December services.

fourth week of Advent

Dan — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:46:16 +0000

Purify my conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at His coming, may find in me a mansion for Himself; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

first week of Advent

Dan — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:48:24 +0000

Almighty God, give all of us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when He shall come again in His glorious [...]

week of July 5

Dan — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:10:17 +0000

O God, you have taught me to keep all your commandments by loving you and my neighbor: Grant me the grace of your Holy Spirit, that I may be devoted to you with my whole heart, and united to others with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever. Amen.

week of October 5

Dan — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:20:54 +0000

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon your church the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not [...]

two tools for developing a love filter

Dan — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:05:06 +0000

I concluded my last post with the idea that Jesus' wisdom in dealing with difficult people was the result of filtering their actions and His responses through love--what I termed a "love filter." I should note here that a love filter isn't rose-colored glasses; choosing to filter people and the world through love is not choosing to ignore problems or act as if none exist. We saw last time that Jesus didn't ignore problems; rather, He had the wisdom to know when to confront and when to overlook. So the question becomes, "How do we love as Jesus loved? How do we develop that wisdom?" This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are two things that are helping me.

return of the annoying people; or, I need a love filter

Dan — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:24:23 +0000

Getting an eternal perspective on annoying people helped some, but it didn't solve the problem. For the last few days, I've been having fantasies of telling this person--let's call him Alan--of telling Alan off: kindly and gently, but still telling him off.