April 29 was a sad day if you were in Rome in 1380. A woman who had changed the world died. Who was Catherine of Siena? Let me tell you three very cool things about her. First, Catherine was eager to listen to Jesus. As a child she began having visions of Jesus, and her loving […]
Archives for April 2014
Why Is It So Hard to Focus on Easter?
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to really give your attention to Easter? I mean the actual resurrection. The main event. It isn’t the marshmallow bunnies and chocolate eggs that distract us. Take, as an example, #1 in the sharefaith.com list of “Top 10 Easter Worship Songs” from last year. (I don’t really know […]
Vocabulary Lesson: “Easter,” “Pascha”
Why, you may ask, do Christians call the Sunday Jesus rose from the dead “Easter”? Good question. Apparently Christians are capable of getting their knickers in a knot about this: the word itself derives from an old English word, “Eostre,” which is the name of a pre-Christian deity. What? Were those rascally medievals trying to […]
Vocabulary Lesson: “Maundy Thursday”
Today is the day in the Church year that wins the prize for the most peculiar name. Generation by generation, we ask, “What on earth is a ‘maundy’?” If you were too embarrassed to ask, I’ll tell you: It is from a Latin word meaning “commandment.” It is like our English word “mandate.” This is […]
Small Group Leader’s Guide for Kneeling with Giants!
I am very happy to announce that the Small Group Leader’s Guide for Kneeling with Giants is now available! It is also free, and only in the Free Member Library here at GaryNealHansen.com. What could be better than finding ways to draw close to God that really fit? Ways of prayer with deep roots in authentic […]