Gary Neal Hansen

Theology. It's good for you.

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On Forgiveness (Heidelberg Catechism, Q 56)

December 2, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

forgiveness

What is forgiveness? I’m sorry, we say. We did something that caused someone pain. No problem, they answer. Or That’s okay. What if they said I forgive you. It almost grates doesn’t it? If someone says they forgive us, it means they agree that we did them some harm. There was something that needed forgiving. Ouch. We’re much […]

Filed Under: Heidelberg Catechism, Theology, Vocabulary Tagged With: Debts, Forgiveness, Satisfaction

Reading for Reflection (Letters to a Young Pastor)

December 1, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

Reading for Reflection

Dear ______: Sorry to be out of touch for a few weeks. I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year — National Novel Writing Month. I’m now officially a novelist, with a rough draft of 55,000 words in hand. But I’m behind in my correspondence And thanks for the reminder that there are other, less […]

Filed Under: books, Ministry Tagged With: Desert Fathers, Nouwen, Reflection

New Online Class for Advent — Lectio Divina

November 24, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

Advent starts Sunday! And so does my brand new online class on lectio divina. I suspect that, like me, you want this Advent to be a time of deepening your connection with God — instead of being swept into the hurly burly of shopping and office parties. As the prophet and the gospel remind us, we need to […]

Filed Under: Bible, books, Church Year, Reviews Tagged With: Advent, Lectio divina, online class

Why You Should Read Popularizations (Letters to a Young Pastor)

November 10, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen 6 Comments

Reading popularizations

Dear ______: I’ve been trying to help you rethink the process of reading when it comes to your course assignments in seminary. This is actually long term advice: whatever kind of work you end up doing, you’ll learn more of what you need day by day if you know how to make quick work of […]

Filed Under: Ministry, Seminary, Theology Tagged With: C.S. Lewis, Here I Stand, Mere Christianity, Online Reading Group, reading popularizations, Roland Bainton

Being a Christian Citizen

November 9, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen 3 Comments

Yesterday, on election day, I voted and I prayed. I’m a citizen. I’m a Christian. These things are weighty obligations. And being a Christian citizen is complicated at election time. Whatever I say about the outcome, I stand a decent chance of offending about half the population. And my blog is not a political forum, […]

Filed Under: Ministry, Theology Tagged With: Christian citizen, Citizenship in heaven, Dual citizenship, heavenly citizenship

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Theology. It’s good for you.

I'm a Church historian by trade. My writing, speaking, and teaching explores the Christian past to equip today's disciples. Join me here for regular posts on the best of theology, spirituality, community, and ministry. read more…

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