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Prepare Your Heart for Lent and Easter

In this season of Lent, our prayer is that these resources will point to ways to deepen your prayer life, come alongside others, face the pain of Christ’s suffering and know the joy of the resurrection!

Prayer

Don't be frightened by the many things you need to consider in order to begin this divine journey [of prayer], which is the royal road to Heaven.

There's no telling what circumstances will compel you to set aside a day for prayer. Whatever the circumstance, God alone transfuses the human soul with a desire to go apart for a short while to pray.

Knowing and Doing Articles

When considering questions about the possibility, meaning and significance of miracles, C.S. Lewis reminds us of the importance of miracles to the larger story line of the Bible.

Looking at the process of discipleship from the opposite side of most discussions, Tom Tarrants raises the important, albeit disturbing, topic of persecution for the sake of the gospel. Jesus warned many times that his disciples would face specific trials that come from following him. This article helps us prepare for those inevitable trials.

If you desire a deeper, more intimate and fruitful relationship with God, or if you need His help in a time of real need, fasting is an important means of grace to practice.

Challenging Questions

The notion that a loving God would send people to hell stands as a stumbling block to many. So why has this doctrine of the eternal punishment been a part of Christian teaching throughout church history?

Skeptics often say, "It's not rational to believe in God." Through examining the relevant issues, this relatively short paper will demonstrate that it is the God-centered view that makes the most sense of physical nature and human nature, and by contrast it is the secular, godless worldview that leans toward the irrational.

Christians make the claim that Jesus of Nazareth was the Jewish Messiah as predicted in The Old Testament. This is a bold claim, asserted with great force, and should not be ignored.

Reflections

Pastor and author Gavin Ortlund wrote this about C.S. Lewis’s poems: “I love his poems. They demonstrate the same spiritual insight and facility with words that characterize his prose and make him my favorite writer.”

Now what was the sort of “hole” man had got himself into? He had tried to set up on his own, to behave as if he belonged to himself.

In the earliest days of Christianity an “apostle” was first and foremost a man who claimed to be an eyewitness of the Resurrection… to preach Christianity meant primarily to preach the Resurrection… 

C.S. Lewis’s last sermon, A Slip of the Tongue, was preached at Magdalene College, Cambridge by candlelight. He delivered a powerful message that laid out what is required of the person who chooses to follow Jesus...

In Narnia, there is no stream other than Aslan’s that can keep one from dying of thirst. In this world, Christ alone offers us eternal life through His gift of living water.

Universalism, the false teaching which negates the consequences of sin and evil and marries heaven and hell into one eternal paradise for all, was just as prevalent in C. S. Lewis’s day as it is today.

Poems

C.S. Lewis loved poetry and wished he could be remembered most for his poems. They grab us in different ways than stories or prose. Here are some poems featured in issues of our Knowing & Doing publication.

Torn between the right impulse to do good works and also recognizing that God does not require our efforts for His purposes to be accomplished, John Milton reflects on the ways in which we spend our lives on this earth.

Stuart McAlpine reflects in his poem about the ways in which Joseph taught us to view art in the context of Jesus being a masterpiece hung on the Cross for the world to see.

Death. An unsettling thing considering it was never intended, and is contrary to the eternity set in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). In this poem, John Donne rebukes death and declares that it will be no more.

Words are both too immense for us to carry, but necessary for us to tell of the goodness of Jesus. Words though are not the complete picture of who we are. In this poem, George Herbert juxtaposes our being with stained glass, which leaves a more lasting impression than words sometimes do.

Legalism can creep into our walk with Christ and take us in a direction apart from Him that we ought not to walk in. In this poem, Cowper reflects on how the love of God changes our posture from thinking of following Him as duty to choice.

The beauty of God is displayed throughout all creation. In this poem, Gerard M. Hopkins reflects on God's wonderous beauty.

Questions to Put to Your Heart

"Easter Dawn" is a selection from Sounding The Seasons by Malcolm Guite. This poem was discussed during our Preparing Your Heart for Lent and Easter event with Dr. Guite. Click here for full list of the select poems from the event.

Recommended Books

Deepen your Lenten experience as you undertake a journey of humble reflection and honest examination! Inviting you to set aside busyness and embrace quiet, Tripp's 40-day devotional encourages you to let go of worldly things, acknowledge your sins, consider Jesus' suffering and sacrifice, and abide in God's forgiveness and joy as you follow Christ more faithfully.

Profoundly affected by Luther's doctrine of the theology of the cross, Bonhoeffer wrote often on Lenten topics. Culled from his letters and sermons, these potent passages focus on self-denial, temptation, suffering, the universality of sin, Christ's love for the world, the true meaning of the cross, and the power of the resurrection.

Henri Nouwen's daily devotional for the Lenten season focuses on seeking God's path in the midst of the trials we face in life.

God has promised to be present with us. He offers us his peace, forgiveness and love. He wants to hear about our lives and meet our needs. Most of all, God extends to us the gift of his presence in our lives. This book shows how we can experience the riches of God's love.

The Resurrection accounts of Jesus in the Gospels are the most dramatic and impactful stories ever told. One similarity unites each testimony--that none of his most loyal and steadfast followers could "see" it was him, back from the dead. The reason for this is at the very foundation of the Christian faith.

As Christians we are taught that prayer is the most powerful way to experience God. But few of us receive instruction or guidance in how to make prayer genuinely meaningful. In Prayer, renowned pastor Tim Keller delves into the many facets of this everyday act.

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