During this season of Advent I have been blessed by a fantastic book titled . It contains 45 pithy devotional reflections arranged in daily readings (from Nov. 24 -- January 7) from some of Christianity's all-time best thinkers. Perhaps you recognize some of these names: Henri Nouwen, Meister Eckhart, Dorothy Day, John Howard Yoder, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Annie Dillard, Jürgen Moltmann, Brennan Manning... the list goes on.
Anyway, in the spirit of giving, I would like to give two of these books away. Want to win one? Here's what you need to do:
That's it.
A couple of rules: The contest ends at 12:00pm (Central Time) on Thursday, December 17. You may only enter once, and winners will be chosen randomly by means of . And in light of , both books will be purchased from instead of Amazon.
Happy Advent!
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Advent is the beginning of Spring out of cold, dead Winter, a new life that leads to the Spring of death on a cross…with the surprise of Easter at the end. All that being said…it is the joy of new birth, of rediscovering the child…the Christ Child, our own children, the children all over this world, & perhaps most importantly, the child within us all…that we may come to the Christ Child as "little children ourselves…such is the way of the Kingdom of God, the Beloved Community.
Nicely done and great idea! I already have and completely love the book, plus I follow you on twitter so I'll leave it for someone else. I'm preaching from Loretta Ross-Gotta text in the book this Sunday.
Nicely done and great idea! I already have and completely love the book, plus I follow you on twitter so I'll leave it for someone else. I'm preaching from Loretta Ross-Gotta text in the book this Sunday.
Growing up in German churches Advent was always a very important time in the life of the church. Advent is a time for me when I begin to prepare my heart and mind anew to continue to make Christ my focus for the coming year.
Nice! I love the diversity of people in this book (gender, race, etc.) and how I'm challenged in different ways through each text.
Nice! I love the diversity of people in this book (gender, race, etc.) and how I'm challenged in different ways through each text.
I always thought that advent as anticipation, expectation, and hope. As we await the Christchild, we reflect on what it means to await his second coming. Personally, I love Advent because we have the best Family ministry opportunities at church. :)
Great Advent idea, Jake! Keep posting Advent-related stuff on your blog, and you can give those books to someone besides me. For me, Advent is about waiting and preparation for the Savior's birth and Incarnation into our world. The preparation, though, often seems to get lost. It's like Allen Iverson saying "Practice!? We're talkin' 'bout practice?!" We often get so focused on the Christmas event, that the preparation and moving forward of Advent gets lost. In reality, we are in a perpetual Advent and Lent, always looking forward to God fulfilling God's promises. So yes, "we're talkin' 'bout practice," and very well should be.
Great Advent idea, Jake! Keep posting Advent-related stuff on your blog, and you can give those books to someone besides me. For me, Advent is about waiting and preparation for the Savior's birth and Incarnation into our world. The preparation, though, often seems to get lost. It's like Allen Iverson saying "Practice!? We're talkin' 'bout practice?!" We often get so focused on the Christmas event, that the preparation and moving forward of Advent gets lost. In reality, we are in a perpetual Advent and Lent, always looking forward to God fulfilling God's promises. So yes, "we're talkin' 'bout practice," and very well should be.
Love the analogy. Also, I love YOU.
That's funny. Because I love YOU.
That's funny. Because I love YOU.
Well for me, Advent is a time of anticipation, of preparation for the coming of God Incarnate. I usually try to make advent as holy as possible, but this year it is just not happening for me. Between my wife and I, we have faced unemployment, health concerns, grieving lost family members, and financial struggles all year long. It has made for a tough Advent this year. And Advent is my favorite time of the year, but this year has been bleh.
Advent for me is a time of remembering, seeing and anticipating. It is remembering because we remember the first time Jesus became one of us two thousand years ago. It is also a time of seeing because we try to develop an attitude of being sensitive to the presence of God in our midst, in the events and in the sacraments. Last, it is also a time of anticipation because we look forward to the second coming of Christ in glory when everything will have its fullness and when we stop and rest our waiting.