lent

5 Resources for Lent

/ CAstfalk / Leave a comment

Lent’s almost here. Again. Yikes.

I’m becoming more of a minimalist when it comes to Lent. Less is more, no? One resource or one thing to concentrate on. After numerous Lents in which God delivered a more suitable, fruitful penance than I’d ever dream up, I’m learning to better accept God’s gifts, even those I’d just as soon re-gift.

Here are five resources to accompany you on your Lenten journey. Maybe one here will suit you this year. Or ready you to accept God’s plan for these forty days.

5 Resources for Lent: Books, Downloads, Support & More #Lent Click To Tweet Continue reading →

The Lent You Want and the Lent You Need

/ CAstfalk / 1 Comment

Christ on the Cross by Leon Bonnat (image in the public domain)

In my experience, God cares little for the Lent you want as evidenced by delivering the Lent you need. I’d intended to write a little more about that, including how little I’d “done” this Lent in the way of the three hallmarks of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. And then a little about the sick kids piling up in my living room this week and the cut on my pinky that sent me to the urgent care center. Continue reading →

When You Fast: Jesus Has Provided the Solution Blog Tour

/ CAstfalk / Leave a comment

With Lent about to begin, I can’t think of a better time to read this short book and to  implement it in your life.

When You Fast

About the Book:

There are many references to fasting in Scripture. In Saint Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 5, Jesus puts the solution in front of us when he says, “When you fast.” He doesn’t say “If you fast,” but “When you fast.” As Christians, we’re supposed to imitate Jesus. Jesus fasted before every major event in His life. Continue reading →

Excessive Options and Apathy

/ CAstfalk / 8 Comments

Last week I passed a billboard for a convenience store chain. (I wanted a photo of it, but since it was along a highway, and I was driving, I didn’t get one.) The image consisted almost entirely of beverage bottles and read:

“Are 500+ beverage options excessive?”

“Yes.”

The implication, of course, is that excess is a good thing, and that this store has whatever you might like to satisfy your thirst. (Except alcohol. This is Pennsylvania, people.) Continue reading →

Walk in Her Sandals: A Creative Approach to the Passion

/ CAstfalk / Leave a comment

Walk in Her Sandals“Walk in Her Sandals will allow you to enter more fully into life in Christ by praying over his passion, death, and resurrection. It will help you experience a conversion of heart and recognize your own giftedness.”

Walk In Her Sandals, edited by Kelly M. Wahlquist, takes an innovate approach to meditating on the Passion of Christ. By combining fiction and nonfiction, this little volume offers the best of both types of writing. It draws you into the heart of Holy Week with Scripture and Stephanie Landsem’s wonderful prose, then takes you a step beyond with reflection and questions designed to draw you closer to Jesus.

Best of fiction & nonfiction to draw you into the Passion. Walk In Her Sandals https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KOLL59O/ Click To Tweet

If you’ve read Stephanie Landsem’s Living Water Series, which I highly recommend, you’ll recognize her hand here as she draws you into the life of Christ from the margins. By offering the perspectives of women of various ages on the periphery of Jesus’s ministry, you’ll become immersed in the life-changing events of Holy Week. Continue reading →

The Wearin’ O’ the Green: Envy

/ CAstfalk / 12 Comments

Envy is ugly. And selfish.

I should know.

Last week a simple social media post written by a lovely, young Christian woman sent me into a pit of envy for the better part of an afternoon.

If wasn’t her post, of course, which I assume was meant to be innocuous and helpful. It was me. My pride. My discouragement. My envy that lay at fault.

Green with envy.

Green with envy.

I’ll refrain from reposting what she shared – though my envious self made sure to screen capture it so I could mull over the ways in which it got under my skin. In sum, it was a simple shot of a basket of books, an open daily planner, and a mug of coffee. Sounds pretty harmless, doesn’t it? A day later, my over-reaction stupefied me. Continue reading →