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A Light Has Dawned

Meditations on Advent and Christmas

by Carolyn Arends , Philip Yancey , Walter Wangerin , Eugene H. Peterson , And Others

Reflections on the Wonder of Christmas

A Light Has Dawned recovers the best Advent and Christmas articles from half a century of Christianity Today. Guiding the reader through Advent, Christmas, and the climax of Epiphany and including contributions by Billy Graham, Tim Keller, Elisabeth Elliot, Ruth Bell Graham, Eugene Peterson, and more. A Light Has Dawned will inspire readers with the wonder of Advent and Christmas.

Contents

  • Introduction by Carolyn Arends
  • Advent” by Alice Slaikeu Lawhead
  • Drive-Through Christmas” by Stanley Grenz
  • The Poverty of Christmas” by Katelyn Beaty
  • Bethlehem on a Budget” by Tim Stafford
  • Away from the Manger” by Mary Ellen Ashcroft
  • Saved through Child-Bearing” by Wendy Alsup
  • Christmas in Afghanistan” by Leigh C. Bishop
  • Gift Wrapping God” by Mary Ellen Ashcroft
  • Christmas Shame” by Eugene H. Peterson
  • Christmas on Tiptoe” by Donald J. Shelby
  • A Cosmic Culmination” by Charles Colson with Catherine Larson
  • Misreading the Magnificat” by David Neff
  • Let the Pagans Have the Holiday” by Rodney Clapp
  • God’s Gift on God’s Tree” by Ruth Bell Graham
  • Christmas Unplugged” by Bill McKibben
  • The Prince of Peace” by Addison H. Leitch
  • Peace: At Times a Sword and Fire” by Billy Graham
  • Hallelujah!” by Philip Yancey
  • The Invasion of God” by Charles Colson wiht Anne Morse
  • Saved by the Bell” by Verne Becker
  • His Kingdom Is Forever” by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
  • Painting Christmas” by Walter Wangerin, Jr.
  • Stars on a Silent Night” by Charlotte F. Otten
  • When God Came Down” by Walter A. Elwell
  • On the Festival of Christ’s Nativity” by Thomas Howard
  • My Dad’s Death Brought Christmas Home’” by Thomas C. Oden
  • Yabba-ka-doodles!” by Mike Mason
  • The Advent of Humility” by Tim Keller
  • The Wondrous Gift” by Elisabeth Elliot
  • The Most Beautiful Story Ever Told” by Frank E. Gaebelein
  • Our Divine Distortion” by Carolyn Arends
  • Mary Rejoicing, Rachel Weeping” by Wendy Murray Zoba
  • Simeon and the Child Jesus” by Harold John Ockenga
  • The Men Who Missed Christmas” by James Montgomery Boice
  • Ongoing Incarnation” by Philip Yancey
  • Christmas Implications” by L. Nelson Bell
  • Why I Celebrate Christmas” by Helmut Thielicke
  • The Blessed Evangelical Mary” by Timothy George
  • An After-Christmas Gift” by Lee Knapp
  • Not Yet Home for Christmas” by Jen Pollock Michel
  • The Magi’s Worship” by Kent R. Hughes
Endorsements
  • A Light Has Dawned is a one-of-a-kind book that excels in every possible way. It surpasses any book of Christmas devotions that I have read. Variety is one of the most obvious virtues of the book. As the list of authors keeps accumulating, the angles of vision on Christmas likewise keep expanding. The effect is like turning a prism in the light. This is a best of the best” book — the best evangelical authors giving us the best of their Christmas insights. I found the book to be a page turner, as I wondered who would be next on the playlist, and what aspect of Christmas would be the focus of meditation. I dare to predict that anyone who reads this book will be unable to envision any future Christmas without rereading it.

    Leland Ryken, Professor Emeritus of English, Wheaton College

Carolyn Arends
About the Author
Carolyn Arends

Carolyn Arends oversees the Renovaré Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation as well as several other Renovaré initiatives, including the Book Club. She is also a recording artist, speaker, author, and college instructor. She lives near Vancouver, BC, with her husband Mark and their two children.

Philip Yancey
About the Author
Philip Yancey

Philip Yancey is the author of twenty-five books. Fourteen million copies of his books have been sold worldwide, making him one of the best-selling evangelical Christian authors. Two of his books have won the ECPA’s Christian Book of the Year Award: The Jesus I Never Knew in 1996, What’s So Amazing About Grace? in 1998. In 1992, he and his wife, Janet, moved to the foothills of Colorado, where they live now. 

Walter Wangerin
About the Author
Walter Wangerin

Walter Wangerin Jr. is widely recognized as one of the most gifted writers writing today on the issues of faith and spirituality. Starting with the renowned Book of the Dun Cow, Wangerin’s writing career has encompassed most every genre: fiction, essay, short story, children’s story, meditation, and biblical exposition. His writing voice is immediately recognizable, and his fans number in the millions. The author of over forty books, Wangerin has won the National Book Award, New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year Award, and several Gold Medallions.

Eugene H. Peterson
About the Author
Eugene H. Peterson

Eugene Peterson, now retired, was for many years James M. Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He also served as founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland. In addition to his widely acclaimed paraphrase of the Bible, The Message (NavPress), he has written many other books.

And Others
About the Author
And Others

With many other authors as well.

2020, Lexham Press