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Ash Wednesday

blog, trauma

Why this Parkland shooting photo is so painful

Another shooting, another community in grief. I’m not going to repeat the shooter’s name because that what people who do this stuff want. A shooter walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL and killed 17 people and injured many others.

Of the many images of the Parkland shooting that emerged, one brought tears to my eyes instantly.

The Associated Press photographer Joel Auerbach took a picture that was truly painful. I saw this picture shared on social media dozens of times on Facebook and Twitter. The photo came up on the news on television. It is being shared over and over.

Why are so many people sharing it?

Continue Reading…

Ash Wednesday, Lent

Pastors need Lent too

ash_wednesday-pic

Just as we had finished imposing ashes on the foreheads of worshipers to begin Lent, my friend and fellow pastor David Bennett turned to me and said, “Alan, remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” And with those words, David marked me with the sign of the cross with ashes. And that is when it hit me: It’s Lent. Forty plus days of Lenten lunches, Wednesday Bible studies, prayer services, extra time needed to plan extra sermons, meetings, and everything that comes with an already very full plate of ministry. Another year. Another Lent. Will I survive?

On Ash Wednesday, pastors get their hands dirty to impart ashes on the foreheads of parishioners with the words, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Millions of Christians attending services will hear those familiar words and then go home without realizing what is about to take place for their clergy. Ash Wednesday not only marks the beginning of Lent, but also the beginning of a trying time for pastors.

During Lent the church calendar fills up and the pastor’s daily agenda quickly gets full. Pastors and ministry leaders try hard to plan and lead meaningful spiritual encounters. Lent is a time of reflection and examination of our faith. People tend to start visiting their pastors with challenges, problems, concerns, and other needs. Somehow it seems people become more needy during Lent. I mean that in the best possible way. Pastors are called to serve and help people. We are glad to fulfill our calling. However, during Lent, pastors often find that demand for their service increases. People go into the hospital, someone dies, another has a crisis, and a transient is in the pastor’s looking for money but you are late for a meeting.  Most pastors know the increased flow of need is coming, but that does not mean your pastor is ready for it.  Continue Reading…

Ash Wednesday, Lent

Ashy Baptists

Ash Wednesday is an occasion to mark the beginning of Lent and be marked by ashes. To receive ashes on our forehead and hear the words, ‘You are dust and to dust you shall return’ can be a powerful reminder of our life and hope in Jesus Christ.

Baptists have traditionally have a rejectionist approach to anything in church life that is not found in the Bible. Ashes on foreheads, responsive prayers, a liturgical calendar, and the like are things not prescribed in the Bible. Thus, Baptists often choose to make worship much more about a conversion event rather than expressions of lament, sadness, contemplation, reconciliation and forgiveness.

For those of us Baptists who do participate in the more liturgical practice of imposition of ashes, I shall deem us “Ashy Baptists”. Some Baptists may think ashes and Lent are more Catholic things, but they are not. However, the marking of ashes are Biblical, as a sign of mourning and repentance.  There is nothing magical about the ashes.  We are not more holy for participating in Ash Wednesday, but it is  another way to experience the presence of God in our lives in a symbolic way.

Christians from many denominations have rediscovered the value that Lent and Ash Wednesday can provide.  The liturgical worship movement is a movement of compassion, experiential and participatory worship, image based, and connective community.   Every church has a liturgy, no matter “high” or “low” the church is.  A liturgy is a set order or worship, whether printed or spoken.

For us “Ashy Baptists” we find company in the likes of Christians who want to make a public statement about their belief and comfort and Jesus Christ. But, ashes on our foreheads go beyond being public about our convictions. The symbolic nature of being marked by ashes serves as a tangible expression of one’s commitment and acceptance in the Kingdom of God.

In a world were many churches offer an over load of visually and auditory stimulation,  we need more physically experiential expressions of our faith.  Ashes on Ash Wednesday, for Baptist, can be a meaningful expression and opportunity.

 

Ash Wednesday, Lent

Ash Wednesday, Ashes To Go

Today is Ash Wednesday and millions of Christians begin their Lenten journey, but do they have time to stop for an Ash Wednesday service? Many churches only offer a morning or evening service. Busy commuters and schedules do not allow some to be able to receive ashes on this day. How do churches and ministers solve this problem?

Ashes To Go!

Like a drive through church, Ashes To Go enables busy commuters the chance to begin the season of Lent with the words, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  A powerful statement to hear as one heads into the complex and competitive business world.

Ashes To Go started in 2007 with three Chicago-area Episcopal congregations that took ashes and prayer to suburban train stations.  For many commuters, Ashes To Go gave them a chance to be prayed for or to be reminded about a tradition that they abandoned long ago. The practice has spread to New York City, San Francisco, Newark, St. Louis, and more cities continue to embrace the practice every year.

Is this Ash Wednesday practice of Ashes To Go really meeting a need or is just a cop-out for Christians? Continue Reading…

Ash Wednesday, Lent

Fat Tuesday, Lent, & You

 

Today is Fat Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday. For many, this is a celebration of drunken revelry. Countries around the world take to the streets, squares, and community areas to celebrate one last hoorah. Is today really about a huge celebration with no purpose, or is there something more here that involves all of us?

In reality, Fat Tuesday is the last day in the Christian calendar of the season of Epiphany, just before Lent. Traditionally, Catholic and Episcopal cultures around the world use this day before Ash Wednesday to celebrate.  Historically, this is the final day that some Christian communities indulge in sweet rich food that are forfeited during Lent.  Lent, the period of 40-days (not including Sundays) is the time that Christians prepare for Easter and for spiritual insight.

No matter how strong your connection to Christianity is, or your lack of connection, Fat Tuesday involves you. Why? The answer isn’t very religious, but more practical. Continue Reading…

Lent

Dude Lives Off Beer During Lent

For most of us, giving something up for Lent is tough.  Chocolate, sweets, or even Facebook are popular choices for the Lenten discipline. Some give up alcohol but one man is adding alcohol to Lent. Not only that, but he is only drinking beer for Lent!

CNN’s Belief Blog recently reported that J. Wilson, a 38 year-old author of the blog brewvana, gave up food and is only drinking beer (and water)   The practice was also observed by Bavarian monks  hundreds of years ago.

Wilson is  newspaper editor and beer enthusiast. His motto of his blog is, “An ideal condition of harmony, beer and joy.”  He proclaims himself a non-denominational Christian who avoids denominational labels. His decision to drink only beer was a seriously one and required a lot of preparation: Continue Reading…

Ash Wednesday, Lent

A Prayer for Ash Wednesday

An Ash Wednesday prayer:

Lord,
The house of my soul is narrow;
enlarge it that you may enter in.
It is ruinous, O repair it!
It displeases Your sight.
I confess it, I know.
But who shall cleanse it,
to whom shall I cry but to you?
Cleanse me from my secret faults,
O Lord, and spare Your servant from strange sins.

St. Augustine of Hippo – (354-430 CE)

Christians all around the world commemorates Ash Wednesday today. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a period of 40 days (really 46 including Sundays) before Easter. It is a time of reflection upon our need for salvation, forgiveness, and the fundamental priorities of the Gospel.

It is customary for Christians to give something up for Lent. This act remembers Christ giving himself up and remembers his suffering. Many give up sweets, soda, or some type of rich food.  While giving something up for Lent is a simple way to remember what Lent is all about, is it time we Christians try something other than deprivation? Continue Reading…

Lent

What Satan Can Teach Us About Lent

Several years ago, I read a dramatic billboard sign that compelled the reader to think about Satan. The billboard read:

Do you believe in Satan? He believes in you.

A striking message, isn’t it? Many of us choose not to think too much about the forces of evil or how Satan plays a part in the Christian story. However, Satan is very much a part of the Christian story, but he is not an inspiring character. Since the beginning of the biblical record, Satan (in Hebrew hasatan means “accuser”) existed in various forms. The presence or mention of the demonic is documented in Genesis, Job, Psalms, Zechariah, the Gospels, and Revelation.

As a way to prepare for the celebration of Easter, Christians all around the world will prepare through the season of Lent. For 40 days (not including Sundays) Christians mark this time through study, prayer, fasting, reflection, worship, service, and meditation on God’s word. Lent provides a way for Christians to change the rhythm of their life by contemplating the less glamorous Christian imperatives such as forgiveness, morality, repentance, suffering, and penitence.

Believe it or not, Satan can teach us about Lent in the Christian life. How? Beginning in the book of Luke, Jesus departs for the wilderness in chapter 4 and confronts Satan, the Accuser: Continue Reading…

Ash Wednesday

A Baptist Who Celebrates Ash Wednesday?

Huh? A Baptist who celebrates Ash Wednesday?  That’s like an American celebrating Boxing Day.  The two just don’t go together.

Despite the misnomer, Baptists do celebrate Ash Wednesday and Lent, especially this Baptist.  Two of the classic Baptist distinctives is local autonomy and soul liberty.   Each Baptist church has the freedom to worship however the church sees fit.  Since we Baptists do not have a book of worship or order, like other denominations, Baptists are free to worship as they feel led.  This, of course, does not happen in a vacuum.  I have always believed that Baptists must be led by scripture, reason, tradition, and experience (the Wesleyan Quadrilateral) with scripture being the final authority.

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent.   The goal of Ash Wednesday is to reflect upon our humanness, our need for forgiveness, and our connection to Christ’s last days.  These themes are symbolized by the imposition of ashes on the forehead, with the words, “You are dust and to dust you shall return…” during the worship service.  In the Old Testament, ashes were a sign of penitence and mourning.  Job was known for placing ashes upon his head to mourn the loss of his family.

Sure, Catholics do it, but that does not mean that we become Catholic if we receive ashes.  We are merely participating in the greater historical liturgical practices of Christians.  There is nothing magical about the ashes.  You are not any more holy for participating in Ash Wednesday, but it is just another way to experience the presence of God in our lives in a symbolic way.

But, where did this act of worship and repentance on Ash Wednesday come from?  Christianity Today provides some insight:

Continue Reading…

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