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Tag Archive - Lent

Ashes To Go

February 22, 2012 in Ash Wednesday, Lent with 3 Comments

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…

Fat Tuesday, Lent, & You

February 21, 2012 in Ash Wednesday, Lent with 2 Comments

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…

It's Good Friday, but Sunday is Coming!

April 22, 2011 in Good Friday with 0 Comments

Prayer for Good Friday

April 22, 2011 in Good Friday, Holy Week with 1 Comment

O Christ, your life was no triumph, you carried a cross; may we walk along the same road as you.

O Christ, by your suffering you learned faithfulness; you became a source of eternal salvation for the whole human race.

O Christ, when threatened you did not retaliate; enable us to forgive to the very end.

O Christ, you see the pain of those who are exiled and abandoned; take their suffering upon yourself.

O Christ, when lies and worries try to separate us from you, your Holy Spirit is always with us.

O Christ, you are the happiness of those who follow you: enable us to live by your trust.

O Christ, our life is hidden with you in God; that is a joy that touches the depths of the soul.

Strengthen us, Eternal God, and we will wait in silence and peace until the light of the Resurrection rises upon us. Amen.

Prayer from Taize

Dude Lives Off Beer During Lent

April 6, 2011 in Lent with 0 Comments

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…

Giving up Facebook… for Lent?

March 25, 2011 in Facebook with 4 Comments

Kristi Gustafson, social media strategist/staff writer for the Albany Times Union, recently asked me about a growing trend: giving up Facebook, Twitter, and other social media for Lent. I was glad to hear that Kristi was very familiar with the practice of Lenten fasting in the 21st century. Check out her article and my comments:

Chocolate, swearing, eating out. These are things Christians have given up for Lent for decades.

Now there’s something new to sacrifice.

Facebook.

The average Facebook user spends 4 hours and 35 minutes a month posting updates on their relationships, checking friends’ vacation photos and playing games like Farmville on the social networking site, according to a January report from Experian Hitwise, a New York City-based global research firm.

That’s more time than most of us spend doing anything other than sleeping, exercising or being at work.

In an age in which Facebook sees more monthly traffic than Google, some Lenten observers are leaving their “friends” behind as part of their commitment to the 40-day fasting.

“Giving up the same things year after year gets boring and you have to freshen it up,” says the Rev. Alan Rudnick with the First Baptist Church in Ballston Spa. “With the popularity of social media, people will say, ‘I like Facebook or Twitter just as much as I like chocolate.’ “

Read the rest…

A Prayer for Ash Wednesday

March 9, 2011 in Ash Wednesday, Lent with 0 Comments

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 celebrate 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…

What Satan Can Teach Us About Lent

March 7, 2011 in Lent with 3 Comments

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…

What Lent and Weddings Have in Common

February 24, 2011 in Lent with 3 Comments

One the ways weddings become such a momentous and exciting event is the fact that there is an engagement period. A couple announces their intent to be wed and sets a date. Over a period of months, planning becomes paramount. Flowers, dresses, guest lists, food, location, and a million other little details go into planning a wedding. Anticipation builds as the wedding comes closer. The ceremony begins, vows are given, rings exchanged, and finally the pronouncement (and the kiss)! Usually, there is a joyous reception that follows which signals the end of waiting and celebrates the joining of two people together in marriage.

Lent is fast approaching. A time in the Christian Church where preparations are made in anticipation of Easter. Lent is a period of forty days before Easter (not counting Sundays). The word “lent” comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “spring” and refers to a season when the days become longer.

Many Christians question the usefulness of Lent. “It’s Catholic.” or “It’s about punishment.” are typical responses to Lent. Christians for hundreds of years have made Lent into a spiritual journey. However, many contemporary Christians ask, “Do I really need a structured way of preparing for Easter?” Continue Reading…

Elevation in Prayer

March 5, 2010 in Lent with 4 Comments

Part III in our series on Jonah

Awake, O Sleeper!

March 3, 2010 in Lent with 3 Comments

I have been preaching on Jonah throughout Lent. It has been a very moving experience for me. The story speaks to us in high moments and our low moments in life. Jonah’s story is often thought of as a children’s story. Nothing could be further from the truth! Jonah’s story has deep spiritual, theological, and biblical currents running through it. I’m preparing for my sermon on Jonah 2 and ran across a music video/short film. I have seen/heard the video/song before, but I could not help be moved by the video’s grittiness.

It’s loud, a little violent, a little bloody, pulls no punches, and is moving:

A Hero comes from the wilderness to cry out to the captives, pleading for them to awaken. This short film from Whitestone was in part inspired by “Plato’s Cave” and depicts the struggle of freeing the captives, whomever they may be. This film is set to the song by the same name originally written for this film by the talented Wright Brothers: Nicholas Kirk and Billy Wilkerson. (Link)

I could not help but see the strong connections between Jonah and this song. The men are held captive, and are in need of help. Jonah is held captive in the belly of a fish (which, saved his life). Jonah cries for God in chapter 2:

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, ²saying, “I called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

If Jonah knew about this song, he might have sung this line: