Category Archives: transformation

No News is bad news.

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News is not news if it’s something you already know.

Most of us think that the Gospel is something we already know. I was bad (but not that bad) and Jesus has come to make me better; and I get heaven too! This is not the Gospel. We have forgotten from where we’ve come. We were never anywhere close to being good and we’re not getting much better. Indeed, getting better is not the point. Jesus did not come to make good people better; He came to bring dead people to life.

It seems the only explanation to our lackluster approach to the Gospel is that we do not really believe that it is Good News. Or at least, we have misunderstood the News we have received. If it’s not news, it’s not a big deal and it’s certainly not worth sharing. When it comes to the Gospel, this is when no news is bad news.  We have no news to share because we don’t think the Good News is all that good. I don’t need anyone to tell me that I am not real good but I’m not that bad either. I don’t need anyone to tell me that I’m doing pretty well without Jesus but with Him I could do better. I don’t need anyone to tell me that I could choose a religion to follow that is superior to all others. That’s not Good News. And if Jesus is my model to follow, that’s crushing news! And if, when I die I get heaven, that’s not really news either. I was kind of thinking I was going there anyway.

The Gospel (“the Good News”) is first “News”. It’s something we did not know, and would never know had God not made it known. It is News. It is a declaration. It is a proclamation of an event that has come to us in the form of a Person. News needs a herald and this News has been heralded by God Himself. In fact, He told us it was coming. He prepared us for this News but we missed it. And who could blame us. This News has no comparison, no rivals, no precedent. This is truly breaking news.

This News is breaking because it did not come from any man. Only God could bring this News. Indeed, to study the theological thread leading up to Jesus there was no resurrection theology. The resurrection was a complete departure from Orthodox Jewish theology. No one saw this coming. But suddenly, after the Christ event (His birth, life and teaching, crucifixion, and resurrection) there emerged a clear resurrection theology (or better, Christology) that changed everything.

This was the breaking News of heaven- that Jesus had lived the perfect life so that we wouldn’t have to. No longer are we crushed under the weight of God’s holy demands; they have been met in the One who came to fulfill the Law. He suffered and died in our place so that there would now be no condemnation for those who are covered in His righteousness. He rose again so that we too could live in the power of the resurrection power and in the hope of our own coming resurrection. We were brought from death into life. To say this News is “Good” News is an understatement. “Great” doesn’t qualify this News. This News is the heaven-breaking, earth-shaking, life-rescuing grace of God that has come to us through the One and Only Son of God.

We need to rediscover the Gospel. We need to scrutinize it, get underneath it, on top of it, and all over it. We need to obsess over the Gospel. We cannot study it enough. We cannot think about it enough. We cannot talk about it enough. This is the News that keeps on coming and is constantly new News to our feeble minds and our wayward hearts. This is the News to which are now heralds!

Praise God for the Good News of the Gospel.

Christ and Culture

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There is a great need in these days for followers of Christ to think more deeply about how to effectively engage culture as we join God in the renewal of all things. Richard Neibhur was arguably the most important Christian theological-ethicist in the 20th Century. For several decades he taught at Yale Divinity School and in 1951 he wrote his classic work, “Christ and Culture”- which is still used today to help frame the Christian’s cultural engagement.

Neibhur’s five typologies (or categories) offer a helpful framework as we consider how followers of Christ relate to culture at large. Below is a (far too simplified, but perhaps helpful) explanation of how Neibhur’s categories allow us think more deeply about our role in culture. One way to understand and apply his categories is to think of a more widely known principle: Christians are to be “in the world but not of the world” (actually based on Jesus’ words in the High Priestly Prayer of John 17).  Each of the five approaches is essentially a variation on the application of that often-referenced phrase. Here they are:

  • Christ against Culture – This is the “exclusive Christian” who sees history as the story of a rising church up against a dying pagan civilization. This approach, ultimately leads to an “us against them” approach- it’s the Church against the world.
  • Christ of Culture – This is the “cultural Christian” who sees history as the story of the Spirit’s encounter with nature and culture. Taken too far this could be described as “in the world and of the world” where there is no real distinction between the believer and the non-believer.
  • Christ above Culture – This approach might lead some to think we are to be in the world and over the world. That is, us over culture. This approach would say,  “We better get our man in the White House or we’re doomed (God is not going to know what to do) and the Gospel will cease to advance.” History proves otherwise.
  • Christ and Culture in Paradox – This is “the dualist” approach in which history is a struggle between church and culture and the constant tension that will only be lifted when Christ comes again. Taken to extremes this approach can lead to disinterest and apathy regarding cultural renewal, believing that God will make all things right in the end. The tendency is to disengage- to not be in the world.
  • Christ Transforming Culture – This is “the conversionist” who says, history is the story of God’s work in the world and humanity’s response to Him. Conversionists live more in the divine “now” than the followers listed above. This approach focuses more on the presence of God in time and would say it is Christ in us- in the world but not of the world. Christ brings about the transformation of culture through us, as we live as a “faithful presence” in our particular sphere of influence. This is the belief that there is a divine possibility of a present renewal, while at the same time, we prepare for what will take place in a final redemption and restoration of all creation.

Niebuhr doesn’t “land” on any one approach- as his work is more descriptive than prescriptive. I believe that Scripture (and experience) points us to the last one: Christ transforming culture through His followers as we live incarnational lives in every domain of culture. Is this God’s plan to change the world? If so, are you allowing his Spirit to live in and through you in your particular domain or sphere of influence? Are you practicing the faithful presence of Jesus in your life?  What do you think?

The Separation of Church & Hate

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Every four years Christians in America are challenged again to rediscover the incomparable power of the Gospel. Oh, most don’t realize that’s what is happening but it really is. It happens every four years. We claim that Christ alone is the hope of our nation and our world, that it is only the power of the Gospel that brings real transformation, but during the presidential race we seem to forget that. Our language, our argumentative spirits, our anger, and often hateful speech, betrays our hearts and the true nature of our belief.

As I’ve watched this season approaching, I’ve grown increasingly disappointed with how Christ followers are more passionate about politics than the Gospel. And I know, already the questions surface, “But don’t politics matter? Shouldn’t we be engaged in every sphere of culture, including the political domain? Don’t we have a God-given right and responsibility to engage, inform, and enter the public discourse of politics?” Yes, yes, yes, and yes. But we are to enter into public discourse like Jesus (our perfect Model in all things) or we do more damage than good. To remain silent is not an option but to be ill-informed or to have a spirit that does not represent our Savior is unacceptable. Authors Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman, in their book unChristian, point out that most young (18-29) non-Christians in America see the primary witness of the Church as a political witness.  We simply do not find this in the teachings of Jesus or anywhere else in the New Testament. Many believe this younger generation just “don’t get it” (like former generations thought of them), but I see a generation of young believers who are tired of the culture wars and they see another way. Young Christians are ready for peace.  As one young Christian said, “We are ready to lay down our arms. We are ready to stop waging war and start washing feet.” The Jesus way is a different way.

How do we enter the political fray in a way that honors Jesus and keeps the Gospel central?

Too often believers seem to get a pass for their political indiscretions. Often they are applauded for what the Bible calls “slander.”  We slander others in order to win an argument, disguising it all behind “righteous anger.” What is more, other believers applaud our passion and “conviction”, all the while losing the battle but feeling good they were able to “speak our mind.” Rather than simply engaging in political discourse (which is rarely “discourse” in the end), Christians should actually elevate the process.  We are called to stand with Jesus, above the great partisan divide and demonstrate a better way.  I heard one speaker remind us that, “Jesus did not come to take sides but to take over.” If He is Lord of our lives, others will see a better way. Remember:

1. Simply because someone disagrees with you doesn’t mean they’re wrong. Imagine that. Believers should approach political discourse with a humble posture. We should enter in (like any conversation) first to understand, and then to be understood. Understanding, of course, means I enter in loving my neighbor, eager to learn, and willing to express the love of Jesus. When I disagree, I do so in a humble, clear yet loving way.

2. People from both political parties are followers of Jesus (and thus, your brothers and sisters). On the weekend just prior to the election, churches will gather together and pray towards the outcome. Some will pray for God’s “will to be done”, but most will be praying for their candidate to win. That’s an appropriate prayer but the point is that sincere Christians on both sides of the political aisle will be praying equal and opposite prayers. And I doubt God is wringing His hands over the conflicting prayers of His people. He is sovereign over all things.

3. Some people like to argue more than others.  Simply because someone is more passionate than you are about politics doesn’t mean they’re more committed to Christ than you are. You are probably more passionate than they are about other matters of faith and culture. In fact, the Bible teaches us that those who cause strife and are prone to quarrel are weak in their faith, not stronger (James 4:1-2). Consider the biblical strategy up against what we see most of the time in the public discourse of our day:

“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.  And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.  Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 2:23-25

4. Thinking any one political party’s platform is altogether right, is wrong.  Any government, nation, or political party is only as good as those who make it up. All politicians (like each of us) are imperfect people and many (not all) are driven by sinful ambition. The policies of your political party are not altogether biblical or Spirit-led.

5. Broaden your perspective by listening to opposing views.  Many people narrow in on one political perspective and then listen only to those who affirm and confirm what they already believe, right or wrong. Remember that political talk radio and cable news channels are in it for the ratings; it’s what keeps them afloat.

Many who obsess over one political perspective become paranoid because the message heard is that the world will end if “our” political agenda is not established. 2 Timothy 1:7 reminds us that, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Our identity, worth, perspective, hope and focus is found in Jesus Christ.

6. Scripture tells us to pray for our governing leaders and to respect those in authority.  We are told to pray for those whom God has allowed to be placed over us (2 Timothy 2:1-4).  We are to give honor to our leaders and to show them respect as well because, “there is no authority except that which God has established” (Romans 13:1-7). Instead of vilifying our political leaders, we should pray for them.  I’ve often wondered what God would do if we prayed for our political leaders for as much time as we spend talking about them, and often maligning them.

A Tribute to Dr. Brian Newman

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I can’t stop thinking about him. I’m shocked, I’m sad, I’m confused, I’m challenged… I’m envious. Paul’s words from Philippians 1:21 come to mind. “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” All of us who have been impacted by Brian have experienced an unbearable loss. Those who never knew him have missed out on an unspeakable blessing. I’m one of the blessed ones. I have lost a dear friend, brother, and partner in ministry. I will miss Brian in a million ways. A friend of mine says, “Grief is the price we pay for love” and I am certain, the greater the love, the greater the grief. This is why we are all grieving so much.

I’m often asked at a time like this, “How do people who do not know the Lord make it through something like this?” My answer is always the same: “They don’t.” Oh, they may live on; they may make it to the next day somehow. They may press on in some way and “make it through”. But God has not called us to just make it through life. Following Jesus means that we experience His abundant life in us through all things. The NIV says, we are “more than conquerors” through Him (Romans 8:37). The NLT says it this way: “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us”. Those of us who cling to the grace of Jesus and seek to live in step with the Spirit, live above and beyond whatever may come our way. We know that we are fully alive as we grieve with hope and weep through breaking loss. The Gospel is not that we receive Jesus and all of life will go well for us, or we’ll never get sick, or never walk through tragedy. The Gospel is this: Whatever we face in life (or death) we get Jesus and He is more than enough for us. We are called to live life to the full in Him. His love that defines us comes without condition, never changes, and will never fail us. The extraordinary life that Jesus envisions for us is one of reckless abandon and unrestrained joy because we have Him. We are defined by His love and that is enough for us.

I know Jesus better because I encountered Him in Brian. He lived like Jesus – for others. He has forever impacted my life for the better. In Galatians 5:22, Paul, this painter with words, presents a portrait he calls the “fruit of the Spirit”. Here is Paul’s list of qualities that are present in a life that is being transformed by His Spirit. You tell me (if you knew Brian), do these words not describe him? “Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control..” This is the Brian I know and love. This is a portrait of Jesus.

Thank you God for the great gift you have been to me through Brian. I look forward to seeing him soon. By the time I do (and it could be today), he will have met every person in heaven and will be ready to joyfully introduce me to each one. I look forward to that. Until then, for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

God’s treasures

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I’m in Guatemala this week for several reasons. We have a team here doing soccer camps and evangelism. We’ve come to see and encourage our own Erin Threadgill who is serving here (great to see Erin)! We’re also here to see how we can more effectively accomplish the mission of Jesus in this country. We have a wonderful partnership with Buckner International and they do amazing work, meeting the needs of “the least of these”. I was especially moved again by our trip to the city dump this afternoon. After visiting a couple of orphanages and potential church partners, we made our way to “ground zero”, in terms of poverty and need in the city. We met with an amazing team of leaders at Casa del Alfarero (The Potter’s House). This ministry exists to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the families and the children who live in the 16 communities around the dump. 6,000 children live in these communities. All of these families essentially survive by scavenging this massive city dump.

As we talked and heard the vision of “The Potter’s House”, and saw what they are doing, the words of one of the leaders (Hector) kept ringing in my head. “We call all of the people we serve ‘treasures’ because that’s who they are to God. We are all God’s treasures.” I was reminded of a more crude form of the same sentiment I heard years ago: “God don’t make no junk.” God desires all people to be His treasured possession. YOU are His valued treasure.

“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” Deuteronomy 7:6

Have you taken the Bible for granted?

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How much do you love God’s Word?  Do you cherish it? Do you read it? Do you know what a gift it is to your life?

Please take the time to watch this inspiring story. Let it challenge you to NEVER take God’s Word for granted.  Study it. Love it. Obey it.

Let it draw you to Jesus.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9dpmp_-TY0]

What Really Happened on the Cross?

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“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

People ask: “Why do bad things happen to good people?” R.C. Sproul noted, “That only happened once, and He volunteered.” Jesus was sinless and yet He “became sin” for us. What does this mean?  If you want to live forgiven you must fully grasp what took place on the cross.  And the key to unlocking the mystery of the cross is to consider the most perplexing, uncomfortable, and difficult words that ever came from the lips of Jesus.  In His final moments on the cross, He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46 He’s actually quoting Psalm 22:1, but clearly this is a cry of anguish.  Here “forsaken” means, “abandon”, “left in trouble”- someone in trouble and turning your back on them.  I’ve had many people ask me, “Did He really believe the Father had abandoned Him?”  Could it be that God the Father really did forsake Him?  To understand the difficulty of these words we must first understand the nature of the Triune God.  The Trinity (the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit) is at the core of biblical Christianity.  It’s important to note that the Trinity is a relationship of submission.  The Son says He does nothing apart from “the Father’s initiative” and that He does only what He sees the Father doing.  Jesus says that ultimately the Spirit would come and “will guide you in all truth”.  At Jesus’ baptism, the Father says, “This is my beloved Son”.  In John 17:11, Jesus prays for the Father to make His followers “one even as we are one”.  Could it be that for the first time in all of history there was violence done, not only to Jesus, but to the Trinitarian relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?  Understood correctly, this cry of anguish found in Matthew 27, is one of the most powerful, perplexing, and comforting words that Jesus ever spoke to us.  In fact, I pray that as we unpack them you will be overwhelmed, besieged, and undone by God’s love for you.

See Matthew 26:36-46 In an attempt to understand more fully what Jesus meant, we need to go back to the Garden of Gethsemane the night before the cross.  As I read the event of Jesus’ last week, I’m struck with the reality that He is in complete control of all that is happening.  If you look carefully and listen to His words it seems as though He Himself is writing the script.  As the story unfolds you realize that’s precisely what’s happening.  He has a secret ambition.  It’s interesting to note that just prior to His arrest, John 18:4 says that Jesus knew “all things that were to happen to Him.”

Matthew’s account of the events leading up to the moment of Judas’ betrayal is the most descriptive account of all that Jesus was going through.  After Judas agrees to betray Him, Jesus shares the Passover meal with His disciples.  During the meal Jesus tells Peter that he will deny Him three times that night.  Then they go to a spacious olive grove of the garden called Gethsemane.  Emotionally drained (in fact Luke tells us that they were “exhausted from sorrow” in chapter 22:45), the disciples reclined under the moon and stars of a now peaceful night and quickly drift off to sleep.  Jesus, however, would find no peace, no rest at all.  Matthew says He “began to be sorrowful and troubled” (26:38).  Mark adds that He was “deeply distressed”.  Often Jesus would go off alone, most of the time to be alone, but on this night He would need His best friends there with Him.  Jesus, the Man, needed human companionship.  Solitary confinement is the worst form of punishment our species has ever devised and, in this moment, Jesus didn’t want it.

When His disciples failed Him, Jesus did not try to conceal His hurt: “Could you not keep watch for one hour?” (vs. 40)  His words suggest something more threatening than loneliness.  Is it possible that for the first time ever He did not want to be alone with the Father?  A great struggle is underway in the heart of Jesus.  No formal, well recited prayers would come on this night.  No poetic, nicely phrased petitions in these prayers.  Dr. Luke tells us, “being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling on the ground” (22:44).  He describes a rare medical condition that had taken effect, known as “hematidrosis”, in which the blood vessels, under such stress, expand and burst into the sweat glands.  Imagine what happens next: He falls face down on the ground crying out to God the Father.

Why was Jesus in such agony?  I would suggest that you and I have never known this kind of anguish.  I’ve talked to many people who knew they had only days, even hours to live.  Some are terrified but most are accepting, even calm.  Jesus seems anything but calm.  Knowing what was to come, was He afraid of the beatings, the scourging, the spikes driven through His wrists and feet?  Was it the fear of death that tortured Him so?  Here we realize that sometimes it’s a blessing not to know the future.  Was it the betrayal of His closest friends?  Was it the denial of Peter?  Was it a combination of all of these things together?  No.  I believe that the pain Jesus knew in the garden and would experience on the cross was greater than any one of those things and even greater than all of those things combined.

To know what was at the heart of His agony, we must understand what He meant when He referred to the “cup” the night before in the Garden.

What was this “cup”? What was Jesus hoping to avoid?  It was not merely death.  It was not physical pain on the cross.  It was not the scourging or humiliation. It was not the torture of nails being driven through His body, not the horrible thirst, nor was it the disgrace of being spat upon or beaten.  Again, it was not even all these things combined.  I say this because those were all the things Jesus said not to fear.  In Luke 12:4, He said, “And I say to you my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more they can do.”  “But,” He went on to add, “I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast you into hell; yes, I say to you, fear him!” (vs. 5)  Clearly, what Christ dreaded most about the cross was not physical death.  It was the outpouring of the wrath He would endure from His Holy Father.  The key is a clear understanding of “the “cup”.   The “cup” was a well-known Old Testament symbol of the divine wrath of God against sin. Consider just a few references:

“Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, You have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of His fury; you have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, and drained it out.”  Isaiah 51:17

“Take this cup of fury from my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.  When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them.” Jeremiah 25: 15-16

“Drink, be drunk, and vomit!  Fall down and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.” Jeremiah 25:27

Pretty graphic stuff.  What Jesus was experiencing on the cross was nothing less than the cup of the terrible wrath of God!  It’s worth noting here that “wrath” is not an out-of-control reaction of someone going “postal” on an angry rampage.  God is beyond that.  Wrath is God’s holy reaction to sin and in this case, it is unleashed on the Son.  The “cup” that Jesus was to drink was the vile, repulsive cup of sin bringing upon Him the full fury of the wrath of God.

Now, consider this: The One who had never tasted the tiniest drop of sin, the One who had never been separated from the Trinitarian relationship, will now bear the full brunt of the divine fury of God upon the most terrible, grotesque sins ever committed by every person who would ever live.  This, of course, includes your sins.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “He made who knew no sin to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  That holy transaction of our sins being poured into Him, the full wrath of God unleashed upon the Son, is what Jesus feared most.  He had never been separated from the Father, until the cross.  God the Father has never abandoned anyone except His own Son.

This is the only way to explain the perplexing prayer of Jesus on the cross: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)  Friend, as you read this, do you realize what you’ve been saved from?  God imputed (transferred, exchanged, ascribed) your sin to Christ and then punished Him for it.  Peter puts it this way:

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.”  1 Peter 2:24 Don’t you feel a need to stop right now and thank Him?  Go ahead and do it.

In the garden we find the only place where Jesus addresses God as “My Father” (Matthew 26:39,42).  In fact, Mark records He prayed, “Abba, Father”.  “Abba” is the Aramaic equivalent of “Daddy” or “Dada”.  I believe that Jesus was experiencing a kind of “holy separation anxiety”.  What parent has not seen the terror in the eyes of a child while being left behind- as if their eyes and their cry was saying, “I can’t believe that you are leaving me!”, as if to say, “Why have you abandoned me?!”  I believe that is precisely what Jesus went through on the cross, and the garden was a prelude to the pain He knew was coming.  With this cry, He yelled, “My God…” not “My Father” (the only place He does this).  Did the Father really abandon the Son?  Was there really violence done to the Trinity while Jesus was on the cross!?  I can’t explain it theologically or understand it rationally, but how else can you justify this cry of Jesus?

As He cried out in anguish, God’s inflexible holiness and boundless love collided, and our redemption was made possible.

That’s what happened on the cross. For you to be fully forgiven, Jesus had to be fully abandoned.  In that moment, the Man Jesus was not in charge, the Father was.  What does this transaction over 2,000 years ago have to do with you today?  Everything.  It is more relevant than today’s newspaper and more powerful than any truth you’ll ever know.  “You are forgiven”, He says.  Jesus, the Lamb of God, took on the full fury of God’s wrath.  He died so that you wouldn’t have to and now, you can live forgiven.

What is the “righteousness of God”?

“But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation.” Colossians 1:22 What is “the righteousness of God” poured into us?

The “righteousness of God” is to be as righteous as Jesus is righteous.

How can I receive it?

“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”  John 1:12

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

How can I live in it?

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24

So, grace is unmerited favor- Does God forgive me regardless of how I live? And once I receive His grace, can I go live any way I want to live?  I believe this question gets to the heart of what it means to be a Christian. If I truly comprehend the gift of God’s grace and the price that was required to pay so that I might be forgiven, then I will respond with a gratitude that would involve my whole life- all that I am. Otherwise I experience what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace”- grace that cost Jesus everything but cost me nothing.  To receive His grace is to experience “costly grace”- I understand that the possibility of grace cost Him everything and therefore, cost me everything. It is costly because Christ’s life, death and resurrection becomes a model, the example for MY life.  Thus Bonhoeffer’s most famous quote, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”  There is no greater cost.  Of course this is in line with the call of Jesus Himself:

Then He said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

Out of gratitude for this great exchange we die to ourselves in order to live for Jesus.  As we die to ourselves it is HIS life now alive in us.  Let your life now be one big, constant, ever-growing act of gratitude back to God for all He’s done for you.

 

 

Why Lent?

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Growing up Baptist kid I didn’t know anything about Lent.  In fact, in North Carolina, I only knew Lent as a strange “Catholic” practice.  All I knew was they practiced some strange liturgy- at least to me, in my small little world.  Praise God as I grew older I was able to get broader picture of the Body of Christ through the study of Church history and I was able to experience a broader expression of prayer and worship.  Most of us Protestants think of Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season as a “Catholic thing” while, in reality it was part of the early church’s consistent pattern of worship.  Our earliest known reference is that of Ireneus (who died in 202 A.D.).  What I’ve sought to do is strip the Lenten season of anything that is not biblical but maintain a simple and clear focus of prayer, repentance, and sacrifice.  I’ve heard many sermons on Christ’s instructions to pray when He says, “When you pray…” pray like this.  But He also says, “When you fast…” fast like this.  He didn’t say, “if” you fast.  Jesus expected His followers to pray, and at times, fast as a regular part of our spiritual pattern of worship.  Could it be that we (in North America in particular) could learn a few things about giving up so much of what we want and dying to our selfish needs for more?  I am certain that prayer and fasting is greatly needed among believers- particularly in the affluent West.

What many have written off as “weird” (ashes on the forehead, giving up certain foods, etc.) I’ve sought to recapture in its purest biblical sense.  It is true that Ash Wednesday or “Lent” are not in the Bible (of course, neither are Christmas Eve services, Good Friday services, Advent, and so much of what others of us would call “normal”).  You don’t see “Easter Sunday” in the Bible either (because every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday for the believer.

“Lent” may not be in the Bible but focused seasons of sacrifice, confession, and repentance clearly are.  In the church I grew up in we rushed to Easter Sunday without any preparation of the heart before God.  I’ve learned much from the larger Body of Christ as it relates to the spiritual disciplines solitude, prayer, and fasting. “Lent” of comes from the Middle English word “Lenten” which means “Spring”.  The Lenten or Easter Season is a focused time of confession and repentance from “Ash Wednesday” to Easter Sunday.  Forty Days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday (minus the Sundays leading up to Easter- because the early believers would not fast on Sundays).  Later many would go from Ash Wednesday to Maundy Thursday (forty days later).  Maundy comes from “mandatum”, meaning “mandate” or “command”.  Jesus said, “A new commandment” (mandatum nuevum) I give to you.”   So the Lenten season is a period of focused prayer and fasting (with a focus on confession, sacrifice, and repentance). Why forty Days?  Forty days shows up throughout the Bible.  Moses, Elijah, and Jesus (Luke 4:1-2) all fasted for forty days.

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19

The ashes are to remind you of your mortality and of the need to repent of sin in your life.  It was common for Jews and early believers to mourn the loss of a loved one with “sackcloth and ashes”.  Ashes were also a sign of brokenness and repentance of sin.  Confession of sin is a private thing between you and God.  It is not something to be paraded around and seen by everyone but a private moment between you and your Savior.

Fasting is the act of the will through which the follower of Jesus puts forth spiritual control over the flesh (through sacrifice- not eating) with a view to a more personal and powerful experience with God in prayer. Fasting involves giving up but is much more about receiving.  You give up in order to receive.  You die in order to live.

Types of fasts:

Total fast (be careful and receive guidance)

Water only Prepare your body for it.  Hunger pangs will go away- first 2 days hardest.

Liquid only Juices- not milkshakes! (When you don’t eat, more time for prayer)

Eliminate certain foods No deserts, no caffeine, no junk food- “Daniel fast”- healthy

Media fast NO television, NO movies, NO paper, NO internet, NO video games, etc.

Multiple possibilities Be creative and specific-but a sacrifice- must cost you something

During a fast, when your earthly desires kick in, you turn to the Lord and you are reminded that He is more than enough to meet your every need.  It is a wonderful way to be drawn to the Lord and to overcome the desires of the flesh in many areas of your life.

“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.”  Psalm 66:18-19 What is David saying here?  I cannot harbor unconfessed sin or unresolved sin in my life.  Any Christian who desires to fully serve God and follow Him must attack sin from all fronts.  We cannot hold on to sin but release it and the first step is to confess it- to God first and then, to others.

“For me, to live is Christ and die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

To be alive to Christ and to live for Him means I must die to myself, my needs, my wants- continually.  “In the body” is where dying of Jesus is seen through my life and revealed to others.  It is, at the same time, the place where this life (the resurrection life) of Jesus is seen.  In the same passage he says, “so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in my body.”  My life then becomes a presentation of a Story- the Story of the passion of Christ.  I die to myself in order to reveal His life in my.  You see, you are called not only to tell the story of the Passion, but to LIVE it, experience it.  How?  By dying to self.

But the language used by Paul is a continual dying- the process of dying- you are continually dying.  To remind you of your mortality- your body is dying and to get you focused and busy on the eternal that does not die.  You see, death for Jesus was not the end- He lives. So, how can we position ourselves to move to this dying of self?  How can I be touched by God to go to deeper levels?  By confessing my sin to Him, by showing Him that He is all I want- all I need.  Fasting is that spiritual discipline that helps us live that out in unique ways.  It’s why Jesus says, “When you fast…” (Matthew 6:16)- it was an expected practice of the believer.  It’s a way to deny yourself of earthly things in order to focus on heavenly things.

“My food” Jesus said, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.” John 4:34 During a fast He is your food.  The will of God becomes your sustenance.

May you walk to the cross with the Lord Jesus this Easter season as never before.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10