Our Lenten Worship Journey - The Path

Greetings to my brothers and sisters, worship planners and leaders, liturgy nerds and readers!  Lent is fast approaching ... It starts next week!  So, if it's helpful, I thought I would post the series we'll be going through at FUMCA.

This year, we're taking things on as a journey ... a hike ... a marathon ... Lent is a time of trial and perseverance that Christ calls us to and carries us through.  The series follows the Gospel stream of the RCL.  I've included, as always, scriptures, sermon titles, a description of the series for websites/worship guides, and a few ideas to start the sermon.

If you find it useful, please let me know in the comments!  An Easter Season Series is on the way1

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Our 2016 Lenten Journey:

The Path

Welcome to The Path, FUMC of Arlington’s 40-Day Journey of Lent.  It is a time to accept the call to set aside more time than usual to cultivate our faith lives.  Where, in the end, we have deepened our relationship Christ, deepened our relationship with the church, and centered ourselves on the call God puts on each of our lives to be better, do better, love more.

At least, this is the hope and the goal.

The Christian life could be described as a marathon, a lifelong journey, of study, praise, and service.

It could also be described as a treacherous hike, where peaceful streams travel down into dangerous valleys.

We are called to exert effort in our life journey with Christ, in our personal journeys, and in the way we bring others along with us.  But, as always, when we jump into the race we have Christ as our trail guide, our coach, and ... our map, as the Word of God made flesh.

From our start on February 10, Ash Wednesday, to Easter Sunday on March 31, here is a vision of The Path:

• February 10 - Ash Wednesday
  • Scriptures - Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
    • 2nd … All of them, but especially Psalm 51:1-17
  • Sermon Title - Before We Start, We Practice
  • Themes
    • Are there ‘Lent experts’?  Are there faith experts?
    • 10,000 hours
    • “Give me a clean heart”
• February 14 - Lent One
  • Scriptures - Luke 4:1-13
    • 2nd - Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
    • The Lord delivers ...
  • Sermon Title:  The Starting Line
  • Themes
    • Jesus’ temptation …
    • Testing God?
    • Practice of fasting …
    • What’s holding us back in our relationship with Christ?  
    • What are we filling our bellies, minds, and hearts with that create barriers?
• February 21 - Lent Two
  • Scriptures - Luke 13:31-35
    • 2nd - Phil 3:17-4:1
    • Citizenship of heaven, standing firm
  • Sermon Title - Getting off track
  • Themes
    • Jerusalem kills prophets?  Foreshadowing Palm Sunday.
    • Jesus’ (Son of God) desires to gather all children together
    • Perseverance
• February 28 - Lent Three
  • Scriptures - Luke 13:1-9
    • 2nd - Isaiah 55:1-9
    • Come to the waters … My ways are higher ways.
  • Sermon Title - Traversing obstacles
  • Themes
    • A call for repentance
    • Yes, we do need to do it to follow Christ.
    • The practice of confession/repentance
    • When bad things happen …
    • Bad theology … Defining ‘God’ is hard.  We should, however, know ‘not God’.
• March 6 - Lent Four
  • Scriptures - Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
    • 2nd - 2 Cor 5:16-21
    • New creation ...
  • Sermon Title - Don’t look back
  • Themes
    • Eating with sinners … Communion, anyone?
    • The Prodigal Son
    • God desires all to repent and return home.
    • The center of Luke’s story.
    • Practicing hospitality
• March 13 - Lent Five
  • Scriptures - John 12:1-8
    • 2nd - Phil 3:4b-14
    • Press onward to the goal … Resurrection
  • Sermon Title:  Almost done, but not yet
  • Themes
    • Anointing at Bethany
    • For burial, but where is Christ going?
    • At the home of Resurrected Lazarus - a foreshadowing of Easter
    • Tie in to washing the disciples’ feet
    • Judas vs. Mary
  • Practicing generosity
• March 20 - Lent Six: Palm Sunday
  • Scriptures - Luke 19:28-40
    • 2nd - Phil 2:5-11
  • Sermon Title - Not the finish line
  • Themes
    • The irony of Jerusalem's Welcome.
    • Back to the killing of prophets …
    • The Reality - Jesus is going to die, for our salvation.
    • Practicing self-sacrifice
    • Breaking down whatever At-One-Ment means.
    • Hope

Holy Week

• March 24 - Holy Thursday
  • Scriptures - Luke 22:14-20
  • Sermon Title - Fuel for the Marathon
  • Themes
    • Jesus calls us to remember him in a meal - a meal that’s free to us, but comes at great cost to Christ
    • A symbol of sacrifice, that at the same time causes us to pause, rest, and give thanks
    • Communion is for the Community.
      • It binds us together, in the good and the bad, reminding us that we are equally given the grace of Christ.
• March 25 - Good Friday
  • Scripture - John 18:1-19:42
  • Sermon Title - It is Finished
  • Themes
    • Don't be afraid to read the whole story, break it up throughout the service, and intersperse hymns and anthems.  This might be the only time all year that people read/hear the Passion Narrative at one time.
    • Reading the Gospel is much more than preaching it in this instance.
    • Christ did die to save us from our sins, our selves.
    • Do not shy away from this fact by bringing in a happy ending.  We need to wait for Easter for that.
    • I would recommend you conduct your worship in the traditional way and not have any kind of postlude or dismissal.  Directions can be in your worship guide, but the more abrupt the ending the better.
• March 27 - Easter Sunday!
  • Scripture - John 20:1-18
  • Sermon Title - Love Wins
  • Themes
    • The Disciples had all of the information they needed, but still the doubted the Resurrection would happen.
    • Our lack of faith doesn’t determine the faith God has in us.
    • Love wins out for us, but it’s just the start of another journey.

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The banner for the series is designed my super creative Director of Design at FUMCA, Mary Gibson. 

Why I'm giving up my time for Lent

In the last few months it's been a little hard to maintain this blog to level I'm used to.  My time is being eaten up lately, by school, work ... but not as much by family.  At least not as much for my family as it should.

Last week I had two mid-terms.  Two weeks before that I had two major papers due in the same week.  I will say this - I'm blessed to have a wife and kid who understand when dad needs to study rather than play, read rather than go out, write rather than sit back on the couch with a glass of wine.

Although we make time for all of these things, it's tough, and we have to literally schedule everything in.  Leanne and I have a family meeting every Sunday night after the kid goes to bed just to walk through the week's schedule.  It's crucial time.  We're both spread out, both trying to bring excellence to our careers while I'm also trying to win at school.

We're doing a whole lot of thing at once these days.  And trying to be awesome at it.  But sometimes we come up short.

A lot of that has to do with time, which there's just not enough of.

So, as a family, and it just kind of happened, we're giving up time during Lent, or rather, giving time to each other as a family, and to our friends.  We're hoping to find renewal, that calm and quiet center, that the season of Lent is calling us to.

Three things have come together in just the last week where we'll be focusing more time for team building, toddler raising, and good discussion.

1. Leanne went to see author, speaker, and UMC clergyperson, Rev. Leanne Hadley last week give a seminar on family prayer.  Leanne, was pretty fired up about it, so we decided during Lent that we'd give her model of family prayer time with little ones a try during Lent.  The first time was last night.  We read scripture, colored, and prayed as a family, giving little man a chance to share what he could.  All in about 20 minutes.  It went pretty well!
2. After the kid is off to bed on Sunday nights, Leanne and are reading Love to Stay, by Adam Hamilton together.  We haven't done any kind of book study together since pre-marital counseling.  We figured this was a good one to do together, and the church had everything we needed.  Every marriage needs 'regularly scheduled maintenance', so we're setting aside about an hour to go through a chapter a week.
3. We're hosting another online Bible study for young adults during Lent.  Sure, this one is technically work ... but, any time devoted to discussion of the Word is good for the soul, and something I don't do enough of in my church context.  Bible study only done at seminary doesn't lead to a balanced theological life.  We kick things off tonight, tying our study to our sermon series on the Seven Last Words of Christ.

Time is at a premium in all of our lives, but it's through the giving of our time that we can not only make room for the friends and family around us, but make room for the Lord to come in and stir things up - which as I understand it, is the whole point of the season of Lent.

How much time do you devote to your people in the name of Jesus?  Maybe rather than giving up caffeine, or chocolate, or Facebook, it's time to think of what we're called to take in during this wonderful season of prayer and introspection.

The Strange Feeling of Wrapping Things Up

I've had a pretty eerie feeling most of this last week.  In a short time, I'll be jumping into a new ministry venture after 8 years as a professional worship minister.  God has been calling me to this new thing for a while now, and now that I've answered the call I am indeed excited.

But this feeling creeping up on me the last few days is the feeling of wrapping things up here.  And it is very strange, indeed.

I've been blessed at my last two churches to lead both traditional and contemporary styles on any given Sunday morning.  It's been a blast.  And as I come to the end of this leg of my ministry journey it's kind of odd to know what some of my "lasts" will be.

The last praise and worship song I'll sing (for the time being)?  It will be tomorrow morning - "White Flag" by Chris Tomlin, just before we have the whole congregation process with their palm branches.  It's an epic song that I LOVE to lead.  It's been a kind of theme song for the season of Lent with my faith family - a song of surrender.

But it gets better - the last anthem I'll conduct?  The same anthem that concludes many of our worship services on Easter Sunday - "Hallelujah" from Handel's Messiah.

Hallelujah.  That's the way to go.  I feel so blessed.

Give Up Pettiness for #Lent

This season of Lent, my congregation is taking on the study Give Up Something Bad for Lent by James W. Moore.  The focus of this Lenten study is very practical.  Rather than giving up stuff that you like (chocolate, cokes and the like), why not give up something that's actually causing a problem for you?  Why not give up something that's actually coming between you and the relationship God really wants to have with you?

This week we're praying that God can heal us of our pettiness, that God can move us from hurt feelings and ill will towards better relationships with one another and the God on high.  Let us pray these words from Rev. Moore:

Dear God, thank you for showing us that pettiness is not an answer for a healthy and wholesome life.  Thank you for showing us a better way to live.  Help us to be big rather than small, generous rather than stingy.  May we strive to prevent hurt feelings in others and learn to share your love with all who are in our lives.  Amen.

#40Days Week 5 - Finally!

This Lent I've taken on the United Methodist Rethink Church 40 Day Photo Challenge.  During the season of Lent, as a spiritual discipline, I (and many, many others) are taking photos to represent different words that are common themes in the season of Lent.

This week was hard to get finished - real life got in the way often.

I'm including the photos, and the tweet I posted each with.  Feel free to follow me on twitter @jarrodjohnston, and follow the #tag #40days to see what other UMCers are up to as they rethink church and the season of Lent!

Day 25 (faithful) - #40days #faithful #rethinkchurch

Day 26 (ate) - #40days veggie stir fry I cooked for the fam. We #ate together. #rethinkchurch

Day 27 (happy) - #40days sometimes I can't believe they let us bring this guy home. #happy #blessed #rethinkchurch

Day 28 (silence) - #40days #silence #holyweek prep for taize maundy Thursday #rethinkchurch #catchingup

Day 29 (water) - #40days #water of life #rethinkchurch #catchingup

Day 30 (go) - #40days and ... #go! #rethinkchurch

Day 31 (temper) - #40days #temper #rethinkchurch #catchingup

Give Up a Bad Habit for #Lent

This season of Lent, my congregation is taking on the study Give Up Something Bad for Lent by James W. Moore.  The focus of this Lenten study is very practical.  Rather than giving up stuff that you like (chocolate, cokes and the like), why not give up something that's actually causing a problem for you?  Why not give up something that's actually coming between you and the relationship God really wants to have with you?

This week of Lent we're looking at bad habits ... Are there habitual behaviors in your life that are holding you back?  God can give you the strength to overcome.  Let us pray these words from Reverend Moore:

Dear God, thank you for the many good habits we have that outnumber our bad habits.  Help us to replace the bad with the good.  Encourage us and help us to take positive action to make a positive change in behavior   Give us patience to go forward and help us when we fall.  Show us that we can give up bad habits with your help.  Amen.

#40days Week 4

This Lent I've taken on the United Methodist Rethink Church 40 Day Photo Challenge.  During the season of Lent, as a spiritual discipline, I (and many, many others) are taking photos to represent different words that are common themes in the season of Lent.

Again there are some common themes this week - fatherhood and worship.

I'm including the photos, and the tweet I posted each with.  Feel free to follow me on twitter @jarrodjohnston, and follow the #tag #40days to see what other UMCers are up to as they rethink church and the season of Lent!

Day 18 (leave) - #40days hard to #leave for work when all this fun is happening

Day 19 (thirst) - #40days my #thirst was quenched here this morning #rethinkchurch

Day 20 (bless) - #40days You #bless me with music, Lord. #rethinkchurch

Day 21 (night) - #40days a good #night present from Wes... Chips! #rethinkchurch #generosity

Day 22 (shadow) - #40days she sits in the #shadow of the table lot waiting for crumbs. #rethinkchurch #parables

Day 23 (no) - #40days He understands the word #no already, just doesn't care. #rethinkchurch

Day 24 (find) - #40days we #find time for date nights, but not often enough. #rethinkchurch

Give Up Running Away for Lent

This season of Lent, my congregation is taking on the study Give Up Something Bad for Lent by James W. Moore.  The focus of this Lenten study is very practical.  Rather than giving up stuff that you like (chocolate, cokes and the like), why not give up something that's actually causing a problem for you?  Why not give up something that's actually coming between you and the relationship God really wants to have with you?

This week our in our scripture lesson we take a look at the feeding of the 5,000.  At the beginning of this story, Jesus is attempting to retreat to rest and pray.  But the people in need follow him and what could have been a problem turned into an opportunity to minister to hungry people.  Christ could have kept going, but instead he stayed and showed us that in not running away from a problem a real opportunity for good presented itself.

In that spirit, let us pray these words from Reverend Moore:

Dear God, thank you for giving us the wisdom and courage to face our problems and not run away from them. Help us to deal with problems productively and to help others do the same.  Remind us that you are always just a prayer away and eager to advise us on how to solve our problems.  Amen.

Give Up the Enemies Within for Lent

This season of Lent, my congregation is taking on the study Give Up Something Bad for Lent by James W. Moore.  The focus of this Lenten study is very practical.  Rather than giving up stuff that you like (chocolate, cokes and the like), why not give up something that's actually causing a problem for you?  Why not give up something that's actually coming between you and the relationship God really wants to have with you?

Our passage for Sunday worship this week comes from Luke, chapter 11, verses 37 through 52.  In this passage, Jesus confronts Pharisees who only seem concerned with outward appearances - not on the inward change that comes with being a follower of Yahweh.  In that spirit, with a longing for a complete life turn-around, let us pray these words by Rev. Moore:

Dear God, thank you for opening our eyes to the enemies around us, especially the enemies within.  Help us to look inside ourselves and replace our enemies with love, hope, and faith.  Show us the way to make this Lent a beginning of positive change in our lives and the lives of others.  Amen.

Give Up Harsh, Condemning Judgments for Lent

This season of Lent, my congregation is taking on the study Give Up Something Bad for Lent by James W. Moore.  The focus of this Lenten study is very practical.  Rather than giving up stuff that you like (chocolate, cokes and the like), why not give up something that's actually causing a problem for you?  Why not give up something that's actually coming between you and the relationship God really wants to have with you?

This week's study is focused on giving up judging others, remembering that judgement truly belongs to God.  Rev. Moore's scripture reference for the week is Matthew 7:1-5, when Jesus points out the fact that we often worry about the speck in another's eye, when in fact it's the plank in our own that needs to be dealt with.  The chapter closes with this prayer, and I offer it to help us prepare for our worship on Sunday morning:

Dear God, thank you for reminding us about the dangers of rumors and gossip.  Help us to refrain from judgment and explain the actions of others in the kindest way.  May we treat others the way we wish to be treated.  Amen.

#40Days Week 2

This Lent I've taken on the United Methodist Rethink Church 40 Day Photo Challenge.  During the season of Lent, as a spiritual discipline, I (and many, many others) are taking photos to represent different words that are common themes in the season of Lent.

It's been a wonderful week of pictures, with a lot of thought provoking subject matter.  I hope that you've found some form of spritual discipline that will allow you to get to know yourself, and the life Christ has called you to during this wonderful season of Lent.

I'm including the photos, and the tweet I posted each with.  Feel free to follow me on twitter @jarrodjohnston, and follow the #tag #40days to see what other UMCers are up to as they rethink church and the season of Lent!

Day 4 (Injustice): #40days Day 4 - From the National Civil Rights Museum. Fight #injustice w #mlk

Day 5 (Settle): #40days 5) Watching the kids play - rare #sabbath time on the sabbath. Taking time to #settle down. #rethinkchurch

Day 6 (World):  #40days Day 6 - change the #world? Let's hope! #rethinkchurch #lent

Day 7 (Wonder): #40days Day 7 - I #wonder what this kid dreams about? #rethinkchurch @umrethinkchurch

Day 8 (Evil): #40days Day 8 - No single word holds the church back more than 'tradition'. #evil #rethinkchurch

Day 9 (Love): #40days Day 9 - a house full of dirty dishes after serving dinner to some my favorite ppl #rethinkchurch #love

Day 10 (Spirit): #40days Day 10 - Fridays with this guy renew my #spirit. #rethinkchurch

Give Up Something Bad for Lent

This season of Lent, my congregation is taking on the study Give Up Something Bad for Lent by James W. Moore.  This study gives us a very practical view of the season during which we don't just give up things that we like (chocolate, cokes, etc.), but we give up the things that are actually creating barriers between ourselves and the Lord.  We'll be attempting to give up judgmental attitudes, gathering enemies, bad habits, pettiness ... and any number of other things that can come between what we want and what the Lord wants for our lives.  At the close of each chapter, Rev. Moore offers a short prayer, and the prayer for this week is what I offer to you today:

Dear God, thank you for the season of Lent.  Remind us of the importance of preparing for and anticipating Easter.  Help us to use this season wisely as we make positive changes in our lives.  Amen.

#40Days Week 1

This Lent I've taken on the United Methodist Rethink Church 40 Day Photo Challenge.  During the season of Lent, as a spiritual discipline, I (and many, many others) are taking photos to represent different words that are common themes in the season of Lent.  As Lent is a season of reflection and introspection, I've had a lot of fun jumping in on this meaningful task.

As this is a kind of 'twitter' discipline, I'm including my daily tweets and photos.  What spiritual disciplines are you undertaking this season?

Day 1 (Who am I?): #whoami? Dad. Husband. Laugh maker. #40days

Day 2 (Return): #40days day 2 #return Getting to the heart of the matter for kids chapel this morning. #rethinkchurch

Day 3 (See): #40days Day 3 - I #see what God is calling me to and the reason why. #rethinkchurch

A Prayer for Ash Wednesday

From Worship and Song:

O God, you delight not in pomp and show,
     but in a humble and contrite heart.
Overturn our love of worldly possesions
     and fix our hearts more firmly on you,
     that, having nothing,
     we may yet possess everything,
     a treasure stored up for us in heaven.  Amen.

Lent: What You Need to Do

Repentance.  Renewal.  Recommitment. Revival.  These are all key words to the forty-day season of Lent, a time of preparation that leads to Holy Week and the great day of resurrection, Easter.

Why forty days?  This season of repentance comes out of a biblical notion of the number 40, a number that symbolizes fullness or the amount of time a task needs to be completed.  It’s most commonly connected with Christ’s journey into the wilderness after his baptism to fast and pray before starting his full-on earthly ministry.  But the number 40 also frequently pops up earlier in the Word.  The great flood lasted forty days and nights.  Moses, and later Elijah, dwelt at Horeb for the same amount of time.  Eli judged Israel for forty years.  Saul, David, and Solomon each are thought to have had reigns over Israel for forty years.

In the early church it was also a time of fasting and prayer for new converts to prepare for their baptisms.  It was an intense time for new Christians – a time of testing whether they really meant what they said when professing belief in Christ.  At the end they were born into new life, by water and the Spirit.  It is out of this early cycle that our season of Lent has come to us today.

The contemporary church has most gravitated toward the need to ‘give something up’ for Lent – the fast.  We usually focus on small things like chocolate or sodas.  Or we add things in, like exercise. Or maybe we check things off our New Year’s resolution list.  But we sometimes forget that when we fast there’s another thing that’s supposed to happen – we’re supposed to pray.

The fast itself is what needs the rethinking in our churches today.  When we fast, the intent is to make room.  But we’re not called to make room for just anything.  We’re supposed to make room for prayer; it’s a time for us to draw closer to the Lord.  We’re supposed to fast and pray like those new Christians as a way to prepare for a new life in Christ.

So, what could Lent be about for you this season?  First, look at your life.  Is there something that’s going on in your life that’s actually putting up a barrier between you and God?  Maybe that’s the thing you need to give up and show repentance.  When you feel a craving for that thing, whatever it is (maybe for you it is chocolate), pray to the Lord not just for strength to overcome temptation, but for strength to seek the Lord’s will in all things.  For a believer, this is a path to renewal and even recommitment to Christ.

Figure out a way to observe the season of Lent as a time of repentance, renewal and recommitment.  It will make the great day of Easter that much more of a revival in your life.

Let Peace Begin With Me

Sometimes passing the peace in worship can be an uncomfortable experience.

There's hand-shaking.  There's speaking to people.  Sometimes there's even hugging involved.

But is it necessary?  You bet.

For several months now, in our "Traditional" worship service, we've been passing the peace on Communion Sundays.  Not only that, but instead of saying our usual Affirmation of Faith (or Creed) we begin worship with a corporate Prayer of Confession, followed by the Words of Assurance from our Pastors, then comes the Peace.  Rather than trying to hurriedly squeeze it all in after the sermon, when it's Communion Sunday, we make it all about Communion.  As a worship design, I'll admit, I've borrowed it from my previous clergy team; it just makes the service feel whole and it makes the sacrament feel less like an appendage to be added on once a month.

It's been interesting though to sit back and listen to the comments ... There are no objections to public confession, but Passing of the Peace ... Well ... It's not caught on like wild fire.  Which of course, to me signals that we're not Passing the Peace enough.

At our "Contemporary" service we have a formal/informal greeting time every Sunday morning, after the first song of the praise set.  It's an important part of the service for the congregation, and while there might not be a lot of peace-passing specifically, there's a lot of hospitality extended.

Although, when I look up hospitality, it's defined as: 

1. the friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers.

2. the quality or disposition of receiving and treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way.

With the specific emphasis on strangers in the definition of the word, I'm probably going to have to rethink how much hospitality is truly being shown on Sunday morning.  But that's probably for another blog entry, so as to avoid a little snarkiness at this juncture.

To get back to the Peace, we need to be doing more of it.  So, to get us into the habit of reconciling with one another, we've taken it on as a Lenten worship discipline in our traditional service to follow the United Methodist Book of Worship pattern, with the Confession, Pardon, and Peace every Sunday during the Season of Lent in place of our Affirmation of Faith.  We've adopted it in the spirit of the Lord's Prayer, where Jesus laid this one on us:

"And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." Matthew 6:12

The people aren't really leaving their pews, which is ok.  Because after all, who do we often need to reconcile with more than our own families?

To complete the Peace, we wrap it up with the chorus to the gospel hymn by Margaret Douroux, "Give Me a Clean Heart".  This keeps our "new heart" theme of Ash Wednesday going, always praying for that renewal of the heart, so that we can keep the ministry of the Gospel moving forward.  And the results have been so encouraging, I mean, they're Passing the Peace.

And if we really think about it, it's fundamental for the local church to be able to Pass the Peace within the church's doors.  Our call is to be a peaceful people, and fulfill the vision of the Peaceful Kingdom that Christ came to bring us.  Christians have to be able to do that with one another; how else are we to show Christ to the world?

Does your church Pass the Peace on a regular basis?

Hurricane

I need you like a hurricane

Thunder crashing wind and rain

Tear my walls down, I'm only yours now

I need you like a burning flame

A wild fire untamed

Burn these walls down, I'm only yours now

I'm only yours now

- chorus from Hurricane, by Jimmy Needham

There are a lot of tough things about the season of Lent.  Number one maybe the purpose of renewal.  The period of Lent was initially formed around the 40 day period of preparation for baptism; a time of intense study and reflection.  In many denominations baptism is center to the celebration of Easter, often happening in the early morning hours as the sun rises.  So Lent is also a time for preparation; maybe preparation for renewal?

This journey toward renewal begins for Methodists (and those denominations that follow the Revised Common Lectionary) begins on Ash Wednesday with our Confessional Psalm, Psalm 51.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. - Psalm 51:10

This Sunday at our church, we'll be introducing Hurricane by Jimmy Needham in worship. 

For three years I lived and did ministry in Slidell, LA (just across the lake from New Orleans).  It was three years Post-Katrina when I moved there from Texas, but with my over-sensitive self, I tried to avoid any disaster related language in the music I chose for worship.

Then I heard our youth band offer this song in worship.  Changed my life a little.

In this song, Jimmy Needham calls on God to break him down, tear him all the way down, and make him new and totally belonging to God.  This idea of being torn down and made new is central to Christian teaching and the calling of our whole life by Christ.  But we lose sight of it time and time again. 

This is where the Christian Year comes to our aid so many times ... Lent and it's time of reflection always comes back around.  But while it's an intentional time for that purpose, what good does it do if it doesn't encourage self-reflection and penitence year round?

Also, what if we don't realize that we need to be made new?

We are told at our baptism that we rise as new creations, but do we stop being made new there?

Christ invites us to pray intentionally for newness every single day.  We are called to look out into the world, and find our hearts broken, and then pray for God to put it back together right.  Then we can do the ministry that is required.

From Ashes to Discipline

Ash Wednesday, as it does every year, has rolled up on us again!  Thus begins the phenomena of Lenten dieting fasting.  I mean we're supposed to give something up, right?  I mean, it's Lent!  So let's take to our Facebook pages and Twitter feeds and announce that we're giving up caffeine, and chocolate, and potato chips, and, and, and ...

There's nothing wrong with a Lenten fast.  I don't know that there's also anything wrong with taking the 40 days of Lent and using them to kick a habit.

Our time period of 40 days is intended to mirror Christ's own 40 days in the desert; where he fasted and prayed.  He was also confronted by the devil, who of course tried his best to distract Christ from that holy time.

Bibilically, the purpose of the fast is not to kick a habit; the purpose is to take things out of your life in order to make room for God.  If I'm taking a 24 hour fast from food, for instance, my job during that time, when I'm hungry, is to be praying to God for illumination.  Prayer and fasting go hand in hand.

I, myself, have decided to take a different tack with my Lenten discipline.  I'm choosing to write.  To take the time I would spend watching TV or checking out Facebook, and get some thoughts out of my own head.  I've decided to realize a dream, that I feel called to.  As Jon Acuff tells us in his book Quitter, what good is a dream that's only in your head?  So I'm going to write during Lent, with the hopes that I can continue it after the fact.

If you are taking the time to give something up during Lent as a discipline, I would ask two questions:

1)  Am I giving this up to make more room for Christ in my life?
2)  Am I going to go back to it after Lent?  Or is this not just going to be a Lenten discipline or a Life discipline?

When we think of dieting, we more often think of what we're cutting out of our diet.  But what we eat overall is in fact our personal diet.  A diet is also what you take in.  If you're going to give something up for Lent, make sure as you're doing that, that you're taking in more of Christ.