Blog Post by Brandon Adent

A man with a large, pointy hat dipped a bony finger into a glass bowl, like a child reaching for the last morsels of cookie dough. As the finger re-emerged from the vessel, black with dust from the shelf you need a stool to reach, a woman knelt before the hatted man, hands folded anxiously, not bothering to wipe her eyes or stop the purple running down her nose. Reaching out, the finger smeared the substance onto her quivering forehead in the shape of a cross. As the woman stood, she moved her hands in a way I'd never seen, then walked away, tears streaming, as another came to take her place.

It's been many years, but the images have stayed with me, however molded they may be in the years between then and now, images beamed into our living room via the miracle of television. Why would you let a man rub dirt on your face? She's crying, so it must hurt! Why are her hands folded?! She should unfold them, hit him and run away before he hurts anyone else! Why is there a line for that? 

To an 8 year old, the ritual was bizarre. Even now, it seems bizarre.

I grew up in a home that loves Jesus, but didn't really celebrate Ash Wednesday or Lent. When I asked my parents, they said the woman was crying because she was sad about her sin. The concept was mostly foreign to me. Mostly because I didn’t think I had that much of it. Sure, I wasn’t perfect, but Jesus was, right? And He died for the sin that I did have. So why do I need to be sad for my sin?

What Is Ash Wednesday?

Ash Wednesday is the official start of the season of Lent, six and a half weeks in total, consisting of 40 week-days of fasting as an act of repentance prior to Easter, or, Resurrection Sunday. The institution of the day, or the season, is not in your Bible. It was set up by the early church to provide some structure in how to think about, and prepare for, Resurrection Sunday.

First observed in the 7th century, Ash Wednesday served as an invitation for certain people to publically begin a season of penance. This specific practice then fell into disuse, and was re-instituted in the 10th-ish century, but opened up to the general congregation rather than “certain people”.* As a part of the ceremony, the repentant were marked with ashes as an outward symbol of an inward disposition of the heart; that is, a heart that loves Jesus, one that mourns sin as offensive before a holy God, and acknowledges their inability to meet God’s standard of perfection apart from Christ.

A lot has happened since then. Ash Wednesday has probably been abused and misused, twisted to mean something it was never meant to over the years. I don’t know the specifics, and even if I did, I wouldn’t get into them here.

Again, it’s important to remember that  “Ash Wednesday” the service, the start of the season of Lent, is not in our Bibles. Because God has not prescribed structure here, we are free to use old traditions and modify them to our current context, so long as they are not sinful and offensive to God or harmful to our community. 

Over the next six minutes or so, I want to explain why we celebrate Ash Wednesday today, how we celebrate it, and why it matters as we go about our lives.

Why We Celebrate

In the Bible, we see several instances where God calls His people to Himself in “solemn assembly” (Neh 9, Numbers 29:12) The primary objective of these gatherings was not to subjugate people with feelings of guilt or condemnation. Rather, it was to show off the glory of God by the preaching and reading of his word, realize the inability of His people to meet the standard set, to recognize that sin is willful slavery, and to respond in worship to a God who shows mercy (the withholding of punishment) and grace (unmerited favor) to His people.

Ash Wednesday is a continuation in that tradition. We need to constantly be reminded that our sin is a big deal. That it’s offensive to our Creator. That it’s rebellion against the King of the universe. That it’s hurtful to our Father in Heaven, that it makes Him sad and angry that we would choose to worship anyone or anything but Him.

So, if we’re talking about something so harmful as sin, why do I keep talking about how and why we “celebrate” Ash Wednesday?

Again, the purpose of this service is not to make us feel guilty for our sin; it’s to remind us that Jesus is bigger and better than our sin. Where we fail, Jesus has succeeded, and being found in Him is more satisfying than any act of sin we can conceive.

Such an occasion calls for celebration!

How We Celebrate

Since and Ash Wednesday service follows in the tradition of “solemn assembly”, we celebrate in many ways that the Bible says people celebrated. We’ll read God’s Word. We’ll hear God’s Word explained. We’ll sing some songs. We’ll pray. We’ll receive communion. All things that we would do in a typical Sunday service.

However, as a tangible, physical reminder of repentance and the mercy and grace found in Jesus, we’ll do a little something extra, that has its roots in the establishment of Ash Wednesday.

Ashes

Back in the days when the Old Testament was written, people used to dump ashes on their heads as a sign of mourning sin, either that they had committed, or had been committed against them.  (Tamar in 2 Sam 13:19, Mordecai in Esther 4:1, Job in Job 42:6). Ashes were a symbol of mourning in ancient culture, and often accompanied by sackcloth (think wearing an itchy burlap shirt) and fasting. One did this to 1.) be physically miserable as a reminder that they needed communion with God more than they needed physical comfort and 2.) Show everyone how miserable they were.

You wouldn’t tell a joke to a person in mourning. In fact, you would probably go out of your way to avoid such a person. Such signs show that we care about sin and brokenness, recognize that it grieves our Father and King, that we wish it didn’t exist, and that where the sin is ours, we want to turn from it.

Anointed With Oil

Similarly, people would be anointed with oil as a sign. But not as one of mourning. Being anointed with oil was a sign of favor, of holiness, of set-apartness. The kings were anointed with oil when they were called to lead and serve their people (1 Sam 10, 16:13), priests when they were called into temple service (Exodus 30:22). 

The oil is fragrant, the point being that the wearer can -figuratively speaking- smell God’s favor on their foreheads.

This is an outward sign of an inward reality that God ordained before time itself. The oil does not put God’s favor on you. Only Jesus can do that. 

And if you’re in Him, He has! God knew who you would become before you were born. He knew the sin you’d commit, no matter how hidden you think it is. And He sent His Son to die for you, that you would be washed clean of all your wickedness given a perfect, sinless, good-deed-filled record before the Righteous Judge, and adopted into the family of God Almighty.

The oil is meant to remind us of all this, and mixed with the ashes, it reminds us of the favor we have despite the sin in our lives.

Why This All Matters

We’ve talked about the roots of the Ash Wednesday “holy-day”, where it comes from, and how we observe it as a church.

So why does all this matter?

In 1517, Martin Luther began his 96 Theses with “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent,” he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.”

Repentance, as we said before, is the act of turning from sin toward the Savior.

Every moment of every day, we need to face the Savior as individuals. But we shouldn’t stop there. God has certainly saved us individually, but when He saves us, He saves us into a community of people that we get to call family.

Ash Wednesday is a great opportunity to get together with members of the family and seek after God together. To see and hear how great He is, to really take a look at the ugliness of our sin and the sweetness and beauty of His grace, and to turn to Him in repentance.

If you’re available, we’d love to have you join us Wednesday, February 18 at 6:30 PM to celebrate Ash Wednesday.

Source: “Ash Wednesday” Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church Page 116. Copyright 2005 Oxford University Press.

photo credit: Tomorrow is another day via photopin (license)

(Reflections by Dane Burgess from Bob Thunes book, The Gospel-Centered Life)

What exactly is "the gospel"? It is a question that when posed to Christians can seem to bring more of the "deer in a headlights look" then a confident explanation spoken out of true understanding of identity. A lot of the time, when you ask a Christian "what is the gospel?" you tend to get answers that are broken down to two, three or even four core principles. But the problem within those principles is that they come off as dis-genuine and they lack true conviction. And when I mean principles, I am talking about very basic core beliefs that might be true about the Gospel but when boiled down to the bare minimum of its meaning will have no weightiness to its true reality.

But when you understand "the gospel" as an intricate story of God creating, man falling, Christ redeeming and a new people created then you start to see how your own life fits within this Redemptive Historical reality. 

Creation: The Story Doesn't Start With Us, But God 

As all stories begin, it starts with a beginning. But within this story, our human tendencies is to begin with us. Yes this story has something to do with us but it isn't primarily about us but God. 

God is eternal, infinite, perfect and unchanging who created all things before there was anything (Genesis 1:1-31). We can see through Scripture that our God is one God but He exists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). God was perfectly happy and  completely joyful amongst himself. Which means he did not create the world because he was lacking in anything. He already had perfect glory, community, joy and worship within the Trinity. Rather He created creation out of the outpouring of His perfection, His goodness and His love. Humans were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). And he created us to join in and experience that perfect joy he had amongst himself within the Trinity. We are the created and not the creator. We are dependent and under His authority whether we like it or not. We are on His terms and not on our own. We were made to worship, love and serve him. Not serve ourselves. 

God's words when he was done with all of creation were "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." There was perfect order, perfect structure and all of creation was under submission to its Creator. 

Fall: We Batched It, Not God 

Humans were made in the "imago dei", which means we were made in the image of God. We were created by God to worship Him. All that we did was to be directed towards him. But instead of coming under full submission to God's authority, humans (We, all of us) turned away from God in sinful rebellion (Genesis 3:1-7; Isaiah 53:6). Our cosmic treason caused a great disease or an illness to saturate all of creation. God's perfect creation that he said "was very good" is now tainted. Cosmic brokenness happened because of our sin. Pain, suffering, death and sorrow to name a few happened because of us.

For now "all sin and fall short of the glory of God." Human beings, because of the great fall, are sinners by nature and by choice (Ephesian 2:1-3). Non of us truly think of ourselves as that bad or sinful. Someone is always worse then I am, we say. But in reality this view only shows our true lack of understanding of how our sinfulness is committed towards a Holy, Perfect God. 

"Sin is not primarily an action, it's a disposition" - Bob Thune

Sin is our soul's bend towards our perfect Creator. Sin has permitted everything within us. Our pride, our selfishness, our independence, and our lack love towards God and our neighbors. At times sin is very open and obvious but other times it is hidden within ourselves. Like I said earlier, sin has permeated every part of creation and there is no hope for change or is there...

Redemption: God's Acts To Save Us And What We Have Broken 

How often do we put our hope and trust in other sinful human beings to save us or save our world. We look to political systems to bring us out of bondage, we look towards self-help books to make us feel better. And yet no matter what we do, there is always that sense of brokenness and guilt that we can't seem to get rid of fully. That is why we need a hero. We need a Savior. That hero and Savior is Jesus Christ. We sinners need a Savior, a Redeemer, a Deliverer to free us from the captivity of our own sin and restore the order of the world back to its original purpose. A purpose that had a worshipful, dependent bend towards God as Creator. 

Jesus Christ being fully God (to incur sin fully) and being fully man (to pay the ultimate debt we  owe to God). God sent his Son to be a perfect substitute. One who lived the life we could not live and died the death that we ultimately deserved. 

"This is why God sent Jesus into the world to be our substitute (1 John 4:14). The Bible teaches that Jesus was fully God - the second person of the Trinity - and also fully human. He was born to a human mother, lived a real flesh-and-blood existence, and died a brutal death on a Roman cross outside Jerusalem. Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to God (Hebrews 4:15), making him the only person in history who did not deserve judgment. But on the cross, he took our place, dying for our sin. He received the condemnation and death we deserve so that, when we put our trust in him, we can receive the blessing of life he deserves (2 Cor. 5:21)" - The Gospel Centered Life pg. 9

Jesus did die in our place. But how do we know who he said he was unless he could show us who he was? We know this by him rising from the dead, displaying his victory over sin, satan and death. All that was lost, broken and corrupted in the fall will ultimately be put right. Redemption isn't simply salvation for individual souls; it means that all of creation is being put back to the way it was suppose to be.

Restoration: Now This Is More Like It 

What is required of us to partake in this restoring process? How to we experience salvation and become mirrors of redemption towards our world? By faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Faith is complete trust or confidence in Someone. It is a heart that has a whole-hearted commitment to Jesus Christ. 

When we trust in Jesus Christ we are released from the penalty of sin and from the power of sin. We were originally created "able not to sin" but through the fall we were "not able not to sin" but for those who believe in Jesus we are now "able not to sin" and once Jesus brings redemption to completion of all things we will "not be able to sin." That is an amazing hope and reality that will come one day! One day, for those who are in Christ, will not be able to sin. Are you kidding me!!

We are free to die to ourselves and live a life that has a dependent bending of the knees towards our King Jesus. We are free to serve because Christ first served us. We are free to see all the things we own as gifts given to us by God and steward them well to bless others. We are finally free in whatever we do to do it all for the Glory of God. 

Jesus promised that he will return soon to judge sin and make all things new. Until then, he is gathering under His rule a people from every tribe, tongue and nation (Rev. 7:9). As he has given us eternal life, he has also called us to participate with Him in His mission (Matthew 28:18-20). 

This is the Gospel! A story of triumph and vindication. A story of hope and longing. It is the good news, the greatest news this world has ever heard and needs to hear.

photo credit: JLM Photography. via photopin cc

The Following Blog Post is by Stephanie Sund

Four years ago I sat next to the bed of my 4 year old on the oncology ward of Children’s hospital.  In that horrible haze of the day, when we were waiting to hear how far her cancer had spread, the words I remember uttering over and over, half to my husband, more to myself were  “What do we know about God?” And then I’d answer myself, out loud “God loves us, God is merciful and just. ” Wait 10 minutes, repeat.

Fast forward to last month, when we were again at Children’s, waiting for tests to tell us if the spot they saw on our daughter’s  x-ray was the return of  cancer.  And the weapon my mind reached for to fight the rise of anxiety was the answer to the same question “What do we know about God?” When my world is slipping, I want to know who it is that’s holding me!  This time I was better equipped to preach to myself the attributes of God, the truths of his character.  And to hold on to the comfort in scriptures like Isaiah 41:10  “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Scripture made so much more powerful when you know who is behind those promises.   And, praise that is much deeper when we are not just worshiping God for what he does, but for the depth of his unchanging character.  My daughter’s cancer is not back, God is good.  If her cancer were back, God would still be good.  God is always good.

Last fall I began memorizing the attributes of God as listed in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology and teaching them to my kids.  We made up a cheesy little song to help us get snippets of gospel truths into memorizable form.

The song is to the tune of “My God is an awesome God”.

My God is independent

He doesn’t need you or me

Yet he allows us to be

A joy to his heart, and bring him glory

My God is unchanging

He’s the same day to day

In his purposes, promises and ways

He’s the solid rock on which we stand

My God is eternal

Always was and always will be

He sees all time equally

And he knows what is to come

My God is omnipresent

He’s everywhere all the time

There’s no keeping secrets from Him

And he’s always with me

My God has unity

His attributes mesh together perfectly

No wrath without mercy

And each act is of the whole person of God

My God is a spirit

He has no physical form

We cannot measure him

Like nothing we’ve seen or felt

My God is invisible

No one has ever seen God

But he does make himself known

Through creation and his Son

My God is omniscient

He know all things all the time

He knows all things possible

There’s nothing that God can learn

My God is wise

He makes the best decisions

To bring about the best results

By the best possible ways

My God is a God of truth

He does what he says he’ll do

His promises will come true

And we can trust in his word- the Bible

My God is a good God

All good comes from God

And, in his goodness

He was patience, mercy and grace

My God is a God of love

Steadfast and eternally

Giving of himself to bless me

As shown through Christ’s death on the cross

My God is a Holy God

He’s completely separate from sin

And he is devoted to

Seeking his own honor

My God is a God of peace,

Not confusion or disorder

He acts continually

In well ordered and controlled ways

My God is righteous and just

He always does what’s right

Sin deserves punishment

Christ died on the cross for my sins

My God is a jealous God

He seeks to protect his own honor

For he alone is worthy

He doesn’t want idols in our hearts

My God is a God of wrath

He intensely hates all sin

As Christians we don’t fear God’s wrath

Christ bore God’s wrath for our sins

photo credit: Wendy Longo photography via photopin cc

The Following blog is written by Brandon Adent

WHY DWELL ON DEATH?

This coming Friday, we’ll be meeting to celebrate and remember Christ’s crucifixion. We know that Easter is only three days later. To dwell on death seems so morbid. Why would we spend a Friday night in remembrance of the God who died when we know that He lives?

The implications of Good Friday are enormous; there’s really no end to them, and it’s impossible to fully understand the depth of them. Here are just a few reasons that Good Friday is worth celebrating.

IT IS FINISHED

Jesus, the Son of God, came to this world with a mission. He was born in squalor and raised in the middle of nowhere (John 2.45-46). Taking the trade of His earthly father, Joseph, the Maker of the Universe lived and worked unknown to anyone outside of Nazareth for most of His life (Mark 6.3). 

Then one day, Jesus stood in the synagogue of His hometown. He opened and read from the scroll of Isaiah, and declared Himself to be the one to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to set free the oppressed (Luke 4.18).

On that first Good Friday, after hours of agony under the full weight and fury of the wrath of God, Christ used His final breaths to announce that He had done what He came to do:

It. Is. Finished!

If you are in Christ, you are free. Your sentence and ransom have been paid. The sins that chained you to the dungeon of despair have disintegrated to nothing, and you have nothing to fear in death.

                        Fully absolved of these I am:

                  From sin and fear and guilt and shame 

THE CURTAIN IS TORN

There used to be a curtain.

The high priest, the one chosen to represent the nation of Israel in God’s presence, only entered the Holy of Holies once a year to offer sacrifice, wearing bells and a rope around his ankle so that the attendants could pull him out should they not survive their encounter with God. This sacred space was set apart by a thick curtain to ensure that no one would accidentally find themself in God’s presence unprepared.

The Apostle Matthew records that as Christ screamed out His victory and breathed His last, that curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Can you imagine witnessing this moment? It’s almost comical to comprehend, visions of an unsuspecting priest diving for the ground, rising to his knees to find that he’s miraculously still alive.

In that moment, Christ became the Great High Priest. If you are in Christ, the implications are astounding. He pleads for us, and prays for us. He is our advocate, and our intercessor. And because of what Christ has done on Good Friday, we can approach the throne with confidence (Hebrews 5), knowing that it’s in Christ’s power that we stand.

WE REMEMBER

On the night before He was betrayed, Jesus had gathered His disciples to celebrate the Passover meal. Jesus took bread and wine, saying that bread represented His body broken, and the wine His blood spilled, and instructed His disciples to eat and drink in remembrance of Him.

Passover was the day that the nation of Israel remembered when God had set them free from captivity to the Egyptians. Similarly, the sacrament of communion, instituted by Christ just before His death and practiced by the church for millennia, remains an act of remembrance.

The elements have no saving power. They are just bread and juice.

However, they do serve as a reminder of Christ’s saving power, and redeeming His people from their sins. The elements are God’s grace to us, to give us a reminder of an event that took place long ago, that none of us have seen, but those who are in Christ know to be true.

WE RESPOND

On Good Friday, we meet to remember and respond to who God is and what He’s done. We’ll sing to and about Him, hear His Word taught, and go to the table in remembrance of Him. We’ll leave knowing that He’s alive, but, Lord willing, aware of the cause and effects of His death on the cross.

Please consider joining us Friday, April 3rd 2015 at 6 PM for our Good Friday service. 

photo credit: 50%ChanceofRain via photopin cc

Following Blog Post by Greg Sund

Once upon a time, there was a young man, who we will call Greg .... Greg Sund.  He was wretched and sinful and wicked, but still God pursued him, because God is good.  In 2001, by God’s grace, Greg was saved and gave his life to Christ.  Greg had been born and raised as a Catholic but had walked away from the Catholic church in college.  He had been baptized as a baby, but had no recollection of consenting to this.

Years later, around 2006 or 2007, Greg was reading through and studying the book of Acts.  And he noticed something.  A pattern.  It seemed that as the early church was getting started, a person would profess faith in Jesus Christ’s atoning death and in His resurrection, and then that person would be baptized.  And so, Greg was convicted.  It seemed after further study of the New Testament, that baptism was something that professing believers are called to.  All the theological details of why, how, when, were still a little foggy, but nonetheless, Greg felt God’s call to be baptized .... again. 

And so, after moving to Bellingham, WA and joining a church that cares about baptism, he was baptized in Lake Whatcom in 2009. 

Yes, this story, is in fact my story.  I have since this time learned a lot about baptism, and so I am writing this to help you (my church family) better understand what baptism is and what it is not. 

Redeemer is a church that holds God’s word as the ultimate authority for how we are to live as follower’s of Jesus.  And so we look to the bible to answer any question one might have about baptism.  So what does the bible tell us?  First of all, it tells us that baptism is a big deal.  A very big deal.

So, why should one be baptized? 

Romans 6:3-4 tells us that baptism is a symbol of our union with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection: “Do you know that all of us who have been baptized with Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life”. 

Colossians 2:12 says you were “buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

So here in Romans 6 and Colossians 2 we have a clear emphasis on baptism as symbol of our union with Christ in His death and resurrection.  There is also biblical reference to baptism as an expression of the cleansing and purification from sin (see Acts 22:16), but the primary emphasis seems to be on dying and rising.

Okay, but why else should one be baptized? 

Because Jesus commanded his disciples to go and to baptize, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).  Jesus recognized baptism as so important that he included it in the Great Commission!  If you are a follower of Jesus, this is your purpose statement for life, and step 1 involves you yourself being baptized.

Okay, but what does baptism do? 

Well, first of all it does NOT determine your salvation.  Jesus told the dying thief on the cross “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).  Just as baptism was not a prerequisite for salvation for the thief, neither is it for you.  We hold to the doctrine of justification by grace through faith as expressed in Galatians 2:16.  But those of us who have committed our lives to obedience to Jesus Christ, are also called to be baptized and to baptize others as an outward expression of our inward regeneration. 

Who should be baptized? 

We at Redeemer hold to the doctrine of “Believers Baptism”.  This means that only those who are able to give a believable profession of faith should be baptized (see Acts 2:41, Acts 8:12, Acts 10: 44-48, Acts 16:14-15, Acts 16:32-33 and 1 Corinthians 1:16).  All of these passages follow a pattern of one receiving His word, THEN being baptized.  There are many who hold to other views in this particular area, most notably the paedobaptist view.  For those believers and those churches who hold to this view, we still love you and would never argue that you are not saved.  But we as a church ask anyone who desires to be baptized to be able to give a believable profession of faith before taking the plunge, because we believe this pattern is most consistent with scripture.

So, what happens when I get baptized? 

Baptism is a means of grace for the believer and for the local church.  The public act of confessing Jesus as Savior brings joy and blessing to the believer.  It also increases our faith and increases our experiential realization of death to the power and love of sin in our lives.  As well, it increases our experience of the power of new resurrection life in Christ that we have as believers.

Baptism also blesses the local church.  It gives additional assurance of union with Christ to all believers who are present, it is an occasion of celebration in Jesus for the church, and the Lord gives us baptism to strengthen and encourage our faith for every believer who witnesses this. 

And the ultimate reason why we get baptized is this:  baptism brings glory to God.  We are a people who delight in God and who who delight to see Him magnified and the act of baptism does exactly that, it magnifies the goodness and glory of God as expressed through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There is much more that I could say about baptism, but I suspect if I go on, you will stop reading. So, if anyone has questions about baptism or would like to talk about getting baptized, please don’t hesitate to contact your GC leader or one of the elders or deacons of Redeemer.

To God be the Glory!

Yes, our church family celebrated Lent this last Wednesday. For some people the term Lent leaves a sour taste in people's mouths, and if you are one of those people please read this blog post done by Ariel Bovat on her reflections and experiences at the Lent Service. If you don't know what Lent is, its ok just keep reading. This blog done by Ariel will encourage and challenge anyone. Enjoy! 

If you like what you read you can find Ariel's Blog Here

_______________

To Lent Or Not To Lent

I was baptized as a baby in a Catholic church. The end.

That was the only point of reference I had for any of the traditions of the Catholic religion, which included Lent.  

My mother eventually converted to the Jehovah's Witness religion and my very Hispanic Catholic baby baptism became of no consequence. 

I eventually became exposed to a distanced, albeit foreign, concept of Lent through the kids in my junior high who were Catholic. They would leave school for a few hours on Ash Wednesday only to come back to school with ash crosses on their foreheads. It was foreign to me. It was something that other people did. It meant nothing personally to me.  

For me, Lent became associated with Catholicism and unfortunately hypocrisy as well. 

I attributed all religious church traditions with hypocrisy because the first exposure I had with religious church traditions came primarily from the junior high and high school kids in the small New Mexico town that I lived in. For the most part, if someone was Mexican, they were Catholic. If someone was not Mexican, they were not Catholic. This experience/exposure did not leave me to conclude anything different. 

These Catholic junior and high school kids would be cussing up a storm, bullying kids on the school bus, yelling at the bus driver, bragging about their sexual exploits, etc....yet.....when the bus drove by the Catholic church, all these kids would stop what they were doing, make the sign of the cross on their bodies and then proceed with their "bad" behavior. 

I was perplexed.  I knew something was amiss. 

However limited my exposure was, that was my first experience with ritualism. Traditionalism. Empty church symbolism. 

I knew I wanted nothing to do with it.  

Lent....or the activity of Lent never crossed my mind again. 

Up until now. 
Six churches and 30 years later, 11 of those years as a Christ follower.  

Our new church offered an Ash Wednesday service. As foreign as it was to me, I was intrigued.

What could this non Mexican, non Catholic context service look like? I had no preconceived ideas of what it ought to look like. My husband, on the other hand, grew up Catholic, so he did have to wrestle with his personal past experiences on what it used to look like as a former alter boy but he was pretty stoked about it too. My kids were clueless. 

I feel that God was preparing my heart for the idea of participating in a Lent service last year when my family lived isolated lives void of any church fellowship. Your can read about that here. 

So, our very first Ash Wednesday service was pretty gosh darn amazing. The service was not liturgical, dry or passive. 

Instead, it was Spirit filled, worshipful, and very much active. 

The service was centered around the Holiness of God, our desperate need for a Savior, and an encouraging renewed reminder of a Holy and Loving God giving us Jesus to reconcile us to the Father. There was lots of singing (which I love), lots of reading of the Bible (which I love), and lots of prayer and reflection (which I need). 

There was the application of the ash crosses on our foreheads, which the kids thought was pretty cool. There was the participation of the Lord's supper. Then there was the anointing of oil at the very end to send us on our way. 

I don't know what I loved more- the actual service and it's complete passion for God or the fact that we finally had a church to celebrate Jesus with. I might venture to say that it's both. 

As a matter of fact, I wish Ash Wednesday was every Wednesday. But I guess that would defeat the reverence of the occasion. 

Along with the actual service, our church is doing a collective fasting and using a devotional titled Journey to the Cross to help foster a reflective and repentant heart as we usher in the solemn death of Christ and glorious resurrection of our Savior and King. 

It is interesting to see the many different view points concerning non-Catholic denominations wrestling with whether we should or should not participate in Lent. 

I've read several blogs on different view points concerning the participation of Lent as a non Catholic. 
Luma Simms, one of my favorite Christ centered woman writers addresses her perspective HERE after she readanother blog that questions the sincerity of heart of Lenten participants. You can read that blog HERE. 

To Lent or not to Lent...I guess that is the million dollar question of the day for evangelical Christ followers. 

Here is my humble yet limited answer. 

1. If you go to a gospel centered, Bible believing/Jesus preaching church and your church does not do Lent....then no worries. Don't do it. Or, if you feel strongly about doing it, then do it privately with your family. 
2. If you go to a gospel centered, Bible believing/ Jesus preaching church that does do Lent....then do it with your church family. 

However...here are my caveats on it. 

1. Lent doesn't make us holy. Only Jesus makes us holy. 
2. Giving up something for 40 days doesn't make us more holy. Only Jesus, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit makes us more holy. 
3. Focusing on what we have to give up does not make us more holy. Replacing God's word with whatever we give up reorients us to God. It assists us to recognize the magnificent finished work of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This helps in sanctifying us, aka....making us more holy.  
4. Going through the motions of a religious tradition will do nothing for our sanctification if we do not commit to reading scripture, meditating on scripture as it pertains to Christ's work on the cross, reflecting about our outward AND inward sin and recognizing the depravity of our condition, repenting daily, and most of all praying continually. But.....as Christ following people, we should be doing this already.

My personal favorite day of the year is Resurrection Sunday. Ash Wednesday and this Lenten season is now just an extension of Resurrection Sunday as we allow ourselves to start preparing our hearts in deep, humble, yet glorious gratitude that God loved us enough to have a plan to bring His sheep to Himself. He did this by giving something up.

The Father gave up His Son for approximately 33 earthly years for something the Father thought was worth it. That something is US. 

The Son came willingly...to eventually die a painful excruciating sacrificial death....for something He thought was worth it. That something is US. 

photo credit: AlicePopkorn via photopin cc