serious
My problem with Lent
03/08/11 12:49 AM
I grew up in a Christian household. My parents were excellent Christian role-models, we attended church every Sunday and we celebrated all major Christian holidays. We never celebrated Lent though.
I never really had a concept of what Lent was until high-school when a friend explained it to me. It is the tradition of giving up something from your everyday life (an action or object) for the forty days prior to Easter in representation of the forty days that Christ was in the desert before beginning his ministry.
I have kind of "done" Lent a few times; I said I would give something up and it was either easy to do, or I never stuck with it. This year I have asked myself, if I am going to celebrate Lent this year what would I give up and why? Therein lies the problem; should I give up something superficial that has no real impact on my relationship with God or take something that I know I shouldn't be doing and put it aside for almost six weeks? And is this something that God is asking me to do?
Some people give up physical things or actions that are part of their everyday life that will be hard to live without. This is certainly a good way to endure temptation, but how does it draw you closer to Jesus? Does refraining from drinking cola make you a better Christian? Will you be closer to God by turning off your iPad for little more than a month?
Another, deeper idea is to give up something that is a temptation so as to improve yourself and your relationship with God. This will very likely bring you closer to God, but then why only stick with it for forty days? If you see Glee as something that distracts you from God's plan, shouldn't you just turn it off completely? If biking to work instead of driving will make you a more healthy person and honor God, then keep it up!
I also wonder what the point is of this sacrifice in the first place. There certainly were a fair amount of sacrifices made in the Bible as well as requests for sacrifices, but that was primarily before Christ sacrificed himself for us. Does God really not want me to eat mammals or birds on the seven Fridays before Easter? There is no mention of Lent in the Bible (other than as the past tense of loan), so it doesn't appear that God is asking us to sacrifice for forty days prior to the celebration of his Son being risen from the dead.
I don't know if Jesus was planning on us forfeiting something because he gave up food for forty days or if that was our idea. But if that helps you to feel closer to God you should certainly do it because your faith is yours to practice. I would, however, encourage you to do your best to have it make a meaningful impact on your relationship with God. If you're going to give up Starbucks, tithe the money you would have spent on it. If you are going to give up facebook, spend your new-found extra time volunteering in a youth ministry or with Habitat for Humanity.
If you celebrate Lent this year, I challenge you to make more of an impact on your relationship with God than simply ordering a Filet o' Fish on Friday.
I never really had a concept of what Lent was until high-school when a friend explained it to me. It is the tradition of giving up something from your everyday life (an action or object) for the forty days prior to Easter in representation of the forty days that Christ was in the desert before beginning his ministry.
I have kind of "done" Lent a few times; I said I would give something up and it was either easy to do, or I never stuck with it. This year I have asked myself, if I am going to celebrate Lent this year what would I give up and why? Therein lies the problem; should I give up something superficial that has no real impact on my relationship with God or take something that I know I shouldn't be doing and put it aside for almost six weeks? And is this something that God is asking me to do?
Some people give up physical things or actions that are part of their everyday life that will be hard to live without. This is certainly a good way to endure temptation, but how does it draw you closer to Jesus? Does refraining from drinking cola make you a better Christian? Will you be closer to God by turning off your iPad for little more than a month?
Another, deeper idea is to give up something that is a temptation so as to improve yourself and your relationship with God. This will very likely bring you closer to God, but then why only stick with it for forty days? If you see Glee as something that distracts you from God's plan, shouldn't you just turn it off completely? If biking to work instead of driving will make you a more healthy person and honor God, then keep it up!
I also wonder what the point is of this sacrifice in the first place. There certainly were a fair amount of sacrifices made in the Bible as well as requests for sacrifices, but that was primarily before Christ sacrificed himself for us. Does God really not want me to eat mammals or birds on the seven Fridays before Easter? There is no mention of Lent in the Bible (other than as the past tense of loan), so it doesn't appear that God is asking us to sacrifice for forty days prior to the celebration of his Son being risen from the dead.
I don't know if Jesus was planning on us forfeiting something because he gave up food for forty days or if that was our idea. But if that helps you to feel closer to God you should certainly do it because your faith is yours to practice. I would, however, encourage you to do your best to have it make a meaningful impact on your relationship with God. If you're going to give up Starbucks, tithe the money you would have spent on it. If you are going to give up facebook, spend your new-found extra time volunteering in a youth ministry or with Habitat for Humanity.
If you celebrate Lent this year, I challenge you to make more of an impact on your relationship with God than simply ordering a Filet o' Fish on Friday.
0 Comments
Sunset
04/04/08 11:24 PM
"That's nice," I thought, "something pretty to look at in the rear-view mirror on the drive home." But then I had another thought (thanks in part to Pastor Bryan's awesome message last week):
No matter how awful a day is, God can make it into something beautiful!
God doesn't cause bad things to happen; he makes bad things into wonderful, beautiful things. I have seen many examples of this in my life and that sunset is the simplest way I can think of sum it up.
Awesome.
Random Ramblings
02/13/08 09:58 PM
Tonight I was tremendously bored and began filling out a MySpace bulletin survey (lame, I know). One question asked what four things I'd like to do before I died. My first response was to be funny:
list FOUR things you want to do before you die -
1: Meet Steve Jobs
I usually just do bulletins to give humorous responses, cause I know that most people don't actually care what my three favorite colors are, or the answers to most of the other questions. So I made reference to my obsession for Apple products (I own 3 Apple computers, 2 iPods and an iPhone). I also recently went on a 36 hour trip with two friends to MacWorld in San Francisco and 28 of those 36 hours was spent driving.
My second answer was a serious one:
list FOUR things you want to do before you die -
2: Have kids
I usually have some seriousness in my survey responses, but that is only when I cannot think of humorous answers. Plus, I love children and can't wait to have my own (but will gladly wait anyway), so that seemed like a good answer.
So on to three and four:
list FOUR things you want to do before you die -
3:
4:
Ah hem. Three and four:
3:
4:
I couldn't come up with anything.
I tried to think of something hilarious....nothing. I tried thinking of something fun.....nothing. I tried to think of something practical....nothing. No good, funny or entertaining answer came to mind.
So then the request to "list FOUR things you want to do before you die" became "what are you going to do before you die," or more accurately, "what are you going to do with your life."
Wow....uhhmmm....hmmmmm....I don't know. So then that changed into "what could you do with your life?" That is the question! That is the question that I should be asking myself every morning before my feet hit the wonderful rug that my sister-in-law and mom bought for me.
If nothing was holding me back, what could I do with my life? Though, the easier question to answer would be "what couldn't I do with my life?" And that answer is most definitely, undeniably, NOTHING!
As a child everyone around you tells you that you can do or be anything you want to do or be. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor, marine biologist, astronaut, and many others. Who was it that convinced me I couldn't?
ME!!
I have the most amazing, supportive family and they always told me that I could do anything. But most of the time it was me that convinced me that I couldn't do it. There were a few times that they were able to convince me that I was able to achieve something, but that was not as frequent as it was that I believed I couldn't. The most amazing and horrifying thing happens when you convince yourself that you can't do something: you make it true.
I have always struggled with completing homework and other tasks that I deemed "no fun." But the real issue is less that it was no fun, and more that I was worried about failure. You see, if I get a bad grade because I didn't try hard, I have that excuse to fall back on. But if I worked as hard as I could on a task and failed it, then I'd have nothing to use as an excuse, and that scares the crap out of me. But the truth is that I wouldn't.
Phillippians chapter 4, verse 13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." I had always read this as "I can get done what I want to because Christ will help me." False. The verse says "all things." God isn't just saying, "I'll help ya with that." He's saying, "You can do it!! I believe in you with all my heart!! I know you can do it, because I made you!!" And I didn't believe him.
WHAT?!?
I have consistently gotten in the way of my dreams and the dreams God has for me because I was scared he was wrong. I thought that I could be more reasonable about the situation than God. I'm no theologian, but I'm quite certain that goes against the first Commandment. I made a god before Him and it was me.
So where do I go from here? First, start listening to Him more and read my Bible, after all, I have four on my shelf, collecting dust. Second, stop getting in the way of my dreams, and start living my dreams. Third, re-read A Purpose Driven Life to find His purpose for my life.
Oh ya, and the answers to the rest of the bulletin:
list FOUR things you want to do before you die -
1: Meet Steve Jobs
2: Have kids
3: Start my own telecommunications company
4: Keep adding to this list.
list FOUR things you want to do before you die -
1: Meet Steve Jobs
I usually just do bulletins to give humorous responses, cause I know that most people don't actually care what my three favorite colors are, or the answers to most of the other questions. So I made reference to my obsession for Apple products (I own 3 Apple computers, 2 iPods and an iPhone). I also recently went on a 36 hour trip with two friends to MacWorld in San Francisco and 28 of those 36 hours was spent driving.
My second answer was a serious one:
list FOUR things you want to do before you die -
2: Have kids
I usually have some seriousness in my survey responses, but that is only when I cannot think of humorous answers. Plus, I love children and can't wait to have my own (but will gladly wait anyway), so that seemed like a good answer.
So on to three and four:
list FOUR things you want to do before you die -
3:
4:
Ah hem. Three and four:
3:
4:
I couldn't come up with anything.
I tried to think of something hilarious....nothing. I tried thinking of something fun.....nothing. I tried to think of something practical....nothing. No good, funny or entertaining answer came to mind.
So then the request to "list FOUR things you want to do before you die" became "what are you going to do before you die," or more accurately, "what are you going to do with your life."
Wow....uhhmmm....hmmmmm....I don't know. So then that changed into "what could you do with your life?" That is the question! That is the question that I should be asking myself every morning before my feet hit the wonderful rug that my sister-in-law and mom bought for me.
If nothing was holding me back, what could I do with my life? Though, the easier question to answer would be "what couldn't I do with my life?" And that answer is most definitely, undeniably, NOTHING!
As a child everyone around you tells you that you can do or be anything you want to do or be. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor, marine biologist, astronaut, and many others. Who was it that convinced me I couldn't?
ME!!
I have the most amazing, supportive family and they always told me that I could do anything. But most of the time it was me that convinced me that I couldn't do it. There were a few times that they were able to convince me that I was able to achieve something, but that was not as frequent as it was that I believed I couldn't. The most amazing and horrifying thing happens when you convince yourself that you can't do something: you make it true.
I have always struggled with completing homework and other tasks that I deemed "no fun." But the real issue is less that it was no fun, and more that I was worried about failure. You see, if I get a bad grade because I didn't try hard, I have that excuse to fall back on. But if I worked as hard as I could on a task and failed it, then I'd have nothing to use as an excuse, and that scares the crap out of me. But the truth is that I wouldn't.
Phillippians chapter 4, verse 13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." I had always read this as "I can get done what I want to because Christ will help me." False. The verse says "all things." God isn't just saying, "I'll help ya with that." He's saying, "You can do it!! I believe in you with all my heart!! I know you can do it, because I made you!!" And I didn't believe him.
WHAT?!?
I have consistently gotten in the way of my dreams and the dreams God has for me because I was scared he was wrong. I thought that I could be more reasonable about the situation than God. I'm no theologian, but I'm quite certain that goes against the first Commandment. I made a god before Him and it was me.
So where do I go from here? First, start listening to Him more and read my Bible, after all, I have four on my shelf, collecting dust. Second, stop getting in the way of my dreams, and start living my dreams. Third, re-read A Purpose Driven Life to find His purpose for my life.
Oh ya, and the answers to the rest of the bulletin:
list FOUR things you want to do before you die -
1: Meet Steve Jobs
2: Have kids
3: Start my own telecommunications company
4: Keep adding to this list.