What to Do During Lent

Last week on February 22nd, the official Lent season began. It has become more and more popular to “give something up” for Lent, but many people are still unfamiliar with what exactly it is.

The Christian church began to recognize a special time of preparation leading up to Easter Sunday not long after Jesus was resurrected. Because Easter is the day we celebrate the greatest miracle in history (Christ raising from the dead), people began setting aside a few days to prepare themselves for worship on that day. By around 300 AD, that few days had turned into a 40 day season of fasting and prayer.

The period of 40 days is a very significant one in the Bible. A few examples include when Jesus was in the desert for 40 days, when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, when the rains fell during Noah’s flood for 40 days and when the disciples waited for 40 days for the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, but there are many, many more. The number 40 in the Bible is always used to designate a time of preparation or cleansing followed by a new season.

So Lent is supposed to be a period of 40 days that is set aside for preparation for a renewed season of God’s visitation. It really is a shame that for many, the Lent season is merely the excuse for Mardis Gras. The whole idea with Mardis Gras is that you are sinning as much as you can before you clean up and get right with God during Lent. But this misses the whole point.

Lent is an opportunity to consciously set aside a period of time in dedication to God. While it certainly is possible (and advisable) to do this at any time during the year, there really is something powerful about knowing that many millions of people are doing the same thing all across the world during Lent.

What should you do? Many are fasting regularly and taking the time that they would have normally taken to eat, to instead seek God in prayer. This is a wonderful practice because we are exercising self-control over our body while reminding ourselves that God is our true source of sustenance. Others are restricting their intake of media and entertainment because these things have frequently become such a distraction that we neglect our relationship with God and even with our families. The point is to restrict yourself in an area for the purpose of training yourself to be more like Christ (see 1 Timothy 4:7).

There are many wonderful daily prayer guides available during this season, but one recommendation is the excellent, Seek God for the City. We have copies available through our office or you can visit waymakers.org or even download their app for your smartphone.

So what are you doing for Lent? Maybe nothing yet, but I would encourage you to start today! Remember, the whole point is to get closer to God so don’t make the mistake of just starving yourself and not seeking Him!

Francis Chan Notes from FPU Ministry Forum

Here's my notes from a very engaging Francis Chan at yesterday's Fresno Pacific University Central Valley Ministry Forum.  He greatly challenged us to live by faith and eschew the comfort that is so naturally a part of our existence in the United States.

Session One

Living by Faith

Doesn't God want us to do things that require faith?

We need to be careful not to allow our reputation to get in the way of our honesty and passion for an ongoing relationship with Christ. 

Session Two

Preaching Boldly Admist Criticism

2 Timothy 4:1-8

We need to be thinking about what we need to be doing so we can say what Paul says here. 

It is about the mission before the marriage and before the family. If we keep the right focus those things come together. 

Are we more concerned about what people will think or what God will think when we speak on Sunday?

Think of Stepehns martyrdom

There are times when we can actually be too clever and cute and we end up backing off and being nice and not say EVERYTHING we need to say. 

God help us not to back off saying what we need to say and end up being a nice teacher and just teaching to itching ears. 

Let's not fool ourselves. Are we really surrendered to Gods will? Meaning are we really, wholly and totally committed to following the wind of His Spirit? Are we living life in a way that says we are tying to live life in a way that we arrive at death safely? 

Am I asking myself regularly whether God wants me where I am (in my workplace, church, house, etc)? Or am I assuming I know the trajectory of my life and am ignoring what it is the God wants?  Am I living in dependency on His Spirit?

We half a million kids in foster system in US and millions and millions of Christians. How does that compute?

What radical thing have I done with the family that says to them God is alive? Shouldn't that be an everyday thing?

Personal note: got a picture of the house filled with kids. Like Little Men. Wouldnt that give everyday life meaning? Wouldn't it create a community within the house?

Session Three

Our Responsibility to Equip the Church

Matthew 28:8-12

Remember this message is given after Jesus' death and resurrection

Discipleship in our churches has become platform oriented and is a major departure from Ephesians 4. We need to be expecting people to train and equip others. That starts with studying the word for themselves and learning how to share their faith with confidence. But we are raising people to be overly dependent on leadership. 

A parent's job is to teach their children how to live on their own. Not to create children to be super-dependent. We want them to be independently dependent on God. This is not the mindset in homes today and we tend to do the same thing in church. 

Do we see the people in our churches as disciples who can change their world?  Do we see them as adults who we have trained to the point where they don't need us to FEED them anymore?

One of the biggest problems in the church today is that people are so weird. They don't know how to have a conversation with an unbeliever. 

Ammunition Conference

At Ammo conference in Modesto today. Interesting...

What Direction Are You Moving?

A very common question I hear is “how do I get closer to God?” I believe this is a universal question that everyone — teenager or adult, new to faith in Christ or long-time Christ-follower  — asks from time to time.

How do we get to know the God of the universe? How do we learn to hear His voice? How do we grow into the people He created us to be? Each of these questions are simply versions of the central one. The good news is the answer is very straightforward. There are no secret handshakes you must learn, no special antennas you need to put on your roof and no codes you need to break.

The Bible lays it out very simply in James 4:8, where it says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” It sounds pretty simple and in many ways it is very simple, but then again, sometimes the simplest things in life can be the most challenging.

I believe it helps to think about this in terms of a relationship because, after all, we are talking about a relationship with God—not a set of religious rules and regulations that, if followed, make everything wonderful. Any relationship, if it is going to grow, requires time, communication and commitment. If you don’t give the relationship these three things, then you cannot expect it to grow.

When it comes to a relationship with God, we need to spend time with Him, talk to Him and be committed to His purposes. When we do these three things, He promises to do the same with us!

Anyone that is married or in a long-term relationship can pretty much tell you this list, but actually DOING the list is something entirely different. The question is not one of KNOWING what we should do when it comes to getting closer to our Father in heaven, it is one of PRACTICING what we already know.

If you are anything like me, I get distracted or lazy or busy or complacent, and before I know it the relationships in my life grow stale. I have to pick myself up, get back on the wagon and go back to doing the things that build my relationships.  

The same thing goes for my relationship with God. At the beginning of the year, I’m excited and I rededicate myself to spending time with Him, reading His Word and getting around people that encourage me to do these things. But before I know it, I get busy and lazy and I find it has been several days since I last talked with Him and gave Him time to talk with me. So it’s time to get busy again doing the things that I need to do so that I can get closer to God.

What do you need to do? How long has it been since you gave God a chance to get close to you by getting close to Him? This weekend, the pastors in Kings County would love to encourage you to keep your relationship with your Heavenly Father growing and strong. Why don’t you take your family to church? I bet you’ll find that God takes a step towards you the moment you do.