2-6-08
Celebrating Ash Wednesday and Lent

Scripture thought for today:

That I may know Jesus and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings.

Philippians 3:10

Dear Friends,

What was the faith of your childhood? Did you go to the kind of church that celebrated Ash Wednesday and imposed ashes on your forehead to begin a season called Lent? Did you go to the kind of church that had you wondering about all those ashy headed people? Were you raised with faith awareness at all?

As children we went to church where Lent (the 40 days before Easter) began with ashes applied to our heads in the sign of the cross. While we don't have that tradition at Crossroads, we do want to make space for those of you who are looking for ways to pay attention to Jesus these 40 days before the celebration of His rising from the dead. So for those who would like to join us in celebrating Lent, we have a couple of suggestions to help you.

• We suggest reading or re-reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. Most bookstores carry it. We will start our reading tomorrow. There are 40 short chapters that can be read each day of Lent (except on Sundays.) The book begins with the famous quote "It's not about you." The message of the book is an unveiling of your life's purpose. . . namely living an abundant life, a life of purpose, in Jesus' Name.

• Take time to fast and pray over these next 40 days. Seek to know Jesus in the power of His resurrection. You can fast one day or a day each week, it's up to you. You can fast caffeine, food, desserts, media or. . . how about fasting the hitting of the snooze button on your clock and getting up to pray instead! The purpose of fasting is to help you pay attention to God when you say, "no" to something else.

• Lastly, for those of you who don't have a daily Bible reading program click here and find daily scripture reading on our website (click on the Daily Manna icon at the bottom).

We are praying for you that this will be the most meaningful season of preparation for Easter you've ever experienced.

Remembering Christ, His Cross and His Resurrection,

Scott & Clare

©2008 Scott & Clare Loughrige

P.S. We would love to hear how God is meeting you through these days of fasting and reading. Click here to email us your stories