Ash Wednesday clarification

[Earth Wind and Fire]

To an extent, I certainly agree. What Ash Wednesday and a lot of the church calendar have become is nothing more than empty ritual. In my opinion, that stems from an initial error, whereby a human "priest" can absolve one from sin, take confession, administer "sacraments" that offer God's grace (as if it is a commodity), etc., and otherwise "speak for" the believers who are part of the mass.

But, that being said, I can find no wrong in the individual believer taking 40 days before Resurrection Day to contemplate the Cross, and yes -- absoultely -- the RESURRECTION! If that includes some form of fast, then we are yet in keeping with the Scriptures, OT and NT, for fasting is one of the disciplines of the Christian life -- not to "gain grace" but for our own purposes to reflect, meditate on Christ, and also on our own circumstances that caused His crucifixion, for He died in our stead.

So, while I disavow the "religious" nature of the ceremony for the congregation, I do not disavow the contemplative and reflective nature of the actual practice for the individual believer.

Agreed... I like Charles Colsons "Enough Sermon"

...don't blame the liberals. Don't blame the homosexual lobby or the media.

"WE are at fault. We—collectively and individually—have chased after every idol the world has to offer. We have tried so hard to be relevant that we’ve become almost completely irrelevant. We offer no other way, there is nothing distinctive about us.

"We have not been what Jesus called us to be: Salt and light. We have blended in with the world so well that we are practically invisible...

"Enough of self-absorption.

Enough of going to church for self-validation—because it makes us feel good; enough of buying into the “Jesus and me” brand of Christianity that we evangelicals are especially susceptible to.

Enough of living exactly like our non-believing neighbors, glued to electronics, engaging in promiscuity and infidelity, spending beyond our means.

Enough of ignoring the suffering of the poor. Enough of being ashamed of the truth claims of the Gospel. It’s time to repent..."

 

[glfredrick]

Indeed... I cannot escape the FACT that one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is LORD. That is whether they are kicking and screaming or not. That is whether they will otherwise or not.

Every person WILL stand before God at least once -- and how much better that when that day comes that we have already prepared for it and are not only willing, but have placed out ears against the door frame and had them pierced by our Master, as we are his slaves, willing and joyful in our slavery!

 

[Matt Black]

Shouldn't that be done daily, not yearly?

Ideally, yes. But we humans being somewhat frail (and speaking in particular for myself), it does help to have a season when we particularly concentrate on this. It also seems to be in accordance with the design of our Maker, in that it is well-established that it takes about 6 weeks to make or break a habit (good or bad); my approach to Lent therefore is that the spiritual practices in which I engage for this season to improve my walk with the Lord and with others will remain with me beyond Easter as ingrained good habits.

 

[glfredrick]

Indeed, God is the creator of festival and contrition seasons.

 

[Jerome]

Reformed Baptist Fellowship "Lent and the Sufficient Work of Christ"

one can easily see why the Puritans decided to scrap the liturgical calendar entirely. The human heart loves this type of legalism and it greatly obscures the Gospel. There is something seriously wrong when people begin to see the Christian life in these terms

the practice of Lent takes the historia salutis event of Christ in the desert and turns it into something which can be counterfeited on an individual level. In doing so, it fits perfectly with a works-righteousness mentality

[Lent is] a man-centered legalism which has no place among the people of God