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Daniel Foreshadows Easter
My regularly scheduled Bible study provided me with a unique and unexpected Lenten and Easter preparation. I probably learned this years ago in seminary but hearing it anew in a sermon from my former pastor1 cemented the truth that Daniel chapter six contains a foreshadowing—a type—of Jesus Christ. A “type” in the Bible is “a person or thing in the Old Testament that foreshadows a person or thing in the New Testament.”2 How amazing that God intentionally pointed to Jesus from the very beginning and throughout history. Here are some ways that Daniel foreshadows the death and resurrection of Christ. Daniel Jesus Christ Daniel was a royal son of Judah…
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What can I give the Lord when I have nothing left?
I grew up in a tradition that observed the season of Lent. Every year as a young person we were encouraged to sacrifice something in order to honor the sacrifice of Jesus’ death on the cross and to help us as believers to focus on the Lord as we prepared for Easter. I believe there are a vast number of ways that Lent is used and observed, but as a young person this is what I understood it to be. My most memorable “sacrifice” was soda. I remember because I was in the sixth grade and after my 40 days of soda sobriety, I can honestly say I have never…
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Teaching Children to be Thankful
It is culturally acceptable as Westerners to heap presents on our children at various holidays. We love to get presents and as parents we enjoy giving our children the things they want. In a land of plenty it is very easy to slip into a life of insatiable desires. Do we teach our children to say please and thank you only to teach them from our actions to be greedy and demanding? If this question leaves us feeling convicted and uncomfortable then perhaps it is a time for change! Typically, thankfulness is not the feeling you get when you get what you want or even what you don’t deserve. That…
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Journey with Me to Israel
This month I take you on a photographic tour of the Holy Land. One year ago my husband and I traveled to Israel with Insight for Living ministries. And like many of you, we never expected the world to shut down for the next year (and counting). Thus in this season of Lent, as we prepare our hearts for Easter, I thought it only appropriate to virtually return to the land of our Savior. May you enjoy this journey.
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Lent: A Primer
Today is “Mardi Gras,” which means “Fat Tuesday.” In many parts of the world, people call Mardi Gras “Pancake Day” or Shrove Tuesday, and they eat stacks of syrup-covered cakes in celebration. Pancake Day is the liturgical polar-opposite of a last-chance workout. Because Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, people snarf up all the stuff from which they’ll fast for the next forty days. Items included in the traditional “fast” were sugar, butter, flour and eggs—which, if you mix them up, make pancake batter. So, people made pancakes out of the ingredients they needed to use up, and they consumed the resulting “stacks” the day before austerity set in. Voila! The story…
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Lent for Beginners
Today is Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday. Today we eat the chocolate we may be giving up starting tomorrow. Lent, the forty-day season preceding Easter, begins on Ash Wednesday, tomorrow. On Ash Wednesday, participants receive ashes on their foreheads as a reminder that from dust we came, and to dust we shall return—not in some morbid zombie sense, but because remembering the brevity of life and our mortality can help us live more holy lives. Long before the Eastern and Western Church split, and long, long before the Protestant Reformation, Christian believers observed this special season of penance. “Lenctentid” literally means both “springtide” and “March,” the month in which most of…
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The Burden of Shame
If anyone should have been burdened by shame—the feeling that at the core of his being, he was inherently flawed and unworthy of love—it would have been the Apostle Paul. His crimes weren’t minor. He zealously persecuted Christians and personally condemned and participated in the deaths of many (see his story in Galatians 1:11-24). If I were Paul, I don’t think I could have ever forgiven myself for my crimes. I imagine that I would lay awake at night for hours, struggling to fall asleep as the scenes of brave Christians dying for their faith, replayed in my mind. I would find it hard to smile at children and their…
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Another Recommendation–Enrich your Lenten season, see Risen
All week I've asked the Lord what to write in my blog and all week no answer–until this evening. David and I just returned from viewing the new film Risen and I simply want to add my hearty recommendation along with my friend, Sandi Glahn, and her friend Chrissy. (See their blogs 2/19 and 2/15) The earlier blog contains the film trailer. I fought back tears during multiple scenes, and I'm not a crier. How refreshing to view a creative work that isn't sappy or contrived. Invite a non believer to go with you. Productive discussion is likely to follow. For you who demand that every Christian film follow verse…
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The First Day of Lenten Season
Today marks the first day of the Lenten season—the beginning of the 40-day period (excluding Sundays) that ends with Easter Sunday. On this Ash Wednesday—across the country and around the world—Christians from various denominations will commemorate this “Day of Ashes” by fasting and praying. Others will participate in ceremonies that will involve ashes marked on their foreheads in the shape of the cross. For those of us who will participate in Ash Wednesday and Lent, we do so in anticipation of renewal and newness in our intimacy with God. We shift our focus towards spiritual reflection…
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Humility: The Art of Self-Forgetfulness
This Lenten season I’ve been reading The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis. In this eloquent novel that cuts to the heart, Lewis writes about the basics of Christian life, our relationship with God, and how to avoid temptation. The fictional novel is written from the point of view of Screwtape, a senior demon, to Wormwood, a lesser demon, on how best to tempt humans and limit their spiritual growth. Since Lent is a season of reflection, repentance, and renewal, I’ve appreciated how Lewis draws my attention to the many ways in which I wander from God and the grace with which God calls me back. Over and over again, I’m…
