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What I'm giving up for Lent, why I'm doing it, and why you should consider it too (REPOST)

UPDATE: I posted this for Lent last year. This year, Lent begins on 2/22, and I have chosen to give up 1) all forms of desserts/sweets & 2 ) Rock/Heavy Metal this time.

Fat Tuesday will definitely include lots of Maiden and some Ben & Jerry's...

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Next Wednesday (3.9.11) is Ash Wednesday, and that triggers the season of Lent on the Christian Calendar. Lent is a 40-day period designed to prepare our hearts as we anticipate Easter, and the resurrection of Jesus that we celebrate on that day. In the tradition of Lent each believer gives up something important to them that involves some level of sacrifice. The idea is that every time we would normally do whatever we gave up or whenever we strongly desire to, we instead identify with Jesus’ far greater sacrifice for us and we focus on God in prayer and reflection.

In the church I came to faith in, Lent was never really mentioned or practiced. As a result, it wasn’t until last year that I observed this season. I talked about that and why I believe it is a good idea for all of us to observe Lent in a message called “Remember the Time…?” If you don't know much about Lent, I would highly encourage you to listen to this message (because it goes into more detail than I can get into in this context) and consider whether or not this is something you would like to be a part of. I strongly believe observance of Lent will greatly deepen your intimacy with Jesus and your appreciation for His sacrifice for us if you do.

If you do decide to observe Lent, the big question is always “WHAT do I give up?”.  As a bit of a media junkie I gave up Facebook and talk radio last year. This year I am giving up TV and movies; pray for me!!! You can give up anything you feel led to; the key is it has to be a bit of a sacrifice (which is why I couldn’t go with country music). If you decide to observe Lent this year, please post a comment letting me know what you’re giving up so I can pray for you too.

My testimony and the vision of our church in 1 shot!

It was probably a little ambitious to share both the God-sized vision of our church and my wild, personal terstimony in one message, but I did it anyway! Check it out here if you're interested:

 

Pastors, get your Mojo!

I'm honored to have been asked to be a contributor at PastorMojo and here is my first post there.

WHAT, you never heard of PastorMojo??? It is the latest brainchild of Tony McCollum of Tonymccollum.com and pastorgear.com fame.

If you're a pastor, click here to get your mojo!

"Go Big" series kick-off

This Sunday at Calvary we start a brand new series called "Go Big" ---I can't wait! It will be a faith-building, vision-casting series which I trust will prove to be inspiring and challenging.

While I am excited, I am also a bit nervous. This Sunday, I am going to share a bit about my personal testimony in more detail than I have with our church in the past. The purpose is not to be provocative, but rather to give God the proper glory for His power to change even those that many would consider too far gone. It is my hope that, in addition to God being glorified, that our church would would be inspired to 1) really put their faith in God to radically transform our own lives and 2) that we would really step out in faith and proclaim the gospel to those who are broken, bruised, rebellious and raging; in other words, those who desperatlely need Jesus. If you're reading this and if you'd take a moment to pray, that would be phenomenal.

Series promo here: