Apprentice 2 Jesus

Ash Wednesday

Today is the first day of Lent in the Church. This is not a season the Pentecostal church practices as a whole, but over the years I have found it to be a discipline worth observing in my life. It is a time of reflection and preparation.

A good explanation of Lent can be found here.

This thought on Ash Wednesday is helpful:

Putting ashes on our heads as a form of penitence is a practice inherited from Jewish tradition. In Old Testament times, fast days expressed sorrow for sins and the desire to make atonement to the Father. Ashes, for Jews and Christians alike, are a sign of repentance, sorrow, and mourning.

Through this season until Resurrection Sunday I will post Scripture readings from time to time. There are other websites that post a full schedule of Lenten readings that are helpful as well.

Today the OT passage is Joel 2:12-18.

May this season be a season of grace, contemplation, and even repentance in our own lives. Let us draw near to our loving Savior!

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February 25, 2009

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Mr D

February 26, 2009 at 2:17 pm

The link you put here goes to a Catholic supported web site.
Why?

Dan

February 26, 2009 at 3:42 pm

It has a teaching on Lent which is historically correct.

Other sites are useful as well. One from an evangelical/protestant side is here:

http://www.cresourcei.org/cylent.html

Nick Zeimet

February 26, 2009 at 7:41 pm

Brenna mentioned that you hadn’t heard of Maundy Thursday. I grew up in a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church and I can remember attending this service. In fact, my first communion was at a Maundy Thursday service. I hope I don’t have this wrong, paint my face red if I do, but it is a service remembering the night before Jesus death. He ate with disciples and then went to the garden to pray. I enjoyed these services, because I felt it put me in a better place to enter into the weekend. At the end of the Maundy Thursday service, along with the Good Friday service, the congregation would leave in silence. The alter was stripped and the sanctuary was pretty bear. This was reflective of what was happening. It was pretty awesome to compare that mood with the mood of jubilee on Sunday– decked out sanctuary with flowers and banners and a white robe replacing the black one on the cross. It was pretty amazing.

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