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Observing Lent

Feb24

Easter is late this year, not until April 24th. And so the season of Lent begins in March. Shrove Tuesday is March 8, and Ash Wednesday is March 9. I want to do some special things with our family to observe both Lent and the fifty days after Easter which constitute the Easter feast that lasts from Easter until Pentecost Sunday, June 12.

The following ideas for Lent come from:
Lenten Links: Resources for a Post-Evangelical Lent.
One deep drawer: Observing Lent with our families
10 Lenten Traditions to Enrich Your Family’s Easter Celebration by Barbara Curtis
At a Hen’s Pace: An Anglican Family Lent.
Recommended Reading for Lent at Conversion Diary.

1. Make doughnuts or some other deep-fried treat on Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday.
2. Learn a new song. a song that points to spring coming and new life sprouting.
3. Go for a walk every day. I once knew of a homeschooling family who put a pot of soup on to simmer for lunch and headed out for a walk each day, no matter what the weather.
4. Make a nature almanac recording what you see on your walks.
5. Learn a new prayer to say at meals.
6. Give up meat as a family. or sugar. Give the money to an organization like Heifer.
7. Change your seasonal table or altar. Add a bowl of water to be the waters of life, or a tray of sand to be the 40 years in the desert, our own long journey, our dustiness.
8. Sprout something. Grow something. Plant something.
9. Make bread. to go along with the soup.
10. Celebrate National Poetry Month (April) with a poem a day.
11. Wear purple, the traditional color of Lent, to keep you mindful.
12. Light candles at meals. Turn off the electric light. Enjoy the darkness.
13. Observe silence even for a few moments each day at the same time.
14. Memorize an Easter passage of Scripture as a family. Suggestions: one of the Psalms,
15. Celebrate Purim, March 20-21. Read the book of Esther aloud.
16. Celebrate Passover, April 19-25.
17. Post Bible verses, especially the words of Jesus, on the refrigerator, bathroom mirrors, wherever a busy family is sure to see them.
18. Bake your own pretzels. Pretzels originated as early Christian Lenten treats, designed in the form of arms crossed in prayer.
19. In Matthew 12:39-41, Jesus points to the story of Jonah as a sign of his own destiny. So this is a great time to review it with your children, discussing the issues of sin, obedience, and God’s mercy.
20. Read books together as a family or alone to lead you into Easter Resurrection celebration. Books for Lent to lead you into Resurrection.
21. Read the Church Fathers during Lent.
22. Practice confession, asking God to search our hearts and point out those things in our lives that need to change.
23. Fast on Fridays or fast from meat on Fridays.
24. Decide as a family on one thing that is distracting your family from following God fully, and take that one thing out of your family life at least for the duration of Lent.
25. Participate in World Vision’s Relentless Acts of Justice.
26. Pray and read the Bible daily.

Semicolon’s 12 Most Crucial News Stories of 2010

Dec29

1. On Jan. 12 a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the town of Léogâne, approximately 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, leaving 250,000 dead. The presidential palace, the United Nations headquarters and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption were destroyed. Around 300,000 were injured, and more than a million Haitians were left homeless; those whose homes survived slept outside for months as aftershocks continued into March. It’s been almost a year now, and Haitians are still experiencing homelessness, joblessness, and political turmoil. Pray for Haiti.

2. On April 20, 11 workers were killed and 17 others were injured when an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit caused the unit to burn and sink, precipitating the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.
Although the BP well was finally capped in mid-August, cleanup of the Gulf is still ongoing and scientists are beginning a yearlong study of the ocean and shore environments, seeking to identify long-term effects.

3. On March 23, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became law. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blithely remarked, “we have to pass [the health care bill] to see what’s in it.” Pro-life Democrats in the House provided the deciding votes in return for . . . nothing. Republicans are promising to try to overturn the act and rescind it in 2011.

4. Ongoing holocaust: More than 50 million American babies have been aborted since 1973. THis “story” may be the most significant and consequential of this year, or any year since ’73. How can we escape the horrific consequences of killing our own children, year in and year out? God forgive us.

5. War and persecution in Afghanistan.

6. An 8.8-magnitude earthquake on Feb. 27 released 500 times more energy than Haiti’s quake and became the fifth-strongest earthquake ever recorded. But Chileans fared better than Haitians because of better building codes.

7. The last of U.S. combat forces in Iraq left in mid-August. Some non-combat troops and Special Forces remain. “The day after the 2nd Infantry Division left, bombers and gunmen killed at least 55 Iraqis and wounded hundreds in nearly two dozen coordinated attacks across the country.”

8. On Oct. 31, attacks on a Baghdad church service left 58 dead and more than 70 wounded. Christians have been leaving and continue to flee Iraq.

9. The European Union and the International Monetary Fund bailed out Greece in May to the tune of $145 billion. Then, in November, the EU and the IMF bailed out Ireland’s economy, $130 billion. They say either Spain or Portugal or both are next.

10. WikiLeaks began releasing portions of 250,000 diplomatic cables after Thanksgiving, 2010, to select newspapers and via its own website. The head of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has yet to be charged with treason or any other crime in the United States.

11. The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, held October 17-25 in Cape Town, South Africa brought together enthusiastic participants from Latin America, Africa, and Asia —and some from Europe, North America, and Australia, too. “Participants devoted much of Saturday to repentance and prayer as they responded to a call to reflect on the movement’s lack of humility, integrity, and simplicity.”

12. iPhone 4, iPad, e-Readers of all kinds, apps, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and tablets are all changing the way we communicate and the way we use technology to relate to one another and to educate and amuse ourselves. Maybe the technologies are also changing us, but it’s difficult to know how or how much.

World Magazine’s Top Ten News Stories of 2010.

Actually, these are only the stories we know about that might be significant influences on the future of our world or of God’s Kingdom. The real story may be a baby born somewhere in China or Albania or Venezuela, or a young woman born again in a tiny church near an obscure village, or two or three gathered together faithfully to pray for God’s deliverance and for revival. It’s amazing to me to think that someday in heaven, we may be able to see and hear about all those really crucial events and people that God used to bring about His will and His plan for our little planet.

God is in control.

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, Myra, Lycia (Turkey), c.300.

Dec6

St, Nicholas Day.

“The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic his giving, by grace, through faith, and this not of ourselves.” ~Nicholas of Myra, c.288-354 AD.

Today’s gifts:
A song: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

A booklist: Mother Reader’s 105 Ways to Give a Book

A birthday: Joyce Kilmer, b.1886.

A poem: The Fourth Shepherd by Joyce Kilmer.

Voices of the Faithful, Book 2, compiled by Kim P. Davis

Jun3

Inspiring Stories of Courage from Christians Serving Around the World

When I received a copy of this book of daily devotional stories from Thomas Nelson’s Book Sneeze Program, I planned to use it to read aloud to the urchins each day about missionaries and their service. I had hoped to form a habit for our family of praying for others outside of our immediate circle and of caring for God’s people around the world.

It didn’t happen –for lots of reasons, mainly my lack of discipline and my faulty memory.

Nevertheless, I would still like to share this book with my family, and maybe if I can get my act together we’ll start this summer. I did browse through the book and I’d like for my yound students and disciples to hear about:

Danika who at age 90 heard about the gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time—and at 94 years of age, believed in Him.

“Ratko” who came to English club to cause trouble and learned that God’s plan was to make peace with estranged sinners.

Daniel who prays daily for and writes letters to hundreds of missionaries around the world.

Walmiy who patiently endures the hardships of life in a hot, desert climate in order to share Jesus with the the nomadic tribal people living there.

And there are 362 more stories in this encouraging, convicting book. The missionaries who share their stories in the book and who live out the gospel all around the world are Southern Baptist missionaries working under the auspices of the International Mission Board of the SBC, but the stories and the people in them transcend denomination. If you are a Christian and you want to be challenged to live a life of sacrifice and service to the Lord, read these stories. If you want your children to be challenged in the same way, read the stories to them. Then, pray together, like Daniel, that God will continue to work through the missionaries of the International Mission Board and other missionary agencies to reach our lost world with the gospel good news that God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.

I’ve talked myself into starting tomorrow.

Lots of LOST Thoughts; Probably More to Come

May24

Idol or icon?
LOST, Lord of the Rings, the books referenced in LOST, even the Bible itself can become idol rather than icon if we become enmeshed in the details of the stories or of the Word and never see through to the Author, to God Himself.

It is possible to find True Truth in LOST or in LOTR or in Kierkegaard or Augustine or in Matthew Henry’s commentaries, but if we look to any story or philosophical treatise or commentary as the Source of Ultimate Truth, that work of literature has become an idol rather an icon that points us to the Ultimate Truth of God in Christ Jesus. Stories and poetry, and in our culture movies and television, are powerful icons that can point us to the source—because in the end all Truth is God’s truth (which is NOT the same thing as saying all religions lead to the same Source).

Cuse and Lindelof (LOST producers) wisely refused to answer all the questions raised over the course of six seasons of LOST for at least two reasons. First of all they don’t have all the answers. LOST raised many philosophical questions for which the answers are incomplete in any story. Cuse and Lindelof and the writers of LOST are telling us, “LIFE/LOST is messy. We have faith that it does have meaning, but the whole thing is a group project. No man is an island. We live in community, whether we want to or not, and we work out our salvation in fear and in trembling and in community.”

Secondly, and related, the answers are not neat packages. Each answer leads to more questions. LOST is like life. Things happen that seem meaningless and even perverse, and only later on can we see the meaning and the reason. Other parts of life we never do understand. Perhaps those incomprehensible and seemingly random events (Jack getting pounded in Thailand, Walt’s special abilities) also have meaning, but it’s a meaning that we are unable to discern even from the vantage point of the future. Like Jack and Hurley and the rest of the LOSTies, we just have to muddle through, having faith that there is a light at the center of the universe and a place and time where all be made clear.

In the end the LOST writers, the story itself, came down on the side of faith. Granted, it was faith in anything or everything, Buddha or Jesus, take your pick. But that’s our culture. That’s the part of the story that’s misleading and untrue. Still, some of the themes were truth-filled. It does take a community to work through your issues and help you to become the person you were meant to be. Human beings do have choices, and choices do matter, even when it seems as if everything is predestined and predetermined. Forgiveness is important and healing. In one sense, what happened, happened. You can’t change the past. But in another sense, nothing is irreversible. Resurrection and redemption are possible. (“Christian Shepard? Are you kidding?”)

And faith is vital. Not faith in oneself, as was implied in certain lines of dialog in the season finale, but rather faith in a God who is there and who is weaving meaning into every single event and relationship of our lives. In fact, we have a God who is so much bigger than Jacob or Jack or the Island itself. We have a Savior who by His sacrifice on the cross gave meaning to all the little mirror sacrifices that we sometimes make for each other. Jack and Desmond and Charlie and Jin and even Kate were all little Christ-figures, icons for the true story of sacrifice and servanthood that is found in the Bible. If you’ve never read it and you’re looking for a story to fill the LOST void now that LOST is over, you might try the real thing. God’s story is as mysterious and profound and beautiful and iconic as LOST, and it’s completely True. Time to go further up and further in and enter the Door that is now open into the most exciting story of all.

About Heaven on Ash Wednesday

Feb25

I went on retreat with the women of my church this past weekend, and our topic of study for the three day weekend was Heaven. It’s been a sort of continuation of January’s book club topic.

Anyway, I thought I’d share with you a selection of quotations, songs, Bible verses, pictures, and miscellany relating to Heaven. Enjoy. Even as we repent and remember that we are ashes, we also have the hope that we will someday be like Him for we will see Him face to face.

Revelation 21:2-3 (NKJV): Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from GOd, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people. God himself will be with them and be their God.”

“Wherever we go and whatever we do, we’ll never leave the presence of the King. For although he dwells especially in the New Jerusalem, he will yet be present in the far reaches of the new universe—in which every subatomic particle will shout his glory.” ~Heaven by Randy Alcorn, p. 260.

“I do live expecting great things in the life that is ripening for me and all mine—when we shall have all the universe for our own, and be good merry helpful children in the great house of our Father. Then, darling, you and I and all will have grand liberty wherewith Christ makes free—opening his hand to send us out like white doves to range the universe.” ~George Macdonald

The nearer my approach to the end, the plainer is the sound of immortal symphonies of worlds which invite me. For half a century I have been translating my thoughts into prose and verse: history, philosophy, drama, romance, tradition, satire, ode, and song; all of these I have tried. But I feel I haven’t given utterance to the thousandth part of what lies within me. When I go to the grave I can say, as others have said, “My day’s work is done.” But I cannot say, “My life is done.” My work will recommence the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes upon the twilight, but opens upon the dawn. ~Victor Hugo

Stairway to Heaven


“If the earth is fit for laughter then surely heaven is filled with it. Heaven is the birthplace of laughter.” ~Martin Luther

“If the Lord should bring a wicked man to heaven, heaven would be hell to him; for he who loves not grace upon earth will never love it in heaven” ~Christopher Love.

“To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here.” ~Jonathan Edwards.

“No man ever saw God and lived.
And yet, I shall not live till I see God,
And when I have seen him,
I shall never die. ~John Donne

Revelation 5:12-13 (NKJV): “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying, “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

Peter Kreeft: What Will Heaven Be Like?

Heaven at Semicolon Book Club, January, 2009.

A Heavenly Hymn: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.

Wherever God is, there is heaven. ~Teresa of Avila

Lenten Blog Break 2009

Feb24

Today is Fat Tuesday, and tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. For the past two years I’ve taken a break from Semicolon and from blogging for the forty days of Lent. I’ve been blogging since October 2003, and I plan to continue blogging. I just feel that this break is a good time of rest and reevaluation for me and for my family.

I will continue to post the Saturday Review of Books each week, but I may not be able to read your reviews until after I get back in April. I also have a few posts and re-posts and links set up to come online on certain dates while I’m gone. The subject, for the most part, will be heaven, a wonderful place to think about during Lent and during this time of economic hardship for many people.

However, things will be a little slow here at Semicolon for the next few weeks. I hope your Lent is a time of worship, contemplation, and joy as we follow the year into the celebration of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, this year on Sunday April 12th.

Books for Lent to Lead You into Resurrection

Lenten Links: Resources for a Post-Evangelical Lent by iMonk.

At a Hen’s Pace: An Anglican Family Lent

Semicolon Lenten Thoughts 2005

Sunday’s Invitation to Joy

Jan19

Again, this week it’s all about risk, taking the chance that Jesus is there, that He truly does love and forgive you and me, that we can live abundantly.

From Your Writer’s Group: “Jesus did not come so that we might have safety more abundantly. Imagine the life we’re missing because we’re so concerned with caution. But of course, we can’t imagine it because we lack the imagination and the artists to show us how.”

Jared’s Jesus Reading List; take a chance and read one of these books to encounter Jesus. Or try one of the four gospels.

Joe McKeever: My Dad Keeps Sending Me These Notes. “Now, my dad is sending me these notes. And the thing is, by putting the notes alongside Scripture he’s pointing me to the larger messages from the Heavenly Father. It’s the best of both worlds. Thank you, Pop. You sure knew a great scripture when you found one and the right prayer of thanksgiving for one who knows what it is to receive God’s mercies and forgiveness. Thanks for these little “hellos” you’ve scattered throughout this Bible.”
I think this is a wonderful idea: read through and make notes in a Bible to give to your child or grandchild or other beloved relative someday. What a legacy!

Finally, there’s some good stuff posted on You Tube. Here’s a video to accompany one of my favorite songs from way back when, Creed by John Michael Talbot:

May you live a blessed Sunday!

Sunday Invitation to Joy

Jan13

Randy Alcorn, Joel Stein, Starbucks, and Heaven: “As much as I disagree with his worldview, I found Joel to be sharp, engaging and witty; the kind of person I’d enjoy having lunch with. (I might enjoy it more than he would.) I was friendly and unapologetic about my beliefs, and he was professional and considerate.”

Risking Can be Fun from Amy Letinsky: “Honestly, I don’t know what God was up to with this one. Sometimes, he reveals his purposes pretty clearly; other times, it’s anybody’s guess. If I had to pin down his motives behind this one, I’d say that God was just showing me how much fun I could have if I was willing to trust him more, to take risks, even if I don’t know the outcome, even if my pride might get wounded or my self esteem might go a little lower.”

Ten Ideas for Living Intentionally in the Suburbs

I live in Major Suburbia. I absolutely believe that it is possible (and desirable) to live an intentionally Christian life in suburbia. Wherever you live, I pray that this day and this week is for you a week of risk-taking, unapologetic faith, and authentic Christianity. And I ask you to please pray the same for me.