All Saints Presbyterian Church

Lent, Ash Wednesday, and All Saints

Next week (Wed. March 9) All Saints will host its first Ash Wednesday service (actually we will offer two services – one at noon at Red River Church and one at 5:30 PM at St. Gabriel’s.) Why are we doing this? I assure you it’s not just to add another activity to our church’s life in a season that is already very full. These services are also not an attempt to do something spiritually hip or provocative. We are simply seeking to have the life of Christ more fully formed within us through our observance of Ash Wednesday.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians saying, “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:13) What is the goal of which Paul speaks? What is the prize? Knowing Jesus and “the power of his resurrection.” That’s one way of stating the goal that resides behind everything we do at All Saints. Jesus stated the same goal this way: “Make disciples.”

The question then becomes How?

2 Videos

1. Eric Metaxas discusses Bonheoffer. 8 minutes, here.

 


2. Tim Keller and author Gabe Lyons discuss The Next Christians:

 

waterbrookmultnomah on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Marking The Days That Have Marked Us

“We choose to mark (certain) dates because in some way they have marked us.” - Bobby Gross
 
Everyone has certain dates that are charged with meaning. Consider children and birthdays or wives and wedding anniversaries. Then there’s baseball fans and opening day, accountants and April 15th. September 11, 2001 – we all remember where we were on that day. Days and even entire seasons can become filled with significance. They can become sanctified, meaning set aside, from all other days and times. This is what it means to have a holiday (holy day) or holiday season.  
 
The Church calendar is built upon this common human experience of time.

Fall Financial Class; by Ryan Motola

Have you ever played the prosperity game? It’s a mental exercise that asks how you would spend ever increasing amounts of money. Here’s how it works. Each day, for twenty days, you receive a sum of money and you must spend it all that day (no giving or tithing on the gross allowed). On day one you have a virtual $100. Each day the sum doubles (day 2 you have $200, day 3 $400, day 4 $800, etc) and you continue to play (spend) for 20 days. For you math nerds, you’ve already figured that by day 20 you will have $52,428,800 – nice job.

If you seriously consider your purchases you will learn about your heart. You will also get frustrated as your virtual account is replenished anew each day and deciding how to spend your money actually becomes a burden (ha!). It really is fun to consider what we would do with that money!

What can we learn from this game? Our ‘play’ purchases teach us what our hearts value – the gospel, security, knowledge, experiences, learning, friends, and so on. It will be a unique combination for each of us. With this ‘play’ money we actually begin to form a (virtual) world according to our hearts desires. For a heart changed by the gospel, often times this (virtual) world can be a great one.

Give away some of your stuff?

“Give away some of your stuff. See how it feels,” says Tammy Strobel in a widely read article from the New York Times, But Will It Make You Happy? The article explains how a growing number of Americans are attempting to step off the “work-spend treadmill” that seems to dominate our society. They advocate a number of new habits – a much smaller house, no car, only 100 personal items – as the means to finding happiness.  It’s an enjoyable read that serves as a thought-provoking companion piece to Andy Crouch’s From Purchases to Practices we considered earlier this summer.

Calling Conversation - John Mays

Perhaps it's a luxury to ponder calling as a subject. History is full of humans who understood their calling (not that they would have ever called it that) as their very day-to-day survival. These days, and in this part of the world, we often find ourselves with the benefit of many luxuries (readily available food, among others) that not only allow for such questions, but also make them more persistent and nagging.

As many Christians today report to their workplaces - or seek such – most of us continue to ask, "What is my calling?" Or, more negatively, "Surely this (whatever this may be) can't be all that I'm called to."

What does Jesus call us to? How are we to know? Where do we begin? One helpful triad points us to that place where our interests, gifts, and opportunities intersect. Yet you can only get so far pondering these things for yourself. At some point, you’ve got to talk to others. Calling is, in every way, communal – and thus, conversational.

Daily prayer scraps

Tim Keller shares some thoughts on daily prayer and Bible reading in a brief blog post, Scraps of Thoughts on Daily Prayer - interesting to get a little insight into his own disciplines; invaluable in sharing some helpful resources which may turn out to be good fits for you too.

"There are two kinds of Bible reading that I try to do. I read the psalms through every month using the Book of Common Prayer's daily office. I also read through the Bible using Robert Murray M'Cheyne's reading calendar. I take the more relaxed version - two chapters a day, which takes you through the Old Testament every two years and the New Testament every year. I do the M'Cheyne reading and some of the psalms in the morning, and read some Psalms in the evening. I choose one or two things from the psalms and M'Cheyne chapters to meditate on, to conclude my morning devotions."

But don't despair yet. Keller proves realistic and practical:

"The problem with mid-day prayer is finding a time for it, since every day is different. All I need is to get alone for a few minutes, but that is often impossible, or more often than not I just forget. However, I carry a little guide to mid-day prayer in my wallet which I can take out and use.

Be sure to follow the links to the ESV website where you'll find the Daily Office and M'Cheyne's reading calendar among several other resources. Bill recorded a short podcast along these sames lines last year. You can find that here. 

Change or Die

I didn’t have time Sunday to give you the full story from the article, Change or Die.  If you read through the article you will see that behavioral change is possible, even in heart patients. The requirements are quite telling and, I think, give us pause for thought regarding the nature of discipleship in the Christian life. A lifestyle change actually means a change in...well, lifestyle.

Change or Die, Alan Deutschman. Fast Company, Dec. 19, 2007.