Today's Devotions

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Showcase: Assorted Treats

  • Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor E Frankl +

    Victor Frankl, a Jewish psychiatrist and survivor of Auschwitz Concentration Camp during World War II, writes compellingly on the human Read More
  • A Literary Sabbath +

    Lynne Baab's Sabbath Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest (InterVarsity Press, 2005) is a beautiful meditation on the Read More
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The Easter buffet at The 
Carolina Inn is a bounteous 
feast to follow the fasting 
of the Lenten season..
Despite the fact that Jesus
says that our fasting is supposed to be private (Matthew 6), I have written about Lent several times… like the awful time I gave up french fries, or the unbearable time I gave up Facebook, or the time I laughably attempted to give up the unchecked pursuit of my own agenda… 
I wasn’t raised in a tradition that observes Lent, and despite regular Sunday church attendance and choir practice on Thursdays, my family didn’t speak of spiritual things… but in my later years, I’ve embraced Lent as a part of the rhythm of the spiritual year… We join with Christ in His sufferings for 6 six weeks by denying ourselves candy or fries or what have you, then we celebrate His glorious resurrection on Easter (in our case with an all-church rendition of Handel's famous Hallelujah Chorus and an obscenely generous buffet lunch at The Carolina Inn).
On Easter at the Chapel Hill Bible Church all the 
people stand and sing Hallelujah! It sounds like this.
When I was a kid, no one I knew gave up stuff for Lent… that I knew of. I did know one Catholic family. Did they observe Lent? Maybe their mom didn’t serve meat during that time? I can't know. Anyway, now it seems like it’s becoming more of a thing that people are doing, Catholic or not. I can’t begin to guess why it’s gotten to be a popular thing. I mean, far be it from me to assume where anyone’s heart is at. I can barely keep up with my own. 
As for me, well, I’m not going to lie – I'm carrying a bit of a mixed bag of reasons… I often choose sweets as my thing to give up with the unspoken hope that my body will recover from all the delish cakes and candy and gravy and stuffing I’ve crammed into it over the holidays. 
Since I'm not giving up sweets, 
I've eaten nearly all of this fantastic 
caramel cake Tom got me for 
Valentines...!
As for this year… a couple of weeks ago, I posted this on Facebook: “It's been Lent for three days and I still haven't decided what to give up…” And of course the nuts in the peanut gallery were eager to recommend that I give up all sorts of things from Facebook to procrastination to Lent itself. It was a nice chuckle – until this one guy left this comment: “Just give up your sins to Christ Jesus. This is all you need to do to see the Kingdom of Heaven. Believe in Jesus. John 3:16.
I love that guy!!! First of all, y’all know how much I love John 3:16. That there is my jam. And second of all, this is what I’ve been writing about, isn’t it? Faith alone. Jesus alone. Not that people who give up Lent are attempting to purchase or influence their salvation… Like I said, it’s more of a spiritual exercise… 

Nonetheless, I’ve decided that this year, that I actually AM giving up giving up things for Lent. So that I can focus on the sufficiency of the Jesus’s sacrifice to achieve our salvation. Once we embrace this, nothing we do or don’t do can add or subtract from this.
“Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That’s what Paul said in Romans 8. 
So maybe I’m doing the Lent thing backwards this year – sacrifice then celebrate, right? But to remember the true fact that Jesus paid it all… This is always in season!

Reflections to Consider

  • Corporate Spirituality

    Encouragement, Accountability, and Worship Solitude, community and ministry are three areas requiring balance and integration in the Christian walk. The Read More
  • Companion of the Souls

    When the two disciples recognised Jesus as he broke the bread for them in their house in Emmaus, he "vanished Read More
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Publications

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Music

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Audio & Video

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Favorites

  • Transforming this World: The Hope of Glory by NT Wright +

    Wright confronts the perspective that this world doesn’t matter, and that we live only to be in heaven. He shows Read More
  • What is Good in a World that Defies Hope: a talk by NT Wright +

    This is the second part of three talks by NT Wright at Harvard University in November, 2008 on the topic Read More
  • The Stream, the Lake and the River: NT Wright +

      Acts 2.1-21; John 7.37-39; a sermon at the Eucharist on the Feast of Pentecost, 11 May 2008, by the Read More
  • Jesus in the Perfect Storm by NT Wright +

    Zechariah 9.9-17; Luke 19.28-48; A sermon for Palm Sunday, April 17, 2011, In the University Chapel of St Salvator, St Read More
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Hidden Blessings

  • Warfare Spirituality +

    The Trinity function as farmers of our souls, actively caring for God’s creation: an ongoing, radical reclamation of His creation. Read More
  • You are free +

    The Jesus who calmed a sea of deadly, stormy waves, whose arrival sent thousands of demons cringing and cowering to Read More
  • Deliver us from Evil +

    Spiritual warfare is something that few Christians, regardless of their denomination, are accustomed to thinking about, let alone engaging in. Read More
  • Baby, you're a rich man! +

    The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is Read More
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