How to Have a Great Lent

Lent is about preparation.

Will you be ready?

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Beginning Ash Wednesday and ending Holy Saturday, Lent is the 40 day period leading up to Easter.

Here are 3 ways to get yourself ready for the raucous good news of Easter Sunday!

Fast

Before modern times, virtually all Christians spent time in fasting.  Why not try it this Lent?

Give up a certain type of food for a certain period, e.g., skipping lunch on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Pray

Make regular prayer a Lenten habit.

Here’s how: Sit in the same place each time. Put your phone in another room. Focus your thoughts on the Lord. (I find a prayer rope helps me.)

And any Mungarians reading this should definitely take a shift in our Easter Prayer Vigil.

Worship

Attend Sunday worship every week—NO MATTER WHAT. Unless you are sick, don’t miss Sunday worship—and being out of town is not a reason to miss—other towns have churches, too.

If you are a Mungarian, attend Wednesday morning communion (7:30-8:00 AM). I lead it every week in the sanctuary.

Plan now and schedule your life around Holy Week services.

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Easter is always good news, but when we prepare—when we remember that the Cross comes before the Crown—Easter becomes ELECTRIC.

Will you be ready?

Saturday

What happened on Saturday?Jesus was crucified on Friday, and he was raised on Sunday.But what happened on Saturday?Nothing.Nothing happened on Saturday.In many ways, we live in a Saturday world. Saturday is about waiting. Saturday is about the promise of a better future that hasn't yet come. Saturday is about the hope that God will do something, but still not seeing it.We live in a Saturday world.But Sunday is coming.   

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6 FAQs About Fasting

Fasting is not something that comes easily for me, and, judging by the questions I've been getting, it's not something that comes easily for many of you, dear readers. What follows are some Frequently Asked Questions on the topics of fasting and Lent.

Why Fast?

I remember asking my dad about fasting when I was a kid, and he told me he had asked my grandfather the same question when he was a kid. My grandfather had said, "Fasting is something Roman Catholics do during Lent, but we Protestants are supposed to give up things all year long." I loved my grandfather, but I think he was wrong to frown on fasting as some misguided practice that Roman Catholics do, and I'm glad that American Evangelical Protestantism has begun to embrace fasting and Lenten disciplines more widely.

• Fasting reminds us that there are people around the world for whom hunger is not a choice, and to a very small degree, fasting can help us stand in solidarity with them.
• Fasting reminds us of the temptations and privations of Jesus in the wilderness. Before there's the Resurrection, there's the Crucifixion. Before the crown, there's the cross.
• Fasting can help us set our minds?on what matters most.
• Fasting can help us pray with more focus and intensity.

I give a brief overview of Lent and fasting here:[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvPad5PEfjo[/embed]

What If I Can't Fast From Food?

Lots of folks have medical conditions that make it unsafe for them to fast from food during the day. Here's my advice, if you'd still like to fast: make your food as plain as possible, and eat just enough to keep healthy.

What Should I Do When I'm Fasting?

I use fasting as a way to help me pray: throughout the day, I'll pray something like "Lord, help me to desire you and your word as much as I desire food."Another technique is to use hunger as a reminder to pray for some particular topic. Maybe during Lent you can pray for the persecuted Church, or the situation in the Ukraine, or for your neighbor who struggles with faith, or for your marriage, etc. Every time you are hungry, pray for that specific situation or person.One other thing to do is to take on something life-giving while you are giving up something else. If you are fasting from food, take on prayer. If you are fasting from coffee, take on giving the money you would have spent towards a clean water project. (You can see suggestions of what to take on in the chart below.)

Does It Matter What I'm Fasting From?

Traditionally, fasting involves food, but you can fast from other things as well.

• You could fast from caffeine;
• You could fast from television;
• You could fast from complaining.

In the 40 Campaign we're doing at my church, each week during Lent involves a different kind fast. You can see the list below.

Should I Fast On Sundays?

Every Sunday is an Easter celebration, and so Sundays have traditionally been feast days. I like the thought of not fasting on Sundays for this reason.

What If I Give In and Break My Fast?

Try again tomorrow. Fasting isn't about showing off heroic self-denial; it's about learning to pray and focus on what matters most. How has the experience of fasting been for you?

40 Days of Dying to Yourself

How might you be different in 40 days of sacrifice and simplicity? Instead of excess, euphemism, and self-indulgence, I'd like to invite you to 40 days of sacrifice, simplicity, and self-denial. Join the 40 campaign. Take 2 minutes and watch the following video.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvPad5PEfjo&feature=youtu.be[/embed]Today is Ash Wednesday, and it marks the beginning of Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter (not including Sundays). During Lent, we remember the privations of Jesus during his time of temptation in the desert, and that before the Resurrection, there was the Crucifixion. Many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation, and spiritual discipline during Lent.

Join Me in the 40 Campaign?

Starting today, my church is embarking on our 40 campaign: a Lenten campaign of sacrifice and simplicity. Each week we have a different thing to give up and a different thing to take on:How might you be different in 40 days of sacrifice and simplicity?

3 Things I Learned From a Week Without Screens

As part of?our church's Lenten campaign, my family and I just spent the last week abstaining from screens for purposes of entertainment. (No tv, blogs, streaming video, etc. Unfortunately, I still had to use email for work, etc. Wouldn't that be nice?....)Here are 3 things I learned from the experience. The 1st is obvious and expected, the 2nd and 3rd surprised me:

1. I'm a lot more productive when I'm not tied to my phone or computer.
2. My stress level is lower when I'm not absorbing content from the internet, because
3. Much internet content focuses on fomenting outrage. We are a people of grievance and offense. A friend of mine called me midweek and asked me about something that had occurred that had gotten the internet outraged and it was a relief to say that I knew nothing about it and didn't care. I don't need more petty outrage in my life. If you took away tweets and blog posts and articles that express offense or outrage--and took away pornography, sadly--how much of the internet would be left?

It's startling how quickly something that's clearly not a necessity--screens for entertainment--can shape our ways of living and interacting. What about you--how are screens shaping how you live, work, or parent?