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Tag: Jesus (Page 23 of 53)

Nailed To The Cross

April 2, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Today is Good Friday. It’s a day for people who believe in Jesus to pause and reflect for a minute. We take a day and set it aside for remembering. Remembering the person Jesus was. The life he lived. The death he died. And what it all means for me today.

Today isn’t Monday but this song spoke to me and I wanted to save it for today. So in this week’s Music Monday post we sit on Good Friday and consider the week behind us and the weekend in front of us.

Good Friday is the day all of my junk, pain, sadness, fear, frustration, wrongs, lies, betrayal, denial, every negative and evil thing I’ve ever done gets nailed to the cross. It’s when Jesus did what I could never do. It’s when he took my place and paid my price.

Take a listen to this song and enjoy Music Monday on a Friday and remember it may be Friday but Sunday is coming.

The Table Is Set

April 1, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Today marks a pretty special day in the life of the church. It’s actually a pretty cool thing that happens on this day and we’ll talk more about it tonight in our worship service but here are a few things I thought would be helpful as you consider what this day is all about.

Maundy

Ok so for starters this is just a weird sounding word. We don’t use it any other time but so often we throw it around as if it’s normal or something. The word actually derives from the Anglo-French and means commandment. I know that’s not the normal focus of our Midweek Maundy Thursday worship but that’s where the word came from.

There actually was a command that was part of what we normally celebrate as the Maundy Thursday account. The command is to love one another as Jesus has loved them. The command isn’t about doing anything or performing some weird ritual. It’s about loving and serving one another and putting others before yourself. That’s the Jesus way!

Why did they all sit on one side of the table?

I know you’re probably not wondering this but I always find it odd that in every picture they’re all sitting behind the table as if for a photo op or something. But none of them are looking in the direction the camera would be! So obviously none of these pictures are real and they really in all likelihood sat around a table like most normal people do.

Why this night?

So there’s a lot of history and tradition and ritual in the timing of all of this. Jesus doing this on this particular night fits right in with the rest of the week. We talked about Palm Sunday and all of the cool hidden details in a previous post that you can read here. The idea is simple really. Jesus had to celebrate this meal with his disciples on this very night to fulfill everything the Old Testament points toward. There was a celebration in the Jewish calendar known as Passover which commemorated the plagues on Egypt and how God delivered his people by letting the angel of death pass-over the faithful. The way the angel would know whose house to pass-over was made clear by the sacrifice of a lamb in that house and the blood being on the door posts. This signified the people relying on God to deliver them.

Fast forward to this night and we see Jesus celebrating the Passover while he’s preparing to be the newer, better, fuller, forever-er sacrifice for all people not just the Israelite ones from the Old Testament.

Where’d he get the bread and wine?

Another cool thing that we might miss if we’re not paying attention is that while Jesus eats the Passover meal, he takes some of that meal as the elements for the new meal that he starts. So he takes the bread that was made for the Passover meal and consecrates it, sets it apart for what we call communion. He does the same thing with the wine. He takes a cup of wine, of which there were several in this meal to mark different attributes and actions of God. Then he blesses it and sets it apart as His very blood of a new covenant.

So when the Old Testament followers of God celebrated the Passover they had to kill a lamb to atone, bible word for pay for, their sins and their lack of faith. Now in the new Passover event, we don’t see the killing of many lambs but the self sacrifice of one lamb known as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.

How often should we do this whole bread and wine thing?

The simple answer is…yes. I know that’s not an answer to the question but really you should take it as often as it is offered. So if it’s offered once a year, then take it! If it’s once a month, then take it! If it’s every other week, take it! If it’s weekly, yep you got it – take it!

There is no set rule for how often a church should offer it. That’s left up to the context of each congregation. And no you will not lessen its meaning if you offer it weekly. No you won’t find it less special if you take it every week versus once a month. That’s ludicrous.

Who should take it?

Now this one is where the bus comes to a bit of a screeching halt for many. The church body to which I ascribe my doctrinal beliefs has a pretty solid teaching on this. The way we do this in the church I serve is I explain what communion is, and if you agree completely with the explanation I give and have had some teaching and instruction on it before that moment with a pastor (either me or someone else) then come on. If, however, you don’t think the same way, don’t believe it the same way, are confused by it, or don’t even think it’s important – then by all means don’t do it! This is a huge deal so don’t go at it willy-nilly. You have to understand what it’s about or you make a mockery of it and it will actually not benefit you at all.

So there you have it. A few little tidbits of info on what Maundy Thursday is all about, why we do it, and why you should too! If you have a church home then please set some time aside to go and worship tonight and this whole weekend (heck go every Sunday!) If you don’t have a church home, then we’d love to welcome you as our guests at Living Word Galena. And if you’re just not sure but want a little more, you’re welcome to check us out online first to listen along to see if what we teach and believe lines up with what you understand and believe.

Happy Holy Week!

Why was Palm Sunday so important?

March 30, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Ok so some of you won’t really care about this nearly as much as I do but I’ve been a pastor for 19 years and have read, preached on or at least heard the Palm Sunday story every year that I’ve been alive. But this year the whole thing took on new meaning. It’s like 19 years of ministry finally paid off with a little knowledge.

The Palm Sunday account, known as the triumphal entry has tons of meaning packed into it. I’ve included the video of the message at the bottom but here’s a list of the things Jesus really did when he came riding into Jerusalem on that day we call Palm Sunday.

Mount of Olives

Did you know that over 600 years earlier, recorded in Ezekiel 10 and again in 43, the prophet is given a vision of God’s glory leaving and then returning to the temple? In 586 BC the glory of God filled the temple then exited through the east gate. It proceeded up the Mount of Olives and rested there until…

Yep that’s right, until Palm Sunday when Jesus came back down the Mount of Olives as the Son of God bringing the Glory of God with him.

Colt the foal of a donkey

So Jesus asks his followers to go, get him a donkey so he could ride into town. Now before we get all freaked out that he stole a donkey, that’s just not true. You see they had a practice in this time that a king could claim eminent domain on a beast of burden if needed. Well, Jesus is king, granted a totally different kind of king but king nonetheless, so the donkey was rightfully his to use for this moment.

And it had to be a donkey and not a full grown horse because tradition also demonstrated (and is echoed in Genesis 49 and the accounts of David and Solomon in 1 Kings 1) that a king would come into town on a donkey if he came bringing peace. Jesus then is the Prince of Peace according to Isaiah 9, so rightfully he brings that peace into Jerusalem once again. This riding in on a donkey was also prophesied in Zechariah 9, so Jesus doing it this way was fulfilling what was promised about him.

Additionally the donkey is said to be an unridden donkey. This too was significant because a king to be considered the greatest would ride a donkey that was unridden. The king was the only one who was to ride his animal. It generally was unbroken by someone else showing that no one could be as great or powerful as this king.

Hosanna!

The people lined the streets, threw their coats on the ground, waved palm branches and shouted hosanna! This may seem to be nothing major but even the words of the people fulfilled some of the Old Testament. The words that the people spoke were and echo of Psalm 118 in a psalm of praise.

Triumphal Entry

A triumphal entry was a Roman tradition actually. One would get a triumphal entry parade if you were a king or mighty warrior who was headed into battle against a worthy adversary or had conquered a group of 5000 or more. Oddly enough Jesus would actually do both of these!

A few days after he was welcomed into town in this triumphal entry, he would go to a cross where he would die on the cross. Now for most people dying was a sign of weakness or being beaten, but not for Jesus. To fulfill the Old Testament rules, someone had to die to pay for sin. Since Jesus didn’t have sin, his death would be a perfect death. That meant that in his death he was victorious. Therefore he deserved a triumphal entry!

But if you go ahead in the story to Acts 3-4, you see the disciples healing a man. Then everyone wanted to know how they did it and who they were. They taught about Jesus and this very week in history. People were so overcome by the event that they surrendered their previous way of life and gave themselves to Jesus. And there were 5000 of them total!

The temple

Jesus lets the fanfare run its course then ends up in the temple. But in a very anticlimactic way looks around and leaves. This is a sign to show that while the glory of God has returned it’s not going to be staying in the temple. Now the glory of God is on the loose. This would be made even more evident in the events of Good Friday when the temple curtain was torn from top to bottom symbolizing God tearing.

The temple curtain was said to be the divider between God and man. But when Jesus died the glory of God, the mercy of God, the grace of God was released for all to see. Now instead of standing in judgment afraid of eternal punishment, we stand before God made holy and righteous because Jesus is our righteousness and God’s glory at the same time.

These are just a handful of the Old Testament passages that are fulfilled in the event we call Palm Sunday or the triumphal entry.

What A Foolish Bunch

March 8, 2021 / / 0 Comments

It’s no secret what I do for a living. I’m a pastor. That means that everyone thinks I work only on Sundays and I just basically get paid to talk a lot. Well truth be told, I do work on Sundays and Saturdays and just about every other day throughout the week in some capacity or another. And I do tend to talk…a lot…even when no one cares to listen! But there’s more than just that. It’s more than work and talking. It’s about a calling and a way of life for me.

The interesting thing however is that what I do for a living, God has called all of us to do in some form or fashion. We’re all called to be available to help those in times of need. We’re all supposed to be encouraging and uplifting, to challenge and strengthen. But there’s more to it. The heart of what we’re about as followers of Jesus is the message. We call it the gospel.

But the message of the gospel is not all that easy. Don’t get me wrong. It’s simple but not easy. It’s simple because the message is really all about what Jesus did for us. He did the work, we get the benefit. But that’s exactly what makes it hard! We like to do things ourselves. We like to know we’ve done enough or completed a task. We need to check the box when a to-do list item is finalized.

To say that the message of the gospel to some in our world is foolish is an understatement. The message of the gospel put as plainly and completely as possible is that Jesus is the Son of God who became a man at the time of his birth, what we call Christmas. Then he lived a pretty normal life for the first 30 years or so. The only thing was he didn’t sin. He did no wrong. He wasn’t some goody goody kind of character but he just legitimately did the right thing, like all the time! Then when he was about 30 years old he really came into his own. He gathered crowds. Taught messages. Did some pretty cool signs and miracle things. Then one day was accused of having the wrong intentions, which he didn’t. He ended up being tried, beaten adn killed for his way of life. Then after he was buried, he was raised up. Yep came to life again.

The message of the gospel is built on the belief that Jesus did all of this to show God’s love for you and me. He didn’t do it to get anything from us or make us go through some weird ritual of some sort. He did it so that one day you and I could see him for who he is and live with him forever in heaven. That may sound absurd to you. And if so, that’s ok. You’re not alone. The bible even warns about that one. But what might sound foolish to some is actually the source of all that we are as followers of Christ. Our identity is wrapped up in this very reality of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

So there you have it. Foolish? Maybe but not for believing in Jesus. That’s the only wise thing about many of us, ok well about me anyway. Check out the full message on this topic in the video below.

Help Is On The Way

March 8, 2021 / / 0 Comments

When trouble hits we want help right here and right now. We don’t want to wait. We don’t want to look for our hero to come save us. We order our food expecting it to come out fast. We text someone and hope for a reply immediately. Everything about our world is immediate and expected on our timeline. We are very much an instant gratification society. Today’s MusicMonday is about knowing that help will be here just in time.

When I was in college I worked for the Honda Manufacturing plant in my hometown. I was amazed when I first toured the facility. I expected to see stacks of containers with extra parts for the cars and motorcycles they were building. I thought the factory would have had racks and racks of frames, fenders, door knobs, anything and everything needed to build these vehicles. But to my amazement there was nothing!

They didn’t have tall storage racks like you see in the pick up area of IKEA. They didn’t have stacks upon stacks of extras of anything. They operate as what’s called a just in time company. That means the parts arrive just in time to get a new batch of 60 parts to the line to keep things going.

Just in time. That’s what today’s song is all about. God shows up just in time. It might be at midnight or midday but he’ll always be there. He won’t be late and make you fall. He won’t be early to keep you from the challenges. He’ll be there. Help is on the way. But it will show up when the time is right.

Looking Back Doesn’t Move You Forward

March 1, 2021 / / 0 Comments

When I was child I had a telescope. I put it in my window and looked up at the stars. I positioned the tripod on my tall dresser and pointed the one end out the window and up at the sky. I positioned my eye close to the smaller end and looked up at the stars. I was amazed at how close things were! When used properly a telescope is a truly amazing tool!

But one day for grins and giggles I turned it around and looked at the stars backwards. I rotated the telescope 360 degrees and looked again. The stars were unrecognizable. They were smaller than without a telescope. When used properly the telescope can really help us gain a healthy perspective on space but when turned around it’s pretty much pointless.

The same is true for how we view events in life. It’s easy to use the events in our lives as turn around points and reflect on how things used to be. But that’s no more healthy than using a telescope backwards. Here’s an example…

The year 2020 probably caught you off guard a bit. Going into the year we were all doing the corny Perfect Vision in 2020 or seeing clearly in 2020, but then February and March hit. To say that March came in like a lion would be an understatement! All of our plans for Easter and summer were pretty much trash by the end of March.

Many people in my circle took time to throw pity parties of how things used to be, myself included. We looked at Easter plans and VBS plans and all the thought and effort that went into preplanning much of our calendar year. So it was healthy to reflect for a second. Pausing to regain focus is never a bad thing. For us that lasted for about 3-4 weeks. We temporarily canceled all of our plans for the foreseeable future. No egg hunt, no vacation bible school, no in person worship, no gatherings, no family get togethers, no vacations and the list went on and on.

After we pumped the breaks on all of our plans and took a few weeks to catch our breath, we came to the conclusion that we might be doing this whole thing all wrong. We were looking at the way things were currently and complaining about the inconvenience of it all. We were dreaming about the good old days of four weeks ago. We were using the telescope to look backward.

We weren’t looking forward to life as we now know it. We couldn’t get past the inconvenience of the new hurdles. We longed for better days, but for so many better days looked a lot like the good ole days of the past. But that’s just not productive.

Now don’t get me wrong. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with remembering and celebrating the events of the past. There’s nothing wrong with learning from mistakes and changing our approach to life. But we can’t keep looking over our shoulder at how life used to be. You don’t drive that way. You don’t walk that way. You don’t look through a telescope that way. You can’t do life that way either.

So we quickly and without much notice, took a hard and abrupt turn. We planted our foot firm on what we knew was non-negotiable in our area of life. We know family was important and community was critical. We knew that there had to be a way to use this moment in life to establish a new set of rhythms. While we didn’t know exactly what the future held, and for that matter still don’t have a clue, we knew we had to stop looking backward and start looking forward.

As you go through life changing and traumatic moments, take time to pause for healing. But don’t stay paused for too long. Use the trauma, the set back, the interruption as a means to help you reevaluate what’s in front of you. Don’t look through the lens of the best days are behind us or getting back to how we used to do it. Use the disruption to truly change course and set a new path to get you to an even better promised future.

I Can’t Take It Anymore

February 25, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Have you ever had one of those moments when you just wanted to throw in the towel? The moments when it felt like the weight of the world was on your shoulders? A moment when even the people closest to you, the ones supposedly in your corner, seemed to be against you? Those moments quite frankly suck.

But how do you react when the weight of the world is on your shoulders? What do you do when you have a burden to carry that is just simply too much for you?

I recently talked about something I call heart-felt prayer. Now if you’re not a Jesus person and don’t really get into the whole prayer thing I get it but there are some principles in here that are transferrable to a non prayer setting.

Many hands make light work

First we need to surround ourselves with people who can help us carry our burdens. These are our people of peace (more on that another time). The people that are willing to listen to us and carry those burdens with us are people that we need to lean into when times get tough. Jsut because they might say something that isn’t exactly what we want to hear doesn’t make them any less a person of peace. So don’t go it alone. Surround yourself with people who can carry you when you can’t do it anymore.

Jesus knew his friends couldn’t make his problem go away. He knew they wouldn’t be of any help whatsoever really. But he still chose to bring them along. They were there for comfort and peace in a pretty challenging time. Who are your people that you can bring along who will bring peace to you while you struggle? They may not help, but they will always be there.

Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal

The second thing we need to do is be honest about our struggle. We tend to be a world of wannabe heroes. We think that sadness and struggle is a sign of weakness, but that’s just not true. Think of working out when you think of struggles. If you don’t push the muscle beyond what it’s capable of doing you won’t see any growth. The same is true for you and me in our struggles. If we don’t allow ourselves to be pushed beyond what we’re capable of handling alone, we’ll never see growth in our abilities.

Jesus did something similar when he was honest with his Father about not wanting to go through the events of holy week. He was sorrowful. Sad. Broken. Burdened. He collapsed on the ground and just prayed. Perhaps there are struggles in your life you’ve been hiding or burying. What do you need to be honest about and get a weight off your shoulders so you can be free for a new day?

Ask for help, not because you’re weak but because you want to remain strong.

The third part of this heartfelt prayer is simply but boldly asking for what we want. Don’t beat around the bush. Don’t dance around the issue. Don’t get all shy. Just ask for help. Say what you need or want in a given situation. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness by any means. Asking for help is a way to stay strong.

Jesus did just this. He told his Father that he didn’t want to go through the events of the next 24 hours. He told him to let this cup pass. He wasn’t looking forward to being left alone by his Father. What do you need to ask God? What do you need to just get off your chest and have help with?

Submission is yielding my desires to his plan.

The final part of going through an honest assessment of struggles and pain is to be submissive. This doesn’t mean to let people walk all over you. It means that you’re ok with things not being ok for a time.

Jesus did this when after telling his Father he didn’t want to go through with the next 24 hours but ended with not my will but yours. That means I don’t want this but if it’s the best way then I’ll do it. What stands in front of you that you’re not all that excited about or that might make you uncomfortable that you might end up needing to do because it’s the best thing?

There you have it. Fall down with friends, admit problems, ask for help, then be ok with doing things in a way you’re not expecting.

Child of Love

February 22, 2021 / / 0 Comments

While digging around on Apple Music, I was able to find a few songs I haven’t heard so far. Today’s Music Monday focuses on the difference that being a follower should make on our lives. It’s far too easy to let Jesus be just another part of our day. It’s easy to compartmentalize our faith from the rest of our lives. But there has to be a better way.

When I listen to this song and read the lyrics, I’m reminded of my children. They aren’t just my children some days, when they want to be. They’re always going to be my children. Even when my one son heads off to the US Army or my other son pursues his dreams in the FBI, they’ll still be my children. No matter where they go or what they do, they will always be my children.

It’s the same way in our relationship with God. We’re His children. Not just on Sundays or when we want something from Him. We’re His children all the time. The world around us will tell us what we want to hear then snatch our dreams from us. There is no one in our lives who’s in our corner and always for us. But our Father is here. He may not agree with what we do. He may correct us or rebuke us or even let punishment come on us, but he never will leave us or forsake us.

My grandpa always used to say If you find yourself far from God, ask yourself who moved. As a child of God we are never going to experience a time when God runs from us. He is with us and for us even when He lets punishment come our way.

When we truly find the difference that comes in knowing Jesus and being known by Him, we’ll find a freedom in life that we’ve never before experienced. We’ll find joy in sadness, peace in conflict, provision in a season of want. Being a child of God makes all the difference. My prayer for you today is that you experience this reality and let it shape your life this week.

Easiest Way To Get To Me

February 16, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I have been doing a bit more reading lately and it’s been really good stuff, and one of the ways that I process information is by writing down what I read and applying it to real life. Recently I came across the idea that we are most easily tempted to do wrong in one of three ways: approval, appetite and ambition. It’s absolutely uncanny that these three categories actually encompass so much of what drives us in life. Interestingly enough the three areas that we struggle with the most in life are the three ways Satan tried to get Jesus to fall as well.

Appetite

Food is an essential part of life to be sure. We all need food to survive. But often our fear of not having the right stuff or enough stuff can drive us to do weird things! And appetite isn’t just about food. It’s about our need and desire for more. Appetite is about gathering for ourselves in a way that makes the created stuff more important than the creator. Need an example? You don’t have to go far.

I mean seriously if you’re being honest you have to admit the toilet paper shortage of 2020 was a bit ridiculous to put it very mildly. People in the world were scared that when the pandemic, an upper respiratory virus, hit in early 2020 they needed to control as much as they could. Store shelves were ransacked. Banks were filled with people drawing out money at alarming rates. Guns and ammo were impossible to find. And toilet paper was gone! The appetite of the American people became so consumed with a self-serving attitude that we gathered when we should have shared.

Turn these stones into bread was the temptation Satan gave to Jesus. You’re hungry do something about it. Fill that appetite with what pleases you and makes you feel better. Instead of falling for the idol of appetite, Jesus relied on the provision of his Father. We would be well served if we focused on what we have instead of what we want. Then our appetite god is less likely to get away from us.

Approval

It’s great to be recognized isn’t it? I mean you put in a lot of work on a project. You do a good job. You succeed in what your boss wanted from you. A little ‘atta boy’ or pat on the back wouldn’t hurt anything would it? I don’t mean getting your name in lights and having the world shout your name from the mountains but a thank you isn’t too bad a thing is it?

The god of approval can be a dangerous and slippery slope. While there isn’t a real problem with a thank you now and again the issue of approval turns sour when we seek the approval of everyone around us thereby seizing our actions out of fear that we won’t gain that approval. Taken to another level we’re supposed to seek the approval of God rather than men.

When Satan was tempting Jesus, he tried to get him to get teh approval of the crowds. Go and throw yourself off this peak and let them all see how great and powerful you are. Jesus didn’t take the bait. He didn’t fall for it. Instead he rested in the approval he received from his Father. This approval is the one we need to seek as well. The approval of those around us will vary based on their emotional status and how they feel in the moment. But God is consistent and his approval of us isn’t tied to what we do but what Jesus already did for us.

Ambition

The final area of temptation to which we often fall is ambition which when taken too far is pride. This area of ambition being a problem is when we try to climb the ladder of success at the expense of all those around us. Or when our ambition is all about making a name for ourselves. This is when things get bad.

Jesus faced this same thing too. When he was with Satan in the wilderness, the carrot of self aggrandizement was waved before Jesus. Satan tried to offer to Jesus all the power he could imagine. If you please me then you get all this. Jesus wanted nothing of it. He knew that his ambition wasn’t in himself but in the promise and provision of his Father.

So there you have it. All of them are good in moderation but good taken too far is evil. Curb your appetite. Seek approval from God alone. And remember that your ambition should be for service not gratification.

Ashes & Dust

February 16, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Tomorrow is a day in the church known as Ash Wednesday. It marks the beginning of the season of the church known as Lent. This season of Lent is about reflection and focus on getting ourselves ready for Easter. As followers of Jesus prepare for Easter they take time for a penitential (reflective) walk through the life of Jesus. This season is marked by confessing (admitting) sins, prayer, often fasting, and meditation.

I know that a lot of that might sound a tad too deep for many people or almost impossible for others, so we need not make this a hard and fast rule to follow. The idea behind the fasting and the prayer, the confession and the meditation is to draw us closer to Jesus. These actions serve as intentional ways in which we put off a little bit of ourselves and put on a little bit of Jesus in return.

Take for instance the fasting portion, which we’ll hit on more in a future post. The purpose of fasting in its simplest explanation is to replace a craving for one thing with a fulfillment in a relationship with Jesus. So in a sense it means we need to lose the sugar to help focus on the savior. The same can be true for the other things mentioned above. We use them as ways to more intentionally focus on who we are in this relationship with Jesus.

But what about the ashes and dust thing on Ash Wednesday? I mean that’s kind of odd if you really think about it.

What we may not realize is that Ash Wednesday and the pomp and circumstance that goes along with it didn’t really start until around the 11th century and wasn’t widely accepted among Christian traditions until the early 1970s. The Bible never talks about having ashes marked on our foreheads. There is no real rule saying that we have to do it this way. So if it’s not specifically Biblical (mandated by God) why do we do it and what does it mean?

Why ashes?

There is great symbolism in the ashes on Ash Wednesday of which many may not be aware. The ashes used to mark a cross on your forehead are made by burning the palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration. This means we’re taking the victorious welcome of Jesus as King and combining it with our humble approach to him as sinners.

Additionally, ashes in the Old Testament were a sign of humility and mourning. So when we receive the ashes on our heads formed in the shape of a cross, we’re essentially saying that we humble ourselves before the one is King of kings. Since Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, they also serve as a mark that we are mourning what this seasons brings – namely the suffering and death of Jesus.

The words spoken on Ash Wednesday are another reminder of why we do them. You are dust and to dust you shall return. This connects the ashes of victory with the dust of our beginnings. Where we have erred from God and wondered from His ways, the ashes are our humble journey back. We are reminded of our simple beginnings. Dust. Dirt clods formed in the hands of God. Breathed into with the very breath of the Father. The ashes connect us with Adam who is the symbol of our sinfulness. The cross connects us with the new man, Jesus who is the symbol of our forgiveness.

In a year that has been wrought with so much upheaval and turmoil and confusion, the normal Ash Wednesday might not be possible. So do we have to have ashes on Ash Wednesday? Simple answer is no. We don’t need ashes or fasting or any of the outward signs to connect us to the meaning and intent and purpose of this season as Christians. Whether you receive ashes or not this year, humble your heart and spirit. Remember your beginning as part of creation formed in the hands of the creator. Ponder the death and resurrection of Christ that promises bring new beginning to the old ways within us.

Whether you got ashes or you didn’t, if it wasn’t about Jesus you just got dirty.

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