The Christian season of the year in which we find ourselves has classically been known as Lent.  Lent began as a time of somber self reflection for those who loved God and wanted desperately to know God’s will and purpose for our lives.  The time from Ash Wednesday to Easter has classically been a time to “give up something” or “fast” in order to have more time and opportunity to focus on God in Christ Jesus.
Lent has been trivialized a bit in our culture with the onset of “Fat Tuesday” and Mardi-Gras celebrations that misconstrue Lent’s true meaning.  Lent should be more than a time of fasting – it should also be a joyous season of feasting – feasting on things that matter most:

Fast from judging others;
Feast on Christ who dwells within them.
Fast from the apparent darkness in the world;
Feast on the reality that He is the light of the world.
Fast from thoughts of illness;
Feast on the healing power of God.
Fast from anger;
Feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism;
Feast on optimism.
Fast from worry;
Feast on the providence of your loving Father.
Fast from complaining;
Feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives;
Feast on affirmatives like “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Fast from unrelenting stress;
Feast on unceasing prayer.
Fast from all bitterness;
Feast on reckless and quick forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern and conceit;
Feast on compassion and the needs of others.
Fast from discouragement;
Feast on Easter’s eternal Hope.

May God bless you in the feast and fasts of the Lenten season, and may you know the power of His resurrection for all the moments of the days ahead.

In Christ,
Mark Alexander

Signs of Love

Next time you’re trying to exit the mall parking lot on a busy shopping day and some driver lets you in line in front of him, give thanks to God because, according to some new research, there’s a good chance that driver is a religious person.  But maybe, if the research is right, it’s that person’s fellow worshippers you should be thanking instead.  The study, conducted by Harvard professor Robert Putnam and Notre Dame scholar David Campbell, will be published this year in their new book American Grace: How Religion is Reshaping Our Civic and Political Lives.  But they have already unveiled some of their conclusions at a 2009 conference in Florida.

According to their studies, religious people are three to four times more likely to be involved in their community than are nonreligious people.  They’re more apt to work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, vote in local elections, attend public meetings and donate both time and money to public causes, including secular ones.  The studies also show that religious people are, in general, just “nicer.”  They do good deeds, help both neighbors and strangers, give money to panhandlers, and let others cut in front of them in line.  But here’s why you might want to thank the driver’s fellow worshippers: Putnam and Campbell say the reason religious people are nicer and are better citizens isn’t because of religious teaching, per se.  They’re behaving well not because they’re trying to secure a place in heaven or because they’re afraid of divine judgment; rather, they’re that way because of the relationships they have in their places of worship.

The authors theorize that if someone from your “moral community” (as opposed to, say, someone from your bowling league) asks you to volunteer for a cause, you’re more likely to agree.  The effect of these relationships is so strong, say the authors, that people who attend religious services regularly but don’t have any friends there behave more like nonreligious people than fellow believers when it comes to civic involvement.  “It’s not faith that accounts for this,” says Putnam.  “It’s faith communities.”  Faith-community relationships are so powerful that the authors have dubbed them “supercharged friends.”

I am almost sure we all knew that, and that even though we may sometimes feel guilty for our behavior in lines or traffic, we know what it means to love.  Love is not just about a feeling, state of mind, or series of intoxicating brain chemicals, most of all, it is about action.  The first epistle credited to the apostle John states that, “We love because he first loved us….”  It is more, says John, than just having the right group of friends, for chances are, until we met Jesus, we didn’t have any of those kind of friends, let alone “the friend who sticks closer than a brother.”  Love that is active is love that is extending itself toward us before we are even aware of it.  It is what we have been given in grace, and what we are compelled to extend.

See you soon in the place where His love comes when we least expect it and when we need it most.
Pastor Mark