Annual Ash Wednesday Lent thread.

[Verkehrsteilnehmer]

Lent must be one of the new trends in reformed churches. I had never heard of it before at church, but the last 10-15 years I've heard a lot about this "lenten season" in the URC and PCA. An excuse to get in some really nasty sins at the end of the church calendar and for those who don't want to go too deep into sin, just some gluttony and drunkenness? Maybe. I guess that is why the last day is called Fat Tuesday.
Dave Maurmann
PHX
OPC

 

[joebonni63]

i think the problem is not lent it's what is done for lent. when i was with calvary chapel the pastor would call for a fast this is really the same as lent. the problem i see is if i give up something like sugar great but why???????? because the priest or pastor said to this is wrong......... as you guys have said no bible backup for lent. i think it would be great to celebrate the 40 days in the desert and that's what lent is suppose to be.

 

[NaphtaliPress]

We do not recapitulate the acts of redemption; we follow the patterns God sets in the Word and that is clearly one day in seven making use of the prescribed means of grace. The whole "xian" calendar is a violation of God's law and imposes a superstitious form upon His worship that He did not command. Men are wiser than God in not only imposing these things, but in inventing them.

 

[Edward]

No one here, I would suspect, denies that.

Perhaps I misread that portion of your post that I quoted.

 

[Cymro]

When holy days or seasons come in, the Lord's day goes out! The insidious returning
to the church calendar is to the reformed faith as Samson losing his hair. Previously an Anglican,
I now bless God for not only delivering my soul from the second death, but also from the mummery
I was involved in.

 

[Elizabeth]

An excuse to get in some really nasty sins at the end of the church calendar and for those who don't want to go too deep into sin, just some gluttony and drunkenness?

This seems a touch uncharitable. I personally don't know of any brothers or sisters in the faith that 'get in some really nasty sins' because of lent.

The church year ended just before advent, btw.

 

[Elizabeth]

I am a tad bitter to have my fellow Reformed brothers and sisters think this issue is one of adiaphora. If it be so (adiaphora) why then do those that practice such do so in front of those who believe it is sin to practice it?

I wonder whether it would have been best not to bring up the issue, as it causes bitterness in your heart? Dwelling on this(you call it sin, I call it adiaphora....our Lord will sort us out, have faith!) is hardly a profitable use of time for you if it causes you to look at your brother in bitterness. Yet we surely do seem to enjoy chewing this bitter fat every advent, Christmas, lent, easter, etc. I wonder if that is not sinning in itself...that prideful, lofty stance and insistence on masticating on the feast days. Why not just ignore them? I'll tell you why..because the human heart is an idol factory, and we love trumpeting our purity(which ever stance we take) to the brethren. I'll lead the way and lay off any discussions of these matters.

 

[earl40]

An excuse to get in some really nasty sins at the end of the church calendar and for those who don't want to go too deep into sin, just some gluttony and drunkenness?

This seems a touch uncharitable. I personally don't know of any brothers or sisters in the faith that 'get in some really nasty sins' because of lent.

The church year ended just before advent, btw.

I know many people who do such and no doubt we are not immune from such. For instance before many people go on a diet they will enjoy a huge last day of gluttony which is sinful, and if one does the Fat Tuesday thing before lent I see no difference except they gorge for some type of false religious observance which may make that sin before lent worse.

 

[earl40]

I am a tad bitter to have my fellow Reformed brothers and sisters think this issue is one of adiaphora. If it be so (adiaphora) why then do those that practice such do so in front of those who believe it is sin to practice it?

I wonder whether it would have been best not to bring up the issue, as it causes bitterness in your heart? Dwelling on this(you call it sin, I call it adiaphora....our Lord will sort us out, have faith!) is hardly a profitable use of time for you if it causes you to look at your brother in bitterness. Yet we surely do seem to enjoy chewing this bitter fat every advent, Christmas, lent, easter, etc. I wonder if that is not sinning in itself...that prideful, lofty stance and insistence on masticating on the feast days. Why not just ignore them? I'll tell you why..because the human heart is an idol factory, and we love trumpeting our purity(which ever stance we take) to the brethren. I'll lead the way and lay off any discussions of these matters.

Of course I use the word bitter in the sense of "be mad but do not sin." I am "bitter" at my own sin and not as often as I should. So far as looking at my brother (many real Christians do pratice lent) who is In my most humble opinion sinning greatly I am compelled to speak to them "in Christian love" knowing that love covers a multitude of sin.,,,praise be to God.

 

[Nicholas Perella]

"That might communicate the lack of abhorrence in sinning before God, rather than, another wrong-doing which is: good works of 'not offending' merit justifiable blessings from God."

Not quite understanding what you mean here.

In thinking that 'not offending' is a good work that gains blessings from God is not what sanctified good works are. Where there is sin we should be abhorred, because God gives us such a redeemed heart. Since God clearly has to instruct us how to worship Him when He redeems us, Lent and other activities are not specially revealed from God for the canon is closed. So it is easy to see where these falsities come from.

I pray to God that He will give me discernment and the will to do His will that He has revealed by His written Word are not just words, but a desire not just for me but for all people that I pray solidify into deeds.

Even the golden calves at Dan and Bethel were a place to worship God and He was proclaimed there but that obviously does not mean, their means, were right. "And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD." (Job 1:12) The means, this last case - Satan, that glorify God do not make those means 'good' for Satan is not good. It is God that is glorified in this fallen world.

 

[Jack K]

Lent must be one of the new trends in reformed churches. I had never heard of it before at church, but the last 10-15 years I've heard a lot about this "lenten season" in the URC and PCA. An excuse to get in some really nasty sins at the end of the church calendar and for those who don't want to go too deep into sin, just some gluttony and drunkenness? Maybe. I guess that is why the last day is called Fat Tuesday.
Dave Maurmann
PHX
OPC

Let's be fair. I too think there are several questionable impulses behind the increasing interest in Lent among people in faithful Reformed churches. But "an excuse to get in some really nasty sins" and "gluttony and drunkenness" are NOT among them. These things may be a tradition for some nominal Catholics and others. But you specifically mentioned people in the URC and PCA and, to be very frank, that accusation is dead wrong when it comes to characterizing those brothers and sisters. Surely you can come up with some fair, legitimate reasons to question their practices without accusing them of sins they aren't the least bit interested in committing.

 

[Nicholas Perella]

When holy days or seasons come in, the Lord's day goes out! The insidious returning
to the church calendar is to the reformed faith as Samson losing his hair. Previously an Anglican,
I now bless God for not only delivering my soul from the second death, but also from the mummery
I was involved in.

I love you brother. What wonderful godliness. I never thought about Samson's hair in this way but it fits very well. Praise God.

 

[joebonni63]

every year I ask the same question why are you doing this and I get the pope said so then I say you want to do something diff for Lent read the Bible.