Ash Wednesday 2016 And Lenten Commitments

Each year, on Ash Wednesday millions of Christians around the world begin a pilgrimage of sorts. Ash Wednesday begins a period of intentional reflection and deeper identification with Jesus as individuals add disciplines or fast from certain foods or activities during the weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday. For me personally, I have found Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season to be an incredible period for assessing where I am in my faith journey and for resetting or recalibrating my focus. It is so easy over the course of a year to become distracted or start a gradual or subtle slide into lethargy, complacency, or worse, and to lose sight of one's purpose or focus because of those urgent but often unimportant activities that can quickly swarm to drown out the voice of Jesus.

Today, I started Ash Wednesday in the way I have for many years, after a tradition instilled in me by my former chief. Although today was somewhat different because I did not actually make it to a gathering to receive ashes, I did carve out time in my early morning this morning, and my late evening last night to consider what I would be doing to grow in my faith and "journey with Jesus in the wilderness" during this season. Would I add to my devotional habits or practice self-denial in order to more fully connect and identify with Jesus during the weeks leading up to Easter?

Here is where I have landed. For the last eight years, I have walked through this book, Developing Intimacy With God by Alex Aronis. This book was suggested to me by a good friend of mine, JR Woodward, during the summer of 2008 as I was considering a potential shift in vocation. The book is an excellent framework for walking through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. After reading Aronis' book for the first time in 2008, I have gone through it at least once a year--usually during Lent. And, I plan on doing the same this year--that's my Lenten commitment.

Why do the same thing? I have found this book to be an incredible gift, far beyond what I would have considered when JR suggested it a few years ago. It has been a gift because it has helped me to cultivate greater simplicity and generosity in my life, and it has helped me to grow in my relationship with God. Each time I come to the book, it encourages me toward an abiding in Christ, and rather than concerning myself with what I can do for Christ, the exercises encourage me to simply spend time with Christ. In a world that is growing increasingly distracted and "busy," taking this time to reset and refocus has been transformative, and in my opinion, could be one of the best things we do for spiritual health.

What about you? Do you have any Lenten traditions you have or commitments you are making this year as you take time to identify with Jesus during his wilderness fast and journey to the cross?

May each of us who participate in this ancient tradition grow in the depth of our love for God and neighbor, and may this growth spill over into action for the good of the world.

Review: Developing Intimacy With God by Alex Aronis

As I have been attempting to write more reviews of books, one thing has come into crystalline focus. I have failed to review many of the books that have had the most profound effect on my life and personal views on a variety of subjects. One of those books is DevelopingIntimacy With God by Alex Aronis. I have mentioned this book in multiple posts, but have not shared much detail on the book itself.

It was initially recommended to me during the late spring of 2008 by my good friend JR Woodward. JR has been a long time friend and mentor of sorts for me, and in that frame, I was talking with him about a potential change of career I was considering. Two of my good friends had invited me to consider leaving vocational ministry to pursue a path toward fighting what I had come to believe is the greatest humanitarian crisis/challenge of our generation, global extreme poverty. It was against this backdrop that my friend JR recommended Aronis’ book as a devotional guide that could help me as I wrestled through this decision. The book helped me to make my decision, but it has done so much more.

Aronis’ book is the best book I have found for cultivating a deep and abiding relationship with Christ. It is my belief that for as much as Christians talk about having a “personal relationship with Jesus” this relationship seems more transactional than one of intimacy and depth. It’s not that people lack in intentionality (although that is sometimes the case), it is more that people don’t have good direction for cultivating this relationship beyond practices of a ‘quiet time’ or some form of prayer. And often this prayer time consists of little more than petitions and intercessions rather than dynamic conversation. It isn’t that petition and intercession are bad things, it is more that if any other relationship consists of only making requests and reading about an individual, we wouldn’t consider that a very healthy relationship.

In the book, Aronis observes that many people read scriptures looking for what they can ‘do’ for God without taking the time to be with Him and to become like him as precursors to this activity. He contrasts this with actual experience of the disciples. They spent roughly three years with Jesus, so that they could become more like Jesus in their character, and so that they could live for Jesus. In the introduction to the book, he mentions the late Bill Bright and Billy Graham as two examples of individuals who have realized amid their productivity, that if they had an opportunity to start over, they would have spent more time cultivating their own relationship with Jesus.

Beyond this observation, Aronis offers eight weeks of devotional exercises based on The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius as a means for individuals to grow in their ability to spend time with Christ without rushing ahead to do things for Christ (although he gets there too!).  This book was incredibly helpful for me as I was working to discern the best path forward in a variety of areas in my life. I have gone back to it as a near annual tradition since my friend JR introduced me to it, and I have recommended it to any and every person I have met who is looking to deepen their own relationship with Jesus and who is willing to take the time to walk through the book. Currently, I am walking through the book with a group of friends in the US as part of my Lenten commitment, and I just recently heard from a friend in the Netherlands who told me that the book was extremely formative for her and her friends, and that her fiancé is so impressed with it that he has written the publisher to see if it might be published in Dutch in the future.

I could write at length about the book (and perhaps that is why I haven’t written a review before now), but I will end this post simply by stating that if you are a Christian and you are looking for a book that can help you by offering a “how to” in terms of growing in your intimacy with Christ, than I highly recommend this book. Unfortunately, I have never seen a copy in any bookstore (even in Christian specialty stores), but I have been able to grab copies from Amazon. If you read it, I would love to hear the outcome of your eight week journey. 

Lenten Commitment 2012

This year, although I still made it to visit an early morning church service, I did not get to blog about my Lenten commitments, Ash Wednesday or any related subject. 

Each year, I approach lent in the spirit of taking an opportunity to gauge how I am growing in my relationship with God, and specifically, I look at lent as a time to re-commit, re-set, and re-engage with God and identify areas for growth. According to church tradition, people typically take this time to either give up something or add something to their life with the intention of being able to better focus on their relationship with God.

In the past, I’ve taken what some would consider some pretty radical steps of fasting or engaging in the discipline of simplicity. In the past I have also added dimensions to my devotional life in order to better know and connect with the Creator of the universe.

This year, I decided to walk through a devotional book, that may be the best devotional book I have ever read or used. It’s called Developing Intimacy With God and it’s by a guy named Alex Aronis. In the past, I had noticed that Aronis suggests lent as a great time to engage in this eight week devotional, as the last week coincides well with a celebration during the week after Easter Sunday. 

The book has a simple cover and title, but I love the way it encourages me to think about my walk with God differently. Rather than focusing on all of the things I might be able to do for God, Aronis’ book encourages me to focus my energies on spending time with Christ so I can learn to be like Him in my actions and attitudes.

The last few weeks have been incredible with regard to slowing down from the busyness of life to listen, abide, and cultivate my relationship with Christ. I really love taking time to be intentional about meditating on the words and life of Jesus and praying that as I develop this habit, that I might learn to better love both God and my fellow human beings more deeply.

It has been a wonder-filled journey thus far, and I look forward to continuing it, not only throughout the Lenten season, but for the rest of my life.

Yielding Everything?

I guess I've been thinking a lot about the garden. It's really producing a lot of squash and zucchini. I love seeing these beautiful blossoms, and enjoying the fruit being produced (actually I guess they are technically vegetables. It reminds me of this scripture.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.~John 12.24

I planted a seed, in the ground, and as a result beautiful squash blossoms have emerged from the earth. I think there is much to be learned from a squash seed.

Recently I received an email from an old friend who has been going through a lot of difficulty. He was reading a devotional book, and he was challenged by that particular day's message. He said, "I just don't know how to do it - how to "let go of personal desires, wholeheartedly embrace Jesus’ way, and walk closely with Him". I could use some input." What follows are a few thoughts I shared with him, and that I submit to you as well. I hope they are of some encouragement to you today.

As far as letting go of everything to grab hold of Jesus, I personally think it's verbiage that folks talk a lot about, but very few people give any real clear steps to accomplish it. I think Alex Aronis' book, Developing Intimacy With God offers a lot of helpful insights in this area. Beyond that, I can only say from experience that it is small steps of letting go. One exercise I've found helpful is to take stock of everything I "own" and yield it to God. It's really His anyway. Then I realize what He has done is entrust me with gifts. After I yield things to Him, I'm able to enjoy them more fully without letting them become the source of my enjoyment. I'm also able to let them go a little more easily too.

It allows my life to become a little more simple. We live in a world where people pride themselves on the stuff they amass. Whether it's cars, clothing, property, or whatever. The reality is that there are a few things we truly need, and God has more than provided those. And really, when you boil it all down, what we really need is God Himself. He is the greatest treasure in the whole universe, and for the most part, we get caught up in chasing after the wind and very empty things for much of our lives. He sustains us and ultimately, when our hearts are most yielded to Him (which is never easy), we experience the deepest satisfaction of our lives.

I also think walking closely with Jesus means we immerse ourselves in His words. This isn't necessarily reading large volumes of scripture, but rather taking small quantities of the word and soaking ourselves in them. It's especially important to immerse ourselves in the words He shared while He walked the earth. When I slow down in the gospels and immerse myself in the Gospel stories I find myself pulling away all new insights about Jesus so that I can learn to be more like Him.

Unfortunately for me in my impatience, the process is never fast enough. I think it's that way for all of us. The reality is that God rewards those who seek Him day by day with a clearer picture of Himself, His heart, and His desire for us. And as this happens, we are able to yield more and more of our lives to Him.

As you read this, may you take steps toward the practice of making God your ultimate treasure. And in doing so, may we all experience the joy and satisfaction that has been eluding us in our pursuit of lesser things.

Hunger for God

Over the last few months, I've been slowly working through one of the best devotional prayer books I have ever read. The book is actually set up to walk you through it's pages in eight weeks, but it has taken me closer to eight months. Maybe that means I have just attempted to do WAY too much over these last few months. I'm slowly working my way through the final parts of this book. It's called Developing Intimacy With God. I know, catchy title. Every time I've opened this book, it has guided me through some powerful encounters with God. The week by week practices have challenged me, and I have been striving to spend a few weeks on practicing the concepts that emerge in this little book.

My friend JR Woodwardrecommended this book to me a year ago, and I'm immensely grateful. I was wrestling through a big life decision, and I was looking for guidance, and my friend recommended this book as an aid to growing in my awareness of God's direction in my life.

So as I was reading a wee bit today, I came across this quote, and it made me think about my tendency (and I don't think I'm alone), to indulge in treats of various types as part of my dietary habit. The quote is actually from an article written by a guy named Cornelius Plantinga. Here it is.

"Self-indulgence is the enemy of gratitude, and self-discipline is usually it's friend and generator. That is why gluttony is a deadly sin. The early desert fathers believed that a person's appetites are linked: full stomachs and jaded palates take the edge from our hunger and thirst for righteousness. They spoil the appetite for God."

After this quote, Alex Aronis, the author of the book says, "By experience, we know that culinary pleasures have a seductive power. They can take over and choke the word. (Mark 4.19).

Perhaps there is a connection between our general spiritual malaise in the West, and our indulgent lifestyles. I've thought about this a few times before, especially when considering verses of scripture like Ezekiel 16.48, but it's just been impressed on my mind again, so I thought I'd share it with you.

As we go through our day, may we all learn the self-restraint it takes to resist indulging in a culture that flashes alluring indulgences at every turn, and may we at the same time grow in our hunger for the Creator of the Universe.