In the words of the Book of Common Prayer,

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Messiah our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Over at ABC news is this excellent interview with atheist philosopher Alan de Botton on what atheists can learn from religion. Only 8 minutes, do watch it!

Out any day now is this bodacious biblical studies bonanza:

Earliest Christian History

History, Literature, and Theology. Essays from the Tyndale Fellowship in Honor of Martin Hengel
Edited by by Michael F. Bird and Jason Maston

Martin Hengel (1926-2009) was a historian of the early church and ancient Judaism. His influence extended through his many publications, research students, conference participation, and ecclesiastical work. His scholarly legacy was honoured by a conference at Tyndale House in July 2010 with a number of speakers from Germany, England, and the USA coming together to remember and honour their colleague with papers on topics that Martin Hengel spent his life exploring. The essays in this volume include biographical works by former students remembering him as both a teacher and Christian scholar. Thereafter, several essays on Christology, the Gospels, and Judaism and Early Christianity engage with his contribution to these areas. Also included in the collection are new translations of six of Martin Hengel’s most important essays put into English for the first time.

I have to say that there is a cracker jack line up of studies in this book. The price is a bit expensive, but it is 680 pp. and is worth it just for the six newly translated essays by the late Prof.  Martin Hengel put into English for the first time.

Order it at the Mohr/Siebeck website.

My good friend and fellow pastor in Student Ministry and one of the Teaching Pastors at Christ Community Church, Eric Ferris, has developed a website called The Lent Experience. The website is a video blog designed to help people practice Lent and rediscover the significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus personally.  Eric provides a weekly video post during the season of Lent in which he presents a weekly challenge to practice particular spiritual disciplines as a means to getting the most out of the preparation for Easter. The first video post will be available Ash Wednesday, Feb 22. Check it out.

O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Rodney Stark and Byron Johnson have an article in The Wallstreet Journal about religion in America. They note that atheism is not surging and young people are not leaving the church in the droves that everyone thought.

What is a Lenten spirituality? Lenten spirituality is baptismal spirituality. Lent orders your spiritual life around the theology of baptism.

In Ancient Future Time, Robert Webber tells us that the roots of the Lent are to be found in the early church’s baptism preparation.  In the early centuries of the church, baptism of adult converts was a major event in the life of the church. In preparation for baptism, which usually coincided with the celebration of Easter, Catechumens (those preparing for entry into the church), were put through the rigors of a spiritual and theological preparation. St. Ambrose, a fourth century church father,  for example would take his Catechumens through a study of the Patriarchal texts of Genesis. J. Warren Smith notes for Ambrose, “Abraham’s departure from the land of Ur in order to follow God to the promise land represents for the catechumens both their Lenten journey to baptism and their journey as baptized members of the church who are sojourners in the world and whose hope lies with their citizenship in heaven”.

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Robert Webber in his book Ancient Future Time writes of Lent the following.  Does Webber’s experience reflect your own in the Protestant and evangelical church? How can we recover a Lenten spirituality without failing into the trap of empty ritual?

For most people coming from my background, an Ash Wednesday service and Lent are quite foreign and somewhat threatening. The Christmas cycle is much less threatening because Christmas themes are so prevalent within our culture. Also, because the secularization of Christmas is so apparent, most Christians are attracted to the possibility of rising above the materialism of the Christmas culture. Consequently many Protestant churches now practice Advent, and more and more churches are open to Epiphany. But Lent is another matter. Lent appears to be dark and foreboding. It reminds Protestants of the Roman Catholic practices-ritualism, works fasting, vigils, and the like. Haven’t we been saved from all of that? Didn’t the Reformers free us from having to do works and pilgrimages and such things?

No one would question that some Catholics have abused the real meaning of Ash Wednesday and
Lent . . . Perhaps we laughed inside and thought to ourselves, just another mark of an external, ritualistic religion. Perhaps yes, perhaps no. Only God can judge the heart. Aside from all that dare we ask: Does something lie behind that symbol that has the potential to make our journey into Easter more meaningful? After all, what do we do for Easter? Most Protestants don’t’ make any spiritual preparation for the annual celebration of the death and resurrection . For example, when I was growing  up the only preparation for Easter made in my home – a deeply committed Christian home at that – was the planning and purchasing of new clothing. Easter was a weekend event. Preparing for Easter for seven weeks was unthinkable, ludicrous, even pagan. But now I am constrained to ask: Who is the pagan? Yes, it is wrong to go through the motions of Ash Wednesday and Lent in a mechanical, uninvolved way. But it is also wrong to ignore any kind of preparation for the Easter event. Happily there is an alternative for both Catholics and Protestants: Recover the true spiritual intent of Ash Wednesday and the Lenten spiritual pilgrimage (100).

Found this interesting article about the growth of evangelical churches in France including a Hillsong church plant in Paris.

See also an earlier CT piece on religion in France from 2005.