ash.

before going to school at wheaton I had never heard of lent, ash wednesday, or even the church calendar. I knew about christmas and easter, santa and the bunny who lays eggs, I knew all that.

But I didnt know about lent. the time leading up to the most important event on the christian calendar, easter.

But as soon as i found out about lent, i began to see pitfalls of it... "im giving up candy for lent..." you mean, you are giving up candy for yourself, and lent is an excuse to make it sound religious and holy so people think you are hardcore. "Im giving up TV for lent..." well thats great, but are you going to use your time spent usually on TV to read the word? meditate? pray pray and pray some more? Prepare yourself for the death a resurrection of Christ and what that means to you?

this time, as i see it, is meant to draw close to God. to prepare for the conquering of death and freedom we have in salvation.

so heres my plan. i am a youth pastor, and for some reason God put me in a position to lead and have young men and women look up to me. so here goes. for the next 40 days (every day leading up to easter, but not sundays) I will post a devotional to help see why the cross matters, for myself, and anyone else who will listen. working through the new testament to show God's plan for Jesus and the cross, so that come easter we can have a greater understanding of what that means, and why we sing; "hallelujah he is risen!!"

im no genius (in fact i misspelled the word genius when typing this, twice), i just Love the LORD, A LOT. and want to use this time of year to reflect on what he has done for you and i.

so for today... i am praying for the strength to do this, and do it well. to stick with it, everyday, for HIM.