What does Lent have to do with me?

As a child I never heard people talk about Lent – except maybe when Mom instructed me to clean the fuzz out of the clothes dryer (“Lint” and “Lent” are two very different things, but they sure do sound the same down here in the south, especially to a 3^rd grader).

As I grew older, I saw Lent as a 2^nd try on your New Year’s Resolution.  Did you fail at giving up sugar in January?  You can always try it again in March!

When I finally discovered that Lent is in fact a 40-day season Christians set aside to prepare for Easter, I assumed it was for someone else.  All I had ever done to prepare for Easter was pick out a frilly dress and ask my mom to make green bean casserole for lunch.

I do not think I even knew an evangelical Christian who observed the season of Lent. 

And yet, as I've explored more, I've grown to appreciate the season of Lent, not for the external actions with which we often associate it, but instead for how it helps me refocus on what truly matters – the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Instead of seeing Lent as an opportunity to lose a few pounds, impress my friends with my self-discipline, or re-start a failed New Year’s resolution, I've learned that Lent can be a wonderful time to intentionally spend 40 days reflecting upon the glory of the Gospel. 

Starting today I’ll be fasting from something I enjoy, but what I fast from is definitely not the point of Lent: Jesus is!

I’ll also be reading through the Passion Week recorded in the Gospel of John, meditating on one chapter per day.  I’ll start today in John 12, read through John 21, and then begin again until we celebrate the Resurrection together on April 20^th. 

Not only this, but I’ll be praying for opportunities to talk about what I’m learning with those around me. What a wonderful opportunity to start a spiritual conversation and share with someone about what Christ has done for us!

Here are my questions for you:  Would you be willing to try Lent this year?  What could you do to intentionally focus on magnifying Christ and His sacrifice over the next 40 days?  How can you use this season of reflection to talk with others about the One who has made all the difference for you?

Emily Anthony loves collecting polish pottery, hiking in the mountains, helping teenagers with their algebra homework, and talking with women about what God is doing in and through their lives.  After spending six years serving as a missionary teacher to third culture kids in Budapest, Hungary, Emily returned to the United States to pursue Masters of Divinity in Women's Studies here at Southeastern. She recently began serving as a ministry assistant for Embrace Women's Missions and Ministry at the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.

"But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, 

because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." Acts 2:24

Wahoo!! Doesn’t this verse just fire you up?! 

Celebrating the reality of our Risen Lord, THE Christ, is truly the pinnacle of our faith as Believers.

While that is the focus of Easter Sunday, for our family, it is our fervent prayer that we would

ever so humbly and gratefully celebrate this with every breath of every day!

Believing God’s promise that the SAME power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in

those who believe (Eph 1:19) is mind-blowing, and certainly something that we should never get over or stop celebrating!

In the days leading up to Resurrection Sunday, the Passion Week,

 there are several efforts we make that powerfully call our hearts to an even more focused reflection and worship 

on the sacrificial death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus.

Both my husband and I were born and raised in the South,

so sporting new matching Easter dresses for the girls, 

sear-sucker and bow-ties for the men, and sharing in a big family dinner are very real parts of our Easter celebratory traditions.  

As the Lord continues to grow us as individuals and as parents,  

we've also seen a shift away from overly emphasizing the Easter Bunny, Easter Egg Hunts, traditional Easter baskets, or candy galore. 

We certainly don't demonize any of these things, but as the Spirit leads us, 

we are intentionally trying to focus on the true meaning of Easter--

for our own hearts, but especially for the shepherding and informing of the mold-able hearts of our children.  

Let's be honest, this can be a bit of a challenge in our world today. 

After seeking the Lord repeatedly on what this should like for our family, year after year,

 here are a few examples of how we celebrate Easter in the Lyon household:  

Together with our girls, we read over various Scriptures related to the 

Resurrection around the dinner table each night; 

we make play-doh replicas of the tomb, filled and sealed at first, then EMPTY on Easter morning;

we make "Resurrection Rolls" to demonstrate the empty tomb; 

we set a celebratory Easter table to awaken to on Easter morning; 

 we even have fun "Spring Baskets" on the first day of Spring, 

in lieu "Easter Baskets" on Easter morning.   

We also cherish the annual Maundy Thursday service at our church,

which is a somber, deeply moving time of reflection, preparation, and worship 

centered around The Table, the Lord's Last Supper.

Now, it’s important that we recognize our love of Starburst Jellybeans and Cadburry Eggs,

 and that occasionally, we participate in an Egg Hunt, or dye Easter Eggs.

 However, we try and differentiate between these Societal Easter associations

and what the Christian’s true hope is in Easter, the glorious resounding from Matthew 28:6:

"He is not here, for He has RISEN, just as He said...!”

  Stephanie Lyon is the wife of Larry Lyon, the Director of Admissions here at SEBTS and a Pastor at Oaks Church Raleigh, and the adoring mom to Anna Kate (9), Abigail (6), and Maggie Ruth (due in less than 3 weeks!). Stephanie loves taking pictures, blogging, cooking, gardening, hot baths, warm drinks, The Georgia Bulldogs, and spending time with her family and friends.

Over the Pond… Where Mission Work Took Place in My Heart!

My heart was broken by the words Matthew spoke at the 9marks Conference: “It is more likely for a Scottish person to know a Muslim than a Christian.” How could this be? If Scottish people don’t know any Christians, how will they ever hear the good news of the gospel or even want to hear it when it is presented?  These are the exact thoughts of the 20Schemes founders. 20Schemes is a one-year-old Christian Church Planting Organization that is trying to plant 10 churches in 20 years in the schemes of Scotland. Schemes are a European name for government housing, though these communities are like mini cities within a city, with 10,000 plus people living in each scheme. Because of the governmental system, most people do not work and therefore spend all day doing…well… really whatever they want. Children go to school but only have to attend until they are 16. Then, because they are able to live on the system, most never aspire to attend college or university.

With demographics as the ones listed above, it is no wonder most people living in the schemes are single moms with drug and addiction problems with abuse running rampant, whether child abuse or relational abuse. 20 Schemes has recognized that if they can plant churches in the middle of these schemes, where they provide a coffee shop or other form of public service in the church, they can reach the people relationally.

This idea presented by Matthew at the conference caught my attention, and I was hooked: I wanted to see what God was up to in the schemes of Scotland, so I signed up to join the Scotland mission team that traveled over Spring break of 2014.

When I arrived in Scotland, I was pleasantly surprised by the “warm” weather and the lack of rain. I was also surprised by the agenda of the trip. Though we had arrived thinking we were doing mission work, the trip ended up being much more of a vision trip to hear about the purpose and mission of 20Schemes. When I first realized this, I must admit I was discouraged, as I had hoped to get to know native Scottish people and share the gospel with them. God used this trip, though, in a completely different way than I expected. God changed my view of a mission trip and redirected my thinking to remaining missional minded. He pressed me to learn how to be a better missionary in the context I am presently living by observing other believers in their everyday lives.

The team worked with a church in the Nidre Scheme, in Edinburgh, Scotland. We got to meet the church leaders and also many of the native interns that are doing ministry through the church. As I talked with the members of the church, I realized that their entire method of integrating people into the church is through discipleship. In all actuality, they really don’t invite people to church until they have shared the gospel with them and formed a deep-rooted relationship with them. This is such a different way to go about evangelizing, as compared to our “American way”. Discipleship is the key thing in the church. When a person becomes a Christian, they are immediately paired with an “older” person in the church to be discipled weekly. They are to be taught the gospel truths and held accountable in every area of their lives. Because of this, people immediately feel a sense of community and are instantly held accountable for their decision to become a Christian. This was absolutely beautiful to me.

My heart is to disciple women. Having the Women’s Ministry pastor in Scotland ask me what I was doing weekly to disciple girls was humbling. When she asked if I discipled anyone, I answered “yes.” When she pushed me as to what that looked like, she quickly clarified that she didn’t want a “tea and biscuits” answer. As Christians, we can get tea and biscuits (or Starbucks) with anyone anytime. Discipleship should be a spiritually older woman coming alongside a spiritually younger woman teaching her the Bible and asking her the hard questions. Yes, this can be done over tea, but the content of the conversation shouldn’t be trivial things; it must be godly things. If this isn’t happening, it isn’t truly biblical discipleship.

As the week progressed, we visited many sights included Sterling Castle in Glasgow, Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, as well as various places throughout Edinburgh. We even ventured out and tried Haggis (yes, sheep intestines- That will be the one and only time I do that). We stayed at a seminary in Edinburgh where we met students studying from various parts of Europe. Where we have 4,000 enrolled in our seminary, they have about 20 enrolled. This is the stark contrast between Europe and America- one more example of the lostness of Scotland. The team of 12 grew close quickly, and there was never a dull moment with Dr. Eccher leading our team. It was amazing seeing each person on the team come alongside their team members to love and encourage each other, even though most of us had only met one time before.

There are so many things I could tell you about the trip, but I would like to leave you with these thoughts. Though the trip was not a mission trip in the sense I was expecting, we were able to encourage our brothers and sisters in a way they rarely ever receive. We visited two pastors in Glasgow, Pete and Pete (we jokingly called them “Pete and re-Pete”).  While there we were able to go into the high school and meet students as well as meet with teachers in a primary school and talk to them about the gospel. I absolutely loved this more “mission geared” day, but I realized that the people who received the most missional love and support were Pete and Pete. Our brothers and sisters in Scotland are lonely and tired and worn down. They find their strength in the Lord, but there is power in the body of Christ- the joy they expressed because we visited them was humbling; it proved the urgency we need to have, as the body, in not only reaching the lost but supporting out fellow brothers and sisters.

As I come back from my trip to Scotland, I am not only encouraged to rethink my goals as I disciple younger women, but I am challenged to push hard to loving my brothers and sisters where I am at as well as from afar. As I think of the many missionaries overseas (or stateside), I am struck with how little I do to love them from America. A simple card through snail mail or email would not take much time at all, and it would mean the world to my Christian family that doesn't have much family and support close by.

I challenge you, as women of Southeastern: Don’t wait another day to love your spiritual family. Don’t take for granted the incredible gift we have here at Southeastern where we are “surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.” And don’t stop teaching the truth, searching and spurring on new believers to think about the tough questions. Challenge those you are discipling and be intentional in the way you teach, reproof, correct, and train (2 Timothy 3:16) those whom God has placed in your life. Finally, look at every experience as a missional experience. Whether you are personally serving or observing others as they serve, let God teach you more about His character and how He wants you to actively participate in the mission He has called his children to live out.

Catie Thomas is a student at Southeastern working towards her Masters of Divinity in International Church Planting. She is also currently the Administrative Assistant in the Women's Life office. She has a heart for women and is humbled that God allows her to share His truth with them, whether that means mourning with them as they mourn or rejoicing with them as they rejoice. She looks forward to the future as she continues on this journey with the Lord but joyfully rests in the place where God has her here at Southeastern.

As we continue on with this month's posts about LOVE, today's blog post is one you do not want to miss!  We're featuring guest blogger Kittie Trail today, and boy does she have some great words of insight for us.  Check out the post below to read the personal journey Kittie has walked in the past year, and what she has to tell us about loving those that are hurting.  

One year ago this month, I experienced a new dimension of hurting and suffering when I was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer.  After a year of treatments, including radiation, two series of chemotherapy and two surgeries, I have been declared NED (No Evidence of Disease). I am cancer free!! Praise God!  I am rejoicing but also have a new understanding and perspective of those who are hurting and suffering.  I had never had much more than a cold in my life and really didn’t know what it was like to be in pain or to suffer.  The Lord has walked with me every step of the way on this amazing journey that has been blessed beyond measure.  I didn’t say it was “pleasant” or “without frustration” but very “blessed”.

Looking back over the past year I have seen the mighty healing power of our awesome God.  However, not everyone who is hurting or suffering experiences that result.  That doesn’t mean there is a lack of faith or that God can’t heal or bring relief.  He can do whatever He chooses to do.  There is a great deal of false theology floating around that says, “If you just have faith you will be healed or you won’t have to suffer”.  That does not line up with the teaching of Scripture.

In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul talks about being “given a thorn in the flesh”—he was suffering.  He pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away.  But God chose not to remove it.  Instead the Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Did Paul lack faith?  No, Paul said, “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardship, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  Strong’s Greek Lexicon describes weakness as feebleness of health or sickness.   Paul was well acquainted with hurting and suffering yet chose to “delight” in what he was going through.  He experienced God’s grace in the midst of his suffering.

When I was going through treatment, I never thought I would find myself saying, “Thank you God for cancer”, or that I would find any joy on the journey.  But somewhere in the midst of the illness and treatments, there was no other response than gratitude for God’s grace.  One of the reasons is because I was surrounded with people who knew how to love me during some of the most difficult days of my life. 

When we announced my diagnosis to family and friends, it was like the flood gates of blessings began to pour in.  I got texts, email messages, phone calls and literally hundreds of cards from all over the world.  I wanted to keep each card that arrived, so I bought a really large decorative box.  I call it my “Blessing Box” because it is full of over 200 cards of encouragement, Scripture, handmade notes, and hundreds of promises of prayers.  

On Valentine’s Day, my first day of chemo and radiation treatments began.  Special friends decorated our house with posters, cards, candy and more messages.  When I came home from the hospital, it was like walking into a room full of love. 

Four very dear sisters in the Lord who lived on three different continents managed to piece together a quilt for me. I was literally wrapped with their love and prayers.  Another group of friends showed up one day with a new chest freezer full of frozen homemade dinners.  They knew my husband doesn’t cook and that nutrition would be essential to my healing.  Flowers, more meals, friends cleaning my house and doing yard work just kept coming for 11 months.  The body of Christ showed up with a healing balm that was an amazing display of being the hands and feet of Christ Himself.  There was no other appropriate response to cancer but gratitude.

One day I was checking into the hospital for a treatment.  The receptionist always asked, “Is there someone with you?”  My sweet husband never let me go alone to a treatment.  If he couldn’t go with me, he made sure someone else was there.  I was very saddened one day as an older gentlemen came for treatment by his self.  His response to the nurse’s question was, “No, I’m all alone.”  My heart broke to think that he was suffering all alone.  I met another lady who came to treatment on the public bus, all alone.  I was never alone.  The Lord was always there, and He surrounded me with friends and family from all over the world to encourage and pray for me…..people who knew how to love when it hurts. 

Hurting usually involves some sort of loss.  Loss can come in many forms other than death---loss of a job, loss of a home and community due to a move, loss of good health, or loss of a relationship.  Whatever the loss, there is usually hurt or suffering. 

So how do we respond?

• Listen, listen, listen.  Don’t offer advice or solutions, just be there and listen. Quiet presence, especially for the sick is important.  Most of the time, there is nothing you can say to make the pain go away.  Try not to give advice or focus on your own pain. 
• Acts of kindness - Shower people with tangible blessings like meals, offers of house cleaning, taking care of children, rides to doctor’s appointments, etc. Offer specific aid that you know you can deliver.
• Phone calls, written words of encouragement or any gesture that says, “I haven’t forgotten you.”   Life goes on for those who are not in the midst of hurting.  For the hurting, often, one cannot leave their home or be involved in regular activities.  Skype or do Face Time if you can’t be there in person. Loneliness can be intense.
• Pray, pray, pray.  Don’t be afraid to ask your hurting friend, “How can I pray for you?”
• Allowing someone to vent and talk is very therapeutic.  It will help you to know how to be more specific in your prayers.  

Finally, remember to say “I love you” and your heavenly Father loves you even more.  You are not forgotten or ever alone.        
   

 

Kittie Trail has been a missionary with the International Mission Board (IMB) for the past 30 years working mainly in Africa.  She, and her husband, Randy, are on a temporary assignment serving as Assoc Personnel Consultants for IMB and live in Wake Forest, NC.  They have an office on the campus of SEBTS and enjoy walking with students and others in the area who are going the application process to become missionaries.  They have three grown sons who were all raised on the mission field.

If you're like me, you might not normally spend a lot of time studying the Old Testament. I mean, sure, I've read through most of the books and I remember learning the stories of Noah and Abraham and David as a child. But it hasn't been until the last few years of my life that I've really begun to take notice of what was actually said in the first half of the Bible.


A while ago, I was convicted about my lack of understanding about Israel and their selection as God's chosen people. The more I read through Paul's and Peter's writings, the more I realized that I needed to understand Israel, the law, and God's covenants. So I began my OT journey.

Mind you, I am a very SLOW reader. It's been a while & I'm still only in Deuteronomy! Since beginning the journey, it has been such a rich time actually taking in the words that Moses wrote to the people of Israel with purpose & reason. I've been fascinated by the storyline God chose to create for Israel. More importantly, I've been stricken with a holy conviction over the lack of true understanding I had of God's character. It's been mortifying at times to realize the amount of assumptions I formed about God's character that Scripture clearly negates. (Thank you, Father, for leading me back to the beginnings of your word!)

All of what I'm writing is leading me to this:

At the end of the Old Testament canon, we find these words written in the book of Malachi:

4 Remember the law of my servant Moses,

the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children

and the hearts of children to their faithers,

lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.

-Malachi 4

And then there are several blank pages. They represent a gap-a time in history (of almost 400 years) in which God did not speak to His people through the prophets as He had previously done before.



And then...enter the book of Matthew.

The book of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus, the Christ. It tells us that Joseph's lineage is from the line of David. Then it tells us of the actual birth of Jesus and directly states that it was to fulfill the prophecy from Isaiah 7:14. (I'm sorry, but I’m going to fly through this story...I've got another point I'm getting to, so bear with me.) We then read of the wisemen and Herod's plot to destroy the baby King while God protected Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, and finally established their family in Nazareth.

Then, in chapter 3, we are introduced to John the Baptist.

If we keep reading through Matthew, we find out that John the Baptist is indeed the Elijah prophesied in the book of Malachi. Jesus tells us this twice: in Matthew 10:10-11 and 17:11).

Ok...hold the phone. If Malachi told me that a prophet like Elijah would come, and Jesus is telling me that John the Baptist is that prophet, then I need to pay close attention to what this John the Baptist is saying. Let's just take a second and read some of the words spoken by John the Baptist:

When speaking to a group of hypocritical Pharisees and Sadducees, after calling them a brood of vipers, he said:

11 I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mighter than I,

whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.

12 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

-Matthew 3

And in the book of John when he sees Jesus, he cries out:

29 Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

and

32 I saw the Spirit descended on Him like a dove, and it remained on Him.

33 I myself did not know him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

34 And I have seen and have born witness that this is the Son of God.

-John 1

Let's sit on this for a few moments. Did you just "hear" what he said? He calls Jesus the Son of God! The one who's mightier than he, whose sandals he is unworthy to even carry. He is the Lamb that we've been waiting for...the one who takes away the sin of the WORLD!! This prophet promised by God in the Old Testament has come, and this is what he has said!! Could you imagine hearing better words?

When I begin to think on these things, I begin to wonder, "What should be my response?" What would your response be? Here is mine: It makes my heart want to jump for joy!! My heart becomes so full of thanksgiving that it wants to burst forth with praise! The King has come! The Lamb has come! This means that we will be rescued in full from this sin enthralled self and world in which we live and will be reunited with our maker, to live with Him forever. Our God has been faithful; He has delivered what He promised! Again, can you imagine anything better?

As I finish reflecting on these glorious truths, my heart is so thankful that God sealed the gap that seemed to exist in the 400 years between the Old and New Testaments. The time of waiting and hoping for the Messiah to come and for the prophet who would pave His way has passed. After nearly 400 years, God did speak again. He spoke through John, and then He spoke through Christ. He revealed Himself to us in the person of Christ.

Isn't it funny to think that He chose to reveal Himself again through a King born as a baby?

As we go about the next few days leading up to our celebrations of Christ's birth, remember the words of the prophet who came before the Christ. Remember the promise of God to His people Israel. Remember that the promise to Israel has been extended to you and me in the glorious truth of the Gospel. Remember that the gap has been sealed. Keep these things in mind as you approach this babe in the manger. And may your heart swell with hope and joy and the deepest yearnings of praise and gratitude. May we love this little baby with everything we've got, for this baby has changed our world!