In the lead up to Easter we will be putting up a new lent devotion each week day. These devotions will also be available in the discussions section of our Facebook page and will be played on New Zealand’s Rhema. As a Christian it’s easy to get caught up in ‘doing Church’ and all the trappings that go along with it – following the traditions and making sure we’ve got everything right in our effort [...]

In the lead up to Easter we will be putting up a new lent devotion each week day. These devotions will also be available in the discussions section of our Facebook page and will be played on New Zealand’s Rhema. Today, let’s consider something very specific – those who do not have enough to eat. A large portion of the world’s population live on less than is required for a healthy diet and they do [...]

In the lead up to Easter we will be putting up a new lent devotion each week day. These devotions will also be available in the discussions section of our Facebook page and will be played on New Zealand’s Rhema. Self denial is often seen as a practice confined to the fanatical, those who are a little extreme, yet it is a practice that has so much to offer to us in our development as [...]

One of my favourite books is Thomas A. Kempis’ Imitation of Christ. It is a deeply moving work that has much to meditate on. I was reading through some of the writing where he reflects an inner conversation between Christ and the faithful soul and this struck me, I thought it was very relevant to the fasting aspect of Lent where often we deny ourselves of something:

Last Sunday at Cityside, a beautiful young woman spoke the beatitudes. It was striking for two reasons (neither of these being the fact that she was young and beautiful) – the way she spoke these core teachings directly to us rather than reading them added so much dramatic power – and her choice of The Message version gave, as it so often does, depth, freshness and impact to these well known words. Somehow the beatitudes [...]

One might try to make a case against things like ‘Lent’ based on Luke 5:33-35. In this passage, Jesus is questioned why his followers don’t fast and pray like the disciples of John and of the Pharisees.  Jesus responds with another question: Can you make the friends of the bridegroom (the ole KJV puts it better – “the children of the bridechamber” – referring to a festive place/time) fast while the bridegroom is with them? [...]

 Video – Pray, Fast, Give. It’s About Justice There are three central traditions that we undertake during Lent. Fasting from little things is the one that gets the focus, but all three work together and it may come as a surprise, but their focal points are justice (making things right) and restoration. They are: