What to give up for Lent?

mateo soletic

My evening glass of red wine. Ah well!

I could do that , I would still have two left.

thoscon

Jesus has already made sufficient sacrifice and paid your sin debt in total. No one can add to or take away from the completeness and perfection of his payment. We are under grace not law and are not required to make sacrifices. The wages of sin is death and permenent seperation from God. God's justice required that a perfectly innocent man be sacrificed to pay the sin debt of man. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No action we can take on our own can pay any part of the debt or make any difference in our salvation. Religions that suggest otherwise are not recognizing the age (grace) that we are in now but are looking back to an age of old.

Sincerely,

Thomas

remus

Thats my kind of religion

jeff hammond

what's lent?

remus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent 40 day period of fasting before easter.

Either that or i've missed the irony in your post quite spectacularly.

Double Espresso

@thoscon said:

Jesus has already made sufficient sacrifice and paid your sin debt in total. No one can add to or take away from the completeness and perfection of his payment. We are under grace not law and are not required to make sacrifices. The wages of sin is death and permenent seperation from God. God's justice required that a perfectly innocent man be sacrificed to pay the sin debt of man. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No action we can take on our own can pay any part of the debt or make any difference in our salvation. Religions that suggest otherwise are not recognizing the age (grace) that we are in now but are looking back to an age of old.
Sincerely,
Thomas

Priest: Michael, do you believe in God, the Father Almighty -- Creator of Heaven and Earth?
Michael: I do.
Priest: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord?
Michael: I do.
Priest: Do you believe in the Holy Ghost -- the Holy Catholic Church?
Michael: I do.
Priest: Michael Francis Rizzi -- do you renounce Satan?
Michael: I do renounce him.

Tobobo

@thoscon said:

Jesus has already made sufficient sacrifice and paid your sin debt in total. No one can add to or take away from the completeness and perfection of his payment. We are under grace not law and are not required to make sacrifices. The wages of sin is death and permenent seperation from God. God's justice required that a perfectly innocent man be sacrificed to pay the sin debt of man. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No action we can take on our own can pay any part of the debt or make any difference in our salvation. Religions that suggest otherwise are not recognizing the age (grace) that we are in now but are looking back to an age of old.

Thanks for you view Thomas, it always good to be reminded of amazing thing that was done for us.

I see the purpose of lent as aid to focus our minds on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us not an effort to repay for the sins we had committed. It is a form of worship in which I as a Christian can focus my thoughts on the run up to the most important event of the year (bar the second coming happening between now and then).

The ideas is that you chose something that you will miss in order that when you miss it, you are reminded why you are doing it.

david_h

I don't practice Lent but If I did, I would have to say I would give up Lent.

Moderation in all things. . .Including Moderation

Tobobo

@unknownuser said:

I don't practice Lent but If I did, I would have to say I would give up Lent.

LOL

Just like when non-smokers give up smoking for new year.

tomsdesk

An Irishman moves into a tiny hamlet in County Kerry, walks into the pub and promptly orders three pints of beer. The bartender raises his eyebrows, but serves the man three beers, which he drinks quietly at a table, alone. An hour later, the man has finished the three beers and orders three more. This happens yet again. The next evening the man again orders and drinks three beers at a time, several times. Soon the entire town is whispering about the Man Who Orders Three Beers.

Finally, a week later, the bartender broaches the subject on behalf of the town. "I don't mean to pry, but folks around here are wondering why you always order three beers?"

"Tis odd, isn't it?" the man replies. "You see, I have two brothers, and one went to America, and the other to Australia. We promised each other that we would always order an extra two beers whenever we drank as a way of keeping up the family bond."

The bartender and the whole town were pleased with this answer, and soon the Man Who Orders Three Beers became a local celebrity and source of pride to the hamlet, even to the extent that out-of-towners would come to watch him drink.

Then, one day, the man comes in and orders only two beers. The bartender pours them with a heavy heart. This continues for the rest of the evening. He orders only two beers. The word flies around town. Prayers are offered for the soul of one of the brothers.

The next day, the bartender says to the man, "Folks around here, me first of all, want to offer condolences to you for the death of your brother. You know-the two beers and all"

The man ponders this for a moment, then replies, "You'll be happy to hear that my two brothers are alive and well. It's just that I, meself, have decided to give up drinking for Lent."

tomsdesk

HOOWAA!

Jackson

Tom,

That joke works on so many levels, at first I just burst out laughing, then I got thinking about it... it actually raises some excellent theological, philosophical and moral questions!

Now I don't know whether to laugh or to ponder. A bit of both I think.