Ash Wednesday Without the Ash

For many Christians the pathway to the season of Lent becomes visible on Ash Wednesday.  Ash Wednesday is usually set approximately 40 days prior to Easter and marks off a special season of preparation.  Traditionally, this season has been highlighted and practiced for centuries by Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans.  Among other denominations such as Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians this practice has been largely avoided.  However, this is not to say that some churches within these later denominations participate in Ash Wednesday.  Yet, I think it is safe to say that it would make for a more challenging scavenger hunt to locate them as opposed to the churches in the previous denominations mentioned.

With all that said, I have the opportunity to lead a service at The Hill Baptist Church this Ash Wednesday.  As I prepare for this special time of confession and prayer I will be incorporating many elements of Ash Wednesday services that will be present in many church services all across the western hemisphere.  There will be a time of confession of sin and repentance.  There will be a time of Scripture reading.  There will be singing.  There will be a time of prayer.  Even though the service this Wednesday will be woven with similar threads there will be one thread that will be missing.  There will be no ashes.  You may be asking, “Why would you leave out the ashes in an Ash Wednesday service?”  One of the reasons that I will be leaving out the ashes is that within our tradition there is a desire to be free of special days or holy symbols other than those explicitly prescribed in Scripture.  In theory this may be true but in practice there seems to be more flexibility.

There may not be an official “church calendar” that we follow in Baptist life but there is a rhythm that we sense as the year unfolds.  While Christmas and Easter rise as peaks in the twelve month terrain of time there are other days, events, cultural rhythms and seasons that lend their guidance to the life of the church.  Easter is clearly a time when the church’s eyes are focused in on the death and resurrection of Jesus.  When you desire to reach the peak of a high mountain you must first map out the trail that will lead you to your destination.  Since Easter is clearly a mountain peak in the yearly life of the church it seems appropriate to begin the ascent in a manner that will help bring the truths of Scripture and what Christ has done into clear view.

One may argue that Easter Sunday is no different than any other Sunday and technically I believe they are correct.  One may argue that by elevating a certain day you entertain the potential for the gospel to be compromised and I can see how that could be the case as well.  At the same time, the life of the Christian is to be one of constant renewal.  Our orientation to the gospel of Jesus Christ must continually be refreshed.  Our faith is refreshed through the reading of God’s Word, the fellowship of believers, prayer, participating in the sacraments and perhaps in many other ways.  Another way our faith may be refreshed is by corporately as well as individually entering a time or season of focused evaluation.  The season of Lent can be an opportunity for believers to voluntarily enter a season of prayer and fasting in order to see Christ more clearly and experience the gospel more deeply.  Therefore, as we gather this Ash Wednesday there will be no ashes.  But we will be reminded that we came from dust and we are a people that are always dependent on the goodness of God.  As we gather for this short time of corporate reflection we be challenged to consider how we will spend the next 40 days in order to better understand and experience the gospel of Jesus Christ and make Him known to the world!

CRU @ ASU

The Jones family can now be considered official residents of Georgia.  We have unpacked all the boxes (or at least most of them).  We have even hung a few pictures.  There are a few rooms that are a different color due to our painting skills.  We are trying our best to make our house a home.  For those of you who know me it will not be a surprise to hear that I probably bit off a little more than I can chew over the past few months.  Nevertheless, we have been able to stay above water and the Lord seems to be working in the midst of it all.  Since arriving in Augusta back in August we have seen a number of great things happen.  We have been able to get CRU officially chartered at Augusta State University.  ASU is a university that is part of the University of Georgia system.  There are several thousand students that attend.  The one main difference is that there are no dorms on campus.  This makes gathering students a challenge.  ASU is very similar to the schools we worked with up in NYC over the past few summers.  Many of the schools in New York do not have dorms and students mainly commute to campus.  I guess the Lord was preparing us for this scenario.  We have seen a consistent group of about 15 students attend the CRU bible study on a weekly basis.  At times we have had as many as 30 students show up!  Our next step for the movement at ASU is to create a student missional team that will begin giving leadership to the group.  I hope to have this in place by the end of the spring semester.  Continue to pray with us that many at ASU will be reached for Christ, build up in Him and sent out for Him!

The transition from Winston-Salem to Augusta

 Dear Friends,

We are in our final week of a six week mission project in New York City. I was assigned the privileged opportunity to lead a team of eighteen staff and students on a six week pioneering mission project that will come to a close on July 13^th. We have spent most of our time on four New York City college campuses in hopes to see college students come to know Christ personally as well as raise up Christ-centered laborers that want to reach their campus for Christ in the fall. We have had many spiritual conversations and the gospel has been shared multiple times. Our students and staff have been stretched in their faith as they have had to learn how to engage with many different cultures, religions and worldviews here in the city. It has truly been a fruitful time! We will be sending you a more detailed update in a month or so. Meanwhile, we have some other big news to tell you about.

As friends and ministry partners you have been involved with our ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ in Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point N.C. We have been in the Winston area for over 11 years and have seen God do great things. We have seen the ministry grow from fifteen students on two campuses to over 400 students on eight campuses! We have seen many students come to know Christ, grow in Christ and be sent out for Christ. Over the years I have noticed that my strengths seem to reside in teaching, pioneering and in strategic thinking. Now that most of the college campuses in our area have been opened up I have been asking the Lord if He has another area that would be a good fit for me and my family. During that time of praying I was contacted by a church in Augusta, Georgia. This church has a desire to influence the Augusta area for Christ.

Many of you know that both Celia and I grew up around the Augusta area and most of our family still reside there. There is also no Campus Crusade ministry currently in the Augusta area yet there are a handful of college and universities. Over the past few months it has become clearer that Augusta could be that new territory. Here is a summary of what we will be doing. We will move to Augusta on August 1^st. We will remain on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ so your continued prayers and financial support will continue to be crucial. We will be pioneering Campus Crusade movements on the college campuses in Augusta as well as linking arms with a local church and helping it to become more effective in serving and reaching the Augusta community for Christ. Please join us in praying for both the Triad area as well as the Augusta area as we make this transition. We will continue to send you more updates about this transition as well as what the Lord has done in New York City. Celia and I appreciate your friendship and your partnership with us in spreading the gospel!

In Christ,

Ron & Celia

D. L. Moody quote about the City

“Cities,” he said, “are the centers of influence. Water runs downhill, and the highest hills in America are the great cities. If we can stir them we shall stir the whole country.”

The Shorter Life of D. L. Moody by Paul Dwight Moody, Arthur Percy Fitt 

 

How Many…

I wonder how many churches/campuses we need in forsyth and davie county to put everyone in a relationship with a follower of Christ?

Great Commission Resurgence Report

The much anticipated report laying out some possible changes to how Southern Baptists approach missions was posted yesterday.  To read the report or watch a brief video summary you can go to www.pray4gcr.com.

Church Planting: Part 2

Personally, I enjoy starting new things and that is why being on staff on with Campus Crusade has been such a good fit for me.  We are actively involved in trying to start new movements where there is little or no gospel presence.  There may be some similarities with church planting.  I would think the reason for planting a church would be to place a gospel community among a segment of the population that has little to no gospel influence.  

This week I have enjoyed talking with a church planter who is seeking to plant a church in the Czech Republic.  It has been interesting to hear about the process, the day to day work, that goes into planting a church.  As you can imagine, this process is largely if not entirely based on your philosophy of ministry or you could say your vision for what the church should be.  What comes to mind when you think of the ‘local church’?  If you were a church planter this mental picture will be what you would seek to create.  One thing we could all benenfit from is asking this question and then evaluating our idea of the church with what we see in Scripture.  This could help us to avoid accomodating to the culture to the point of losing our identity as the church as well as avoiding clinging to our specific cultural or traditional markers that have been syncretized into our view of the church.  Church Planting is a fascinating topic.  I hope to be able to post a view more thoughts on this subject.