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  Be Ready – He Is Coming Jesus Foretells the Future Jesus Teaches on the Mount of Olives Matthew Chapter 24; Mark Chapter 13; Luke chapter 21   Jesus’ disciples were admiring the beauty of the craftsmanship that went into building the Temple in Jerusalem. “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” “Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus. ‘Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Later, while Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” Thus began what has become known as the Olivet Discourse. Jesus does not initially answer either of these questions. Instead, he warns his disciples to watch out for false Messiahs, impending wars (and rumours of war), famines and earthquakes in various places. Jesus then explained that because they were his di
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How Is Lent Relevant Today? Part 3: The Spirituality of Lent

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  How Is Lent Relevant Today? Part 3: The Spirituality of Lent We have previously highlighted the history of Lent and some physical benefits of fasting . Let us now take a look at the spiritual benefits of fasting. Lent has traditionally been a time for Christians to approach God through prayer, fasting, repentance and self-denial. Followers of Jesus remember the suffering, death and resurrection of their saviour; marking the season of Lent with forty days, based on Jesus’ time of fasting in the desert while he was tempted by Satan. Non-believers may choose to give up one or more of their pleasures for the season of Lent. Their forbearance and self-discipline may give them a feeling of satisfaction of a sacrifice made which may ultimately benefit their health and welfare. The benefits of such self-denial however may prove short-lived, particularly if followed by a season of self-indulgence, where any gains will be soon forgotten. Humans are naturally ill-disciplined and it can
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How Is Lent Relevant Today? Part 2: The Physical Benefits of Fasting

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  How Is Lent Relevant Today? Part 2: The Physical Benefits of Fasting   Biblical References to Fasting Lent, traditionally, is a time for Christians to fast and pray. In this post we will discover that there are many physical benefits to giving up foods and drinks that we would normally enjoy. We will look more deeply into the spirituality of fasting in a future post. It will, however, enlighten us to firstly establish the Biblical origins of fasting. We can go right back to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments to witness fasting in earnest: “Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant” Exodus 34:28 (NIV UK). When Saul took his own life following defeat by the Philistine army, the Israelites fasted for seven days to mourn Saul’s death; see 1 Samuel 31:13 . Ezra called a fast in order to ask for God’s help as he led the Israelites back to Jerusalem from their exi
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How Is Lent Relevant Today? Part One - An Overview of the Christian Festival of Lent

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  How Is Lent Relevant Today?   Part 1: An Overview of the Christian Festival of Lent   The History of Lent LENT WAS FIRST MENTIONED in 325 A.D. by the Council of Nicaea, which issued twenty canons: detailed instructions relating to church life. The fifth of these canons dealt with Lent, a period of forty days of preparation leading up to Easter Sunday. Previously, Christians had spent just a few days preparing for the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The Council of Nicaea chose a forty-day period based on Jesus’ time of fasting in the wilderness: “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.   After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.” Matthew 4: 1-2 (NIVUK) The word for Lent in many languages, including Italian, Spanish and French, translates to ‘forty’, derived from the biblical period of fasting as mentioned in the above passage of scripture. The English word for Lent, however, has its roots in an Anglo-Sa
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