Author: michaelrobb

So, a dear friend of mine when we last spoke told me a story about how he got in a theological spat recently with a group of Calvinist hating on Lent. His point was:
Lent is no worse than Christmas or Easter in that they each (at least in their rituals/date) have very pagan roots and are used by liturgical Christians and adopted by some non-liturgical Christians as a means for worship and the larger general American society and even commercialized. Therefore those using these aspects of the church calendar are ignorant of the origins of the traditions, but they should continue as long as it remains sincerely worshipful and does not cross a line into unbiblical practice.

Frankly, I think his position is a good one to take with regard to most “spiritual formation” material. A lot (not all; nor would I say a majority) of it has unChristian roots but is rebranded and used for Christian worship and as long as it does not become rote/legalistic/insincere and it does not teach bad theology or contradict the Bible, there’s no real harm in using these tools/means of grace regardless of their origin.

With regard to Lent, according to Catholic tradition, it was/is a catechumen’s final period of preparation for Baptism. The penitents and the rest of the community accompanied them on their journey and prepared to renew their baptismal vows at Easter. In practice, “Lent is a season of self-examination, fasting and penance in preparation for our Easter Day observance.” This is true in Protestant traditions as well, although most ignore the season since the church calendar is not observed. Methodism teaches, “Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection.”

Personally, I find the season used in this way to be a rich and beneficial practice.

My School, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, is hosting a trip to New England in May. It’s a short excursion: 8 days long and includes visits to Harvard, Yale, Princeton (JE archives), Northampton (Edwards & Brainerd), Plymouth, Malden MA (Judson), Burlington VT (NETS), Portland ME, Boston, Providence (Brown & FBC), and Newburyport MA (Whitefield burial) among other stops.

It’s attractive to me because I want to get a firsthand encounter with New England history, especially about the distinctive theology that shaped New England as I get to experience where historic theologians (especially relevant to my faith) practiced ministry. But all that, and I still wouldn’t go if it did not also offer me the opportunity for course credit at a greatly reduced rate.

Normally, it costs me $945 to take a 3 credit hour course. I plan to take several of these over the next several months until I graduate. If I go on this trip for $2100 (rebated $350 for travel expenses), I get to take two courses as part of the trip which means for 2100-350=1750 I get credit for courses I have to take that I would normally pay 1890 for. A savings of 240 dollars!

So, I’m excited to go and look forward to telling you more about it and what I learn/study as a part of the adventure.

Usually, I don’t publish a post for Saturdays or Sundays, because I’m not tracking them and therefore, they aren’t for my accountability partners. But it seemed good to group them together this time. Let me share “how I feel about how I spent these days.”

I feel great about them! Like I said in the Post for March 1-2, I worked really hard on homework so that I could be done in time for Hayley’s parents arrival since they were planning on spending Friday and Saturday working on renovations (of the duplex we bought a few weeks ago!) with us. Thankfully I mostly succeeded. I left a little bit of Greek to complete Saturday evening after they left that would be due that evening, but otherwise, I finished everything due that week and weekend.

March 1, I started the day early going downtown and paying for parking in quarters while I went to the courthouse to update my driver’s license. I’ve needed to do it for a long time since it’s the first step to renewing the tags for my car, but I waited until we had our new address and then a little longer. Anyway, I went and did that and then I called my school to change my classes around so I could go on (what promises to be) a really awesome trip to New England. [Hopefully, when I go, I’ll write a lot more and have a series of posts based on/inspired by it – for now though: Here’s why I’m going if you’re interested.] Then, I convened with Hayley, went to the bank and got to working with Hayley’s parents. We worked super hard and fairly diligently getting tons accomplished and retiring physically spent and pleased with our efforts.

March 2 began the way March 1 ended. David, Ange, Hayley, and I all went to the new place and dove into the task at hand working very hard and getting a lot done. As a plot twist, Timothy showed up as well to help us take up some flooring and be a part of the work. He is the second friend to lend a hand to this project. When Hayley’s parents left, Tim and Hayley and I went to Cleveland for the real reason Tim was with us: to celebrate the birthday of Mitch! We bought Coke and Balloons and ordered a pizza which he delivered to a dancing, music-blaring, triad of fans/friends. Finally, when the show ended, Tim and I dropped Hayley off at our current residence and headed back to church to finish Greek. I was 30 minutes late turning the assignment in and certain I spent my time as I should have.

All in all they were wonderful days.