It is not in my nature to be liturgical in my spiritual life. I was neither raised in a high church tradition nor have I participated with any seriousness in liturgy during my life time. So it is with some baggage-free excitement that I lead my family through Lent this year. I am excited to learn more about myself; but I am most excited to learn more about God as I see what is in me that needs to be confessed and discarded.

We have decided to do two things. First, we’ve radically changed our diet, it is a fast really. We are purging all but the simple foods of vegetables, fruits, and lean meats. For me this is a big deal because the biggest area of weakness is in my diet. I am the least disciplined eater I know. The second area we are focusing on for Lent is our spiritual lives. With this area I am doing two things as well. I am simplifying my Scripture intake to focus on Romans exclusively. The second area of focus during this season is my prayer life; I am doing fixed hours of prayer to help me focus and prioritize this more important discipline of the Christian life.

As I spend these few years in seminary preparing for the next season of ministry I see the importance of focusing on the inner life of my soul. One of the things I began to notice (and I noticed this first in myself and then began observing this my ministerial colleagues) was the sense of needing to focus first on ministry administration and less on ministering to the Father and to ourselves through the Word and prayer. It seemed we were very tempted, and succumbed more than we should have, to being fruit inspectors instead of root cultivators. The fruit of our lives and the lives of those we were called to lead was what became the most important thing of our ministries. Fruit such as attendance, weekly and monthly giving, etc. God is not wanting His Spiritual leaders to focus their time and energies into being fruit inspectors. The fruit is His business.

I look forward to all the Father has for me during this season.