Lent

<p>Chances are you’ll see a bunch of folks walking around with shmutz on their foreheads this Wednesday (Feb. 14). What does having a dirty forehead have to do with being a Christian and why this ritual is gaining in popularity? What is the significance behind Ash Wednesday and why do Christians still attend Ash Wednesday services? Even if you attend one at your church you may not know the history behind it. <p><strong>Well, here is what you need to know:</strong><p><span style="font-size:10px;"><em>Photo courtesy: &copy;Thinkstock/azerberber</em></span></p>

As valuable as these acts of personal sacrifice, spiritual development, and contrition are, Christianity also exhorts us to energetically work to help those in need.

Many approach filling out March Madness brackets with something like religious fervor.

Fasting can seem like a lost practice today--perhaps something not relevant to our Christian faith in the modern world, but as long as we are tempted to fill our lives with other things that tend to crowd Christ out, there will be a need for such spiritual disciplines as fasting.

Ash Wednesday somberly reminds us that we’re all going to die. But it also reminds us of something much more important.

For centuries during Lent, Christians have sought to grow closer to God through praying, fasting and giving to the poor.

How does Jesus want his followers to respond to the needs of our day?

Is it all about us, or about Jesus and Him crucified? Today, we enter what may be the most counter-cultural season of the church calendar. More on Lent, next on BreakPoint.

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