Mardi Gras. Ash Wednesday. You may be familiar with these terms, but did you know that they are all a part of a tradition called Lent?<\/p>\n
Lent is celebrated during the forty days (excluding Sundays) before Easter. It is a time set aside to prepare for the Easter holiday and to reflect on Jesus Christ- His suffering and His sacrifice for mankind. For 2019, Lent begins on March\u00a06th<\/sup> and will officially end on the Thursday before Easter, April 18th<\/sup>. Typically, Lent is practiced by giving up something that you enjoy, usually food, for the forty days to encourage you to focus on Christ.<\/p>\n Lent is an old tradition, dating back to the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. The Church would prepare for Lent by celebrating Mardi Gras, which means \u201cFat Tuesday\u201d in French. Unlike the modern-day celebrations of Mardi Gras, this was not a time for drunken revelries but a day that Christians would use to prepare by getting rid of all the food items in their homes that were not allowed during Lent: specifically sugars and meats. Each household would use up all the items which were not allowed during Lent on Fat Tuesday so as not to be wasteful. Consequently, this created a rather large feast in each home which is how Mardi Gras got its name.<\/p>\n The day after Mardi Gras is Ash Wednesday and is considered the first official day of Lent.\u00a0During a special Ash Wednesday service, a pastor or church leader will use ashes to draw a cross on each church member\u2019s forehead, to remind us of Jesus and the great price He paid for us by dying on the cross. The ashes represent the verse in Genesis which says, \u201cfor dust you are and to dust you will return.\u201d This is to remind us all that we will eventually die and be accountable for the sins that we committed while on Earth. By accepting this gift and asking for forgiveness of our sins, we are made sons and daughters of God and accepted into His loving family, with all of our sins washed clean.<\/p>\n During the 40 days of Lent, Christians are encouraged to abstain from something of importance to them, usually food, to represent the 40 days in which\u00a0Jesus himself fasted and prayed\u00a0in the wilderness.\u00a0 The days of Lent are to be used as a time to turn away from earthly comforts and to renew our hearts to our loving Father. By giving up something that normally takes up a lot of our time or thoughts, and giving that time to God, we give ourselves the opportunity to become aware of any parts of our lives that do not please God and to refocus on what is important: our relationship with Christ!<\/p>\n If you have not ever taken part in Lent before, we encourage you to try it this year! Consider making Lent a family tradition, or grab a few friends and commit to encouraging each other through Lent. While fasting a meal is the most common fast for Lent, some may be unable to participate due to health concerns. Here are a few extra ideas for you to consider for Lent this year:<\/p>\n Your Snooze Button<\/strong><\/p>\n Take the 30 minutes you would usually spend sleeping in to pray or spend extra time in your Bible. Use this time to ask God specifically what He would have you learn from Lent.<\/p>\n Fast Food \/ Coffee<\/strong><\/p>\n Rather than using Lent as a kick start to your diet, trying taking the money you would have normally spent on your favorite fast food or drink and give it away. Ask God to show you a ministry that you could give to, either in your local church or to a\u00a0national ministry<\/a>.<\/p>\n Social Media \/ Netflix<\/strong><\/p>\n You would be surprised to see how much time you spend on the internet if you were abstaining from it for a period of time. Instead of reaching for your phone or tablet, try spending the time you would normally use to surf in prayer and study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":3626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[768,244,769,1252,242,245,290,292],"class_list":{"0":"post-3625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-discipleship-ministries","8":"category-general","9":"tag-ash-wednesday","10":"tag-easter","11":"tag-fasting","12":"tag-kaleigh-hamilton","13":"tag-lent","14":"tag-mardi-gras","15":"tag-smat","16":"tag-student-ministries","17":"entry"},"title_es":"\u00bfPor qu\u00e9 Cuaresma?","content_es":"Mardi Gras. Mi\u00e9rcoles de ceniza. Puede que est\u00e9 familiarizado con estos t\u00e9rminos, pero \u00bfsab\u00eda que todos son parte de una tradici\u00f3n llamada Cuaresma? La Cuaresma se celebra durante los cuarenta d\u00edas (sin incluir los domingos) antes de la Pascua. Es un tiempo reservado para preparar las vacaciones de Pascua y para reflexionar sobre Jesucristo: Su sufrimiento y Su sacrificio por la humanidad. Para 2018, la Cuaresma comienza el 14 de febrero y terminar\u00e1 oficialmente el jueves antes de Pascua, el 29 de marzo<\/sup> . Por lo general, la Cuaresma se practica renunciando a algo que disfruta, generalmente comida, durante los cuarenta d\u00edas para alentarlo a centrarse en Cristo. La Cuaresma es una vieja tradici\u00f3n, que se remonta al Concilio de Nicea en el 325 DC. La Iglesia se preparar\u00eda para la Cuaresma celebrando Mardi Gras, lo que significa \"Martes gordo\" en franc\u00e9s. A diferencia de las celebraciones modernas de Mardi Gras, este no era un momento para las juergas borrachas, sino un d\u00eda que los cristianos usar\u00edan para prepararse al deshacerse de todos los alimentos en sus casas que no estaban permitidos durante la Cuaresma: espec\u00edficamente az\u00facares y carnes. Cada hogar usar\u00eda todos los art\u00edculos que no fueron permitidos durante la Cuaresma del Martes Gordo para no desperdiciarlos. En consecuencia, esto cre\u00f3 una gran fiesta en cada hogar, que es como Mardi Gras obtuvo su nombre. El d\u00eda despu\u00e9s del Mardi Gras es el mi\u00e9rcoles de ceniza y se considera el primer d\u00eda oficial de la Cuaresma. Durante un servicio especial del Mi\u00e9rcoles de Ceniza, un pastor o l\u00edder de la iglesia usar\u00e1 cenizas para dibujar una cruz en la frente de cada miembro de la iglesia, para recordarnos a Jes\u00fas y el gran precio que pag\u00f3 por nosotros al morir en la cruz. Las cenizas representan el vers\u00edculo en G\u00e9nesis que dice: \"porque polvo eres y polvo, volver\u00e1s\". Esto es para recordarnos a todos que eventualmente moriremos y seremos responsables por los pecados que cometimos mientras estuvimos en la Tierra. Al aceptar este regalo y pedir perd\u00f3n por nuestros pecados, somos hechos hijos e hijas de Dios y aceptados en su amorosa familia, con todos nuestros pecados lavados. Durante los 40 d\u00edas de Cuaresma, se alienta a los cristianos a abstenerse de algo de importancia para ellos, generalmente comida, para representar los 40 d\u00edas en que Jes\u00fas ayun\u00f3 y or\u00f3 en el desierto. Los d\u00edas de Cuaresma deben ser usados \u200b\u200bcomo un tiempo para apartarse de las comodidades terrenales y renovar nuestros corazones a nuestro amoroso Padre. Al renunciar a algo que normalmente ocupa mucho de nuestro tiempo o pensamientos, y darle ese tiempo a Dios, nos damos la oportunidad de tomar conciencia de cualquier parte de nuestras vidas que no agradan a Dios y de enfocarnos en lo que es importante: nuestra relaci\u00f3n con Cristo! Si nunca antes has participado en la Cuaresma, \u00a1te animamos a probarla este a\u00f1o! Considere hacer de la Cuaresma una tradici\u00f3n familiar, o tome algunos amigos y comprom\u00e9tase a alentarse unos a otros durante la Cuaresma. Mientras que ayunar una comida es el ayuno m\u00e1s com\u00fan para la Cuaresma, algunos pueden no poder participar debido a problemas de salud. Estas son algunas ideas adicionales que debe considerar para la Cuaresma este a\u00f1o: Su bot\u00f3n para posponer<\/strong> Tome los 30 minutos que normalmente pasar\u00eda durmiendo para orar o pasar m\u00e1s tiempo en su Biblia. Use este tiempo para preguntarle a Dios espec\u00edficamente qu\u00e9 quiere que aprenda de la Cuaresma. Comida r\u00e1pida \/ caf\u00e9<\/strong> En lugar de utilizar la Cuaresma como un punto de partida para su dieta, intente tomar el dinero que normalmente habr\u00eda gastado en su comida o bebida favorita y regalarlo. P\u00eddale a Dios que le muestre un ministerio que podr\u00eda darle, ya sea en su iglesia local o en un ministerio nacional<\/a> . Redes sociales \/ Netflix<\/strong> Le sorprender\u00eda ver cu\u00e1nto tiempo pasa en Internet si se absten\u00eda de hacerlo por un per\u00edodo de tiempo. En lugar de buscar su tel\u00e9fono o tableta, intente pasar el tiempo que normalmente usar\u00eda para navegar en oraci\u00f3n y estudiar. Escrito por Kaleigh Bishop Especialista de Mercadeo, Ministerios de Discipulado","author_name":"Kaleigh Hamilton","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/02\/Why-Lent.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-Wt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}