Impact News!  The Impact Church Newsletter

February 29, 2008

  This week’s exciting issue contains…

1)   Impact Announcements

2)   Other Montreal Happenings

3)   Traveler’s Notes from Pastor Lon: “Can God Swim?”

4)   BONUS: Ivy Jungle Update

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Games Night! March 7th

Where?  The Vinings (1500 rue Champigny).

We have a LOT of games. We will have a LOT of fun!  We will have some GOOD
FOOD!  

Please RSVP to l…@impactchurch.ca.  

For directions to the Vinings, email Lon. 

OTHER MONTREAL HAPPENINGS

Release at Calvary Chapel

Saturday, Mar 1 at 7pm
1200 Atwater (at the Atwater Library), just south of Atwater and St.
Catherine.
www.calvarymontreal.com

From their website: “Release is an opportunity to get together and give all
of our daily burdens to Jesus.  A time to be open and to experience the
regenerative power of the Holy Spirit through worship, prayer and
encouragement. As we come together we will: Have a time of extended worship
lead by local singer-songwriter, Dave Martel and a group of great musicians
gathered from around the city.  
Create a time of worship where the music will be as intelligent and
meaningful and beautiful as God can make it.   Have a short encouragement
from the Word of God that speaks to us where we are…. today!  Given by
Pastor Sebastien Frappier.  Have a time of small-group prayer, where men and
women will separate in the hopes of creating a non-threatening environment.”

TRAVELER’S NOTES

from Pastor Lon

Traveler’s notes are now all in Pastor Lon’s blog.  Click here to go to his blog.   

BONUS:

[NOTE: The BONUS section is a format to feature different writings, facts,
trends or perspectives on matters of faith. BONUS is provided in order to
stimulate thoughts and conversation on important matters of faith. Each and
every point in the writings that appear in BONUS are not necessarily that of
Impact Church, though often they do represent our theological or
methodological stand. This includes the content of other websites that we
may link to.]

Ivy Jungle Update

Trends in Student Ministry, Culture and Higher Education:

Back to Class at NIU:  Students at Northern Illinois University have
returned to classes.  The university held a memorial service to mark the
return.  Our prayers are with the community of Northern Illinois University
in the wake of this month’s campus shooting.

A Vision of Students Today:  A collaborative effort by Michael Wesch and 200
Kansas State students from his Anthropology course offers a video
description of students today.  From classroom involvement to Facebook
friends, the video provides a number of statistical facts about college
students today, their habits, interests and involvement.  Check it out at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o

A Textbook on Hooking Up:  Kathleen Bogle has published her book, Hooking Up
as an analysis of research into the dating and sexual behaviors of college
students today.  Conducting in depth interviews with students at two unnamed
universities - one large public school and one smaller Roman Catholic
school, she describes the casual hook up as the “center for college social
life.”  Her research shows that students overestimate the frequency of hook
ups among their peers as well as “how far” those encounters go (kissing,
intercourse, etc.).   She is quick to point out that such behavior is not
new to campus life, but technology and informality have turned it into what
she calls “the dominant script for forming sexual and romantic relationships
on campus.”  She also points out the damage of a hook up culture on women.
First, women are much more likely to receive a bad reputation for hooking
up.  Secondly, her research shows that women do not get what they want (i.e.
a relationship) from the casual sex of a hook up - but believe it is the
only way to meet men.  The culture is also affecting young adults after
graduation.  When these young adults enter more formal dating environments,
many say they do not know how to go on dates and establish relationships
outside of “hanging out” and “hooking up.”  A full interview with the author
is available at www.insidehighered.com <http://www.insidehighered.com/>
(Inside Higher Ed January 29, 2008)

More Partners Equals Lower Grades:  A survey by the student paper at the
University of Cambridge indicates that students with more sexual partners
typically report lower grades.  Students who are virgins or have fewer
partners demonstrated higher grades across the institutions colleges.
(Inside Higher Ed January 28, 2008)

Social Networking Slow Down?  Tagged the next big thing on the internet,
social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook have attracted millions of
users and promised to be a goldmine for advertising dollars.  However,
recent studies of the sites show a slow down in new users and current users
are spending less time on them than in previous months.  According to market
researcher ComScore, the amount of time spent on social networking sites has
fallen 14% over the last four months.    MySpace actually saw a decline in
users during that time and overall growth has slowed considerably.   Social
networking sites have ad response rates of fewer than 4 in 10,000 viewers
who will click on an ad - among the lowest rates on the internet where the
average is 20 in 10,000.  Facebook and MySpace are both trying to boost ad
hits by offering more targeted ads based on user’s profile.   Initiatives
that segment users into more than 300 categories improved ad rates by more
than 300%, MySpace has reported.  Some users have complained about an
application on Facebook  called Beacon that tells Facebook friends when
their peers make purchases online.    (Business Week February 7, 2008)

Cross-Cultural Ambitions:  A survey of teenagers and young adults shows that
more than half of all 13-21 year olds hope to some day travel the world
(66%) and speak another language (59%).  More than 40% hope to see a
rainforest (42%) and live in another country (42%).  These ambitions
outweigh such exciting things as running marathons (19%); climbing a
mountain (29%) bungee jumping (30%) or being in the Guinness Book of World
Records (20%).  (Harris Interactive Trends and Tudes vol. 7 issue 1 Feb.
2008)

Civic Engagement to Boost Retention:   Over the past few years, schools have
seen an increase in student civic engagement.  From the environment to
racial reconciliation, students want to get involved.  By comparing first
year involvement with freshman retention rates, some schools have seen
enough correlation to warrant intentional programs to help students get
involved during their first year.  From general appeals to major focused
opportunities, by encouraging students to shape their involvement they hope
to see both personal growth and a greater connection to the school in those
first two semesters.  (Inside Higher Ed January 28, 2008)

Parental Involvement Wanted:  Helicopter parents may be dreaded by residence
life staff, but most college students think parents have had “the right
amount” of involvement in their lives.   This year’s incoming freshman
survey by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA shows more than
70% of freshmen believe their parents had the “right amount” of involvement
in deciding to go to college, applying to colleges, choosing the school,
dealing with officials at the school, choosing courses and choosing
activities.   The study also showed some differences among racial and ethnic
groups.  White students were the least likely to want more parental
involvement, while Latino students were most likely to want more.  (Inside
Higher Ed January 24, 2008)

How Students Manage Time:  The popular perception of students glued to their
Facebook and MySpace pages has not come without some merit.  However, the
UCLA Higher Education Research Institute shows that incoming freshmen ranked
time spent on social networks below homework and studying.  Most students
say they spent 1-5 hours a week on homework, but nearly a third spent less
than an hour a week on social networking.  Among the top activities taking
up student time were jobs, sports and exercise, homework, TV, student clubs,
and social networking.  Of course socializing with friends was the most
common activity for these teenagers.  (Inside Higher Ed January 24, 2008)

First Year Overseas Programs:  While most students are trying to adjust to
college life and the perils of washing darks and lights, a growing number of
first year collegians are deciding to take advantage of overseas programs
offered to them.   By offering study abroad programs to older first year
students, some schools find this an advantage in recruiting. However, they
have also found some challenges as most study-abroad programs offer less
structure and supervision than on-campus programs.   (Wall Street Journal
January 22, 2008 D1)

Engaging Sophomores:   A number of schools are looking to require two years
of on campus housing as an effort to keep sophomores more engaged with
university life.  At schools where large numbers of students move off campus
in their second year, they find those who do typically perform worse in the
classroom and are less involved in extra-curricular activities than those
who remain the dorms.  The trend has caused a number of schools to implement
programs targeting the “lost year” by keeping sophomores engaged in ways
more like freshmen.  (Inside Higher Ed January 31, 2008)

Schools Receive More Money:  Last year US colleges and universities received
nearly $30 billion, with the wealthiest universities reaping the greatest
benefits.  The top 2% of schools receive more than 25% of all money.
Stanford led the way with over $832 million last year.   The last five years
have seen steady increases as more than 75 schools now have endowments of at
least $1 billion.  Analysts expect giving to go down next year due to
economic slowdown.  (AP February 20, 2008)

Dress Code on Campus:  Most schools are long past the days of allowing jeans
in the lecture hall, but at the University of West Alabama, the dress code
is making a come back.  Concerned over the state of student dress,
university President Richard Holland has mandated “neat and modest casual or
dressy attire” and outlawed a number of items including sagging and low rise
pants.  The administration hopes that the move will help develop a more
professional outlook on campus.  (Inside Higher Ed January 29, 2008)

New Name for UNC Group:  The Campus Crusade group at University of North
Carolina Chapel Hill has changed its name in an effort to break down
barriers on campus.  When founded in the 1950’s “crusade” was a term that
indicated forward momentum (i.e. Martin Luther King crusading for human
rights).   Now the term more readily conjures a dark time in Christian
history.  The UNC group has renamed itself Cornerstone as a humble apology
“for all who have defamed the name of Jesus and perhaps remove barriers to
others considering his message of life.”  (Daily Tar Heel, Feb. 18 2008)

Mormonism Making It to Religion Departments:  Perhaps it is the Romney
factory, but Mormonism is becoming more interesting to religion departments.
Harvard Divinity School has long boasted a diversified curriculum, but will
offer its first course devoted to the Mormon faith this year.  Claremont
University and Utah State College have each established endowed chairs in
Mormon studies.   The American Academy of Religion has also established a
new group for specialists in Mormon studies.  (Boston Globe February 19,
2008)

Cyber Gossip Generates Backlash:  The website, Juicy Campus.com  has
generated outrage as it hosts “anonymous” gossip on everything from the
hottest couple on a given campus to a number of salacious comments on the
reputations of men and women on campus.    However with many posts
containing names, the website has come under fire for bringing playground
bullying to cyberspace.   The site promises it will not reveal IP addresses
and offers help on masking them.  Call someone a name after last night’s
party and they will protect the poster - but threaten violence and they
promise to turn you over to the police (cnn.com February 19, 2008)

Tech Use Lags Behind Asian Peers:  US teenagers and young adults may be tech
savvy when compared with old Americans, but they lag behind their peers in
Shanghai and Hong Kong.  Only 59% of US 13-21 year olds say they spent time
daily instant messaging, compared with greater than 90% of those in Hong
Kong and Shanghai.  They also lagged behind in text messaging (88% in
Shanghai; 66% in Hong Kong; only 51% in US); posting to social networking
websites (more than 70% in the Chinese cities compared with only 61% in the
US); and playing multi-player online games (MMO’s).  US students were more
likely however to want to be a millionaire, be a famous athlete, win a Nobel
prize or cure a disease.  (Harris Interactive Trends and Tudes vol. 7 issue
1 Feb. 2008)

Measuring Green:  The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in
Education has launched a rating system to track the green efforts of more
than 90 US colleges.  From facilities to curriculum, the system will provide
a metric for assessing and comparing the “green” initiatives of the schools.
In a pilot phase now, the system will make scores public in 2009.  (Inside
Higher Ed February 5, 2008)

Making College Affordable:  Yale made the latest big splash free tuition for
families who make less than $200,000.  As Ivy League schools have followed
Harvard’s lead in making their price tags more affordable, hundreds of other
private schools are feeling the crunch.  Without multi-billion dollar
endowments, they do not have the ability to make the same tuition promises
to middle-class families.  While Harvard and Yale have made headlines, the
real number of students helped is very small.  The schools, which regularly
receive tens of thousands of applications, have not increased class sizes in
years and only a small fraction of incoming students will qualify for the
free tuition programs.  Other private schools are making modest adjustments
to help the middle class.  With the economy slowing down, even state
schools, which educate 65% of all students fear that state governments may
cut budgets and force even greater tuition hikes. (USA Today February 5,
2008)

Dorm Room Energy Use:  Yale has made bold steps in its student housing as
part of a broad initiative reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  New windows and
high efficiency heating and cooling systems have been installed.  In
addition, students have made strides with new light bulbs, unplugging
appliances, and energy efficient computer screens.  However, one move - low
flow shower heads met with student resistance.   Stanford has proposed a new
green dorm that would monitor energy use by room, allowing for students to
monitor and adjust energy consumption based on the findings.   Students seem
eager to embrace changes that are technologically driven and that don’t
infringe too much on their ongoing lifestyles.   (Inside Higher Ed January
25, 2008)

Endowed Bathroom:   A venture capitalist has given $25,000 to the University
of Colorado to endow a bathroom.  The lavatory in the business school will
have a sign outside it featuring the inspiring quote:   “The best ideas
often come at inconvenient times.  Don’t ever close your mind to them.”
(Inside Higher Ed January 29, 2008)

*** Events, Resources and Jobs ***

Paradise 08:  The vision is for thousands of Christian young people to
gather in an open field near Kansas City on Sunday, May 25, to pray, worship
and seek God’s face for revival in the Church and spiritual awakening.  

This Generation of Students
  To Begin a Sacred Pilgrimage
   In Order to Stand Before Him
    Without Human Distractions or Agendas
     To Awake to All Christ Is as Lord
      To Adore Him as God’s Son Supreme
       To Arise and Serve at His Command

For more information on Paradise, please go to the following websites:

www.paradise08.com <http://www.paradise08.com/>    www.paradisethoughts.com
<http://www.paradisethoughts.com/>

 Impact Church info:

Services:          4pm each Sunday at St. James Anglican Church at corner of
St. Catherine & Bishop

Address:          1439 rue St-Catherine Ouest, Montreal, Quebec  H3G1S6,
Canada (Metro: Guy-Concordia)
On the web:     www.impactchurch.ca

Email:               i…@impactchurch.ca

Impact News!  The Impact Church Newsletter

February 7, 2008    This week’s exciting issue contains… 1)   This Week’s Service2)   Impact Announcements 3)   Other Montreal Spiritual Opportunities 4)   Traveler’s Notes from Pastor Lon: “I Made a Grandmother Cry Today” 5)   BONUS: Thoughts on Lent by Sacha

THIS WEEK’S SERVICE

Sundays passage: Matthew 4:1-11

After a busy weekend of bowling and baptisms, Sunday, we will come together to worship God and encourage one another. In our sermon time, we will look at temptation.  Sounds tempting, aye? Specifically, the Devil’s temptation of Jesus. To get ready for our discussion, I’d like you to think about four questions: 1.      What role does the Bible play in our ability to withstand temptation?  2.      Could Jesus, being fully God, yet fully man, have been tempted? Why or why not?  3.      Have you ever had a “wilderness” experience? What did God teach you through this experience? 4.      Have you ever fasted?  What value was it to you spiritually? What was the hardest thing about it?

ANNOUNCEMENTS

SPARE ME! 

Couples Night This Friday (Feb

Who: Any couple at all
What: Bowling Night!
Where: Rose Bowl in NDG (6510 St Jacques, 514-482-7200)
When: Friday, Feb 8th at 7:30pm
Please RSVP to matthew.harms@gmail.com if you’d like to come…

SLAM DUNK! – Baptism Celebration This Saturday (Feb 9)We will have a baptism celebration Saturday for Sarah Gray and Kimberley Langelaar. This will be a powerful time to see other believers follow Christ in obedience and to publicly proclaim their faith in Christ in a public way. It is a great time to bring a friend, too!  It will be at 9am at the McGill pool on Feb. 9.  Please attend this important event to support your fellow Impacter’s being baptized and to join in the celebration. 

JUSTICE DO IT – Social Ministry Outreach Meeting Feb 10

Fired up about Social Justice? Join us for a practical planning and vision meeting Sunday, Feb 10 to move the Impact community into social action within our city.  Stay back at church after the worship service and we’ll get started at 6.30pm.  Small Group leaders are asked to please attend and to bring a representative interested in social justice from your group. Other persons are also welcome to attend.  Contact esther@impactchurch.ca to indicate interest.  LAST CHANCE!!  Baggage & Bondage Winter Retreat- Feb 15-17James 5:16 says, “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.” Find freedom from baggage and be liberated from the bondage that it creates in your life at the B&B Winter Retreat FEBRUARY 15-17 at Capenwray Retreat Center 1 hr north of Montreal. Cost is $99 and includes transport, food and all retreat expenses. Space is limited to the first 25 people. REPLY TO THIS EMAIL NOW IF INTERESTED or contact katie@impactchurch.ca (this link was wrong previously, so try again if it didn’t work for you).  

OTHER MONTREAL HAPPENINGS

Emerge Red Hippo Fundraiser Feb 14^TH Emerge Church is running a fundraiser on February 14 at La Sala Rossa called the Red Hippo going to Uganda –  at 4848 Boul. St-Laurent. Doors open about 8:30pm.  Flotilla (Benoit Moniere’s band) will be headlining.  From their website: “Emerge’s Red Hippo Arts Project has as its goal, bringing the arts into the lives of impoverished children who don’t have an outlet to explore their creativity and emotions in a healthy way. We believe that the arts are a therapeutic release from the pressures of the world, and bringing the arts to children who contend with the daily struggles of poverty will not only help their mental state of mind, but also help to bring healing to their souls and a renewed spirit in their lives. The Red Hippo Arts Project will be partnering with the In Need Home Foundation in Kampala, Uganda, working with the children and youth that cared for by the In Need Home. All of these children are orphans, either living in the refugee camp known as Namuwongo, or a slum housing location known as Nsambya. The In Need Home Foundation is a registered non-profit organization in Uganda, providing services to the needy within Kampala. The focus of In Need Home is primarily on the women and children of Namuwongo and the youth of Nsambya.” 

TRAVELER’S NOTES from Pastor Lon “I Made a Grandmother Cry Today”  A made a woman cry today.  Not the bad kind, the good kind. It made me cry, too.  Five days ago she had the joy of seeing her first grandson born to her 23-year-old daughter and her son-in-law inNorthern California.  When her grandson was born he looked normal and healthy, and all seemed well.  It was a joyous occasion. Then the doctors noticed something not quite right with his leg, and they took some x-rays.  They discovered two fractures and determined they had occurred before he was born. But even more ominously for this family, they soon were given a diagnosis of Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), or “Brittle Bones Disorder.”     The scene that this couple went through this week was extraordinarily similar to our own experience. As some of you know, our son Isaiah, who will be five in April, also has OI. All told, he has suffered 42 fractures to nearly every part of his body, and has undergone eight corrective surgeries. OI is very rare, with as few as 20,000 cases in the US.  Isaiah too was born with fractures that had occurred in the womb, and he also sustained several during delivery.   And that is why I was on the phone.  A friend of ours who lives in Oklahoma knows one of this family’s relatives, and heard about the baby through him.  She called us and told us that a baby had been born with OI, and asked if we would be willing to call and offer some information and support.  I called the relative in Oklahoma and told him to pass on my number to his family in

California. Today, he called me, and said he had spoken to them, but he wasn’t sure they would call because they were pretty shell-shocked in the first place, and they didn’t know me from Adam. I am sure they were thinking, “Who is this person? What are his motives? What does he really know that could help us?”  I told him that I didn’t mind calling them myself, and he very enthusiastically gave me their number and I called.   I will not go into the details of my call, but once we got through the awkwardness of the first couple of minutes, this grandmother was very grateful to talk to someone who’d been through what they are now going through.  She explained that the family felt scared, alone, and full of unanswered questions.  She said, “After just five days in the hospital, they just sent us home. The hospital basically said, “your baby is fragile as glass, so be careful with him, good-bye” and they didn’t tell us anything – not how to care for him, what to do when he fractures again, what his life would be like, nothing.”  That was pretty much our experience, too.  You cannot image all of the issues: insurance, hospitals, medical treatments, pain medicines, diagnoses, special needs daycare, fracture management, surgeries, prognosis, government assistance, and much, much more.  But the biggest issue of all for people in situations like this is not the myriad of complex issues, but is actually a quite simple one: people need hope. They need reassurance.  And knowing that there are others out there who have gone through what you’re going through, and are willing to help, goes a long way to giving them the hope and reassurance they so desperately need.  So I called and tried to give her hope, reassurance, and information.  I gave her some things to look into, and a list of resources, and offered to take their calls any time they wanted to talk. She expressed great appreciation for my call and offer to help. Then right before we ended the call, choking back tears, she said to me, “You are our angel.  God has sent you to help us.  Thank you so, so, much.”   

I am not telling you this story to brag, because I am certainly no “angel.”   Certainly, what I did is not extraordinary.  I wanted to tell this story because it was a huge reminder to me of the balance we must walk between the intentional and the natural when it comes to meeting people’s needs.  It also made me wonder how many opportunities to minister like this I probably miss.  You see, the opportunity to minister to this family was in many ways very natural. I was called about a need that I could uniquely help meet. I did not seek it. The opportunity just found me. Then it was up to me to decide how I would respond to this need that had been made known to me.  In this case, meeting that need took some initiative (intentionality).  First, my friend saw the need and gave me the relative’s phone number. I had to call the relative “out of the blue,” which is a bit intimidating and awkward. You can imagine – “Who are you? How did you get my name and number? OK, your child has OI, but why are you calling exactly?” Then I had to call the family directly when they were reluctant to call me, a stranger (another awkward, slightly intimidating introduction). But I knew I had something they needed, even if they didn’t know it yet!  In order to meet their needs, I had to be willing not to be asked by the person in need. I had to know that they needed what I offered even if they didn’t know it (or even resisted it) themselves.  In the end, it felt so worth it. I feel like I have helped this family, and will be able to help them more in the future. In reality, it cost me very little except some awkwardness, and an hour of my time, but the information I gave this family could literally mean the difference between their child walking some day, or being wheelchair bound forever. Making a difference feels good! It made me want to do more good for more people.  I like that good feeling!   As I thought about this experience, I wondered to myself how many opportunities like this arise in my life every day that I simply miss because I am not seeing with spiritual eyes. I also wonder about the opportunities that I miss because I am not willing to do something slightly “awkward” or intentional in order to meet someone’s need.  The neighbor stuck in the snow, the Mom with three kids who spills her groceries in the store, the friend who is making a very unwise decision, a non-Christian colleague who could really use prayer.  I see these kinds of things every day, and most of them I pass up for no good reason.  Why!? It is so worth it!  I don’t want to miss the opportunity to make a difference, to do good, to feel good.  With so much hurt in this world, there are plenty of tears of despair and hopelessness being shed every day, that I don’t want to miss the opportunity to make someone cry tears of reassurance and hope ever again.  Those tears are the good kind.   On the journey with you,  Lon BONUS: 

[NOTE: The BONUS section is a format to feature different writings, facts, trends or perspectives on matters of faith. BONUS is provided in order to stimulate thoughts and conversation on important matters of faith. Each and every point in the writings that appear in BONUS are not necessarily that of Impact Church, though often they do represent our theological or methodological stand. This includes the content of other websites that we may link to.]

The Season of LENT

By Sacha Bailey, 

Impact

Church

Montreal

“Lent is a time when we bring our questions to the mystery of the cross, when we bring ourselves to the mystery of the cross and when we allow God to put us back together again…Lent asks profound questions about how serious we are and whether we believe that God can actually meet with us. The power of Lent is when a whole group of people do something together, because if you can keep going, than I can keep going.” -Rob Bell

I know that it might be a little early to start thinking of Easter…we are so used to Easter being the four day long weekend when we celebrate Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and maybe eat some chocolate bunny’s. But this time of year, called Lent, “originated in the early days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock.”

Last year, a small group of us set up “Lent triads” involving fasting (there are different ways to fast), sacrifice and daily time with God. We each chose a meal to fast from once a week, we each sacrificed something, and we each devoted daily time to prayer and reading God’s Word in preparation for Easter. This can be a powerful exercise as we come together as the body of Christ.

Please pray about this and let God lead you in preparation for it and in how you decide to live this out. Remember, it’s not about rules and being legalistic about it. This is your thing. It’s between you and God and it should be done with the right motives in mind. At the same time, this is also a great opportunity to come along side a brother or sister in Christ to encourage and be accountable to each other. So make sure you examine those carefully and seek His guidance about it.

If you would like some more information on Lent, prayer, fasting, Ash Wednesday and for some daily readings you can check out this website: http://www.kencollins.com/holy-04.htm

You can also visit the Mars Hill website (an awesome church in Michigan with an awesome pastor, Rob Bell) and you can download their sermon series on Lent. There are lots of good Lent resources on this website too; daily readings, and a section about preparing individually for Lent:
http://www.marshill.org/lent07/index.phpPreparing Individually for LentIn order for you to make the most of your Lent experience, here are three ways that I have found to be helpful in preparing for this season.  

1. BEGIN ASKING YOURSELF A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS EVERYDAY. Lent is a season to look at how you’ve been living and to commit to being a healthier, more loving person. Maybe these questions are a good place to start:·         What unhealthy patterns do I see in my life during the past year?·         What relationships need reconciliation or my new or renewed investment?·         How can I improve my relationship with God?·         In what ways can I join God in healing and restoring the world?If it is helpful, try processing these questions by journaling or having conversations with someone close to you. 

2. CONSIDER SOME KIND OF FAST DURING LENT. It’s been helpful for many throughout history to remove a practice or food from their life during Lent. This has been one way of identifying with Jesus on a deeper level and hopefully helping a person focus on God more intently. The fast doesn’t necessarily need to be from food, though that can be helpful for many. Instead, you might want to identify something that takes a lot of time or money and fast from that. Maybe it’s television, the computer, your cell phone or video games. Maybe it’s purchasing books, music or clothes. Or maybe it’s eating out or ordering in. Whatever would be most helpful for you, a main reason for fasting is to help raise our awareness of God. Whenever you feel an impulse for the thing you’re fasting from, take some time to acknowledge God and ask for His strength and grace. 

3. COMMIT TO READING THE BIBLE EVERYDAY.  A daily reading schedule is common during Lent (there’s one on the website). This schedule can help you develop the habit of stopping everyday to read the Scriptures. The schedule recommends small passages from the Old Testament, Psalms, New Testament and Epistles. Read as much as you would like. And remember many other people are following the same reading schedule, literally hundreds of thousands of followers around the world.  It’s my prayer that your personal experience of Lent is meaningful and transformative. May God meet you in deeply authentic and undeniable ways as you draw near to Him.http://www.marshill.org/lent07/index.php 

Impact 

Church info:Services:          4pm each Sunday at St. James Anglican Church at corner of

St. Catherine & Bishop Address:          1439 rue St-Catherine Ouest, Montreal, Quebec  H3G1S6,

Canada (Metro: Guy-Concordia)

On the web:     www.impactchurch.ca

Email:               info@impactchurch.ca