Christian Churches Together enables churches and national Christian organizations to grow closer together in Christ in order to strengthen our Christian witness in the world. The IPHC has been a member of this organization for several years.

"Christian Churches Together offers a space that is inclusive of the diversity of Christian families in the United States — Evangelical, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Pentecostals, historic Protestant, Racial and Ethnic churches. Until CCT came into existence, there was no national process in the United States to bring together churches from all the major groupings or families of churches."

CCT has released recordings of its speakers from the 2010 Annual Meeting in Seattle. The focus of this year's meeting was Evangelism. If you would like to learn more about CCT or listen to the 2010 speakers, click here.

^{Editor's Note: This post was written by Dr. Doug Beacham, Executive Directof of World Missions.  Dr. Beacham's post is one of a series of guest posts on Lent.}

Ash Wednesday begins forty days of intentional discipleship reflection on the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These forty days, known in the churches of the west (Protestant, Roman Catholic) as “Lent,” and in the churches of the east (Orthodox) as “Great Lent,” continue through Holy Week and conclude on Holy Saturday before Easter Sunday.

These forty days reflect the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness combating and overcoming the temptations of Satan: temptations that challenged Jesus’ identity as the Son of God (Matthew 3:3) and were manifested through power, arrogance, and trust in the material things of this world. These were not the final temptations of Jesus life (Luke 4:13), but the forty day encounter provided the needed spiritual preparation for our Lord’s ministry of the Kingdom of God.

The word “Lent” is a Teutonic word that originally meant the spring season. The practice of spiritual preparation during this season, often accompanied by intense fasting, dates back to the early centuries of the Christian faith when new converts prepared for their baptism, usually on Eastern Sunday. By the fourth and fifth centuries the practice had evolved to something similar to what we know today.

I grew up in the 1950s and 60s, a time when Christianity was more culturally pronounced in American life. So Lent was known to me though not particularly practiced in the Pentecostal Holiness Church. But two things occurred in the early 1970s that made this season more important to me.

First, I attended a Presbyterian seminary that opened more doors of understanding about many of the practices of the larger Christian community.

Second, through the ministry of the late Rev. Carl Campbell, then pastor of the Ray of Hope IPHC in Richmond, VA, I learned that these practices were not antithetical to our IPHC heritage, especially with our strong roots through John Wesley into the Anglican tradition. In those days, Ray of Hope had a large number of Spirit-baptized attendees from liturgical churches but who longed for the vibrancy and spiritual immediacy of Pentecostalism. Pastor Campbell wisely understood that they also needed connections to their roots and often used the church calendar, including the colors of the church year, in the Sunday services. It had a profound impact on me.

This year for Lent I am focusing my devotional Biblical reading on the three passion prophecies of the Synoptic Gospels (e.g., Mark 8:31-33; 9:30-32; 10:32-34), and the three passages in the Gospel of John where Jesus speaks of Himself as being “lifted up,” an obvious metaphor of His death on the Cross (John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32).

In this season I often think of the closing lines from Albert Schweitzer’s The Quest for the Historical Jesus, "He comes to us as one unknown, without a name, as of old by the lakeside, he came to those men who knew him not. He speaks to us the same words, "Follow thou me!", and sets us to the tasks which he has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey him, whether they be wise or simple, he will reveal himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in his fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience who he is."

^{Editor's Note: The following piece is submitted by Rev. Kevin Sneed, an IPHC missionary to Kenya.  Kevin's post is the first in a series of guest posts about the Season of Lent.} 

^{“Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging ourwretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – The Book of Common Prayer}

I never knew there was such a thing as Lent or Ash Wednesday until my second year of high school. I attended an IPHC church my whole life with almost perfect attendance in Sunday School but never heard of such things. “What is Lent,” I asked my teacher when she announced that she was giving up coke for the season. The only “lint” I knew of came from the dryer or my pockets.

“It is a preparation period 40 days before Easter,” she explained.

“Why do you need 40 days to prepare for Easter?”

“Because I have to prepare my heart,” she said.

Prepare your heart? What does that mean? I was confused but wanted to understand. She invited me to attend an “Ash Wednesday” service at the large Methodist church in town.I went. The sanctuary was less than half full. The lights were dim and the people were very quiet. The hardwood floor made so much noise as I entered I almost tiptoed to an empty seat. The service was all about sin and the need to ask forgiveness. There was a call to prayer and a call to mourn the death of Jesus who died on behalf of our sins. This was a completely new idea for me, that I could (and should) mourn the death of Jesus. I thought about that intently until the Pastor called everyone to the front for the “imposition of the ashes.” He explained that a Biblical picture of mourning including the covering of one’s self in ashes as an outward sign. I stood in line until my turn came and I walked back to my seat with the shape of the cross formed by ashes on my forehead.

As the service ended I felt hesitant to leave. But I noticed the other people quickly shuffling around and making their way towards the door. They all seemed sleepy or, at least,unimpressed. I remained for a moment to stare at a cross, a symbol of the death and suffering of Jesus and I began to mourn for Him.

I believe that for many people in that church, the Ash Wednesday service and the season of Lent was an old, dry, dead tradition. But to me, who had never heard the liturgy or found the need to mourn for Jesus, it was a moment of profound spiritual significance. I determined that day to give up something for Lent and take time to regularly mourn for Jesus and consider my sinfulness for which Jesus died.

Easter Sunday came and as usual I was in attendance at my IPHC church. Hearing the story of the resurrection of Jesus brought me great joy. He may have died for my sins but He arose again! After spending over 40 days contemplating my sin and Jesus’ death it made Easter much more meaningful. Jesus overcame! Yet as the service concluded I took notice of the congregation. They all seemed sleepy or, at least, unimpressed.They quickly shuffled towards the door and began to travel home for a larger than usual lunch.

At that moment I realized the significance of Lent. Lent is not just a dry, dead tradition that Christians observe 40 days before another old, dry tradition. Lent is the means by which we prepare our hearts to celebrate and receive the good news of Easter. If you do not mourn someone’s death how can we celebrate their resurrection? If you do not contemplate the magnitude or consequences of your sin, why would you rejoice when you hear the news that victory over sin has been won. If you are tired of leaving the church unfulfilled on Easter Sunday, try practicing Lent and prepare your heart for this year’s celebration.

I have now been observing Lent for 12 years. During the season I mourn the death of Jesus and the suffering he had to endure on account of my sin. I remind myself of the reason Christ died, because I was a sinner in need of salvation. I revisit the pit from which Jesus rescued me, not to throw myself back in but to remember my inability to get myself out. I force myself to confront the cross he had to bear and the pain it brought him. (A trip around a “Stations of the Cross” will assist you in this.) I spiritually, and sometimes physically, wear the ashes of sorrow for my savior who died. I pray the 400 year old prayer written above that still rings true for me today. Do not view Lent as a dead tradition. Embrace it as a means of drawing closer to God and I assure you, not only the season but the person of Jesus will come alive within you once more.

“Jesus paid it all; all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.”