The temple veil has been torn and Lent?

"It's Cadbury season*." Otherwise known as Lent for our Catholic friends. It is also known as Lent for our confused Christian friends. A group of myself and some christian friends of mine have a joke we tell around this time year.

"I'm giving up Lent...er, for Lent"**

I can never help but to think to myself, "Jesus came to earth to die on the cross to redeem the "world" and you, my friends debate giving up Pepsi (or sugar, or smoking, or drinking, or TV -thank God for TIVO-, or -gasp- the internet, or whatever) for 40 days."

Hey, give up water and salad and multivitamins for what good it'll do you.

You could try recording your favorite late night show and spend the time praying with your wife before bed. But not for 40 days.

For the rest of your life.

"There is no "season" to repentance. We are to live a life of repentance and repent every day, our whole life long. This whole idea of a season of repentance is wrong headed in my opinion. We die to sin and self and serve the Lord everyday throughout our entire life."***

I don't mean to sound harsh by this post. I only mean to sound true. If you want to give up some luxurious thing and spend the new found time or energy focusing on dying to self and bettering your understanding of heavenly things then, by all means, go right ahead. And if this endeavor coincides with a famous Roman Catholic practice, then well, great timing, I guess.

But if you require the misguided practice of "seasonal repentance" as promoted by a non-christian institution to motivate you to your knees, you should probably look beyond your diet or your TV and look to your heart.

I propose that Christ is more concerned with your life-long obedience to Him rather than to a calender.

*Cody Wells
**Everett Henes
***Mark Gibson

Hector Skector

So I hunted out Hector’s Casa last night for Mexican food on the date with Carly Barnett. Hmmm. Thoughts.
#1. Had a great time.
#2. My chicken enchiladas were served on corn tortillas, shaped like tacos, and swimming in a some weird red tomato suace.
Did it taste good? It wasn’t horrid. Did it make me sick 4 hours later and wake me up in the night?
#3. Yes.
It’s strange to think the best Mexican food I can get here is served at Taco Bell. Two words:
Beaumont. Carmela’s.
Take me down to the Paradise City please, Where the Mexicans still remember how to cook.
Honestly, I could go on and on about the wonderful Mexican food I’ve enjoyed all over America. I’ve had some delicious meals in
Beaumont, TX
Houston, TX
Oklahoma City, OK
Nashville, TN
Los Angelas, CA
Sante Fe, NM
and of course
MEXICO.
Sorry Hector. I’m not trying to put you down. You are obviously a Mexican. I met you. But you traveled a little too far from the nest. But I don’t blame you. So did I. So did I.