As Published in the Chanhassen Villager and Chaska Herald Newspapers Faith Columns By Rev. Sammy Wanyonyi For centuries, many in the Christian tradition have observed the season of lent on their religious calendar. Starting with Ash Wednesday, they prepare for Easter by practicing a forty-day period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. They engage in candid self-evaluation and recognition of one’s own mortality, sin, moral failure and shame. Surrounded by other sinners, they come to church to kneel, to pray, and to ask God’s forgiveness. They hear Scripture readings that are urgent and vivid. They have black ashes rubbed into their foreheads. They recite a Litany of Penitence that takes one’s breath away. Whereas I do not come from a Christian tradition that observes the season of lent, the lessons of lent are not unique to such traditions. Indeed, repentance is at the core of Christianity’s teaching on sin and salvation. It is universal within Christian t
The major cities of the United States are changing both in their belief systems and ethno-cultural makeup. How should the Good News be presented to them in order to be Good News? Besides sharing biblical inspiration plus stories of God's grace at work through our ministry in various parts of the world, I hope to address this and many other issues important to our Christian faith.