Today is Ash Wednesday.

This day is the start of the Lenten season which lasts forty days not including Sundays (making it forty-six days in all).

During the worship service (ours is at 7:00 pm), Ashes are made in the sign of the cross on the foreheads of those who wish to receive them.

As I put on the cross, I say, "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return" which is from Genesis 3:19. 

This allows us to contemplate our mortality.  We follow Jesus during Lent on the road to the cross.  We each realize that someday we will die.

This contemplation of death allows us to ask, "How are we living?"

"What are we doing with our time?"

"Are we giving back to the world more than we are taking?"

My hope for you is that this Lenten season will allow you to be spiritually reflective upon your life as we prepare for the joy of Easter!

I heard several people (many of them kids) say that they were giving up pop for Lent at the Ash Wednesday service the other night.

While I applaud this discipline, it might be easier said than done if you're addicted to caffeine.

As a kid, getting a pop was a real treat.  Does anyone else remember the kid-sized mugs of Root Beer that children got for free at A&W?

I started on my water drinking kick in high school.  I didn't do it because I disliked pop but moreso from an economic standpoint.  We had an open campus in high school and I was given $2 per day on which to eat lunch. 

If I drank ice water (free at restaurants) rather than pop, I had more money for which I could buy food.  As a teenage boy, this became a no-brainer for me.

The world has changed since then.

For one thing, size seems to really matter these days.  As a kid, you had the choice of small, medium or large for your drink order.  Now, the size once considered large is now called medium.  Large got larger.  For those that need more, you now have the choice of extra or super large.  Small just disappeared altogether.

The price has also gone up considerably.  Most people regularly pay over $1 for their soft drinks at fast food places.  If you order it from a waitress while sitting at a table, be prepared to pay at least $2 for your soda.

Lots of people are in the routine of buying a Coke at Sonic or a convenience store each day.  Studies and books like The World is Fat tell us that all this extra syrup we're putting into our diets is not the healthiest of habits.

This is not even taking into account the energy drinks that make up the latest fad.

So next time you are thirsty, you should obey your thirst.  But rather than grab a Sprite, why not give your body what it really needs (rather than wants)?  Tap water.

Don't even get me started on bottled water.  That's a blog for another day.

Google reminds me that today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. 

Darwin's publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859 rocked the world with the theories of natural selection which led to our modern understanding of evolution.

It wasn't well received from the church.

The problem lies in a literal reading of Genesis for our origins.  It is hard to talk about millions of years in evolution when the Bible says six days.  A binary thinker will say it's either one or the other.  It cannot be both.

We know that evolution is accepted by the scientific community.  If we, as a church, believe in education (we support various institutions of higher learning - the closest being Oklahoma City University), we sometimes get caught in the middle of this debate.  Is it millions of years or six days?

Is it some combination of the two?  Is it all or nothing?

Largely, as a denomination we have said very little regarding evolution versus creation.

That is, until the 2008 General Conference.

A couple of petitions that passed as resolutions by The United Methodist Church clearly take a stand in the whole debate.

One changed the language of our Book of Discipline.  The 2008 edition now reads in paragraph 160F (on Science and Technology):

"We find that science’s descriptions of cosmological, geological, and biological evolution are not in conflict with theology. "

and

"We find that as science expands human understanding of the natural world, our understanding of the mysteries of God's creation and word are enhanced."

and

"Science and theology are complementary rather than mutually incompatible."

Furthermore, this General Conference passed a resolution (5052) entitled "Evolution and Intelligent Design" that reads:

"Therefore, be it resolved, that the General Conference of The United Methodist Church go on record as opposing the introduction of any faith-based theories such as Creationism or Intelligent Design into the science curriculum of our public schools."

 I find these changes to be expressive of my position as a Christian and a pastor.  I believe that these are helpful in expressing who we are as a denomination.  Most Christians are represented by literalists and those that have a scientific cosmology often feel that their beliefs are not compatible with those of the church.

We offer an alternative.  For those feeling shut out because of thier views on science, I would invite you to give us a try!

When I was in Jacksonville at the Living the United Methodist Way conference, I took a class on globalization and how this will effect the church.

We saw a cool video that showed United Methodists from around the world speaking on this subject.  When I inquired as to where I could download this video for use in the congregation, I was told that they would eventually put it on DVD and I could have it mailed to me for $5 or so.

The irony of this statement seemed lost on the speaker and I will likely forget to ever order the DVD.  What the church leadership needs to understand is that putting the media on a DVD is already archaic.  To be truly global, the access needs to be on the World Wide Web so that those featured on the video can actually watch it.

Sadly, this is not the first instance of our denomination missing the mark concerning resource availability.  At General Conference, we voted on a petition that would allow the Book of Discipline (our United Methodist understanding of how we conduct ourselves) online for free. 

I guess "countless" doesn't include free online access.

Okay, I think tinted windows are just as cool as the next guy.  However, I feel kind of like a dork looking into them.

I usually wave at people I know in town.  It seems a friendly thing to do.  So I look in the other car's windows to see if I recognize the person (which I often do).

If I look into a car with tinted windows, I usually smile half-heartedly because I realize that I have no idea who is driving that car.  Maybe it looks more like a grimace.  I have no idea if this is a stranger I'm smiling at or someone I know.  If it is a stranger, they probably think that I'm pretty strange myself.  If it is someone I know, they may be wondering why I have this pained look on my face everytime I pass them in the car.

So now you know.  If your windows are tinted, I'm really not mad at you.  I just can't see you.