by Tim | Jan 4, 2011 | God, My World |
I don’t plan on blogging for each day of my fast–just whenever I have something to say. However, I thought it would be good to at least do the first 3 days, since they are the hardest. And day 3 has indeed been the hardest. My hunger was a little intensified today, but not a whole lot. What really got me is that I needed to do shopping and errands today at several stores, and I wore myself out doing that. I’m pretty exhausted–so I’m sure this post will be short. Interestingly, my hunger today is more on junk food, rather than apples, etc. I think I don’t really have increased hunger, it’s more like I just miss the foods I like. I’m hoping that tomorrow will be easier than today. After all, it’s day 4–should be the day I break this barrier! I look forward to being able to pray without having the distraction of hunger in the background. I’m shooting a video tomorrow, and I’m sure we’ll take a lunch break. I’m looking forward to getting away during that hour to pray and read the Bible! Up to this point, that’s been hard to do. Well, that’s all for now. Time to crash!...
by Tim | Jan 3, 2011 | God, My World |
On day 2 of fasting, I woke up feeling very weak. When I took a shower, it was all I could do to lift my arms up to wash my hair. After taking a shower, I had to sit down on the bed for 5-10 minutes just to allow my heartbeat to slow down and relax a little. By the time I was dressed and ready for the day, I suddenly felt like I could throw up. After talking with Audra, I realized I hadn’t drunk any water since I woke up, and thought maybe that would help. It did, indeed. The feeling went away immediately. One of the most important things on a fast is drinking lots of water. I am figuring that the reason I felt this way this morning was because I didn’t drink water for so many hours because of sleeping. I will make it a habit from now on to drink a glass of water immediately after waking. Speaking of drinking water, I’ve never drunk so much in my life. I go to the bathroom more than a pregnant woman. Those of you who know me well know that I don’t drink much liquids most days. It’s not uncommon for me to eat an entire meal and go on with my day without drinking anything. But my throat feels dry most of the time, so I continue to gulp it down. As I was praying and preparing for church this morning, I found myself inadvertently humming a song I haven’t heard since I was in high school. Surprisingly, the words to the song really...
by Tim | Jan 2, 2011 | God, My World |
Our church is starting the year off with 40 days of prayer and fasting. I’ve debated whether to blog about this or not, in light of Jesus’ words about fasting and not proclaiming it wherever you go. In the end, I feel Jesus is addressing a mindset and arrogant heart that tries to get praise from people when one fasts, and that’s not my goal. In fact, most–if not all–of the people who read this blog I never see anyways–they’re google-searchers or friends of mine from the past, so I’m not trying to impress anyone around here. If anyone around here does read this, they’re participating in the fast too, so this isn’t breaking any secrets. The reason I want to blog about this experience is because so few of us fast, and I think it would be beneficial to hear someone’s account. I figure it can only help gain a better understanding for fasting, and that anything we can do to make fasting less of a foreign concept is a good thing (since Jesus assumed His people would fast when He left the earth). I must admit that this is only the second time in my life that I have done a “real” fast. I’ve done a few other fasts where I don’t eat for a day, and then once nightfall comes, I pig out. 🙂 There’s only been one other time that I’ve fasted for about 3-4 days, and it was an interesting experience. This time, I plan on fasting for as long as my body allows during this 40-day period. Because of my body type and...
by Tim | Dec 28, 2010 | God, My World |
Here are some of the reasons that compel me to believe that Christianity is indeed true and that Jesus is in fact who the Bible claims Him to be. It all fits very well. Not just all the prophecies in the Old Testament (such as Isaiah 58), but also the laws (such as the commands for how to perform sacrifices for sin removal) as well as holidays (such as Passover) and stories (such as Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac) seem to indicate that there has been a plan all along for a messiah to come, and that God had been hinting this all along. Just reading the book of Hebrews is compelling enough for me. It lays out so many parallels between Jesus and how He fulfills the Old Covenant. It doesn’t fit TOO well. There are still unanswered questions and things that puzzle me as to how they fit. If it all fit perfectly together, I would be concerned that this was a man-made invention. Instead, some things seem out of grasp, which requires one to use their mind instead of blindly accepting what someone else says. Christianity requires one to put all their hope, dependence, and trust in their Creator for eternal life, rather than other religions which try to find ways for humans to achieve this through their own merits. Something inside of me tells me that those are all false hopes, and that only God can fix what I feel broken on the inside of me. Christians don’t believe the Bible is simply “spiritually” true, but historically true as well. The faith is based on...
by Tim | Dec 15, 2010 | God, My World, The Scriptures |
I’ve heard this said before, and as awkward as it sounds, I agree with it: “If I had to choose between the truth or Jesus, I’d pick the truth.” Before anyone things I’m a heretic, let me explain: Unlike many other religions, Christianity is based on truth. For example, if Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead, Christianity is a lie. And if Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead, I refuse to continue as a Christian. That’s because I want to know the truth. I’m a Christian because I believe it is the truth. Some people just want to find a religion that makes them happy, or that agrees with their sense of right/wrong, or that brings them fulfillment. Christianity for them is a good option for choosing how to live one’s life. But that’s not the basis of Christianity. It’s basis is that the events recorded in Scripture actually happened, and that Jesus is who He said He is. That means we can trust Jesus and we can trust His word. The apostles didn’t die for their faith in Jesus, because they could “dig” His way of life (it was actually a difficult way of life). They died for the faith, because they knew He had risen and He was the Son of God who died to save the world from its sins. If you are currently struggling to figure out which religion one should follow out of the many choices out there, let me give you some advice: go with the truth. Don’t go with what simply appeals to you. If after investigation, you determine that...
by Tim | Nov 27, 2010 | God, The Church World |
Churches who have been around for awhile (say 30 or more years), tend to be run a certain way. The way I’ve often heard it said is, “Churches tend to be run like a business.” I hate the business model of church. Yet, in my experience, this isn’t really how these older churches are run. In my opinion, they’re run more like the government. Most people complain about how the government is run. The stereotype is out there that whatever the government does, the private sector could do it much better, with greater efficiency, and with better results. I think this is a great example of how these older churches are run. They are full of plenty of bureaucracy. For example, if you want to paint the walls of the church, the color must be approved by the trustees, and then the money has to be approved by the finance committee, and then the date needs to be approved by the calendar committee, etc etc etc. Simple, unimportant things tend to take up way to much of the church’s time and become too important in people’s eyes. So we moan about such a business-like mentality. To me, it seems more like a government mentality. You also find quite a bit of politicking going on in such churches. You need to know who to please, whose bad side you don’t want to get on, who the movers and shakers are, etc. You learn what the sacred cows are–and not to mess with them. If you want to get anything done, you have to “work the system.” To retaliate against this...
