by Tim | Jan 10, 2011 | God, Our Culture, The Church World, The Gospel |
The Son of God didn’t need to come in order that people who are hungry could have food. There’s already plenty of food on earth, and people could be fed without Him having to leave His heavenly throne. He did, however, instruct us to feed the hungry. The Son of God didn’t need to come in order to give people money who were in poverty. If so, He did a poor job fulfilling His mission. The poor Guy (pardon the pun) had no money of His own. He did, however, instruct us to take care of the poor and give them money. But if the Son of God had never come to save humanity from our sins, we would all still be lost and eternally separated from God. That was the reason why He needed to come. Jesus did, in fact, perform “social” acts of justice. But these “social” acts of Jesus were done in the context of declaring that the Savior of the World had come. Not just as acts of social justice. For example, when Jesus would heal people, He often told them their sins were forgiven, and they would be healed. In one instance, Jesus tells a paralyzed man that his sins are forgiven. The leaders get upset at Him for claiming to have such authority. So Jesus proves it to them by telling the guy to rise up and walk. It’s no different today. Today, we declare a Gospel that itself declares that Jesus is the only Son of God, and that only He is worthy of worship. That all other gods and religions are...
by Tim | Jan 8, 2011 | God, My World |
I’m back to eating normal foods again! Although it’s great to be eating again, I realize that food doesn’t satisfy as much as my mind made me to believe when I was fasting. There’s a slight shallowness in the satisfaction of eating. As I end this fast, one question lingers: Did I fail at fasting? That depends on how you look at it. When I set out to do this water fast, I intended to fast after the initial hunger pains subsided all the way until “true hunger” manifested itself. For many people, that’s around 40 days. I was expecting that to happen for me at about 25 days, because of my low weight and body type. That didn’t happen–I didn’t make it that far. So from that angle, I failed. But I don’t see this as a failure. I see it as a learning experience and a time of growth. I also think that anytime we attempt to do anything to draw us closer to God, it’s never a failure. God has already done some great things in my heart. I think this idea of failure is why people are afraid to try anything–why we keep it safe. And it’s why people in ministry put so much pressure on themselves to over-perform. After all, I don’t want to become a pastor of a church, only to have the attendance dwindle in size after a year–I want it to grow! But can we look at it from another angle? Maybe the true measure of success is if we give it our all to God. If we follow Him where...
by Tim | Jan 7, 2011 | God, My World |
You might be wondering why I’m still calling this “fasting,” when I’ve already started breaking the fast. Actually, the most crucial period of fasting is when you break it. I’ve already referred to the Fasting FAQ which goes into more detail about this, but if you embark on a long, extended fast, you can even kill yourself if you jump right back into eating like you did before the fast. Since my fast wasn’t too long, I’m not in danger of that. But last time I did a 3-4 day fast, I ended it by eating a Southern Chicken Sandwich combo meal from McDonalds. I’ll let you guess how that turned out… Last night, I had some veggie broth. This morning I had 4 pieces of chopped melons, and I felt full. For lunch, I had more veggie broth with some saltines for dipping and some more melons. I noted that by lunch time, my appetite had increased. I was hungry again, so I had an early dinner. I ate baked chicken, and a little corn and mashed potatoes. Later on, I even had one of those quesadillas I was craving during my fast. No problems. I think I’m ready to return to normal foods again. Here are some additional takeaways from this experience of water fasting that I haven’t already mentioned in previous posts: I would like to start praying before meals as a family. I’ve never really done this, simply because I felt they are always so perfunctory. I know everyone else does them, and I’m a pastor, but I don’t want to do something just for...
by Tim | Jan 6, 2011 | God, My World |
Today, my mental anguish over fasting was not so much an issue. However, my exhaustion continued. The first time I fasted for a couple of days, the first three days were very difficult because I didn’t prepare my body by cutting back days before the fast began. But following those three days, things got easier. This time, the first 3 days have been easier than the following days, even though the hunger pains subsided once again after three days. The difference is that the first three days’ hunger pains were not nearly as hard to manage this go around, because of my preparation. However, instead of the following days being easier, they became more difficult. My exhaustion level continued to increase, and showed no sign of letting up. Part of my fast these 40 days is to cut out TV during the evenings so that I can be productive (such as writing, etc.). However my exhaustion level has been such that that’s the last thing I want to think about! After evaluating everything, I feel that my water fast is actually diminishing my ability to seek God and accomplish what I set out to do during this fast. In addition, I was being no help to Audra or the family. I also was concerned that my exhaustion level was not going to decrease anytime soon, and that the longer I continue my water fast, perhaps the more time I would waste. So after evaluating, consulting, praying, thinking, and rethinking, I decided today to start ending my water fast this evening. I’m sure Audra is relieved. 🙂 However, I plan...
by Tim | Jan 5, 2011 | God, My World |
Today has been the worst day of my fast. I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case, since everyone says that day 3 is the worst. I thought the worst was behind me… Regarding hunger pains, this day has definitely been easy. But the problem is in my mind. While I don’t feel much, if any, physical hunger sensations, I’m just plain tired of not eating. I just want to be able to eat. And there are specific things I’d just love to have right now: pizza (I never want pizza!) scrambled eggs sausage Tostitos (I never crave Tostitos!) a nice big sandwich any kind of meat dish quesadillas I could go on. Surprisingly, I couldn’t care for any desserts (even ice cream, my favorite food) or fast food of any kind. Then again, I’m not a huge fast food fan, anyway. It’s a last resort for me. But it’s weird to me that certain food stands out to me right now–there’s no rhyme or reason I can see. I wonder if this is similar to temptation in the Garden of Eden. The Bible says that Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, she ate it. I think I can relate. There’s nothing wrong with eating food, and it seems so desirable right now, even though I’m not physically hungry. Perhaps the saying “you don’t know what you have until you lose it” fits the situation. Just like when you get sick and you wish so much that you would return to health and be able to breathe easily...
