Fast and pray

Our congregation is fasting today in preparation for two hours of prayer tonight for the upcoming election. It occurred to me at 5 o'clock this evening that technically I probably did not fast because I had several cups of hot green tea with splenda. Oops. Going without food for a single day isn't terribly difficult or uncomfortable but it is inconvenient. Just the mention of the word conjures up thoughts of headaches and dizziness. That might be from the times I have attempted a 3 day fast. Now there's real sacrifice. On one such occasion I was experiencing leg pains on day three while my husband insisted I eat. But one day? That's nothing, right? Unlike the lion in Madagascar I am not so famished as to see everything that moves as a t-bone steak but I am mindful of a little hunger and aware that I am skipping meals. Why is that? I mean some people skip meals all the time because of busy schedules. I know a few people who never eat lunch. But at least three times a day I am reminded that I will not be eating. I will go without. I will even prepare food for others but not partake. And I'm somewhat preoccupied by it, if even momentarily. That's a bit annoying to me. I want to be able to determine to fast and float through the day with a superior sense of spirituality, forgetting that I am mortal and susceptible to such temporal urges. I don't want to have a slight headache and have to remind myself that tomorrow I can eat.

Lots of books have been written about fasting. Why to fast, how to fast, who should fast, step by step plans and methods to encourage you to fast, medical reasons to fast (did you know it's the worst possible way to try and lose weight?) and medical reasons not to fast. Fasting is so undesirable we've created new ways to avoid the technicalities of biblical definitions. In fact we've borrowed from the bible to do so! Partial fasts, “Daniel” fasts, juice fasts. Daniel fasts? Seriously, could we just admit that we hate fasting so much and hate feeling guilty about it even more? No we need to make stuff up. If Daniels diet from Daniel chapter 1 can be considered a fast then what was his fasting called? The ultra-Daniel fast? The new and improved, medically approved, post-exile guilt free way to fast? And here I am feeling like, “technically”, I blew my fast with that first cup of tea this morning. All this and people speak of fasting in non food terms as well. Fasting T.V. (I've aced that one), fasting talking (I would have to be in a coma) and other such valiant efforts as these. I also wonder if fasting today, in America is so much harder because we are so unaccustomed to doing without a single thing, necessity or luxury. When I'm hungry I eat. When I'm tired I sleep. When I am bored I...whatever. I wonder if fasting was easier when food wasn't so convenient. You didn't just pop open a can or tear open a bag or box of food minutes after deciding you'd like to eat. There was no fast food. I often wondered how long the Lord and his two angels had to wait while Abraham ran around in a flurry slaughtering the fattened calf, while Sarah made bread from scratch.

To top off the whole day, I learned at 6 pm that the prayer meeting was cancelled due to weather concerns! So,do I continue to fast when I am clearly only doing it for the meeting that is now no more? Let the justifications begin! Well, the meeting is cancelled, technically I was only fasting for the prayer meeting. It's after sunset, doesn't that count? I really don't have to be legalistic about this. What is it about fasting that I find so distasteful (no pun intended)? Sigh. Maybe now I can understand why people have gone to such lengths to make fasting more appealing.

Jesus said, “...someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. “ (Mark 2:20, Luke 5:35)

In Matt 6:16-18 Jesus mentions fasting 3 times “when you fast”, “when you fast”, “you are fasting” It doesn't sound like the Jews were unaquainted with regular fasting. It was normal to fast for them. For us we say we're “starving” when we've had two meals and snacks already that day.

I know that fasting was something that was a given for the church. I believe our attempts at fasting, however lame, can only further us along on the path of living sacrifically in this way. That we will get better at whatever it is fasting produces in a person if we just continue to fast in some way. One thing I noticed tonight is that I appreciate my food more than usual. I might even stop complaining about not knowing what to make for dinner...right after I finish this turkey sandwich and chips.

Bible Reading Day 28

But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven.
He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth.

Psalm 11:4

Our ladies bible study is studying Revelation. Chapter four has brought us into an amazing look at the very throne of God in heaven. The throne itself, the One who sits on the throne, the beings around the throne, the fire, the thunder, the lightning, the praise. All of this we are studying in the midst of an unstable world economy, global terror and the U.S. worshiping a presidential candidate as savior. It seems fitting to remember that “the Lord still rules from heaven”. The verse just before Psalm 11:4 says; “The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?” We find ourselves today in such a sad questioning state. What can the righteous do? Yes we pray. Yes we vote. And when that is done we pray more. In truth our relationship to the Lord is what will save us. No amount of money, or safety should ever satisfy us. No man should be worshiped as God. Yet people have to worship. We were created to worship. If we do not worship the Creator then we will worship the creation. Having a person to worship actually makes us feel better than say, worshiping our own selves or our stuff. It feels more outward, less selfish, righteous even. And so while it seems that the whole world has gone mad in pagan idol worship, we gaze into heaven. We allow ourselves to experience the wonder of amazement at the descriptions of the living beings worshiping our God around His throne. The power and majesty that surround Him. He is nothing like man. He far surpasses our most active imaginations. How can people be satisfied to rally around a single man as though he were any kind of answer to any kind of problem?

The Lord is in his holy Temple, He still rules from heaven. How comforting in such unsure times. Praise the Lord!

Joshua and a "Palestinian" State

Day 27 of my bible reading has brought me to Israeli cartographers heaven. The book of Joshua states clearly all the boundaries for all the tribes of Israel, including the outer borders of the entire land of Israel. Today's chapters are tedious in detail of the names of towns and villages, rivers and valley's and boundary lines.

Joshua 18:1-6

The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The country was brought under their control, but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance. So Joshua said to the Israelites: "How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you? Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me. You are to divide the land into seven parts...”

I don't know how long they had been in the land and had not taken full possession of it all, except that Joshua was old now. Wars and conquering take time but apparently they should have been further along by now. I'm intrigued by all the specifics even though most of it means nothing to me in terms of location (or even pronunciation!) except that it obviously means a lot to God. Joshua is sending 21 men out survey the land, write a detailed description and report back so that the land can be given to his people.

So, why now after all these years do people think they can divide up the land of Israel and give it to non-Jews? Why would bible reading people think its ok to do this? Just read chapters 13-21 in Joshua. Just read the subtitles. It's 9 chapters on the land of Israel belonging to the children of Israel. Not to Arabs. Sorry. And it's not just the book of Joshua. It's repeated again in Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel and more. Not to mention the promise to Abraham in Genesis. Yet, we've got Christian people, prominent political policy-maker people, saying it's a good idea to give away part of that same land, that God, in very specific terms, has already given to His people, the Jews.

And yet here is what Micah also says;

In that day your enemies will make fun of you by singing this song of despair about you:
“We are finished, completely ruined! God has confiscated our land, taking it from us.
He has given our fields to those who betrayed us.”
Others will set your boundaries then, and the Lord’s people will have no say in how the land is divided.

(Micah 2:4-5)

This is saying that the enemies of Israel will divide up the land and do with it as they please. No nation that considers itself allied with Israel should have any conversations about dividing up that land. In truth it makes no sense to me whatsoever to be, on the one hand, fighting a war on terror and on the other hand, saying, gee I think giving some land of Israel's to terrorists might work for peace. The interesting thing about this line of thinking is that, after having forcibly removed Jewish families from their homes to give Gaza to the “Palestinians”, the peaceful reciprocation became the daily launching of Qassam rockets over the border. Nice. I think this is called Land for Peace. Apparently, the land allotment wasn't big enough or something. Unless the definition of peace changed recently without my knowledge. So, I guess we need a Joshua or two to step up to the plate. I don't know. But if the ancient Jews had trouble securing the land thousands of years ago it should come as no surprise that it's difficult today. I just don't like being under governmental leadership that advocates messing with those ancient boundary lines. That makes us as an enemy of Israel and not an ally. And if you think the scriptures are clear on boundary lines you should see what it says about Israel's enemies. Oy.

My daughter used to get a Christian magazine in the mail for young people, high school and college age. I absentmindedly flipped through a recent issue and found a misc. quiz entitled The Jesus Quiz. “How much do you really know about Jesus? Take this quiz and find out.” I had, at that time, also been thinking about the monumental question, “Who do you say that I am” from Jesus to his disciples, so I was intrigued. The question of who Jesus is, really is THE central question of our faith, our history, our lives – our eternal lives. I'd like to say that the quiz was challenging, thought provoking and conjured up images of the eternal God fully existing in the person of Jesus Christ. I'd like to say that quiz explored areas of theology and doctrine that can sharpen young peoples discernment and encouraged radical commitment in them. I'd like to say that I was not disappointed. But if I said any of those things I'd be lying. Here's a sample.

Question #1; “Which of the Gospels calls Jesus the 'Word'?” Ok, so this might be a warm up question right?

Question # 4; “What was the name of the demon that Jesus sent into a herd of pigs?” Would knowing that strengthen me against the barrage of lies about the identity of Jesus Christ from prominent cults of our day? Sorry but it doesn't get much better.

Question # 7; “Who was Mary and Martha's brother and what made him so special?” Would you believe these question even provide multiple choice answers? Ok, one more.

Question # 11; “Jesus saw a disciple by a fig tree. Who was it?” And my answer, strangely enough is not provided in the 3 multiple choice answers: “Who cares?”

Seriously, if this quiz was in a magazine for elementary school children, maybe, but for a high school, college crowd? Are you kidding me? I won't even go on to tell you what they say about how you rate depending on how many answers you got wrong. It's just plain empty, trivial fluff. Is this the best we can expect from our young people? Hey boys and girls, can you say irrelevant?

So, I am perplexed and a bit mortified that we have fallen to this place in our pursuit of God. What kind of people are we that these questions even appear in a magazine for people in this age group? Why not meaty articles on the deity of Christ? Who is he really? The Son of God? A created being? An angel? Why not reprint the early church fathers hashing out these questions and more about Jesus Christ? Even Jesus's teachings on any number of pertanant subjects; eternal life, the kingdom of God, forgiveness of sins. I mean I am barely scratching the surface here. There are just a gazillion topics that could be written on and taught in a format like this and we get kindergarten questions?! And we wonder why our young people go off to college and leave the faith?! What difference does it make if I know who's ear got chopped off when Jesus was arrested, or where he performed his first miracle at a wedding? But Is Jesus God? That one counts. It's a sad indictment against the church that we produce this kind of tripe and pawn it off onto the next generation of believers thinking they will be able to carry the precious banner of Christianity into the age of Apostasy to come.

“And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.” (Matt. 24:10-14)

Question: When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

Bible Reading Plan - Still Reading!

Day 15

Well, I did get behind on my bible reading plan I didn't quit. Catching up on all those chapters was quite the incentive to never let THAT happen again and I feel as though I am going strong. I am really enjoying this! Rather than still being in Genesis I have been in 7 different books of the bible. What fun! I've been in the Garden with the Eve, screaming “Don't listen to the snake!”, I've been in the land of Canaan with Joshua while he and his army kills everything in sight (eew), I've had to endure the first of the 3 worthless friends of Jobs, and much more. I've enjoyed remembering much of what I studied in my ladies bible study when we did the book of Isaiah too. I've stopped and cross referenced, stopped to meditate, stopped to pray. I feel good about my focus and consistancy. I know that if I stick with this I can say this time next year that for sure I've read the entire bible through. I'll no longer have even the shadow of a doubt that I've read every word of it. Very satisfying. I'm looking forward to that. Now if I could just find a plan that helps me get through all of my other reading as well, I could better justify buying all those new books I want...hmm.

Day 5 - still on my bible reading plan!

Just a quick update on my bible reading plan. I'm on day 5 today! For me this might be a record. Blogging has helped me stay on task. Thank you to my 5 readers! Well today I read the first 5 chapters of Joshua (there's that number again!). I could say much about a lot here but honestly there isn't really anything that zings a pertinent comment out of me. Yesterday I read Genesis 1-3 and I can't say that reading made me sit up and take notice either but reading this blog post, watching the video and reading the verse posted after it was beyond stunning in terms of our Creator and His love for us. I find it soothing to think about these kinds of things when there is so much in the world to weigh us down.

Bible Reading Day 2!

Ok, I'm only two day's into this bible reading plan and I've made a colossal blunder already. I absent-mindedly assumed today I would be reading Job 3 and 4 since yesterday's reading was Job 1 and 2. I was rather pleased with myself for doing my reading today, putting effort into analyzing what I was reading and taking note of the verses that impacted me the most. Only I was doing my reading for next week!

Today I am in the prophecy books and I've really got to hustle because it's not only late in the day but I've got 6 chapters to read! How on earth am I supposed to read 6 chapters in Isaiah and make comments on a small portion?! How can I ignore the throne room scene of chapter 6? And what about the beautiful song of chapter 5? Arg. But I'm committed to reading and journaling my journey, not writing novellas every day. Truly this is a difficult task.

The weird thing about reading Isaiah is that our ladies bible study did the entire book of Isaiah and I feel like I don't remember a thing! I will blame that on the fact that I was new to serious bible study and I was transitioning through some faith issues at the time. Still I have absorbed much more than I can articulate because as I read these chapters they seem to make sense in a way that only serious study could have grated me. Thank you Liz!

So I have chosen Isaiah 3: 18-23

“On that day of judgment the Lord will strip awayeverything that makes her (Judah) beautiful:
ornaments, headbands, crescent necklaces,
earrings, bracelets, and veils;
scarves, ankle bracelets, sashes,
perfumes, and charms; rings, jewels,
party clothes, gowns, capes, and purses;
mirrors, fine linen garments, head ornaments, and shawls.”

Here the Lord is speaking a metaphorical warning to the people of Judah using the actual appearance of the women of Judah. I was thinking recently how much time and money we put into nonessentials and how dependent we've become on them. I've noticed it more since having read Crazy Love by Francis Chan. We love to acquire things that are not necessary for survival or happiness. Can I live without jewelry? How about collectibles? Purses, Porcelains and Shoes. Ok, shoes can go under essentials but how many pairs? ipods, cellphones, magazine subscriptions, gps systems. How do I know when I've gone too far ? What about sports memorabilia? Season tickets? Hours spent watching games and following sports figures? Where does it end? In this passage God is saying to the women of Judah, “You're a perfect example of the waste and self interest that I am going to strip off of Judah for all of her sins. You are more concerned about looking good than about being good. You've got your priorities all upside down. And because you refuse to listen to me I'm going to have to change all of that - the hard way” We all own stuff. We all have stronger interests in some areas than others. And we are all susceptible to consumerism. How much money is wasted on all this stuff? Purse parties, jewelry parties, candle parties, little plastic trinkets that cost America's into the billions of dollars (I'm not kidding). Do we really need any of it? Maybe I've still got enough of the idealist in me to think that we could do a lot better with our money if we weren't such self indulgent consumers. I know I sound grumpy but what if we didn't buy anything that we couldn't honestly live without? Would we die? Would we starve to death? No ones going to do that but thinking that way opens our eyes, I think, to see where we have excess that needs to be trimmed. Maybe it would make a good experiment. Try not acquiring any more of what we don't really need and live as though we didn't own so much of it already for a time. Like say 4 hours. Like voluntarily stripping ourselves of our vanity and greed so that God doesn't have to do it for us.

I'll start right after I finish this blog, reply to that text message, gulp down a latte and powder my nose.

Bible Reading Plan Day 1

Today, I embark on my bible reading plan. Being the student of my realist husband and acutely familiar with my own lack of discipline and focus, I am less than optimistic about sticking with it even though I am inspired by the new yearly bible reading plan I discovered on the internet. I've tried reading programs in the past. They just didn't appeal to me. To dry. To boring. Who wants to spend weeks reading through genealogies or archaic laws about issues of blood? Combine that with the fact that routine and I don't mesh so beautifully. This new reading program shows promise, even for me. Rather than read straight from Genesis to Revelation or Genesis to Malachi and Matthew to Revelation, this plan has you reading different types of books each day. Sunday's are for the Epistles (another added bonus is that the plan sets Sunday as the first day of the week – very Jewish), Monday - The Law (Genesis – Deuteronomy), Wednesday - the Psalms, Thursday - Poetry, Friday - Prophecy and finally Saturday - the Gospels. I'm excited about this layout, so much so that I printed out three copies and foisted two of them on my children. They were equally thrilled as you can image. “You want me to read every day?!”

So already it's later in the morning than I'd like although I got up in plenty of time to read and sit with God. But of course I had to write this and putz with the dishwasher. Undaunted I begin my reading. Today's entry is Job 1-2. I am delighted because Job is one of my favorite books of the bible and I have been studying Job with a friend several times a month. There is so much in the first two chapters that I could write a book. I have so much to comment about. But I am determined not to babble. Just find one small thing that makes an impact on me personally and comment on it. Hmmm. Ok, I am honing in on verses 20 and the all famous 21. I really like verse 20 though, specifically the first three words. I don't know what there is about it that strikes me so.

“ Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground before God.”

Job stood up. Wow. I don't know if you've ever experience real grief and shock but standing up doesn't sound like something I'd be capable of after such news as Job received that day. In fact, I have received terrible news that struck close to home and I did just the opposite. I fell to the floor wailing. Job stands up, tears he robe (now I can relate), shaves his head (another sign of mourning) and then falls down. A very deliberate move to follow the proper mourning protocol of the day. Torn robe, shaved head, on the ground. I'm not sure why the phrase “Job stood up” strikes me as it does. But I think it has to do with acceptance. Job didn't succumb to the horrors around him based on his feelings or even his own imaginations. He heard the awful report and did what was expected of a man in mourning. Job is a man dedicated to the traditions of his faith. Providing sacrifices for his family as the priestly patriarch. Offering up prayers to the invisible God he loves. Obeying the oral law of this God with all of his heart. Helping the less fortunate, giving wise counsel, being completely honest in all his business transactions. This was the life of Job. It was programmed into him to follow the ancient paths (albeit rather young paths by our time frame). He found joy in following the Lord. Belonging to God didn't mean ease and comfort for Job, even though he enjoyed it for much of his life. As he states in verse 21, “The LORD gave me everything I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!” Job does not ascribe to the entitlement theory here. He knew he hadn't really earned his great wealth himself. He knew that riches were fleeting. He never trusted in them. He knew also that life is fleeting, as a vapor. And he ascribes the terror that has struck him as coming from the hand of the LORD. Verse 22 says “In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God”. In other words, Job knew God was responsible for his calamity but he didn't say “You have no right to do this”. Job was no Word of Faither. You can't talk like this in the Word of Faith camp. You cannot assign any blame for any evil to God. And you cannot accept a “bad report”. Today Job would have been instructed to ignore the tidings of the four remaining servants and continue to claim all his wealth as though it still existed. I'm not sure how they would have you speak of ten dead children, no amount of word gymnastics can bring them back, but you would not under any circumstance be allowed to say that God did this. Today's Word of Faith teachers would rebuke you soundly for even thinking such things. You would immediately begin “binding and rebuking” whatever spirit you had in mind to be angry at about this; “I rebuke the Chaldean spirit of death...I rebuke the wind” and then top it all off with those ever magical words “In Jesus name”. Perhaps Job would have said “In the name of the LORD”. Incantation complete. Then Job's friends would have coached him relentlessly to keep claiming his victory until such time as they tire with his stubborn reliance on the sovereignty of God and abandon him to his sorrows. Only to learn later that he triumphed over them without their help. I love the book of Job. I love the plan of God overarching our lives. I love living in the reality that bad things happen to all of us, not because Satan slipped in there but because God allowed it for His higher reasons. Sigh. Day 1 and I'm exhausted already.

The Year of Living Biblically

I just finished reading The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs. It was such a quick read that I hadn't time to add it to my blog list of “books I'm reading right now”. I began reading on Sunday afternoon and finished it Tuesday night reading nothing during the day. Delightful, informative, funny (laugh out loud funny in several parts), and well written, Jacobs embarks on a daunting experiment, mainly with the intent of writing the book, to live the bible literally. He grows a gigantic beard, wears interesting clothes, and eats a bug. He dances with Hasidic Jews in New York, tours the not yet complete Creation Museum in Kentucky and takes a pilgrimage to Israel. He learns what a compulsive liar he is, that resting isn't such a bad idea after all and that it really is possible to out talk a Jehovah's Witness (a feat he is rather proud of). I learned I still have an envy problem (wish I could write like this and had time to read this much!), that I am still sometimes confused about what parts of the first testament are fulfilled in Christ and which parts are to be practiced diligently, and that I am very very grateful for the love between God and myself which keeps me anchored against the storms of diverse doctrines, error and heresy. Not that I have God and the bible nailed down to simple formulas but I know that loving him and being loved by him is the bottom line whether or not I get sidetracked by contrasting beliefs within the Christian religion. Like when Jacobs visits a small bible study of homosexual evangelicals who call themselves Concerned Evangelicals. To me the term homosexual positively pared with evangelical is an oxymoron. I have always understood homosexuality to be a deviance from normal and natural. All religions across the globe, at least the major ones, have denounced homosexuality as sin. So to hear this rather learned bible study leader explaining away the most obvious verses against homosexuality makes me somewhat confused and rather saddened. Just read the prophets. Isn't that like what the Israelites where doing that forced our loving, patient and merciful God to bring judgment against them? Lying about who God is and forgetting his commandments. Couple this with the two “scholars” mentioned in the book who believe that historically no one took the biblical account of events literally and you've got quite a slippery slope to navigate. We would discount the entire bible as an analogy and have no foundation for truth of any kind. Apparently this is a relief to many moral relativist. I return to my Anchor and sigh my love for Him.

I am somewhat inspired by the journey the author takes and the format he uses to document it. He journals his days (not all 365) and begins each entry with a random scripture verse that he relates to for that day. I thought I might try the same method for myself here on my blog. Taking a verse that speaks something to me and write about how it has impacted me for that day or that week as the case may be. Just journal my life in terms of the bible reading I'm doing and how I'm wrestling with it. This is what Jacobs does for an entire year with the added purpose of living it all literally, with the sometime exception of overly obvious hyperbole which believe it or not some have applied jot and tittle.

Jacobs tells a very interesting story in The Year of Living Biblically. His journey begins a work of subtle transformation in his heart and mind that I believe will be with him the rest of his life, compelling him to further spiritual growth. I think he manages to enjoy the process and the outcome. I know the things I learned and the questions I was forced to ask myself will continue working in me especially as I take my own challenge to journal my bible readings on the world wide web. One thing remains unchanged, Jesus did the biblical living for me on the points where the law was unable to save me and he lives that biblical life through me today by my yielding to his Holy Spirit.

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are." Romans 3:21-22

"But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)" Romans 8:9