A New Way to Fast

Fasting is a bit foreign in today's culture. Most commonly it is associated with abstaining from food. If you've ever tried to fast in today's culture, you quickly realize how much emphasis we put on eating, and the difficulty of avoiding meals from a cultural viewpoint. With that aside, allow me to suggest what I believe is a much more complete understanding...

The first reference to "fasting" in the Old Testament is associated with the Day of Atonement. You can read about this in Leviticus 16 & 23. The idea was self denial; not just abstention from food, but also from sex and work. A Sabbath, a day of rest and grand reflection upon the Lord is the idea.

This idea is well pronounced in the New Testament. The best form of fasting that you can carry out in your life is a life that is dedicated to God, not the things of this world. The New Testament tells us repeatedly to deny our self; put away fleshly desires; engage the Spirit of God; be done with the passions and gratifications of earthly, fleshly wants. This is the new fast. Certainly there is value in abstaining from food for a period of time, but the bigger picture is a life that does not gorge itself on material and fleshly consumption, but rather consumption of God and His Spirit; a life that is hidden in Christ.

Here are a few of the references to consider as you give your life over to His will...


New Testament Scriptures concerning self denial from Nave's Topical Bible:

• Take up your cross and follow him: Mat 16:24, Mark 8:34 & Luke 9:23
• Eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom: Mat 19:12
• Sell whatever you possess and give to the poor: Mat 19:21
• One hundred fold reward for those that leave family to follow Jesus: Mark 10:29-30 & Luke 18:27-30
• Giving all you have: Mark 12:44 & Luke 21:2-4
• The disciples left everything to follow Jesus: Luke 5:11, Luke 5:27
• Unless you renounce everything you cannot be my disciple: Luke 14:33
• Whoever loses his life for Jesus' sake will keep it: Mat 10:37-39, Mat 16:25, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24 & John 12:25
  
• I do not count my life of any value unless finish the course: Acts 20:24
• Our old self was crucified with Christ: Rom 6:6
• If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live: Rom 8:13
• Put on the Lord and make no provision to gratify the desires of the flesh: Rom 13:14
• Let us not judge one another but live and die for Christ: Rom 14:1-22
• I discipline my body and keep it under control: 1Co 9:27
  
• I is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me: Gal 2:20
• Walk by the Spirit and you will not ratify the desires of the flesh: Gal 5:16
• The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit: Gal 5:17
• Those who belong to Christ have crucified the passions and desires of the flesh: Gal 5:24
  
• Whatever gain I had, I count it all loss for the sake of Christ: Php 3:7-9
• Put to death whatever is earthly in you: Col 3:5
• Renounce worldly and ungodly passions, live self-controlled & upright lives: Tit 2:12
• Abstain from the passions of the flesh: 1Pe 2:11-16
• Live not for human passions but for the will of God: 1Pe 4:2
• Go out for the sake of The Name: 3Jn 1:7
• Love not your life: Rev 12:11

Examples of Self Denial:

• Abraham, when he offered to Lot (his junior) his preference of the land of Canaan: Gen 13:9 & Gen 17:8
• Moses, in choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for only a little while: Heb 11:25
• Moses, in taking no compensation from the Israelites for his services: Num 16:15
• Samuel, in his administration of justice: 1Sa 12:3 & 1Sa 12:4
• The widow of Zarephath, in sharing with Elijah the last of her sustenance: 1Ki 17:12-15
• Daniel, in his abstention: Dan 1:8
• Daniel, in refusing rewards from Belshazzar: Dan 5:16 & Dan 5:17
• Esther, in risking her life for the deliverance of her people: Esth 4:16
• The Rechabites, in refusing to drink wine or strong drink, or even to plant vineyards: Jer 35:6 & Jer 35:7
• Peter and the other apostles, in abandoning their vocations and following Jesus: Mat 4:20
  Mat 9:9, Mark 1:16-20, Mark 2:14, Luke 5:11, Luke 5:27 & Luke 5:28
• in forsaking all and following Jesus Mat 19:27 & Mark 10:28
• The widow, who put everything she had into the treasury: Luke 21:4
• The early Christians, in having everything in common: Acts 2:44, Acts 2:45 & Acts 4:34
• Barnabas (Joses), in selling his possessions, and giving everything that he had received to the apostles: Acts 4:36 & Acts 4:37
• Paul, in not regarding even his life dear to himself : Acts 20:24, Php 3:7 & Php 3:8
• Paul, in not coveting anyone's silver, gold, or apparel: Acts 20:33
• Paul, in laboring for his own support while he also taught: Acts 20:34, Acts 20:35, 1Co 4:12 & 1Co 10:33

Who's Building Your Temple?

Brother you missed it. If you live in or around Hutto, and were not at LaHermosa's 10th Annual Men's Conference, you missed it. It was an incredible blessing. It is always an incredible blessing when men gather in the name of the Lord.

I know. You have stuff going on. If you'd been with us, Pastor James McGilveary of Straightgate Fellowship in Hutto would have helped you clean out your garage. And he does a fantastic job! This is not just re-arranging your stuff; he cleans it out and gets rid of the junk.

Pastor Billy Billups, of Candlelight Baptist in Round Rock, taught about an old pair of shoes. Leather sandals baby. These ain't no Nike or Rebok hoofs that reflect the priority of a material world; these are the shoes that carry the gospel. These are the shoes that do the work of real Christian men!

The theme was "Whose Building Your Temple?" It's a Greater Building. As magnificent as Solomon's temple was; as tall as the Sears Tower maybe; the new temple; the temple of the Holy Spirit; your body, the body of the Christian ... is a Greater Building. The new sanctuary is much better than the old one; and it is serious work to build it up and defend it.

Who and what is building your temple?

Make plans for next year. You need to watch out for LaHermosa Men. These men are committed to God. They are committed to the Bride of Christ. Praise God for Christian men that are on fire!

http://www.huttochurch.com/

You Can Throw A Prophet in a Pit, But It Won't Shut Him Up

Our Bible Class is going through the D. James Kennedy book, "Why I Believe". The second chapter is titled, "The Stones Cry Out". In reference to Luke 19:40, Kennedy asserts that archaeology is the voice that cries out in our day. While the followers of Christ remain somewhat quiet, the artifacts of history loudly speaks to the accuracy of the Biblical record and the Truth of His Written Word.

Then enters, stage right, a news story from World Net Daily. Yet another example of Biblical history being affirmed by the spade of the archaeologist ...

Old Testament 'proof': Royal seal discovered - Archaeologists unearth ancient relic from prince mentioned in Jeremiah

The WND story concerns a prince named Gedaliah who is mentioned in Jeremiah 38:1 as he served Judah's King Zedekiah in the final days before Jerusalem was conquered by Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. Gedaliah is part of the crowd that lowered Jeremiah by ropes into a miry pit in order to silence his prophecy against them. They figured that Jeremiah's words were a hindrance to the morale of the soldiers (another story there).
(photo by Dr. Eilat Mazar)

So again, a detail of the Bible is confirmed from the dirt of history, proving you can throw a prophet in a pit, but that won't shut him up. Jeremiah's warnings speaks to us again today with the discovery of a signet ring.

The ironies of Babylon continues to haunt us (see Jeremiah 27 for instance). The history of human marvel and decadence in Babylon is symbolic of the whole human condition, which the UN seeks to restore. Babylon is a great topic for comparing the Bible to the historical record, to current events, and to future prophecy. Do a little research on Babylon yourself. See how secular history and events compare to Biblical records and events. See what the United Nations has planned for Babylon.

The stones do cry out ... and praise God for the life and ministry of D. James Kennedy

Blessing the Bully

My favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bully for Bugs, involves Bugs digging right into the middle of the bull fighting arena. As the toro is running the matador out of the arena, Bugs is trying to get directions to the carrot festival. The bull steams up Bugs' tail, and "you realize this means war", declares Bugs. Well, I don't suppose Bugs ever read the New Testament, but suffice it to say, his definition of "turn the other check" is on the wrong side of the law.

The passage in Matthew 5, often used to justify pacifism, is misunderstood and misapplied in our culture. Jesus tells the people, if you are forced to go one mile, go two. If they sue you for your tunic, let them have your cloak as well. Do not refuse the beggar or the borrower. Most people say this simply means do not retaliate, but there is much more to it than that.

If little Johnny is abused by the bully on the school playground, there are multiple ways to respond. You can take Bugs' approach and declare war (not recommended). You can simply tell Johnny to not fight back and ignore the problem. Or you can bless the bully!

Bless the bully. That's the ticket. In the days of Christ, Romans soldiers had a legal right to have citizens carry their gear up to one mile outside a city as they passed through. Jesus says, take it an extra mile. If someone sues for a $1,000 dollars, give them $2,000. This is not just a matter of walking away from a fight. This is engaing injustice with justice. This is engaging hate and abuse with love and blessing.

Pour out love and blessing, kindness, and prayer for those that abuse you. Seek justice through prayer. Prayer that your enemy will be reconciled with God. When he is reconciled to God, he will be reconciled to you too!

Bless the Bully!

Over Oathers Anonymous

Yes, I'm making up new words. It's for your benefit and that of Anonymous. Maybe you recall Christ's words in the sermon on the mount. One of His topics was oaths.

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
- Matthew 5:33-37 (ESV)

The problem for me is over oathing. Yes, I over eat also; That's another set of scriptures for another day. Over commitment. Over oathing. Over eating. That's me; that's Anonymous, and you can jump in this little confession session at anytime. I think I'm drowning.

Oaths and swearing are significant problems in our culture. We make all kinds of promises that we cannot keep, or even intend to keep. We say things just to end a conversation, so we can move on to what we want to do, and get away from that nagging person that what's us to commit to doing something for them. We embellish our stories and statements to make ourselves look better.

Christ, said don't do it. Don't add on to what you're promising. Do not say yes unless you mean it. Do add an excuse to your no. If you're not going to do it, say no. If you're going to do it say, yes. And leave it at that. If the other person has a follow up question, great. You and I don't need to add extraneous statements or excuses to the conversation. We don't need to swear by a higher power.

Well, prayer for anonymous. He needs help in this area. Keep him from he evil one. Maybe you need help too. Confessions appreciated (i.e. don't leave Anonymous alone).

Anonymously yours....

The Blessing of Faithfulness

American culture has a preoccupation with sexual fulfillment: affairs, love triangles, all manner of sexual relationships ... It is near impossible to watch TV or a movie without seeing some form of sexual immorality being glorified or projected as normal, and this is lived out in a considerable portion of our population. The ways of Christ and His Word are rejected as out-dated and even abnormal. The later is true. The former is a rejection of timeless principles.

While the standards of God are clearly superior to the ways of man, American culture and even the church have rejected, lost, or ignored Christ' teachings. True and pure faithfulness is the highest form of fulfillment, even sexual fulfillment. When a couple is sold out to each other, when they are deeply committed to one another, they will truly experience a blessing from God.

The adulterous ways of man are racked with relational problems. Complications, lies, deceit, jealously, disease, and many other problems plague the promiscuous sexuality of Americans. Pour relational skills and self centric desires break up couples, one after another. Christ words on divorce and purity are but a faint recollection.

I urge you all to be faithful. Know the blessing of being faithful. Be faithful to your bride, and Christ' bride, the church. Be faithful to the ways of God, and you will truly experience a blessing. Raise the standard of relational conduct. Show commitment, and project the commands of Christ in all that you do.

America Bless God

Rise Up O Men of God

Well we did it. It was a touch painful for a couple of us, but the blessing that flowed was incredible. An hour plus change and new location made a world of difference. Instead of 7am in Hutto, the men of New Hope are now meeting at 6am in Pf-ville. Honeycut, Luce, Gibson, Coker, Moore, Peterman and I shared a great time of fellowship, breakfast, prayer and discussion of the Bible. I'm very grateful to God that we could all get together.

The phrase "Rise Up O Men of God" came to mind as we parted company. In Matthew 5, Christ Jesus makes it clear that He did not come to abolish the moral standards of the Old Testament, rather to raise them. Not only is murder wrong, but hatred toward your brother is wrong. Not only is adultery wrong, lusting after a woman is wrong. Sin is a terrible condition, and we must deal with sin aggressively! We must raise the standard of Christ. We must rise up!

So, rise up we did! We rose up a bit earlier to learn the blessing of fellowship, and to learn the higher standards of Christ Jesus.

If a dose of worship from the old time hymn will motivate you, click below ...

"Rise Up O Men of God"