OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #250 Spiritual Disciplines and Bible Study
This week Jan came to me and told me there was a notice on the computer that said we had three viruses. She wanted to know what to do. “Don’t click anything,” I said. Viruses are always a possibility, but something about it sounded odd.
The windows on the screen looked very official. There were red boxes and warning symbols and it looked pretty good, but when I looked at the details, the warning did not come from our antivirus program. I am sure that if Jan had clicked, we would have been infected by whatever cyber disease it was hiding.
I recognized the problem only because I knew our computer well-enough to recognize the false program. I’m no expert, but I know enough to recognize some basic issues.
The same thing can happen to us in life, that we end up following advice or a philosophy of life which does not lead us in a good direction. “If only I had known...” There is a way to better know, and that is to study and understand the Bible.
This leads me to my favorite spiritual discipline, Bible study. The study of the Bible is the intentional, concentrated effort to dig into its depths, to understand passages at deeper levels, to connect its history, thoughts and themes. My ultimate goal is not knowledge for its own sake, but rather to understand God better.
As part of a list of ways to please God, Paul reminds us to grow in the “knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9*). Later he tells the church in Colossae how hard he is working to strengthen the believers in Laodicea “so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding” and not be deceived by “fine sounding arguments.” (2:3-4) The risk was real. Paul knew some who had wandered from their faith because of “godless chatter and opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge.” (1 Timothy 6:20). We need to have enough understanding to act like Jesus and to protect ourselves from being deceived.
The study of the Bible as a spiritual discipline is different from my devotional reading. My devotional reading is designed to connect me with God through a relatively short passage of scripture or to take me through the Bible in a given period of time. In the study of the Bible we want to get to the heart of what the writer meant by asking a number of questions.
Who was the author? Who was the audience? Why did he write? What were the historical, cultural and geographical contexts? How does this passage relate to the ones which lead up to it and follow? Is it a main point, or is it part of something bigger? How does the passage relate to the rest of scripture? Are there nuances and subtleties in the wording the author used? What does the passage teach us about God? About human nature?
Once we answer these questions, we have a good idea what the author meant and we move to the next step. How do we apply it today? Knowledge in the Bible always has components of action and relationship. We study the Bible in order to know God better in relationship and to live in ways which are pleasing to him.
Jan loves cards, and she loves a particular kind of card. I have learned that it makes her feel especially loved when I take the time to find this kind of card for her special occasions. This is like Bible study. I have studied my wife and I apply what I have learned to draw us closer together. In Bible study I apply what I have learned to draw closer to God in relationship, attitude and action.
It is interesting to me that there seems to be increasing interest in disciplines like prayer and fasting. Nothing wrong there. But I sense a decreasing interest in Bible study. I can think of some reasons for this. It is hard work and we like easy answers. More than once I have tried to explain a passage and someone has told me, “Pastor, just tell me what it means.” Maybe I was boring them, but sometimes details matter.
There are other reasons why this is hard. Good, understandable resources are not always easy to find. The internet is not always helpful for this. And, it takes an investment in time and tools. But we are not alone in this. Many churches have libraries. Some pastors don’t mind lending their resources. Many churches have an older person who is something of a Bible scholar who doesn’t mind sharing.
And while we can study the Bible on our own, we may also do this in home groups and Sunday school classes. In fact, this is where the “old fashioned” Sunday school curriculum excels. In this setting, instructors often use the accompanying “Teacher’s Commentary” to understand and teach the passage for the day. To many people, this lacks glamour and excitement, but don’t underestimate its power and effectiveness at helping people to understand and apply the Bible.
As Christians, we shouldn’t be content just to let someone always tell us what the Bible means. Most people, with a little time and patience, can learn some basic skills like reading in context which will improve Bible understanding and make us less likely to be taken in by some popular, but deceptive theory, philosophy, or advice.
I hope this helps. If you have specific questions about some aspect of biblical study, I would love to help. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Rev. Troy Dennis, B.A. M.Div., M.A.(Th). Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Feb 24, 2011. *Scripture taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire is an occasional letter on Christian faith and character
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
OnFire # 248 Fasting #3
OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire # 248 Fasting #3
Hi Folks:
We’ve been talking about fasting for the past several weeks and finally we arrive at the practice itself.
If we do a quick survey of fasting passages in the Bible, we find several prominent reasons. Fasting was a sign of mourning. People fasted to mourn the passing of king Saul (31:13) and David’s staff questioned his lack of fasting after the death of his child (2 Sam 12:21).
On this theme of mourning, fasting is also a way to grieve over sin as a sign of repentance and turning from idolatry and sin (1 Sam 7:6). Interestingly, both Nehemiah (1:4) and Daniel (9:3) had a sense of collective guilt, and so they personally fasted for the sins of their whole nation.
Fasting in the face of imminent calamity is a common theme in the OT. The people sought God’s direction before going into battle (Judges 20:26). Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast when he heard an army was coming. (2 Chron 20:3-4). At the order to destroy the Jews, the people fasted in Esther 4:3.
Impending trouble and petition are closely related. David fasted and pleaded with God on behalf of his deathly-ill child (2 Sam 12:16ff). He also humbled himself and fasted for his adversaries when they were ill (Ps 35). Ezra sought direction from the Lord and petitioned for a safe journey (Ezra 8:21-23).
Joel 2:12 sums up a lot of the reasoning behind fasting: “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Fasting is about returning to God. As we saw last week, it is not for us, but for God (Zech 7:5). We fast because we want to draw close to him and so we offer the sacrifice of our personal comfort as a gift to show that we understand life is not about us.
The example of the prophetess Anna adds another facet. She rejoiced upon seeing the infant Jesus and couldn’t help but talk about him to all who longed for “the redemption of Jerusalem.” This longing for the future which God has promised seems to motivate her spiritual disciplines (Lk 2:37-38). Through fasting and prayer we participate in bringing God’s promises and future into being at a deeply spiritual level. God does not need us, but he allows us the privilege of being part of it, of having a front row seat.
We see these elements come together in Acts 13 and Matt 4. The believers in Antioch were fasting when they received direction from the Lord about setting apart Barnabas and Paul for missionary work. They also fasted as part of the act of commissioning (Acts 13:2-3). Fasting was a way to draw close to God, repent of sin, to inquire and seek direction for the future, and participate in God’s broader plan for expanding his kingdom. We should not be surprised that Paul and Barnabas, in turn, appointed elders in the churches through a process of prayer and fasting (14:23).
In Matthew 4, we see that Jesus ate nothing for 40 days in the wilderness just before beginning his public ministry. We can imagine most of these same elements as part of his fast: drawing especially close to the Father, seeking confirmation about direction for the future, and executing the plan for salvation. He did not need to repent, but we see that fasting is spiritual preparation for the testings he will face.
Jesus taught about fasting in Matthew 6:16-18. As with so much of the Sermon on the Mount, the issue seems to be that spiritual matters may become a source of pride and conceit: “Do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting.” In spiritual terms, this is the equivalent of showing off on a bicycle. “Hey everyone, look at how good I am!” In this way Jesus echoes the message we saw in Zechariah and Joel. The fasting of the hypocrite is not for God, but to look good, to earn God’s blessing and favour, or feel good in comparison with others who are “less spiritual.” We must always be careful to examine the motives behind our spiritual disciplines - are they really for God?
This teaching raises the question of how much I should hide my fasting? It is one thing to take a personal retreat or to fast at home where no one will really know, but how do we do this and go to work, for instance, where co-workers may ask why we are not eating? This is not the issue we may fear it is. To begin, we need to live in such a way that no one will even consider that we are being self-righteous. Second, people do not notice as much about us as we might fear. I’ve heard it said that if we really knew how little time people spent thinking about us, we’d be disappointed. Third, while we don’t want to advertise our fasting, we need not fear if people ask us why we are not eating. It may spark a valuable spiritual conversation.
How do we go about fasting? Fasting is a simple concept, but I believe it is something we need to be intentional about.
We need to determine why we are fasting. Is it simply to grow closer to God? To inquire from God? For wisdom or direction? Petition about a personal, family, or church matter? Intercession on behalf of someone or a situation?
We need to determine what we will fast from and for how long. Fasting is normally about giving up food, but may instead involve tv, computer, coffee, meat (sometimes called a “Daniel fast” based on Dan 1:12), or something important to us. For the purpose of this discussion, we’ll use food as the example. How long we fast may vary from a part day to much longer.
We need to pray as we begin. Include confession for our sins. Plan to pray in regular intervals.
One of the great things about fasting is that we can devote the time for food preparation and eating to scripture and prayer. It is amazing how much more time we have when we are not planning to eat.
We can use hunger pangs as prompts for prayer. Hunger was not the issue I thought it would be, but even still we can use it as helpful reminder to pray.
Keeping a journal or notebook through this time is important to record experiences or capture insights and ideas.
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Jan 27, 2010. *Scripture taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire # 248 Fasting #3
Hi Folks:
We’ve been talking about fasting for the past several weeks and finally we arrive at the practice itself.
If we do a quick survey of fasting passages in the Bible, we find several prominent reasons. Fasting was a sign of mourning. People fasted to mourn the passing of king Saul (31:13) and David’s staff questioned his lack of fasting after the death of his child (2 Sam 12:21).
On this theme of mourning, fasting is also a way to grieve over sin as a sign of repentance and turning from idolatry and sin (1 Sam 7:6). Interestingly, both Nehemiah (1:4) and Daniel (9:3) had a sense of collective guilt, and so they personally fasted for the sins of their whole nation.
Fasting in the face of imminent calamity is a common theme in the OT. The people sought God’s direction before going into battle (Judges 20:26). Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast when he heard an army was coming. (2 Chron 20:3-4). At the order to destroy the Jews, the people fasted in Esther 4:3.
Impending trouble and petition are closely related. David fasted and pleaded with God on behalf of his deathly-ill child (2 Sam 12:16ff). He also humbled himself and fasted for his adversaries when they were ill (Ps 35). Ezra sought direction from the Lord and petitioned for a safe journey (Ezra 8:21-23).
Joel 2:12 sums up a lot of the reasoning behind fasting: “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Fasting is about returning to God. As we saw last week, it is not for us, but for God (Zech 7:5). We fast because we want to draw close to him and so we offer the sacrifice of our personal comfort as a gift to show that we understand life is not about us.
The example of the prophetess Anna adds another facet. She rejoiced upon seeing the infant Jesus and couldn’t help but talk about him to all who longed for “the redemption of Jerusalem.” This longing for the future which God has promised seems to motivate her spiritual disciplines (Lk 2:37-38). Through fasting and prayer we participate in bringing God’s promises and future into being at a deeply spiritual level. God does not need us, but he allows us the privilege of being part of it, of having a front row seat.
We see these elements come together in Acts 13 and Matt 4. The believers in Antioch were fasting when they received direction from the Lord about setting apart Barnabas and Paul for missionary work. They also fasted as part of the act of commissioning (Acts 13:2-3). Fasting was a way to draw close to God, repent of sin, to inquire and seek direction for the future, and participate in God’s broader plan for expanding his kingdom. We should not be surprised that Paul and Barnabas, in turn, appointed elders in the churches through a process of prayer and fasting (14:23).
In Matthew 4, we see that Jesus ate nothing for 40 days in the wilderness just before beginning his public ministry. We can imagine most of these same elements as part of his fast: drawing especially close to the Father, seeking confirmation about direction for the future, and executing the plan for salvation. He did not need to repent, but we see that fasting is spiritual preparation for the testings he will face.
Jesus taught about fasting in Matthew 6:16-18. As with so much of the Sermon on the Mount, the issue seems to be that spiritual matters may become a source of pride and conceit: “Do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting.” In spiritual terms, this is the equivalent of showing off on a bicycle. “Hey everyone, look at how good I am!” In this way Jesus echoes the message we saw in Zechariah and Joel. The fasting of the hypocrite is not for God, but to look good, to earn God’s blessing and favour, or feel good in comparison with others who are “less spiritual.” We must always be careful to examine the motives behind our spiritual disciplines - are they really for God?
This teaching raises the question of how much I should hide my fasting? It is one thing to take a personal retreat or to fast at home where no one will really know, but how do we do this and go to work, for instance, where co-workers may ask why we are not eating? This is not the issue we may fear it is. To begin, we need to live in such a way that no one will even consider that we are being self-righteous. Second, people do not notice as much about us as we might fear. I’ve heard it said that if we really knew how little time people spent thinking about us, we’d be disappointed. Third, while we don’t want to advertise our fasting, we need not fear if people ask us why we are not eating. It may spark a valuable spiritual conversation.
How do we go about fasting? Fasting is a simple concept, but I believe it is something we need to be intentional about.
We need to determine why we are fasting. Is it simply to grow closer to God? To inquire from God? For wisdom or direction? Petition about a personal, family, or church matter? Intercession on behalf of someone or a situation?
We need to determine what we will fast from and for how long. Fasting is normally about giving up food, but may instead involve tv, computer, coffee, meat (sometimes called a “Daniel fast” based on Dan 1:12), or something important to us. For the purpose of this discussion, we’ll use food as the example. How long we fast may vary from a part day to much longer.
We need to pray as we begin. Include confession for our sins. Plan to pray in regular intervals.
One of the great things about fasting is that we can devote the time for food preparation and eating to scripture and prayer. It is amazing how much more time we have when we are not planning to eat.
We can use hunger pangs as prompts for prayer. Hunger was not the issue I thought it would be, but even still we can use it as helpful reminder to pray.
Keeping a journal or notebook through this time is important to record experiences or capture insights and ideas.
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Jan 27, 2010. *Scripture taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire #247 Fasting #2 A Table Saw for Jan
OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #247 Fasting #2 A Table Saw for Jan
Last week I recounted some of my early experiences with fasting. Fasting was not part of my upbringing or background, but through scripture and the example of people I respected, my perspective on fasting changed from being something that people on the fringe did, to a deeply meaningful part of my spiritual practices.
This week I want to talk about what fasting is and is not. For this, I want to start with Zechariah 7:5 for the spirit of how we need to see fasting: “... was it really for me that you fasted?” As God spoke through the prophet Zechariah, we see that the people had highly disciplined spiritual practises, including fasting at prescribed times of the year, but their hearts were not in it for God.
Rather than fasting as a gift of devotion from the sincerity of their hearts, they fasted with the hope that God would bless them in some way. It would be like giving Jan a table saw for her birthday. While some women might appreciate this practical and useful woodworking tool, Jan is not among them. The gift really wouldn’t be for her, but for me. If their fasting was really a gift of devotion to God, they would change their ways to bring justice and show compassion because these things are important to God (see vv. 8-12).
This sets us up to talk about what fasting is not. Let me get this one out of the way. Fasting is not about losing weight. I first thought that fasting would have the added benefit of helping me with this, but I have never noticed a difference.
Fasting is not about twisting God’s arm to give us what we want. This is perhaps a crude way to put it, but there is something in us that makes us think that God is obligated to us because we do something for him, that if we just fast and pray hard enough then God will give us what we want. In this case fasting is not for God but for us.
A variation on this theme is that if we fast we will win God’s approval or love. There is something in us which thinks that the more we do, the more God will love us. Until we uproot this dangerous weed, we will always fear that we are not doing enough to win God’s love. We always need to remember that God’s love for us is constant and we do not need to earn it.
Fasting is not about being Pentecostal or Baptist, or Anglican, Presbyterian, United, Catholic, or some other flavour of Christianity. I’ll speak from a Baptist perspective because that’s what I am, but you may identify from your own experience. I’ve heard it put this way... “I don’t fast because that’s Pentecostal.” As I read my Bible, I don’t see anything to point to fasting as a particularly “Pentecostal” experience. Strangely, as Baptists we pride ourselves about being “people of the Book,” but we clearly see Paul fasting in the book of Acts. This attitude may have more to do with an “us and them” perspective on our brothers and sisters in other denominations.
Fasting is not about escaping the evil nature of the flesh. I’m not sure where this teaching comes from, but every once in a while I come across someone who believes that fasting is about escaping or purging ourselves from the flesh. Behind this belief is the thought that the spirit is good and the flesh is bad. This duality does not exist in scripture. And in passages like the one in Zechariah, we see that fasting is about relationship, about drawing near to God and offering ourselves to him.
“... was it really for me that you fasted?” The best kind of gift is the one given without the expectation of a return gift. If someone gives me a gift, but then makes it clear that I am obligated to do something in return, it isn’t much of a gift. But this is not always the way we look at our relationship with God. “I gave my money, so why didn’t God do something?” It is the same with fasting. We need to examine our motives so that our fasting is a gift to God.
We’ll cover some more aspects of fasting next week. I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Jan 19, 2011. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire #247 Fasting #2 A Table Saw for Jan
Last week I recounted some of my early experiences with fasting. Fasting was not part of my upbringing or background, but through scripture and the example of people I respected, my perspective on fasting changed from being something that people on the fringe did, to a deeply meaningful part of my spiritual practices.
This week I want to talk about what fasting is and is not. For this, I want to start with Zechariah 7:5 for the spirit of how we need to see fasting: “... was it really for me that you fasted?” As God spoke through the prophet Zechariah, we see that the people had highly disciplined spiritual practises, including fasting at prescribed times of the year, but their hearts were not in it for God.
Rather than fasting as a gift of devotion from the sincerity of their hearts, they fasted with the hope that God would bless them in some way. It would be like giving Jan a table saw for her birthday. While some women might appreciate this practical and useful woodworking tool, Jan is not among them. The gift really wouldn’t be for her, but for me. If their fasting was really a gift of devotion to God, they would change their ways to bring justice and show compassion because these things are important to God (see vv. 8-12).
This sets us up to talk about what fasting is not. Let me get this one out of the way. Fasting is not about losing weight. I first thought that fasting would have the added benefit of helping me with this, but I have never noticed a difference.
Fasting is not about twisting God’s arm to give us what we want. This is perhaps a crude way to put it, but there is something in us that makes us think that God is obligated to us because we do something for him, that if we just fast and pray hard enough then God will give us what we want. In this case fasting is not for God but for us.
A variation on this theme is that if we fast we will win God’s approval or love. There is something in us which thinks that the more we do, the more God will love us. Until we uproot this dangerous weed, we will always fear that we are not doing enough to win God’s love. We always need to remember that God’s love for us is constant and we do not need to earn it.
Fasting is not about being Pentecostal or Baptist, or Anglican, Presbyterian, United, Catholic, or some other flavour of Christianity. I’ll speak from a Baptist perspective because that’s what I am, but you may identify from your own experience. I’ve heard it put this way... “I don’t fast because that’s Pentecostal.” As I read my Bible, I don’t see anything to point to fasting as a particularly “Pentecostal” experience. Strangely, as Baptists we pride ourselves about being “people of the Book,” but we clearly see Paul fasting in the book of Acts. This attitude may have more to do with an “us and them” perspective on our brothers and sisters in other denominations.
Fasting is not about escaping the evil nature of the flesh. I’m not sure where this teaching comes from, but every once in a while I come across someone who believes that fasting is about escaping or purging ourselves from the flesh. Behind this belief is the thought that the spirit is good and the flesh is bad. This duality does not exist in scripture. And in passages like the one in Zechariah, we see that fasting is about relationship, about drawing near to God and offering ourselves to him.
“... was it really for me that you fasted?” The best kind of gift is the one given without the expectation of a return gift. If someone gives me a gift, but then makes it clear that I am obligated to do something in return, it isn’t much of a gift. But this is not always the way we look at our relationship with God. “I gave my money, so why didn’t God do something?” It is the same with fasting. We need to examine our motives so that our fasting is a gift to God.
We’ll cover some more aspects of fasting next week. I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Jan 19, 2011. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
OnFire #246 Fasting #1
OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #246 Fasting #1
Hi Folks:
Happy New Year. We had a good Christmas. Jan’s parents joined us for Christmas eve and Christmas day. We had lots of family time together since our boys did not go back to school until today. We spent New Years with some church families and other friends.
Mark spent a lot of time working on a video for a class project on stereotypes which is really creative. Ian got his first paying photography job as he was hired by a couple of families to take pictures of their children playing hockey.
At church we’re preparing for the annual meeting. I’m starting a small group emphasis this week, and I’m helping a little more with the music and worship planning at our church as our music director finished at Christmas. Things are busy, but they always are. I guess you could say we are back into routine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We resume our series on spiritual disciplines. As we come to fasting, I have to say that this is something I am relatively new to, less than 10 years. I don’t remembering hearing about fasting as I grew up, except when a medical test was involved, and then it was something unpleasant to be endured for the hope of a diagnosis.
Of course, I knew Jesus’ teaching about fasting in Matthew 6 and I saw examples in the early church . This led me to understand that Christians may fast, but I never heard of anyone who did this until I went to Christian college, and I must confess, I thought the ones who did were a little weird. They always seemed to be a little odd, a little too zealous, and uncomfortable to be around. It was hard to criticize them since scripture is full of positive examples of fasting, but I wasn’t about to join them, either. In my mind I placed it among the fringe elements of Christianity.
I didn’t think much about it again until I became the pastor of a church on Grand Manan, a small fishing island located two-hours-by-ferry off the coast of New Brunswick. Grand Manan is a tight community of about 2000 people where many are related by blood or marriage, and so when tragedy strikes everyone is affected. Sadly, in one year four young people under the age of 22 were killed in accidents related to alcohol or drugs. The Island was in shock and scared for the next generation growing up.
Amidst the cries for better police presence and more youth activities, someone suggested that the churches have a combined service of prayer for the young people. As this idea picked up steam and a date was set, it was also suggested that we should fast to prepare for the meeting. Again, it was hard to criticize the idea since fasting is plainly modelled in the Bible, so despite my misgivings I went along with the idea.
I really was scared as the day approached. How bad would the hunger pangs be? I remembered feeling really hungry as a child just waiting between lunch and supper. What would it be like to miss a whole day? My boys were young but even still I worried about what they would think when I sat down to supper with them but didn’t eat. As it turned out, my fears were unfounded. When I started to feel hungry, I remembered why we were fasting and prayed for the young people. We explained things to the boys at supper and they accepted it easily.
If you talk to people on Grand Manan who were at that prayer meeting they will recall what a blessing it was. The church was packed and there was such a feeling of the power and presence of God. These combined services continued monthly for a while and eventually waned, but those first meetings were incredible, and sparked something in me about fasting. What seemed weird or strange, only an academic possibility before, became real and exciting. I began to look forward to them because during those times I felt so much closer to God and felt a part of something bigger going on. Since then I have fasted to seek direction from God, petition on behalf of others, and as part of retreats and mission trips.
I tell this story (like a lot of OnFire stories) because I figure that if I have these thoughts and experiences and I’m the “trained professional,” then maybe others have them, too, and by telling my story others might be encouraged and strengthened. I already had the knowledge that fasting was biblical, but no experience. As I tentatively took a few steps I discovered that fasting can be an incredibly rich and rewarding spiritual experience. I’m not going to say it is easy, but it was not as hard as I feared, and I’ve had times during fasting when I’ve thought, “People would pay to feel this good.”
Next week I’ll lay out some biblical foundations and explain a little about what fasting is and is not. Until then, I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Jan 11, 2011. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire #246 Fasting #1
Hi Folks:
Happy New Year. We had a good Christmas. Jan’s parents joined us for Christmas eve and Christmas day. We had lots of family time together since our boys did not go back to school until today. We spent New Years with some church families and other friends.
Mark spent a lot of time working on a video for a class project on stereotypes which is really creative. Ian got his first paying photography job as he was hired by a couple of families to take pictures of their children playing hockey.
At church we’re preparing for the annual meeting. I’m starting a small group emphasis this week, and I’m helping a little more with the music and worship planning at our church as our music director finished at Christmas. Things are busy, but they always are. I guess you could say we are back into routine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We resume our series on spiritual disciplines. As we come to fasting, I have to say that this is something I am relatively new to, less than 10 years. I don’t remembering hearing about fasting as I grew up, except when a medical test was involved, and then it was something unpleasant to be endured for the hope of a diagnosis.
Of course, I knew Jesus’ teaching about fasting in Matthew 6 and I saw examples in the early church . This led me to understand that Christians may fast, but I never heard of anyone who did this until I went to Christian college, and I must confess, I thought the ones who did were a little weird. They always seemed to be a little odd, a little too zealous, and uncomfortable to be around. It was hard to criticize them since scripture is full of positive examples of fasting, but I wasn’t about to join them, either. In my mind I placed it among the fringe elements of Christianity.
I didn’t think much about it again until I became the pastor of a church on Grand Manan, a small fishing island located two-hours-by-ferry off the coast of New Brunswick. Grand Manan is a tight community of about 2000 people where many are related by blood or marriage, and so when tragedy strikes everyone is affected. Sadly, in one year four young people under the age of 22 were killed in accidents related to alcohol or drugs. The Island was in shock and scared for the next generation growing up.
Amidst the cries for better police presence and more youth activities, someone suggested that the churches have a combined service of prayer for the young people. As this idea picked up steam and a date was set, it was also suggested that we should fast to prepare for the meeting. Again, it was hard to criticize the idea since fasting is plainly modelled in the Bible, so despite my misgivings I went along with the idea.
I really was scared as the day approached. How bad would the hunger pangs be? I remembered feeling really hungry as a child just waiting between lunch and supper. What would it be like to miss a whole day? My boys were young but even still I worried about what they would think when I sat down to supper with them but didn’t eat. As it turned out, my fears were unfounded. When I started to feel hungry, I remembered why we were fasting and prayed for the young people. We explained things to the boys at supper and they accepted it easily.
If you talk to people on Grand Manan who were at that prayer meeting they will recall what a blessing it was. The church was packed and there was such a feeling of the power and presence of God. These combined services continued monthly for a while and eventually waned, but those first meetings were incredible, and sparked something in me about fasting. What seemed weird or strange, only an academic possibility before, became real and exciting. I began to look forward to them because during those times I felt so much closer to God and felt a part of something bigger going on. Since then I have fasted to seek direction from God, petition on behalf of others, and as part of retreats and mission trips.
I tell this story (like a lot of OnFire stories) because I figure that if I have these thoughts and experiences and I’m the “trained professional,” then maybe others have them, too, and by telling my story others might be encouraged and strengthened. I already had the knowledge that fasting was biblical, but no experience. As I tentatively took a few steps I discovered that fasting can be an incredibly rich and rewarding spiritual experience. I’m not going to say it is easy, but it was not as hard as I feared, and I’ve had times during fasting when I’ve thought, “People would pay to feel this good.”
Next week I’ll lay out some biblical foundations and explain a little about what fasting is and is not. Until then, I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Jan 11, 2011. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
OnFire #245 God Uses Ordinary
OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #245 God Uses Ordinary
Does this happen to anyone else? I sometimes feel caught between two pressures about Christmas. On the one hand I think I should do something new, create a new tradition, do something special, even though I don’t know what this would be. On the other hand, sometimes I think Christmas gets in the way of other things I need to work on.
I’ve been thinking about these things this week since I realized that Christmas is next week. Next week. I tend to put my proverbial nose to the proverbial grindstone and then I get surprised when I lift my head to breathe once in a while. I went to the Christmas accounts in the Bible looking for some kind of answer to this pressure, and was surprised by what I found. I don’t normally find an answer this quickly.
It seems to me that God likes the ordinary because He uses it so much. He uses ordinary people, ordinary places, ordinary circumstances. Look at all the ordinary in the Christmas events. Joseph and Mary were ordinary people in many ways. Would we have noticed anything about them to suggest that extraordinary things would happen through them? Not likely. The census that took Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem was an ordinary event in Roman life. The shepherds were ordinary folks trying to make a living for their families. The Magi were looking into the stars as they normally did when they spotted the star that led them to Jesus.
That a tyrant like Herod would cause people to flee for their lives is, unfortunately, fairly ordinary in history. Bethlehem and Nazareth were normal places. If anything, they were so normal that more sophisticated folks looked down on them as being backwater. There was a whole lot of ordinary going on in that first Christmas.
And yet in the middle of all this ordinary, a lot of extraordinary happened. There were dreams and visions, angels, angel choirs, visiting shepherds, astrologers with gifts, and words of prophecy about this young Jesus. God works among the ordinary, using the ordinary, to do extraordinary things in extraordinary ways.
I saw something in this for me at Christmas. Extraordinary things happen in the middle of a lot of ordinary. We will do a lot of ordinary things this Christmas, like shopping, cooking, eating, decorating, gathering, opening gifts, travelling, and following traditions. These are the regular things of Christmas but we should not be fooled. In the middle of these ordinary events God can do some very special things, but we need to be prepared to see them for what they are, or we will miss them.
In the middle of an ordinary meal God can spark an extraordinary conversation. A typical party may provide an unusual opportunity. Regular traditions may result in new memories. When we’re least expecting it, someone says something funny. Even the act of merely hanging around together can mean so much, and so we don’t want to underestimate what God may be doing through very normal things.
I realized that ordinary traditions are OK, and that I shouldn’t wish away Christmas. Rather, I need to slow down and enjoy the time I will have those closest to me, not to be planning my next events, but simply enjoying these ordinary things knowing that God is in them.
I hope this helps you in this Christmas season. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Dec 15, 2010. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire #245 God Uses Ordinary
Does this happen to anyone else? I sometimes feel caught between two pressures about Christmas. On the one hand I think I should do something new, create a new tradition, do something special, even though I don’t know what this would be. On the other hand, sometimes I think Christmas gets in the way of other things I need to work on.
I’ve been thinking about these things this week since I realized that Christmas is next week. Next week. I tend to put my proverbial nose to the proverbial grindstone and then I get surprised when I lift my head to breathe once in a while. I went to the Christmas accounts in the Bible looking for some kind of answer to this pressure, and was surprised by what I found. I don’t normally find an answer this quickly.
It seems to me that God likes the ordinary because He uses it so much. He uses ordinary people, ordinary places, ordinary circumstances. Look at all the ordinary in the Christmas events. Joseph and Mary were ordinary people in many ways. Would we have noticed anything about them to suggest that extraordinary things would happen through them? Not likely. The census that took Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem was an ordinary event in Roman life. The shepherds were ordinary folks trying to make a living for their families. The Magi were looking into the stars as they normally did when they spotted the star that led them to Jesus.
That a tyrant like Herod would cause people to flee for their lives is, unfortunately, fairly ordinary in history. Bethlehem and Nazareth were normal places. If anything, they were so normal that more sophisticated folks looked down on them as being backwater. There was a whole lot of ordinary going on in that first Christmas.
And yet in the middle of all this ordinary, a lot of extraordinary happened. There were dreams and visions, angels, angel choirs, visiting shepherds, astrologers with gifts, and words of prophecy about this young Jesus. God works among the ordinary, using the ordinary, to do extraordinary things in extraordinary ways.
I saw something in this for me at Christmas. Extraordinary things happen in the middle of a lot of ordinary. We will do a lot of ordinary things this Christmas, like shopping, cooking, eating, decorating, gathering, opening gifts, travelling, and following traditions. These are the regular things of Christmas but we should not be fooled. In the middle of these ordinary events God can do some very special things, but we need to be prepared to see them for what they are, or we will miss them.
In the middle of an ordinary meal God can spark an extraordinary conversation. A typical party may provide an unusual opportunity. Regular traditions may result in new memories. When we’re least expecting it, someone says something funny. Even the act of merely hanging around together can mean so much, and so we don’t want to underestimate what God may be doing through very normal things.
I realized that ordinary traditions are OK, and that I shouldn’t wish away Christmas. Rather, I need to slow down and enjoy the time I will have those closest to me, not to be planning my next events, but simply enjoying these ordinary things knowing that God is in them.
I hope this helps you in this Christmas season. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Dec 15, 2010. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
Friday, December 10, 2010
OnFire 244 Loading the Dishwasher (Prayer)
OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #244 Loading the Dishwasher
I opened the dishwasher this morning and noticed that several of our small plastic tumblers had turned over. Instead of being empty, clean and dry, they were filled with dirty dishwater. Something about the way I loaded the machine caused them to catch the cleaning jets and flip over. Just as the way I loaded the dishwasher made it ineffective, there are things I may do which block my prayers and make them ineffective.
Sin blocks our prayers. Proverbs 28:9 tells us that “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.”* Is it reasonable to expect God to respond to our prayers if we actively rebel against him? In this case, prayer of repentance (1 John 1:9) is the place to start.
The way we treat people affects our prayers. In Isaiah 58 the prophet notices how eagerly they seem to seek God, but their well-disciplined spiritual practices mean nothing because they cheat their workers and can’t get along with each other. “You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.” (58:4)
Unforgiveness is another prime blocker. “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) Just in case we missed the implication, Jesus follows up with direct teaching: “... if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (6:14-15) The problem is that we expect to receive a lot more forgiveness than we are willing to give, but it is not meant to be hoarded.
The way I treat my wife affects my prayers. Peter reminds us, “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” (1Peter 3:7) If I lead my family by threats and anger, or worse by intimidation and violence, if I insist that my opinion is the only one which really counts, if I disregard my wife’s hopes and desires for our future, if I dismiss her needs and feelings, if I am unfaithful to my vows, I will hinder my own prayers.
There is a part of me which reacts to these as being unjust or unfair. Shouldn’t God just listen to me anyway? I’m not at all comfortable with the idea that my prayers sometimes bounce off the ceiling because of what I am doing. But every time as I read these passages I see the gap between my life and my desire for more effective prayer. If I want to be more effective and powerful in prayer I must change the way I conduct my relationships with God and others.
Prayer is not only about our relationship with God. As we look to God we are pointed back to our relationships with others. And so the cycle ought to repeat over and over as we continue to be transformed spiritually and relationally.
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Dec 8, 2010. *Scripture taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire #244 Loading the Dishwasher
I opened the dishwasher this morning and noticed that several of our small plastic tumblers had turned over. Instead of being empty, clean and dry, they were filled with dirty dishwater. Something about the way I loaded the machine caused them to catch the cleaning jets and flip over. Just as the way I loaded the dishwasher made it ineffective, there are things I may do which block my prayers and make them ineffective.
Sin blocks our prayers. Proverbs 28:9 tells us that “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.”* Is it reasonable to expect God to respond to our prayers if we actively rebel against him? In this case, prayer of repentance (1 John 1:9) is the place to start.
The way we treat people affects our prayers. In Isaiah 58 the prophet notices how eagerly they seem to seek God, but their well-disciplined spiritual practices mean nothing because they cheat their workers and can’t get along with each other. “You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.” (58:4)
Unforgiveness is another prime blocker. “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) Just in case we missed the implication, Jesus follows up with direct teaching: “... if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (6:14-15) The problem is that we expect to receive a lot more forgiveness than we are willing to give, but it is not meant to be hoarded.
The way I treat my wife affects my prayers. Peter reminds us, “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” (1Peter 3:7) If I lead my family by threats and anger, or worse by intimidation and violence, if I insist that my opinion is the only one which really counts, if I disregard my wife’s hopes and desires for our future, if I dismiss her needs and feelings, if I am unfaithful to my vows, I will hinder my own prayers.
There is a part of me which reacts to these as being unjust or unfair. Shouldn’t God just listen to me anyway? I’m not at all comfortable with the idea that my prayers sometimes bounce off the ceiling because of what I am doing. But every time as I read these passages I see the gap between my life and my desire for more effective prayer. If I want to be more effective and powerful in prayer I must change the way I conduct my relationships with God and others.
Prayer is not only about our relationship with God. As we look to God we are pointed back to our relationships with others. And so the cycle ought to repeat over and over as we continue to be transformed spiritually and relationally.
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Dec 8, 2010. *Scripture taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
OnFire # 243 Printing and Prayer
OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire # 243 Printing and Prayer
Friends of mine run a printing company and so when I visit them I often spend time at their shop. I love to watch the machinery in action because so much of it is very simple in concept, but hard to automate. Take the process of printing, for example, which is applying ink to a piece of paper. We experimented with it as children when we drew on an eraser and pressed the image onto a notebook. Printing is a simple concept, but obviously more is involved if we want to publish a book at any kind of productive rate.
Prayer has this same kind of simplicity and complexity. At the centre of it all is the simple idea that we talk with God. What could be easier than conversation, right? The complexity comes as we move to make it an automatic process of our hearts and minds.
We get the idea from the gospels that it was not easy to teach the disciples to pray. We have the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 and a slightly different version in Luke 11, which suggests multiple attempts by Jesus to teach them. Luke 18 records a parable designed to teach them pray and not give up. Jesus modelled prayer by going off to pray (Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 6), and sometimes he even took disciples with him, as was the case at the time of his transfiguration (Luke 9:28). But even with all of this attention, the disciples didn’t get it since at Gethsemane they kept falling asleep even after Jesus told them to watch and pray (Matthew 26:41).
We see ourselves in these passages. Deep, passionate prayer does not come as naturally as we might think. The simple prayer “Lord save me” rolls off the tongue easily enough in a thousand variations, but it is hard to sit down for more than a few moments without becoming bored, distracted, tired, or deciding that more pressing things draw our attention.
How do we change this? After all, we see glimpses from scripture that prayer can be more. The psalmist was passionate about prayer. It seemed natural for Jesus to withdraw to those lonely places to pray and he poured himself out at Gethsemane. Indeed, Jesus’ last words on the cross were in prayer: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46*)
Prayer changed for Jesus’ followers after the resurrection, and so we read in Acts 2:42 that “they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” After the resurrection, prayer became as natural to them as eating.
There are two aspects of the resurrection we need to grip if our prayers are to change. First, we need to meet the risen Jesus. Lots of people believe in dead jesus, the teacher / healer / philosopher / doer of good deeds, but that is not enough. We need to encounter Alive Jesus, the Son of God raised from the dead: “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) Why should we expect prayer to be meaningful or effective if we don’t actually believe the One to whom we pray?
Second, prayer changes when we come face to face with the grace and power of God in the resurrection. God wanted so much to have a relationship with me that Jesus died to make it possible. Paul said it clearly enough, “While we were still sinners Christ died for us,” (Romans 5:8) but Jesus said it first: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son...” (John 3:16) And then to demonstrate His power, the Father raised the Son. Doesn’t it make a difference to know God would do this for us? Doesn’t it change the way we think about God? Doesn’t it make us realize there is nothing God cannot do?
This same God wants to chat with us, for us to talk with Him and He with us. As I come to terms with this, it makes it easier to pray. I am more motivated and interested. Being devoted to prayer as they were in Acts 2:42 doesn’t seem so odd.
Next week we’ll continue to look at prayer. In the meantime, I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church in Moncont NB Canada. This letter published Dec 1, 2010. *Scripture taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire # 243 Printing and Prayer
Friends of mine run a printing company and so when I visit them I often spend time at their shop. I love to watch the machinery in action because so much of it is very simple in concept, but hard to automate. Take the process of printing, for example, which is applying ink to a piece of paper. We experimented with it as children when we drew on an eraser and pressed the image onto a notebook. Printing is a simple concept, but obviously more is involved if we want to publish a book at any kind of productive rate.
Prayer has this same kind of simplicity and complexity. At the centre of it all is the simple idea that we talk with God. What could be easier than conversation, right? The complexity comes as we move to make it an automatic process of our hearts and minds.
We get the idea from the gospels that it was not easy to teach the disciples to pray. We have the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 and a slightly different version in Luke 11, which suggests multiple attempts by Jesus to teach them. Luke 18 records a parable designed to teach them pray and not give up. Jesus modelled prayer by going off to pray (Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 6), and sometimes he even took disciples with him, as was the case at the time of his transfiguration (Luke 9:28). But even with all of this attention, the disciples didn’t get it since at Gethsemane they kept falling asleep even after Jesus told them to watch and pray (Matthew 26:41).
We see ourselves in these passages. Deep, passionate prayer does not come as naturally as we might think. The simple prayer “Lord save me” rolls off the tongue easily enough in a thousand variations, but it is hard to sit down for more than a few moments without becoming bored, distracted, tired, or deciding that more pressing things draw our attention.
How do we change this? After all, we see glimpses from scripture that prayer can be more. The psalmist was passionate about prayer. It seemed natural for Jesus to withdraw to those lonely places to pray and he poured himself out at Gethsemane. Indeed, Jesus’ last words on the cross were in prayer: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46*)
Prayer changed for Jesus’ followers after the resurrection, and so we read in Acts 2:42 that “they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” After the resurrection, prayer became as natural to them as eating.
There are two aspects of the resurrection we need to grip if our prayers are to change. First, we need to meet the risen Jesus. Lots of people believe in dead jesus, the teacher / healer / philosopher / doer of good deeds, but that is not enough. We need to encounter Alive Jesus, the Son of God raised from the dead: “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) Why should we expect prayer to be meaningful or effective if we don’t actually believe the One to whom we pray?
Second, prayer changes when we come face to face with the grace and power of God in the resurrection. God wanted so much to have a relationship with me that Jesus died to make it possible. Paul said it clearly enough, “While we were still sinners Christ died for us,” (Romans 5:8) but Jesus said it first: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son...” (John 3:16) And then to demonstrate His power, the Father raised the Son. Doesn’t it make a difference to know God would do this for us? Doesn’t it change the way we think about God? Doesn’t it make us realize there is nothing God cannot do?
This same God wants to chat with us, for us to talk with Him and He with us. As I come to terms with this, it makes it easier to pray. I am more motivated and interested. Being devoted to prayer as they were in Acts 2:42 doesn’t seem so odd.
Next week we’ll continue to look at prayer. In the meantime, I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church in Moncont NB Canada. This letter published Dec 1, 2010. *Scripture taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
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