Life Released Through Fasting
There is a fine line between religious asceticism (someone who practices extreme self-denial) and fasting that is pleasing to the Lord.
What is that line and what should the core focus of fasting be?
The line that we have to be careful of crossing is when our faith becomes intermingled with what we are doing rather than what Jesus has done/is doing for us. You know, when we put too much emphasis on our works to please God or change things about ourselves.
The Bible addresses this in Colossians 2:20-23, saying, "If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 'Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!' (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence."
After reading this passage a question may arise: why do we fast if it has no value against fleshly indulgence?
Answer: Because fasting brings us closer to Jesus and through union with Him we die to the beggarly elements of the world. Being severe on ourselves does not invoke transformation, Jesus does. If we keep this focus in our fasts it is like putting rubber bumpers in the gutters of a bowling lane--we are sure to knock down most of our pins when we send our ball skidding down the lane!
The disciples of John the Baptist, who were very sincere in their devotion to God through spiritual disciplines, did not understand why the disciples of Jesus were not fasting. They asked Jesus, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. (Math. 9:13-15)
What does this passage tell us? That there will be seasons of celebrating the presence of Jesus when we shouldn't fast and other times when we will fast with the intention of deepening our intimacy with Him. Our hunger for God (or lack thereof) invokes a longing, even a mourning to be possessed by more of God.
Jesus said we would fast, it is a spiritual discipline that should not be brushed under the carpet. But our focus in fasting should always be drawing close to Jesus. He is our end; He should never be the means to our own end. It is a tragic thing when fasting or Jesus are used as a means to get something that we want, even good things, like spiritual purity.
Sound shocking? It really is about refocusing our attention to relationship and understanding that as we commune with God we will be transformed, but the transformation is not that which we are pursuing. Every religion in the world and self-help program are focused on becoming something- possessing spiritual attributes and admirable character, becoming "god-like", whatever their god may be. The problem is this focus on ourselves is prideful and self-centered.
Yuck. Ouch. Good news??--Our God is a living God and as we draw near to Him, He will deal with the big "ME" at the center of our being, change our appetites, change our very nature. Holy Spirit will confront our spiritual pride and affirm us as His son/daughter. Our joy will be made full in Him and His grace rather than our perfection as a person. We will begin to cut off the things that cause us to sin out of our love for God and His people rather than to be respected as a spiritual person.
As we step into a season of fasting as a community, let's keep the right focus and anticipate the manifest presence of God in our midst and new life released through the power of resurrection!
Welcome Aboard Nathan Cornett! Our Youth Pastor
This past Sunday we enjoyed ordaining Nathan Cornett as the Grove Youth Pastor!
We are excited about adding Nathan to our team! We have hired him on staff part time to oversee High School and Junior High and help organize our young adult leaders. We are confident a "door for effective ministry" has been opened to us for children and youth in our region and that God has called Nathan and Joanna to aid us in that ministry!
Nathan is dear to our hearts and we have long noticed his shepherd's heart and love for youth. He earned his BA in Biblical Studies with an emphasis in Youth Ministry from Christian Heritage College and his MA in Organizational Management at Ashford University. Nathan helped out quite a bit with the youth at Foothills Church and worked as a leader for Youth Ventures there. Nathan and Joanna are also very passionate about missions and we know that they are going to play a role in keeping us focused on expanding God's Kingdom on the foreign mission field.
Welcome aboard Nathan!! We are excited for what God is doing with our youth!
Gratitude is the Soil in Which Every Good Thing Grows
Recently John's brother, Mark Hoffman, came to speak at the Grove.
One of the main points he made is that contentment is not dependent upon what you get but what you are grateful for. He proposed that a lack of gratitude is at the root of our nation's slide away from greatness and until we begin to be grateful we will not make a u-turn and return to greatness.
Gratitude is a virtue that leads to every other virtue, the soil in which every good thing grows. Thankfulness will bring God's peace and blessing into our lives.
And yet thankfulness does not come natural to us! In Luke 17 Jesus healed 10 lepers. Think about the reality of what He did for them! Lepers in those days were cast out of society. They had to watch different areas of their flesh rot away as they were rejected, humiliated, and alone.
Jesus came along and changed their lives forever. He healed them and sent them to the priest in order that they could be deemed clean and restored to society. Only one returned to say thank you. Jesus said, "Were there not 10 that were cleansed. Where are the other nine?!"
Mark declared that this story shows it is 9 times easier to be ungrateful as we go about our lives than to be grateful. Part of the reason for this is that we are blinded to the reality of what Christ Jesus has done (and continues to do) for us. Instead our eyes get filled with what isn't right.
Think about one of the main vices that infuriated God as He lead people out of Egypt toward the Promised Land: complaining. Their eyes were filled with lack in the moment and they were ready to forsake God and go back to Egypt! Their attitudes were offensive to Him.
Jesus spoke in a parable in Mathew 13 of seeds that fell in different types of ground. One of the seeds fell on stony places where there wasn't much dirt. They immediately sprung up because they had no depth of earth, but when the sun came up they were scorched and withered. They had no root.
Many Christians have a shallow revelation of Christianity and never lose their self-centeredness. Rather than deepening root in good soil, Jesus becomes another means to their own end. When times get tough and they don't get what they want they can distance themselves from God, even to the point of forsaking Him.
If you find your passion for God withering during tough times, be militant about cultivating a heart of gratitude. There are plenty of things to be thankful for even during the most frustrating or painful days! Let's make 2012 a year of abundant gratitude as we anticipate tremendous breakthrough!