the reluctant leader

Fasting Myths

Wouldn't it be cool to have a job like those mythbuster guys - getting paid to blow stuff up. Today’s my day to bust 3 fasting myths:

“Just drink a lot of water and you will feel full” – I feel seasick.  

“By the 4th day you will not feel hungry”  - Lie.

“You’ll be more alert and spiritually sensitive” – I’m sleepy (and cranky)

This is our annual week of consecration, prayer and fasting here at the Every Nation office in Nashville. We’re praying together 3 hours a day: 8-9, 12-1 and 4-5.

Some of the prayer meetings have been spine-tingling, hair-raising, supernatural moments - others have been pretty mundane and boring – most have been somewhere in btw. Whether the prayer meeting is boring or exciting to human emotions, I think God is pleased when his people meet in unity and seek Him wholeheartedly.

Here are 4 big thoughts that hit me hard during this week of seeking God:

1. CAMPUS MINISTRY
I am called to equip and empower missionaries and ministers who will make disciples on university campuses. I think I will give an account to God on judgment day about what I did with this call.

2. MULTI-ETHNIC
Most Every Nation churches do a good job reconciling blacks and whites. But being multi-ethnic is more than black and white. We also have to reach Native-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Arabs.

3. HUMILITY
I am supposed to be "clothed with humility" in my relationships with people and i am supposed to humble my self "under God's mighty hand." I find it much easier to be humble in my relationship with God than in all my relationships with people. Both are important. (We did some repenting in our 8AM prayer meeting after Eben's word from 1Peter5.)

4. GOD’S LOVE
God loves me (and you) even if I completely fail at points 1, 2 & 3.

***Last year's day 4 blog - "Hungry, Tired, Cranky" ***

Dethroning the Stomach God

Food is a powerful force. What, when and how much we eat can be a deadly and spiritual decision.

The first commandment was about food.
The first temptation was about food.
The first sin was about food.

Food and appetite – what we do with this is kinda important, sometimes.

I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
 (Phil 3:19, 20)

Could this god is their stomach comment somehow be connected to the enemy of the cross idea? I’m afraid so.

I don’t want to be an enemy of the cross, so I’m intentionally dethroning the stomach god this week. And the process is brutal. I feel like if i drink any more water, i'll grow gills and scales.

I dethrone the stomach god at the beginning of every year - but somehow he manages to make a comeback - usually during holidays.

How do I keep him off the throne? Maybe the cross is the key. Gotta kill that false stomach god, before he gets too big.

*** What i was thinking/blogging about this time last year - "I'm Hungry"
and "I'm Still Hungry"