Update on the Week of Prayer and Fasting

We had a fabulous week of Prayer and Fasting, February 10^th-17^th, here at our church!! I was greatly challenged by my personal fast and I was encouraged by the corporate fast that went on throughout the Body of Christ here at our church.

Our Sr. Pastor began the week with a powerful sermon on Matthew 5:6 where he challenged us to consider those things in our lives that we hunger and thirst for and to consider how these things satisfy, or don’t, satisfy us. The questions he asked were penetrating: Is righteousness our only spiritual food? Are we constantly longing after the “greener grasses” in this world rather than after God? A quote from Richard Foster continues to haunt me, “fasting reveals the things that control us.”

As the week of Prayer and Fasting unfolded it was encouraging to hear testimonies of people who were fasting for the first time. Jesus assumes all believers fast when he said in Matthew 6:16, “when you fast, do not …” The key word is “when,” not “if” and so it was great to hear that kids from the age of 8 to adults in their late 70s all chose to fast in some significant way so to pray, read scripture and seek the Lord. I was blessed to hear that an 8 year old child decided on their own that they needed to fast from their favorite math website, all without the prompting of the parents! Adults ranging the age spectrum fasted for 1-3 days, others only ate vegetables and fruit (the Daniel Fast diet) while others sacrificed Facebook, sweet treats of all kinds, coffee, etc. One woman felt challenged to not read any novels for the week so that she could spend that time reading in scripture. Whatever people decided we know that, “the Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him” (Lamentations 3:25).

The week of Prayer and Fasting ended on Sunday the 17^th with a Sunday full of powerful and encouraging services. At the 8:45 service we focused on the themes of confession, contrition and repentance and I preached on Nehemiah 1:1-11. The highlight of the service was the Open-Mic prayer time, for sure. In the second service at 10am we focused on the themes of consecration, dedication and transformation and our Sr. Pastor preached on Peter’s amazing release from prison in Acts 12 and he challenged us to expect great things from the Lord. Thanks to the Table Service’s Worship Team for leading us in wonderful times of singing in both of these services! At the 11am Traditional service we focused on the themes of Intercession and Supplication and I preached on the persistent, prayerful widow in Luke 18. Then at the 12:15 segment we closed with a time of singing and prayer, focusing on the themes of thanksgiving and praise. Again, the time of Open-Mic prayer was powerful!

It only seemed fitting to “break the fast” with the Lord’s Supper at the 11am service, followed by a simple soup and bread lunch at 1pm. Thanks to a couple of wonderful cooks we had a delicious Potato-Leek soup and a tasty Cabbage and ground beef soup made from their very own grass fed cows.

Our hope for this week was to labor in prayer and to seek after the Lord for his direction for our church. Thanks to all for participating and may we continue to seek after the Lord with the same passion, fervency and urgency that we had during the week of Prayer and Fasting.

Glory Days...

I was visiting my family over the 4th of July when I heard Bruce Springsteen's song "Glory Days" and I haven't been able to get that song out of my head ever since!

 

 

 

Let's be honest, who doesn't connect with this song? We've all got our "glory days" that we think back on, that we long for, or that we reminisce about. One of the reasons the song hits me is because the opening verse talks about his high school baseball days. (Check out this article in the NY Times about the back-story to this first verse.) The song’s stories of reconnecting with old friends that reminisce about the good ol’ days pulls on just about everyone’s heartstrings. Besides, who doesn’t love the honky-tonk sound, whose words just roll off the tongue as it takes us back in time to our own “glory days”?

But years ago I heard from a good friend of mine, an expert on Springsteen, who thought that this song was really lamenting how much we focus on "the glory days." Really? Are you sure? My friend went on to say how, in his opinion, Springsteen was really commenting about our tendency to try to recapture the past because many of us are unhappy in the present.

With that in mind I re-listened to the song, I watched the video, and sure enough I would agree. In the final verse Springsteen has this to say about the "glory days:"

And I hope when I get old I don't sit around thinking about it
but I probably will
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of, 

well time slips away
and leaves you with nothing mister but
boring stories of glory days

 

His fear is that in his waning years all he will have are those “boring stories of glory days.” And to be truthful, who doesn’t have this same fear? Many of us might already prefer to live out those golden memories rather than face the reality of today.

Well days after hearing this song I read Ecclesiastes 7:10, "Don't long for "the good old days." This is not wise" (NLT). Wow! If anyone would know this to be true it would be the author of the book of Ecclesiastes (traditionally thought to be Solomon, the King of Ancient Israel, 970-930 B.C.); a man who let nothing stop him from enjoying anything and everything about life. And even though he lived "the glory days" he realized they were "meaningless." As a matter of fact, he used the word meaningless 24 times in Ecclesiastes!

But I think he uses "meaningless" not because some of these things are inherently bad or evil (though some of them certainly are, especially when used with no restraint or in the wrong context, for example 2:3, 10) but because these things were done in a life that was lived apart from God. That's why we see him telling the reader in chapter 12 "don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator" (NLT). He goes on to say seven different times how the reader should "remember him," referring to God.

So is remembering "the glory days" a bad thing? I don't think so. For we see many Psalms where the author recounts God's faithfulness to his people through the years (Psalms 105, 106, 114, 126, 132, 135 and especially 136). Where we run into problems is when we realize that “the glory days” were spent apart from God.

Therefore, I encourage us today to welcome Jesus Christ as “the Lord” and “shepherd” (Ps. 23:1) of our lives and to “honor him in your youth (however old you are) before you grow old and say, ‘Life is not pleasant anymore’” (Eccles. 12:1, NLT).

U2, the Psalms and praying for Syria

 

One of my favorite songs by the Irish band U2 is called “40” (found on their War album) and it is their rendition of King David’s Psalm 40. The song is based off of the first three verses which is a prayer to God to hear his cry while he is waiting for the Lord’s deliverance from his own sin (vs. 12), from his “troubles” that surround him (vs. 12) and from his enemies “who seek to take my life” (vs. 14).

The chorus of 40 goes, “I will sing, sing a new song. I will sing, sing a new song. How long to sing this song? How long to sing this song? How long, how long, how long? How long to sing this song?” U2 has been known to end their concerts with this song as the crowd keeps singing this chorus even after the band has left the stage. Check out this YouTube video of U2 in Chicago in 2005 as this is a great example. (If you want to skip through the acoustic version of Yahweh go ahead to 3:45 in the video to see 40.)

Many times when I hear about oppression and killings in the news I often think of this song and this line from the chorus. This is especially the case when I hear about Christians being persecuted. We read in Revelation 6:9-12 the following, “when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. ¹⁰ They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” ¹¹ Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer” (NIV).

And so we keep waiting, and singing, “How long to sing this song?” How long will you allow your sons and daughters to be killed? How long will you allow Christians to be persecuted and beaten? More generally, how long will you allow ethnic cleansing? How long will you allow the majority to kill the minority? How long will you allow the massacres by Bashar al-Assad in Syria to go on? How long, O Lord, how long?

In our Daily Walk Bible reading yesterday we looked at Psalms 90-97 and I found myself especially praying Psalm 94 for those being attacked in Syria. “Arise, O judge of the earth. Give the proud what they deserve. How long, O Lord? How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat?” (vss. 2-3, NLT). I was especially comforted by these verses detailing God’s sovereignty and sure judgment on those who think “the Lord isn’t looking” (94:7). “Is he deaf—the one who made your ears? Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes? He punishes the nations—won’t he also punish you? He knows everything—doesn’t he also know what you are doing?” (vss. 9-10, NLT)

As I read the stories coming out of Syria, and as I find myself singing U2’s song, and praying Psalms like Psalm 94, I am also incredibly encouraged by Revelation 5:6, 9 which says, “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, … And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

As we “wait patiently for the Lord” (Ps. 40:1) we trust that He will turn to us and hear our cries. And so we keep reading the Psalms, we get politically involved, we keep praying for world governmental leaders to take action and we sing in confidence the new song that Jesus Christ was and is worthy to be the slain lamb! Come, Lord Jesus, Come!

Death and Music

 

Death is a reality I have had to confront recently. With the passing of Cari’s grandfather in February, some church members here recently, some people Cari has served at work and now a missionary friend in Bolivia I find myself thinking about death a lot. Not in a grim way, or in a scared way, but in a realistic way. Death comes to all, whether we are ready for it or not. I was recently reminded at a wake of the classic passage in Ecclesiastes, “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die” (Eccl. 3:1-2).

As we know Easter is a season, not a day; and it is a season that is celebrated between the resurrection of Christ and Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came. Tertullian, an early church father (200 A.D.) said that Easter is “a most joyous space.”* While this is certainly true, life and its struggles and even death are still a reality during the Easter Season. And it’s during those struggles, and wrestling with death, where Basil of Caesarea’s words from 380 A.D. are most encouraging. He said that Easter “reminds us of the resurrection which we await in the other world.”*

As we await that resurrection we are continually reminded that we live in a broken world, a world in need of healing and hope. To help remind me of the hope we have in Christ’s resurrection, and in our one-day resurrection, I have been listening to a CD entitled "Risen" put out by Sovereign Grace Music. From the liner notes in the album we are reminded of these important truths, “Christ’s resurrection was more than a display of raw supernatural power. It was the single event that assures us that his payment for our sins has been accepted. God’s wrath is satisfied. Death is defeated. The powers of darkness are overcome. Sin’s dominion has been broken. And the life of the age to come has dawned.”

These songs dealing with Christ's Resurrection have been encouraging, especially "To Live is Christ" and "Jesus Lives." As I listen to this CD, and let the lyrics wash over my soul, I am continually reminded that death has been defeated, and that it holds no power over the believer who loves and follows Jesus Christ.

I encourage you to take some time and listen to all the songs for free on their website.

Whatever we may face this Easter Season may we remember this truth from Paul: "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him" (1 Thess. 4:13-14).

*From Robert Webber’s Rediscovering the Christian Feasts © 1998, pg. 92.