Lent: Why Fast?
Today is Ash Wednesday, and the season of Lent begins today. For many of us as Christians, that means 40 days of fasting (giving up certain luxuries or conveniences). But why do we—and why should we—fast, anyway?
"The Temptation of Jesus" (Gustave Dore)
First, I think we need to recognize some things that should not come into consideration in making the decision to fast. Fasting shouldn’t be done because your pastor tells you to, or because it’s tradition, or because you feel guilted into it. Instead, it should be seen as a wonderful opportunity to give the Lord more attention than we normally do, and increase our reliance on Him. It also shouldn’t be done to boast or brag about, but should rather be something private between you and God. Finally, let’s be very clear about one thing: If we think that we’re going to offer up some little part of our lives to God and impress Him with the magnitude of our sacrifice, I think we’re deluding ourselves. What can we possibly offer Him that isn’t already His?
Well, there is one thing: ourselves. While I don’t think we can impress God with any pitiful sacrifice we might bring before Him, I know that He does appreciate when we take something that’s important to us, and intentionally say to Him, “God, you are more important.” It’s not much, but when it comes down to it, that sort of sums up a big part of want He wants from us: to simply put Him first. Fasting, then, is an opportunity to put God exactly where He belongs in our lives: on the throne, above all of the other gods we create and worship on a daily basis: wealth, comfort, popularity, food, technology, and all of the rest.
For me, fasting is not only a way of reminding myself that God is the most important thing in my life, but also that He is the source of all blessings—that all I have comes from Him, and ultimately belongs to Him. In other words, I don’t own the things that I have; I am simply a steward of the things that God has chosen to give to me. Particularly when fasting from food, we are forced to rely more on God as the source of our very sustenance. After their exodus from Egypt, the Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years, depending on God’s provision in the form of manna. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by the devil, but held fast to God’s promises. Likewise, Lent is a 40-day period where we can give up something in our lives for the purpose of reminding ourselves that, ultimately, all that we have—and all that we need—comes from God.
Fasting, then, is not about deprivation, but about making room—in your heart and in your life—for the Lord. Let’s not confine the concept to Lent, either; fasting should be something that we do whenever we feel led or convicted to do so—not out of compulsion or guilt, but because we celebrate and relish the chance to seat God firmly on His throne, and worship Him as our Savior, and thank Him for His provision.
What are your thoughts on fasting? What are some specific ways that it help your relationship with Jesus?
(Thanks to Daniel Montgomery for his thoughts on Lent, which inspired me to share my own thoughts.)
“Developing a Philosophy of Ministry”
Last Friday, I wrote about my mission, and set forth a bit of my vision for the local ministry component of my work with Hope For the Rejected. It was admittedly something of a loose framework—just three points, really—that had come out of several months of thought and prayer. A couple of weeks ago, a post on The Resurgence caught my eye (as so many do); this particular entry discussed the importance of developing a philosophy of ministry—a foundation and framework to help guide a church’s leadership and mission (“Developing a Philosophy of Ministry”, Jeremy Pace).
A philosophy of ministry helps us begin to move from the “what” to the “why,” which in turn provides a grid through which to make decisions on what we do and do not do regarding our pastoral leadership.
In the video introduction that accompanies his post, Pace brings up an intriguing point about knowing what opportunities to pursue and not pursue. He reminds us that local churches are “made up of unique people, and led by leaders with unique personalities and gift sets” and, subsequently, we must understand our church’s particular mission. Very often, I struggle with the problem of saying “yes” to everyone and everything. Pace argues that clear philosophies “allow us to do a lot of different things and allow individual gifting to be used for the glory of the Lord in unique ways throughout the body.” In other words, we can most effectively serve our purpose for God when we’re focused on the specific work that He’s called us to do.
Pace offers a helpful resource (
Developing a Philosophy of Ministry (PDF); this content can also be found at the original post) in which he first explains the importance of such a philosophy, and then offers some guidelines for developing one’s own. To be sure, this content is geared specifically to churches, and—though my ministry is primarily outside church walls—a similar approach is not only appropriate, but necessary. As I’ve ruminated on this content since first reading it, I have recognized that the things I’ve outlined in my head are more methodologies than anything else. These methods will necessarily change over time, and I need to more formally and concretely define the foundational truths around which these methods have been created—the Scripturally-centered vision and mission, unique to this ministry even among other branches of Hope For The Rejected’s ministry as a whole—that will provide the thrust for everything I will do. By providing “a solid foundation and clear boundaries,” I can ensure that I am acting as a good steward of this ministry, and allowing God to use me, my wife, and other leaders to the utmost.
Church and ministry leaders, what do you think about this resource? Have you run into situations where a better understanding of a philosophy of ministry would have helped? Are you currently in need of developing one?
God Redeems Mistakes
On Monday, I wrote about the difficulty of not being able to “save” others from their own mistakes, and my post about Biblical discipline last week launched a discussion with a friend about letting children make mistakes. During the course of that discussion, I told my friend that I believed it was crucial to always make sure that I explain to my children why something is wrong, rather than giving an arbitrary reason such as, “because I said so.” For example, if I tell my daughter not to touch the stove, I’ll explain that she shouldn’t do that because the heat will burn her and cause her pain. He pointed out that—no matter how well I communicate things—there are going to be plenty of instances where my daughter doesn’t listen, and has to learn the lesson herself. To take our example further, she’ll touch the stove and get burned, and learn for herself why she shouldn’t have touched it in the first place. Watching one of my youth make a mistake and learn the consequences themselves is tough; likewise, I’m preparing myself for this to be one of the most difficult parts of being a father.
But we find a bright side here when we look at how God views and uses mistakes. We can, in fairness, look at the Bible as a written history of mistakes, from Adam and Eve on. A recurring theme, though, is God’s consistent use of flawed people (are there any other kind?) to accomplish great things. He looks past our mistakes, helps us through them, and blesses us anyway. There are always consequences for our actions, to be sure—but God never stops loving us. Starr and I visited a friend’s church last weekend (Pathways), and the pastor discussed a great example of this in his sermon for the morning. In Deuteronomy 29, Moses tells the people of the curses that will befall them if they stray from God and fail to keep the covenant. God already knows that His people will fail to keep the covenant, and suffer from the consequences of that grave mistake. But, in his next sentence, Moses gives his people—and us—a great insight into God’s character with His promise that—when the people “return to the LORD”—He will restore the blessings that He promised (Deut. 30:1-10).
Indeed, the truly remarkable thing about God is that He restores the fulfillment of His promises in my life not just in spite of—but often because of—my mistakes. I’ve come to realize that every mistake I make is a unique opportunity for God to teach me, and I’ve come to genuinely cherish those lessons. One of the most wonderful things about those lessons is being able to share them with others—though I’m slowly learning to accept that I can’t always save them from their own mistakes.
Mistakes We Knew We Were Making
As I felt God calling me to youth ministry—specifically to high school students—I was apprehensive about a number of things. It’s no secret that I’m not particularly comfortable around teenagers, and I honestly thought I’d have a hard time getting them to like me and think I was “cool”—not for the sake of my ego, but so they’d care to listen to anything I had to say. I expected that I’d struggle for things about which to talk to them, and that we wouldn’t share enough “common ground” for conversations or be able to connect in a meaningful way. I supposed that—being an “old guy”—I wouldn’t be able to communicate with them on their level. But, none of these concerns really proved to be an issue. The hardest thing, I soon discovered, was watching them make mistakes.
Lazarus and Dives, illumination from the Codex Aureus of Echternach
It happened many times that one of the young people from our youth group would come to me and my wife for advice, and we were always happy to draw on Scripture—as well as our own vast experience in the field of “mistake-making”—to try to help them come to an understanding of where God was guiding them in any particular instance. All too often, though, we could tell—even before the conversation was over—that the advice would be ignored, and that the one whom we were counseling was just going to do what they’d already decided to do, regardless of our input.
I say this not with condescension, because I am certainly still guilty of the same offense: following my own will instead of God’s will (and almost always deceiving myself into thinking that mine actually is God’s will). So, though I understand why people do this, it doesn’t make it any easier to watch someone make that mistake. I’m left feeling like the proverbial rich man in Luke 16—realizing my error too late, and unable to warn others before they follow the same path to ruin. My futility in convincing others to alter their respective courses became a source of heartache on more than few occasions.
What seeing this from the perspective an outsider really highlights for me, though, is my own blindness when it comes to making decisions based upon following God’s will for my own life, and my severe stubbornness and selfishness, which consistently lead me to follow my own path even when others try to warn me. Those admonitions, I think, are integral to discerning God’s will and making wise choices; it’s too easy to fool ourselves when we’re listening to just one voice.
Do you have Godly counselors in your life? I’m not speaking just of pastors, but also of friends, family members, and especially wiser (which often means older) mentors, too. Do you listen to and consider advice given by people you trust and respect, even when you don’t like what you hear? Too often, we simply look for approval; we desire only an echo chamber to reflect our own “wisdom” back to us, rather than earnestly seeking conflicting opinions that force us to test what we think is true and right. Ultimately, God’s Word—in Scripture and through Prayer—is where we discern His will, but He often gives us resources in the form of other Christ-followers who can help to guide us as they, too, seek His will.
My Mission (Should I Choose to Accept It)
On Monday, I promised to describe in greater detail my plans for ministry as Starr and I move forward. As I wrote then, I've left my position at Trinity Lutheran Church, and will now be focusing my attention on Hope For The Rejected.
I joined forces, so to speak, with Hope For The Rejected in 2004, shortly after coming to Christ through the work of the ministry’s founder, Loyal Thurman. Since then, the ministry has expanded under his vision and leadership, from a small group in Maryland to a national ministry, which currently has chapters in six states. With this growth, a need and opportunity has opened to guide and oversee operations in the Maryland region, and I have been asked to step into that position. Starr will be integrally involved as my ministry partner in this endeavor. We will also function as part of the national leadership for Hope For The Rejected, working to increase our effectiveness, improve our online presence, establish standards, and develop training and study materials, and more. Five years ago, we helped to plan and execute the first Unified Underground conference, a national gathering of these underground subcultures. This has become an annual event, and we hope to hold a similar event in Europe in 2013. Most importantly, we will be sharing the love and Gospel of Jesus Christ to a group of people whom we are uniquely equipped to reach.
Here at home, my model for local ministry is shaping up as something of a three-tiered approach:
- At the most basic level, we will be seeking to build relationships with young people who identify with subculture. This is evangelism in a relational form: we will earnestly seek to develop genuine friendships, and share our faith and experiences organically, within the context of those friendships.
- Second, we’ll be developing those relationships with others, while deepening their relationships with Christ through Bible study, and deeper discussions. This will be deliberate study and discussion about Christ and various aspects related to Christian living, for those seeking a relationship with Christ.
- The final aspect will be focused discipleship, for young people who want to step up and become spiritual leaders to their peers. I’m forced to face the fact that I’m not getting any younger, and I also have a Biblical responsibility to help raise up the next generation of leaders for the Church. This is perhaps the aspect of ministry to which I’m looking most forward, since I consider one of my strongest gifts to be teaching and encouraging.
Obviously, I understand that many situations likely won’t fit into these cleanly-defined categories, but I do believe it’s helpful to create goals toward which to aim. I am willing, too, to alter my plans as things progress, knowing that the Spirit will guide me and give me vision as I journey further down the path.
So that is the mission on which God has sent me, and I have gladly accepted it. Starr and I are excited to get things started, and I am excited to be able to share this journey with you, my readers. Thanks for giving me the opportunity.
MySanAntonio.com Features Tattooed Christians
Pastor Skip Brooks. Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, © San Antonio Express-News
Kate Shellnutt wrote a feature for MySanAntonio.com last week on some of that city’s tattooed Christians (“Tattoos illustrate their faith”), including Pastor Skip Brooks of Texas’ Rise Above Ministries, with whom I’ve had the opportunity to speak on a number of occasions, including at some of our Unified Underground conferences here in Maryland.
This is an interesting overview of contemporary tattoo culture from the perspective of an outsider. Over the past several years, pop culture has embraced and popularized tattooing, with many actors, musicians, performers, and athletes sporting their own, along with reality television programs like TLC’s Miami Ink and L.A. Ink, and A&E’s Inked. Indeed, tattoos are becoming more ubiquitous with each passing day, especially among the younger generation—the article refers to a Pew Research Center report which states that “nearly 40 percent of adults under age 30 have a tattoo.”
Like several of the people the author interviewed for this article, I see tattoos as a great opportunity to share the Gospel with others. So far, I have just a couple of tattoos, but they have already led to conversations with dozens of people. I have many plans for future ink, and my personal conviction is to only mark my body with something that is glorifying to God. Like any other interesting characteristic, tattoos act as an ice-breaker and conversation starter, and the most important conversation I can have—the only conversation worth having—is one about Jesus Christ, how He rescued and redeemed me, and how His Spirit lives and moves in me daily.
Disciplining Children Biblically
I recently read an interesting article on The Resurgence, 10 Ways to Love Your Kids by Rachel Jankovic.
Because I’m going to be a father in just a few short months myself, the title instantly piqued my interest. The author offers several good suggestions, but the third item really grabbed me:
3) Discipline biblically.
When you discipline, make sure it has a biblical category. A godly parent can't discipline for “being annoying,” “making a mess,” or “squirming.” Instead, look to correct disobeying, lying, or something that you can support with Scripture, Proverbs and Ephesians in particular. If there isn’t a biblical principle and name behind it, don’t discipline for it.
My wife has more experience with children than I do, and she has already expressed a desire to “let our kids be kids”: to not arbitrarily punish them for being loud or silly, but to allow them to act like children (while still disciplining them when they misbehave). For example, our daughter will—without a doubt—sometimes go wild while her mother and I are trying to have a nice dinner at a restaurant, but it won’t be because she’s a “bad kid”; it will be because she is tired, or has too much energy to sit still at that point. We shouldn’t expect her, as a child, to act like an adult and “behave.” Instead, we have to understand and accept the fact that she is indeed a child, and may not always conduct herself as we might choose.
The above point from Ms. Jankovic, though, really helps me—as a logical guy—define a standard for discipline; in other words, to draw a line between letting kids “be kids,” and simply letting them run wild. What better standard than God’s Word for determining how—and for what—to discipline our child. I’ll have to give special attention to the book of Proverbs over the next few months to prepare my heart and mind for this part of fatherhood.
I’m very interested in hearing from any parents on this subject. What do you think? Does this sound like a reasonable strategy to you? Would this philosophy “work” for you and your children? Do you see any shortcomings to this approach?
Friends of YFC Fundraising Banquet – May 8, 2012
Friends of Youth For Christ Fundraising Banquet
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 • 6:45pm at Martin’s West
This year, our guest for the Friends of YFC Fundraising Banquet will be NFL sportscaster James “JB” Brown. Starr and I are trying to build up support as we begin our ministry with Metro Maryland Youth For Christ, so please let me know if you are interested in attending the banquet.
Tickets are free, and we will be discussing opportunities for you to financially support the ministries of MMYFC at the banquet. (We're also looking for a few individuals or businesses who would be willing to graciously sponsor tables so that we can offer those free tickets to others.)
“You can try a number of different systems and philosophies to be successful in life, and you'll enjoy short-term success. But, there is a genuine peace in the innermost recesses of your personality that only comes from knowing Jesus.”
—James Brown
Another New Season
with some of the Trinity youth at the Impact conference, Ocean City, Maryland, March 2011
It’s been quite some time since last I updated this blog; I’m hoping to get back into the swing of things, and I suppose there’s no better time to start than now.
The biggest news is that my wife, Starr, and I are expecting our first child—a daughter—in May! I’ll write more about this in future posts because there are far too many things flying through my brain to fit in just one entry. Also, there’s other important news at hand.
The weekend before last marked the end of my time as the High School Youth Director at Trinity Lutheran Church. Starr and I enjoyed our ministry there immensely, but we couldn’t shake the feeling that God was calling us to shift our focus. I was an atheist who came to saving faith in Christ through the work of Youth For Christ—specifically a ministry called Hope For The Rejected—which is geared toward the unchurched members of “underground” subcultures (i.e., the pierced, tattooed, punks, goths, skateboarders, etc.). I have volunteered with that ministry since then, and Starr and I have always had a heart for the lost, unchurched teens and young adults of those underground communities, to whom I relate in such a profound and meaningful way. I wrote last January, when I started this blog, of my intention to work part-time for Youth For Christ while serving in ministry at Trinity, but it became apparent after some time that I couldn’t do both at once. My pastor at Trinity spoke to me of their need to have a full-time youth minister who was committed not only to the youth of Trinity, but to their families, as well. We realized that God wants us to refocus our efforts on the ministry of Hope For The Rejected, and that doing so would render us unable to give the attention to Trinity’s youth ministry that it rightly deserves. That being the case, I made the difficult decision to step aside and make way for Trinity to interview for a full-time youth minister—something that their families truly need and deserve.
Last Sunday was Trinity’s annual “Youth Sunday,” on which they turn over much of the responsibilities of leading worship to the middle- and high-school students of the congregation. I was so proud to see the young people of the church—especially the band, Chosen, and the drama teams—pull together and pull off a memorable morning of worship during two services. Our pastor ended both services by calling Starr and me to the front, thanking us for our work at Trinity, and sending us to the back of the church to greet people as they left after the benediction. This was, to me, the most touching part of the morning, as we received sincere words of gratitude and well-wishes from hundreds of church members. Starr and I were welcomed with open arms by the Trinity community, and made many friendships there which we’ll truly cherish. It is certainly bittersweet for us to leave behind this season of our lives that has been so happily spent working with the youth at Trinity, but we are anxious and excited to discover what God has in store for us as we step out in faith and continue to follow the path for our lives and ministry that He has set before us—a path which I’ll discuss in more detail in a post in the near future. I look forward to sharing stories and testimonies of these successes with all of you here, on this blog.
East Bank, WV Mission Trip
I leave [early!] tomorrow morning for a mission trip to East Bank, WV. I’ll be accompanied by 21 young people from our church and five other adults, and we’ll be helping with various service projects around that community: home improvement, painting, yard work, and the like.
This will be my first trip of this kind, and I’m looking forward to living out the second greatest Commandment of loving our neighbors, and living out my faith by being a very real example of love to the people we encounter.
Please keep our group in your prayers over the next week!
The mission trip T-shirt pictured was designed by Brian Ramage. Check out his site at www.BJMRamage.com.
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