Awhile back, I had mentioned that Dustin and I were doing a lot of research about doing an extended fast. Well, as of last night, we’ve decided to start our fast this coming Monday. After Dustin did a lot of research into it, we’ve decided to do the Daniel Fast. So what is the Daniel Fast you might be asking?
In the book of Daniel, there are two recorded fasts that Daniel took part in. The first is in Daniel 1:7-16 and the second is in Daniel 10:1-3. In the first, Daniel fasted for 10 days, eating only fruits and vegetables. The second time Daniel fasted for 21 days, refraining from “choice foods” (meats and wine) just like the first time.
The Daniel Fast is a partial fast, which means that we will eliminate most common foods from our daily diet, but will have other options available. We will focus on eating fruits and vegetables, along with water and 100% vegetable and fruit juices (no sugar added).
What is coincidental is that Steven Furtick, lead pastor of Elevation Church, just announced today on his blog that all staff and volunteers of Elevation will be beginning a Daniel Fast on Sunday. How crazy is that! We had no idea! Well, Steven and staff, we will be joining with you!
Dustin said that Hannah will most likely be joining him in the fast. They will be fasting over their new adventure of foster parenting. I (and possibly Kindel) will be fasting over our next steps in life, mainly focused around finding direction for what ministry position God has for me and the upcoming details as we begin to prepare and look towards our future marriage.
We will be taking extra time for reading more Scripture and more prayer as seek God through it!
I am stoked about this! I LOVE food! I LOVE caffeine! I LOVE Coke Zero! This will definitely be a challenge for me, but I’m excited to see how God can move through this sacrifice.
How can you make a positive impact on global poverty?
Compassion. That’s how. Compassion International is an organization whose purpose is releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name. It is one of the largest Christian child sponsorship organizations and with top-notch financial integrity. The money you send is sent to the field! Over 80% of all the money Compassion receives goes to program activities for the children.
I’ve been a child sponsor since 2005 (yes, while I was a poor college student!). My child lives in Burkina Faso. He’s seven years old now. I just recently received a new picture of him with his new clothes and shoes that my support bought for him. He is also enrolled in school now because of Compassion. Along with all of that and medical attention, he is also taught about Jesus!
Do you have $32 a month to spare? If not, could you go without a couple times eating at restaurants? I think you could. If I can do it while being in college, most anyone can do it.
Each of us need to do our part to eradicate global poverty. One person can’t fix the whole problem, but lots of us doing our part can make a huge impact!
I have to say that I have never been an avid Olympics watcher in the past. I didn’t sit around and watch hours all day long and keep up with who is winning what, how many countries have golds, etc. However, this year has certainly caught my attention, and that is partly because of the BEYOND SPECTACULAR opening ceremony! Holy stinkin’ poop! That was incredible! I didn’t get to see the whole thing (all FIVE hours of it) as it was broadcasted, but I have seen pretty much all of it through replays of clips on NBC and online videos. That is, without a doubt, the most creative and the most extravagant opening ceremony I have ever seen in my lifetime (and I have seen many of the opening ceremonies from past Olympics). That production was absolutely out of this world! Thousands of people, tons of different elements, thousands of square feet of LCD screens, fireworks across Beijing, but also tons of communistic and eastern religious propaganda mixed in. It was spectacular though!
I have also been BLOWN AWAY by the athletes. Seeing them compete is mind-blowing. These people are some of the greatest athletes and greatest conditioned people to have ever existed! World records are being shredded, especially by Michael Phelps! As of last night, he has already won three gold medals in Beijing, which, combined with his previous six golds from Athens in 2004, makes him tied as the record holder for most total Olympic gold medals. He has been incredible and he still has five more events in which to SLAUGHTER people and take home a possible EIGHT gold medals at one Olympics (which would be another new world record)! Every time I see Phelps, all I can think is “I need to work out!”
On another note, I don’t agree with the whole boycotting deal. Yeah, China’s not doing so hot on the humanitarian thing. I know that. Don’t comment to preach about that. I already know. Here’s my deal. The Olympics are not about China. It’s about ALL the countries in the world having a chance to represent themselves and compete. Those same boycotting people wouldn’t care if it was in the U.S. though, as if we are so perfect in our own foreign affairs. Last I checked, we just became an empire on the offensive (not defensive) when we went to Iraq. Well, that’s a whole other post anyways and I hate politics. So, no thanks.
Overall, the level of creativity and production that went into the opening ceremony was beyond anything else! The level of athleticism is outstanding. So far, the Olympic games in Beijing have blown me away!
Today (since it is about 1 AM right now) will be a busy, busy day! I’ll pick up Kindel at 8:15 am and go to worship practice for ALIVE at 11 AM. After service, pack my gear back up, grab some drive thru food, and head over to Bethesda UMC to set up, sound check and practice for leading worship at a youth rally there! It will be fun playing again with all those guys! I don’t want that to end!
Set list for the youth rally:
Awesome Is the Lord Most High - Chris Tomlin
Our God Is Love - Lee McD
Blessed Be Your Name - Matt Redman
Marvelous Light - Charlie Hall
Mighty to Save / Hallelujah - Hillsong / Hillsong United
Shout Unto God - Hillsong United
If you think about it around 7pm, pray for us as we lead those teens to the throne and join them in worshiping!
I’ve already been a strong user of iGoogle as my browser’s homepage and Google Reader to keep up with all of my RSS blog subscriptions. However, I’m now starting to find the usefulness of a couple other Google apps.
Google Calendar
Having my calendars online has allowed me to share my calendars with Kindel (and vice versa), so we can always see what’s on the other person’s calendar. It’s also good having it online because I can access it from anywhere, not just my Mac.
Google Documents
The particular positive side of using Google Docs for us has been for creating lists dealing with wedding details. Wedding budget, guest list, stuff we want to register for, etc. Having this online allows both of us to edit the lists as we think of stuff to add. It has been easier than one of us keeping up with these things and continually asking the other about information.
I love Google Apps!
“If you’re going to reach people that nobody else is reaching, you have to do what nobody else is doing.”
-Craig Groeschel
I first heard this quote when watching a video of a recent 722 service. They quoted Craig as they talked about revamping the ministry that 722 does. This quote definitely got to me. What would happen if pastors went to the office to let this quote sink in and filter all that they do? What would happen if church board meetings were focused on living out this statement? What would happen to churches if they would get off their “the way we’ve always done it” junk to see a bigger picture of God’s work?
I always want my life and my ministry to have the essence of this quote in it.
- Roommates got back late last night after being in New York for over a week. It’s sort of nice to have people in the house again.
- I arranged some music for ALIVE service this morning. We had to do an instrumental for a video in the middle of the worship set and then lead it into a new arrangement of “Take My Life” using the music and rhythm of “Crash Into Me” from Dave Matthews Band. (If you know the message of that song, it’s hard to imagine. It works though.) So, for the instrumental, I took the music from “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay, changed the progression some, and transposed it to go straight into “Take My Life.” It worked fairly well, but it would have worked out a LOT better if this idea could have been handed to me way before this Sunday instead of a few days before.
- I got two negative responses from churches this week. That’s not fun to hear. Quite depressing actually. However, I’m thinking that maybe these doors had to close for a reason. If either would have opened, I definitely would have taken them. Maybe neither one was the right one and God had to close them to stop me from taking them. I don’t know. Or maybe I’m way off. I really don’t know right now. SO… I’m back to praying, searching, calling, networking, begging, etc. Pray that God will continue to guide me and Kindel in the right direction.
- I’ve stayed off sugar sodas all year so far (minus one Red Bull and one can of Cheerwine). Now, I’m trying to slowly lower my total soda intake. I have a drinking problem. Mmm…soda…
- More people are using twitter! However…there are still some of you out there that are still hesitating! You know you should try it!
- Kindel bought a UNC hat! Her parents said she couldn’t wear it until football season was over. I can’t complain. It’s not like the Heels will do anything good in football anyways.
- Speaking of the Heels, I can’t wait for BASKETBALL SEASON!!! Hansbrough’s senior year!
- The Dark Knight is now at #8 all-time USA box office gross! It will at least hit #2 before it’s all said and done. I’m still hoping for it to SINK THE TITANIC!
- On the night of August 10, I’m leading worship with the guys again! We’re leading at a youth rally at Bethesda UMC in Powdersville. My old roommate is the youth pastor there and a friend is coming back from Yankee land to speak at it. It should be an awesome night!
- I’m meeting up with this guy for lunch on Tuesday. Can’t wait!
- I have a list of about 8 or 9 people I’m scheduling to call on Monday. Catching up with some friends and begging for some jobs!
Well, that’s all I’ve got for now.
