Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Spirit of Weeping
Joel 2:12-14
The fast is cleansing our senses and once again realizing the majesty and beauty of God the Creator, the Merciful, the Healer. Once we begin to mourn for the abandonment of God in our ministry, then and only then will God come back saying I've been waiting so long for you to want me, and now I will come and comfort you from your boredom, depression, stress, and worries, whether they be finances, school, career, family, relationships, etc.
The term mourn in Hebrew (a very concrete vivid language) means expressing your grief to where one beats his chest and tears his hair, and that can only come through the revelation of the true state of our ministry.
Heavenly Father, you are the Merciful and the great Comforter. Lord, give us our daily bread. Give us your words, as we live on your words and not on bread alone. Give us a spirit of weeping and mourning as we are on this 40-day fast. That we realize that we have lost our first love as the church of Ephesus. As the rain falls this week, let the rain of the Holy Spirit come. Lord, rend the heavens and bring down your Holy Spirit and fill up every single member of this congregation. Revelations upon revelations. Baptize our hearts in your Holy Spirit. We love you, and in your Son's most precious name we pray, Amen.
12 Yet even now, declares the LORD,In a sense, returning to God with all your heart includes your body (with fasting), your soul (weeping due to realization of sin), and your mind (mourning because we desperately need Him, but we don't rely on Him).
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.
Return to the LORD, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the LORD your God?
Matthew 15:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted"The Lord wants to comfort and bless this community of believers, but we don't mourn in this season of desert because our eyes are blind to seeing the state that we are in. As we are on this fast, I have found myself saying "man this is so boring, i can't do anything and I can only read for so long" and that's when it strikes me. We, the believers who were created to be amazed and delighted at His majesty and glory are bored because our senses have been dulled. We are no longer amazed and joyful because of revelations of God.
The fast is cleansing our senses and once again realizing the majesty and beauty of God the Creator, the Merciful, the Healer. Once we begin to mourn for the abandonment of God in our ministry, then and only then will God come back saying I've been waiting so long for you to want me, and now I will come and comfort you from your boredom, depression, stress, and worries, whether they be finances, school, career, family, relationships, etc.
The term mourn in Hebrew (a very concrete vivid language) means expressing your grief to where one beats his chest and tears his hair, and that can only come through the revelation of the true state of our ministry.
Heavenly Father, you are the Merciful and the great Comforter. Lord, give us our daily bread. Give us your words, as we live on your words and not on bread alone. Give us a spirit of weeping and mourning as we are on this 40-day fast. That we realize that we have lost our first love as the church of Ephesus. As the rain falls this week, let the rain of the Holy Spirit come. Lord, rend the heavens and bring down your Holy Spirit and fill up every single member of this congregation. Revelations upon revelations. Baptize our hearts in your Holy Spirit. We love you, and in your Son's most precious name we pray, Amen.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Want good books to read?
If you want really insightful books to read, check out the following:
Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth
by Richard Foster (Amazon)
If Christians are called to a life of discipline, but Jesus tells us there is joy in being a Christian, then why does discipline seem like a depressing, boring place to be? Richard Foster methodically breaks down the disciplines from meditation to prayer to reading the Word to fasting and why there is a reason to celebrate in all these disciplines!
The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God
by A.W. Tozer (Amazon)
A book that has greatly impacted my life. A.W. Tozer in this book says, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us..." Because if we don't have the correct knowledge of who God is, meaning He is the God of Abraham and the God of the Bible rather than the god you make up in your own mind, then A.W. Tozer goes on to say that we are literally practicing idolatry and it is the biggest problem the world has today. But AW Tozer leads you through a journey of starting over and getting to know the real God of Jacob. His holiness, His incomprehensibility, His righteousness, His wrath, the Trinity, His mercy, etc.
Secrets of the Secret Place: Keys to Igniting Your Personal Time with God
by Bob Sorge (Amazon)
Bob Sorge has 52 three to five page chapters and each chapter highlights a secret that he has learned about the secret place (the place of being alone with God). Take it a chapter a day or read it all through in a day, but this will definitely get you excited to jump into the secret place and stay there.
If you're having a tough time with your alone time with God pick this one up!
Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth
by Richard Foster (Amazon)
If Christians are called to a life of discipline, but Jesus tells us there is joy in being a Christian, then why does discipline seem like a depressing, boring place to be? Richard Foster methodically breaks down the disciplines from meditation to prayer to reading the Word to fasting and why there is a reason to celebrate in all these disciplines!
The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God
by A.W. Tozer (Amazon)
A book that has greatly impacted my life. A.W. Tozer in this book says, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us..." Because if we don't have the correct knowledge of who God is, meaning He is the God of Abraham and the God of the Bible rather than the god you make up in your own mind, then A.W. Tozer goes on to say that we are literally practicing idolatry and it is the biggest problem the world has today. But AW Tozer leads you through a journey of starting over and getting to know the real God of Jacob. His holiness, His incomprehensibility, His righteousness, His wrath, the Trinity, His mercy, etc.
Secrets of the Secret Place: Keys to Igniting Your Personal Time with God
by Bob Sorge (Amazon)
Bob Sorge has 52 three to five page chapters and each chapter highlights a secret that he has learned about the secret place (the place of being alone with God). Take it a chapter a day or read it all through in a day, but this will definitely get you excited to jump into the secret place and stay there.
If you're having a tough time with your alone time with God pick this one up!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Day 5 - Andrew Park
It's Day 5 of the fast. Still going strong. And I know the day is not over but I really want to share what just happened.
Although I felt really bored because I usually spend a lot of my time watching videos and movies and whatnot, DJ told me to use the time that I used to spend watching videos to spend time with God. And when it comes to bible reading, I never know where to begin. Proverbs or Romans is always a good place to go, but it's never really what I want read. Not that I don't like reading those books, its just doesn't hit the right way. So I resorted back to what I really like to do, song writing.
So I was working on a song and I really wanted to use a verse in the song. And I couldn't think of any but I had an idea of what I wanted to use. I wanted the word "believe" in it. So I went to biblegateway.com and guess what?? The verse I needed was the Verse of the Day
Anyway, thought I'd share that with you guys.That's it for now. bye bye~!! :]
Although I felt really bored because I usually spend a lot of my time watching videos and movies and whatnot, DJ told me to use the time that I used to spend watching videos to spend time with God. And when it comes to bible reading, I never know where to begin. Proverbs or Romans is always a good place to go, but it's never really what I want read. Not that I don't like reading those books, its just doesn't hit the right way. So I resorted back to what I really like to do, song writing.
So I was working on a song and I really wanted to use a verse in the song. And I couldn't think of any but I had an idea of what I wanted to use. I wanted the word "believe" in it. So I went to biblegateway.com and guess what?? The verse I needed was the Verse of the Day
“[The Children of Abraham] To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”- John 8:31-32
In the search box, I typed in "believe" and as soon as I hit enter, I saw the word "believed" in the Verse of the Day. So I went back and read it. What's really crazy is my song is about a boy and a girl. And the verse is directed to "the Children of Abraham." HOW LEGIT IS THAT?!?!?! :]Anyway, thought I'd share that with you guys.That's it for now. bye bye~!! :]
Just a little some'n some'n to show you guys of how great God's natural beauty is.
Angeles Crest, I believe it is back 2006 Winter Retreat
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Day 4
I'm not sure if it's ok for me to post, or if I should just comment. But I think it'll be ok if I post :D
It's been 4 days since I started my fast and I was planning to fast just Youtube, Hulu, and any other source of online videos, movies, shows, etc. But as each day past, I found (don't really know if say ing "God helped me realize" because it just doesn't feel like that yet) that there are more things in my life that take up a lot of my time. So on Day 2, I decided to fast Facebook, too. Then as Day 3 rolled by, I would tell myself that I could never give up music because music is a passion of mine. Yet again, I felt the need to give up music. I limited myself to Christian/Worship music, of course, and to instrumentals. And yes, someone told me "That's the same thing, you just dont listen to the lyrics. You just sing along with it." But I'm not talking about those kind of intrumentals. I'm talking about instrumentals such as Nujabes or this guy I found on YouTube (thankfully it was before the fast) named Soulostar. If you're not fasting YouTube, you should give them a listen. I wanted these kinds of songs so I can express my own feelings and lyrics to God because sometimes, worship songs just doesn't hit the stop. Not that they aren't good or anything, but there are times where my own words just mean so much more.
In these 4 days, I learned that prayer to me is so generic. It's too bland, if you catch my drift. People say, "I pray to God" or "Hope He answers my prayer." I realized in the past few years, I wouldn't "pray" but rather "talk" to God. I know you might be thinking, "it's the same thing." No it's not. Talking to God makes me more comfortable. When I was younger, my mom would make fun of my for being fat. T.T She would say that I won't have any friends or whatnot. Obviously she was joking, but I took it kinda seriously. And come Sunday Worship, or retreat, my favorite song to sing was "Jesus, you are my best friend." I would cry everytime I sang that song, laughing at my mom, telling her that I do have friends. (Dang, I just started crying when I was writing this and I'm in the library. HAHA :]) And you don't "pray" to you're friends, you talk to them. Asking them how their day was and what they did. Sometimes God needs to be asked that once in a while. He doesn't need to hear the same redundant thing over and over again. When I need to talk and no one is around, I would talk to God, telling Him what happened during school today or whatever.
Oh, I wanted to add was, I thought about doing any variation of the Daniel Fast. But everything I think about it, I would think about the end goal, which is to lose weight and that would defeat the whole purpose of fasting. But to think that I would be gluttonous is bad thinking too, considering that gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. (If you're not fasting movies, you should watch "se7en" or "7" or "seven" all the same.) But yea....
...I don't really know how this works. This is the first blog I ever posted/written/done, etc.
Sorry if my blog doesn't flow well. I just wanted to write what's been happening these past 4 days. As the fasting continues, maybe I'll get better at posting :D
He will give you comfort in times of trouble. He will give you hope in times of despair.
He will give you strength in times of weakness. No matter what, He will be there.
It's been 4 days since I started my fast and I was planning to fast just Youtube, Hulu, and any other source of online videos, movies, shows, etc. But as each day past, I found (don't really know if say ing "God helped me realize" because it just doesn't feel like that yet) that there are more things in my life that take up a lot of my time. So on Day 2, I decided to fast Facebook, too. Then as Day 3 rolled by, I would tell myself that I could never give up music because music is a passion of mine. Yet again, I felt the need to give up music. I limited myself to Christian/Worship music, of course, and to instrumentals. And yes, someone told me "That's the same thing, you just dont listen to the lyrics. You just sing along with it." But I'm not talking about those kind of intrumentals. I'm talking about instrumentals such as Nujabes or this guy I found on YouTube (thankfully it was before the fast) named Soulostar. If you're not fasting YouTube, you should give them a listen. I wanted these kinds of songs so I can express my own feelings and lyrics to God because sometimes, worship songs just doesn't hit the stop. Not that they aren't good or anything, but there are times where my own words just mean so much more.
In these 4 days, I learned that prayer to me is so generic. It's too bland, if you catch my drift. People say, "I pray to God" or "Hope He answers my prayer." I realized in the past few years, I wouldn't "pray" but rather "talk" to God. I know you might be thinking, "it's the same thing." No it's not. Talking to God makes me more comfortable. When I was younger, my mom would make fun of my for being fat. T.T She would say that I won't have any friends or whatnot. Obviously she was joking, but I took it kinda seriously. And come Sunday Worship, or retreat, my favorite song to sing was "Jesus, you are my best friend." I would cry everytime I sang that song, laughing at my mom, telling her that I do have friends. (Dang, I just started crying when I was writing this and I'm in the library. HAHA :]) And you don't "pray" to you're friends, you talk to them. Asking them how their day was and what they did. Sometimes God needs to be asked that once in a while. He doesn't need to hear the same redundant thing over and over again. When I need to talk and no one is around, I would talk to God, telling Him what happened during school today or whatever.
Oh, I wanted to add was, I thought about doing any variation of the Daniel Fast. But everything I think about it, I would think about the end goal, which is to lose weight and that would defeat the whole purpose of fasting. But to think that I would be gluttonous is bad thinking too, considering that gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. (If you're not fasting movies, you should watch "se7en" or "7" or "seven" all the same.) But yea....
...I don't really know how this works. This is the first blog I ever posted/written/done, etc.
Sorry if my blog doesn't flow well. I just wanted to write what's been happening these past 4 days. As the fasting continues, maybe I'll get better at posting :D
He will give you comfort in times of trouble. He will give you hope in times of despair.
He will give you strength in times of weakness. No matter what, He will be there.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Who's participating?
Since we do not have an official sign-up sheet for this fast, but would like to have accountability or let YNECM know that you are on this fast, feel free to comment on this post and reply with your name and what you want to see for YNECM and yourself on this fast!
In the meantime, check out this teaching by Mike Bickle on Fasting. (NOTES)(ORIGINAL PAGE)
In the meantime, check out this teaching by Mike Bickle on Fasting. (NOTES)(ORIGINAL PAGE)
Pre-Fast
Under the authority of Pastor Caleb, the trumpet has been blown to a 40-day MEDIA and DANIEL fast. Fasting television, movies, youtube, music, red meat, and sweets as a congregation. Grasping onto Joel 2, contending for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Oh Lord, we know that you hear our voices and our cries. That you would turn around and leave behind a blessing.
Throughout the fast, we'll be posting visions and scriptures and dreams. If you have any dreams or visions from the Lord, comment on this blog!
Throughout the fast, we'll be posting visions and scriptures and dreams. If you have any dreams or visions from the Lord, comment on this blog!
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