What Do you Eat Before You Fast?

Happy almost new year. On New Years day I will be spending time with family and friends and having my last meal for thirty days. I also have the day off from teaching so I will be visiting another church in the area and just being a 1st time guest.

I started fasting in January six or seven years ago to 1) Start off the year getting closer to God 2) Pray about God's direction in my life 3) Pray about God's direction for Life Connection Church. (My first Jan. fast was to pray about our first leadership retreat at a previous church where I was an associate pastor).

I am really looking forward to the fast. By the second week my time spent with God really gets sweet and He does a lot to get me back on track to seeing life and people from His point of view. And by the end of the fast it is hard to let it go. I hope to blog during this time more and be more disciplined in my own personal journaling as I pray, study God's Word, and practice His presence when tempted to eat.

On the lighter side, what does one eat when he knows he is not going to eat for 30 days? Not that I have not eaten plenty over the holidays. (By the way, just about everything looks good to eat and is tempting when you are not eating)

I was on a ride the other day and I stopped by a local gas station to buy a candy that is rare nowadays and hard to find, but it is by far my favorite candy. I love Cherry Mash. Not that I eat it much, but it would be a great snack to eat before the fast. I went in to buy two of them. I used to go to the 7-11 as a kid and trade bottles for a Slurpee and a Cherry Mash. So, I pull up to the gas station, walk straight to the candy isle, and they don't carry it any more.

Oh well, if I don't get a Cherry Mash before my fast, I can look forward to having one after. (I googled it and you can order them on line)

If you were not going to eat for 30 days, what would you eat?

an apprentice of Christ
Royal

Christmas vs. Holiday from a Muslim Perspective

Please Check out the Dec. 25 (Christmas Day) post from Muslim Dr. Hesham A. Hassaballa of Chicago. Hassaballa is a Pulmonary and Critical Care physician currently practicing in the greater Chicago area and has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001.

Here are some quotes. Please check out the entire post.

"there is something my Christmas-celebrating fellow Americans and I have in common. When I greeted my neighbors or Christian friends this holiday season, I said to them, "Merry Christmas." Some, in fact, said to me, "Hey, Dr. Hassaballa, Happy Holidays!" And I said back to them, "Merry Christmas.""

Have I sold myself out to the "infidels"? No, not really. As a Muslim in a majority Christian society, I have respect for the holidays and special occasions of my fellow Americans. Thus, with the respect demanded by Islam to non-Muslim compatriots, I say to other Christian Americans: "Merry Christmas." It's very similar to saying "Happy Birthday" to someone on their birthday, isn't it? I mean, "merry" means "happy." I think that, in some countries, they in fact do say "Happy Christmas" instead of "Merry Christmas." Whatever the case may be, I gladly say "Merry Christmas" to my Christian friends and neighbors.In fact, this whole thing about not saying "Merry Christmas" because it is not politically correct is pretty pathetic. If I know someone is Christian, I will tell them, "Merry Christmas," not "Happy Holidays."

Does this mean that I am celebrating the holiday? No. All I am saying is "I hope your 25th day of December is a happy day." In fact, the greeting "Merry Christmas" really is not enough: it should be "Blessed Christmas," like we Muslims say to each other on our Eid days.

I do the same thing to my Jewish friends and co-workers (yes, I do have them). When Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish New Year, comes around, I tell them, Shana Tova, or "Happy New Year." Again, I am not "taking up the customs of the infidels." I am simply wishing a fellow human being goodness on his or her special religious day.

There was a time when I did not believe as I do now. I thought, back in my days of darkness, that it was wrong to say, "Merry Christmas" or even "Happy New Year" to any of the "infidels." Thank God I was cured of that religious world view.

Thanks Dr. Hassaballa for your Christmas Lesson on love.

An Apprentice of Christ
Royal

New You - Oswald Chambers

From: My Utmost for His Highest Daily Devotional by Oswald Chambers

Our Lord never "patches up" our natural virtues, that is, our natural traits, qualities, or characteristics. He completely remakes a person on the inside— ". . ... put on the new man . . ." ( Ephesians 4:24 ).

Once God has begun the process of sanctification in your life, watch and see how God causes your confidence in your own natural virtues and power to wither away. He will continue until you learn to draw your life from the reservoir of the resurrection life of Jesus. Thank God if you are going through this drying-up experience!

...as we bring every part of our natural bodily life into harmony with the new life God has placed within us, He will exhibit in us the virtues that were characteristic of the Lord Jesus.

Christian Pep-Rallies

I remember that the day I fell in love with Jesus, I also fell in love with His church. After connecting with God I couldn’t wait for any event in which Christians came together to worship God and encourage one another. I looked forward to Sundays. After living for and serving God in the world all week, church gatherings were pep-rallies for me.

They still are for me today. Pep-rallies that is. I love getting with my church family to love God and each other. When God’s family comes together with Father, Son and Holy Spirit the presence of God is powerful, refreshing, and exciting. (Matt. 18:20)

I was twenty-seven years old in 1986 when I understood how much Jesus loves me and I chose to love Him back. It changed my life and I didn’t think it could get any better. How much more exciting could it get being a part of God’s church? Well it did. Get more exciting that is. He called me to be a pastor, and I answered his call. Now I am blessed to be able to teach His Word all of the time. If I could teach every day, I would. I get to be directly involved in teaching the Good News to others and participate in the reality of new lives and lives changed. (Rom. 10:14-15)

If you are a parent, you know what it feels like to see your children grow, enjoy, and succeed in life. As a pastor, God’s under-shepherd, there is not much more exciting than watching members of our church family grow spiritually and to see new people accept Jesus’ love and be spiritually reborn into the family. (2 Cor. 5:17) It fills me with great joy to see the lives of individuals change as they each take their own steps closer to God and become more like Jesus.

There is only one thing more exciting, being with a group of people worshiping God and seeing Him move through the group. The feeling is electric, convicting, joyful, emotional and unexplainable to the person who has not experienced it.

Being with God and His people is such an uplifting experience. When you come to church expecting to meet God, you do…and He will lift you up as you are reaching up to Him and across to others.

Thank you Jesus for your Church

An apprentice of Christ
Royal

Thank You God - Texas Christmas Weather

Thank you God for some of the most awesomely beautiful TEXAS motorcycle riding weather you can find anywhere in the middle of December.

Oh, how sweet the light of day, And how wonderful to live in the sunshine! Even if you live a long time, don't take a single day for granted. Take delight in each light-filled hour...Ecclesiastes 11:7-8

Movie - King Kong

I was really looking forward to the King Kong movie.

I went with my wife and 20 year old son on Monday afternoon.

I was disapointed and almost embarassed by the goofiness at times. Once you get past the cool big monkey technology it is down hill from there.

Two thumbs down
Too long
Too goofy
Too gross in a couple of places
Too boring....

Watch the DVD when it comes out, just so you can know you saw it but I would not have not spent the money at the theater if I knew then what I know now....

Quote of the Day

“Our Heavenly Father never intended for us to live life at the level of what’s permissible, legal, acceptable, and not prosecutable.

To do so is tantamount to organizing our lives around the question, How close can I get to sin without sinning? Now there's a standard.

Instead, we are meant to analyze every opportunity and invitation through the lens of wisdom. Every choice should be tested with the Best Question Ever: What is the wise thing to do?” Andy Stanley

If There Was No New Year

What if we didn't have a calendar? What if there was no way of measuring time? What if there was no new year? No new years resolutions? What if our bodies never aged so you could not tell from looking if a person was older or younger? What if there was not an older or younger?

There would be no sense in goals. There would be no procrastination. There would be no, "I'll do better next year." There would be no, "I'll live for myself now and God later."

We use time, and the filling up of time with busyness, to avoid God and the feelings that come from our separation from God.

God created us for His pleasure with a desire in us to seek His pleasure and "give Him glory"(Rev. 4:11).

When we give God glory, He gives us peace. When we seek to please God, He rewards us with joy and we realize our purpose.

The basis of every new years resolution is the desire for peace, joy, and purpose.

"I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid." John 14:27

Merry Christmas....Open your gift now, and cherish the peace of Jesus every minute of every day.

An apprentice of Christ
Royal

What God Expects from His Kid: Imagine God's Blogs by Larry Donoho

Do you ever feel like you can't measure up to what God wants you to be? If that is the case, you don't understand God's love and you certainly don't understand God's grace.

The apostle Paul wrote; God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Eph 2:8-10

As written by Mr. Donoho, if God wrote a post on His blog of what He expected of you, it might say this.

"If you have made a million mistakes and done things you think I would never
forgive...Not that big of a deal.

I'M your Dad!

I can't not love you.

Here is what I want and desire for you and from you.

That you discover Me and My love. That you discover your giftedness so you can be all I want you to be. That you are kind and obedient and humble and selfless. That you know that I want to hold you when you feel like a failure or you feel alone and rejected. That you see there are way too many things you think are a big deal, and in reality they are petty little things that seperate you all too much.

Oh yeah...and...being the Dad I AM...I love it when I hear you tell others about Me. And When you say "Daddy, I love you." Wow!

If you're a dad, you know how that makes your heart feel.

Imagine what it does to a God-sized heart."

Our God in Heaven. Thank You for being such a loving and fogiving Father. May we remind ourselves of your love and grace every day.

An apprentice of Christ
Royal