daily life as life goes on . . .

Today’s thoughts turned towards fasting.  I began the day with a fast until the evening “Shrove Tuesday” pancake meal.  I probably ate too much, but the local church providing the meals had done a great job of the pancakes and sausages!

Then to a Bible study on fasting.  As I enter Lent, this was a good reminder.

Fasting as fighting arose in my mind as we chatted.  I have fasted intermittently for many decades.  I like fasting as a good mind clearer and a place to listen to hear from God (this is the prayer part many people talk about).  BUT . . . Then I thought of Saul’s fast called for his army.  They needed to win the battle completely so no time for backing off, munching out or getting distracted by food.  That didn’t work to well for his son who hadn’t been there to hear the command.  He ate some honey and led the soldiers onwards with personal renewed vigor.

Setting aside the upside down happenings in this story, the point is made that there was a custom established that fasting can be part of fighting.

Isaiah 58:6-7 then gave me pause.  Here is the relevant passage from the NLT: 

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
and remove the chains that bind people.
⁷ Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

The fast was in the action.  Literally!  Giving the idea that we must DO what is required in order to fulfil the fast.  If we were to take this to the extreme, we are saying – ‘eat up only when you have cleaned up your act’. 

Today is Shrove Tuesday in the Christian calendar.  I remember as a kid hearing about pancake day.  The song is a bit dated, but here is what I remember of it – “Tuesday gay is pancake day, let’s dance our cares away.”  And a pancake supper is waiting for me.

But Shrove Tuesday is really about moving into a time of repentance.  Confessing sin.  Setting aside at least one habit that is detrimental or unnecessary to your life.  Or, maybe just increasing your diligence in doing the good.

One step!

“Process” revival allows for the time to search out your heart, to go deep in self introspection, to repent thoroughly.  A continuous worship/music/soaking time fits this perfectly.

“Practice” revival allows for the action of repentance to be clearly seen, for actions to lead to enhancement of spiritual growth, and for renewal to be seen.  The activity of asking for forgiveness and restoring relationships fits this perfectly.

There is a tension that can arise when we talk of revival.  Some want to start at one stage, others at another.  All stages are important, and there likely are more stages.  If we complain that our stage of revival is the most important, or has been overlooked, we polarize a broad movement of God.  Momentum is lost.  God help us!

PS/BTW/comment:  This comes out of reflection of the 1970’s revival era I experienced as a late teen.  Then, within much the same time period, there was the “Four spiritual laws” vs. a much more open approach to salvation requirements.  Dualities constantly arise and seeking a radical centre is important.  The middle is not for comfort’s sake, but for the kingdom’s sake.  The radical centre will see offense, suffering and even hurt.  But in the end the desire is for unity (while uniformity and polarity are set aside).

The little gems that can be found in a Doctoral dissertation can be fun.  This is from “ THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ASBURY REVIVAL OF 1970 FOR SOME
ASPECTS OF THE SPIRITUAL LIVES OF THE PARTICIPANTS by
Phillip Bruce Collier,
May 1995”.  You can read the whole dissertation here:  https://core.ac.uk/reader/155802060

Here is the quote I’d love for you to consider, found on page 65:

Closing Remarks

The interest in the marriage of psychology and evangelical theology in the 1970 ‘s, and also of evangelical theology and politics in the 1980 ‘s, has given birth to a more activistic evangelicalism. For all that has been accomplished through such activism, sin and moral decline are still rampant.

Truth has been used as a mighty weapon, but truth alone has failed to change hearts. A fresh examination of the Asbury Revival of 1970 reminds us that truth without prayer places too much dependence on humans for social transformation.

In this post-modern era, when truth is not highly regarded or is relativized, and when there is a new openness to the spiritual world, perhaps an experience of the manifest presence of God is the only way of convincing our society of the truth that will finally transform. May that transformation begin in the local church, with the individual .