myopic pilgrim

of Fasting and Feasting

The first part dealt mostly with fasting. And if you’re fasting from something then you better be feasting on something else to sustain you. If you’re not careful to choose on purpose, you may end up feasting on something you don’t want in you.

Feasting

Some people just make a concerted effort to pray, which is great. If you do this, I suggest keeping a journal of some kind if you don’t already to help you focus your efforts. Otherwise you can can some help directing your devotions. Even if you’re not fasting, these are still good resources for the season. Read the rest of this entry »

or Fasting and Feasting

This probably should be titled, “How I Celebrate Lent as a Christian.” It’s how I prepare and anticipate Easter to help Christians who are already down with Lent. My impression is not many evangelical Christians are. (Here’s a scientifical chart). I’m not going to address why Christians could or should celebrate Lent if it’s a meaningless tradition invented by a pope (it’s neither meaningless nor papal).

Fasting

The idea of fasting isn’t for self-flagellation. Read the rest of this entry »

I love Martin Luther’s powerful song, A Mighty Fortress, because it portrays Christ as a victor. But the third verse has a line that I want your opinion on. What is the “little word” that defeats Satan? Who speaks it?

The prince of darkness grim — We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, For lo! his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “Comfort one another with these words,” referring to Jesus’ return. What exactly is comforting about Jesus’ return?

The comfort shouldn’t come from knowing one day you will escape this world and go to heaven. That’s only one step better than saying you take comfort in knowing one day you’ll die and your suffering will end. If that is our rescue, why not speed up the process and just kill yourself today?

Quite often I hear fellow Christians say that what they have is not their own. I mean they say things like “It’s God’s money” when talking about the bank account with their name on it. Or as one godly woman I know said as she waited to see if a wildfire would destroy her home, “It’s God’s house; he can do with it what he wants.” But her name was on the deed, wasn’t it?

A Few Relevant Bible Verses

I agree with them. I think of the psalm that says the earth and everything on it belongs to the Lord. James wrote that every good gift comes from above. John the Baptist tells his disciples that you can’t receive anything except that heaven gives it to you. But only the first two references could be said to address possessions. The others more likely refer to revelation or knowledge. (Ps. 24:1-2; Ja. 1:17, 1 Cor. 4:7; John 3:27). Click to read more of stuff you already knew