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By Andy, June 9, 2009 5:40 am

…fasting is the secret key that unlocks heaven’s door and slams shut the gates of hell.

- Jentezen Franklin, “Fasting”

I have never refrained from anything for 40 days before.

I’ve never given up anything during the 40 days of Lent.

Never.

Have I fasted?

Yes…partial fasts, having gone vegetarian for a week, or the occasional workday fast wherein I’ve chosen not to eat during the working day.  I’ve also fasted from blogging as well - typically for a week at a time, and usually as part of a church-wide week of prayer and fasting.

But this time, I sensed the need to go longer…to fast from online social media like blogging, Facebook, and Twitter.  I saw the hold that this technology held on me when I began this fast, and I didn’t like what I saw about myself.  I also found myself drifting a bit in faith, and knew that by giving up online social media I would have more time to focus on my faith and my family.

I have to admit, it was a bit of a struggle the first week not blogging, not reading Facebook, not updating my Twitter feed.  I battled the need to always be in the know, or the need to come up with some really clever tweet or status update.  I did, however, find myself reading assorted resources about social media from both sides of the divide:  from those who believe that online social media is not real community to those who believe that it is a new form of community (I’ll discuss this in a future post).  I spent more time in the Bible and in prayer, tried to be more intentional about the time spent with my wife and kids, in addition to time spent with friends locally, and reading quite a bit more than I had.

So what did I discover?

1)  I was able to hear God’s voice in my life with greater clarity.  That doesn’t mean that I heard this booming voice from above, but rather I could sense an impression on my heart, confirmed typically by others unsuspecting of the answers to prayer that I had been seeking.

2)  One of the “impressions” I got was to spend more time with Hank.  While I have been spending time with him coaching baseball, I hadn’t spent a lot of one-on-one time with him.  I purchased and read “Raising a Modern Day Knight” at the suggestion of a fellow brother, and as a result, I now spend time with him each evening reading a chapter of the Bible (we’re reading Exodus together), discussing each chapter, discipling him in faith on his journey to manhood.

3)  I have spent the better part of the past 40 days reading, re-reading, and praying through Ephesians 5:21-33.  How can I love my wife sacrificially, the way Jesus loves His church?  Too often men stop reading after verse 22 - but the fact is that there are three times as many instructions for husbands (9 verses for husbands, 3 verses for wives) than there are for wives in that passage - so who’s got more work to do in their marriages?  I know I don’t always get this right, but I know that if I am to be the husband that God has called me to, this is how I am to love my wife.  And I want my son to one day love his wife sacrificially.

4)  For several weeks I had been meeting with 2 other men in my church for accountability early on Thursday mornings.  We shared our struggles and challenges, but as we talked, we got the sense that more men needed this kind of relationship.  So what began with 3 of us has now doubled in size (and may continue to grow in number) as men from our church come together every Thursday morning at a local coffeeshop to discuss the prior week’s sermon message and challenge each other to apply those principles in our lives.  The first time that newer faces came to our group, we saw instant transparency - clearly a confirmation that more men needed to be in these kind of relationships to become the men that Jesus has called us to be.

Those are but a few of the things that occurred while I was away - more to share in coming days and weeks.  In the meantime, one final and very cool thing to share - Hank’s baseball team, the team I coach - has advanced in the playoffs.  Big game tonight - winner moves on, losing team goes home!

It’s good to be back.  Thanks for your prayers.

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By Andy, May 7, 2007 3:49 am

These past couple of weeks I was reading the January/February issue (yeah, I know, a little out of date) of “Outreach” magazine, given to me by my pastor, since I’ve exhibited an interest in how other churches operate.

In it is an interesting interview with Rick Rusaw, senior pastor of LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont, Colorado - a congregation of approximately 3,000. He was asked the question, “So what have churches been doing that’s not working?”

His response?

One of the things we’ve inadvertently done is created a Christian version of everything. We’ve got Christian schools, Christian businesses and clubs. We’ve even got Christian underwear.

And in some ways, we’ve disengaged from our communities. For example, we’ve taken the Christians - kids, parents, teachers, and coaches - out of the public schools and essentially said to these schools, “You’re on your own; do your own thing.” Now, we have to find ways to get back into the system, to re-engage our culture, to be viable.

I think the churches that are re-engaging the culture are the ones using service as a vehicle. They believe, “Good deeds create goodwill, and then you get to share the Good News.”

Rather convicting, and stands as an indictment of the problems that we face in the American church today. It is understandable that as Christians, we want to be “yoked” with each other (2 Corinthians 6:14) and it makes sense to do so in the context of marriage and spiritual growth ministries (Bible studies, prayer meetings, men’s/women’s/couples/youth groups). But if we are to follow the Great Commission, and be used by God to “make disciples”, we can’t very well do that if all we’re focused on is the “I love Jesus” silk boxers while running scared of being “contaminated” by today’s culture.

Should we not be in this world, understanding it so that we may be placed in a position where God can use us to speak to the hearts of those who don’t yet know Him? In the same issue of the magazine, Lee Strobel says that “You never know how God is going to deploy you in His mission of redeeming the world, one person at a time. That’s why evangelism never gets old.”

On a personal level, last week our kids were watched by a friend who happens to be a practicing Scientologist. We know that we can count on this individual as a parent and as a friend to take care of our kids for an afternoon, even though those who are NOT Christians raised their eyebrows at the thought of it.

As my wife and I reflected upon this event, she said to me that she wants to maintain a friendship with this person. Why?

When, and not if, this person’s “church” lets her down, my wife wants her to know that there are followers of Christ who are her friends who will be there to help her and lift her up.

And THAT is why we Christians need to be “of this world.”

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By Andy, March 5, 2007 4:35 am

Please…hold the Ren and Stimpy jokes. This is, after all, an attempt by me to obtain the unsuspecting, non-Christian Googler into stumbling on this blog so that he or she might just stick around and read about the Christian faith by way of a Google search string that includes Ren, Stimpy and the words, “Happy, happy, joy, joy.”

In all seriousness, however, given the rather dark valley in which I crawled out of by means of God’s revival of my soul these past couple of days, it is only appropriate to share the fact that in spite of the travails and difficulties of daily life, I do truly believe that I have a profound sense of joy in my life because of my relationship with Christ.

I think I can best explain it having now finally finished reading John Piper’s Desiring God. I admit that it has taken me about four months to finally complete it, having savored the majority of its pages, reading it slowly, allowing its contents to slowly swirl around my mind, knowing that God has used Piper to speak to me. Admittedly, I read and completed other books while reading Desiring God, but this is not a tome in which one must rush. The opening pages make it so clear as to what joy in God is - which is “the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.”

Or to put it another way, to live life as a Christian Hedonist.

According to the Wikipedia: “Hedonism (Greek: hēdonē (ᾑδονή from Ancient Greek) “pleasure” + –ism) is a philosophy that focuses on increasing pleasure. Note that while the terms were originally employed literally, this is no longer the case. There seems to be no common ground on what actually constitutes pleasurable or painful activities.”

Now add in the term “Christian” to “hedonism” and what do we get? To quote Piper in the final pages of this book:

…I signal loud and clear that this is no ordinary hedonism. For me, the word “Christian” carries this implication: Every claim to truth that flies under the banner of Christin Hedonism must be solidly rooted in the Christian Scriptures, the Bible. And the Bible teaches that man’s chief end is to glorify God BY enjoying Him forever.

I will enjoy God forever. And in so doing, I will glorify God. How about you?

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By Andy, November 30, 2006 11:14 pm

Before I go on vacation with my family, among the errands I run is to hit the ATM and get a wad of cash. With our Disneyland trip a couple of weeks ago, I made sure to have plenty of cash on hand, particularly for the drive down (for the gas) and for the mid-trip meal - this time at an IHOP. While I try to limit the use of my credit card on the trip, invariably there are moments when the plastic is necessary, knowing that the cash is needed for another purchase.

Throughout the trip, it feels as if I simply open the wallet and watch the cash fly out. Before I know it, there are but a couple of Georges, an Abe, and a Ben. It is easy for us to spend money on trips for ourselves, toys for the kids (big and little), and anything else that we think we need (which is of course, a synonym for want).

God has blessed me and my wife with healthy paying careers, and consequently with incomes that allow us to take a couple of trips a year, if budgeted appropriately.

More importantly though, with those monetary gifts, He has given us the ability to give generously…to the church and to other worthwhile organizations - and in the case of our family, the ability to give of both money and time.

Last night, ABC’s 20/20 news program ran an hourlong story on the nature of giving in America - specifically, on charitable giving by Americans. The story was titled, “Cheap in America: Who Gives More?” It was a fascinating look at giving across all income levels throughout the country - from the Forbes 400 Wealthiest to the working poor. There was an interview with a university researcher, who upon examining charitable giving data nationwide, discovered that on a percentage of income basis, the working poor and the incredibly wealthy gave the most, while the middle class gave the least. Even more interesting, when broken down by religious or non-religious, the percentage of giving among those who regularly attend worship services was higher…and not just to the church either. The giving was higher across other segments, including blood drives, homeless shelters…even the Salvation Army bellringer in front of the local retail store.

The program also did a story about the giving from wealthier countries to poorer countries. Yes, the data shows that while the US government gives more in terms of total dollars, as a percentage of wealth it gives far less than most other Western nations. The US has been chastised for that in international circles (as well as domestically) - but the data does not include private giving by folks like you and me. In 2004, the US government gave $20 billion in foreign aid…private US citizens gave $24.2 billion that same year. And immigrants residing in the US sent $47 billion back to their families and friends in their home countries.

We open our wallets. I know I do, knowing how much I give to my church, to the “church in the park” ministry in San Francisco, to my children’s school, and to various other non-profits in our area that serve the working poor as well as other educational missions. That’s just the monetary giving. Add in the time my wife and I volunteer - if I were to value our time simply on the hourly income we each earn, then the dollar value of our contribution goes up substantially.

I enjoy giving. I enjoy writing the check each week for our offering back to the church. I enjoy donating supplies and materials to the school. I enjoy all my volunteer work (eventhough I know it has its peaks and valleys - but such is the case when we live in a fallen world.)

If you haven’t been over to Hooked on Grace lately, I suggest you do. Over the past couple of days Roy has had an very good series on discipleship -discipleship is giving of ourselves in the service of Christ. We are disciples not just within the church, but outside it as well. We are God’s chosen people, and we are His face to those who don’t know Him. We need to give of ourselves, both time and money, to show others how awesome this kingdom is.

Give. Give as disciples of Christ.