Greetings friend.

I’m writing a bit of a different post than usual today since I wanted to reach as many of you as possible who are not subscribed to our newsletter. Especially those of you who are reading this post through a feed reader or in your email inbox. You may not have even visited the site in a long time to know we’ve revamped it again and now Fire Press is more mobile friendly, allowing you to read posts on your mobile device without seeing a merely “shrunken” version of the page.

Many of the Fire Press authors have published Kindle books, and as a result writing, editing, and marketing has taken up a lot of extra time, eating up the writing time I’ve been traditionally using to blog in the past. This is part of the reason you’ve seen posts on the site so few and far between as of late.

But we’ve not stopped blogging and podcasting, and I’m personally going to continue podcasting and blogging as soon as I get my next two publications out of the way. OK, I’ll probably get a few podcasts recorded very soon now that I’ve settled back into a normal routine after having gotten married last month.

Allow me to get to the point of this post

A few months ago I blew it. When I published my first ebook, and sent a promotional blast, and we received the highest number of spam complaints any single mail out of ours has ever produced, as well as our lowest number of opens! I screwed that up bad, and learned my lesson.

So I don’t want to be spammy towards those of you who are subscribed to our newsletter or receive our posts in your inbox. For this reason, I’m making a separate list for only those of you who’d be interested in receiving updates specifically about our Kindle books (which you can see listed here on the site) as well as free book promotions and giveaways.

I’m still writing, but my main focus will be producing my Kindle books first, and then blogging secondarily.

I’m almost finished writing and editing Lies People Believe About Speaking in Tongues and in about three months I will begin promoting it. I’d like to make you aware of that book’s launch and have as many people “book bomb” Amazon the day it comes out.

When I released 6 Lies People Believe About Divine Healing last February, it ranked number one in Pentecostal books for its debut weekend, and I couldn’t have done that without the help of Fire Press readers and those of you who shared the link on social media — of course especially thanks to those of you who purchased it. I really feel my next ebook is going to touch more people, but I need help spreading the word.

So here’s the deal

With how many people who subscribe to our site using RSS readers and have signed up to receive our blog posts directly in your email inboxes, if just 5% of you went and bought my new book on the day of its release, it would sit pretty at the top of the charts when debuting new books, and be seen by more people looking for the top sellers in its category. But for the other 95% of you reading this post in your RSS reader or inbox, it would be annoying and spammy. I don’t want to intrude.

So, we’ve made an email list that you can sign up to if you’d like to be made aware of promotions such as book launches and free giveaways.

If you click here you’ll be led to a confirmation process, and then only subscribers to that Kindle mailing list will be emailed about free books on a monthly basis or so. 

As a way of thanking you, I’m giving new subscribers a FREE copy of my new audio book 6 Lies People Believe About Divine Healing.

If you don’t go to the link and subscribe, I will not notify you about the Kindle books on this mailing list and you’ll continue receiving only the normal Fire Press digest emails, podcast notifications and the blog posts all uninterrupted.

If you want to get advance digital copies, free audio books and just be made aware of new releases, please go ahead and sign up here. You don’t even need to have a Kindle as a paperback version of my first book will be available in the days to come. Dave‘s books are already in print form.

Thank you for being a tremendous source of encouragement to us over the years. We look forward to continuing to serve with you!

Blessings and fire on your head,

Steve Bremner

When one hears the word “holy” it usually dials up preconceived ways of thinking. The picture of a monk may display in the mind, or a saint, even Santa Claus, and of course Jesus. For others, it may be objects such as the Holy Grail, Holy Bible, or a relic. I think for many, the general consensus is that holiness is something either unattainable, reserved for a select few, or only accomplished through rigorous religious disciplines.

The way I viewed it early on, due to the vast array of American Christian doctrine, was simply to refrain from doing things that you shouldn’t. The more you resisted sin, the more “holy” you became. I was certainly able to resist sin for long periods of time, but I didn’t feel “holy.” I still wanted to do them, but I couldn’t. I thought this was the “killing the flesh” principle that I was supposed to be doing. However, I never truly felt free, and never really felt holy either, if I am going to be both honest with you, and with myself.

What is Holiness?

The preparation for my first book The Call for Revivalists brought me to the study of the word holy. I knew from previous excursions that it meant “set apart.” This time I would dig a bit deeper. I was studying what many phrase as “The Lord’s Prayer,” found in Matthew 6:

Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.

‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.

‘Give us this day our daily bread.

‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]

vv 9-13 NASB

I want to focus on verse 9, which states “Hallowed be your name.” Many modern translations use “holy,” rather than “hallowed.” I wanted to know the meaning of the word hallowed. The NASB is generally considered the most word-for-word translation of New Testament era Greek. So, there had to be a reason for keeping it in there, right?

Hallowed comes from the Gr “ἁγιάζω,” transliteration hagiazó, which is described as “to make holy.” This brings the idea of highlighting or designating something as “set apart,” different, and other. This word basically comes from the word “holy” itself, which is the Gr “ἅγιος, ία, ον,” transliteration hagios. Commonly, it is simply translated in English as set apart, holy, or sacred. However, this doesn’t capture the full value or essence of its meaning in the original language.

The word “holy” as written in Greek in the New Testament, along with a history of meaning in the Hebraic culture, generates a greater sense of understanding in its usage. To capture 2000 years later what something meant, we must not only translate the definition, but dig into the history of the word to the degree that we find words in our own language that would be assembled to create the feeling that is needing in the hearing of the word.

The illustrations I gave at the beginning of this article may be the place many of us go upon hearing this word. Now, I hope to generate a new destination with our thoughts. “Holy” means different (unlike), other (“otherness“), holy; for the believer, (hágios) means “likeness of nature with the Lord” because “different from the world.” In the NT, hágios (“holy”) has the “technical” meaning “different from the world” because “like the Lord.” (http://biblesuite.com/greek/40.htm)

Otherworldly

Another way to describe it is that holy is otherworldliness. Holy means not like this world because you are like God. Plug this understanding into the Lord’s prayer, and you get much more out the picture Jesus was painting.

Our Father in Heaven, otherworldly is your name. Let the kingship, and rule of that domain, come and be the kingship and rule of this domain.

Holiness, then comes from this understanding. It is life lived and approached in this way. We are holy when we live in earth from a heavenly place. We are like God, He created us in His image. Holiness is a demonstration of this phenomenon.

Holiness is not attained by obeying a set of rules, but realized through the apprehension of another world, His world, the heavenlies. To the degree that this becomes us, is the degree that we will see the rule of heaven in the earth. Therefore, holiness is a description of that which has been baptized in heaven; a supernatural revelation through a natural vessel. The very life of Jesus was a revelation of this, a picture of true holiness.

I originally wrote this post on my personal blog a number of weeks ago.

Recently in our Oikos ministry school, I was tasked with giving an entire morning session on intimacy with God. Fellow missionary and teammate Shaun Wissmann has basically come up with the entire curriculum for our discipleship school, with the oversight of our fearless leader Mark Burgess. Then, they tell me what I’ll teach.

So far, this has worked wonderfully.

Since I felt like this is a subject I could approach from the head easily and wanted to make sure I was living it, I tried evaluating my own spiritual life. I had to ask myself about my own intimacy with God — namely, do I really cultivate an intimate relationship with Him?

It’s easy to be busy doing spiritual things. It’s easy to sit in seminary or attend a lot of church meetings, and let that become our manna instead of cultivating our own time alone with God. It’s easy to feed off of books or teachings from other people and be so built up by those in the inner man, that we actually lose site of feeding ourselves the hidden manna from private time alone with God.

So, in preparation for this particular session, I went and re-listened to the most recent podcast I did with SJ Hill and Stephen Crosby on being fascinated with God and stirred myself up. I pitched my “sermon notes” and prep time, and just spent time with God instead.

What is Your Idea of Intimacy with God?

For some reason something wasn’t sitting right and I felt like the Lord asked me what I thought intimacy was. I could answer ‘right’ with things like it’s about quality time not quantity. I Googled various definitions and typically would find people talking about romantic intimacy and sexuality, and basically the closest any two people can be with one another.

Then I came across one definition that floored me: close familiarity or friendship.

That word familiarity.

I had never thought about it that way.

Over the years the quantity of time I feel I spend with God on a daily basis has shrunk. Not in the way that I don’t spend much time with Him, but the pattern is more similar to what Smith Wigglesworth is noted to have said in that he didn’t pray more than 30 minutes, but he never went more than 30 minutes without praying.

I don’t fully live up to that pattern, but I definitely have more fluidity to my prayer time now. It’s about familiarity with God as opposed to sectioning off blocks of time in my schedule to make sure I am praying on my knees or in some formal time.

What about you, saint? What needs to change in your life in order for you to say you’re familiar with God? What needs to change for Him to be able to say He’s familiar with you?

That word familiarity can give us comfort or it can creep us out. The very word familiarity means we know what that person is like. Do you know what He’s like because you’ve spent a lot of time with Him?  Or does your prayer time involve a lot of liturgy?

Does He Know You?

I used to read the admonition in Matthew 7:21-23 about how many would boast of their Christian activities only to have Jesus say He never knew them as a warning for us to live holy lives now.

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

But what if it was about making sure not just to avoid a life that can mask a Christian lifestyle void of an interior substance, but it was also an encouragement to be familiar with Him? The connection to being workers of lawlessness is a strong one indeed and I for one don’t want to hear Him say that to me on that day. But I also don’t want to attempt to point out my busyiness casting out demons, prophesying and healing the sick but not being able to have Him say He even knows me — that He’s not familiar with me from a place of cultivated intimacy.

That scares me more than missing the mark!

I’ve just recently gotten married to my wife Lili, and the chunks of time in our lives that Lili and I saw each other before and leading up to the wedding and spent time together all looked different. Sometimes we were eating without saying much. Other times we’re just watching something together. Other times we’re actively engaged in conversation and getting the other’s thoughts about something. Now obviously there’s a few changes to what kinds of things we do together now as husband and wife. Sometimes we’re also fighting through some difference of opinion.

At any rate, all of this builds towards us being more familiar with the other. The amount of time itself that we spend together can be referred to as ‘quality time’, but that in and of itself is not intimacy with the other person.

Likewise, you can spend hours and hours praying and not necessarily be cultivating intimacy with the Lord — if our definition of the term is centered around familiarity and not an action.

Read your Bible, sure. Pray and listen. But make sure you’re getting familiar with God and He with you.

A moral and spiritual crisis marks 21st century American Christianity. It is ironic that with so much knowledge at our fingertips Biblical illiteracy seems to be at an all-time high. People are still easily duped and deceived by the glitter and the gold, the hype and the hoopla, the superficiality and the showmanship that marks so much of American Christianity today, not to mention the many wolves in sheep’s clothing that stalk our land. The visible church in the mainstream of this great country is gradually becoming a hollow echo even with its million dollar edifices, high tech media, and silver-tongued orators. People are putting their faith in the wisdom of men and their eloquence, their persuasive words, clever phrases, and logical dissertations. The demonstration of the Spirit and power of God operating through humble, broken men is fading. But God has reserved far better for those who possess an intimate knowledge of their God. They will do exploits!

As a compelling example of the hollow echo effect, I was watching a video clip of a short sermon excerpt someone sent to me. The person who sent it to me thought it was hot stuff. In this clip a nationally known television preacher was whooping it up preaching and hollering something about the need for people to press through their tired state. Many in this large congregation were standing up and wagging their heads and waving their hands, but all the while I was sensing grief.

Trying hard not to be critical, I pondered what I was watching. “Why am I sensing this grief, Lord? What is this? It feels so unclean to me.” As I continued to weigh the heaviness in my spirit, here are the words I heard: “It’s just a show – you’re sensing the showmanship and the love of appearance that is such a big part of Christianity in the West today. It is as little children playing church. It is a subtle religious form of man-centered entertainment. But because scripture is attached to it people are often deceived by it, and don’t realize that they are receiving another spirit.”

More of my own questions raced through my mind: Do you sense His presence at all? Can you relate even a little to these people’s excitement? What do you think will happen to these people? What is at the root of this sort of behavior?

Honest responses rose up within me: There is no presence of God here. I sense nothing. It is only emotion. I feel so disconnected from these people’s excitement. Most of them have made a huge idol out of this celebrity preacher, and whatever he says they will take it as God saying it. He is not leading them to you, Lord.

I continued to muse within myself: This is the grief I feel. They are being further and further separated from your holy knowledge. Unless they have a rude awakening they will never really know you and your ways will they? What will be their end? They have formed another God according to their own brand of Christianity. It’s almost as if Christianity has been separated from Christ himself. Now that is a very sobering thought that reveals volumes about Christianity in many places.

The curse of Christianity today in much of the West may well be the creation of an image of God that is according to the religious culture people find themselves in. We have the Charismatic culture, the evangelical culture, the new Catholic culture, the Baptist culture, etc. We have the prophetic camp, the word of faith camp, the vineyard camp, the revival camp, and on and on. Infiltrated into many of these cultures and camps is the seeker-friendly philosophy of reaching larger numbers of people, based on a removal or a veiling of Christian theology that is least appealing to the world. But for the most part, in the visible-to-the-eye mainstream of Christianity — except perhaps in a few places — the Lord Himself is not being glorified because we are so divided. People don’t need a cultural Jesus or a traditional Jesus or a seeker-friendly Jesus. They need a living word that will pierce through the veil of their own hearts and reveal the real Jesus to them. They need an encounter with God.

The love of appearance is killing us spiritually. I’m not talking of having things look honorable and excellent. The root of this stronghold that I call love of appearance is not outward. I’m speaking of something much more deceptive. It’s a superficiality, an irreverence, a pride and hypocrisy that couldn’t even enter into the early Church. Ananias and Sapphira walked in it and were struck down. They wanted to be recognized for their generosity and having given all, so for the love of appearance they lied, and then they died. It was more spiritual than physical, inward not outward. Except for the Holy Spirit no one knew what was going on in their hearts. The great need of the hour is for more prophets and apostles like Peter, full of the Holy Ghost, who are able to see right through man-made facades, and then preach a burning word that convicts of sin and cuts away motives, attitudes, and things that are dishonoring to God.

The early Church was yet in its infancy. They were still localized in Jerusalem only. If this pride and hypocrisy, rooted in the love of appearance, had been allowed to fester it would’ve marred the purity of Christ’s body and killed the glory. Instead, the glory killed it. Judgment is always equal to the level of glory.

During my viewing of the aforementioned video clip I caught another all too familiar glimpse of the self-based nature of the modern gospel and the mainstream word that is preached. Nothing of Christ, the Holy Spirit, or anything bearing his character and nature was mentioned. Like far too many messages today, it was all about us. It was all about us overcoming, us fighting, us getting our blessing, us receiving all that is ours, with no focus or even minor referencing to Jesus and his heart and ways. As I wrote in my book, The Real Gospel, this all points to an inordinate deification of man that has become the apex of 21st century Christianity in America whereby millions of people are being deceived.

I believe the only way the glory can be restored in the Church today is through humility and the fear of the Lord. We must fall to our knees and repent of the vanity and futility of our own efforts. Large crowds and man’s approval are not sure proof signs of a move of God, or that preachers even know Him. Much of the ungodliness in present day America falls on the shoulders of preachers. We’ve led people to us and our visions, ministries, and churches more than to Him. We’ve exalted charisma, talent, attendance, buildings, cash, religious activity, and the love of appearance far more than we have the Holy One.

Ananias and Sapphira stood before Peter clutching on to a lie based on a desire to be recognized and esteemed, and rooted in the love of appearance. Unbeknownst to them however, was the fact that they stood not before man, but before the high court of heaven and the majestic glory of Him whom John, when he saw Him, “fell at his feet as dead” (Rev 1:17). Are our corporate gatherings marked with this holy focus and awareness of Him whose glory no flesh can stand?

Jesus is walking amidst the lampstands (churches – Rev 2:1). He is not concerned with the government, the economy, or world affairs as He is with his churches. Can we see Him, or is all the smoke from the methods and machinery of men blocking our view?

Photo credit: Let’s Walk Down Memory Lane – http://fav.me/d1ajkkp

We finally made it to episode 100! It’s been an interesting 6 year ride. Dave Edwards and Steve Bremner talk about the best (and worst) of the podcast over the years and discuss the direction we feel the Lord taking us in the next 100 episodes of the podcast.

This week we don’t cover a lot of the prophetic or theology, but instead answer important questions like:

What makes a good episode of Fire On Your Head?

What really happened between Steve Bremner and his original co-host Dan Slavin? We share the non-sensational and uneventful behind-the-scenes story.

If you’re a blogger, author, celebrity of some kind and intend on being a guest on a future episode of the podcast, what do you need to know and do to be prepared?

Does Steve get paid or make any money producing this podcast?

Give us a listen and get stirred up with some of what the Lord has been doing in our lives and where we’re going with this.

Steve’s new Kindle books:

6 Lies People Believe About Divine Healing for $3.99

Increase Your Faith: Practical Steps To Help You Believe For The Impossible for $2.99

Please visit the links and leave a review of the books you enjoyed.

Check out this episode in our Libsyn directory.

Many of us remember singing a song as kids that goes like this: “If you’re happy and you know it…then your face will surely show it.”  This phrase is so much more than a cute little kid’s song. It’s a reality! Our countenance is a reflection of our heart. Whether it be happy or sad, joyful or sorrowful. In fact we see this in the following proverb.

A happy heart makes the face cheerful,
but heartache crushes the spirit. (Proverbs 15:13 NIV)

So many people have a heavy heart due to anxiety, anger, depression, oppression, and the like and we see it in their…countenance.

Countenance is defined as: appearance, especially the look or expression of the face; demeanor. So I ask, what does your countenance say about your heart? Are you happy–and I don’t mean with a superficial temporary feeling but an inner joy of the Lord? The joy of the Lord is truly our strength and when you feel weak, you need more strength, joy, and peace in your heart that only comes from Christ. He said he gives us peace, but not as the world gives and that his joy he gives…“no one can take it from you.” Stop allowing joy stealers to operate in your life. They have no right to do so in our lives as believers. That’s  not to say that we won’t have opposition. Jesus said we would have tribulation (trials and afflictions) in this world but to be of good courage because he has overcome the world. We learn from one of the first stories shared in Scripture this truth about our countenance reflecting our attitude and more so our relationship with God. It reads as follows:

So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;  but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Gen.4:3-7 NASB)

Notice that Cain is upset and in a state of sin and bitterness. The story goes on to say that he murdered his brother simply because Abel was righteous and Cain was not. He then lied about it to God. But what I want to focus on is what God asks him about his countenance. God gives Cain the chance to repent and do right but he refuses and falls farther away and deeper into sin and rebellion–which God warned about in the verse above by personifying sin as a ravage animal crouching and waiting to pounce on  its victim. This picture reminds me of those shows on Discovery Channel where the water buffalo practically drink water off the back of the alligators at the edge of the riverbank and in a moment of time, they strike!

We cannot see how close we can get to sin before it affects us. It will always catch us off guard and destroy. In the case of Cain, it had to do with his temper/anger issue as well as jealousy for his brother. We have to keep our emotions/feelings in check by the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us that a man without self control is like a city broken into and left without walls. We have all seen those movies from the middle ages. When the walls came down, the cities would be taken over by enemy infiltration. We have to keep the walls– our boundaries–up in our lives and be on the alert at all times for that devil that Peter said is like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

What really sticks out to me and causes me to write this article is specifically when God says: “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?” When we do right and live godly with a clean conscience, it makes us to walk with a holy confidence and peaceful demeanor.

People should see the light of God in our face because we walk in the light of his countenance. My desire is to live in the reality of Gods promise that says: “The Lord lift up his countenance on you, and give you peace.” When we are not in right relationship with God, it causes there to be an emptiness and despondency which shows in our countenance and when we are at peace with God that too shows in our demeanor. That is why God told Cain to do right and have your countenance lifted up. This simple truth really shines through (no pun intended) in the following two translations:

Will not your face be happy if you do well? (Gen.4:7 NLV)

If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling. (CEV)

Most translations simply say you will “be accepted” which seems to mislead and cause us to miss this vital truth concerning our relationship with God and its influence on our countenance. The Hebrew means to elevate; lift up, which is captured well in the NASB, and carries the idea of cheerfulness. The psalmist at a real down point in his life encouraged himself with the following:

Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God. (Ps. 43:5 NASB)

God’s presence lifts us up when we are down.  The Hebrew for “the help of my countenance” is literally the salvation of my face. Earlier, David mentions thanks to God for the help of his presence. We must remember when we are feeling down the inspiring words of David about God that “He is our glory and the lifter of our head.”

So let us not be in despair but rest in God, knowing that when we are peace with him we can walk in peace with others. May we, the church, truly be happy and know it.  And may our faces surely show it!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rezavoody/530965275

I’ve had my stomach in knots since earlier this week.  I found out, through a Facebook post, that a friend of mine from Bible college was arrested for stuff I couldn’t imagine he’d ever do.  Or any other born again believer would do for that matter.  I couldn’t believe it.  I assumed it had to have been some kind of joke.  Some kind of misunderstanding.  But even the article said the man confessed to various charges as the police came and questioned him.

I’ve Googled and read everything I can find in case this is one of those cases where an offended person is making stuff up in order to make a minister’s life hell–as I’ve seen happen before.  But unfortunately it appears to be legitimate.  I so badly wanted to find something to prove it was not.

Instead of going into detail of what the news reports from websites in his community are reporting, I’ll just say my heart is very grieved.

I’ve been left with so many questions, like, how does a minister of the Gospel fall to something so depraved?  What will this do to scoffers and enemies of the Gospel who are already prone to point out every hypocrisy and indiscretion they can find in the church?

It has made me think of such things as I wrote about in posts of mine like Do You Have Stranglers In Your Life?, that people don’t “fall into” sin over night.  They go down a path for a long time.  It starts in seed form and as desires and temptations are given into, the seed grows into an actual plant in the thought life.  As I shared in that post, a strangler

…is like a virus that grows onto the tree, usually in the roots when the tree is young or little.  As the tree grows, so does the matapalo (“killing stick”).  It appears on the surface somewhat like it’s actually a part of the tree, but don’t be fooled–it’s not.

These thought seeds or desires start small, but like James says

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:14-15, ESV)

The gestation stages of potential sin

It doesn’t happen right away but is a process and we must cut it off early so it doesn’t progress and come to full fruition! One of satan’s most effective strategies is to scatter lies and deception in seed form early on in the harvesting stage.  When you take two different seeds in the palm of your hand, you typically will not know what they will they turn into until you’ve planted them and seen what fruit is produced. Habits and thought patterns are formed at an early age, and as a result, can be very difficult to change later on.

Let me encourage you to not live your life in such a manner letting both seeds take root in your life, later having destruction come to destroy works of the flesh!  Galatians warns us that we cannot sow to the flesh without reaping corruption and destruction.  We suffer when those seeds go unchecked and come to fruition in other forms down the road.  Better to deal with them early!  It’s much easier to deal with things in their seed form than it is when they’ve taken root and developed a lot of structure in our lives.

A friend once told me of being on a flight with a well known minister of the gospel when he was younger.  They were sitting in first class, and for some reason one of the stewardesses kept flirting with the minister.  My memory doesn’t give me details about how long this went on or what else my friend said about this situation, but I recall that finally this minister just yelled “whore of Babylon! whore of Babylon!” and the stewardess quickly backed off and tried to distance herself immediately so as to not draw any attention to herself or give others the idea he was referring to her.

My friend told me that he and the others present looked at him with jaws dropped and he told them “if you don’t embarrass sin, it will one day embarrass you.”

That sounds radical, but I’d rather look like a fool such as Joseph who ran away and lost his shirt when Potiphar’s wife came on to him, then to have it all come crashing down on me one day later as the consequences of my sinful choices and actions caught up to me.

I encourage you to get radical about dealing with sin in your life as well!

I also encourage you to listen to this podcast episode with myself and Dave Edwards and be stirred up.

Children, Keep Yourselves From Idols

Photo credit: http://www.sarahbesthealth.com/

Right now in our ministry Oikos, we’ve begun a 21 one day fast as a ministry and church, and in the midst of it I’m contemplating the purpose behind it and why I or anybody else would fast.  Mostly because there’s a lot of different ideas out there about the purpose of fasting, the health benefits of it, and certainly the spiritual effectiveness of doing it.

I just wanted to draw a quick analogy and not belabor the point too much, because Dave Edwards and I have done a pretty decent podcast discussion on fasting before, and it’s encouraged that you visit the play button above or media player below for more if you want to check that out.

Purging & Cleansing

Recently I noticed that my coffee maker was taking longer and longer to prepare coffee in the mornings. I clean the pot and coffee filter regularly with soapy water, but this was not solving the problem.  Over time, the coffee maker became less and less efficient, and taking longer to prepare my a pot.  It was becoming quite useless, actually.

I’ve given it thorough cleanings before, but I couldn’t remember the last time I had done it.  So, the other week I filled the pot half full with water and half with pure vinegar.  Then, I proceeded to pour this mixture where I normally pour the water into. I turned on the coffee maker, and let the water-vinegar mixture proceed through the machine.  This process took about as long as the coffee maker had been taking recently to finish.  I repeated this process a second time–again using a pot half-full of vinegar and half full of water, and it finished much faster.

The second time I paused it half-way through the process by turning the coffee maker off and letting it sit for about 30 minutes, then I turned it back on.  When this was finished, I went through the process a third time but this time using only water.  This was to help clean any traces of vinegar out of the machine.  The percolating process was now much faster than previously, and since then I’ve been making coffee much faster than before.

What does my coffee maker cleaning have to do with fasting?

Not necessarily anything, but the process of fasting and what it accomplishes in our bodies and spirits came alive to me in a much clear and simple way that helps me describe fasting to others.  When we fast we aren’t “getting” God to answer our prayers more so than if we didn’t fast.  We aren’t entering further into His presence or any such thing that it’s quite easy to believe fasting causes to happen.

If anything, it purges us.  It cleanses us.  It prepares us.  It reinforces us in our identity.  It helps unclog the channel we’re communicating to God through in our spirits, in that we are getting stuff out of the way like the vinegar-water solution helped do on the inside of the coffee maker.   It helps the flow of water to be unobstructed in the machine, just like fasting helps unobstruct the flow of the Spirit and sense of God’s presence in our lives.  Regularly fasting helps remove stuff in our lives so the Holy Spirit can flow more easily through us.

It’s understandable to see why we might believe the results of this can make it seem like fasting draws God closer to us.  If anything it’s just helping us remove stuff that was in the way in the first place making it easier to experience His close presence and hear Him more clearly.

I’ve you’ve never fasted before, I recommend doing it for some short and simple amount of time, like one day or so. If you want to drink juice, or just water, go for it.  But allow this process to take place in your life and I guarantee you, unless you’re diabetic or hypoglycemic or any other suck condition where it’s best not to fast from food, you will not regret it.

If you’d like to understand fasting, aside from checking out our podcast above, the following is a great Bible teaching series by Dave Roberson, called The Basics of Fasting.