Today is the last day and it certainly featured its share of temptations to end my fast early. First is the fact that today is a communion Sunday. I saw the communion trays out this morning, but I never even thought about the fact that I was fasting until about three minutes before we were served. I ended up taking communion, but I ate a very small piece of bread. I am fasting as an act of service to God, and I am sure that he would allow a small break in the fast for a different act of service to Him. Next was lunch at church which was very yummy smelling curry. After lunch I had to go back to Tanba for a party with the international assosciation of Tanba. This party featured very delicious and expansive platters of food, which I tried to resist politely. Anyways, I am still feeling a little sick, but I am sure that some food will make me feel all better. I will break my fast at 9:30 tonight with tomatoes! Over the next week I will start by eating fruits and vegetables, and eventually progress to bread and more solid food. It's always a temptation to rush back into food that I want to eat, but it will just make me feel worse if I rush too much. Enough about food, let's look at God!
Bible verse! I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20
While I am quite happy to reach the end of my fast, but it was a very good and necessary time for me. I have established some good habits that I want to continue throughout the rest of this year, and I enjoyed a very intimate time with God. There are two things in particular of which God convicted me that I need to work on in my life. The first is Scripture memorization. I have known for a long time that it is important to be continually memorizing Scripture, but it is not a habit that I have practiced in recent years. I have now started writing verses that I come across and want to memorize on flash cards so that I have easy access to them. I have also been convicted of my attitudes toward other people. I often have a tendency to look down on other people and judge other people by appearances. I feel that this condition is exacerbated by not having a community of Christians that I can regularly meet with and who can show me my flaws, which means that I need to rely on God, and use His perspective for looking at other people.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Fasting Part 4
17 days down 4 more to go! I'm still feeling sick, but I think that I am getting better. It only have a little cold, but it has still left me with very little energy. Since last weekend I have done hardly anything except come home right after work. Today however was Ultimate Practice, and I couldn't miss that! I actually feel great right now, but we'll see about tomorrow. Today and yesterday were actually two of the hardest days so far. One of the teachers at school asked me to prepare a presentation about lunch in America for today. I was happy to oblige, but that meant that I was looking at pictures of food for several hours straight. Not fun! But I made it through, and now I am done with that presentation. Hopefully I can avoid food for the next few days.
Fun fact: When you fast for a period of time your tongue actually turns kind of white. It is a little weird, but apparently it is normal (I'm not including any pictures of that). So right now I am looking forward to the end of my fast, which means that soon I will start planning out my eating schedule. When you end a fast, especially one of this duration, you cannot go back to eating anything as soon as you want. If I was to do that after this fast, I might actually die, but there are also spiritual reasons for not ending a fast as soon as possible. It is important to transition slowly back to eating so that your body can adjust and you maintain the good affects and good habits that you picked up during the fast. During the fasting time I exchanged a lot of my eating time for time with God, and I want to make sure that I maintain that focus. After my last fast, a ten day fast, I had a specific eating plan for the end of my fast, and I will expand that for the end of this fast. I will go into that a bit more in my future blog posts.
The devotional that I am using is meant to be used at the beginning of the year, and one of the purposes of it is to choose a word for the year. Even though it isn't January, I thought that it would still be good to choose a word. So without further ado, let me announce my long awaited word of the year. And the word is . . . "Transformed"!!!!!! I love this word, because it is something which the Bible requires of us, but it is not something that we can do. God is the one who transforms us, and it is something of which I need to be constantly reminded. It is very important for me to resist trying to do things on my own, and to instead allow God to work through me. The theme verse which accompanies this word is Romans 12:2
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Romans 12:2
Fun fact: When you fast for a period of time your tongue actually turns kind of white. It is a little weird, but apparently it is normal (I'm not including any pictures of that). So right now I am looking forward to the end of my fast, which means that soon I will start planning out my eating schedule. When you end a fast, especially one of this duration, you cannot go back to eating anything as soon as you want. If I was to do that after this fast, I might actually die, but there are also spiritual reasons for not ending a fast as soon as possible. It is important to transition slowly back to eating so that your body can adjust and you maintain the good affects and good habits that you picked up during the fast. During the fasting time I exchanged a lot of my eating time for time with God, and I want to make sure that I maintain that focus. After my last fast, a ten day fast, I had a specific eating plan for the end of my fast, and I will expand that for the end of this fast. I will go into that a bit more in my future blog posts.
The devotional that I am using is meant to be used at the beginning of the year, and one of the purposes of it is to choose a word for the year. Even though it isn't January, I thought that it would still be good to choose a word. So without further ado, let me announce my long awaited word of the year. And the word is . . . "Transformed"!!!!!! I love this word, because it is something which the Bible requires of us, but it is not something that we can do. God is the one who transforms us, and it is something of which I need to be constantly reminded. It is very important for me to resist trying to do things on my own, and to instead allow God to work through me. The theme verse which accompanies this word is Romans 12:2
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Romans 12:2
Friday, May 23, 2014
Fasting Part 3
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities not powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39
So I have been reading in Romans lately, and I love Romans! I always forget how much I like it until I start reading it again. I also finished reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship which is excellent, though it is very deep, and I think that I will have to read it again in the near future.
On the physical side of things, I have actually started to feel a little bit sick. I think that I might be starting to get a cold. I hope that it doesn't get too bad, because then I might have to end my fast early :(. As of right now, I am at 12 days, still 9 more to go.
I want to go over what kinds of juice are good to drink during fast. Drinks like orange juice or tomato juice are not good because they have high acidity which can be difficult for an empty stomach. I try to drink 100% pure juices with no added stuff. My favorite is apple juice and I drink the most of that. I also drink grape juice, grapefruit juice, and a blend that I found in the store of apple, banana, peach, and grape. Bill Bright recommends drinking vegetable juice in the evenings, and this is something that I have not done before, but I decided to try it this time. Japanese stores have some crazy vegetable juices which are mixes of like 30 different vegetables. I bought one which was disgusting, but when I mixed it with apple juice is became palatable. Unfortunately I wasn't careful because this drink was not just juice. It is important if you make your own juice that you are just drinking the juice. If you don't drink strained juice it will keep your digestive system from shutting down and won't be a real fast. Well, I learned from my mistake, and now I know what I should drink. I also have sports drinks like Gatorade or, in Japan, Aquarius and Pocari Sweat. I have found that I really need these if I am going to play sports. For example, on Sunday I played Ultimate for 3 or 4 hours and drank 2 liters of Aquarius. This brings up another important point. I have heard that it is not a good idea to play sports while fasting, but I am not actually sure what the physical effects are. I decided to participate in more physical activities this time because I kind of wanted to see what would happen, and I wanted to play Ultimate. So far physical activity has made me feel very weak, but I have been able to get through it with lots of Aquarius. Well that's enough for now. I have to go "eat" supper now.
So I have been reading in Romans lately, and I love Romans! I always forget how much I like it until I start reading it again. I also finished reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship which is excellent, though it is very deep, and I think that I will have to read it again in the near future.
On the physical side of things, I have actually started to feel a little bit sick. I think that I might be starting to get a cold. I hope that it doesn't get too bad, because then I might have to end my fast early :(. As of right now, I am at 12 days, still 9 more to go.
I want to go over what kinds of juice are good to drink during fast. Drinks like orange juice or tomato juice are not good because they have high acidity which can be difficult for an empty stomach. I try to drink 100% pure juices with no added stuff. My favorite is apple juice and I drink the most of that. I also drink grape juice, grapefruit juice, and a blend that I found in the store of apple, banana, peach, and grape. Bill Bright recommends drinking vegetable juice in the evenings, and this is something that I have not done before, but I decided to try it this time. Japanese stores have some crazy vegetable juices which are mixes of like 30 different vegetables. I bought one which was disgusting, but when I mixed it with apple juice is became palatable. Unfortunately I wasn't careful because this drink was not just juice. It is important if you make your own juice that you are just drinking the juice. If you don't drink strained juice it will keep your digestive system from shutting down and won't be a real fast. Well, I learned from my mistake, and now I know what I should drink. I also have sports drinks like Gatorade or, in Japan, Aquarius and Pocari Sweat. I have found that I really need these if I am going to play sports. For example, on Sunday I played Ultimate for 3 or 4 hours and drank 2 liters of Aquarius. This brings up another important point. I have heard that it is not a good idea to play sports while fasting, but I am not actually sure what the physical effects are. I decided to participate in more physical activities this time because I kind of wanted to see what would happen, and I wanted to play Ultimate. So far physical activity has made me feel very weak, but I have been able to get through it with lots of Aquarius. Well that's enough for now. I have to go "eat" supper now.
 | |
| Supper! |
Friday, May 16, 2014
Fasting Part 2
It has now been 5 1/2 days since I started fasting, which means that while I am hungry, the hardest part is behind me (I think). It takes your body some time to adjust to the fact that you are not feeding it anymore, and days 3 and 4 were really tough for me. Yesterday and today though, I felt a lot better, and was able to relax more and not worry so much about being hungry. Before I get into more physical effects, however, I would like to talk about what fasting is like for me in general.
I usually have one of two reasons for fasting. Sometimes I have something important, usually a big decision, and I fast so that I can focus on praying and seeking God's direction. Sometimes I fast because I need time to refocus on God and fasting gives me a chance to regain that focus. As I mentioned in the last post I am fasting for the second reason this time.
Whenever you start fasting you need to think carefully about what you are going to give up, how long you are going to give it up for, and especially what your goal is during that time. One of the biggest advantages I find from fasting is that you instantly have extra free time. If you are not eating, not preparing food, and not shopping (very much) there is a lot of extra time in your day. There are many different kinds of fasting from something as simple as giving up meat to something as intense as going without any food and water. What is really important when it comes to fasting is that your are expressing your devotion to God through giving up something that is a normal part of your life. For this particular fast in addition to giving up food I am also going on a partial technology fast, giving up video games, and minimizing my time on the internet. This is great for me because I have a chance to step back from somethings that I normally do almost every day and show God and myself that I don't rely on this temporal things, but instead place my reliance on God.
The Bible gives many examples of different kinds of fasts. Daniel and his friends decided to live on only vegetables and water for a time. David fasted from food for seven days while he was praying for God to spare the life of his first child by Bathsheba. He had a specific reason to pray to God and he did not want to be distracted from his supplication to God by food. Once God answered his prayer, (although not in the way he wanted) he happily started to eat again. Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry, and while the Bible says that he ate no food, we are to assume that he did drink water during that time. I believe that forty days is the longest period of time recorded for a fast in the Bible and that is also regarded as the longest period of time to safely go without food. The Bible also records that after Paul witnessed Jesus on the Damascus road he went three days without eating or drinking, and three days is probably the longest that it is safe to go without water. The Bible records the story of Elijah who ran in the strength of the Lord for forty days without food or drink, but this seems to be an act of God, and not something that humans can repeat. So if you are thinking of fasting I would recommend drinking at least water, and not going any longer than forty days.
Personally I like to follow the example of Bill Bright, and engage in a juice fast. This means that in addition to water I drink a variety of juices. Just water will keep you alive, but you have very little energy to use. I tried to fast while drinking only water one time, and after a few days I started drinking juice because felt so tired all of the time. Juice does not really satisfy you, and you will still feel the effects of going without food, but it is a great alternative for someone like me who likes to be active.
I usually have one of two reasons for fasting. Sometimes I have something important, usually a big decision, and I fast so that I can focus on praying and seeking God's direction. Sometimes I fast because I need time to refocus on God and fasting gives me a chance to regain that focus. As I mentioned in the last post I am fasting for the second reason this time.
Whenever you start fasting you need to think carefully about what you are going to give up, how long you are going to give it up for, and especially what your goal is during that time. One of the biggest advantages I find from fasting is that you instantly have extra free time. If you are not eating, not preparing food, and not shopping (very much) there is a lot of extra time in your day. There are many different kinds of fasting from something as simple as giving up meat to something as intense as going without any food and water. What is really important when it comes to fasting is that your are expressing your devotion to God through giving up something that is a normal part of your life. For this particular fast in addition to giving up food I am also going on a partial technology fast, giving up video games, and minimizing my time on the internet. This is great for me because I have a chance to step back from somethings that I normally do almost every day and show God and myself that I don't rely on this temporal things, but instead place my reliance on God.
The Bible gives many examples of different kinds of fasts. Daniel and his friends decided to live on only vegetables and water for a time. David fasted from food for seven days while he was praying for God to spare the life of his first child by Bathsheba. He had a specific reason to pray to God and he did not want to be distracted from his supplication to God by food. Once God answered his prayer, (although not in the way he wanted) he happily started to eat again. Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry, and while the Bible says that he ate no food, we are to assume that he did drink water during that time. I believe that forty days is the longest period of time recorded for a fast in the Bible and that is also regarded as the longest period of time to safely go without food. The Bible also records that after Paul witnessed Jesus on the Damascus road he went three days without eating or drinking, and three days is probably the longest that it is safe to go without water. The Bible records the story of Elijah who ran in the strength of the Lord for forty days without food or drink, but this seems to be an act of God, and not something that humans can repeat. So if you are thinking of fasting I would recommend drinking at least water, and not going any longer than forty days.
Personally I like to follow the example of Bill Bright, and engage in a juice fast. This means that in addition to water I drink a variety of juices. Just water will keep you alive, but you have very little energy to use. I tried to fast while drinking only water one time, and after a few days I started drinking juice because felt so tired all of the time. Juice does not really satisfy you, and you will still feel the effects of going without food, but it is a great alternative for someone like me who likes to be active.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Fasting Part 1
Hi everyone,
It has been a while since my last post, but I have something that I want to talk about, so I think that I will do that over the next few weeks. So let me give the back story first.
Two weeks ago was the Japanese holiday period know as Golden Week, a time when there happens to be a bunch of holidays close to each other. I did not have to work on Monday or Tuesday, so I went to Kobe from May 3rd to May 6th. In Kobe I attended the JCF Retreat. JCF stands for Jet Christian Fellowship. I had an amazing time of worshiping and learning more about God, meeting new people, and praying. One of my new friends shared a devotional from her church back in America, which was three weeks long, and I decided to do it. The devotional mentioned that it would be a good idea to fast while doing the devotional, and I decided to do that. The devotional detailed several different kinds of fasting, but I wanted to do what I usually do, which is a juice fast. What I would like to do in this series of blog posts is describe what fasting is like, and give some tips for anyone else who is interested in fasting. Before I go any further though, I want to advise anyone who is interested in fasting to look at the excellent guide over on the Cru website by Dr. Bill Bright. Probably most of what I do for fasting, and what I am going to say about fasting is taken from Dr. Bright. Here is the link to the website if you want to check it out. http://www.cru.org/training-and-growth/devotional-life/7-steps-to-fasting/01-personal-guide.htm
I first started fasting when I was in college with 30 hour famine. They had an event on campus, and I decided to try it out. What I usually do is a juice fast which means that I don't eat any food, but I drink juice in addition to water.I feel that fasting is a very positive experience for me and I have done it periodically through the years since then. I have gradually increased the time that I have fasted and the longest that I have gone so far is 10. I am trying for 21 days now, so it is definitely going to be a challenge. So why am I doing it? Well I have a couple of reasons. First off the time that I have been spending with God recently has been very sparse. I have been very busy, and it has been squeezing God time out. The retreat was a great wake up call for me, and I don't want to lose what I gained during that time. Also, as the devotional specifically requests fasting I feel that this is a great opportunity to do that. So that's all for now, but if you want to learn more about fasting please check out my future blog posts.
It has been a while since my last post, but I have something that I want to talk about, so I think that I will do that over the next few weeks. So let me give the back story first.
Two weeks ago was the Japanese holiday period know as Golden Week, a time when there happens to be a bunch of holidays close to each other. I did not have to work on Monday or Tuesday, so I went to Kobe from May 3rd to May 6th. In Kobe I attended the JCF Retreat. JCF stands for Jet Christian Fellowship. I had an amazing time of worshiping and learning more about God, meeting new people, and praying. One of my new friends shared a devotional from her church back in America, which was three weeks long, and I decided to do it. The devotional mentioned that it would be a good idea to fast while doing the devotional, and I decided to do that. The devotional detailed several different kinds of fasting, but I wanted to do what I usually do, which is a juice fast. What I would like to do in this series of blog posts is describe what fasting is like, and give some tips for anyone else who is interested in fasting. Before I go any further though, I want to advise anyone who is interested in fasting to look at the excellent guide over on the Cru website by Dr. Bill Bright. Probably most of what I do for fasting, and what I am going to say about fasting is taken from Dr. Bright. Here is the link to the website if you want to check it out. http://www.cru.org/training-and-growth/devotional-life/7-steps-to-fasting/01-personal-guide.htm
I first started fasting when I was in college with 30 hour famine. They had an event on campus, and I decided to try it out. What I usually do is a juice fast which means that I don't eat any food, but I drink juice in addition to water.I feel that fasting is a very positive experience for me and I have done it periodically through the years since then. I have gradually increased the time that I have fasted and the longest that I have gone so far is 10. I am trying for 21 days now, so it is definitely going to be a challenge. So why am I doing it? Well I have a couple of reasons. First off the time that I have been spending with God recently has been very sparse. I have been very busy, and it has been squeezing God time out. The retreat was a great wake up call for me, and I don't want to lose what I gained during that time. Also, as the devotional specifically requests fasting I feel that this is a great opportunity to do that. So that's all for now, but if you want to learn more about fasting please check out my future blog posts.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Christmas in America
Well my last day in Japan (for now) started with lots of commuting. First I had to take a train with the Otsukas to the bus station, and then I had to take a bus to Narita Airport. I started out at 9, because I wanted to make sure that I wasn't late. I made it to Narita, with plenty of time to spare, and ended sitting in the terminal for quite a while, but of it's always nice to be early. Well the flight was good, I got a lot accomplished (aka I watched a lot of movies). We made it to JFK in good time, and I had a nice long wait before my flight to Pittsburgh. My biggest concern about my travels was the tranfer in Pittsburgh because I was switching carriers and I didn't have a lot of time. It turns out that I needn't have worried becase my flight was delayed, and if I had taken i I would have missed my connection to Boston. There were no other flights that night so I had to stay in Pittsburgh overnight until my new flight left at 6:00. So here I am sitting on the plane feeling not so great. I got a little bit of sleep, but not nearly enough, and my diet recently has been sparing. On the plus side, I have a ridiculous amount of leg room, and I'm finally on my way, first to D.C. and then to Boston. And it's snowing! The first snow I have seen this winter!
Christmas in America
Well, another day , another adventure. Today was Sunday and I got to go to church in Saitama. It was quite a big church and we had a very special Christmas service along with five baptisms. After lunch Isayah and I went shopping so that I could finsh my Christmas. Next we went to visit Shimon at the bakery which was lots of fun. We came back home and ate Shabu-shabu, a quite delicious meal which involves mixing vegetables and thin pieces of meat in a big pot of boiling water. After supper we had time to watch a Rudolf the red-red nosed reindeer, for the first time for most of the Otsukas. Well, time for bed, going to America tomorrow.
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