0:03

Hello! And welcome to the John

0:06

Mack Coma Teachings Podcast. I'm strong,

0:08

calm and your host and part of

0:10

the teaching team here at practicing the

0:12

way. Each week on the show we

0:15

share a teaching from John Mack or

0:17

other trusted voices in the formation space.

0:20

Today we continue our series in

0:22

partnership with Bridgetown Church on Nine

0:25

Practices for Rule of Life, as

0:27

Tyler explores the practice of fasting,

0:29

what it is, why we do

0:32

it, and how we can get

0:34

started. He also offers a prophetic

0:36

invitation to unearth. Our deepest desires

0:39

and to live in to the

0:41

adventure God is sitting before each

0:43

one of us today. As.

0:46

You listen. You may like to reflect

0:48

on the question: what is the longing

0:50

beneath my living. In. This season of

0:52

Life. He has tyler.

0:57

This is Romans Twelve One. Therefore,

1:01

I urge you brothers and

1:03

sisters in view of God's

1:05

mercy to offer your body's

1:07

as a living sacrifice. Holy

1:09

and pleasing to God. This

1:11

is your true and proper

1:13

worship. This is the

1:15

word of learn. Thanks be to God. Father

1:24

I pray that you would help

1:26

us Lord. We

1:29

have been welcoming your presence or

1:31

maybe calling our souls to wake

1:33

up to your presence there. As

1:35

always with us have three Now

1:38

that as we open your word

1:40

God that we would hear from

1:42

you that you would come into

1:44

our inner lives that whatever amount

1:47

of attention span and openness to

1:49

you that each one of these

1:51

individuals offers that you would. Take

1:54

the edge we give you and take a mile

1:56

instead. Lord. Jesus name we

1:58

pray and then. The.

2:02

Seventeenth century Swedish King eight all.

2:04

Frederick stamps his name in the

2:06

history books for reasons that have

2:08

nothing to do with royalty or

2:10

politics but food. He was famous

2:12

for hosting extravagant dinner parties that

2:14

featured rare imported ingredients and this

2:16

is before Top Chef for Miss

2:18

Own Stars or any one was

2:21

ever called a studio Skiing eight

2:23

all through his last great feast

2:25

on Fat Tuesday of seventeen seventy

2:27

one less the day before Ass

2:29

Wednesday when people asked and will

2:31

feast. On what they plan to

2:33

fast some for the forty days

2:35

that follow, Fat Tuesday is this

2:37

Tuesday so let and as fees

2:40

a cautionary tale for you my

2:42

friends. He enjoyed and feast of

2:44

to have the are lobsters, plural

2:46

sauerkraut, smokes, herring and he was

2:48

all of it down with plenty

2:50

of champagne but seeing eye off

2:53

was just getting started. For dessert

2:55

he had requested his personal favorite

2:57

Some Law which is a traditional

2:59

Swedish been filled with almond tense.

3:01

Whipped cream is served with

3:03

hot know he had not

3:05

one, but sports team portions

3:08

of some was several hours

3:10

later he collapsed, dead and

3:12

the historically documented cause of

3:14

death his digestive problems. Then

3:18

there's the Iris extremists, Bobby Sands,

3:20

who's the central figure air a

3:22

central figure in the Troubles, a

3:24

period of political strife between Northern

3:26

Ireland and the Uk. He was

3:29

arrested in Nineteen Eighty One for

3:31

what he and many others term

3:33

freedom fighting, but just as many

3:35

said was terrorism and while being

3:37

held in prison, he went on

3:39

a very heavily publicized hunger strike

3:41

on March first, Nineteen Eighty One.

3:43

He refused to eat until he

3:46

was no longer being called a

3:48

criminal. or not eating until something changes

3:50

in as this is what it's gonna say

3:52

to get the attention of the powers that

3:54

be than so be it bobby sands died

3:56

in prison on may since nineteen eighty one

3:59

of self and to starvation 66 days

4:02

after he began his hunger strike. One

4:05

man remembered for eating himself to death, another

4:08

for starving himself to death. So

4:11

we're continuing our teaching series today,

4:13

Unforced Rhythms of Grace, nine core

4:15

practices for a rule of life.

4:17

And up to this point, we

4:19

have covered prayer, scripture, solitude, and

4:21

community. And today we come to

4:23

fasting, the spiritual practice

4:27

of not eating for a period

4:29

of time for the

4:31

sake of spiritual nourishment. Now

4:34

all the way back in Genesis, at

4:36

the very beginning of the biblical story,

4:38

God created man and woman, not as

4:40

floating souls, but as embodied image bearers.

4:42

So people are set apart from every

4:45

other aspect of God's creation and that

4:47

we image God on the earth and

4:49

we do so through our bodies.

4:52

Biblical resurrection at the other end of the

4:54

story tells of a time when heaven will

4:57

come to earth and all wrong will be

4:59

banished and all will be restored. And that

5:01

includes a bodily resurrection when we will live

5:03

forever with God in bodies.

5:06

And then the thick of the biblical

5:09

plot that falls in between those two

5:11

scenes, scripture teaches a way of relating

5:13

to God as both body and soul.

5:15

So I'm not just a body, there's

5:18

something eternal about me housed within

5:20

this body of mine, but neither

5:22

am I just a soul because

5:24

this body is the vessel through

5:26

which I image God on the

5:28

earth. In the modern West,

5:30

we've driven a wedge between body and

5:32

soul that does not exist in

5:34

the biblical story, in church

5:36

history, or in the global

5:39

church today. Look back

5:41

with me at your Bibles, Romans chapter 12,

5:43

where we read from just a moment ago. Therefore

5:46

I urge you brothers and sisters

5:48

in view of God's mercy to

5:51

offer your bodies as

5:55

a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

5:57

This is your true and proper worship. What

6:00

on earth does not eating have

6:03

to do with following Jesus? I

6:05

mean, how could intentionally going

6:08

hungry possibly grow me up in

6:10

faith? You see, fasting is

6:12

going to make any sense at all or have

6:14

any form of power in our lives. We've got

6:17

to begin by reconnecting what has in the West

6:19

been torn apart, and that is

6:21

the body and the soul. We've got to

6:23

get back to our roots and

6:25

embody the spirituality. Most

6:28

of us have learned to know our souls

6:30

through the story of God, but to know

6:32

our bodies through the story of Western culture.

6:35

And that's a problem because Western culture

6:37

has a dysfunctional relationship with the

6:40

body. Theologist Scott McKnight

6:42

in his book on fasting summarizes the

6:44

primary ways that the modern

6:46

Western person relates to their body. I'll give you

6:48

his top three, monster,

6:50

celebrity, and cornucopia.

6:54

So before we get into the biblical way of

6:56

relating to our bodies that fasting fits within, we've

6:59

got to get a lay of the land,

7:01

the deformed starting places that we all come

7:03

from when it comes to understanding spirituality and

7:05

the body. So for some of

7:08

us, the body is a monster to be conquered. We

7:11

subconsciously think of the body as this

7:13

ferocious monster of competing desires that

7:16

I then spend my life conquering, meaning

7:19

that spiritual maturity is therefore

7:21

the conquest against my body's

7:23

desires. Spiritual maturity means

7:25

overcoming my wandering eyes of

7:27

lust and taming my out-of-control

7:29

taste for alcohol or putting

7:31

strict boundaries around my rampant

7:33

materialism. And spiritual maturity

7:35

very well may include all of those

7:38

things, but when our primary view of

7:40

the body is through that lens, fasting

7:42

then becomes the spiritual equivalent to Olympic

7:45

training, where fasting is pushing

7:47

my body beyond its limits so

7:49

that I can achieve an extraordinary level

7:51

of spiritual fitness, or maybe even worse.

7:54

We can take a very

7:56

good practice like fasting and pair it

7:58

with an already destructive body. of relationship

8:00

to food through something like an

8:02

eating disorder or simply a control

8:05

mechanism. For others

8:07

of us, the body is a celebrity

8:09

to be glorified. This

8:11

is a more narcissistic approach where the

8:13

body becomes the medium through which I

8:16

attempt to derive a misplaced level of

8:18

identity and value. I

8:20

spend a disproportionate amount of

8:22

time and energy shaping my

8:24

body through diet and exercise

8:26

and other means to become

8:28

desirable or fashionable or acceptable

8:31

to myself or to some

8:33

other reference group. And

8:35

finally, some of us naturally relate to our

8:37

bodies as the vessel through which we

8:40

satiate our desires and calm

8:42

our unwanted emotions, a cornucopia

8:44

to be filled, meaning that

8:46

twisting horn that is filled

8:48

with an endless supply of

8:50

produce and rich food is

8:53

a picture for how some treat our

8:55

bodies. Pleasure through the

8:57

body becomes the place that I

9:00

aim my desire. Pleasure

9:02

through a relationship to alcohol that I find

9:04

it difficult to take the edge off

9:06

without or a relationship to caffeine

9:08

I find it difficult to engage

9:10

in the world without or a

9:12

habit of overeating that is driven

9:14

far more by emotion than it

9:16

is by a need for nourishment

9:18

or the pursuit of another sexual

9:20

conquest, a hedonistic or to put

9:23

it biblically, a gluttonous relationship to

9:25

our bodies that shapes us increasingly

9:27

into pleasure and comfort-addicted people who

9:29

cope with our lives through delicate

9:31

palates and fancy drinks and expensive

9:33

restaurants. Fasting

9:36

is a spiritual practice that

9:38

freely acknowledges that not all

9:41

of our spiritual formation comes through

9:43

our mind, but some

9:45

comes through our stomach. For

9:48

example, the priest called Jesus

9:50

a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of

9:52

sinners, why? Because of

9:54

what he ate and who he ate with. When

9:57

Jesus sent out his disciples ahead of him to...

10:00

the villages to which he would go

10:02

to proclaim the coming of the kingdom

10:04

of God. He included specific instructions about

10:06

what they'd eat and who they'd

10:08

eat with. This is Luke chapter 10. When

10:11

you enter a house, first say, peace to this

10:13

house. If someone who promotes peace is there, your

10:15

peace will rest on them. If not, it will

10:18

return to you. Stay there eating

10:20

and drinking whatever they give you,

10:23

for the worker deserves his wages. Do not

10:25

move around from house to house. When you

10:27

enter a town and are welcomed, eat what

10:29

is offered you. Heal the sick

10:31

who are there and tell them the kingdom of God

10:34

has come near you. So Jesus's

10:36

instructions concerning the coming

10:38

of the kingdom of God include the food

10:41

that we eat and don't eat and the

10:43

company we keep as we do it. Eat

10:45

what they eat. Those

10:47

are Jesus's instructions. Can

10:50

you sit at the table of someone

10:52

from another culture and eat outside of

10:54

your preferences for the sake of the

10:56

gospel? And

10:58

if not, have

11:00

your attachment to a particular way of

11:03

eating and drinking become deformational

11:06

rather than formational? The

11:09

Christian Desert Fathers and Mothers of the

11:11

third and fourth century defined gluttony not

11:13

as overeating but as being too

11:16

fastidious in our

11:18

choices concerning food. So

11:20

what is gluttony in a city

11:23

like ours is less about overconsumption

11:25

and it's more about a fastidious

11:27

attachment to a particular way of

11:29

eating that may at times get

11:32

in the way of love. Is

11:35

the way that you relate to food a pathway

11:37

to perfection? Is it

11:39

a pathway to indulgence? Is

11:41

it a pathway to comfort? Or

11:44

is it a pathway to love? Both

11:48

Biblically, historically, and today globally, fasting

11:50

is a core practice to spiritual

11:52

maturity. On par with Scripture and

11:54

prayer and solitude and community, but

11:56

a fasting is going to make

11:58

sense to us. Today between my

12:01

formative power in our lives who gossip

12:03

by reconnecting the body and the soul

12:05

and that brings us to the Hebrew

12:07

Bible were the first mention of fasting

12:09

as a spiritual practice sound in the

12:12

Book of Exodus Moses is Forty Days

12:14

ass on Mount Sinai which was and

12:16

followed by a man for all of

12:18

Israel, the fast on the day of

12:20

atonement or young Kapoor by the time

12:23

we had to the Isaiah Earth the

12:25

Profit Zachariah excuse me there for distinct

12:27

annual faster observed by the hold the

12:29

nation. Of Israel these are examples

12:31

of a rhythmic fasting and biblically

12:34

meaning and ordered predictable way of

12:36

fasting that a set apart to

12:38

mark particular times of year and

12:40

has observed by the whole nation

12:43

but also throughout the Old Testament

12:45

we see many examples of responses.

12:47

Fasting allies all fast for forty

12:49

days just like Moses did in

12:52

response to a profound encounter with

12:54

God as their causes people to

12:56

fast for three days before her

12:58

decisive meeting with. The Kings The

13:00

profit Zola prescribes a nationwide fast and

13:03

sake of repentance and your hosts affairs

13:05

as at all others will surpass. In

13:07

the midst of military trouble ever calls

13:09

for a fast for safe passage before

13:11

the exiles return home to Israel. None

13:14

of those are based on rhythms it

13:16

says tons of the earth, but all

13:18

of them are responses to is sacred

13:20

encounter with God in a given moment.

13:22

So in the Hebrew Bible fasting his

13:25

practice for us as rhythm. And

13:27

as. Response is a regular rhythm

13:29

for spared from maturity it's and

13:31

as as it is a response

13:34

to a sacred encounter with God

13:36

that brings up to Jesus Jesus

13:38

fast and forty days in the

13:40

wilderness before he began his ministry

13:43

that was boasts a symbolic as

13:45

by which he was embodying the

13:47

Exodus stories. And it was

13:49

an actual fast as he really

13:52

lived. Before he began teaching

13:54

and miracle working calling disciples,

13:56

the historical evidence suggested Jesus

13:58

and his disciples likely. Came of

14:00

age fasting two days a week which

14:03

is the common practice for all his

14:05

realize in the first century. and while

14:07

Jesus and his disciples likely did not

14:10

fast during his Through Your ministry, Jesus

14:12

does say mark chapter two that he

14:14

assumes his disciples will resume this to

14:16

day a week rhythm of fasting after

14:19

his death and resurrection. In

14:21

the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches

14:23

on topic of fast. When you fast

14:25

do not look somber the hypocrites do

14:27

for they disfigure their faces to show

14:29

others that they are fast and truly

14:31

I tell you they have received their

14:33

reward in full. but when you fast

14:35

for oil on your head and wash

14:37

your face that it will not be

14:39

obvious to others. the you're fasting but

14:41

only to your father who has unseen

14:43

and your father who sees what is

14:45

done in secret will reward you. Spell

14:47

notice to things about Jesus teaching on

14:49

fasting. The first is. Jesus assumes

14:52

his disciples so fast. He

14:55

says when you fast. Not

14:57

is you fast? And

14:59

then secondly, when you pass for

15:01

the murders that Jesus prescribe, the

15:04

Father will reward You mean there's

15:06

a guest waiting on the other

15:08

side of fasting when it's done

15:11

in a true from a true

15:13

and proper modus smell. And Jesus

15:16

never. Come mans faster.

15:19

So. You are absolutely free!

15:22

To. Choose when and how and even

15:24

is you fast. But Jesus does

15:26

assume fasting and he name's the

15:28

rewards of the practice which I

15:30

would are you care is just

15:32

as much significance as an outright

15:34

prescription does. Only that means that

15:37

the motivation for our fasting should

15:39

come out of desire and not

15:41

out of a sense of duty.

15:43

All to say analyzer, Jesus fasting

15:45

as practice, both as a rhythm

15:47

and as a response. And as

15:49

I mentioned a moment ago by

15:51

the time. Of Jesus uncommon for

15:53

all Jewish people to fast two days

15:56

a week, and the Early Church, as

15:58

Jesus predicted, continued that practice. And

16:01

the dedicated the first Christian writings

16:03

that we have our of the

16:05

New Testament. All of the Church

16:07

is Commanded is too fast on

16:09

Wednesdays and Fridays. Almost all of

16:11

the early Church fathers talked extensively

16:13

on the practice of fasting and

16:15

Lent to six weeks prior to

16:18

Easter was originally of fast or

16:20

followers of Jesus did not each

16:22

day until sundown. In fact, the

16:24

Muslim practice of Ramadan was developed

16:26

later and was originally based on

16:28

the Christian practice of. Lint. So.

16:31

What happened to say this mean

16:33

something? It was so com and

16:36

the whole church observed twice a

16:38

week become so on com that

16:40

no one ever really practice is

16:42

almost gone for a black belt.

16:46

For. Sharp decline in the practice

16:48

of fasting in the Western shirts

16:50

runs exactly parallel to the Iraq

16:52

to the rise of a diss

16:55

embodied spirituality which was popularized by

16:57

the sixteenth and seventeenth century enlightenment.

16:59

As the philosopher Rene Descartes so

17:02

famously said, i've seen, therefore I

17:04

am And other words, I'm formed

17:06

into the right kind of person

17:09

by thinking the right kind of

17:11

ideas and what we believe really

17:13

is a part of our transformation.

17:16

But what we do with our

17:18

bodies saves who we become just

17:20

as much as the idea that

17:22

we believe does with the enlightenment

17:24

and on Biblical divide came between

17:27

the soul and the body and

17:29

then it rose in popularity until

17:31

fasting stopped making sense in the

17:33

midst of dead cards miss so

17:35

steep was the drop in a

17:38

two day we'd certified practice that

17:40

in the eighteenth century John Wesley

17:42

wrote i fear that there are

17:44

thousands of Christian so called. Both

17:46

in England and Ireland to. Following the

17:49

same bad example have entirely left

17:51

off fast and. Still are so

17:53

far from passing twice a week that

17:55

they do not fast twice and months.

17:59

Twice in a more. Some.

18:01

Money and had psoriasis.

18:04

One. Of the more striking features that I

18:06

notice when I read the scriptures just

18:08

how important the body is to spirituality in

18:11

the Bible. Where the more striking features

18:13

that I notice knives or of the church

18:15

of my time is so unimportant the

18:17

body is in the modern church. Monuments

18:20

are Christians your was speaking find it

18:22

much more naturals really to gone to

18:24

the head and the hearts and we

18:26

do there are Bodies by the Bible

18:29

study were again once I saw information

18:31

understanding about God's sure All the Spirit

18:33

conference was gone to experience remove the

18:35

teachings of Jesus for my head to

18:37

my heart were experiencing on my emotions

18:40

absolutely don't eat. I

18:42

feel uncomfortable hungary potentially dizzy when

18:44

you deny your body one of

18:46

it's most corn essential desires. Why?

18:53

It is very hard for post Enlightenment

18:55

Descartes influence Westerners like us to fathom

18:58

a way of meeting God succumbs to

19:00

as not through the mind but through

19:02

the stomach and that brings us to

19:04

the very heart of the matter to

19:07

the most important question for today. Why?

19:10

Fast. It's

19:13

uncomfortable, unnatural, and difficult, especially

19:15

at first. So what would

19:18

motivate someone too fast? On.

19:21

Her article was asking makes

19:24

sense Author Amy Johnson, Fred

19:26

Com summarizes the motivation to

19:28

fast both biblically and experience

19:31

away under these three headings:

19:33

attentiveness, freedom and compassion. For

19:36

first, fasting is about attentiveness. Fasting

19:39

as an intentional way of directing

19:41

my deep desire was in me

19:43

because we all hold deep desires

19:45

and we all find it difficult

19:48

to live constantly present to those

19:50

things we desire deepest. I just

19:52

got a hopes and longing for

19:54

who my children and to grow

19:56

up and become for the unique

19:59

true selves. God wrote in them

20:01

at first and send a gift of life

20:03

may have to offer The world and the

20:05

joy of y se have a living as

20:07

their true selves in the world's end of

20:09

got shallow desires. Like. What

20:11

I'll have for Lunch Leaders today. And

20:14

one universal truth but rarely acknowledged

20:16

of truth about the human condition

20:18

is that as you press me

20:20

to tell you which one of

20:22

these matters more my children's book

20:24

common or today's launch it would

20:26

be no contest, right? It's obviously

20:28

who my children will become spot.

20:30

In spite of that fact, Human

20:33

beings been the vast majority of their

20:35

lives, far more attentive to are shallow

20:37

desires than we do to our the

20:39

phones. During the eighteen years that my

20:42

children live under my roof, eighteen. Or

20:45

say that's the plan for know. During

20:48

those eighteen years, the time I

20:50

spend plotting my next meal will

20:52

far outweigh the time that I

20:55

spent hoping for their maturity. Enjoy!

20:57

Surface desires are just a whole

20:59

lot louder than deep. Once surface

21:02

desires like hunger for the next

21:04

meal tap me on the shoulder

21:07

three times a day and constantly

21:09

want attention. Was desires are mostly

21:11

quiet and consent to go unnoticed

21:14

fasting. Is withholding a

21:16

surface level desire for a

21:18

time to live in concert

21:20

with deep desire. I

21:23

care more about the friendships that are cultivate

21:25

in the working years of my adult life

21:27

and the tasks on this week's agenda, but

21:29

the tasser? a whole lot more demanding than

21:31

the friends. And that

21:33

is why rates of loneliness,

21:35

depression, and even suicide sky

21:37

rocket retirement age. Because

21:39

accomplishments are forgotten in an instant and the

21:42

social power that success one you in your

21:44

industry so goes the second you walk out

21:46

of that industry. right?

21:49

How successful or unsuccessful you were

21:51

in your professional life after retirement

21:53

is exactly as relevant as how

21:55

successful or unsuccessful you are in

21:57

sports in high school in your

21:59

forties. No one cares

22:01

and a sort of weird

22:03

to talk about rice. Button

22:07

Relationships. The.

22:09

Relationships you cultivated or didn't during those busy

22:11

years of working your way up the ladder.

22:13

That's what you're left with on the other

22:15

side of retirement. So.

22:17

How do I live today? For who

22:20

I am becoming and not what I'm

22:22

accomplishing? that is to question the poor

22:24

question to human joy. I.

22:27

Care more about the depth of intimacy that

22:29

are cultivate was my wife and the memories

22:31

that we make over the years. and who's

22:34

gonna pick up the kids from sort of

22:36

this Wednesday evening? But of course the logistical

22:38

news this week are allowed and the intimacy

22:40

is quiet and it can always ways. the

22:42

point I'm trying to make is that unchecked

22:45

are surface desires consume the majority of our

22:47

lives state even though it is the deep

22:49

desires we would all agree. or most important.

22:52

David Brooks in his book The Road To

22:54

Character Says is really only two targets I

22:57

was using the him your Life is your

22:59

resume or your eulogy. It's

23:01

either what a piece of paper says about your your

23:03

retirement or what people say about your it's your funeral.

23:06

And of course, given a moment of reflection

23:08

we would also that a huge is far

23:10

more important than a resume. And yet we

23:12

all tend to live for a resumes more

23:14

than we do or eulogies. So.

23:17

How do I live? for what I want most?

23:20

Starve. Lesser appetites and

23:22

intensely hold the deeper winds

23:25

up front and your imagination

23:27

remain attentive to your deepest

23:29

desire and that involves restraining

23:31

and taming surface desire to.

23:33

I think of fasting primarily

23:35

as praying with my body.

23:38

And when I'm sitting in

23:40

a meeting and my stomach

23:42

embarrassingly growls. I

23:44

think of that as an intercession going

23:46

up from my body to the throne

23:49

room of haven't signed got i'm hungry

23:51

because or something, I'm hungry of forks

23:53

and satisfying the surface level hunger because

23:55

I actually believe that that is how

23:57

the Lord Years it suffers. passing about

23:59

attentiveness, In Fasting is about freedom.

24:01

Thomas Aquinas is one of the

24:04

more influential figures in all of

24:06

church history and he define what

24:08

scripture cause I know. It's

24:12

a class said. That

24:15

every culture has it's own substitute gods

24:17

but they all have this and comments

24:19

that's a promise freedom to their worshippers.

24:21

but in the and they imprison them.

24:24

And he name is of suit

24:27

yards of his days money, power,

24:29

pleasure and honor and honor to

24:31

be confusing term my my honor

24:33

he meant same and prestige A

24:35

same as a desire to be

24:37

perceived as important mud a whole

24:39

mass of people, prestigious his desire

24:41

to be perceived as informed by

24:43

select reference group whose opinion you

24:45

really care about. Those are the

24:48

sub sub gods of Aquinas. As

24:50

time. And the sound

24:52

eerily familiar to our own. Don't say. Aquinas

24:56

are used as these idols hurt us

24:58

a me because they don't appeal to

25:00

the true self. The to the fossils

25:02

is a disguise that you're I have

25:04

a weakness for wearing around in the

25:06

world so let's play a little game

25:08

of name your substitute god shall we.

25:12

Money, power, pleasure and honor Start

25:14

by eliminating what is least appealing

25:16

to you. Also have this list

25:18

like maybe you don't really care

25:20

about ah, feeling powerful are important

25:23

in a particular room. See, you

25:25

can. Just throw that when our first

25:27

and maybe success isn't your drug and

25:29

you're really have a taste for being

25:31

perceived a certain way by the masses

25:33

or by a particular reference group of

25:35

people see can wipe that went away

25:37

to and now we're down to money

25:39

and pleasure And here is where it

25:41

gets interesting my friends. Maybe you actually

25:43

really do like the feeling of a

25:46

new jacket draped over your shoulders. And

25:48

maybe you don't care so much about

25:50

perceive being perceived as special and the

25:53

successful sense of the were. be Do

25:55

care about being perceived as fashionable and

25:57

a more materialistic are desirable sense of

25:59

the. Org and maybe you don't

26:01

aim your life to climb in the

26:03

success latter. but the experience ladder. Like.

26:06

The next adventure. The. Next

26:09

vacation. Just the

26:11

next weekend. Will. That does preoccupy

26:13

a lot of your idol imagination.

26:16

Is he? Now we're getting closer.

26:19

Most people can identify and name their

26:21

substitute gods with just a little bit

26:23

of on a selfless action. And that

26:26

brings us to the most important part

26:28

of this whole exercise. Aquinas has not

26:30

claiming his. There's anything at all wrong

26:32

with the for things on this list,

26:34

right? Money exists in the world and

26:36

someone's got stewart and they can be

26:38

stored for good or for ill and

26:41

powers. A portrait of God and is

26:43

shared with all of his image for

26:45

years. Pleasure is a god given gift

26:47

as one of the ways that. We

26:49

actually derived God's presence in our

26:52

lives. Today and honors often given to

26:54

those who shouldn't be esteemed and even

26:56

imitators. There's nothing wrong with anything on

26:58

this list in and of itself. But

27:01

as attachments. As

27:03

the focus of your life subconscious

27:06

attention, the motivating force behind your

27:08

pursuits. The South Sudan's objectify as

27:10

they robbers blonde and the and

27:12

prisoners in the hands. Is

27:15

a neutral? Appetites like those on

27:17

Aquinas is less become South Sudan's

27:19

one that when we asked them

27:21

to give us something that they

27:23

spawned a mentally cannot deliver a

27:26

mess sea bubble satisfaction. right?

27:29

Honor will give you what you

27:31

want. For. A moment. You.

27:35

Will feel important and you will stand

27:37

up a little bit straighter. But.

27:40

It will never be enough. You'll.

27:42

Need the same affirmation for the vary

27:44

from the very same group against more

27:46

you will surrender your identity and to

27:48

a substitute gods that drip sees your

27:50

fall cells. and to a you are

27:52

entirely addicted to it. Faster.

27:55

Is the spiritual practice of setting

27:58

our attachments a lesser love? Because.

28:01

When we fast we are practicing self

28:03

denial and if we do not learn

28:05

to deny ourselves, we bow the knee

28:07

before South Sudan's distorting ourselves and the

28:09

world around us. We got our lives

28:11

upon a lie. When it is, the

28:14

truth is says this free. Keepers

28:16

Chapter twelve: Let us throw

28:19

off everything that hinders. And.

28:22

The center so easily and tangles

28:24

luster off the scent. aimless through

28:26

the neutral appetites, exhibit some attachments

28:28

and let us run would perseverance.

28:31

The race that is marked out

28:33

for us only the worship of

28:35

God delivers a sort of satisfaction

28:37

that we can keep some sort

28:39

of return but does not diminish

28:42

because only God appeals to our

28:44

true selves. We fast to enjoy

28:46

lesser loves so that through these

28:48

lesser love to these guess we

28:51

can perceive. And draw connection to

28:53

the giver himself as he fasting

28:55

doesn't eliminate our desire for pleasure

28:57

or these good things from our

28:59

allies that just turns to body

29:01

into a monster to be conquered.

29:03

fasting teams them and keeps them

29:05

in their proper place to the

29:07

very things that might imprison us

29:09

become guess would connect to the

29:11

giver who knows and truly satisfies

29:13

us. To. Fasting is about

29:15

attentiveness. It's about freedom. And and

29:17

finally, Fasting is about compassion. Always

29:21

gotta spend a week and a Kenyan

29:23

orphanage called But Zini and on the

29:25

very last night I was there I

29:27

was invited to lead a bible study

29:29

for all of the kids after dinner

29:31

service says the orphans ever you ages

29:33

from and sent all the way up

29:35

to their early twenties gather into this

29:37

living room and it's unbearably hot as

29:39

mosquitoes swarming around inside all over the

29:41

place in every for had as glistening

29:43

with sweat and as one teenage girl

29:45

suggests that we open was a him

29:48

and she just begins to sing out

29:50

on capella. And them before I knew

29:52

it, like everyone had joined them still

29:54

or smiles beaming across every. say, people

29:56

jumping and last thing the couch cushions

29:58

had been turned and. Drum. And

30:00

then as soon as that song

30:03

ended, another one kicked off. It

30:05

was joy like I've never seen

30:07

before in my life. and having

30:09

be held their incredible gratitude and

30:12

joy in the face of the

30:14

simplest of lifestyle I loved muzzy

30:16

me freshly aware of all the

30:19

plus conferences around my loss, reconsidering

30:21

and reevaluating how I might relate

30:23

to my material world differently. And.

30:26

Who among us hasn't had some kind of

30:29

experience like Sat? Confronted.

30:31

By all that you have and all the

30:33

take for granted maybe all the ways that

30:36

comfort and access of these forms at you

30:38

and throwing your priorities out of whack. And

30:42

it probably doesn't take a lot of

30:44

reflection for you to recall. your own

30:46

version of my story is that disaster

30:48

relief efforts you participated in and declared

30:50

is it came as a result or

30:52

the year the served in the peace

30:54

Corps or the relationship with the family

30:56

that you drop the rest fear know

30:58

we all have experience like that. And

31:01

of course, the sober and is that those

31:03

moments of clarity tends to go as quickly

31:05

as they com. Most of

31:08

us then quite quickly find a way

31:10

right back into the habit of consumption

31:12

that to perform bar class and our

31:14

culture rather than developing have as out

31:17

of the brief moment of clarity that

31:19

pierced all of that with or something

31:21

more clear and true So how do

31:23

we allow clarity rather than comfort to

31:26

become the foundation from which reform our

31:28

minds and. Her.

31:32

As a chapter fifty eight, why we

31:34

fasted they saying you've not seen at

31:36

why we're humbled ourselves and you have

31:39

not known as yet. On the day

31:41

of your fasting, you do as you

31:43

please, exploit all your workers. You're fasting

31:45

as informally and strike in stride and

31:47

striking each other with Wicked says you

31:50

cannot fast as you do today and

31:52

expect your voice to be heard on

31:54

high and as it passes proceeds. God

31:56

then prescribes a new fast for the

31:58

people of Israel. Not this the

32:01

kind of as I've chosen to lose the

32:03

chase, him adjust to some free the a

32:05

brass to share food with the hungry and

32:07

provide the poor. Wander over shelter to plug

32:10

the naked and spend your cellphone masses. The

32:12

poor is a god takes issue with his

32:14

people, not because they're fasting. But.

32:17

Because fasting is not

32:19

producing within them. Compassion.

32:22

Remember it's not about how you do the practices.

32:25

As what what the practices are supposed

32:27

to be doing to you. When.

32:30

God for scrap the day of

32:32

atonement as a fast for all

32:34

of Israel. He said it is

32:36

a day sabbath rest and you

32:38

must deny yourselves. It is a

32:40

lasting ordinance. As English or deny

32:43

as a Hebrew are know, it's

32:45

literally translates as afflicts Disturb or

32:47

a press. Can

32:49

see where the English translators what

32:51

would deny process. Afflicts

32:54

myself, A

32:57

press muscles. What's

32:59

up with that? God.

33:02

Not only prescribed into practice he

33:04

is naming the intended fruit of

33:06

the practice is is a Hebrew

33:08

word that would translate English as

33:10

compassion was literally means whoa, suffer

33:13

And that's what fasting as is

33:15

willingly enduring end the suffering of

33:17

someone else. My.

33:19

Friend Matt with fasting for a full day

33:21

twenty four hour fast saw him to Sundown

33:23

for the very first time and it was

33:25

and it was around once time and he

33:27

was feeling mostly week and miserable. He.

33:30

Was. Tired. And cities

33:32

and hungry and angry. and he was

33:34

walking through. So how and heart of

33:36

New York City? Home turf all the

33:39

flagship stores of the world's most exclusive

33:41

and fashionable brands. And he of course

33:43

has a closet and home was more

33:45

than enough. And it. and yet he

33:47

is wanting more and more as he's

33:49

making his way down the city blocks

33:51

Soho half and spill out right on

33:54

the Bowery. right by the Bowery Mission,

33:56

which is the New York City equivalent

33:58

to the Portland Rescue Mission. And

34:00

the line to collect a free hot

34:02

lunches stretching all the way down the

34:04

block. This like it does every people

34:06

waiting to get and for a meal

34:08

and may be an hour's escape from

34:10

the winter cold. When he

34:12

told me the story later, map pulled

34:15

me into that moment with some sort

34:17

about how he passed the Bowery mission

34:19

of meal time without thought so many

34:21

times before. But. Today he sells

34:23

in his own. Body. What these

34:26

men and women seal And their

34:28

bodies every single day. Weakness and

34:30

a hunger. And in

34:32

that moment mattress began to confess

34:34

his plenty and is out of

34:37

control desire for more More more.

34:39

He began to intercede and prayer

34:41

for those hungry bodies as he

34:43

had found it so easy to

34:45

walk past before right there and

34:47

the jaws of an intersection that

34:49

he had stood as thousand times

34:51

before he self compassion that he

34:54

never had before Because fasting is

34:56

cause suffering it is to willingly

34:58

carries a pain of another in

35:00

my own body. And

35:02

we practice fasting consistently over time.

35:05

Style fasting it becomes a way

35:07

of first, internally and during the

35:09

experience of another that I might

35:12

ultimately externally enter the experience of

35:14

another. Our stomachs began to guide

35:16

our seats until our friendship start

35:19

to broaden beyond our class and

35:21

our culture Because the practice of

35:24

fasting is changing my heart in

35:26

it's opening my eyes and ultimately

35:28

moving my hands and seats in

35:31

new relationship. So fasting. Family is

35:33

a core but largely forgotten practice

35:35

in the way of Jesus and

35:37

Assholes. these my attention on the

35:39

deep desires that I want most

35:41

refined, easiest to ignore that frees

35:43

me from the human propensity to

35:45

surrender myself to substitute gods and

35:47

the cultivates compassion and my soul

35:49

that moves my hands and seats.

35:51

and both biblically and historically fasting

35:54

has been practiced two ways, rhythmically

35:56

and reactively. But I would suggest

35:58

that we gotta start my. Financing

36:00

rhythmically or would never occur to

36:02

us and a sacred moment of

36:04

encounter with God that fasting might

36:06

be appropriate. Reactive response as of

36:09

the rhythm of passing that we

36:11

hope that all who call Bridgestone

36:13

home will adopt is a weekly

36:15

twenty four How are fast many

36:17

six days a week and fast

36:19

from dinner the night before, after

36:21

dinner, the night before until dinner

36:23

time the next day means missing

36:26

two meals. Smell of this is

36:28

not. Health Class. But it is

36:30

impossible to talk about deny your

36:32

body new nutrition without addressing

36:34

the question you have. Isn't that

36:37

unhealthy? And sure,

36:39

she knows. Quite

36:41

the opposite. In fact, there's all

36:43

sorts of help businesses to fasting

36:45

extinct, cleanse your body of toxins

36:47

and increase your metabolism and reduce

36:50

your ways to can lower your

36:52

insulin levels and information and blood

36:54

pressure, strengthen your immune system and

36:56

reduce your heart rate. Sourcing can

36:58

slow aging, You can protect against

37:00

and possibly even reverse many diseases

37:02

such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and

37:04

a number of neurological disorders including

37:07

old timers. So comes as no

37:09

surprise a medical experts have been.

37:11

Sounding I. Poured.

37:13

Not cautioning against fasting for

37:16

a very long time now.

37:19

Every Tuesday arsonists.

37:22

From. After Dinner on Monday

37:24

until Tuesday Dinner. I.

37:26

Pray with my body and I

37:29

make a weekly contribution to an

37:31

organization or trust that serves the

37:33

global poor For the cost of

37:35

breakfast and lunch on that particular

37:38

day and I break my fast

37:40

and celebration my Bridgestone Community on

37:42

Tuesday night Boots. A.

37:44

Weekly twenty four hour fast is

37:46

very likely steep learning curve for

37:48

quite a few of us and

37:51

with every spiritual practice is always

37:53

wise to start right where you

37:55

are and start right away so

37:57

as an on ramp to make

37:59

our way. Toward a rhythm of

38:01

fasting. I want to suggest that we

38:03

commit this one's and sees into a

38:06

rhythm of abstinence. Lindsay Forty days leading

38:08

up to Easter is observed by the

38:10

church around the world as forty Days

38:12

of abstinence. Identifying my body was Christ.

38:15

Forty day fast in the wilderness and

38:17

his suffering on the costs less is

38:19

a way to live in concert with

38:22

my deep desire for resurrection Lives are

38:24

at a said my attachments to the

38:26

lesser laws that have gotten their claws

38:29

and to mates. And it is

38:31

about compassion is willingly entering

38:33

into the suffering of another

38:35

Jesus. And Lent begins this

38:37

Wednesday. And I'm using

38:39

the term abstinence and on fasting on

38:41

purpose want to talk about Went And

38:44

that's got nothing to do with sex.

38:46

Abstinence is a restriction on any form

38:48

of consumption, meaning to give up alcohol

38:51

or caffeine or meat or television or

38:53

shopping for the sake of lens or

38:55

is a web directing my attention to

38:58

gone that is technically called abstinence. The

39:00

most well known story of Astor's in

39:02

the Bible is when Daniel refused to

39:05

eat meat and rich foods and sugar

39:07

some the Kings Table. And says to

39:09

live on nothing but fruits, vegetables

39:11

and grains and said that's often

39:13

goes by the term the Daniel

39:15

Fast which is technically incorrect is

39:17

Daniel abstinence but I'm here to

39:19

pick a fight about terminology studying

39:21

of as with a much better

39:23

ring to it so I can

39:26

see why we landed on that.

39:28

I just want to clarify the

39:30

practice because this lens and season

39:32

you every last one of you

39:34

as invited to participate with us

39:36

in a very unique Bridgetown Church

39:38

wide. Forty days of prayer

39:40

and fasting and room and and season

39:42

of face and years when I say

39:44

prayer and fasting a tech boom in

39:47

prayer and abstinence. The prayer and fasting

39:49

to sound so much better that we're

39:51

going with that are guess. I

39:53

am living. With these

39:56

firm conviction. The.

39:58

Gods invitation to the. My

40:00

from Bridgetown Church is to live

40:02

for forty days In a way

40:04

the will increase essays that will

40:07

help us to recover the experience

40:09

of just how close and active

40:11

and interested God really as a

40:13

wide eyed beliefs and the availability

40:16

and power of God in your

40:18

personal life. I'm living with the

40:20

poor conviction that God is eager

40:22

to increase your face over these

40:24

forty days if you will only

40:27

make space for him to do

40:29

so. And particularly therefore

40:31

expressions of phase of for deepest

40:33

desires that I believe God has

40:35

spoken to me, highlighting for ways

40:37

he is eager to meet you

40:39

and your fasting and answer your

40:41

prayers different and season. And to

40:43

be completely honest, I'm aware that

40:45

this has been quite a done

40:47

sermon on fasting, but the entire

40:49

thing was just a preamble to

40:51

this point. So whenever I've gotta

40:53

do to get you bass, lean

40:55

in. And now my friends or

40:57

guys I want to name the

40:59

sports. Lessons. And I

41:02

would ask you to listen to what I'm sharing.

41:04

prophetic fully. By which

41:06

I mean listen As I described,

41:08

each of these is one of

41:10

them puts language to the stirring

41:12

of gods activity in your soul

41:14

or of one of them fun

41:16

of white the dirt off a

41:18

deep desire that has been sitting

41:21

in a dark corner of your

41:23

inner loss. And. Say. Here's.

41:26

The For Dreams Power

41:28

Family and Direction. First.

41:32

Dreams. Some.

41:35

Among us to follow Jesus for a long

41:37

time. Have lived in, even

41:39

lead spiritually, have seen at all

41:41

so to speak and I believe

41:44

that God is calling you in

41:46

this stage of your spiritual as

41:48

beyond settling or postings and into

41:51

dreaming. I believe that your wildest,

41:53

most wide eyed and wonders drug

41:55

days behind Jesus are still to

41:58

com but the great in. Me

42:00

of God's work in your life is

42:02

the realistic expectations that can develop as

42:04

you walk for years. Behind him someone

42:06

twenty six says on the lord restore

42:09

the fortune design on we were like

42:11

those who dreamed accept or to describes

42:13

in the spirit falls and says in

42:15

the last days are poor atmosphere. Not

42:17

all people say your sons and daughters

42:19

are process You're young men will see

42:22

visions, secure old men or dream dreams

42:24

to see. Many among us have wanted

42:26

season for a long time. We are

42:28

spears, old men and women. So to

42:30

speak. And that means that we have

42:32

allowed our spiritual expectations are many instances

42:35

to be ground down to a sophisticated

42:37

level. and I believe that God wants

42:39

to restore your fortune so that you

42:41

are like one who dreams again. I

42:43

believe that as you sacrifice a lesser

42:45

hunger to make space to live in

42:47

concert with your deep desire, he will

42:49

restore your fortunes and open up your

42:52

eyes and a child like face. You

42:54

were never meant to mature beyond even

42:56

as you mature and walking behind him.

42:59

So dreams. And encounter.

43:02

Others have your long as the the spirit

43:04

or adventure stores in your life and looks

43:06

after. volatile. The disparate, anointed Jesus and his

43:08

baptism and the same spirit drove Jesus into

43:10

the wilderness where faster for forty days and

43:12

then he returned from the wilderness to the

43:14

city in the power of the spirit said

43:17

it already anointed him And then when Jesus

43:19

channels and academe us about what those who

43:21

are led by the spirit looks like in

43:23

the world he said the wind blows wherever

43:25

it pleases you hear a sound but you

43:27

cannot tell our a comes from or where

43:29

it is going So it has it's own

43:31

born of the. Spirit Stones. You want to

43:33

be driven by the window disparate where you

43:35

are not planning to go to experience what

43:37

you cannot explain. B C as A Sex

43:39

all around you. I'm talking

43:42

about adventures of seeing the furthest away coworker

43:44

in your office come to face of going

43:46

out to a restaurant for dinner and and

43:48

lane your hands on the server and praying

43:50

over them and Collins and beyond their lives

43:52

on. Talk much sharing a word of prophecy

43:54

with the neighbor the you've known for years

43:56

but never had a deep conversation with. I'm

43:58

talking about the Ministry of the. Spirit through

44:00

your lies, breaking the confines of the

44:02

church walls and spilling into the city

44:05

where you live your days. Stones you

44:07

want to live was empowered by the

44:09

very spirits Empower Jesus I believe that

44:11

the spirit is dying right and wind

44:13

blown adventure stories in your life that

44:16

will discomfort you have first thrill you

44:18

in the midst of them and open

44:20

up your eyes and raise your face

44:22

and the and will you partner with

44:25

the spirit by making space too small,

44:27

sacrifice your life that he might port

44:29

to ordinary. Blessing. When.

44:31

There's family. Some.

44:33

Among us, and I'm particularly parents and

44:35

minds. Have hoped that

44:37

has never become prayers for particular

44:40

family member. Like. Passive

44:42

hopes for your children that

44:44

have not become active and

44:46

constant prayer. Or maybe

44:48

anxieties or worries about a particular child

44:50

that had never been converted into daily

44:52

deep desire prayers? You lay the seat

44:55

of Jesus morning by morning. I'm talking

44:57

about belongs of her mother or father.

44:59

For her you see God has created

45:02

your children to beat the future and

45:04

the true selves that he has written

45:06

and to them that you've never talked

45:09

about agreed upon, put on paper and

45:11

said gone on Want to withhold a

45:13

deeper or a cheaper appetite because I

45:15

want to hold my child's becoming. Before

45:18

you every single day for forty days

45:20

and see would you can do with

45:22

that and as or chapter eight we

45:24

read their by the ha the a

45:26

half of canal I proclaim the faster

45:28

the way my humble ourselves or for

45:30

our gods and asked him for a

45:32

safe journey for us and our children

45:35

so fast and I'm petition are gone

45:37

about this and the answer our prayer.

45:39

Life as a long journey. That has

45:42

walked through many different changes and

45:44

terrains and troubles and dangers. I

45:46

believe God was do more in

45:48

the lines of your children and

45:50

forty days and you currently imagine

45:52

is possible that will be written

45:54

into the future. But through these

45:56

dreams of praying parents will you

45:58

partner with the spirits. Transformation. In

46:00

your children these forty days by

46:02

choosing to of attentive to your

46:04

deep desire and then finally direction.

46:07

Some among us are at a

46:10

critical crossroads. And decisive

46:12

moment in our laws. Are

46:14

you will choose to go one way or the other. And

46:17

acceptance or team. when the church any. I

46:19

was at a critical crossroads choosing who to

46:21

send out his ministers. They present fast as

46:24

and the very next chapter. Having have fruitful

46:26

ministry that they sent out this hundred decide

46:28

who to raise of as leaders in those

46:31

churches and again they pray and fast meaning

46:33

that there's biblical mandate for one of the

46:35

ways that was asked to say scott I'm

46:37

standing here to cross or as I know

46:40

this is a defining moment in my life

46:42

and I don't want to only walk into

46:44

my suture with human wisdom would I. Want

46:47

is the conviction that comes from hearing

46:49

your still small voice and knowing that

46:51

I'm walking and stuff with the spirit.

46:53

so will you are standing in a

46:55

similar cross roads. partner with the spirit,

46:58

their forty days of prayer and fasting.

47:00

The say wisdom is great but I

47:02

want conviction to go alongside it. Here's

47:04

the question. As. To

47:07

lose sympathetically. Is.

47:09

There an invitation in there for you. Is

47:13

there one of those things that when

47:15

I named it it was like of

47:17

putting language to what's been stirring in

47:19

your inner life was god or that

47:22

is kind of flights to dust off

47:24

as a deep desire that you have

47:26

found easy to ignore. I'm

47:29

coming to you today family

47:31

with an assignment. An

47:34

assignment that says and some safety

47:36

gather to me this consecrated people

47:38

who made a covenant with me

47:40

by sacrifice. I

47:42

do not want to gather you to

47:44

me, I want she. I want to

47:46

gather you before the Lord as a

47:49

consecrated people making the covenant with him

47:51

by small sacrifice that he might return

47:53

your small sacrifice with his extraordinary power

47:55

and blessing raising your face and mine

47:57

and the and so hero Bridgetown Church

47:59

the world. The Lord seek him with

48:01

your whole self and see just how much

48:03

God can do. And forty days. Fasting

48:06

does not create the work of God. All

48:09

that Fasting does is keep you aware

48:11

of and participatory with the work of

48:13

God within you. forgive him forty days

48:15

and is my belief that the level

48:17

of faith in God's ever present love

48:20

and power with increase in new and

48:22

in Austin is my belief that God

48:24

is eager to do it and my

48:26

belief that what we need as a

48:28

church full of riches of spirits of

48:30

maturity as a child like face know

48:33

level spirits and maturity is ever Mcdowell

48:35

Run. Let me

48:37

say this and closing the

48:39

one and only motivation for

48:42

participation in this should be

48:44

desire. Not duty.

48:46

I mean, this was

48:48

complete. Sincerity is as

48:51

I'm tossing. you're thinking

48:53

it is when. Probably

48:55

do something like that. Don't

48:58

Do it. Just. Let

49:00

it pass the bar. pray that God would

49:03

awaken greater desire for him. was in new

49:05

and and catch up with as an excellent

49:07

and season but vows I'm speaking there's desire

49:09

waking up a new. And

49:12

you say you know what? There's.

49:15

Something I was brought to mind is morning and

49:17

I wanted. I wanted so

49:19

much more than anything I could think of

49:21

to sacrifice for forty days. And I want

49:23

to live attentive to and I don't want

49:25

to forget it when I leave displays. I

49:27

want to live attempted to and gives got

49:29

a chance to be God my life is.

49:31

that's what's happening and I would you say.

49:34

This. Is the spirit whispering to? It's a

49:36

pathway. Walking. And

49:40

you'll find less. Tolerant.

49:47

Just laid out for prophetic

49:49

invitations to us for this

49:51

moment. Dreams. Power.

49:54

Family. And decisions. Invitations.

49:57

That if we can really let them sink.

50:00

In a worthy of our

50:02

fasting and abstaining. If

50:05

you sell God pressing on your heart

50:07

in one of those areas, let's not

50:09

move on as just take a moment

50:11

now to stay open to the Holy

50:14

spirit, to take a few deep breaths

50:16

and to let him continue to speak

50:18

to our souls. We

50:21

might ask him what he has to

50:23

say about those things to remind us

50:25

about. Those things are major. Simply ask

50:27

for his presence in Grace to Lane

50:29

and in the season of ally. So

50:33

just as we take half a minute, Take

50:36

a few deep breaths, Become

50:39

aware of God's presence Where you are,

50:41

however, you are. An

50:44

assist give got a moment to speech. I'm.

51:15

In. This

51:27

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51:29

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52:10

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52:12

Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of

52:15

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52:17

Spirit. Be. With you will.