Church dinner or fasting

[Salty]

I have been working on my message for this Sunday - will be guest preaching. M Text is Acts 13.
Vs 2 mentions that before Paul and Barnabas were sent out - there was prayer and fasting.

Forward to today - now when we send someone off - its after a huge church dinner.

Maybe its time we consider some fasting.

Thoughts?

Salty

PS, the church airs on a local radio station, which streams on-line.
Tune in if you can - 11 am EDT

 

[David Crosby]

The verse tells us that it was actually the Holy Spirit that sent them forth. I'd say starving the flesh and feeding the Spirit while fasting had something to do with knowing what the Holy Spirit wanted them to do.

 

[Van]

Some people, especially if on certain medications, have difficulty controlling their blood sugar is the go more than 6-8 hours without eating. Others, "normal people" can go 10-12 hours without blinking an eye.
So how long a person goes until they want to eat, but don't because they are putting spiritual things over fleshly desired, might vary. A glutton may think passing on a doughnut constitutes fasting.

 

[David Crosby]

Yes (lol) a glutton probably can't wait to wake up in the morning to "break fast"...where we get the word "breakfast" from. And your right, if you have certain health issues, fasting probably isn't wise. But in checking it out it appears to have some good advantages to it. I'm not all into fasting but I thought it was interesting. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/295914.php

 

[Squire Robertsson]

I'd be happy with both.

 

[Smyth]

Some people, especially if on certain medications, have difficulty controlling their blood sugar is the go more than 6-8 hours without eating. Others, "normal people" can go 10-12 hours without blinking an eye.
So how long a person goes until they want to eat, but don't because they are putting spiritual things over fleshly desired, might vary. A glutton may think passing on a doughnut constitutes fasting.

Blood sugar is a bad excuse, even if it's probably the top reason why people have difficulty fasting. Proper diet along with fasting helps fix blood sugar problems (which means a glutton has to stop being a glutton). Most Christians don't fast, either out of ignorance or because their Christianity is only a social activity.

 

[David Crosby]

Most Christians don't fast, either out of ignorance or because their Christianity is only a social activity.

A social activity pretty much defines a lot of churches. It isn't about Who, but who their fallowing. Regardless though, I'd have to say Biblical fasting retains a rendering beyond not just eating.

 

[rsr]

Depends what "sends off" means. If it's deputizing someone, then fasting beforehand may be appropriate. But there is no reason that fasting can't be followed by feasting and celebrating. The Bible enjoins both. Jesus endured temptation during his great fasting, but he established the Lord's Supper with a meal.

 

[Baptist Believer]

Blood sugar is a bad excuse, even if it's probably the top reason why people have difficulty fasting. Proper diet along with fasting helps fix blood sugar problems (which means a glutton has to stop being a glutton).

Actually, I haven't fasted for a couple of years because of blood sugar issues related to a life-threatening condition. My endocrinologist warned me to manage my blood sugar carefully for two years after my pituitary surgery so as not to create a major health crisis.

Your assertion that people with blood sugar issues are gluttons is needlessly condemning of people who have real medical issues. In a few months I will likely resume fasting as a spiritual discipline, but that's my business.

 

[Baptist Believer]

A social activity pretty much defines a lot of churches. It isn't about Who, but who their fallowing. Regardless though, I'd have to say Biblical fasting retains a rendering beyond not just eating.

Biblical fasting is not going hungry. It is about a spiritual focus toward God as the provider and sustainer of our lives. It is also about breaking free of the demands of our body to satisfy our flesh at all times. It is about mastery of the body and a focus on God. Sometimes it involves not eating at all, but other times it is a reduced diet.

 

[David Crosby]

Biblical fasting is not going hungry. It is about a spiritual focus toward God as the provider and sustainer of our lives. It is also about breaking free of the demands of our body to satisfy our flesh at all times. It is about mastery of the body and a focus on God. Sometimes it involves not eating at all, but other times it is a reduced diet.

Yes, fasting is associated with a time of seeking the Lord. I'm reminded of when Isreal was to come for a time of fasting. So Jeremiah commanded Baruch, who is the scribe, to write all of the words in the Book (Scroll) and then go and read them in the house of the Lord when that day of fasting came. It was a time when people gathering from all over Judah to worship the Lord.
What sickens me is when some guy on TV is saying, "I'm going to spend some time fasting and praying, send me your requests with your fifty dollars because I want to pray for you, too," something's wrong. Desperately wrong.

 

[Salty]

I was just thinking - many churches have a fellowship time after church with food.
How about once a month - say on Communion Sunday - instead of having food - have a time of fasting and prayer.

 

[HankD]

I have been working on my message for this Sunday - will be guest preaching. M Text is Acts 13.
Vs 2 mentions that before Paul and Barnabas were sent out - there was prayer and fasting.

Forward to today - now when we send someone off - its after a huge church dinner.

Maybe its time we consider some fasting.

Thoughts?

Salty

PS, the church airs on a local radio station, which streams on-line.
Tune in if you can - 11 am EDT

Dinner? - It's OK as long as it is Pot Luck!

No fasting!

Old Testament theology you know.

HankD

 

[Salty]

No fasting!

Old Testament theology you know.

I didnt know that Acts 13 was in the OT

 

[TCassidy]

I didnt know that Acts 13 was in the OT

Well, now you do!

 

[HankD]

I didnt know that Acts 13 was in the OT

In acts 13 they were transitioning from an OT to a NT venue - Acts records the historical aspect - Hebrews the theological.

HankD

 

[Van]

Pretty sure fasting is a New Covenant practice taught by Jesus.
Matthew 6:17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face [18] so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Matthew 9:15 And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Acts 14:23
When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Perhaps there is a passage in Hebrews that teaches secret "prayer with fasting" is obsolete or has passed away?

 

[StefanM]

Actually, I haven't fasted for a couple of years because of blood sugar issues related to a life-threatening condition. My endocrinologist warned me to manage my blood sugar carefully for two years after my pituitary surgery so as not to create a major health crisis.

Your assertion that people with blood sugar issues are gluttons is needlessly condemning of people who have real medical issues. In a few months I will likely resume fasting as a spiritual discipline, but that's my business.

Also, some medications require food. I take a medication that requires 350 calories with every dose, or it won't absorb correctly. It would be equivalent to cutting the dose in half. And, no, for everyone, I can't stop taking it without replacing it with something even worse.

I could skip lunch; that's it. A short fast is a worthy endeavor, but I can't do anything more than about 12 hours or so. Also, I couldn't do a full fast from food and water because another medication requires that maintain hydration.

Well, no, that's not true. I COULD do a full fast. I would just have to worry about permanently damaging my kidneys.

Smyth's post was crossing the line.

 

[HankD]

Pretty sure fasting is a New Covenant practice taught by Jesus.
Matthew 6:17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face [18] so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Matthew 9:15 And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Acts 14:23
When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Perhaps there is a passage in Hebrews that teaches secret "prayer with fasting" is obsolete or has passed away?

The Matthew passages were before the day of Pentecost.
The Acts passage was after Pentecost but things were still in transition from Israel to the church.

HankD

 

[Baptist Believer]

The Matthew passages were before the day of Pentecost.

The "bridegroom" of Matthew 9:15 is the Son. The Spirit empowered and indwelt the church on Pentecost, but the Son is not the Spirit and the Spirit is not the Son. They are distinct.