Westminster Presbyterian Church

Happy New Year! Well, I guess I am a little late. Actually, a lot late. Still, the wish is sincere. In this New Year’s entry, I want to touch briefly on New Year’s resolutions where we make a hearty “resolve” to do or not to do something for the coming year. While the Bible has no examples of such for the New Year, it is filled with the resolutions of a Savior and his saints.   For example, Daniel “resolved” that he would not defile himself with the King’s food while in exile (Dan 1:8).

In the history of the church, the one most famous for what he “resolved” was the American Congregationalist, Jonathan Edwards. At the age of 19, this godly young Christian began a list of what he was “resolved” to do or not do for new life in general rather than the new year in particular. Most of the entries were composed in one sitting, but the total of 70 were finished over the span of the next year (1722-23). Here are some examples:  “4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; 5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can; . . . 7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life; . . . 17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die; 20. Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking; 28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same; 29. Resolved, never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope God will accept; 56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.”

These go way beyond the usual “I will give up smoking” or “I am determined to lose weight this year” type resolutions. Pretty impressive for a 19-20 year-old. Still, Edwards does make resolutions and such in a manner agreeing with the first half of Proverbs 16:9: “The heart of man plans his way.” Lest we accuse him of reducing the Christian life to a series of principles carried out in a legalistic manner, in the arm of the flesh, and ultimately apart from Christ, listen to young Jonathan’s preface to the resolutions: “Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.” You see, Edwards was fully aware of the fact that he was utterly helpless in himself and totally dependent upon the Lord to carry out any of his resolutions. This agrees with the second half of Proverbs 16:9: “but the Lord establishes the steps.” Every step that comes to pass in the fulfillment of our plans ultimately comes from the Lord. God, who works out everything according to his eternal plans, has created us in his image to be planners.

So, by all means make your plans and resolutions for the New Year. Maybe it is to lose weight. Perhaps the resolution involves something more weighty connected with the ongoing Christian life and concerns your time with the Lord, your focus on Christ, or your devotion to your wife. Resolve to do it! Still, beware of a “we will” (James 4:13) attitude that relies on your own strength to do it. “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring,” notes James. “For what is your life?” It is nothing but a “mist” or a puff of kettle steam that appears for an instant then “vanishes away” (James 4:14)  Since we are utterly dependent on his will, we “ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’” (4:15).  Make your resolutions and prepare the horse for battle, but remember, “victory rests with the Lord” (Prov21:31)

In March of 2011, Moammar Qadafi told Libyan rebels in Benghazi that he would crush all fighters who resisted him. Qadafi confidently claimed that his army would ferret out all revolutionaries, asserting, “we will find you in your closets.”

Regarding the resistance forces, Qadafi claimed, “We will show no mercy and no pity to them.” By October, his claims were exposed as empty. He was the one dragged out his hiding place in a drainage pipe. He was the one who would be shown no mercy. Qadafi begged the resistance fighters, “Don’t kill me, my sons.” Ironically, the one who said that no mercy would be shown to others now begged for it to be shown to him. None would be given.

Within a short time, the injured dictator was dead after being abused by his captors and even brutally sodomized with a foreign object, possibly a knife. We could say that this evil dictator who offered no mercy deserved none, yet as one created in the image of God, other image bearers were obliged to avoid this ghastly abuse.

Before God, none of us deserve mercy, yet the prophet Habakkuk amazingly presents God as the one who shows it. The prophet complained to God around the time of the Babylonian exile that Judah was getting away with their sin then he balked at the idea that God would deal with them through the wicked Babylonians. Eventually Habakkuk came to the realization that he needed let God be God, and that he must take a seat and wait patiently on the Lord who disciplines his people then judges the very instruments of discipline.

Such a realization caused him to cry out in the midst of suffering, “In wrath remember mercy” (3:2) He had hope in the midst of suffering for sin, that God would be merciful. How could this be? Only because of the “anointed” Messiah, Jesus Christ who bring about the salvation of God’s people (3:13). He would suffer the penalty of their sin and be the just one for them. In this way, while God’s enemies would not escape judgment “the just will live by faith” (3:13; see also Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11). We can survive the judgment against sinners because of the sinless substitute who lived and died for us. Let us take hope in the midst of God’s dealing with us as his people. We have every reason to cry out, “In wrath remember mercy,” and every reason, because of Christ, to expect to receive it.

When I was about 8 years old, I ran away from home. I can’t remember the details, but I certainly believed that I deserved better treatment than I was getting.   Off I went out the back door and down the alley. Planning my flight must not have been a priority, for I had no stick with a hobo sack attached to the end. Regardless, I didn’t get very far. My older brother, Bill, was bigger and faster than I. Within a hundred yards out the back gate he tackled me in a neighbor’s yard and dragged me home.

I can look back on this and say, “How childish, foolish, and ungrateful” was my attempt to run away. “What was I thinking? Where was I going to go? Who would take care of me? Did I really think that life was better on the streets?”

In the Scriptures, we encounter a prophet who was just as childish, foolish and ungrateful in running away “from home” from the presence of his Father. Jonah was told to preach to the evil Assyrians in Ninevah. Israel hated this cruel and oppressive people, a nation that would soon come to carry the northern kingdom off into exile. Instead of obeying God, Jonah ran off to Tarshish by a ship he boarded at the coastal city of Joppa. Of course, he didn’t get very far. God stopped him in his tracks with a massive storm and a great fish, which would ultimately brought about  his deliverance.

What were you thinking, Jonah? You can’t run from God! Everywhere you run he is already there. Like the man pursuing the horizon in Stephen Crane’s poem the task is futile. “I accosted the man,” said the narrator, “‘You lie!’ he cried, and ran on.” Futile as it was, Jonah sought to escape the presence of God.

How about you? Are you running from God? Notice, at the root of Jonah’s flight was not a physical but a spiritual desertion. All you have to do to run from God is to forsake the ways he reveals for you in his Word and go your own way. Perhaps it is a determination to make decisions in your own wisdom and carry them out in your strength in spite of the spiritual counsel others give you. Perhaps it is your pursuit of some hidden delight unknown to all but you and God.  Regardless, it all starts from the heart. Perhaps you do not know him and live your life according to the idol of self. You are like the sailors on the ship and the Assyrians at Ninevah with their own gods. They too were running from God. Yet amazingly, and in a manner that points to the universal call of the gospel of Christ Jesus, they received the gracious salvation of God. Here then is your hope; God is slow to anger and shows compassion on those who turn to him (Jonah 4:2) through Jesus Christ. What are you waiting for? Stop running away and run to him instead.

Perhaps you’re a believer such as Jonah. Recognize that your Father loves you too much to let you continue running from the “home”  of  his presence. Amazingly, Jonah, through the Lord’s discipline of him, was graciously and miraculously delivered by the watery grave from which arose after “three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17). As Jesus clearly makes known, this event pointed ahead to the salvation that comes through his death and resurrection (Matt 12:40). The future deliverance of Christ prompted the present exclamation of  Jonah, “Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). God alone saves us by his grace alone. Here was the hope of Jonah, the sailors and the Ninevites. Here is the hope that you have regardless of your condition spiritually. Christian,  own your rebellion and find the gracious deliverance of Christ who saved you and remains a God of second and third chances (such as Jonah experienced). Remember, he delivered those who run from him that they might run for him as his sent messengers.

Give it up. You can’t run from God. You can escape his “felt” presence in which you no longer sense him in your life  due to the hardening effects of sin. What a dangerous place to be! Run to him now through Christ while his mercy remains extended to you.  Remember, salvation belongs to the Lord.

After the failed May 21 prediction of the rapture of believers and the commencement of judgment on the rest of the world, Harold Camping did not repent of his false prophecy. He had a tough weekend, said he was “flabbergasted”, and even admitted to being fallible. Still, he did not back down . . . as he never has in any of his false predictions.

He only adjusted his prediction claiming that his error was only to predict God’s visitation physically, when it only took place spiritually. God spared the world five months of suffering that would climax on October 21. Instead, even after his providential stroke less than a month later in June, Camping confidently asserted that the end would come suddenly on that date. Now that sufficient warning had been given, we were told, Family Radio would no longer advertise the date but would instead take down its billboards and abandon its distribution of literature.

After thousands of lives had been affected, with many spending their entire life savings on the frenzied campaign from simple pamphlets to elaborate billboards and buses, was this not enough to prove to all listeners and to Mr. Camping himself that he must repent of being a false prophet?

Of course, October 21 has also come and gone, without the fanfare of the May 21 date. No sudden end has occurred, no final day occurred. To this date, I believe, no response from Camping has come to his latest failed prediction even though he has stepped down from his leadership position. Perhaps for Family Radio, at least, enough is enough.

My plea that come is this: May October 21, 2011 truly be a day of judgment. A day for Harold Camping to judge himself; to truly humble himself before a righteous yet gracious God who forgives those confess their sins to him. May it be a day in which he also pleads for the mercy of hundreds of thousands (millions still?) of falsely-led listeners/followers who will likely find it in their hearts to forgive Camping as Christ forgave them. Please, Mr. Camping, put this charade to an end and put matters right before the Lord.

As well, may it be a day of judgment for all who continue the jokes and blasphemous mockery against Camping and his followers. As mentioned in an earlier post, he is right! Judgment is coming! may they judge themselves now as sinners in need of Christ the Savior, before they one day stand before him as judge instead. Today, today is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2). Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

It’s May 21, 2011 on 10:41pm EST. I am here to boldly proclaim that Harold Camping was Right! Please understand that while I say this, I think that he is a false prophet who has discredited himself and brought disgrace upon the name of Christ. Further, he has effectively destroyed what was an effective ministry of the gospel. We may take issue with the fact that his Family Radio ministry was not overseen by the church of Jesus Christ, which he would have rejected anyway. Such is the nature of parachurch organizations operating outside the bounds of the church. When they go astray, who will take action and bring them back to the fold when they are delinquent in life or conduct? Still, we cannot deny the spiritual good that Family Radio has been to millions in the extension of God’s Kingdom and in the building up of the Church of Jesus Christ. I stand to bear witness of such influence in my own life spiritually. In recent years; however, especially since Harold Camping’s failed prediction of the Judgment Day in 1994, that impact has not only dwindled away, it has actually become not only a detriment to the Church of Jesus Christ but also a laughingstock to the entire world. If the ministry survives through the latest debacle of yet another failed prediction of the end of the world, it will be a testimony of either God’s grace or his ongoing judgment on the church in deluding millions from the simple truth of the Bible. I will be convinced of the former only if Harold Camping repents of his utter folly, which has consumed the livelihoods and shattered the hopes of so many and misled even more.

Still, I say that Harold Camping was right! The billboards we have all seen are to be taken seriously! Hold on, you say, May 21 has come and gone and no rapture of 200 million people, no earthquakes, no beginning of the end culmination in the destruction of all things in October. Yes, yes, that part needs to be left out. We could go around and place a big red “X” over the date. We would need to make many more corrections for  the millions of tracts written in dozens of languages. If we did, we would be left with a powerfully true message – Judgment is Coming! It is preposterous that he could think he could know the day and the hour. Still, without doubt, Jesus will return in power and glory one day to save his saints and judge the rest of the world. Did you ever stop to think that, totally in spite of Mr. Camping’s mathematical calculations based on a silly method of interpreting the Bible through spiritualized numerology gone wild, Jesus could have come back yesterday? As I listened to the scoffing and the jokes and cracked a few myself, I was struck by this thought, Jesus could actually come back today. In fact, I was most powerfully struck by a blogger who said something about praying for Harold Camping in church on Sunday. She then quipped, Sunday? Yes, I guarantee that we will be here then. How could she guarantee that Christ would not return anymore than Camping could that he would return? Harold Camping cannot know the day or the hour he will return and this hip young lady cannot guarantee the day or the hour he will not return.

That’s because the Scripture makes it clear that Jesus Christ will come again like a “thief” without notice. This is mentioned in the passage that tells us that no one knows the “day or the hour” in Matthew 24 (see verses 36–44) but also in other passages concerning the Second Coming such as 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Revelation 16:15 and 2 Peter 3:10, the passage I want us to consider. To this section of Scripture my mind and heart is drawn when I consider the passing of May 21, 2011. To argue, as Camping does, that the elect may know the hour, since they Christ will not come upon them to steal and to kill, just does not jive with these passages. The thief comes upon everyone unexpectedly. However, some keeping watch for him while others were not. They were caught unprepared and off-guard. Judgment will come upon those not watching for the Savior, because do not long for him.

Let’s begin with 2 Peter 3:2 where Peter speaks of the predictions of the prophets and apostles especially concerning the Second Coming. He then makes in clear in verses 3 and 4, that one of the signs of the “last days” is that scoffers would come mocking and making fun of the whole idea of Christ’s Second Coming. “Where is the promise of his coming?” These fathers had the faith you did with their own predictions. They all have died and nothing has happened. Everything just continues as it always has. What makes you think that it will be any different now? With such mockery the world laughs on. As John Calvin notes, Satan goes for the throat of the church with this scoffing. He aims to cut off our hope, our expectation for the return of Christ who died and rose again in order that he may come again to bring final salvation. To this we look forward, to the day the resurrected Savior will come to raise our own dying or dead bodies to everlasting bodies that will never see disease or decay. Peter makes it clear that have conveniently forgotten something God destroyed the world he created before in the time of Noah. The word by which he created the former world is the same by which he upholds the current one, the very one he will destroy by fire. Indeed, as we read in verse 8, with the Lord “one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day.” This, along with Psalm 90 on which it is based, is not supposed key to unlock the meaning of Scripture numbers so that we say that the 7 days of Genesis 7 must refer to 7000 years. Yet it is a key to understanding that God is in control over time. As a result we ought to number our days, not in the sense of counting them and calculation. We are helped to understand this when we hear the phrase, “Your days are numbered.” You are coming to an end, life is flying by, make the most of every opportunity, for the days are evil. Verse 9 makes it clear, God is not late, the delay is due to his patience, which we also see expressed in Romans 2:4. Such is meant to lead the wicked to repentance. His mercies will one day rise up against them if they are spurned. They will possess a nasty backlash like a scorpion or a stingray and bring judgment to bear. That God is patient toward “you” does not lead us away from the obvious. Judgment has not yet come because of his patience with the wicked. He wishes that all would repent. What? That is the very message of 1 Timothy 2:4 as well. We must make a distinction between God’s decretive and perceptive will. See also Acts 17:31.

The day of the Lord is going to come like a thief (Matt 24; 1 Thess 5; Rev 16). We do not know when but are called upon to be ready. Watch and be sober!

Camping has since called May 21 a spiritual and invisible day of judgment and that the October 21 judgment date still stands. Sadly, he has not repented of his false prediction. May the Lord be gracious to bring such to him and show him his failure as a false teacher. In spite of the damaged lives and wasted millions, may mercy yet come to him. At the same time, may his teachings fall upon deaf ears and be seen for what they truly are. May the Lord give hope to the disillusioned listeners that they might find refuge in a welcoming church of Jesus Christ.

This past Lord’s Day we continued in our series on the Gospel of Luke, as we considered Luke 21:5-24. In this passage, as Jesus considers the distinct yet inseparable judgments on Jerusalem and the entire world, we read that one of the signs of final judgment is Luke 21:11 (ESV): “There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.”

In God’s providence, this passage came upon us in our series just two days after the earthquake and tsunami that has devastated Japan especially along the northeast coast. We watched horrified at suffering of the Japanese people. Even though this is a country where the vast majority of people want nothing to do with Jesus Christ, we cannot help but empathize with them in their plight. How could we not do so, except with a total disregard for human life for those who like we have been created in the image of God?

Still, having spent concentrated time in Luke 21, I was struck in a unique way by the reports of destruction and especially video footage of the tsunami forcing its way through Sendai. Here in the engulfing tidal force of advancing waves sucking up and tearing open everything in their path was but a small glimpse of judgment and one pointing to something more devastating to come. Such a judgment, nothing new in the history of the world and certainly not unique to the Japanese people, is but one of many preliminary “birth pains” Jesus refers to in Mark 13:8, from the Olivet Discourse parallel to Luke 21. In other words, greater pain in the midst of greater judgment is yet to come. For now the earth undergoes the “pains of childbirth” of which Paul speaks in Romans 8:22 as he refers to creation’s groaning as it awaits a new birth and its glorious redemption of the new heavens and new earth. These foretastes of judgment show us that indeed, as Peter attests, that the current world is “stored up for fire” in the day of judgment when all will be destroyed.

Yet, all is not doom, for grace yet remains and whether it concerns the Japanese people in the midst of the destruction or the rest of the world who look on, we are able to flee to Christ to find refuge and salvation. He alone in his perfect life, death and resurrection gives us hope in the midst of calamity. Run to him and be saved!

For those who are in Christ who should meditate on this birth pain of something greater to come, let us turn our hearts to 2 Peter 3:11-13 (ESV): “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, [12] waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! [13] But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

For Japan, pray for its people for their physical recovery and spiritual deliverance. A missionary friend Michael Oh, the president of Nagoya Theological Seminary in Japan makes clear, “Every day is a tragedy in Japan for those without Christ. An exciting thought is that perhaps in these days there are more prayers being prayed for Japan throughout the world than at any time in the history of the world. What purposes could God have both in this tragedy and in the active response of the Church of Jesus Christ? Spurgeon spoke about how oftentimes within God’s sovereignty, God moves His people to pray prayers that He desires to answer.

Whatever! Now there’s a word we hear a lot today. Maybe it comes from a teenager told by his Mom that he needs to do his homework or from a worker told by a colleague that helping herself to office supplies is wrong. Regardless, “Whatever!” essentially says, “I don’t really care.” It is a statement of indifference to what the other person has to say. Beyond this detached I-don’t-care and the life-is-meaningless mindset, the “whatever” mentality also conveys, “What’s true for you is not necessarily true for me or anyone else.”

But this approach collapses on itself. That we must not say that something is true for everyone, claims itself to be true for everyone! When it comes to spiritual matters, many people believe that no religion may claim to be the only way to God, for all religions are equal. This argument also fails, for it is an absolute religious claim. Let’s face it; we all make claims for truth when we try to communicate and reason with one another. That’s the truth.

This being the case, have you considered that Christianity’s claim to be the only way to God might not be as arrogant and outlandish as so many people argue? Jesus himself made this clear, “I am the way, and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Such must be the case because of what the Bible teaches about God, us, and how we may know him. The eternal God who created all things is holy and cannot allow anything or anyone impure in his presence (Psa 24:3-4; Isa 6:1-6). But that’s just the problem. We all were born in sin (Psa 51:5) and fall short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23) with none who “is righteous” or who “does good” (Rom 3:10-11). Regardless of how hard we try, we cannot escape our sin to be accepted by God, who must hide his face from sin (Isa 59:2; Rom 3:20). Further, there remains a high price for our sin, for its “wages. . . is death” (Rom 6:23) and such will be a gateway to eternal punishment (Matt 25:46; Rev 20:14-15).

In such a horrible situation, Jesus Christ alone is our only hope as the one who lived a perfect life and paid the penalty for sin on the cross (Gal 3:10-13). Through him, our sins can be forgiven and we can be accepted as righteous before God (2 Cor 5:21; Eph 1:7, 2:8-9; Rom 3:21-22) If we simply turn from our sin to “believe on the Lord Jesus,” we “will be saved.” (Acts 16:31). So, run to Jesus and throw your spiritual arms around him in faith. Joined to him, eternal life as “the free gift of God” (Rom 6:23) will be yours. You will be set free for an abundant life of joyful worship and service unto the Lord forever and ever.
Before you say, “Whatever!” to this, won’t you please consider it as THE TRUTH for all times and all people? Your eternity depends upon it.

When is the last time you heard a sermon on fasting? I myself cannot recall of one personally in years. As I preach through the Gospel of Luke, I had the privilege to consider this matter more deeply than ever before. To my shame, while I have taken part in fasts and understood something of the reasons for conducting them, I never studied the biblical foundation for or against them.  I have another confession to make. Even as I write, it has been years since I have taken part in a fast. By God’s grace I pray that such spiritual lethargy will change.

The text upon which we came was Luke 5:33-35 (ESV):

And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” [34] And Jesus said to them, “Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? [35] The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”

In short, Jesus claimed that since he as the “bridegroom” came as to a wedding, picturing the relationship between Christ and the Church as his bride, it was not a time for fasting but for feasting. John’s disciples fasted, or denied themselves food and drink, in a manner that echoes the practice of Anna in the temple who fasted and prayed with hopeful expectation of the Messiah (Luke 2:37). In other words, the hunger pains they suffered reminded them of spiritual matters more important than food or drink in the kingdom. Jesus himself made this clear when he fasted in the wilderness and was there tempted by the devil: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matt 4:4)

The Pharisees likewise had developed a sustained tradition of fasting twice a week (Luke 18:12), and while Jesus does not condemn the foundation of their practice, he certainly does censure their self-righteous motives for it. In this regard, see Matthew 6:16-18 and Luke 18:9-14 where Jesus points out the self-righteous and self-promoting practice of fasting in the Pharisees.

Thus, Jesus does not abrogate fasting as a religious practice but does limit the timing of it and the manner in which it is carried out. So, what did he mean when he noted that the “days will come” for fasting when he is “taken away”? We could immediately conclude two things from this statement. First, he referred at least to his death. Second, mourning for that death constituted a time for fasting not feasting. In fact, the occasions for fasting in the Scriptures prior to this indicate that a sense of loss or dissatisfaction with the present coupled with an expectation for something better sets the background out of which fasting occurred. In general, we might conclude that fasting for the Lord’s people arises out of a sort of kingdom longing for something more.

We find this in the very first Scriptural recording of a fast in Judges (see 20:26) when the Israelites are defeated by the Benjamites in battle on two occasions. Such follows the account of the violation of the Levite’s concubine and entails the Lord instructing them to go to battle with the Benjamites (after they inquired of him) only to be soundly defeated twice in a row. Mourning the death of thousands of soldiers and bemoaning the defeat they suffered, they sought the Lord in a more intense way through fasting. Prayer always accompanied fasting almost in the sense of creating a higher octane crying out to God.  Prayer, joined to fasting in this instance, resulted in victory from the Lord’s gracious hand.

Putting our general principle of kingdom longing to the test, we see that the instances of fasting manifest this general foundation. For example, fasting occurred as a means of repentance (1 Sam 7:6; Neh 1:4), of mourning (2 Sam 1:12), and of showing dependence upon and crying out for God’s mercy in different situations (2 Sam 12:16; Ezra 8:21).  In addition to fasting involving the denial of food and water, other fasting in principle might involve abstinence from sex or sleep and sacrificial giving (1 Cor 7:5; Matt 26:36-44; Isa 58:7).

In the end, physical self-denial is meant to foster spiritual vitality raising one to a higher platform in his or her petitions to the Lord. Fasting acts as a kind of spiritual catalyst to our prayers as they are more powerfully propelled to the throne of God. My wife and I have often bemoaned that we feel our prayers at times don’t make it beyond the ceiling.   The hunger pains of fasting then can intensify the fervency and urgency of prayer to help blow a hole through not just the ceiling but also the roof,  for when “I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10)

Coming back to Jesus’ statement about fasting occurring when he was “taken away,” we might look to his triumphant resurrection and ascension as the mark that, once again, it is a time for feasting. After all, believers have won the “victory” over death through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Death has lost its “sting” and has been “swallowed up” in such victory. “[T]hanks be to God” for a reason to feast and celebrate! (1 Cor 15:54, 55, 57) Indeed, those born of God, have in victory “overcome the world” In part, we perform this type of celebratory feasting in the Lord’s Supper. As we remember the victory that we have through the death and resurrection, the bread and cup involve fellowship with Christ and his church as we enjoy an anticipatory foretaste of the feast to come at his return. That’s why we gather around the table “until he comes.” (Matt 26:29; 1 Cor 11:26; Rev 19:9)

We would expect, then, that the practice of fasting came to an end in the New Testament with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.   This does not follow through, as we find indications of newly planted churches fasting  church over the ordination of Paul and Baranabas before their first missionary journey and elders in Lystra ( Acts 13:2,3; 14:23).  In the list of Paul’s sufferings for the gospel fasting  may possibly be meant (2 Cor 11:27), but “without food” could simply indicate not having anything to eat.   So, limiting the clear references to two in Acts, they hardly indicate a strong New Testament emphasis.  We cannot ascertain the prevalence of the practice from the these two recorded instances, yet we can be certain of its existence. Clearly, after not only the death but also the resurrection and ascension of Christ, it was a time for fasting.

The instances of fasting also fit our theme of kingdom longing mentioned earlier.  In a context where Paul and the others were not only looking in expectation for the extension of the kingdom in the church of Jesus Christ but also fully aware of the dangers in this work (Acts 9:16), especially at the hands of persecuting Jews like he, prayer and fasting intensely sought the Spirit’s anointing of their ministry.

From here, we rightly conclude that that it remains a time for fasting, for the church today finds itself  in a similar post-Ascension pre-Parousia context. The bridegroom has been taken away and we await his return to claim his bride. We must not conclude that because the fasting observed in the New Testament church was always connected to the laying on of hands of church officers, that it did not and could occur for other reasons. Rather, seeing that the employment of  New Testament fasting fits within the general theme noted earlier, we can rightly apply it to other areas as well.

In the end, with the triumphant death and resurrection of Christ granting to us salvific victory that we experience now yet do not fully possess until he returns, it is both a time for feasting and fasting.  This is the conclusion that we can draw from the present victory Paul celebrates in the resurrection of Christ to the future triumph he anticipates in the glorification  and resurrection of believers (1 Cor 15:55-57; Rom 7:24-25).   Christ already gives us the victory that we do not yet enjoy in full (1 Cor 15:54, 57).  Even as we gather around the table in the Supper, we not only celebrate what we have we anticipate what is yet to come with the return of Jesus Christ.

Given the ongoing warrant for the practice and the effect that it has, why do not we not see fasting emphasized or practiced on a regular basis at least in the Western church? Our minds might immediately be drawn to the self-indulgent flowery-bed-of-ease approach that plagues the church. At its foundation, I believe, lies a people who understand very little of what it means to be disciples as those who deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus Christ.  Coupled with this, we may sing and recite “Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” but what we really pursue is “Seek ye first the kingdom of God,  . . . but first let me attend to my own interests.”

What would would the church look like if on a wide-scale we harnessed fasting (not the mechanical self-righteous Pharisaical kind!) to prayer as we repent of our sin, seek God’s blessing upon his preachers, cast ourselves upon him in humble dependence, plead for conquest in the ongoing spiritual warfare with our three great enemies, and in general pursue the interests of the kingdom?  Does it sound far-fetched to imagine that the church might have a greater transforming effect on this country through the preaching of the gospel?   These questions I leave with as a challenge to consider this neglected yet important matter. I might as well leave you with one final question, Is it not a time for fasting?

Finally! What a privilege it is to begin posting on this new website thanks to the labors of two of our members at Westminster, Jeremy Snyder (one of our deacons) and Jon McCluskey.

It is our hope that here we will not only inform others of our church but also point them to Christ as their only hope whether as believers or unbelievers.

It is fitting, then, to begin with a story I shared this past Lord’s Day as I preached on Luke 5:1-11. When I was 8 or 9 years old, I was on a fishing trip with my stepdad, mom, and older brother. While my brother and dad went out to fish in a row boat, I was left to fish on the shore with my mom close by my side. With my starter Zebco rod and reel, I flung my rod back eager to cast out as far as I could. I suddenly heard a scream, “Bobby!!!” As I started to cast out I had caught her neck with the hook. In a panic, I yanked as hard as I could. You guessed it. I drove that hook deep into my mother’s neck and then my not-too-pleased (to say the least) dad drove her to the emergency room where they had to push the hook through so they could cut off the barb to remove the hook.  In my zeal to catch a fish, I had caught my mother!  This was definitely not a good thing.

However, Jesus came along with skill as a carpenter (not as a fisherman!) to show us, through an astounding catch of fish, that catching men was good. We can be certain that he did not have in mind my catch above. Yet, this display in the end was not about the fish but the fishermen and what they were now being called to do in following him.

When Peter fell down in the smelly slimy catch of the century at the knees of Jesus with awareness of sin and the power and grace of Christ little did he realize that he truly was part of the catch. Caught alive, he would now leave all to follow Jesus and “catch men.” Keep in mind that he and the others with him left both the amazing catch of fish and the fishing behind to follow Jesus and spread the good news. We are called to do the same. This does not mean leaving all behind to become penniless, shave our heads and join a commune. Yet, it does mean that the pursuit of Jesus is what is most important above all else in this world.

I improperly hooked my mother. Friend, have you on the other hand been rightly hooked by Jesus? Does he have you? Are you aware, like Peter, of your sin to the point that you fall down amazed at his grace and power? If so, you will leave all in the dust to follow him, even your greatest worldly “catch” and delight. Having been caught may he use you to catch others.

Thanks for your interest. Looking forward to adding a few articles over time.