Coming up in Dec/Jan!

     Hey guys! We have a lot of things to look forward too in these coming months! Christmas, New Years, but more importantly, Clarity theme night and winter retreat! Woohooo! 
  
     Our Clarity Theme night is this Wednesday at 6:00pm. Be there! We are having a coffee house theme and will be doing a talent show. Bring a talent with you and wow your fellow students! This Event will end around 9pm, so be prepped to stay a little longer than normal. There will be snacks, Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and apple cider!  

     Winter retreat is coming up quickly! Make sure you sign up!  It is just $65! Let me know if this is too much for you. There are some forms on the "Form" page, including a schedule and packing list, so make sure that you check them out. See you there!

Clarity 11-17-10 “Silence and Solitude”

           Noise surrounds us constantly doesn’t it? Our day starts off with the alarm going off or your Mom yelling that it is time to wake up. Then it is off to school, surrounded by loud classmates, a teacher talking all day, lunch breaks in a loud cafeteria, back home again and you plug your ears with music from your IPod, a little TV and then the cycle starts all over again. Noise is a huge part of our day! How often is it quiet? When do you break that normal trend of just filling up your time with things?

In this culture that we live in, we are almost afraid of the silence. Think about it, the next time you are in the car with someone, how often do you turn on the radio (Or wish the radio was on) to drown out the silence? It feels uncomfortable. We have trained ourselves to be around noise, or multiple things going on at once. If it is not there, we feel out of place.

I find it funny that during church services, we call for a time of silence for prayer, but then the organ, or a guitar, or something starts playing music. People do not like being in silence! What if ignoring times of quiet are actually hindering our relationship with God? How often do we pay more attention to the music in the background than the prayer time itself? What if we are too distracted to hear Him? Let’s take some time to understand this idea…

Explanation of Silence

                A time set aside to be silent shouldn’t be just for the sake of peace and quiet, all though that is good, it should be used for meditation. Of course this is not the same kind of meditation that you see in eastern religions, or what you may see on a tv show. You may think of people sitting around saying, “Ommmm” with the soul intention of clearing your mind completely of any thought. That is not what we are aiming for. One of the words used for mediation in several scripture passages is Hagiyg (hä·ghēg') “Fervor of mind”. This means that we are concentrating on God with intensity. Fervor: Intensity of emotion. That is definitely not just clearing our mind and relaxing in silence! Take a look at these verses about meditation:

Psa 104:34 Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD. (Hebrew word siyach: Speech, discourse)

Psa 49:3 My mouth will speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart will be understanding. (Hebrew haguwth: Thought, meditations)

Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer. (Hebrew higgayown: Meditation, or music)

                These examples of meditation do not speak about simply falling silent, but about meditating intensely on God. There is an action happening at the same time. “The meditation of my heart will be understanding”, a thought process. So, there is more to silence and solitude than just silence.

Explanation of Solitude

                Why would we need to take time to get away? Because there is a need for it. Why do we take vacations? Because there is a need to rest and relax. If we do not pull ourselves away from the business of life we would burn out wouldn’t we? God took time to rest on the 7^th day after creating the universe. We need to understand that times of being silent and alone are needed. What’s more than it just being a need, when do we pull aside time to spend with God? If our schedules are too busy for everything we have to do already, what is taking that place of time with God? Having a time of silence and meditation on God is invaluable. It is a need to keep ourselves refueled and connected to God.

Psa 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

Being still in the Hebrew “raphah” means:

1.      to sink, relax, abate

2.      to relax, withdraw

3.      to refrain, let alone

4.      to be quiet

This verse is talking about getting away from people, from distractions, and simply spending time with God. It is God telling us to simply relax, be quiet, and know that I am God. I am in control. How many of us use the excuse that too much is going on for us to set aside alone time with God? I will do it later. I will get around to it when I finish my homework, or when I am done studying for this test. The issue is that things never slow down. We do not get extra time in our schedules unless we cut it out and set it aside ourselves. Look at how Jesus dealt with this issue:

Mat 14:23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.

Mar 1:35 In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.

Luk 4:42 When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them.

Jesus had a lot going on didn’t He? Crowds of people were seeking Him out. They wanted Him to teach them, to heal their sicknesses and diseases. They had legitimate issues that Jesus could cure. In a situation like that, I would feel obligated to stay and heal people. But Jesus, knowing that He could heal everyone and say just the right things, He took time to get away from people. Even when they tried to stop Him from doing so, “the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them.” If Jesus thought it was important to get alone to meditate and pray, even in the middle of His very busy ministry, shouldn’t that be something that is important for us as well? Jesus shows us that there is an incredible importance to silence and solitude.

Implications for Us

Now that we know the importance of taking time to be silent before God, let’s evaluate our lives. If you are already taking time aside for God, how much of that time is actually used in silence? Or are you surrounded by noise during that time? Have you found a place away from people that you can call your meeting place with God?

When I was back in Africa, my Mother incorporated “Quiet time” into our home school schedule. She made it a priority to set aside time for God in our busy schedules and showed me that same importance. One of the things I remember most was her giving us Bible verses to study on a small slip of paper. She would have us pull it out of a hat and it would tell us a specific verse to study. Alongside the verse would be a description of a solitary place that we had to find before we could sit down in silence and solitude to study.

For the next ten minutes spend some quiet time with God:

Quiet Time Study:

                How often do we rush through quiet times not expecting to hear anything from God? How often do we not even take time to stop and spend time with God?

Psalm 62:1 “My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation.” In Hebrew, the word used means “A silent expectation”. We should come to God daily expecting to hear from Him. Otherwise we will miss what He wants to say.

Examine yourself. How much priority does God have in your daily life? What are you going to do about it?

Take some time to pray and ask God to help you set aside time for Him. Ask Him to show Himself to you.

Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

What did God tell you during this time?

             

Clarity 11-10-10 “Fasting”

Fasting: A Users Guide

                We could spend about 20 minutes talking about the different kinds of fasts that you could take, or the different ways to go about them, but I think the most important thing to understand is why we fast in the first place. Let’s take a look at a few verses and see what we can glean from them about fasting:

Ezr 9:5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God,

Dan 9:3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Neh 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Mat 6:18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Luk 2:37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

Act 14:23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

                What can we learn from all these verses about fasting? What is it about? Fasting is something that is not taken lightly. In every one of these examples the people who are fasting are doing so with a deep seriousness. They are completely focused on the reason for the fast. Most of these situations show a time of repentance or consecration to the Lord.

Why Do It?

Why do it? Because it is a Biblical expectation. Because Jesus expected His disciples to fast, which in turn means that we are expected to fast as well.     
Mat 6:17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
Mat 6:18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

When you look at this verse Jesus specifically says, “when you fast” not if you fast. This goes

right along with “Make disciples of all nations” or “take up your cross and follow me”. We are told to fast and to have a spiritual purpose behind it.

                There is also a warning against announcing your fast:

Mat 6:16 "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

If you are fasting because you think it will make you look more spiritual or that people will respect you, you have the completely wrong idea behind it. We are not to fast for the praise of others, but in secret so that God is the one who rewards us. Otherwise, we have received our reward from people and not from God. It cancels out the very reason for fasting.

What’s the Point?

There is no point if there is no point. There must be a reason behind why you are fasting. Otherwise it is just a dietary aid. We must fast because of spiritual reasons. All of the scripture that we looked at in the beginning of this lesson shows the purpose behind fasting. Those people did not fast simply because it was a religious thing to do. They were setting aside time to do without food for the purpose of godliness. That is why it is a “spiritual discipline”.

A key element that goes right along with fasting is prayer. Look at how many times prayer is mentioned along with fasting in these verses:

Ezr 9:5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God,

Dan 9:3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Neh 1:4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Luk 2:37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

Act 14:23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Every time that fasting is mentioned it is coupled with prayer. You do not just fast to fast. You fast to show God the seriousness of your heart. You are telling God, “I am neglecting what my body needs so that you will see my devotion to you.”

John Calvin said this about fasting, “Whenever men are to pray to God concerning any great matter, it would be expedient to appoint fasting along with prayer.”

Is It a Guarantee?

                Fasting shows God that your heart is troubled for a certain thing. It can be about sin in your life, a situation that has come up, a big decision you have to make, or any number of things. But we cannot think that just because we fast that it will force God’s hand to answer our prayers in a way that always benefits us. We have to still pray that His will be done. This is why it is a spiritual discipline. We are not doing this for specific favor, we are doing this to align ourselves with God.

                Fasting is a way to devote ourselves to God through prayer and it also opens us up to hear Him more clearly. Think about it. If you take even just one day a month, week, or whatever, and devote your lunchtime, breakfast, or dinner to being in prayer, what kind of impact would that have on you? Do you think you would be able to hear God’s voice more clearly? Do you think that your prayers would be more urgent or have more direction?

                If you take an hour to pray, you are probably going to want more purpose to what you are praying about.

What Does It Look Like?

Fasting can be a time of showing God that your joy is completely in Him and in nothing else, even food. What if you decided to use a lunch time to simply praise God for different things happening in your life? What about putting on a CD of praise music and just singing to God for that hour? Devoting that hour to God for a purpose of praise would be a wonderful thing to do! (Speaking about Anna) Luk 2:37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

Fasting can be about repentance. A time set aside for showing God that you are completely turning away from past sin. In a sense it could just be a time of rededicating yourself to being the Christian that God has called you to be.

Fasting can be used as a time of intercession. This upcoming Saturday you can come to the church for a full 6 hours and pray for the persecuted church all around the world. This would be a great opportunity to just attend and pray for that amount of time! You can use a time of fasting to pray for your lost friends and that God would start to move in your schools or homes to bring people to know Him. (Example) Ezr 9:5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God,

There are so many things that fasting can be used for, but the main point is that there must be a specific reason behind it. When I was attending a different church, the pastor challenged the congregation to spend a specific amount of time fasting. I got excited about it because I had never fasted before and decided to do it. The issue was that I didn’t really have a lot of purpose behind it. I ended up focusing more on how hungry I was rather than on doing it for the purpose of growing in godliness or my prayer life. It ended up being kind of useless. Except for the fact that I learned what it should be about.

I challenge each one of you to take a day or even just a meal time and use it for fasting. Put a reason behind it though! Devote it to praise or to praying for a specific thing. It is an amazing experience when you do it for the right reasons and you actually focus on God.   

Clarity 11-3-10 “Superhero Night”

          What makes a hero a hero? Is it the tights? Is it the bulging muscles? Is it the kind of strange outfits with bright colors? There is normally something that happens that creates a superhero. A baby is sent to earth and because of the specific kind of sun orbiting he inherits super abilities, flight, lasers shooting from his eyes, super strength. A person is bitten by a radioactive spider and gains super abilities like a spider, climbing walls, jumping to great heights. But is that what makes them heroes? No. Many villains start off with that same kind of beginning.

So what makes them different? How are they separate? There is something else that takes place, a calling, or a destiny if you will. They come to a crossroads where they could decided to follow their own desires and live in luxury ruling over people, or they can live for others, helping them and sacrificially fight for them.

Heroes stand up for what is right, for what is moral. They seek justice for all. Nothing deters them from doing what is right. They fight those who try to overcome good with evil. Like what Peter Parker says, “With great power comes great responsibility.” You are either accountable to your actions and take responsibility, or you live care free, not concerned with lesser people.

What makes a villain? Villains seek to destroy the good that is in people. Their purpose is to gain power, success, money, or whatever pleases them by any means. They do not see an issue with how they live, their focus is only on getting what they want.

Isn’t it interesting that we know that there is a good side and a bad side? There is a constant struggle between light and dark, good and evil. There is a difference. There is truth.  

            This is the same in the Bible, in fact, it originated with God against Lucifer. There really is good against evil. So, if this is true, which side are you on? Do you know what you are up against? Do you have an idea of how to fight back? How do you learn to use your powers against evil?

In order to know how to proceed, we really need to know what we are up against. No one likes to enter blindly into a battle. You have to know what is coming against you to formulate a plan to protect yourself and figure out your enemies weaknesses. If you know what they are attacking with, you know how to react. Towards that end, read Ephesians 6:10-19 with me:

Eph 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Eph 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
Eph 6:15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
Eph 6:16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
Eph 6:17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
Eph 6:18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Eph 6:19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,

What are we up against?

So, what is it that we are fighting? We are fighting against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil. That sounds like a pretty intense crowd to go up against doesn’t it? There are a lot of people who do not believe that demons exist, or for that matter, that Satan exists at all. I find this hard to understand since the Bible clearly lays it out in so many easy to understand passages.

To be able to defend ourselves from this impressive of an enemy, we need to know how they operate. Just like the villains of a comic book, demons seek to destroy the work of good, the work of God and anything that has to do with God.

It all started in the Garden of Eden. Satan disguised himself as a serpent and tempted Eve to sin. This put a huge barrier up between God and the two humans Adam and Eve. God no longer walked with them in the garden. Their ties with God were severed. I think you get the point.

Satan once again tried to foil one of God’s greatest plans to rescue mankind. Jesus, God’s son, had to live a perfect life on earth to be given as a perfect sacrifice for our sin. Satan tried to screw that up too! He spent 40 days putting Jesus through temptation after temptation trying to make Him fail, but He didn’t.

Straight from “Systematic Theology” Grudem pg 415: The tactics of Satan and his demons are to use lies (John 8:44), deception (Rev 12:9), murder (Ps 106:37), and every other kind of destructive activity to attempt to cause people to turn away from God and destroy themselves. Demons will try every tactic to blind people to the gospel and keep them in bondage to things that hinder them from coming to God (Gal 4:8). They will also try to use temptation, doubt, guilt, fear, confusion, sickness, envy, pride, slander, or any other means possible to hinder a Christian’s witness and usefulness.

Demons and their tactics

            Growing up in Africa gave me some insight to the way that demons work. Whenever you step up and start serving God you become a target. The forces of evil do not like you messing around in their territory. They start using their tactics to persuade you, or even just plain scare you away from the possible impact you can have for the Gospel.

We are up against a powerful opponent! Someone that will stop at nothing to make us fail in our walk with God, or to completely keep us away from walking with God in the first place! These are some extreme villains. That is why we need to know what our powers are and how we can use them for good.

Who’s team am I on?

            Probably the most important thing to understand is who we are fighting for. We are on the winning side if we are fighting for God. No matter the force and no matter the strength that evil throws at us, we will be able to stand against it and overcome it. We can overcome their power because they have limited power.  Jam 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Focused on True Power: We must have our focus on the right thing. Our battle is not against flesh and blood (The people of this world), but against the spiritual forces of evil. So, our strength cannot come from this world.

Eph 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Be strong in the Lord? How on earth do I do that? You know, none of the superheroes that you read about just “receive” power and are able to use it. They have to practice. They have to spend time focusing their mind on their ability. They must spend time concentrating and developing their power. This is the exact same thing for us. We have to focus our mind and use the powers we have against evil.

Even Jesus’ disciples had to learn how to use the power that He had given them. Jesus sent His disciples out 2 by 2 and they were learning how to heal the sick and cast out demons in Jesus’ name. Mar 9:28 And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"
Mar 9:29 And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer."

Our strength really isn’t even ours at all. It all belongs to God. The only way that we can stand up against demons and evil forces is because of Christ. We are clothed with Him and so the demons are actually afraid of us. They have to leave when we tell them to go in the name of Jesus. Our faith has to be routed in God and nowhere else. The only time we have strength is when we call upon the name of Jesus.

Shielded with Armor: Guard yourself with the armor of God so that you have protection to stand up against the schemes of the devil. Make it a habit to ask God to cloth you with the armor of God. You wouldn’t want to get into a fight without your armor would you? Fight against your sinful desires that ask you to give in to evil. Demons can’t read your thoughts, but they can place thoughts in your mind to lead you to sin.

Disciplined in Mind: We must discipline our thoughts. An undisciplined mind leads to destruction, like Superman on red kryptonite. No inhibitions, he just wants to do his own thing. It leads him to rob banks, to seek after his own glory and power, pushing everyone and everything else out of the way.)

Disciplined in Actions: Being undisciplined in our actions leads to a sequence of bad decisions that continue to spiral downward into more bad decisions. Once you have taken a step towards sin it becomes easier and easier to continue on that path. As a Christian, you can’t allow for that! It robs you of your life line, your connection to God.

Only when a superhero focuses and disciplines himself is he able to become the person he has to be. He becomes useful for the forces of good.

            Read this verse with me:

Eph 5:15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
Eph 5:16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Protection and Power of Christ

Let me clarify a few things for you. Talking about demons tends to make a lot of Christians uneasy. The only reason you should be uneasy is if you do not know Christ and you do not have that protection. I am going to finish up with a story about a Sorcerer. Sorcerer that came to Christ (Tried to kill the Christian lady, but could not do it no matter how hard he tried.

Conclusion:

            Here is your spiritual crossroads. Which will you become? A villain, living for himself and allowing the forces of evil to lead you? Or a hero, standing up for what is right and serving a God that is true?