We Made It

Wow! Day 21.  To all of you who persevered and made it, thank you.  But my thanks was not what you were looking for.  You were looking for answers to your prayers.  You were looking for things to change.  I can promise you they have.  Let's go back and look at that very first Daniel Fast and gain some understanding of how fasting and prayer works in God's kingdom.

In Daniel chapter 10, we read the account of the very first 21 day Daniel Fast.  Daniel had received a vision.  It was a terrifying and troubling vision.  It was a vision of things to come.  Now this vision caused Daniel some distress. He  goes for 21 days without meat or wine or choice foods.  He doesn't even use deodorant! And at the end of 21 days, God sends an angel with the answer. Daniel 10:12 (NIV) Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 

Here we get some great insight into prayer, fasting and spiritual warfare.  First, Daniel's prayer is heard instantly.  Second, Daniel's answer is also immediate... but the delivery is delayed.  This angel had to be a powerful being.  It says the Prince of Persia (which was a demonic spiritual being) resisted him for 21 days. And finally, Michael, the Archangel, came and assisted him.  When we pray, our prayers are always heard and they are always answered.  Sometimes immediately, sometimes with a "no", but sometimes the answers are hindered by the enemy.  The sad thing for us is that we don't always know if God is saying "wait" or if the enemy is delaying our answer.

This is where fasting breaks through. I can promise you the things you have been praying for over the last 21 days, the answer is on the way.  There may be delay.  There may be opposition.  There may be all out spiritual warfare because of the magnitude of your prayers.  I do not know when your answer will come.  I do not know when my answers will come.  But, I do know that no demon in hell, no principality or power, no ruler of darkness, no spiritual wickedness in high places will ever be able to prevent my answer from getting to me. And that makes the Daniel Fast worth it all.

In the days ahead, as you go back to your "regular" life, I want you to rest in the knowledge that God's answer is on the way. I look forward to hearing the testimonies of the breakthroughs you experience as a result of the Daniel Fast.  Thank you again for joining me on this amazing journey.

Love you all!
Pastor Dale & Debi

God, Change Me!

I know what's going through your mind right now. You know that tomorrow is the end of the Daniel Fast and you're already thinking about that one food item you've been craving. Don't deny it! I've imagined a brownie and tall, cold glass of milk, or a nice big slice of pizza. But before you totally undo all the benefits of the fast, ask yourself this. God, what have you changed in me during the Daniel Fast? You cannot spend 21 days fasting and praying without it changing something in you. Maybe you've got more peace about a situation. Maybe God has birthed some new dream or idea in your spirit. 

I know a huge part of the Daniel Fast for me is my prayer list.  Anything that makes it my Daniel Fast prayer list is a big thing.  I reserve those spots on my lists for the things I am desperate for, the things I desire the most. But one thing that always makes it to my prayer list is something for me.  This year, I am praying for greater anointing when I prepare and when I minister the Word. (I guess you'll be the first to know if god answered that prayer, LOL)

But the root of that prayer is not just for God to dump this boatload of anointing on me. The root of the prayer is, "God change me," so I can handle the boatload of anointing.  Moses was a man who understood the anointing and the presence of God. Yet, he still cried out to God, "I want to know you! I want to see your face!" It's great to seek His anointing, but why am I seeking it. If I seek His anointing so others can tell me how anointed my message was, then He will withhold that anointing. The reason I want more anointing is so I can more effectively minister to the people God has entrusted to my care. If that is my motive, the anointing will come.  But God has to root out any shred of self seeking in me.

God says, "I will not share my glory with another." Anytime someone touched His glory, it did not end well. But God has given us this wonderful responsibility to carry His glory. Just like the priest of old, they were permitted to carry the ark but were not permitted to touch the ark.  Today, we are His kingdom of priests and we all get the honor to bear His glory. In order to do that, it is I who must change. As He changes me, I carry and reflect more of His glory.  So Lord, change me! I want to represent you well on this earth.

Pastor Dale

God's Got This

I have some pretty heavy prayer requests on my Daniel Fast prayer list. There are things I've prayed for for years and there are new prayer requests that weigh heavy on my heart. As I was praying about one of the more pressing issues, I heard the Lord say, "I've got this." Now, in my head I know that God has all things. And, He will be faithful to perform what He promised.  But when God says, I've got this," what exactly does that look like?

The answer is, "I don't know." And that is where we get stuck. We're okay knowing that God's got it, but we are not okay with not knowing how He's got it. We want all the details because knowing them makes us feel better. But, know them also eliminates an opportunity to simply trust God. If I pray and know the answer is coming on a specific day in a specific way, guess what? I'll stop praying! Knowing all the details requires no more faith... no trust... no patience. Ah, I've just said the magic word... patience.

It is the trying, the testing of our faith that develops patience in us. And James 1:3-4 tells us that patience will work on us to make us complete and mature. When we face difficulties or challenges we all have a tendency to do this. We ask someone for help. They agree to help and then we jump in and take over, or suggest ideas, or question why are they doing something that way.  What that does is frustrate the person we asked for help and we actually hinder the solution from coming.

Do we do the same thing with God? You know we do!  We ask Him for guidance and then we grab the steering wheel. He give Him a problem and then tell Him how to fix it.  Deb and I have a running joke where she can ask me to do something or tell me how to do something, but she cannot do both! But I do the very same thing with God. So when God tells me (or you), "I've got this." Just..... let....go!  His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.  I promise you, His solution is waaaay better than anything we can think of.

Trust Him!

Pastor Dale

When the Magnificient Becomes Mundane

I'll give you a sneak peak at my sermon for this Sunday. I will be wrapping up my series on Kingdom Seekers with Passion. Passion is always fleeting. Everything in our lives can become mundane if we allow it. Imagine the scientists on the International Space Station. What must it be like to view our globe from 240 miles above the surface. At first, I think they would be glued to the window, but after a few months, the passing planet below might barely get a second glance.

Even spiritual things like the reading God's word or church attendance or even our Daniel Fast can become mundane. We fall into a pattern and things become routine. It's a good thing to develop the habit of reading God's word. But, when it is just a habit, it ceases to be life giving. To keep our passion for God's word fresh, we must not just read it, we must study it, meditate on it.  I can promise you that every chapter of the Bible has fresh revelation waiting for you to uncover.

Passion drives us. It motivates us. It keeps us going. But, passion is the missing element in a lot of marriages. It's also sadly missing in a lot of churches and in a lot of Christians. The sad thing that almost every important thing in our life begins with passion. Then the fire dims and we fall into a mundane existence and lose the exhilaration. (just like those scientists on the ISS)

So how do we keep passion alive? I guess you'll have to come Sunday to find out!

Keep the flame burning!

Pastor Dale

How To Worship A King

I've been reading a new book entitled, How To Worship A King (by Zach Nease). Here in America, we really have no concept of a monarchy. Our nation was formed when we rebelled against the monarchy of England, and we have never looked back since. But, since our sermon series has been Kingdom Seekers, it is obvious we live in a kingdom and therefore, we have a king.  And not just any king. We serve and worship the King of Kings!  So, how do we worship a king? There are two aspects of God's character we must understand if we are to correctly worship our King. One, He is love, and two, He is Holy. When we look at these two characteristics, they seem like polar opposites. Let's examine the two.

God is Love:
One of Jesus' favorite topics was His Father. In the Old Testament, God was pretty scary. Plagues and fire, smoke and thunder, they gave an image of God that most feared. But Jesus introduces us to a God who loves, a God who is approachable. Paul tells us in the book of Romans that God is "Abba Father" which means daddy God.  It gives us the image of a child running and jumping on the lap of God. And that is His character.  He is loving, patient, kind, tender, gentle.  The whole reason He sent His son was so we could be reunited with Him. In our worship today, we sing songs about His great love. We sing "Your Love Never Fails" and "How He Loves". We sing how His love "chases us down, fights till I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine." I am so thankful for a God who desires us to be near and who loves us so deeply.

But as we run and jump on daddy's lap, we must never forget whose lap we are jumping on. Our approachable, loveable God is also holy. So holy that people were instructed to not set foot on the mountain of Sinai when He was there.  So holy that people died when they touched the Ark of the Covenant. So holy that the ground opened up and swallowed and entire clan when they took His holy things. Now that is quite a different picture. All of a sudden, God seems less approachable.

But He is approachable and holy at the same time.  So in our worship of this great King, we should worship with reckless abandon and holy awe.  The two don't seem to mix, but they do, no, they must. John 4:24 tell us that God is looking for people who worship Him in spirit and in truth. It may seem like an unattainable balance, but we do it all the time. I have no fear of working with electricity. I can work in a main panel or change an outlet, but I best not forget what I'm working with. When I do forget, I get a not so subtle reminder that I am dealing with real power. I have no fear of running a table saw, but the minute I forget the power behind that spinning blade, I may lose a finger or two.

It takes practice to worship a king. We love and embrace Him, but we reverently respect Him. He is worthy of both. He desires our reckless love of Him and our reverential fear. When I worship the holiness of God, I fall more deeply in love with Him.  When I bask in the love of God, I am more in awe of His holiness. If you want to take your worship to the next level, approach God with both images in your mind.  And that is how you worship a King.

Pastor Dale

A Purifying Fast

One of the natural benefits of the Daniel Fast is that it cleanses the body.  There is ample proof that fasting is good for the body.  And while we can all use a physical detox now and then, the real benefit of fasting is the purification that takes place in our soul and spirit.  In case you haven't experienced it yet, most people get meaner when they fast.  It's part hunger and part caffeine withdrawal but it is also part purification.

Here in Steeler country, most people understand the process of making high quality steel.  You basically put all the ingredients into the blast furnace and fire it up.  In the process, impurities rise to the surface where they can be skimmed off.  Fasting is like God's blast furnace.  Sometimes there are impurities we don't know are there.  Sometimes there are impurities we know are there but try to hide them or cover them up.  But nothing gets past the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit may be the Great Comforter, but He is also the Great Revealer.  David prayed a sincere prayer when he said, "Lord search me and know me and see if there be any wicked thing in me." (Psalm 139:23-24)  If you pray David's prayer I can promise you one thing, God will come up with something that needs uncovered.

During the Daniel Fast, let's have the courage to ask God to bring hidden things to the surface. When He does, deal with it and "skim it off".  Because, in the end, it is the impurities in steel that can cause a catastrophic failure.  The same is true in our spirit man.  Little impurities, small attitudes, tiny areas of unforgiveness, they can all be the weak point in our spiritual life.  Let the Daniel Fast percolate those impurities to the surface where God can gently remove them.

Pastor Dale

He Is The Answer

On Saturday, I attended a meeting for churches wanting to come together to address the opioid/addiction problem in our county.  There were seven churches represented.  They had representatives there from the Drug Task Force and the judicial system explaining the problem and giving facts and figures.  One of the things that was said really caught my attention.  One of the presenters said, "If all the opioids would disappear instantly from the earth, it would not solve the problem.  I agree!  You see, the problem is not racial disparity, ease of access for drugs, big pharmaceutical companies or socio-economic issues.  The problem is that mankind is broken and they know they are broken. They just want to heal their broken lives, their broken hearts and broken spirits. The problem is they are looking to the wrong thing to heal them.

I agree with the world that drug addiction or alcoholism is a disease, but I disagree with the mindset to treat it like a disease.  In reality, adultery is a disease, pornography is a disease, greed and lust are diseases. But with any disease, you must find the source before you can effectively administer the solution. And the source of all diseases that ravage humanity is sin!  You take care of the sin problem first.  Then, you have the right place to start for all the other symptoms of the disease.  Counseling is good, NA and AA meetings are good.   Mentoring groups and accountability groups are good.  But all these things alone will never cure the problem.

I think many drug treatment programs are doing great work in the area of addiction, but my one bone of contention with most of them is this, "Hi my name is ____________ and I am an ___________ ."(fill in the blank with your addiction)  I don't believe that what I was, I still am!  2 Cor. 5:17 tells me, This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! I believe that God changes our nature and transforms us.  Sure I need to be diligent.  Of course, I don't hang around bars if I used to be an alcoholic.  That's just good ol' common sense.  But Jesus tells me I am a new man and the old man is dead.  If I truly believe that, it will change my thoughts, my actions, the people I hang out with.  It changes everything!

I appreciated any effort to stop the cruelty of addiction, but it is the church that has the solution.  We know that the cure for every ache of mankind, for every hurt and pain of the human soul, is Jesus!  He alone has the cure, not just the treatment, to every problem of man.