Pastor Chris Seay invites you on a journey. A 40-day journey that will disrupt your habits and your rituals. A journey that will help you identify and connect with the poor and the suffering.

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The evil one, the wicked schemer, devises wicked plans against the poor, and he has been highly successful. Over half the world’s population is a slave of his plan.

“…the schemes of the schemer are evil; he devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks justice.” — Isaiah 32:7, NKJV

I can’t think of a more accurate description of poverty.

This wicked scheme called poverty has stolen hope, killed dreams and destroyed lives.

The enemy has spoken lying words to those caught in his scheme. He has told them they don’t matter. He has made them believe they are all alone in their suffering. He has deceived them into thinking their situation will never change. They no longer dream or aspire to anything better, because they have believed his lies.

Imagine, billions of souls caught in the greatest destructive plot in history! Who will help them? Who will save them?

Look at the next verse,

“But a generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand.” — Isaiah 32:8, NKJV

The answer is us. Me, and you, and all who call themselves by the name of the Lord. The answer is generous people, devising generous plans. Those generous plans are the antidote to the schemes of the enemy.

Compassion is a generous plan. It exists to speak the truth into the lives of children who are enslaved by the enemy and his lies. It exists to bring light to their darkness, and hope to the hopelessness of his wicked scheme.

I’m also thinking about generous people who plan and pray and devise ways to help the poor.

The family who fasts a meal a week so they can sponsor a child. The student who bypasses a few lattes so she can feed the hungry. The church groups who pool their resources so they can make a difference. Those are generous plans.

It’s not an easy fight, and it takes sacrifice and humility and persistence. But just think what might happen if enough generous people decided to use their intelligence, skills and resources to devise enough generous plans! Maybe we could defeat the wicked scheme called poverty once and for all.

So what is your generous plan?

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Imagine a young couple in the labor and delivery room experiencing the birth of their first child. Hear her groans, see the sweat, and feel the anxious tension.

Now place a bag of potato chips in the husband’s hands and picture him munching away as he watches his wife give birth. As if it were on TV. It’s just wrong!

Or picture the man standing in the baptismal with his pastor. He’s wearing a white robe and preparing to confess Jesus as Lord of his life as he publicly identifies with the death, burial, and resurrection of his Lord in baptism.

Then, out from the folds of his robe, he brings forth the bag of chips and starts munching. Never!

“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” “Her mother and I.”

Munch munch.

No!

These are sacred moments. And in sacred moments, we do not eat. It seems wrong to eat. We don’t think about not eating in the moment — it simply feels unnatural and unthinkable.

Scot McKnight defines fasting as the “natural response of a person to a grievous sacred moment.” McKnight emphasizes that fasting is a natural response.

Like not eating during your wedding vows because the moment is too sacred. Like not eating as you look into the casket at a funeral because the moment is too grievous.

McKnight emphasizes that fasting is a response to a very serious situation, not a device to take us from a good level to a better level. Did you get that?

Read the rest of this excerpt from Scott’s book, Fast Living, at Outreach Magazine

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This is a discipline I picked up from Dan Britton, the Executive Vice President of Ministry Programs at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I’ve chosen one word each year since 2006, but this year, I decided to skip it.

I’m pretty far from God right now. I’m clinically depressed, and my beliefs have gotten disconnected from my behavior.

I’m not doubting or questioning anything about Christ, I’m just not moving forward with Him. I’m mired in emotional and spiritual temper tantrums. So, in spite, I decided not to pick a word for 2011 and not to write a post … until God sent me an e-mail, via a co-worker.

My co-worker, Patrick, told me about the word he’d chosen for 2010 and the experience he had relating to God with the word in the forefront of his mind.

To me, that was God saying,

“I’m here. I care. Let me show you something.”

I felt convicted … and selfish, because the discipline of choosing one word as a theme for the year isn’t about me and how I’m feeling. It’s about Jesus. And it’s about each of our relationships with Him.

Patrick says that choosing one word for 2010 was “one of the best things [he] decided to do with [his] life up to this point.” And I usually say the same thing, except the words the Lord has given me NEVER play out like I expect them to.

Last year, my word was shine, and I was excited about it, particularly since the previous year my word was growth.

One word sounds painful and difficult, while the other word suggests promise and harvest. But the truth is, the words are similar to one another. They’re not gifts, they’re complex calls to action.

The words the Holy Spirit shares with us require us to “step up.” This discipline is not something to do on a lark because it sounds fun. It requires a commitment. It’s something that requires you to lean into the Lord and to step up and assume responsibility for the talents He has given you. I did not do that in 2010.

I sat back and waited for my harvest. And I did experience a harvest in many ways. The most significant being the birth of my first daughter, Cara (Beloved). But with the harvest comes work and for me to truly shine I need to step up and keep stepping up.

The words we get now are the foundation for the words we get in the future; they rest atop one another, strengthening our faith, defining our walk with Jesus and serving as snapshots of points in our lives.

For me, my brief walk with Jesus has been upon these words.

Obedience.
Relationships.
Reconciliation.
Growth.
Shine.
And now, Closer.

What is your word for 2011?

• Read Dan’s document, One Word, for suggestions that will help you with this spiritual discipline.

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Author Rick Bloomer and his family firmly believe in our mission. They have sponsored children for several years and consider themselves blessed to also be able to sponsor a student in our Leadership Development Program.

Over the past couple of years, my wife and I have partaken in the discipline of fasting. We have really focused on strengthening our relationship with the Lord, and with His grace and guidance we have experienced success with many challenges.

In September 2008, our daughter, who was born with spina bifida, had her only ventricular shunt revision to date (thank God). At that time and after hearing God’s calling to do so, my wife decided to do her first fast, with a dedication toward our daughter’s health. It was a 21-Day Daniel Fast, which essentially consists of consuming all natural plant-based foods only (fruits, vegetables, nuts).

About a week after our daughter’s shunt revision, we took her out of the bathtub one night and noticed that her shunt tract looked majorly infected. It was bulging out an inch from her neck.

We knew from all of our reading and study what an infected shunt looked like. We also knew that infections were somewhat common following surgery and that if she did ever have a shunt infection, it may require a hospital stay of 10+ days before it was resolved.

We quickly called the neurosurgeon and she told us to get to the hospital right away. It was about 7 p.m. We put our daughter down to sleep in our bedroom while we packed and got ready to go.

My wife, packing the suitcase on the living room floor, looked up at me and asked, “How will I ever comply with this fast while in the hospital?”

We knew after spending 14 days in the hospital after our daughter’s birth that the food certainly was not “Daniel Fast compliant.”

Couple that with the stress that is often present when dealing with such a situation and you can understand the potential difficulty here. But after thinking about it for a minute, she made it perfectly clear that because she made the commitment to the Lord, she would stick to it. My wife proceeded to pack her plain rice cakes, natural peanut butter, and fruit.

About an hour passed and we were ready to leave. My wife went in to wake our daughter and yelled for me to come into the room. When I arrived and looked at our daughter, I could see clearly that her shunt tract was perfectly normal. No bulging. No discoloration. No swelling. Perfectly and beautifully normal.

We called the neurosurgeon and she suggested to simply observe her and then to see how things looked in the morning. Well, in the morning, she looked great, and praise be to God — she has not had one major health problem since that night.

In fact, she started walking on her own this summer … a real miracle for a 2-year-old with spina bifida!

Some people might think that the issue with the shunt was mere coincidence. But we know better. That was the awesome and mighty hand of God blessing our daughter abundantly!

I strongly believe that this blessing was due to my wife’s obedience and faithfulness to the Lord during this difficult time. She accepted His challenge to complete the fast and He blessed our family because of it.

I can relay many similar stories of God’s blessings over our lives during other periods of fasting over the past two years. This is why I am so enthused about sharing the wonderful discipline of fasting with others.

In fact, a few months ago, God placed an idea in me to engage as many people as possible in a program of fasting.

Why? Because our family has experienced firsthand the absolute power of fasting and prayer and I want others to have the fulfilling experience that we have been blessed with.

But God also gave me an idea associated with the fast that involves “fasters” requesting sponsorship for their devotion and effort during the fast, in much the same way as they would if running a race or walking a 5K. This made perfect sense to me. Give up some of my food, my comfort, and my way of life in order to provide food for others in an attempt to enhance their way of life.

We decided to call the program Fasting-for-Food, and we have been working hard to develop the program over the past few months.

Because so many individuals who fast choose to follow the Daniel Fast, we have partnered with Susan Gregory (The Daniel Fast blogger), author of the best-selling book “The Daniel Fast: Feed Your Soul, Strengthen Your Spirit and Renew Your Body.”

Susan is a wonderful woman of God and oversees a New Year fast for thousands of individuals worldwide. She will be instrumental in promoting this program.

In addition, as my wife and I have been involved with Compassion over the past few years, we thought to ask Compassion to serve as the main partner, receiving funds from this initiative.

Specifically, funds raised will be directed to Compassion’s Global Food Crisis Program, to be used to provide food and other basic needs for some of the poorest people in this world.

In the true spirit of Christmas, please remember that the wise men came and gave gifts to Him and not to each other. Our own personal fasts might be the best gifts that we could ever provide to God — the giving of ourselves through a focused time of prayer and devotion to Him.

I hope that you will consider a fast this New Year. I also hope that you can help spread the word about this program so more people can learn of the benefits of Christian fasting.

It is our intent to engage as many people as possible in a fast this New Year — with the main objective of enhancing their own personal relationships with Christ.

When individual relationships are enhanced, group relationships are enhanced and good things really begin to happen.

You can learn more about this program by visiting www.fastingforfood.com.

I pray that the Lord will place on your heart the desire to dedicate yourself to Him this New Year through a focused period of fasting and prayer.

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Some mornings, it’s rainy. Or cold. Most mornings, my bed feels so cozy and the thought of hitting the pavement sounds ridiculous! However, I know in the end, the discipline will pay off when we cross the finish line.

In order to keep our minds off the pain of running, Marc and I usually talk about a number of our favorite things, but rarely do we talk about spiritual disciplines. Although lately I’ve been thinking a lot about fasting, which is weird since training for a marathon means I should probably be eating more food.

However, there are a number of different ways to fast – with refraining from media outlets and food or specific drinks being quite common. But regardless of what the fast is about, they all make me uncomfortable. I told this to Marc, a relatively new Christian, and his response stunned me.

“Well, I don’t understand fasting. Jesus Christ died on the cross for me, and in return, I’m supposed to give up Starbucks? Seems like we’re missing the point.”

Whoa! Instantly, I was humbled.

When I fast, I usually chose something that won’t necessarily bother me too much… like abstaining from Starbucks or Facebook. Marc and I discussed the issue of fasting for the next couple of miles. We compared it to our marathon training.

I realize that much like my marathon training prepares my physical body for the task ahead of me, Christian fasting is a discipline for the soul. By fasting, I make a conscious decision to sacrifice comfort to draw closer to the heart of Christ. Fasting allows us the privilege of sharing in His suffering.

After a couple of miles, I realized that maybe my problem with fasting is that I was missing the point all along. As with all things that are difficult, such as fasting or marathon training, there is also so much joy to be found.

May we challenge ourselves today to pray about a way we can experience the discipline of Christian fasting, and in doing so, enter into the presence of our God.

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Nevertheless, they eagerly counted down the days . . . I too was keen for the FAST to be over! Skipping a meal a day hurt.

The FAST has come to an end, but despite having to experience the pain of self-imposed deprivation, God’s given me a spiritual FEAST! So far I’ve experienced moments of intense hunger and vulnerability, yet contrasted by immense joy and freedom. I cannot tell you enough about the good things He’s done in me and revealed to me over the past month!

The hunger pangs have given me a glimpse of what our precious friends living in destitution experience day in, day out. They’ve also reminded me of how lucky I am to be hungry by choice and not due to personal circumstances. I–AM–BLESSED!

Another thing I’ve been challenged by is to give more of myself . . . not out of my budget, but out of my heavenly inheritance. So I’ve been meditating on Luke 12:32-34. I found The Message version easy to relate to:

“What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself. 

“Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bank robbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”

Enough said!

While I’ve yet to fully discover what my heavenly inheritance entails, I know that it comes from a good and kind God who is love Himself . . . a God who does not change and cannot deny Himself (of His goodness, kindness, grace etc.).

I’m convinced that rather than struggle with the recurring tension within me to give sacrificially, by focusing on how unchangingly good He is, and His continuous goodness towards me, I would learn to give as He does. Surely, it is by focusing on the ways of the Kingdom that we’d learn to live on earth as it is in Heaven . . . .

I wonder whether the offering of an average Joe (be it the equivalent of a basket of fish and bread) would be given in faith by everyone across the earth, so that I would live to see a miracle – the end of starvation?

P.S. I set up a Facebook event for FAST for FOOD. Some people commented on the event wall about the timing of the campaign. So I wanted to clarify my thoughts:

If the idea of FAST for FOOD has captured your attention, you can participate in the campaign (with your friends and family) at a time of your choosing.

• The videos
• The prayer calendar (347 KB PDF)
• The poster (460 KB PDF)
• And the PowerPoint presentation (3,465 KB PPT)

have been created without a specific beginning or end date.

Besides, the Global Food Crisis continues . . . . 

– Irene Kao

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The price for rice, beans, corn and other food staples throughout the world has risen exponentially in recent months, creating extreme hardship and suffering for families living on $1 or $2 a day.

Imagine if you had to spend 80 percent of what you earned on groceries. Can you imagine that?

I can’t. And even though I’ve traveled to Rwanda, Kenya and China and seen extreme poverty, I still have a hard time picturing a life where I would live on $2 a day.

80 percent of my income on groceries? If I was in that boat, I’d be selling it. And if I’m in that situation, I can’t afford … I can’t afford anything.

The global food crisis is affecting everyone in some way. But how it affects me is totally different than how it affects my sponsored child, Lerionga. It’s much more intimate for him.

I’m sure you’re well aware of the record high price of gas in the U.S. and the ridiculous price tag for a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread. I’m usually oblivious to grocery prices, but $4.50 for a loaf of bread that used to be $2.50 got my attention.

My loaf of bread is more than two days salary for many families.

Have you noticed this?

I’m feeling the pinch of the global food crisis, but for the billions of people in extreme poverty my pinch is a bear hug crushing the life out of them. There is no margin.

So in addition to what you’ve already done and the caring and generosity you’ve displayed already, we’re asking for more.

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