But we did want to post a quick note on the fast today.

If you have read through Daniel and looked at the Daniel fast materials, you’ll see that Daniel mentions a 10 day and a 21 day fast. (Daniel 1 and Daniel 10) In the 10 day fast it says specifically that Daniel ate vegetables and drank only water.  A quick study of the Hebrew word translated “vegetables” in this text shows that vegetables almost certainly includes: “sown things,” like fruits and grains.  What Daniel was doing here was not defiling himself with meat offered to idols and to the very strong wine of the Babylonian king. To do so would have violated the Mosaic Law that Daniel was under. Daniel was telling the king…my God is enough.

Many people have asked me: can we only drink water?  Well, I suppose if Daniel had a juicer, he would have had  OJ so I think any fruit or veggie juice is obviously fine.  What about decaf tea and coffee or things like soy milk?  You’ll get a variety of responses here but I think the main thing to note is that the diet should be stripped of any meat and anything that is not grown, which also means nothing processed can be added to your fruit, veggies, grains, etc.  Soy milk (if it is all natural) is probably fine since it is derived from a veggie, but, while caffeine naturally occurs in a grown product (teas and coffees) it is universally accepted that caffeine is out when it comes to this fast.  ;( boo!

Here’s another link to some resources on the subject.

happy headache!

When the clock strikes midnight on Monday morning, I am challenging everyone who calls poiema and day|twelve church home to spend the next 21-days taking part in a fast. I know not everyone will be able to do it, but I am encouraging all of you to pray about taking part in our Daniel Fast in the 21 days leading up to the “relaunch” on February 27th!

This site has some great resources (like recipes, etc.) if you’d like to take part in the full 21 day fast that is named after Daniel (Daniel 1 and Daniel 10), who refused the king’s food ate a diet of fruits, veggies and water.  If you cannot take part in the full 21 days, consider doing a 10 day fast or a 24-hour complete (water only) fast or fasting from something that you’d normally do everyday so that you can spend that time praying and focusing your thoughts on God. Regardless, of whether you fast for 21 days, you can definitely follow this 21 day Bible reading plan with us. I’ve written posts on fasting in the past and I hope those might provide some help to you as well.

We will be posting more thoughts as we progress but we’d love to hear if you are joining in so please comment to this post and let us know. Finally, here are some ideas for prayer:

1. that God would soften hearts and draw more to himself;

2. that we would be a community that would invite others to experience the joy of Jesus;

3. that God would use us to serve those in need and defend the defenseless;

4. pray for the people in your lives who need to know the love of Jesus.

We pray you join us on this 21-day journey….

In case you missed it, last week we talked about the Bible’s definition of “church”  and just how God intends for His church to be used…God’s plan for the church makes it clear that a healthy church is essential to taking Jesus Christ to our cities.

Next week we will be studying Ephesians 3:10-13 and Ephesians 4:11-16 as we look closer at God’s eternal plan and design for the church.  As we will learn, each of us has a role to play in the church and when we step into our God-given role, then the church can be a true reflection of Christ in the culture.  Can’t wait to see all that God has for us when we study this together.  Until then 3, 2, 1…. bungee!  (If you have no idea what I’m talking about make sure you listen to the message from 01|16|11 HERE.  See you next week.  – Brian

I cannot tell you how excited I am about all God is doing in our midst. Last Friday, we had hundreds of people come to our first friday event at the day|twelve gallery space downtown. (I know that Mike Olbinski and others blogged about the event.) The art and music were amazing and the conversations and connections made were tremendously encouraging. It was so cool to see our church interacting with our city in this way. On Saturday, we hosted a concert at the central location and, while I couldn’t attend, Brian Whitman told me that Ascend the Hill did an incredible job leading people in worship. Finally, on Sunday, I had a great time as we worshiped together and talked about a vision for our great city. It is so cool to see how God is going to continue to use us to take the message of Jesus into all of our neighborhoods.

This week we will be using the story of Jonathan found in 1 Samuel 14:1-15 to take a closer look at our mission, vision and values. There is tons to learn from that passage of Scripture so I hope to see all of you there this week as we worship together and continue to seek God’s will for this church and our role in this city.

Brian

Fast forward to September of this year (2010) … the Senior Pastor of Poiema, John Mitchell, felt God calling him and his family to a new season of ministry.  Because John and I knew each other,  I meet with John shortly after he announced his decision to Poiema.  After a few conversations, we began to discuss what it might look like for day|twelve and Poiema to join forces.  The visions of both churches were so common that all parties agreed that it was God who was orchestrating this partnership. After many meetings with key leaders on both sides, we felt there was only one decision that could be made. So, on December 19th, day|twelve church and Poiema Church formally announced that we will become one church with one common vision!  God has clearly spoken that this was His plan and we couldn’t be more excited….and, this is JUST the beginning of something new that God is doing in Phoenix. Our impact can be greater, faster, but by no means are we “there.” Again, we are just starting!

Can’t wait to see you all and share more but until then, you can visit these videos for a little more detail!

http://www.briankruckenberg.com

After more than 20 years of experience, Keller has found that contextual city churches must, among other things,…

1. be extremely culturally sensative because the city is so diverse. It DOESN’T mean the Gospel is different but when you have Muslims, agnostics, atheists, Hindus, Unitarians, etc. in your community you have to know how to engage them.

2. understand the importance of the artists and mucisians in your culture…

3. be famous for how it cares for the poor…

4. understand the different values for urbanites vs suburbanites. diversity and change are common in the city whereas predictability and safety are more bedrock in the ‘burbs…

As we continue to push forward in Phoenix I am so encouraged that we are on the right track and that we are building something that will be part of a movement in the city. The challenges are many but the rewards are immeasurable…

“We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves.” – Alice Bloch

We’ve all heard countless talks, speeches, sermons, or lectures with the following conclusion “time is our greatest resource.” Cliche? No doubt. True…well, after air, water and food, probably so. The great thing about this resource is that it is equally given to all. 24 hours a day. None of us get short changed. Of course, some live to 50, others to 15 and a few to 105, but you get the point.  24 hours is yours today to do what you will.

I found this INTERACTIVE CHART from the New York Times fascinating and telling. I hope you take a few minutes to see just how we Americans spend those 24 nuggets each day.  You can see just how race, gender, age, educational background, etc. impacts what we do with our most precious resource.  The most ironic thing I found?…unemployed people on average spend MORE TIME SHOPPING each day than they do LOOKING FOR A JOB! Hmmm?

Of course, since I’m heavily involved in the spiritual side of life, I also find it telling that 1-2% Americans spend any time engaging in “religious activity” on an average day and yet 38% of Americans spend time consuming TV/Movies on that same day.  That makes total since in our consumeristic/entertainment driven society. Honestly, those numbers are not surprising at all. What would be surprising, however, is if the average Christian spent their time basically the same way. That would be telling. It would be  a little strange to think that Christians [sic] would spent 1-2% of our days on average engaged in things that relate to the church.  I’m sure that can’t be true.

budget planner – Mint.com