Surly's Soap Box

Hello Everyone,

As we seek God’s vision for our body in for this next season, be praying about how God is leading you to fast during our church body’s corporate fast this next week. For those not present on Sunday, I have attached my sermon notes for you to look over. Otherwise, I have put the different types of fasts below for a quick reference as well. This Sunday, we will be signing up for what meal/time of day you would be able to commit to fasting and prayer. Our goal would be to have the entire week from Monday through Sunday morning covered with people praying and fasting for wisdom in seeing God’s vision for our church body in this next season. On Sunday morning, we will be having an all-worship Sunday and be breaking the corporate fast together with a meal after church.



Also, if you would be willing to open your home for corporate prayer Saturday, January 27th, please email or call me to let me know how many people you could accommodate and what time you would prefer for people to meet to pray, etc.



God’s Peace and Mercy with us all!!







Types of Fasts (from Arthur Wallis)

Normal fast

1. Abstaining from all food and drink, besides water for a specific period of time
2. Usually at least 24-26 hours and up to 40 days, depending on what God calls the person to do



Absolute Fast

1. Abstaining from all food and drink (even water)
2. This type of fast was only done in very desperate times or “spiritual emergencies” in the Bible

o Esther (the spiritual emergency was to save the people in captivity)

o Paul (He didn’t eat or drink for 3 days after God met him on the road to Damascus ; God was doing a huge transformation within him that would change the course of history within the church),

o Moses (When he received the 10 commandments and then found the Israelites worshiping the golden calf—80 days total),

o Elijah (trying to escape from Jezebel)

3. No more than 3 days and only done if you are really certain God is calling you to do this type of fast


Partial Fast

1. Abstaining from “delicacies” (sweets, meats, wines, etc.) and maintaining a simple diet

2. Also could be skipping one meal a day to go wait on the Lord instead of eating

3. Daniel, Elijah and John the Baptist did this type of fasting





What Fasting is NOT:

· A manipulation of God

“God does not need the fast to act or be heard; the fast is for us to humble ourselves and empty ourselves before God” Chatham

· A Free ticket to God’s power

God has acted mightily throughout history with and without fasting; if God calls you to fast, you do it out of obedience and worship to God, not for some obligatory reason that God then owes you a favor



How to Fast:

· Ask God for what he would like from you

· It is always accompanied by prayer; do not just assume that you gained 45 minutes in your day; the time spent eating is to be spent in prayer, waiting on God; keep a journal of this time of praying and listening—God will speak!

· Sometimes God will speak after the fast, so keep listening

· Be prepared for temptation; no coincidence that Christ was tempted at the end of his fast

· Call another Christian to pray for you if you begin to experience temptation

· If you are healthy, you can do a general fast (just water) with no physical dangers

· If you have blood sugar issues, are pregnant, or are not healthy, just do a partial fast (from sweets and “delicacies”); ask God for wisdom in this

· For longer fasts:

1. Ease your body into the fast (eat lightly for a few days before the fast; eat mainly fruit the day before)

2. Know that your body can go at least 40 days without food as long as you stay well hydrated

3. Limit physical exercise

4. Ease out of the fast (start with vegetable and fruit juices, broth or soup and very simple foods for the first few days and slowly introduce a regular diet again—go with really small portions, eat slowly, stop at the first sign of fullness, rest)

Well I woke up Sunday morning,
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,
So I had one more for dessert.
Then I fumbled through my closet for my clothes,
And found my cleanest dirty shirt.
An' I shaved my face and combed my hair,
An' stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.

I'd smoked my brain the night before,
On cigarettes and songs I'd been pickin'.
But I lit my first and watched a small kid,
Cussin' at a can that he was kicking.
Then I crossed the empty street,
'n caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin' chicken.
And it took me back to somethin',
That I'd lost somehow, somewhere along the way.

On the Sunday morning sidewalk,
Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.
'Cos there's something in a Sunday,
Makes a body feel alone.
And there's nothin' short of dyin',
Half as lonesome as the sound,
On the sleepin' city sidewalks:
Sunday mornin' comin' down.

In the park I saw a daddy,
With a laughin' little girl who he was swingin'.
And I stopped beside a Sunday school,
And listened to the song they were singin'.
Then I headed back for home,
And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringin'.
And it echoed through the canyons,
Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday.

On the Sunday morning sidewalk,
Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.
'Cos there's something in a Sunday,
Makes a body feel alone.
And there's nothin' short of dyin',
Half as lonesome as the sound,
On the sleepin' city sidewalks:
Sunday mornin' comin' down.

Dear Friends,

I have several different ministry roles. My two main ministry roles are with Missio Dei and InterVarsity, but I do other things like teaching a course on applied ecclesiology at Bethel Seminary, facilitating the Twin Cities Emergent Cohort, and various speaking engagements. I am also in the process of editing a “public” version of the Missio Dei Book of Prayer and writing a book (the Jesus Manifesto : Allegiance to Jesus in the Empire). I love all of my ministry opportunities, but right now I’m making precisely $0–though I receive the occasional honorarium for a speaking engagement. Why am I getting paid $0? Because Missio Dei has no money and because I’m still raising funds to be a staffer at InterVarsity. Eventually InterVarsity will pay me for 30 hrs/week, but for now, I’m struggling to get by. Amy loves her work (teaching English to residents of Riverside Plaza ), but she makes a modest income.

I think of myself as a “mendicant” for the 21st Century. Mendicants are what religious orders like the Franciscans or Dominicans are called. In the Middle Ages, they relied upon begging for their livelihood. As they wandered from village to village, they’d preach and beg—for their own needs and the needs of others. I too must beg for my own well-being, as well as for those to whom we minister.

I am a mobile guy. I rely upon my laptop (a refurbished Dell Inspiron 5160 that I bought over two years ago) more than a human being should ever rely upon a machine. I use Outlook to schedule my life (and I need the help). I manage the Missio Dei website and my blogs. Email is my primary way of contact. I use Excel to manage my fundraising. I use Word to write. You get the idea–my ministry is profoundly intertwined with my laptop. Sadly, my laptop has become a lazy servant. It is almost out of storage, has a battery that lasts 6 minutes, is often unable to receive a power draw when it is plugged in, and has crashed twice in the last 6 months (thank goodness I had a back-up). Since it is no longer under warranty, I don’t think it is feasible to try to repair these problems. I know it isn’t particularly satisfying to donate money towards the purchase of a laptop. But my laptop is an indespensible part of how I do ministry. I need a replacement and I can’t afford one.

Would you join the “Help Mark Buy a Laptop” Campaign?

With its adapter, my current laptop weights about 10 lbs. Since I basically bus and walk everywhere, I’m looking to replace it with a smaller laptop with a long battery life–I can get a refurbished Dell XPS M1200 for less than $1000. So, my campaign goal is about $1000.

A while back, a blogging friend from UK named Graham who is also a struggling urban minister asked his blog-readers to help him buy a laptop. He asked each of his readers to donate £1 towards his Macbook fund (read his rationale here). £1 isn’t very much money (what is that, like 2 bucks?). It seemed to work fairly well for him. I’m hoping the same approach will work for me as well.

So in the spirit of Graham’s experiment (and in light of the fact that I have fewer readers) I’m letting folks know of my laptop campaign via email as well as through my blog. I’m asking you to help out the “Help Mark Buy a Laptop” Campaign by donating $3 (though you may certainly give more). To help, go to the “Help Mark Buy a Laptop” form at the top right of my blog (www.JesusManifesto.com), put your donation amount in the box, and click “donate.” You will be brought to a paypal donation page. For the price of a Grande Latte from Starbucks, you can help me out, big time.

Donations will be received by Missio Dei. Since Missio Dei is a church, your gift is tax-deductible. A receipt is available upon request. In the unlikely event that I get more donations than needed to pay for the laptop, the extra will be absorbed into the regular Missio Dei budget, to be used for ministry expenses.

Happy 2007,

Mark Van Steenwyk