This is my neighborhood - PLANO

hello friends, I've been thinking of this whole idea of community for the past couple of months. On sunday, Liz and I talked about how we are called to live into something bigger than ourselves. We talked about the running theme and story in the Bible that we are called to take care of three groups of people: the alien (foreigner), the fatherless, and the widow (cf Deut. 24, Proverbs 31:8-9, Isaiah 1:17, Luke 3, James 1:27). Liz did a fantastic job of fleshing this out practically in the community we live in - Plano. They are the invisible poor. It could be the single mom, the new student at your school, the teenager who has no place to live because their home is unstable.

I know that we live in an abundance of wealth and have all of our wants and needs met at the click of a button or swipe of a credit card. But is this all it's about? I hope it's not. The normal reaction when we see people in need is to want to solve it or write a check. How many times have you heard someone say "let's just write a check" or "why don't they just get a job" or "let's just get a group of people and fix it"? These are not bad statements but they tend to miss the heart of the gospel.

I want to challenge us to think differently. Throughout scriptures there has been an example that has been followed when crisis, tragedy, need, or big decisions had to be made. Two concepts took place - people fasted and people prayed (Neh 1:4, Acts 13:2). Fasting is abstaining from food/drink for a period of time for the sole purpose of seeking God. It's known as a spiritual discipline and for thousands of years people have been continuing this practice of fasting and praying to seek God. Now I know that some of us have a problem with fasting from food because they can't physically. Liz shared practically that when she fasted with her previous church she fasted from the cell phone and dr. pepper. She realized how much extra time she had to talk to God when she wasn't on the phone as she commuted to work.

As we think about our community, I want to ask us to enter into a time of fasting and praying. We will begin the fast on Sunday August 19 and continue it for three weeks. On Sept 9, we will break the fast together, celebrate, FEAST on FOOD, and share stories of what God has been saying to us about what we need to be doing to serve our community this coming year. Your fast may look different... you could be leaving behind food, the internet, cell phone, movies, etc. for a period of time. Ask yourself what is consuming you and taking a chunk of your time everyday. What can you leave behind so that you can hear from God?

I'd like to hear your thoughts... Feel free to comment.