by Clarence E. Stowers | Mar 24, 2015 | Christian, Christianity, Encouragement, Fasting, Goals, Self-Leadership, Spiritual Growth
Have you ever wondered what’s the real reason you’re not as far as you’d like to be spiritually?
We blame it on the enemy, our busy lives, our careers, children, even the church we attend. The real reason you’re not as far as you’d like to be spiritually isn’t because of the enemy, busyness, or the complexity of sermons; it’s because we’re distracted. Despite knowing that distractions hamper productivity, most people don’t realize how it affects their spiritual growth.
In the few minutes it takes to read this blog post, chances are you’ll pause to check your phone, answer a text, switch to your desktop to read an email, or glance at the Facebook or Twitter messages popping up in the corner of your screen. And pastors wonder why it is people are not growing spiritually. They’re distracted!
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by Clarence E. Stowers | Mar 23, 2011 | Accountability, Fasting, Prayer, Self-Leadership
Today begins our corporate (church wide) Daniel Fast. We’re fasting for three specific purposes:
- Let’s Do It For Them (Special Offering to Renovate our facilities)
- Spiritual Renewal
- Praise and Worship Conference (March 25-26) and Concert (March 27, 2011 @ 6pm)
What is the Daniel Fast?
The Daniel Fast is a biblically based partial fast. It is a method of fasting that men, women and young people all over the world are using as they enter into the spiritual discipline of prayer and fasting. There are two anchoring scriptures for the Daniel Fast. In Daniel 1 the Prophet ate only vegetables (that would have included fruits) and drank only water.
So from these scriptures we see two of the guidelines for the fast:
1. Only fruits and vegetables
2. Only water for a beverage
Then in Daniel 10 we read that the Prophet ate no meat nor any precious breads or foods and he drank no wine for 21 days. So from this scripture, we get a third guideline:
3. No sweeteners and no breads
Another important guideline is drawn from Jewish fasting principles, where no leaven is used during the fast. So that’s why yeast, baking powder and the like are not allowed on the Daniel Fast.
The Daniel Fast for the body, soul and spirit. (more…)
by Clarence E. Stowers | Jan 18, 2010 | Accountability, Fasting, Prayer
WHAT!? No TV? Are you CRAZY?
No, we’re doing a media fast. Like any kind of fast, this kind of cleansing is tough but the benefits are worth it. David Lewis, who coined the phrase information fatigue syndrome, writes: “Information is supposed to speed the flow of commerce, but it often just clogs the pipes.”
The daily onslaught of news, entertainment, e-mail, advertisements, and other media often prevents us from being able to process any of it at all. And the time we spend absorbing this information cuts heavily into the time we could be spending on activities that nourish us rather than drain us . . .
Research has shown that both news and television programming can have an intense effect on mood, even causing sadness and anxiety. Without the “noise” of the media running through your head, you are freer to focus your attention inward. Ideas will present themselves to you more readily, and you will find yourself available to revel in the small joys of your own life. You also will be freer to live in the present moment, rather than focusing on what’s going on in the news or your favorite soap opera.
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