Centre Church

So there’s another 21 day fast coming up at Centre Church and a little bit of pre-buzz happening out there. Some of you are getting pretty excited about what has become our bi-annual Daniel Fast. Some of you are new kids on the block and this will be your first go-around with fasting, or at least fasting for this amount of time. But I wonder if some of us greet the fast with a little bit of dread… after all, it is not designed to be an easy time.

Centre County certainly has its oddities.

Paterno-ville.

Sun. Rain. Sun. Rain. Sun. Rain. (5 minute time lapse.)

Grange Fair and deep fried kool aid.

Sovereign. God is sovereign. Agreed? (Certainly not agreed upon by all, so I’m just throwing the question out there!)

But that is the beauty of Truth. It does not require that we agree to it, subscribe to it, act upon it, or even honor it. Truth is Truth whether we pay homage to it or not.

Suzy Weibel here… I’m a bit of a weather buff. Still, it kind of took me by surprise when I started “using” Twitter (I’m still figuring it out) a year ago that my favorite tweets came from The Weather Channel. They have links to the best videos – a lot of storm chaser action, and I love that stuff! I love storms. Storms and shark week, though those may be considered apples and oranges.  I am fascinated by the power and unpredictability of nature. I am awed by near misses, survival, and most of all, by the stories of humanity that emerge from the ashes of a disaster.

It was good to see our friends Paul and Becca Allen at Centre Church this past Sunday night. Sunday was Father’s Day and seeing as they just brought baby Emsley into the world in late January to join big bro Peyton, it was pretty cool to have all of the Allen family singers with us. Paul and Becca head up the youth ministries at the State College CMA church – seasoned pros at this church thing, they have a lot of friends at CC and a pretty good resume of loving on our kids here in Centre County.

Mark Wilson is younger than I am.

He is also smaller than I am… by at least 10 pounds.

Mark Wilson is wealthier than I am – this year alone he has earned over $2 million dollars.

He’s a better golfer. Barely. But he is on the PGA tour so it must be true.

Yep. The rumors are true. Andy Mylin actually attempted with cartoonish pen and an Elmo projector to tackle the end times last Sunday night, continually thanking Jonathan, we might add, for the privilege of being assigned such a friendly and welcoming topic. The air was light and the mood was pure frivolity as Andy drew the Great White Throne, the Lake of Fire, and a number of apocolyptic figures on the big screen…

Here’s a thought: If you are poor and start living like a rich person, might you eventually become rich? By the same token, if you are rich and start living like a poor person, might you eventually become poor?

Good questions! Financial experts such as Dave Ramsey and researcher Thomas Stanley Ph.D. (we recommend you read his book “The Millionaire Mind”) both assert this is good logic. So does Centre Church. Think about it. If I have very few assets (if I am poor) but I get rid of all debt, stop borrowing money, live below my means and put aside a monthly amount for savings – not to mention if I give generously to others – will I begin to build wealth? Yes. If I do this long enough, I just may become “rich”.

Fasting? Yes, indeed, we are allowing God to slow us down – our appetites, our food consumption, and our spiritual perspective are all grinding down day by day to a manageable pace.

I know, I know… Thanksgiving is over. I don’t know about you, but about three bites into my perfect Butterball the tryptophan hangover hit me hard. Urban myth? A lot of dietitians say so – it’s actually a “feast-induced sleep” from a melatonin enriched brain – but what a fun urban myth! Let’s keep it! Wow. That tryptophan hit me hard!