Doctor, doctor

I think I say this a lot, but I really cannot get my thoughts under control. They are all over the place and I would love to be able to write more but is rare that I have time to sit and think. I love just being able to relax and read a book and think on it, but that hasn't been happening much lately. There are a couple things that I have been thinking on.

The Bible was written for people during the first century; an entirely different culture than ours. I think a lot of times we take Bible verses out of context to apply them to our lives. I think that we pick and choose customs and beliefs from the Bible. One such example that doesn't seem to want to leave my mind is the concept of fasting. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert alone with God, while fasting. Now, I am sure a lot of people in America fast but it has always been a foreign thing to me. As I read that, I think more and more about it and what it means to fast. I kind of developed my thoughts on fasting and they are as follows:

1) Fasting is first and foremost an effort to place all focus on God
2) Along with number one, it tests you and challenges you physically
3) Both of those combined, it is about spiritual self-discipline.
4) I think fasting should be a regular occurrence in one's life and should be planned out and followed strictly, again coming back to spiritual self-discipline as well as overcoming the physical.

I have never done it really and I think that a discipline like that can truly help faith grow. I pray that I can have the strength to do it, because hunger is definitely a powerful thing in the physical realm...

Secondly, I tend to agree with most thoughts from the spiritual books that I read but the one I am on now is really getting at me. One thing it talks about is how to reach out to others and evangelize, that you must be able to offend them. Be able to show them that they are in the wrong and God is the only way. They also use the argument that Jesus offended people and last time I checked Jesus offended a group of people for being self-righteous hypocrites. The Pharisees are the only people he offended and with good reason. The two authors of this book talk of offending those without God in their lives. Why does our society associate the word "Christian" with a negative connotation.? Maybe it is because of people who think that is how evangelism is done. I am sorry but I strongly disagree with that method of thought. If Jesus were here today, I believe he would be in the bars with the lost people and he would be lashing out at self-proclaimed "Christians" sitting in church on Sunday.

I strongly feel that those without Christ should be reached with compassion and love and even more: understanding. People without Christ need to be able to sit and talk, and not feel embarrassed about their sin or lack of faith, but simply be able to talk about it to someone who can understand them and love them, not judge or condemn. I hope to one day be able to reach out to those who want God in their lives and maybe even to those who desperately need him.

I guess I can finish this essay with this, it seems right to me:

11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Matthew 9:11-13