Jan and I are meeting this week in Winnipeg, Canada with hundreds of delegates to our bi-annual denominational gathering. The theme this year is Justice and Compassion. We will highlight all kinds of ministries in this country and around the world.
In Isaiah 58, God tells believing Israel that their prayers and their fasts do not impress Him. Certain kinds of fasting in which people make themselves feel uncomfortable and appear humble are not what He wants (vs. 5). God challenges them to an entirely different kind of fast
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter —
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
God cares deeply for the vulnerable, the needy, the oppressed. This theme runs through the pages of Scripture. He calls us to do what we can in a world of need. Individually and as churches we need to ask, are we doing all that He expects us to do.
In Isaiah 58, God tells believing Israel that their prayers and their fasts do not impress Him. Certain kinds of fasting in which people make themselves feel uncomfortable and appear humble are not what He wants (vs. 5). God challenges them to an entirely different kind of fast
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter —
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
God cares deeply for the vulnerable, the needy, the oppressed. This theme runs through the pages of Scripture. He calls us to do what we can in a world of need. Individually and as churches we need to ask, are we doing all that He expects us to do.
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