Messages with tag - Manipulating God

Our scene is in Antioch in a well-established, conservative congregation, about 15 years after Pentecost. Antioch thrives with commerce and the decadent culture of the times. It also has a large Jewish population, within which are Christians, viewed as a sect of Judaism. Teachers and prophets gather to minister to the Lord and fast. What does it mean to minister to the Lord? What does fasting accomplish? Today a fast can be an initiation into a weight-loss program, a systemic purge, a social protest or a mystical manipulation of God. What was fasting about as it was practiced scripture? Is it a prescribed ritual for us? Is Biblical fasting an anachronistic term in our modern culture. Should we fast?