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? 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? Isaiah 58:6-7
“By the instrumentalities of these and similar passages, they subtlely tend at last to such a point, that every one who is somewhat prone to appetite finds it possible to regard as superfluous, and not so very necessary, the duties of abstinence from, or diminution or delay of, food, since “God,” forsooth, “prefers the works of justice and of innocence.” And we know the quality of the hortatory addresses of carnal conveniences, how easy it is to say, “I must believe with my whole heart; I must love God, and my neighbor as myself: for ‘on these two precepts the whole Law hangeth, and the prophets,’ not on the emptiness of my lungs and intestines.”
Tertullian of Carthage (155-220) in On Fasting” chapter 2.
Part of the focus of our GTP sessions in Hong Kong with pastors, ministry workers, accountants, attorneys, and other professionals centers around doing spiritual practices along with mapping standards.
We follow the example of Ezra and Nehemiah who rebuild the people with fasting, confession, prayer and standards. With Isaiah and Tertullian the focus of these practices moves beyond having empty intestines.
We must do works of justice or in plain terms, do work that makes things right. That’s why GTP facilitates the work of mobilizing influencers in a country to confess their sins, fast, pray, and set standards together.
This not only charts a new course, a fresh pathway for each church. It positions gospel ministry in a setting to have a consistent witness and to experience healthy growth.
God is working in powerful ways. Thanks for your prayers.